
-- On the Show: -- David hosts a Substack Live with Aaron Parnas -- Trump’s ICE agents drove through protesters and pointed rifles in a violent San Francisco crackdown -- Donald Trump admits he’s out of the loop and shows no interest in...
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David Pakman
Welcome, everybody. We're going to start today by talking about the latest involving ice. We will then discuss what's happening with Ukraine, Russia and these elusive munitions. We are going to look at the White House roundtable involving African leaders, which was a complete and total humiliation for Donald Trump. We're going to hear from Aaron Parness. We will hear about Kristi Noem's latest declarations regarding the Texas floods. And we're also going to talk about a new Biden cancer conspiracy theory. So it is. We might, I think we should record and save today's show rather than doing what we normally do, which is, after it's done, record it being recorded, we immediately hit the delete button and then that's it. We'll keep this one. So let's start with, not metaphorically, but literally, Trump's ICE running over protesters. Trump's ICE drove a vehicle through a crowd of protesters in San Francisco. A woman was clinging to the hood. She was thrown off, almost run over. This happened in the United States of America in broad daylight outside of a courthouse. And under Donald Trump's orders, we now have ice, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement really behaving like an occupying military force, which, of course, is the authoritarian dream. We saw outside the San Francisco immigration court. A black ICE SUV plow through at least six protesters trying to stop what they saw as the illegal and immoral arrests. An immigrant people were thrown, pepper spray was deployed, and at one point, an ICE agent actually brandished a rifle and pointed it at protesters and pointed it at the press. Authoritarians love this stuff. And this is arguably the most violent encounter in San Francisco yet. And that, that says something because under Trump's second term, ICE has been escalating and escalating and escalating, physically dragging people out of public places, detaining immigrants who voluntarily show up to hearings, and now, yes, running people over with cars. Here's a little video just to give you a sense of the atmosphere and the chaos, man. Here you see people on the hood. You see them plowing through individuals. We now have a number of individuals sort of pressing back on the hood as the van moves forward. So as you can see, complete and total chaos. There is another video where I guess the van encountered another group of protesters and it only got even more insane.
Peter Doocy
What are you going to say? What are you going to say, Mother?
David Pakman
And there goes the van. So, listen, it is not lost on me that you are not allowed to just block traffic. Right? I'm so. I know people are going to write in and go, well, Actually, David, you know, it's true that even though ICE is being a little bit aggressive, you're not allowed to impede. I get that. And I have said many times when protesters shut down a bridge to make a point, and then commuters are just furious, you're actually turning people against the cause you are advocating for. I've talked about that, but before. What we are seeing here, of course, is desperation. Not in the general sense. Let's shut down a bridge to inform people about climate change. This is. ICE is doing specific actions at the direction of Trump. These are arguably against the law. We are not giving people due process. We are not even doing what Trump said was going to be done. And this is just desperation. And the reaction from ICE is to go even crazier and to start running people over. In a sense, protesters were doing what Americans have done since the founding of the country, which is we link arms, we use bikes to block, we shout slogans. It is not allowed to block traffic. But also, there was no violence here, and ICE resorted to. To violence. ICE agents charge in and they slam protesters to the pavement and they pepper spray and they scream obscenities. And the police reportedly stood by and watched. And so one of the things I think is important to understand is that if we step back from individual tactics, which you may or may not like, what authoritarianism looks like is not just the use of state violence, but. But the glee with which the state actors seem to carry it out. The boldness, the impunity. And the message is, we can do this to you. Nobody's going to stop us. San Francisco PD is not going to stop us. And it is not just a few rogue agents. It is really policy that's going on here. And this time, it was ICE driving over protesters. Next time, what will it be? I don't know. So you don't have to support blocking courthouses.
Donald Trump
You.
David Pakman
You don't have to support blocking streets to see what's wrong here. You just have to have the belief that government shouldn't run people over in the street, that federal agents supposedly carrying out the law shouldn't be screaming obscenities at civilians and waving rifles in public, that if you show up to your immigration hearing, you shouldn't be kidnapped on your way out. So what Trump's vision of law and order has turned out to be doesn't include much law. It's certainly not orderly. It's not safety, it's not justice. It's about power and control and generating fear. And that is exactly what they are succeeding at doing a bizarrely orange. Donald Trump admitted he has no idea what's going on in his government and he's not even curious. When Joe Biden was president, Donald Trump insisted someone else is really in charge here. And yet whenever Joe Biden was asked about an incident or a policy, he knew he would speak slowly. He was forgetful. I don't think Biden should have run for reelection, but Biden was in the loop and he clearly knew what was going on in the country and around the world when he was president. Trump has now again been asked, for the second day in a row, who ordered the munitions to Ukraine. What did Trump say? You're going to have to. I don't know what technological tool, some kind of scrambler. You're going to have to do some hard work to figure out what Trump saying. Because Trump first says, I haven't thought about it. Essentially, I don't care to figure out who made the decision about the Ukrainian munitions. But then he goes back and forth about, no, it's if someone did it, I'm going to find out, and it probably was me. I will be making the decision in the future. But he's being asked about a decision that was already made. The guy doesn't know what's going on. And so it's not a conspiracy to say who's really running the country right now. It's just a practical matter. Listen to this.
Donald Trump
Yeah, please.
Peter Doocy
Sir, yesterday you said that you were not sure who ordered the munitions halted to Ukraine. Have you since been able to figure that out?
Donald Trump
Well, I haven't thought about it because we're looking at Ukraine right now and munitions. But I have no, I have not gone into it.
David Pakman
So he says, I haven't looked into who made the order, but we are looking into it now, as if it's something that they might do but hasn't yet been done. But it has.
Peter Doocy
What does it say that such a big decision could be made inside your government without you knowing?
Donald Trump
I would know. If a decision was made. I will know.
David Pakman
I will know. I would know. I will know. Is he talking about the past or the future? It's not clear Trump knows what this is about.
Donald Trump
I'll be the first to know. In fact, most likely I'd give the order, but I haven't done that yet.
David Pakman
Wait a second. So now he's saying it certainly wasn't him who gave the order on the Ukrainian munitions. This is. There is no charitable interpretation here. It's either memory and cognition problems, and this is fundamentally A brain problem or it's Trump is completely checked out of the presidency. He's just not in charge. He doesn't know what's going on. Both are very problematic. Peter Doocy asks regarding the investigations now going on into former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan. Do you want to see them behind bars? Trump's response. Yikes.
Kristi Noem
James Comey and John Brennan now under criminal investigation related to the Trump Russia probe. Do you want to see these two guys behind bars?
Donald Trump
Well, I know nothing about it other than what I read today. But I will tell you, I think they're very dishonest people. I think they're crooked as hell and maybe they have to pay a price for that. I believe they are truly bad people and dishonest people.
Peter Doocy
There you go.
David Pakman
Trump knows nothing about it, but it may be time for Brennan and Comey to pay a price. Spoken like a true authoritarian. Trump asked a really reasonable question. How did you calculate the tariffs of this latest round? When you sent out the letter to Tunisia, about 25%, and you sent out a letter to Serbia with whatever percent that was, how did you calculate it? Trump says the calculation was common sense.
Maria Bartiromo
Sir, can you explain how you calculated.
Aaron Parness
Your latest round of tariffs?
Peter Doocy
Was there a formula that was used?
Greg Jarrett
And do you expect any of these.
David Pakman
Countries to face tariffs as well? Can you imagine a formula?
