Every aspect of the story is slowly collapsing

Summary

The David Pakman Show – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Every aspect of the story is slowly collapsing
Date: June 26, 2026
Host: David Pakman

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Brief Overview

In this episode, David Pakman explores the unraveling narrative of the Trump administration as multiple political and media strategies backfire. Through sharp critique and fact-based breakdowns, Pakman dissects ongoing international negotiations, domestic political blunders, media industry shake-ups, and the posturing of notable figures such as Tucker Carlson and J.D. Vance. The episode blends substantive analysis, media criticism, and engagement with audience commentary, all highlighting the shifting dynamics leading up to the 2026 midterms.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Reality Behind Trump’s Foreign Policy Narratives

• Fox News Echo Chamber: Pakman criticizes Fox News and Trump officials (notably UN Ambassador Mike Waltz) for promoting a "fantasy" narrative claiming the Iranian regime is desperate and Trump is negotiating from a position of unmatched strength.

• Political Reality: Pakman argues that reality is quite different; Iran has leverage due to the timing of the U.S. midterms and domestic political pressure in the U.S., especially within the Republican Party.

  "Iran has at least two reasons to think that time is on their side, and they are unfortunate for the United States. [...] That gives Iran leverage because of the timing."
  – David Pakman (05:02)

• Congress and Negotiation Dynamics: The episode details recent legislative pushes in the U.S. Senate against the Iran war—despite Trump’s pressure—and explains why Iran would logically stall negotiations.

2. Trump’s Lawsuit Backfires: January 6th Returns to the Spotlight

• Defamation Suit Against the BBC: Trump’s lawsuit over a BBC documentary risks reopening scrutiny into his role in the January 6th insurrection, as BBC's legal discovery could force Trump’s communications and intent into the legal record.

• Discovery as a Double-Edged Sword: Pakman draws on his own legal experiences to emphasize that plaintiffs, even former presidents, are exposed to cross-examination and document requests they may want to avoid.

  "You don't get to sue someone over your conduct on January 6 and then insist no one's allowed to examine your conduct on January 6. That's the point. That's not how civil litigation works."
  – David Pakman (17:02)

3. Trump Officials’ Shifting Stance on Gas Prices

• Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s Changing Tune: Pakman spotlights the contrast as Trump's Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, refuses to predict when gas prices will fall—despite having made specific forecasts weeks prior when the war began.

• Gas Prices as a Political Football: Critique centers on the shift from blaming or crediting presidents for gas prices to suddenly claiming energy markets are unpredictable when outcomes are poor.

  "Apparently he was not out of the gas price prediction business. He was in the gas price prediction business right up until people realized, damn, these gas prices are not coming down the way that they promised."
  – David Pakman (23:05)

4. Tucker Carlson’s Fleeting “Break” with the GOP

• Disillusionment... For Five Minutes: The show revisits Tucker Carlson’s dramatic pronouncement that he could no longer support the GOP, only to reverse course within days by endorsing J.D. Vance for president on Alex Jones’ show (28:23).

• Pakman’s Skepticism: Pakman warns the audience against interpreting Carlson’s move as a genuine shift in values, noting it’s strategic positioning for post-Trump “succession battles” within MAGA.

  "Tucker Carlson loves flirting with how politically independent he is, much more than he actually wants to be politically independent."
  – David Pakman (27:25)

  "He looked around and he goes, okay, I'm in a room. Trump is going to be leaving the room. So being Trump's friend doesn't really matter that much. Who's next? J.D. Vance."
  – David Pakman (31:45)

5. CBS News’ Ratings Collapse After "Moving Closer to Trump"

• Bari Weiss’ Tenure at CBS: Pakman highlights the network’s pivot to a pro-Trump editorial stance under Bari Weiss, firing established journalists and alienating the core audience.

• Business and Media Strategy Flaws: The strategic attempt to win MAGA viewers fails, with viewership plummeting—particularly in key demographics—providing a “real world experiment” in misguided media realignment (36:27).

  "They are turning to an unpopular policy as approval collapses... You don't grow by betraying your audience."
  – David Pakman (41:14)

6. The Trump Administration’s Desperate Policy Pivots

• “Desperation” Theme: Pakman argues that, with approval at 30% and policy failures stacking up, the White House is resorting to unpopular or symbolic distractions like ICE raids and natalist rhetoric rather than addressing core economic concerns.
• Misguided Immigration Messaging: Highlighting Tom Homan's commitment to increased ICE activity, Pakman critiques the administration’s turn to divisive immigration enforcement as political desperation, not substantive governance.

7. Culture War Distractions: "More Babies"

• Natalist Campaigning: J.D. Vance, Tucker Carlson, and others’ calls for Americans to have more children are criticized for ignoring economic barriers to family growth (such as childcare and healthcare costs), substituting cultural messaging for material policy.

  "If you want a higher birth rate... the most important thing is make life more affordable."
  – David Pakman (47:43)

8. Audience Correspondence and Political Analysis

• Questions on California Election Certification: Pakman fields concerns from viewers about potential GOP challenges to California’s 2028 results, downplaying the likelihood of extreme scenarios but acknowledging Republicans will attempt disruptive maneuvers.
• “Leaving the Left” & Loyalty to Audience: Pakman discusses the pitfalls of media figures abandoning their core principles for political convenience, warning that betraying the audience rarely pays off in the long run.

9. Observations on Trump’s Health and Cognitive Decline

• Audience Noticing Trump's Changes: Viewers write in about Trump's apparent cognitive decline—a topic Pakman weaves into his ongoing criticism of Trump's leadership capabilities.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Iran Negotiations:

  "If Iran were truly negotiating from weakness, as the administration claims, why is there still a struggle to get the deal done? They would be desperate to sign right away."
  – David Pakman (11:42)

• On the Perils of Discovery in Litigation:

  "Lawsuits are a two-way street. And once discovery begins, the other side gets documents, they get to ask questions, they get depositions, they get communications. Trump doesn't want to do any of that."
  – David Pakman (18:42)

• On The Shifting Gas Price Narrative:

  "Remember how Republicans spent years insisting that presidents deserve credit and blame for gas prices?... But suddenly now we're told, oh, you know, energy markets are very complex."
  – David Pakman (24:25)

• On CBS’s Declining Ratings:

  "It's like the worst business strategy that you can imagine: change what you're doing to lose your existing customers while failing to gain any new ones."
  – David Pakman (38:32)

• On Tucker Carlson’s Alleged Break with MAGA:

  "He's not leaving the movement. He's just having a disagreement as to who should lead the movement."
  – David Pakman (29:15)

• On Desperation Moves:

  "When an animal is cornered, sometimes it will lash out in violence. Desperation can also make people do stupid things and sometimes they are dangerous things and sometimes they are things that make absolutely no sense."
  – David Pakman (43:47)

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Notable Timestamps

• Opening Theme & Episode Preview: 01:26
• Fox News & Iran Reality Check: 03:24 – 10:50
• Trump’s Lawsuit/Civil Discovery Discussion: 16:10 – 19:40
• Gas Price Prediction Flip-Flop (Chris Wright): 20:18 – 24:25
• Tucker Carlson "Breaks" with GOP, Endorses Vance: 26:29 – 31:44
• Media Strategy Analysis – CBS Ratings Collapse: 36:27 – 42:00
• White House’s Desperate Pivots (ICE, Babies): 44:55 – 48:18
• Audience Emails and Substantive Q&A: 50:00 – 58:00

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Conclusion

Throughout the episode, David Pakman underscores a central message: narratives can be spun endlessly by politicians and media alike, but reality—and public reaction—eventually catches up. Whether dissecting the failed Iran strategy, the misguided optimism of Trump’s lawsuits, or the ratings collapse of a legacy media network, Pakman’s tone is incisive, fact-driven, and at times gleefully sardonic in his schadenfreude at the missteps of those in power.

For listeners and political observers alike, this episode serves as a meticulous breakdown of how a political story unravels under the weight of reality, and how media, political figures, and engaged audiences react to the slow-motion collapse.

Transcript

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[Medical Expert/Announcer]

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[David Pakman]

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[David Pakman]

The Trump administration keeps insisting everything is going according to plan. Whose plan? I have no idea, but it's all going according to plan. But today we're going to look at why that story is quickly falling apart. We're going to look at how Donald Trump's own lawsuit may be putting January six back on trial, why Fox News is selling a complete fantasy about Iran and the moment a top Trump official suddenly forgot all of his confident predictions about gas prices. Also remember Tucker Carlson's supposed break with the Republican Party. Seems like it lasted five minutes and there is a major media company paying a very steep price after trying to move closer to Trump. And I've got to tell you, I love it that they are paying that price. Also, we will have your emails, your substack comments, your YouTube comments, and so much more. Some of them are very productive and substantive, and some of them are just lame attacks. But we'll still look at a few. It's good to have a sense of what is coming in. We've got quite a program today. One of the most remarkable things about the people in the current administration is they have an uncanny ability to confidently invent a reality that simply does not exist by any objective measure. And they deliver it in a way that seems as though they know what they're talking about. I'm going to give you an example. Here is UN Ambassador Mike Waltz. That's his latest role after he was pushed out of the last one in the Trump administration. Here is what he said about the Iranian regime, Iranian leadership, etc. Right now. And, and just try to evaluate whether we have any reason to believe what he's saying is true.

[Politician/Trump Administration Official (possibly Mike Waltz or Chris Wright)]

Been quiet after we bombed the hell out of him last year. And the Iranian regime is absolutely desperate and are, you know, I think the president, no president has ever negotiated from such a position of strength. And the final piece, not Obama, not Biden, had a credible military option on the table that the Iranians have seen loud and clear that they're going to use.

[Medical Expert/Announcer]

So all of those environment, all of

[Politician/Trump Administration Official (possibly Mike Waltz or Chris Wright)]

those, let's give this a, let's give this a chance.

[David Pakman]

But yeah, yeah.

[Medical Expert/Announcer]

And I've said that many, you know, these things take time. I mean, the fall of the Berlin Wall took time and the ships are falling for Iran in a number of very constructive ways. And we see, we get information so quickly now. So I think everybody weighs in every step.

[David Pakman]