Donald Trump
The formula was a formula based on common sense, based on deficit, deficits, based on how we've been treated over the years and based on raw numbers. And we're going to have a couple of more coming out today. Brazil, as an example, has been not good to us, not good at all. We're going to be releasing a Brazil number, I think, later on this afternoon or tomorrow morning.
David Pakman
So common sense, when the guy with no common sense says he's doing economic policy by common sense, you know we're in trouble. And he, by bringing up trade deficits, it still seems that it's possible that what Trump did is look at the trade deficit between the US and other countries and divide it by two or something like that and say, that's the tariff rate. But that. That's just humiliatingly pathetic. I mean, that just doesn't make any sense. Now, here's the cherry on top. Apparently, to make fun of Joe Biden, Peter Doocy asked Trump, when was the last time you went sunbathing? Because Trump has commented before about, oh, Biden goes to the beach and Trump goes, oh, it's been, it's been 70 years, essentially. But of course, the relevant question is Trump's color. Trump so damn orange from apparent spray tanning that even though this was meant to make fun of Biden in a way, it's actually a cell phone of Trump.
Kristi Noem
And now, a few weeks after the strikes that you ordered on the nuclear facilities in Iran, there is an Iranian facility, an Iranian official who says, you, President Trump, have done something that he can no longer sunbathe in Mar a Lago. As you lie there with your stomach to the sun, a small drone might hit you in the navel. It's very simple. Do you think that's a real threat? And when is the last time you went sunbathing anyway?
Donald Trump
I've been a long time. It's been a long time. I don't know, maybe I was around 7 or so. I'm not too big into it. Yeah, I guess it's a threat.
David Pakman
There you go. And of course, Trump confirming that his orange hue is some God forsaken combination of spray tan, tanning booth maybe and makeup. What a world. What a world. This show is available in its full glory on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts. I would love it even if you watch on YouTube or other platforms. If you subscribed to the show and rated it on Spotify and Apple podcasts, it really helps us out. We're going to take a quick break and then summit at the White House with African leaders. If you think you've seen the worst of the worst of what can happen at the White House, well, I've got a little video to show you after this short break. You know, for weeks now, discussions have focused on Trump's big, beautiful bill and its potential Medicaid cuts. However, a far more dangerous overlooked provision in the bill exists. At Ground News slash Pacman, you'll discover what MAGA lawmakers quietly included a provision that that could block federal judges from enforcing court orders unless a bond is posted. And if this passes, it could render Trump above the law. This is a critical detail. It's largely unknown and it really exemplifies this flood the zone strategy of the Trump administration. Now, this is why Ground News is essential. It really is the best way to uncover buried information by showing you not just the story, but its origins across the political spectrum, you can see bias ratings, credibility scores, coverage timelines and their browser extension also will flag potential bias. When you're on a news site, sort of guiding you to more reliable sources for fact checking, Ground News gives you a smarter and more reliable way to stay informed. I'm partnering with them to give you 40% off their unlimited Vantage plan, which makes it just $5 a month. 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It'll record your calls and in person meetings, transcribe them automatically, summarize, and then even create visual mind maps so you can review the takeaways later without scrambling for notes. You can even talk to it and brainstorm ideas. Now if you prefer something even more discreet, the Plod Note PIN is a thumb sized wearable version you can clip on when you're running from room to room. Same amazing AI, just more portable. Over 70000 people are already using Plod, including more than 200000 managers who rely on it to boost their productivity and collaboration. Plod has a special deal for my audience. You'll get 10% off any purchase when you go to David pakman.complodding and use the code PACMAN. That's David pakman.com/ PLA U D. Use code PACMAN for 10% off. The link is in the podcast notes. We are attempting to build more than a show here. We're really trying to foment a movement, a movement where we build the overall audience for progressive independent media. A movement where we generate more voters and activists and and a movement where we also encourage more people to become content creators. That when people ask me what are the goals? Is it just to have an audience? It's no. It's to grow activism, to grow other content creators, to make the pie bigger. And the primary way that we do that, and we fund that is through membership, either right on our website or through substack or in some cases both. So I invite you to subscribe@join pacman.com I invite you to become a paid substack subscriber@substack. David pakman.com or both. And remember that you can request a free membership at David pakman.com/free membership. Substack also will randomly gift free memberships to people on our newsletter list. So get on that newsletter@substack.david pakman.com we are in the if Biden ever did this presidency, and I mean any of it. One gaffe, one interaction that gets awkward, one out of touch comment. And if Biden did it, it would be front page news for a week. Panel discussions on Fox News, wall to wall coverage and Republican lawyers explaining that the 25th Amendment must be invoked to remove Joe Biden. But with Donald Trump, he gets applause for being proudly ignorant. Isn't it so endearing? Isn't it so quaint? Isn't it so funny? Trump said to the president of Liberia, Boa Kai, you speak such good English. How did you learn to speak English so beautifully? English is the official language of Liberia. I present to you pure and total humiliation.
Donald Trump
Well, thank you. And such good English. Such beautiful. Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where? Where were you educated? Where? In Liberia? Yes, sir. Well, that's very interesting. It's beautiful English. I have people at this table can't speak nearly as well.
David Pakman
Yeah, English is the official language of Liberia. Imagine going to. Oh God, what a timeline. Imagine going to Quebec City in Canada and going where did you pick up that French? Well, we speak French here, sir. But Trump says it and Maga hears a compliment. He's being diplomatic. He's being so nice to the Liberian president. Meanwhile, If Biden did it, Fox News would have a reverse countdown going to. Biden must be removed from office within this amount of time. Trump takes pride in not knowing stuff. If Biden ever. If Biden ever. At another point during this completely failed summit with African leaders, Trump encourages them to wrap it up and says, we've got to go more quickly because I've got stuff to get to here. Just give me your name and the name of your country.
Greg Jarrett
Resources in our sea waters, so lots.
David Pakman
Of fishing and whatnot want. So if you're just listening, Trump just made a move it along gesture with his hand.
Maria Bartiromo
You spent too much time on this.
Donald Trump
But I appreciate it very much. I appreciate it. Maybe we're going to have to go a little bit quicker than this because we have a whole schedule. If I could just say, you know, your name and your country would be great. Thank you. Please.
David Pakman
This is a diplomatic summit for Trump. It's like open mic night at a Mar a Lago fundraiser. Can we, can we move a little more quickly here? He can't be bothered to listen to what they have to say. I have never seen Trump this board and Trump is bored all of the time. And you know what? None of them said thank you to Trump. None of them brought a letter nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. How dare these people. But this wasn't even the scariest part. This was embarrassing. This was a total lack of decorum and protocol and just Trump exposing his ignorance. But the really scary part happened when Trump took questions. Donald Trump now appears unable to parse the meaning of basic questions. We have entered the phase of the Trump presidency where he's no longer answering questions. He's reacting to the sound of them. Now, I want you to watch this very carefully. Peter Doocy, Fox News reporter of all people, tosses Trump a softball question. Do you think there's a threat of a left wing militia targeting ice? You know, a simple yes or no or let me talk about Antrifa would have probably done the trick, but instead Trump just starts saying random words. I do not believe that Trump has the cognitive capacity to parse, understand and meaningfully respond to most questions.
Kristi Noem
Do you think that this was an isolated incident or do you think there is a national threat of a left wing militia that is targeting ICE and cbp?
Donald Trump
Well, I think you have some very stupid people in the left who have some money that are making it available to these people because you look at the guns they had, they were brand new. You look at even the clothing they were wearing, it looked like it just came out of some military shop. So you have some very stupid people that if anything ever happened, they'd be the first to go. They don't understand that they'd be the first to go. They'd be the first ones hit. But they are. There is money being put behind people. When you look at the weapons, they have the newness of the weapons, rifles that just came out, and they have the latest model. So there's something going on and we'll get to the bottom of it.
David Pakman
He does not seem to understand the core of the question. His brain seems to be catching a buzzword here or there. Weapons, money, people. And he just starts riffing. He's not connecting ideas. He's unable to think. Think in a sophisticated way. And it only gets worse because Peter Doocy then tries to get Donald Trump to react to a John Fetterman quote. But Trump has trouble understanding it. He looks confused. He's struggling to follow the meaning. This isn't a tough question. These are softballs from Peter Doocy. And Trump doesn't get it.
Donald Trump
It's going to be okay. But he got hit yesterday in the neck. No good.
Kristi Noem
And what would you think if I read you a quote from a lawmaker who says about ICE to abolish it, to treat them as criminals or anything that is inappropriate and outrageous. I told you that. That was Democrat John Fetterman.
Donald Trump
Well, it's. By the way, I assume when you read that, because you paused in the middle, you. You're going to have to read that again without the pause. Could you read that again, please?
David Pakman
Trump has no idea what it was he's saying. Oh, the pause threw me off. Read it again. Trump does not understand what is being read to him.
Kristi Noem
To abolish it, to treat them as criminals or anything that's inappropriate and outrageous.
Donald Trump
So he's saying that to treat the people that did the shooting is. Oh, okay, good. Because.
David Pakman
So again, after it was read a second time, Trump thinks the quote is about shooters rather than ICE officers. He folks, it's not working. Something is not working up there. It's been replaced with mayonnaise, veganaise, even. Meanwhile, Fox News continuing to do PR for Trump. They got so uncomfortable with how this was going, they just cut away.
Donald Trump
Big problem in Africa. Immigration will also be on the agenda. And I hope we can bring down the high rates of people, people overstaying visas and also make progress on the safe third country agreements.
Peter Doocy
We're going to keep monitoring the president's.
Aaron Parness
Remarks with his meeting there with the leaders of five different African countries and.
David Pakman
Sort of dip in as the new will monitor it in case Trump is able to recover any sense of coherence. We are watching in real time a man failing to process language. He's not dodging. He's not giving clever non answers. He's not pivoting the way elected officials sometimes know how to do and do deliberately. He doesn't understand what is being said. And if this were Biden, we would have an emergency 60 minute special titled is the President mentally Fit? But because it's Trump, we get silence or we get excuses. It's Trump being Trump. It's how he talks. He's doing the weave. This is how someone talks about when they do not understand what is being said to them. We'll have more about this on today's Substack newsletter, which you can find@substack.david pakman.com go google your name right now and you'll probably be shocked by how many sketchy websites have your address, phone number, even details about your family. Our sponsor, Incogni, is the solution. It is a service that will force data brokers and people search sites to delete your personal information so scammers, spammers and snoops can't get their hand on it. It's also now part of their unlimited plan that you can do custom removals. You're no longer limited to just the 250 plus sites in their automated system. You can submit any link where your personal info is exposed and Incogni's privacy experts will get it taken down. And even if the site's not in their database, whether it is whitepages.com, trellis.law, dNB or anybody else quietly publishing your information, Incogni will wipe the footprint clean. You paste the link and they do the rest. If you're tired of being tracked, profiled, targeted, this is how you push back. For instance, these sites are where scammers and spammers can get your information to then target you. Using Incogni can cut way down on the spam calls and the messages that you get. Try it Risk free for 30 days and get 60% off an annual plan when you go to incogni.com/pacman, that's incogni.com/Pacman for 60% off. The link is in the podcast notes if you were shopping for a new mattress, I would recommend you start by looking at Helix Sleep, the mattress I've been sleeping on for years. The only one that I recommend because they custom tailor it to your needs. I took their sleep quiz. It took a minute or two. I said, oh, you know, I like to sleep on my stomach. I tend to feel hotter in the middle of the night rather than colder. I like medium firm. And Helix just nailed it. Matched me with the perfect mattress. Most people don't even know where to start when you're looking for a mattress. And Helix just makes it easy. There is really no substitute for the mattress that's right for you. Your body will thank you. Delivery was fast, setup was easy. You do get 100 nights to try it out. They'll even take away your old mattress. And right now, Helix has an exclusive offer just for my audience. Go to helix sleep.com/pacman. You'll get 27% off site wide. That's helix sleep.com/pacMan to get 27% off everything on their site. The link is in the podcast notes. I recently had a great Substack live conversation with Aaron Parness. Some of you may or may not know Aaron is the son of Lev Parness who has been a guest on this program. Look him up. He played an incredible role in the Ukraine fiasco involving Donald Trump. Aaron has become one of the biggest independent content creators on short form media, including Tik Tok and other platforms. We had an awesome conversation. I'm having a bunch of these lives over on Substack. You can get them as they happen if you subscribe@substack.david pakman.com let's get into it.
Greg Jarrett
All right, we are live. I'm here with Aaron Parness. Aaron, great to see you. You know, every day is so busy and crazy that it's a miracle that we even found a way to do this today.
David Pakman
But I'm glad that we did.
Peter Doocy
I'm so excited. It's. The news cycle has been so, so crazy, I think ever since the big beautiful breakup, as I call it, between Elon and Trump. It just kind of has been nuts for literally a month and a half now. Um, and it hasn't stopped. From that to LA to Iran to now budget. I mean, it's just like more and more and more.
Greg Jarrett
I wanted to ask you about this because today I, I did a segment that it's out in my podcast, but the YouTube clip isn't out yet. And there's this kind of weird thing where I always want to tell my audience the truth. And I know that you also do. Yeah. And as we know, in politics, sometimes there's like the truth and the whole truth and the strategic truth and as it applies to this budget bill three weeks ago or whenever it was that the House first passed it.
Peter Doocy
Right.
Greg Jarrett
I went to my audience and I said, listen, we don't have the cards in the sense of how Trump said it to Zelensky. I believe there's going to be a fight in the Senate. I believe there's going to be holdouts. There's going to be posturing. I do think eventually they're going to pass the bill. They will get goodies until they get to fifth.
Peter Doocy
Right.
Greg Jarrett
And then bring in J.D. vance, and he's going to break the tie. At the same time, I don't want to demoralize my audience and tell them nothing we do matters. Don't call, don't. So I'm curious your take, because you're reporting on a lot of the same stuff. Your audience is not exactly the same as mine. How do you balance the desire to be honest, but also not to demoralize people and say, there's nothing we can do here?