That's what it is. We're getting information so quickly that people might wrongly think this is going not, not going so well. What Mike Waltz lays out and what Martha MacCallum, the fox anchor, kind of helps him do. Sounds really cool, I guess, if you're a Fox viewer. But it ignores reality. Do we care about reality or don't we? And a lot of these people don't. If you are Iran right now, you don't just negotiate based on military capability. We know that we have the stronger military. Now, that being said, Iran's military is not something to laugh at. But we have the stronger military. There's no question. But you don't just negotiate on that. You do have to negotiate based on political leverage. And right now, Iran has at least two reasons to think that time is on their side, and they are unfortunate for the United States. It doesn't bring me pleasure to say this, but this was an optional war that Donald Trump chose to execute. The first point of leverage for Iran is that the midterm elections are just months away. And Republicans are worried that the Iran war is politically toxic because it is. Polling has shown support for the war is very weak. And Republican lawmakers are understandably nervous about how this Iran war could affect their own chances of reelection. Can they hold the House? Can they hold the Senate? And the timing of this is unfortunate for Trump because we signed the letter. It's a beautiful letter. Which starts the 60 day period of negotiation. After 42 hours of negotiation, JD Vance left Switzerland because he's like, this isn't really going too far. The Iranian negotiators walked out because Trump threatened to bomb them. And all of a sudden, Iran is in a position where they would be thinking, hold on a second. 60 days would put us somewhere around August 19th. I think that's when the 60 days started. Within weeks of August 19th, Americans are going to start early voting, vote by mail and early voting for the midterms. Does Trump really want to go back into an unpopular war starting just weeks before voting starts? No. That is something Republicans definitely don't want Trump to do. That gives Iran leverage because of the timing. Secondly, Congress has become a pressure point. Just this week, there was this very kind of ugly public fight between Donald Trump and Republican senators over the Iran war. And the Senate voted with, I think it was four. It's sort of been gutted like it never really had teeth. But the PR point is the, is the point, I believe four Republicans joined Democrats, Fetterman didn't vote with Democrats, and then two senators were missing, something like that, right? To say, that's it, no more of this Iran war. And Trump was furious and he goes, these rhinos and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And even after huge pressure from Trump, that's the way they voted. And so now Congress and the Senate is becoming a pressure point for Trump that is also leverage from Iran. So think, if you are Iran, why would you rush to make any concessions today? If you're analyzing that, Trump could be even weaker in two months after the 60 days, if it starts getting into. Trump said he was going back in if we didn't come to a deal. If you're Iran, and I hate to say it because I despise these outrageous authoritarian, theocratic regimes, I don't think Iran should have a nuclear weapon, all this stuff. I'm just being realistic. If you're Iran, why are you going to rush to make a deal today? You might be dealing with a far more diminished Trump come the end of summer. Why would you negotiate from a position of panic when the United States and Trump are facing domestic pressure, and it's getting very difficult here at home. It doesn't mean that Iran has the upper hand or are winning or are even in a good position. But it is a reality that Trump is not negotiating from a uniquely unmatched position of strength that is just incredible. And negotiations don't happen in vacuums. Politics and public opinion and congressional pressure, election calendars, all of this stuff affects the way that this goes. And Mike Waltz is just not describing reality. He I'm sure that what Mike Waltz is describing is what they would love to have as a situation. I'm sure that what Mike Waltz is describing is what they would love voters to believe is going on, but it is not what's going on. Iran is not seemingly desperate. If Iran were desperate, they would be behaving very differently. Trump is the one constantly declaring victory. We won this war, like 40 times at this point. And all of it betrays anxiety and lack of confidence, not the certainty that you're winning and you're doing the right thing. And one of Trump's biggest negotiating weaknesses has always been he's obsessed with announcing quickly. And this is potentially a third point of leverage for Iran. Trump has announced that he won so many times that that also would be a reason not to go back into this war. And that puts Iran in a pretty strong position. You see the elections, you see the congressional vote, you see that Trump is already trying to get all of the political benefit of announcing the win. And we've seen these mistakes before. We've seen them in past presidents. We've seen them before with Donald Trump. Just because we are militarily superior, and we are, doesn't mean that we are superior in negotiating. These are related things, but it's not all one thing. One other thought about this, there is an irony that by going on TV as Mike Waltz did, and insisting that the other side is desperate, you're trying to shape public perception here more than you are trying to actually move forward the negotiations and ask yourself, if Iran were truly negotiating from weakness, as the administration claims, why is there still a struggle to get the deal done? They would be desperate to sign right away. So viewers are going to keep being told this sort of stuff. Hopefully people can see through it. And there is a real risk that if this extends into closer to the election, it is going to backfire dramatically for Republicans, which I would love to see. Donald Trump and his lawyers have accidentally done something that Jack Smith never got the chance to do as special prosecutor. Trump and his lawyers listen to this. They may have created a pathway to put January six back under the microscope because of a lawsuit that Trump filed. This is one of those incredible stories where as, as is often the case, Trump's biggest problems are becoming self inflicted. It's not Jamie Raskin or Antrifa or whoever. Prosecutors didn't do it. Trump did it. Here's what happened. You might remember that Donald Trump sued the BBC for $10 billion over this documentary called Trump A Second Chance. Now, the BBC acknowledged there was a portion of the documentary that gave the impression Trump directly called for violence on January 6. It was edited together in a way that gave that impression. BBC admitted we made a mistake on that. Trump sued. And the problem is that when you file a defamation suit, you don't just get to show up and tell your side of the story. The defendant gets discovery. And BBC's lawyers immediately realized if Trump says the documentary falsely portrayed his role in the January six riots, then his actual knowledge, his intent, his state of mind, his conduct becomes relevant evidence. In other words, now, January 6th is part of Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit. And the BBC is now trying to get broad discovery into all of Donald Trump's communications from that time, all of the records from around January 6, including a lot of the stuff that special counsel Jack Smith was relying on during his investigation. And Trump's lawyers now seem to be panicking. They are going to the BBC, they're going to the judge in the BBC case and they're saying, we're moving forward with the lawsuit. But these discovery requests, they're excessive, they're broad, they can't be permitted. And what they want to argue is that BBC is turning the lawsuit into a trial about January 6, which isn't supposed to happen, but that's kind of what happens when you make January 6th central to your lawsuit. Now, I had a situation I've described before where we did an interview and we got one of these scary legal letters from an elected official's high priced lawyer. And I lawyered up. And it's expensive when you do that. And my lawyer came to me and he didn't, he didn't have literal tears in his eyes, but he clearly didn't like the advice that he was giving me. And he said, listen, I am for speech. This is my lawyer speaking. I am for speech. And rarely do I give the advice that someone should take down speech of theirs. Rarely. But although I think you would ultimately prevail, I think you would ultimately get your legal fees covered. You could accrue multiple six figure legal fees to fight this threat. If they were to sue you for defamation, and especially at that time, this was years ago, I was not in a position to do that fight. I don't think we could have raised that legal defense fund. I think now we could. I don't think then we could have. And so he said, based on all this, I, it pains me to recommend this, but I think that you should take the interview down. And we did. And one of the things that he told me is I suspect they won't really want this to go forward if they sued or to even sue, because you would get discovery and they don't want that. But multiple six figure legal fees. So anyway, the point is, the threat of discovery can be a big factor in people choosing to do or not do certain legal things. You don't get to sue someone over your conduct on January 6 and then insist no one's allowed to examine your conduct on January six. That's the point. That's not how civil litigation works. And this has backfired before. By the way, there's another Florida defamation case this week where a judge reminded Trump's attorneys Trump must comply with discovery. If you want to keep pressing forward, he must provide the required documents, which they have not done yet. And I love what the judge said, which is there is no presidential exemption to discovery because Trump filed the lawsuits. If you file an optional lawsuit, you can't then argue, well, I'm the president, so we don't have to comply with discovery. Well, if you want to push the lawsuit forward, if you insisted on pursuing the lawsuit, you've got to follow the same rules as every other plaintiff. And that's what's coming up with Donald Trump. He loves filing lawsuits. He imagines himself controlling the narrative and he can make accusations, generate headlines. I'm suing for $11 billion or whatever. Everybody's defensive. But lawsuits are a two way street. And once discovery begins, the other side gets documents, they get to ask questions, they get depositions, they get communications. Trump doesn't want to do any of that. So what's happening, and it's a real delight, is that Donald Trump's lawyers are recognizing some of these we thought were easy defamations cases. They could actually be terrible for Trump. Instead of putting the BBC on trial, we may be putting Trump's actions around January 6th on trial. And we don't want to do that because Trump cannot resist filing these lawsuits. I assume it gets dropped, but if it doesn't, that discovery is going to be fascinating. Sometimes cooking healthy meals at home just feels like another job eats up your schedule. Ordering delivery all the time drains the wallet can be a gamble. Nutritionally, the sweet spot for me is high quality delicious healthy meals without spending a bunch of time or money. And that's been from Forkful. Our sponsor. Forkful delivers ready to eat chef cooked meals right to your door. Fresh never frozen meals from Forkful use simple ingredients, high quality protein like grass fed bison and wild caught salmon. No weird preservatives or filler ingredients, just delicious chef prepared dishes you can heat and have ready in under three minutes. I recently had the garlic butter salmon with Spanish rice. It felt restaurant quality. Buttery salmon fluffy rice. I couldn't make it that way. Crisp broccoli and real flavor without feeling heavy. Highly recommend that one. When you need something fast and affordable but you still care about the ingredients, you care about the quality, Forkful is the way to go. Go to David pakman.com/forkful and use the code PACMAN for 50% off your first box plus 10 10% off your next three orders. The link is in the description One of the best parts of a good meal is sometimes something people overlook having great bread. When a meal includes fresh warm bread, everything feels a little bit better. Which is why I love our sponsor Wild Grain. Wild Grain is the first baked from frozen subscription box for sourdough bread, breads, artisanal pastries and fresh pastas. Everything arrives frozen bakes in 25 minutes or less with no thawing required. Boxes are fully customizable. You can do variety gluten free vegan protein options. I love the garlic butter demi baguette. Comes out crisp on the outside, soft in the middle. Really easy Weeknight dinner feels much more complete with it. Imagine fresh bakery quality bread, pastries and pasta at home with no trips to the store. Wild grain has over 40005 star reviews and has been voted best food subscription box by USA Today three years in a row. For a limited time, get $30 off your first box plus free croissants for [e-mail] pacman or use the promo code Pacman at checkout. The link is in the description One of the funniest things in politics is watching people suddenly discover that there is uncertainty in the world. After spending months and months and months acting so confident and telling us everything is going to be exactly as they say. And I know I'm being vague, but I'll give you an example of exactly what I'm talking about. Watch this video of Donald Trump's energy secretary Chris Wright. Now, Jonathan Karl, the reporter, asks a really straightforward question, which is, when can we expect gas prices to get back down to where they were before the war? Now, just to remind everybody, gas prices are off of their peaks. They peaked at 456. They're down to about 385 still, by Trump's standards, especially when Biden was president, a very high number. Before the war, they were at like 273 a gallon. So we're like still over a gallon, a dollar per gallon higher than where we were. Jonathan Karl goes, when are the gas prices going to come down? And Wright responds, oh, you know, predictions. I'm out of that business. Take a listen to this.

[Politician/Trump Administration Official (possibly Mike Waltz or Chris Wright)]

How soon do you expect gas prices to get down to the levels that

[David Pakman]

we saw before this war?

[Politician/Trump Administration Official (possibly Mike Waltz or Chris Wright)]

Oh, I'm long out of the business of predicting oil or gasoline prices. But they will continue to head down. Flows of oil and natural gas through the straits have already returned to normal and they will continue that way whatever happens with the negotiations with the Iranians.

[David Pakman]

He says he's long out of the business of predicting oil and gas prices. Not that long, dude, because we have the tape, we have a video of Chris Wright doing exactly that. And it wasn't a decade ago in some other job, and it wasn't before he worked for Trump, and it wasn't before the war. While serving as Trump's energy Secretary during the war with Iran, Kristen Welker asked him the same question. When can Americans expect gas prices to come down? Trump kept insisting it's going to be very quick and they were going up, up, up. And this, this is March, this is just weeks ago. Wright's answer was very clear, which is when the conflict ends, it'll just be a few weeks and then we're going to be back down. Take a listen to this and remember, he's out of this business.

[Medical Expert/Announcer]

Now being here, I want to start right there on gas prices. Top of mind for Americans. Since the war began, the national average price for Gasoline is up 24% and diesel prices have jumped 32%. Mr. Secretary, when can Americans expect to see the price of gas come down?

[Politician/Trump Administration Official (possibly Mike Waltz or Chris Wright)]

Yeah, after the conflict is over, you'll start to see prices come back down. But Iran immediately going to impede flow through the Straits of Hormuz, launching attacks at all of their neighbors, even those completely uninvolved in this conflict. Just illustrates why it's so important to defang this regime. It's been the greatest supporter of terrorism in the world, the greatest killer of American soldiers. Over the last 20 years has been Iran and we haven't fought a conflict against them until this. It's just this president did not want to kick this can down the road to the next administration the world simply can't see.

[David Pakman]

How nice of Trump, huh?

[Politician/Trump Administration Official (possibly Mike Waltz or Chris Wright)]

A nuclear armed Iran. And so I'm proud of his actions. But yes, it is a short term disruption in the flow of energy.

[David Pakman]

Very sure. It's just going to be a question of weeks we once this thing ends. So let's review March. I'm going to predict exactly what's going to happen and it's going to be really great. By the way, June, I'm not in the business of predicting what's going to happen. It's a very interesting transformation. Apparently he was not out of the gas price prediction business. He was in the gas price prediction business right up until people realized, damn, these gas prices are not coming down the way that they promised. And I believe that that's the key point. The real story is not that he suddenly thinks it's too difficult to forecast. The story is that the earlier forecast aged like milk. And now, I mean it's funny, predictions disappear when they're wrong. And we've seen this like with these cult people who go, we're going to be raptured on April 21, 2012 or whatever the date is. Then it doesn't happen. And they go, I, I'm out, I'm out. God works in mysterious ways. I don't know what's going to happen. There's a broader pattern in that. Remember how Republicans spent years insisting that presidents deserve credit and blame for gas prices when gas prices move in a favorable direction? It's proof of good leadership and they are competent and elections matter and every dip in prices was evidence. We're so good as Republicans, it's working. Gas prices are coming down. But suddenly now we're told, oh, you know, energy markets are very complex. Nobody can predict anything. It's a real black box. We don't know where prices are going. Everybody's cautious all of a sudden. And it is amazing how gas prices transform from. You can grade a president by looking at gas prices. It's like a report card into unknowable force of nature. Totally impossible to make any sense of what's going on. That's why I think this change matters. Campaigns love to run on predictions. If you're building up support for a war, you want to make predictions that it's all going to be fine. And then when you start getting judged as to Whether that happens, you don't want that anymore. You don't want to make forecasts. And if it's not going well, you go. Forecasts are so difficult. It's all, It's a tough business to be in and all of this other stuff. These people are quickly realizing we screwed this up. And I believe now Trump knows that the Iran war was a mistake politically. Whether he'll ever accept that it was a mistake geopolitically or from a foreign policy perspective is a different question. But at least as far as his domestic approval, he knows that it's been a disaster. The people around him obviously know that it's been a disaster. And they are now left in positions where they have to try to defend predictions they've already made, or when it's pointed out that that didn't go quite right, they'll try to blame Biden. Maybe they'll blame Obama, maybe they'll blame Democrats, maybe they'll blame the Qatari and Pakistani intermediaries or Iran, or they might even blame JD Vance as they're setting up to do. But they never just take responsibility, despite arguing for decades that the most important thing Republicans do that Democrats don't is take responsibility. Trump's never taken responsibility for anything. He's never apologized for anything. He's never said, I made a mistake. He finds someone else to blame. And it doesn't matter how many gotchas you get on these people, they will never concede that they simply screwed up. Earlier this week, Tucker Carlson had a moment that got a lot of attention. He was talking about the Republican Party. He was talking about foreign policy, war with Iran, and he made it clear, I am breaking with the Republican Party. I'm not voting for Republicans. I'm leaving the party. Remember this? We just looked at this two days ago.