Peter Doocy
Well, I mean, I think so. I'm a realist, but I'm also an optimist. Right. And I think that's how you balance it, by letting people know that there is optimism to be had. Right. Like, theoretically, right now, even today. I mean, Thomas Massie just came out and said that he has 10 Republicans with him who are willing to vote no. If I had to bet nine out of those, 10 are going to end up voting yes. Right? Like, and I say that, right? I say, like, hey, 10 are saying they're voting no. Odds are they're going to fold like they do almost every single time. But it's not a done deal. And I think that a big part of all these budget fights and these fights over bills and stuff is not necessarily the bill itself and the vote on the bill. It's the public narrative around it. Because all of these people that are voting for this bill right now are going to have to face voters in 2026. And if I tell followers and I tell folks on the Internet that, guys, it's a done deal, this is going to pass no matter what you do now, then there's going to be no loud noise around it, right? And what come 2026, they're not going to be held accountable by their voters because no one's going to know what they just voted on, at least. Now, the silver lining in all of this, yes, this bill will likely pass. Trump will likely sign it into law. But we just spent the past several weeks really banging the drum significantly about this Bill and all the bad provisions in it. And so people are going to remember that if we just kind of said, listen, realistically, this is going to pass. There's really nothing you can do, your calls won't work, your. Whatever, your. Your messages won't work. Then it would just. Then they would win the narrative game as well. If that makes sense.
David Pakman
That does make sense.
Greg Jarrett
And I think one of the difficulties of the positions we're in is we are both, at least I'll speak for myself, and you tell me if you agree. We are trying to inform our audiences.
Peter Doocy
Yeah.
Greg Jarrett
We are trying to provide a community that's an alternative, obviously, to the community that the right has built, but also the kind of, on the one hand, on the other hand, corporate media community.
Peter Doocy
Right.
Greg Jarrett
We want to create a different community. And part of creating a community is people having something to hope for, something to work on. And so part of it, I think, is we're in this place where we have the priority to inform, the priority to keep people engaged, and the priority of building a community. And sometimes it's sort of like, I'll give you another example. After the June 27th debate.
Peter Doocy
Hmm.
Greg Jarrett
Up until June 27th, I had said to my audience I didn't think Biden should have run for reelection, but as of today, I think he's the best shot. I think if he gets out, that in and of itself is so negative that we're worse after June 27th. I said, listen, guys, I believe the pressure is going to get to the point where Biden will. Will have to step down. Some in my audience said, you gotta stay positive. You're being defeatist. That's not gonna happen, David.
Peter Doocy
Yeah.
Greg Jarrett
And I just had to be honest. Right.
David Pakman
So I think it goes to the.
Greg Jarrett
Point of what sort of a space are we trying to create?
Peter Doocy
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think for me, it's a little different in the sense that, like, I don't. I rarely share my opinions on things. Right. Like, I try to keep it as just like, here are the facts. I'm not telling you how to think or what to think. I'm not gonna tell you my opinions to try to sway you one way or the other. Listen, if you think this bill is great, that's on you. It's not. That's not for me to tell you. It's this horrible thing. If you think it's gonna be great for your. For yourself and your family. But ultimately, I think that what the left has that the right doesn't have is truth and facts. When facts are presented to people, they often skew left. Right. This election was not decided by millions of votes. It was decided by 200,000 votes in three swing states. And it would have very well been different, in my opinion, if Biden dropped out earlier or honestly if the Harris campaign had a simpler message. Right. It was one or the other. And so I think that the difference between Republicans, Democrats is not far off, but the difference is the truth. And if Democrats continue pushing the truth, then people will vote blue. That's, that's what I've seen.
Greg Jarrett
What's your sense right now of the way that legacy and corporate media have reacted to what you do? And, and in a sense, what you do is even more on the, on the vanguard than what I do because you're, you're even doing it much more quickly. Like I react quickly to things. But it's a 24 hour cycle. I've been in play, you know, when last time we were in D.C. i hope that this is a peek behind the curtain that's appropriate. All of a sudden Aaron's gone and then you look and he's off in a corner or under a bookcase somewhere recording a video. And I'm realizing he's posting videos right now. He has stepped away for 90 seconds to post a video. What's your sense of how corporate media is reacting to the immediacy of what you do, the emotional salience? Even if you don't give your opinion of being right there in it and telling people right away, do you think that they're trying to figure out how to do what do or that they're just sort of give me your sense?
Peter Doocy
Yeah, they don't, they don't like what I do because it pushes them to do it better and faster. That's what I've kind of seen. So like, they don't like it in the sense of like they think that I am somehow taking their viewers or somehow competing with them. I tell everyone I'm not in competition with mainstream media or corporate media in any way because my viewers are either a young people who don't watch corporate media or older folks who are tired of corporate media. That is my demographic. It's not people who read the Washington Post every morning, even though I have some folks that do. But it's, that's not the overwhelming majority of folks that follow me. And so it's not a competition. I actually think we should work more with corporate media. The more people are informed, the better, in my opinion. But I think from a just general sense Corporate media is really trying to adapt to what I'm doing in the sense of they too are now on TikTok posting right away. They too are now trying to get their emails out to folks faster. I've spoken to a number of journalists and they. And they all kind of agree. And I will say this, I've spoken to a number of journalists who I guess like 6 months ago would have told me you would never catch me in front of a camera. But now, now you see them also appearing on a camera and it's not. I mean, corporate media isn't all bad, right? Like the execs and those at the top might be, in my opinion. But the journalists that work for the Times or work for the Post, they're really good journalists. They do the good work that I don't have the capacity to do. You don't have the capacity. Like we don't have the capacity to go and stake out a ditty trial every single day for 35 days. They are doing great work. And so I think it's important to distinguish the two. And I also think it's important to see that they are shifting. They are shifting. They want more like us, I guess, in a way to kind of amplify their work, at least from what I've seen.
Greg Jarrett
One of the really interesting things that I have to say, there's not that much to be optimistic about right now, but one of the things that I do have some optimism in is that last year, certainly, I don't know that elected officials on the left really understood the power of independent media in a way that they're starting to get it. And right now, I mean, just two weeks ago, I did an interview with Gavin Newsom across all the platforms. 2 1/2 million views.
Peter Doocy
Yeah.
Greg Jarrett
Your average appearance on corporate news media right now, 400,000. Really good. And that's the peak for the hour. That doesn't even necessarily mean the people that see that segment that takes eight minutes or whatnot. So is, are we right to be optimistic? And then I guess the concern from audiences sometimes is, listen, if all the Democrats start going to David and Aaron, then it's just going to be another version of the same thing that wasn't working.
Peter Doocy
I actually don't think so. To the second part, because if you. I get messages every day. A number of my followers are Republican, a number of them are Independent, like Democrats. It's not just Democrats following me. And really, it is breaking through. I mean, I think just in the past six months on TikTok, I've reached over a hundred million unique Americans. Like, that's not just Democrats. That's all of the above. And I think that I hope that we don't ever get to the point where they're, like. Where people are like, well, it's just corporate media again. And part of it is, like, at least in my sense, because I don't give people opinions. I really don't want to tell people what to think. And right now, if you watch CNN between the hours of 6 and 10, you're gonna have Abby Phillip with Scott Jennings for an hour telling people what to think. You're gonna have Jake Tapper trying to sell a book. It's not news anymore. If you go on Fox, it's not news. I mean, Fox really hasn't been used for a while. Same thing with msnbc. It's just Democratic talking points for six hours a night. So I really think that, like, they're trying to be us in a way, but it's not gonna work. It really isn't, because it's also, like, the people behind it. Right. Like, they're watching you for you, David. They're not watching you because you're gonna give them an opinion that they're gonna see on tv.
Greg Jarrett
That's one of the things I think is really interesting about the legacy media folks who have made the transition to independent. Because one of the real questions, like, I'll give you an example of someone who's doing it really well. Don Lemonade.
Peter Doocy
Yeah.