[Tucker Carlson]

I would not support the Republican Party. There's no chance I would support the Republican Party. Not to support the Democratic Party. I don't know what I'm going to do. But at this point, you know, how could you support, how could I or any American voter support a political party that's not loyal to the United States, that puts the interests of a foreign country above those of its own citizens? Like, that's, that's, you know, it's not possible to vote for people like that. And I'm not going to. And I think I voted Republican my entire life. I worked at Fox News. I've. CNN, MSNBC. I, I've been a consistent defender for 35 years of the Republican Party. I mean, very consistent. Defender. But there's no defending this because it's immoral and it's exactly the opposite of what a political party in a democracy is charged with doing, which is representing its own voters, its own citizens, its own nation. And they're not doing that. So, no, I'm out. And if I'm out, I'm out.

[David Pakman]

That didn't last very long. Now, I said at the time, let's not get carried away. I told you two days ago that one thing we've learned over the years is that Tucker Carlson loves flirting with how politically independent he is, much more than he actually wants to be politically independent. And sure enough, it lasted about five minutes. Tucker Carlson appeared on Alex Jones show. Now, by the way, I know a lot of you are going to write in and go, what do you, what do you mean, Alex Jones show? He ended his show. Infowars is done. I have no idea. I guess now Alex Jones, after the big hubbub of how Infowars is over, I guess Alex Jones has a new show called Alex Jones Live. I don't know, but he's still on the air and, and Alex Jones complains to Tucker, JD Vance is being treated so unfairly. And Tucker goes, oh, I would support J.D. vance for president. I thought you just said you're out and you're no longer voting for Republicans. Five minutes ago. Take a listen to this.

[Tucker Carlson]

Well, will you support J.D.

[Politician/Trump Administration Official (possibly Mike Waltz or Chris Wright)]

vance?

[Tucker Carlson]

I think he's great compared to Rubio, obviously. He's great compared to Rubio, obviously. Look, I'll support the best person. I, I always have liked J.D. vance enormously. I think he's really smart. He's in an impossible situation. I think he's doing his best. I strongly disapprove of, obviously, as I've said 100 times of this war and of what's, oh, I love how Trump and others have been blaming Vance when he's volunteering to go stop it, when internally it's confirmed he tried to stop it just like you did. I love how the guy that was right, he's the bad guy now in the war, is his fault. It's the people who tell the truth who are punished. Is the people who try to do for selfless motives the right thing, who are punished.

[David Pakman]

Look at that, look at, look at what happened. Tucker didn't become a Democrat, which we knew he wouldn't. But he's not suddenly this clear thinking independent. He's not rejecting maga. He's not deciding, oh, Republican politics are so broken. I get he moved from Team Trump to Team Vance. He's not leaving the movement. He's just having a disagreement as to who should lead the movement. And by the way, Trump's going to be gone regardless. So the whole, like, should Trump lead the movement? Stops being a question when Donald Trump's term is over. So I think this is a very important distinction. There are a lot of people interpreting Tucker's criticism of Trump over Iran as evidence that he's finally breaking from the Republican Party. He's not. Tucker is doing this very old tradition that we see inside political movements where he's positioning himself for the succession battle. MAGA might not want to admit it. There's a conversation happening about what's after Trump. Is it Vance? Is it Rubio? Is it someone else? Is it Tucker? Is it Marjorie Taylor Greene, who I guess is also leaving the Republican Party? And there are people, even some on the left, falling for this going, man, I don't know. Tucker and Marjorie, especially now that they're leaving the Republican Party, they might be the exact types of independent thinkers we need. No, no. If. If you're on the political left and those are your values, Tucker and Marjorie Taylor Greene are the last thing that we need. Now, the other aspect to this is that there's a reality where Trump's 80. He can't run again unless he changes the Constitution, which I don't think he's going to do, and someone is going to inherit the movement. Tucker clearly sees JP Mandel, JD Vance as a potential heir. And he doesn't only say Vance is better than Rubio or that Vance is right about Iran. He goes, JD Is really smart, and I've always liked JD So if that's what you think about JD And JD Might be Trump's successor, where in what way are you leaving the Republican Party? And the truth is that when you look at Tucker and Vance, they're closer within the Republican coalition than might be obvious. They're both skeptical of foreign intervention.

[Medical Expert/Announcer]

They.

[David Pakman]

They position themselves as populists. Whether they are, you know, that's a kind of different question. They appeal to the nationalist wing of the party. They've built brands around. The elites have failed us. And the funny thing is, Tucker spent all this time building an image as an outsider who I'll challenge the establishment. And then he gets close to breaking up with the Republican Party, and I might do something different. But then he never leaves.

[Tucker Carlson]

He.

[David Pakman]

And he starts trying to shape the movement. So I am not falling for this whole, like, Tucker's quitting Republicans. He didn't abandon Maga he's not politically homeless. He looked around and he goes, okay, I'm in a room. Trump is going to be leaving the room. So being Trump's friend doesn't really matter that much. Who's next? J.D. vance and the Republican civil war doesn't disappear. They're moving into the succession phase. So I continue to be extraordinarily skeptical about Tucker. And here's the real concern to me, which I alluded to earlier. Republicans screwing up succession planning. That's their task, to screw up. It's sort of like have, have at it, screw it up in any way you want. Vance Rubio, rip yourselves apart, have a Civil War, have 50 candidates do whatever the hell you want. I don't want to see people on the left fall for this whole like we should look more to Tucker and Marjorie Taylor Greene because they're willing to criticize their own side or in totally self serving ways rather than actual people on the left whose values we align with don't fall for that crap. And I've seen some content creators and others fall for it. I'm not falling for it. I don't believe my audience is going to fall for it. But if there's people you know who are falling for for it, don't let them. Because it's a very bad idea. Most VPN companies sell privacy the way that diet pills sell confidence. A lot of marketing, not much proof. But the thing is that your data is constantly being tracked. That is why I like our sponsor Private Internet Access. It is a VPN that is different because they've proven multiple times in court they are not logging your activity. When authorities have said turn over the logs, they don't have them because they don't keep them. And you can verify that for yourself because of their open source software. They will hide your IP address, encrypt your connection, protect your data, let you access content not always available in your region. It's easy to use. You turn it on with one click and that's it. You forget about it. Use it on unlimited devices with a single Account, phone, tablet, TV, gaming console. Choose from servers in more than 91 countries and it is optimized for lightning fast streaming and downloads. Right now you can get 83% off. That's just 203amonth plus four extra months for free at PIA vpn.com/pacman the link is in the description if you're trying to get away from cigarettes or vaping, one of the first practical questions is what you replace them with. Especially if you're not ready to eliminate nicotine immediately, check out our sponsor, Zipix Nicotine Toothpicks. Zipix uses quality plant derived nicotine with a very short list of ingredients. It gives you another option for managing nicotine with no smoke or vapor. Zipix comes in six flavors. There's two or three milligram options lets you control the nicotine as compared to a cigarette or vape. They're also easy to use throughout the day and in places where smoking or vaping isn't allowed or it would require you to step out conspicuously for a cigarette, which can cause other problems. Zipix also offers caffeine and B12 toothpicks if you're reducing nicotine altogether or don't even use it at all. If you're tired of cigarettes or vaping, try Zipix Nicotine TOOTHPICKS and get 10% off your first order with code PACMAN@ ZIPIXTOOTHPICKS.COM the link is in the description. You must be 21 or older to order. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. I'm truly delighted to report to you that CBS is experiencing a total ratings collapse after pro Trump Barry Weiss turned the network basically into a mouthpiece for the Trump administration. You know, for years we've been told the same story, which is if you want to succeed in the media, you've got to move closer to Trump, become more maga. Trump's winning. He's doing everything great. This is what the right wingers would say, stop challenging Republicans, appease the right, get close to Trump. CBS is running a real world experiment based on that theory and the results are just so ugly. Here's the news. Under Bari Weiss, CBS News has gone under this sort of transformation where veteran journalists were pushed out. They shifted their editorial priorities to try to be more favorable to the Trump administration. A lot of longtime viewers of 60 Minutes and other shows notice this is like getting very friendly to Trump. You're trying to make Trump look better. You are canceling or covering up or softening critical reporting about the Trump administration. And the numbers bear it out. CBS Evening News has been struggling. The problems are now hitting CBS Mornings. There's a new report that the Mornings show saw a ratings decline after they fired 60 Minutes Scott Pelley recently. Total viewership down 11% overnight in that critical 25 to 54 demographic, which is really the audience that's most valuable because advertisers care about it. That's who they want to sell to. That 25 to 54 group dropped by 28%. They lost nearly a third of their 25 to 54. And I believe that viewers are sending a message. And the message is, we don't like this crap. This is not a good change. Now, by the way, this is happening as there is talk of Bari Weiss having a larger role at CNN in, in guiding programming. And what happened is they made these changes. They became more friendly to Trump and Pro Maga and all this stuff. And the audience didn't go, wow, I love this. It's just so nice to hear great things about Donald Trump and Marco Rubio and Steven Miller. They didn't want that. They didn't. Nobody was sitting around going, you know what CBS could really use? We need a makeover that sucks up to Trump. The people who were watching watched because they liked it. And in comes Bari Weiss. And management starts changing all of it. And a whole bunch of people said, I'm out of here. And I think that this is as a media analysis story. There's a myth that if you move to the right, you unlock a new audience, that people will just show up because they'll go, now that they're not placating the far left. I like it. Why would hardcore Magaz switch to cbs? If you're watching Fox News and you like it, presumably because you watch it and then you hear, oh, CBS went Pro Maga. Why would you switch to it? You've already got Fox News or you already have Newsmax or Rumble, you know, the entire pro Trump media ecosystem that's been built for them. Mike Pillow tv, Lindell TV or whatever. And meanwhile, what CBS is doing, it's very low energy. They're chasing viewers that they're unlikely to win anyway, but they alienate the audience that they had. And it is like the worst business strategy that you can imagine, where you go, let me find a way to change what I'm doing to lose my existing customers while failing to gain any new ones. And am I a bad person for admitting that I'm enjoying it? And I want to distinguish. I don't want to see reporters, producers, or staff members suffer. Even like Tony decouple, who I've met a couple of times and spoke. He's a very nice guy. And it's. We could go, oh, well, he should quit in protest. Cool, fine. But the point is, I don't want individuals here to be suffering. But this is a very dark media environment. And one of the few signs that reality matters is that the viewers of CBS are voting with their remote controls or their mice and keyboards or their phones, depending on where they're watching cbs, they're going, there's a change. I don't like the change, therefore I react by leaving. And it's an important message, I think, to send the executives as well, which is convince. They may be convinced that the path to success in this environment is to appease Trumpism. And we've watched media companies become terrified of criticism from the right and start changing themselves in response. And so when we see the strategy fail, it's like a silver lining. It's this little shred of sunlight breaking through a very bleak landscape, suggesting there isn't infinite gullibility. There's a lot of gullibility, but it's not infinite gullibility. And there are consequences for abandoning your identity as a news channel, disrespecting the people who made you successful in the first place. And by that I mean people like Scott Pelley and also the audience members. And I'm satisfied seeing this happen. I'm satisfied watching executives create controversy, push out respected journalists and then discover, oh my God, our viewers are gone. And it's not good for cbs. But I would argue it's good for the broader principle that your audience matters. And it's a simple lesson of you've got to respect the audience. You don't grow by betraying your audience. I mean, listen, if you look, are there exceptions to this? I guess Dave Rubin, at some point in his trajectory, had a bigger audience when he left the left than when he was, I guess like a co host on the Young Turks. He, he did peak, but then look at where his channel is now, where the views are way down. And it's just, it's all formulaic in some way. And I think, you know, some. I've told the story of when a big radio executive came to me. He didn't say, sir, I was way younger and he didn't respect me that much. But out of curiosity, he said, would you just like become right wing if you knew that there was more money in it? And I said, no, that would be completely disingenuous. What I'm doing here is just being me and giving my opinion. People may like it, people may not. If I were to leave the left and become right wing, might I gain some right wing audience? Maybe, but that's a pretty damn saturated market already. Would there be interest in how I, this long time leftist leave? Maybe. But what I would lose from the audience I've built way exceeds that. And you don't build trust, I don't think, by abandoning your identity. And you certainly don't solve a ratings problem by becoming this kind of watered down version of the outlets that already are dominating the pro Trump market. CBS hasn't gone far fully Fox News. They're sort of like milquetoast, lukewarm Fox News. It's not interesting to the Fox News people and it's definitely not interesting to the historical CBS audience. So I love that it's happening. I love it. Am I a bad person? Let me know in a comment, Let me know in an email. All right, let's talk about desperation, excuse the coarse analogy. When an animal is cornered, sometimes it will lash out in violence. Desperation can also make people do stupid things and sometimes they are dangerous things and sometimes they are things that make absolutely no sense. And right now, the Trump administration is very desperate because almost everything they're doing is failing. We looked at a poll earlier this week showing Trump's approval at 30%. That is not like, hey, you've got, you're at 88 and you've got a little room for improvement. That is like disaster, political emergency. The economy is not delivering. Trump said he was the peace president. He started a war. The promises won't materialize. Foreign policy, gas prices down. I mean, just every single promise is going haywire. He overpromised and he under delivered. And so we get to a point where the political isn't working. I mean, listen, there's also growing signs of Trump's cognitive struggles, his physical struggles. It's all going terribly. So what do you do when the public stops buying what you're selling? They believe the ANSwers are more ICE arrests and more babies. I will explain. If something's not working, do even more of it. Come on, guys. Here is Tom, Tom Homan. Trump's borders are saying get ready. We're going to do a lot more ICE arrests because people love that stuff. Went, went really well. Here's Tom Holt.