Greg Jarrett
When Don Lemon went from CNN to independent, there's a question, were people watching Don Lemon because they wanted to hear from Don Lemon, or were people watching Don Lemon because they're used to turning CNN on? When Don Lemon is on and he's in a nice studio with the staff and the lighting and the makeup and the entire thing. Now, the answer with Don is no. He's built something here, and people want to hear from. From Don Lemon. We're seeing other examples of this right now, some coming from the TV space, some from radio, some from writing. That, I think, is one of the differences with a lot of the legacy establishment, which is we know that on the independent side, there is a connection between the audiences and the people, whether it's for news, opinion, or a blend of the two. I don't know if that's objectively good or bad, but I do think it's something that ties us to our audiences.
Peter Doocy
I think it's good. I mean, here's the thing. If I. I'm shocked sometimes that people like my content because if you watch my videos, half of them are me, like, rolling out of bed with, like, messed up hair and just, like, no production, no anything. Like, last night I appeared actually on ABC News for the first time. And they did my makeup and, like, I look like a whole different person. And I was just like, I don't know that this is. This isn't me. Like, I am filming wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, it doesn't matter. And I think that's a really big part of. Part of this kind of independent media landscape. Like, when's the last time you saw Jake Tapper record a video walking down the streets? Like, that doesn't happen like, there. I guess legacy media was built on this idea of, like, production value over content in a way. And people watch CNN and Fox and MSNBC because it's so well produced and because it's so nice. But then when you actually listen to the content, it's not that great, in my opinion. And so I think it's actually better, these relationships that we're building, because it's not just between me and a viewer, it's the viewers themselves are building it on subsec and these chats. It's. We're really organizing in a way that you haven't really been able to before. I mean, you tell me you're a lot more produced than I am. Still less produced than mainstream. But, like, have you seen it at all? Which aspect of it, in terms of, like, that connection aspect because of kind of more so of like the lack of 1,000%. Yeah.
Greg Jarrett
Oh, completely.
David Pakman
Completely.
Greg Jarrett
And, you know, I think there's a pro. There's pros and cons to it.
Peter Doocy
Right.
Greg Jarrett
I think that some of the emails that people are willing to send me.
Peter Doocy
Yeah.
Greg Jarrett
They would never think to send to Jon Stewart. Okay, now, these are disgusting emails. Okay, so. So understand that what I'm saying here is really getting to sort of like the dark underbelly. But the upside of that is I will bump into people and I can.
David Pakman
There's just.
Greg Jarrett
There's a shared language and understanding of the space we occupy and what we're going for here that I think is unique to the space we occupy.
Peter Doocy
Yeah, no, I agree. And I will say this. I mean, the emails I get, I'm sure you get them too. They're insane in terms of, like, I get threats to my emails, I get, like, it's really bad. But I. Another part, like, on the flip side of it, I tell everyone, if you really want to know an answer to something or you want something more from me, email me. And I get a bunch of emails every day that I respond to, and I interact with people every single day on email. And I'm just, like, happy to answer your questions. I'm happy to give you more information about a story. I'm happy to even kind of hold your hand a little bit through this difficult time. Like, whatever I can do, I will. And maybe it's not good for my mental sanity doing that, but I think it's part of it.
Greg Jarrett
I want to shout out Adam Mockler, who just I saw in the audience. Always good to see. Adam, I want to ask you about something that's, like, sort of a little bit darker, but because you are a lawyer by trade and I am not, I'm interested in getting your take. I am seeing. I'm more worried than I've ever been about potentially becoming a target of this administration in a number of different ways. Yeah. We're seeing the lawsuits against media that say things Trump doesn't like. We are seeing targeting based on political opinion or public presence. There's another layer to this. Remind me, were you born in the U.S. thankfully, yes.
Peter Doocy
Thankfully in the sense that I'm like, I can travel outside the United States without fear right now.
Greg Jarrett
Right. So of course I'm a citizen, but I'm a naturalized citizen. So there's this whole other layer there. I mean, you know, we're almost six months into this thing. How worried are you about this administration weaponizing the DOJ against progressive creators?
Peter Doocy
Very worried. And I'd be lying to you if I said that it was going to be fine. I actually think that in the next four years, three and a half years now, there is going to come a time where this Department of Justice will directly target one of us. And I say that not because we may do something wrong, but because they want to test how far they can go and whether or not they can get away with potentially arresting one of us for something. Like, for example, I had a whole thing with them over the past month where people, Republicans online were like, arrest him because he's impeding ice. Because I made a video saying that I saw in Washington, D.C. yeah, theoretically, that I would not put this Department of prosecuting me for that, would not put it past this Department of Justice. And especially, I think, as we kind of go more, even investing into this, like, the more I'm fearful of, the more I get on the ground and, like, actually cover protests on the ground. Right. Like, I'd like to go to ICE raids and cover them and show people what. What the ICE agents are doing. I think in those situations, we open ourselves up as targets even more. And I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to make an example out of one of us. But I will say this on the flip side, if they try to do that, if they arrest me or if they arrest you, I know there is millions of people on the Internet who are going to literally stand up and say, this is not okay. This is not a situation where an arrest will just kind of be quiet.
Greg Jarrett
Yeah. On that note, I'm curious what you think the best defense against this is. Obviously, everybody understanding rights is a great starting point, but I do think two things. One, the bigger our platforms get, the bigger of an insurance policy we theoretically have. And then, number two, also, not, not to sort of think selfishly, but the more of us that are doing this, the less likely any one person is to be targeted. And Also, if there's 100 of us versus a thousand versus 10,000, if you take out one of 100, that's 1%. If you take out one of a thousand, that's 0.1%. The idea being make it less appealing to go after any one person because the ecosystem is so big.
Peter Doocy
Oh, for sure. 100%. And I think that's. I mean, if you watch what. How they've been arresting lawmakers right now. I mean, like with Lamonica McIver, New Jersey. Baraka, and I. I think whatever they've been. They've been trying to go after some others. It. They've been doing it in situations where it's, like, intentionally vague. Right. Like Lamonica MacGyver's arrest and indictment. What is an intentionally vague situation? And that theoretically, you can look at that and be like, maybe she may have unlawfully touched an ICE agent. It's not a hundred percent clear. I don't think she did anything wrong, based on my analysis. But a Department of justice attorney can look at that and be like, you know what? It's not a frivolous case. Arresting me for saying that ICE is coming to D.C. based on something that I've seen that would be a frivolous case. And I don't think they would do that. So I think that's another part of it is like, they. They're going to look at the place in the gray area. And I agree with you. I think that if we have thousands of creators in this space and they take out one of us, there's so many of us that are going to continue parroting that same language and continue to talk about these important issues so they can't silence everyone. That I don't think at least what.
Greg Jarrett
Are you thinking between now and the midterms? And if you want to weigh in on whether you think Democrats have a coherent strategy other than we aren't Trump and we're not authoritari, I want to hear that. I asked Brian Tyler Cohen this. He wasn't super convinced, I'll be honest. So question one is, do Democrats have some kind of coherent strategy between now and the midterms, but other than just hey, here's the budget bill, here's who you can call it'll probably pass, but maybe not, right? So there's that type of reporting. What do you think is most important for the average person who maybe doesn't follow political news super closely to be informed about that's happening in the country?