[Politician/Trump Administration Official (possibly Mike Waltz or Chris Wright)]

We got a lot of work to do.

[David Pakman]

So with additional resources, additional money from big beautiful Bill and the reconciliation package, you're going to see a lot more arrest activity go on throughout the country. So the video briefly freezes there, but we got the audio. Notice what is missing here. And I'm going to give you more examples. We're building our case. There is no, like, you know what we're going to do. We're going to get wages up, we're going to get energy costs down and grocery down. We'll make health care affordable and accessible. And none of that, what they are doing instead of dealing with what affects the daily lives of most Americans. They're going, don't worry, ice, which is insanely unpopular, is going to start arresting even more people. What a strategic pivot, huh? They are. They are turning to an unpopular policy as approval collapses. And I believe that the problem is that the administration seems to think that immigration is their silver bullet issue. And there's reason that they would think that. In their defense during the campaign, it did seem as though their promises around immigration were highly motivating, highly motivating to voters. And it turned out that they lied about what they were going to do. We're going to go after only criminal illegals, as they like to call them, and they didn't do that. And we saw killings by ice, and it's just, it's gone terribly. And so they're kind of going like, OK, foreign policy is failing. We're underwater 27% approval on the economy. Gas is up, groceries are up, everything's up. How about we do what people elected us to do? One of the things, which is the deportations. But they are now in a position of governing, and people vote on immigration, but they also vote on whether they can afford groceries and whether their rent went up. And the implementation of the immigration scheme has not been popular. Americans haven't liked what they've been seeing. So there's like a muscle memory that the White House is reverting to. They've been playing this one for a while. Fear and raids and arrests. And when you don't have anything else to say, hey, we did it. I'm hanging my hat on this other thing. You go to spectacle. And then like, almost right on cue in misguided priorities and lack of likability, JD's idea is babies, babies, babies, lots of babies. His wife is pregnant, and he goes, I'd have nine if I could.

[Tucker Carlson]

You know, I'm just all like, I

[Politician/Trump Administration Official (possibly Mike Waltz or Chris Wright)]

would have nine kids.

[Tucker Carlson]

But, you know, as you know, it takes.

[David Pakman]

Takes two to tango. Mammalian reproduction depends on. But yes, we understand that part, jd, but what is so insensitive about this whole, like, got to have more kids thing? Another thing that they're pushing is, what about the cost? There are a lot of Americans who would. There are a lot of Americans who don't want kids.

[Politician/Trump Administration Official (possibly Mike Waltz or Chris Wright)]

Cool.

[David Pakman]