Peter Doocy
Oh, that's a. I'm going to think about the second question while I answer the first question. The first question, no, I don't think Democrats have a unified message at all right now. But no, I don't necessarily think they need one right now. I've said for a long time that if you look back to 2020 after Biden won in the six months, the same time period that we're in right now, afterwards Republicans in the house talked about Mr. Potato Head for six to eight months. That was their unified message. Right. And they still won the House in 2022. I think people have very short memories. I think the news cycle is very quick and I think the headwinds against the party in power in the White House are very strong after a president is elected. So I think that Democrats have a very if Democrats don't win the House, it's because they royally do something bad, not necessarily because they have a good message, in my opinion. I think Democrats should be very favored to take back the House. That's number one. I think as far as the second thing, one issue that not enough people are thinking about or talking about, I think it's the idea that our country, while it's more of a broad thing, that while our country may seem like it's falling apart on a day to day basis from a very macro level, it's not right. It is still being held together. The courts are doing their job. And I think if anyone ever is worried, if anyone ever is scared that this budget bill is going to pass or whatnot, you have to go back and look at the courts. The courts are blocking 99% of what Donald Trump is doing. They are. And Donald Trump is not legislating. He's legislating through executive power, and you can't do that. And a lot of his executive orders, they're not law. People don't know that they're not law. They're just him putting out a statement. That's really all it is. And a lot of them have been blocked and will continue to be blocked. And as far as his budget bill goes, everyone's scared about Medicaid cuts, snap cuts. I get it. Remember, they're not taking effect until after the midterm. So if you elect a Democratic House, a Democratic Senate, theoretically, I'm not saying it's possible, but there is a scenario in which some of these cuts can be rolled back.
Greg Jarrett
Can you talk a little more about the court successes? Because when on Monday I interviewed Charles Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority leader of the Democratic Senate right now, he said, we're crushing it in the courts. And a lot of people wrote to me and said, but, David, the Trump administration ignores court orders. So explain how the courts, it's more than just the few things Trump has ignored.
Peter Doocy
I mean, if you look at it, Donald Trump actually hasn't, by the letter of the law, ignored a court order. They capitulate at the end. Kilmar, Brego, Garcia, everyone's saying they ignored it, they ignored it, they ignored it. He's back in the United States. They did it, right? Like it, it may have been ignored for a period, but every single time a judge tells them to do something, they end up doing that. So that's number one. And I think a lot of people forget that. Number two is that Democrats are winning in the courts in almost every situation. Even take the Supreme Court ruling in a nationwide injunctions case. I don't think that was as big of a loss for Democrats as people make it out to be. Yes, nationwide injunctions can no longer be a thing in most cases, that's a big, big thing. But the Supreme Court left a key door open, and that's the class action. You can still block an executive order via class action. And that's exactly what's about to happen. And the Supreme Court completely said that was fine. Alito kind of screamed about it in his concurrence, but everyone else was saying that was fine. And so when you think about that, media is meant to drive clicks, right? Like the mainstream, like they want clicks. And so the headlines, they're going to tell you this is horrible ruling, doom and gloom, Democrats are awful. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. When you look at the actual. How is this going to be applied? Practically, it's not as bad as a lot of people are making it out to be. So I think right now, Democrats have a 90% plus success rate in the courts blocking Trump policies. Not every policy is going to get blocked, just like not every policy Biden instituted was blocked by Republican judges. I mean, it just. You're going to get some through. But the big ones, the birthright citizenship, for example, that's blocked. Or it will be blocked via this class action, I predict, and it will be blocked when it gets up to the Supreme Court again, because I don't think there are five votes to change the 14th amendment. So I just.
Greg Jarrett
Well, listen, Aaron, that's a relatively technical but incredibly important message for people to understand when they write to me and go, David, the courts aren't really blocking anything you're saying. No, no, no.
David Pakman
This is very significant.
Peter Doocy
It is very significant. And just because the Supreme Court, like, even on the immunity stuff, right? Yes, the Supreme Court gave Trump a big win on immunity, but when you read that immunity decision, it doesn't foreclose, ever prosecuting a president for everything. Right. Like, there are avenues in which these courts give Democrats the ability to kind of maneuver in. So it's not all, always all a loss. And while the nationwide injunction case is gonna be the big one everyone talks about, for every one nationwide injunction case, you have 99 in which Democrats are winning. Just minutes ago, a federal judge blocked Donald Trump's, literally, while we're on this, blocked and said that Trump's quote unquote invasion proclamation banning asylum is unlawful. Right. That's not gonna get many headlines. People aren't gonna think about it because it's good news. People talk about the bad news, not the good news. So look to the 99 good things, not just the one bad thing that comes up.
Greg Jarrett
In the last few minutes. We have. What do you see as the most important action that your audience can take when they learn about something? In the sense of. Some people say, I make content so that people understand the importance of the political system and they go out and vote. Voting is the thing I really want to inspire. Others would say, well, I create content so that other people become content creators and do their, you know, et cetera.
Peter Doocy
We.
Greg Jarrett
What do you see as, like, when you envision the prototypical viewer of yours, what are you encouraging them to do implicitly with the content you create?
Peter Doocy
Yeah, I mean, I make content to educate. That. That's my goal, is for you to feel more educated is for people to understand the news and these complex subjects. That's my goal. But what I do hope people get from my content is that activism is important and that using your voice is important. So whether that is at the polls or whether that is volunteering for your local democratic club or whether that's even going to the dinner table tonight and talking to your uncle or your aunt about politics and about what's happening in this world, I really firmly believe it's funny. The Washington Post tagline, democracy dies darkness. I believe democracy dies behind a paywall. And what I mean by that is when people aren't educated by the news, they are not informed to go make their voice heard. And their voice is powerful. And so what I want people to take away is that they can and should use their voice consistently to advocate for whatever they believe in to whoever. To whoever they're with. So that is. That is my one thing.
Greg Jarrett
Tech, sort of more technical question. You dabbling in any new platforms, new content formats, anything that. That you're trying out right now?
Peter Doocy
Yes. I'm going to be heavily investing in David's platform soon, YouTube.
Greg Jarrett
So next you'll be on the audio podcast with me.
Peter Doocy
So next I'll be with David there, but I'm launching a podcast soon, so stay tuned for that.
Greg Jarrett
Okay, Very cool.
David Pakman
Very cool.
Greg Jarrett
Aaron, always good to see you. There's probably 15 to 20 videos that you now need to go record just based on the news of the last 20, 26 minutes. So I'll let you go. If you're one of my followers. Make sure to subscribe to Aaron's substack. If you're one of Aaron's followers, I would love for you to subscribe to mine as well. Keep it up, Aaron. We're going to talk again soon.
Peter Doocy
Sounds good. Talk to you soon.
Greg Jarrett
Take care.
David Pakman
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Copper is the second most used material by the Department of Defense. Why did our foolish and sleepy leaders decimate this important industry? This 50% tariff will reverse the Biden administration's thoughtless behavior and stupidity. America will once again build a dominant copper industry. This is after all our golden age. So this is not how trade policy works. Trade policy, whether you find it interesting is one question. Some people might, some people might not. But if you understand trade policy, you don't roll out major tariffs in a randomly capitalized rant in the middle of the night like you're announcing a flash sale on gold bars. Trump claims he got a robust national security assessment from who? That Mypillow War Council or his ghost advisers? And he then declares that copper is vital for semiconductors, batteries, hypersonic weapons that we're now building. And Biden destroyed everything except copper. Production was up under Joe Biden. The US still produces more copper than almost every other country in the world. And calling this the golden age while ranting about copper doesn't transmit competence, it doesn't transmit knowledge, and it certainly doesn't transmit strength about national security. He's just like mixing metaphors with metals at this point in time. Okay, Trump continuing, quote, I'm so pleased to announce. I am pleased to announce that I am directing our great Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, to be interim administrator of NASA. Sean's doing a tremendous job handling our country's transportation affairs, including creating a state of the art air traffic control systems, while at the same time rebuilding our roads and bridges, making them efficient and beautiful again. He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important space agency, if only for a short period of time. Congratulations and thank you, Sean. Sean Duffy is not a scientist. Sean Duffy is a former MTV reality show contestant turned congressman who once said that America's national debt wasn't a big deal because he was only making $174,000 a year. So naturally, Trump giving him yet another job, putting him in charge of our space program doesn't make any sense. And even if you could handle roads and bridges, it doesn't mean you're ready to lead NASA. He can't handle roads and bridges and certainly can't handle air travel. As we have seen. It's sort of like, I don't know, putting the Surgeon General to coach the Olympic swim team because he knows about water and how humans need to drink it or something like that. Or it's almost like putting anti vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In charge of the Department of Health and Human Services, which Trump did. Okay. And then Trump continuing. The great Greg Jarrett says it's clear Trump was framed. The collusion narrative was a conspiracy itself. The Collaborators knew it was a lie, but they manipulated the dossier and the CIA to peddle their fairytale. Brennan and Comey manipulated the system and the document itself. They abused their power. Comey launched a case against Trump in violation of the FBI's regulations. He received deceived the FISA court with a dossier to gain a spy warrant. John Brennan used the dossier knowing it was garbage. Okay, I'm not going to read the whole thing. As you can see, it is just the rantings of a madman. Trump's including all the greatest hits here. It's like a Fox News fever dream. The Russia hoax, the phony dossier. Brennan and Comey are criminals. The FISA court was deceived. James Comey needs therapy. Robert Mueller was out to get Trump. And it all really hurt America. This is fan fiction. It's quoting Greg Jarrett like it's quoting the Bible. And so Trump is loudly and proudly and strongly unraveling in the middle of the night, announcing economic policy like it's a wrestling promo, appointing unqualified loyalists to run NASA and just frothing, frothing conspiracy theories. Is this what you want your president doing in the middle of the night? Not me. Kristi Noem thanked God after Texas floods killed more than 100 people. Why is it that she thanked God? Well, at least it's the case that more people didn't die. Let's take a listen to how she said it. I have thoughts.
Aaron Parness
Take a listen matters a lot. I'm extremely grateful for God's hand in that whole situation because hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people were saved. And this is a time for all of us in this country to remember that we were created to serve each other. God created us to take care of each other. And that when we do that, we are happier, we are more fulfilled, and we can walk alongside people on their worst day and help them get through it and come out the other side knowing that we can. That we can continue to live a life that God has purpose for us.
David Pakman
So I'm sorry, guys, I really have a problem with this shit now. Every time I talk about this, some people will write in and they'll go, david, you're not being respectful of her religious beliefs. She thanks God, I guess that more people didn't die. She says, well, God saved hundreds of people who otherwise might have died in the Father floods. There are some very obvious questions here that I know some more religious viewers take offense to, but seem like obvious questions if you're talking about civil government, empiricism, science and logic. Could God have prevented the floods altogether? Why didn't he? Could God have prevented anyone from dying in the Floods. If he chose not to prevent the floods because he's omnipotent. Right. Well, God didn't prevent the floods. He either sent the floods or allowed them. God didn't prevent anyone or I guess we would say everyone from dying. He either caused some people to die in the floods or allowed some people to die in the floods. But we should be thanking God that he saved some people. God would have had God not acted. A thousand people might have died instead of 100. Plus, thanks to God, we got the floods, we got some deaths. We still have Trump as president, but we should be saying God did such a great job here. Not for stopping the flood, not for preventing Trump from being president, not from preventing 100 people from dying, but God prevented more people from dying. If that's what you want to believe in private, okay. But this shit has no place in civil society. From the Secretary of Homeland Security making an official comment about a tragedy during a Made for TV cabinet meeting. Because that's what these are. Give me a break. My missing something. Let me know. Things are getting very unhinged, even by Fox News standards. Maria Bartiromo is still pretending to be a journalist. Rather than admitting she's just a Trump propagandist. She is now pushing a deranged conspiracy theory about Joe Biden and prostate cancer. Now, I'll be honest with you, I don't totally understand the conspiracy theory. I can't tell if she's suggesting that Joe Biden doesn't really have prostate cancer, but it was announced in order to take attention away from problems, or if she's saying he had prostate cancer all along and it was hidden. I don't totally understand the conspiracy theory. Let's see if we can understand.
Aaron Parness
We know that right after the tapes came out from the Robert her interview where we would have been able to see exactly how Biden answered those questions, suddenly the Democrats come up with an, you know, an admission that Joe Biden has prostate cancer. Right. I mean, you know, how does that show up so fast? I mean, look, we've been questioning Biden's health on this program from almost the moment he stepped into office. We know that.
David Pakman
Yeah. So I think she's saying the Biden administration or his team, I guess now the post presidency team of Joe Biden is faking the cancer diagnosis as a distraction from the interview tapes. I, I think that's what she's saying. Or is she arguing that he had cancer all along and it was covered up? That's not really the impression I get. This is how far they've fallen. It's not reporting. It's like bad fan fiction where Democrats stage medical disclosures as chess moves. And I can't help but chuckle because this is exactly the sort of stunt that Trump would pull. We've talked before. If Trump had a serious medical problem, would we be told in a reasonable and transparent way, or would they do everything they can to hide it? And you only have to go back to when Trump had Covid during that first term. Remember that the whole thing was made to make it look like Trump just had a little cold. But after the fact, we found out that the real reason that they staged this heroic and triumphant helicopter ride from the White House to Walter Reed when they did was because doctors were saying, we're worried if you don't go now, you may not be able to go there under your own power, in which case you're going to be taken out on a stretcher and that's going to look way worse. And fearing that imagery going public, Donald Trump decided out of precaution, I'm going to take a helicopter to Walter Reed. We know from that that they would have done everything possible to hide the truth of a Trump diagnosis. The speculation about Biden is much more accurately directed towards what Trump actually did subsequently. I remember this like it was yesterday because we were covering it while Trump was in the hospital. Trump's doctor and sometimes multiple doctors would come out and speak to the press and they would not answer direct questions. There was a question as to whether Trump needed oxygen. I'm going from memory, so go, go. Fact check me. But the topic of Trump needing oxygen came up and you would get answers from doctors like, the president has not been on oxygen over the last 24 hours, which obviously leads to the question. So hold on. Are you saying he did require oxygen? Previously, they didn't want to answer that. Ultimately, we found out he did get some oxygen. So all of the allegations about how Biden would try to cover this up and cover that up, the Trump administration did it with Trump's health. So it's not even good propaganda. It's lazy, it's sloppy, it's desperate. And this is where Fox News is going at this point in time. I only expect it to get even dumber. Now, we've got a phenomenal bonus show for you today. We're going to talk about the 50% Brazil tax rate. There's a political vengeance aspect to that tariff rate. Sorry, There's a political aspect to that which I want to discuss. Secret Service has suspended some personnel after the Trump assassination attempt, they've completed their investigation. And then finally, the latest polling in the New York City mayoral race has socialist Zo Ron Mamdani, or Madmani, as many Republicans wrongly call him, leading that race. So we're going to get to all of that and more on the bonus show. Sign up at join pacman.com get my substack newsletter letter@substack.davidpakman.com I'll see you then. Warning the following ZipRecruiter radio spot you are about to hear is going to be filled with F words when you're hiring.
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Title: ICE Runs Over Protesters, Trump Gives Up on Presidency
Host: David Pakman
Release Date: July 10, 2025
David Pakman opens the episode by outlining the key topics to be discussed:
He emphasizes the intention to provide a thorough and saved recording of the episode for future reference.
Timestamp: [00:07] – [06:08]
Pakman discusses a harrowing incident where ICE, under Donald Trump's orders, allegedly used force against protesters in San Francisco. An ICE SUV reportedly plowed through a crowd outside a courthouse, resulting in severe injuries to protesters. The host highlights the increasing aggression of ICE, depicting it as acting like an "occupying military force" aligned with authoritarian tactics.
Notable Quotes:
David Pakman [00:07]: "Under Donald Trump's orders, we now have ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, really behaving like an occupying military force, which, of course, is the authoritarian dream."
David Pakman [03:25]: "What authoritarianism looks like is not just the use of state violence, but the glee with which the state actors seem to carry it out. The boldness, the impunity."
Pakman criticizes the escalation of ICE's actions, suggesting a breakdown in law and order aimed at instilling fear and exerting control rather than ensuring safety and justice.
Timestamp: [06:08] – [09:00]
The discussion shifts to Donald Trump's recent comments regarding halted munitions shipments to Ukraine. Pakman scrutinizes Trump's evasive responses during a press interaction, highlighting his inability to provide clear answers about who authorized the munitions halt.
Notable Quotes:
Donald Trump [08:22]: “Well, I haven't thought about it because we're looking at Ukraine right now and munitions. But I have no, I have not gone into it.”
David Pakman [08:29]: "So he says, I haven't looked into who made the order, but we are looking into it now... He's being asked about a decision that was already made. The guy doesn't know what's going on."
Pakman's analysis suggests that Trump's lack of clarity and apparent disengagement indicate either cognitive decline or a deliberate distancing from presidential responsibilities, undermining effective leadership.
Timestamp: [20:21] – [26:26]
Pakman reviews a White House roundtable featuring African leaders, portraying it as a display of Trump's diplomatic ineptitude. He highlights moments where Trump displayed ignorance and lack of genuine engagement with the leaders.
Notable Quotes:
Donald Trump [20:21]: “Well, thank you. And such good English. Such beautiful. Where did you learn to speak English so beautifully?... I have people at this table who can't speak nearly as well.”
David Pakman [21:36]: “This is a diplomatic summit for Trump. It's like open mic night at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser... Trump is bored all of the time.”
Pakman criticizes Trump's dismissive attitude and superficial compliments, indicating a lack of respect and understanding in international diplomacy. He underscores the absurdity of Trump’s interactions, further emphasizing his disconnection from effective leadership.
Timestamp: [66:06] – [66:46]
Kristi Noem, presumably a political figure, responds to the devastating Texas floods by thanking God for saving hundreds of lives. Pakman expresses his discomfort with her religious framing of the tragedy, questioning the role of divine intervention in public emergencies.
Notable Quotes:
Kristi Noem [66:06]: “I'm extremely grateful for God's hand in that whole situation because hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people were saved...”
David Pakman [66:46]: “My problem with this shit now. ... Could God have prevented the floods altogether? Why didn't he?”
Pakman challenges the appropriateness of attributing natural disasters to divine action, advocating for a secular and logical approach to governance and disaster response.
Timestamp: [69:26] – [74:49]
Pakman addresses a conspiracy theory propagated by Maria Bartiromo regarding President Joe Biden's purported prostate cancer diagnosis. He critiques the lack of clarity and the implausibility of the conspiracy, comparing it unfavorably to past Trump administration misrepresentations of health issues.
Notable Quotes:
Maria Bartiromo [69:26]: “We know that right after the tapes came out from the Robert [sic] interview where we would have been able to see exactly how Biden answered those questions...”
David Pakman [69:59]: “This is how far they've fallen. It's not reporting. It's like bad fan fiction...”
Pakman denounces the conspiracy theory as unfounded and manipulative, emphasizing the irresponsible nature of spreading unverified claims, especially concerning a sitting president’s health.
Timestamp: [31:01] – [57:43]
Pakman hosts Aaron Parness, an influential independent content creator, discussing the dynamics of independent media versus corporate mainstream media. They delve into strategies for informing audiences, fostering activism, and building a progressive community.
Key Discussion Points:
Balancing Honesty and Optimism: Parness emphasizes the importance of presenting truthful information without demoralizing the audience, encouraging continued engagement and action.
Greg Jarrett [32:05]: “I believe there's going to be a fight in the Senate...”
Peter Doocy [32:27]: “If I had to bet nine out of those, 10 are going to end up voting yes.”
Role of Independent Media: They discuss how independent platforms like theirs offer alternatives to corporate media by being more immediate, less produced, and more directly connected to their audiences.
Community Building and Activism: Both hosts stress the necessity of creating a community that is informed, engaged, and proactive in political activism.
Facing Potential DOJ Actions: They express concerns over the Trump administration potentially weaponizing the Department of Justice against progressive creators, discussing strategies to mitigate risks, such as building large, resilient platforms.
Optimism Amidst Challenges: Despite the adversities, they maintain a hopeful outlook on the effectiveness of their strategies in influencing public opinion and legislative outcomes.
Notable Quotes:
Peter Doocy [34:47]: “If Democrats continue pushing the truth, then people will vote blue. That's what I've seen.”
Greg Jarrett [40:04]: “Are we right to be optimistic?...”
Peter Doocy [56:00]: “I really firmly believe it's funny. The Washington Post tagline, democracy dies darkness. I believe democracy dies behind a paywall.”
The interview underscores the critical role of independent media in maintaining democratic accountability, fostering informed citizenry, and resisting authoritarian tendencies.
In the concluding segments, Pakman criticizes Donald Trump's late-night announcements and policy declarations as incoherent and detrimental to national discourse. He further dissects Trump's statements on tariffs and appointments, labeling them as misguided and lacking in substantive policy foundation.
Notable Quotes:
David Pakman [72:50]: “Trump claims he got a robust national security assessment from who? That Mythillow War Council or his ghost advisers...”
David Pakman [73:54]: “This shit has no place in civil society...”
He also mocks Kristi Noem's religious justifications for disaster response, reinforcing his stance on the importance of secular governance.
Pakman emphasizes the chaotic and unprofessional nature of Trump's communication style, highlighting a worrying trend in presidential discourse that undermines rational policymaking and public trust.
This episode of The David Pakman Show presents a critical examination of contemporary political issues, focusing on the authoritarian tactics employed by ICE under Trump's directives, the latter's apparent disengagement from presidential duties, and the dissemination of unfounded conspiracy theories within mainstream media outlets. Through interviews with independent content creators like Aaron Parness, Pakman advocates for the pivotal role of independent media in fostering informed activism and countering corporate media narratives. The episode underscores the necessity of resilience, community-building, and unwavering commitment to truth in the face of escalating political challenges.
This summary provides an overview of the key discussions and insights from the episode. For a complete understanding, listening to the full episode is recommended.