A lot of Americans would like to have kids, but it's not that they're anti family or anti natalists or whatever. They can't afford it. Child care costs a fortune. Housing costs a fortune. Health insurance costs a fortune. Raising a kid costs a fortune. If you want a higher birth rate, which Elon Musk and Trump and Vance, they've all talked about some for religious reasons, some for sort of technocratic reasons. And if you want a higher birth rate, the most important thing is make life more affordable. So even these distractions about ice or chilled babies, they still go back to the failed economic promises. If you want people to have more kids, do something about paid leave, about the cost of childcare, about the cost of health care, about economic security. But we get lectures about we got to populate the earth and save civilization. And Elon Musk has at this point, 10, 12 or 14 kids. I don't know. It's this cultural messaging ignoring the fact that there are no material solutions. And I think that's the big story. It's an administration that relies on symbolic politics because the, the, the tangible results are tougher to deliver on. We can just start having ICE arrest more people. We can do culture war crap. We can talk about the importance of having babies and all of that. If the voters are unhappy, you've got to solve the problems that they're facing or you try to distract from the problems. The White House is choosing to distract. And the question is, how will that work out for them in November? The David Pakman show is an audience supported program and the best, most direct way to support the show is by becoming a member at Join Pacman Dotcom. You'll get the daily bonus show, the daily commercial free show and plenty of other great membership perks. Get the full experience by signing up@join pacman.com. you know, one of the things you just have to get used to if you do any kind of online content is that not everybody's going to like you. It's just a reality. And some people won't like me because they've evaluated the things I say and they just don't agree. And you know what? I respect that. And they can write in and they can tell me, here's what I think you got wrong, here's where I think you're going wrong. But then others are just kind of horrible people. And there is someone who wrote to me on Instagram, Admiral Wit the with who says, where did you get your info from? David? Living under a stone for years. Trump is on top of the game. And only Republicans understand that Iran is a taro state. Not taro like the vegetable. But I think they mean terror. Why do Trump get so much support from the other Arab countries? David, he stop eight wars, take in one day. Maduro out. Gaza is a little more tricky. But overall, Trump do Their best he can not to forget that he cleaning up the mess Obama make and Biden to with stupid money deals Obama. Exactly, exactly. These are not people we can convince and bring over to our side. Now I hate to do this because a couple people get mad every time but but there is, I believe, some potential cognitive issue with a lot of these people. Now it may just be that they are all foreign individuals who don't really speak or write English, but there is something about the texture of a lot of these emails from supposed pro American patriotic Republicans where either you don't really speak English or there is some kind of cognitive or other issue. Either way, neither of those would be things to make fun of people for. But we just have to acknowledge we will not win by convincing these people to change their minds. We need to find other voters, get people who agree with us out to the polls. These people, I believe they are lost forever. If they want to come back, ok, we welcome them. But it's not worth arguing with them. I just don't think it's going to go anywhere. All right, let's get to some more substantive stuff on the subreddit Friendly Drummers wrote there may very well be an October surprise with Graham Platner. First of all, I drag my dying body to vote for him. I do believe it's worth it to get rid of Republicans. That said, regardless of if you believe the allegations, it's noteworthy that allegations of physical assault and kidnapping didn't come out until after he was going to win the primary. It was not during the primaries. The allegations came after. If you think these allegations are bad, just wait until October. It's going to get much nastier. I would not be surprised if, if there's more tangible evidence, more witnesses, dirt that will come out, et cetera, et cetera. Listen, I think it is almost certain that there is going to be more dirt coming out against Graham Platner. I've said Susan Collins is a disaster, she's got to be removed. But Graham Plattner does not embody what it is that Democrats in the left historically have said we want to support. When you hear there's a candidate with a Nazi tattoo and he said he didn't know anything about it, but it appears that he lied about that. And then allegations from women. Usually the reaction from Democrats is that's a really terrible candidate and we're used to those being Republican candidates. This time it's a Democrat. I don't think he's a good candidate. I interviewed him. I interviewed Mills. Mills was a terrible candidate. She had no business running. It's an unfortunate situation and I would bet money, although I don't bet that more allegations do come out against Graham Platner and at that point all that we will be able to do is deal with them. Also from the subreddit, Trump and Republicans are setting the stage to refuse to certify California's election results in 2028, writes Chris Fathead going on to say it's obviously funny to laugh at Republicans losing their minds because Pratt is going to lose, but we all need to understand this is their goal. They will challenge California's results, refuse to certify. Best case scenario, they prevent a Democratic president from being certified while the case works through the legal system. Worst case scenarios, they get the entire state's results thrown out, they get them to declare Republicans win California or they declare some kind of state of emergency around elections and install Trump as president indefinitely. Legally. I don't know what their strategy will be, but I am 100% positive Trump's people are having conversations about it. If it gets to the Supreme Court, they will side with Trump. Listen, I think a bunch of these predictions are not going to happen. Trump is not going to be installed as president indefinitely because of what they do with California's results in November, in November or the primary. That's not going to happen. The Supreme Court I doubt will side with Trump, but they are going to try something. There is no question about it. And part of the reason you know they're going to try something is anybody with common sense would go, wait a second. California's results show that Republicans didn't do well and the results are very similar to the polls. That doesn't seem like one to get your knickers in a twist over. And yet they're going there was fraud and all this different stuff that suggests to me they are going to try something. But I don't think it's going to be the full blown disaster that that person wrote about. Let me know what you think on YouTube. The freewa wrote, in diplomacy you strive for agreements, not deals. It's not the same. Well, one of the things that came to mind to me as I heard Donald Trump erratically talk about this deal is done and that deal is done. And whatever. One of the things that came to mind to me is that what matters is what the other parties agree to do and follow through on doing a deal in which even if the other party says we will sign off on doing X, Y, Z, if they aren't actually willing to do it. And if you don't have mechanisms for determining whether they've done it, which, remember when they were asked, what about ways to verify? And they go, well, it's going to have to be negotiated. It's kind of a worthless deal. And you can have legal recourse, you might have military recourse, but at the end of the day, if there are not enforcement mechanisms and counterparts to treaties or agreements who are actually determined to be in the agreement and meet its requirements, they're kind of worthless. And this is why Trump's endless. They're agreeing to this, they're agreeing to that even when it often wasn't true. We knew that the commitments from a lot of these countries, Iran, we've experienced this with North Korea, are not particularly meaningful unless they actually are emotionally invested in some way. And I don't think Trump. Listen, they think Trump's mentally ill. They said, we use Trump's mental illness to manipulate him. That is not a sign of respect, that I can assure you. Johnny's JD wrote on Spotify, David, please let us know how many magazines write in and admit they were wrong about Trump. I don't think it's possible for them to concede anything. My dad flies off the handle and starts incoherently spitting out unrelated nonsense about Hillary, Obama and the laptop. When calmly asked how he feels about anything Trump does. What about ism is all they know. Okay, I am. I don't know whether this is a good number or not, but in the last couple of weeks, I've heard from six. I heard from six former Trump supporters who wrote to me and said, I've turned the corner, I'm out. Is six a lot or not a lot? Relative to the size of my audience, it sounds pretty low. But I have to assume that for every one MAGA who is willing to write to me and admit that they were wrong about trump, for every one, there's got to be at least 100 out there, right? Maybe a thousand. I don't know. You tell me whether those numbers are impressive. Quite frankly, I don't even know. Dan Mertzig wrote to me on Spotify and said, I need an Obama shirt.

[Medical Expert/Announcer]

Obama.

[David Pakman]

And Roger says, same, the Obama shirt. I was. I have such a funny thing to mention about this. Last week, I wore an Obama shirt on the show. We make and sell that shirt. Okay? So if you just go to our store, you can find it on the website, you can order that shirt. The day I wore it, we sold like 100 of those shirts. I got a Funny email from someone who said, I'm an, I'm an older person, okay? And they said, listen, I'm an older person and you have to understand we are not going to buy misspelled shirts. You need to fix the spelling. There's an extra N in Obama. If you want to sell any of those shirts, you've got to fix the spelling. And I wrote back very nicely and I said, totally understand what you mean. It's an inside joke. It relates to Obama. Donald Trump wrongly pronouncing Obama as Obama. We're selling. Overall, we've sold thousands of these shirts. Very nice email. Polite. And I explained it is spelled correctly. Don't worry about it. Stephanie wrote in and said, I've noticed Trump is beginning to take on that distant, faraway look with his mouth hanging open slightly. This is classic senile dementia. A lot of people wrote to me and said, david, what's changing about Trump? Yes, his vocabulary is getting more limited and all of that stuff. That's true. But what's really changing is he has this vacant look. And people write in and they go, I saw it with Grammy, I saw it with Pop Pop or whoever. Observations from people, anecdotes that taken together, maybe they do mean something. David Sutton wrote in on Substack and says, david, you missed the thread here. Obama's deal did not make Trump more rich or distract from his other crimes. Also, just a reminder that if Trump's lips are moving, he's probably lying and the mainstream corporate media simply will not call him out or question him. Yes. So this is. We talked about what did Trump not like about the Obama deal? And primarily it's that it had Obama's name on it. Trump doesn't like that. Trump hates that. In fact. And what David is pointing out as well, he also doesn't like that the Obama nuclear deal with Iran didn't make Trump richer, it didn't distract from Trump's crimes, etc. And I think that those are, those are also factors. Trump's always about what is good for me here. And one of the things that should make us extraordinarily suspicious about Donald Trump involved in any kind of agreement with another country is the question of how he's going to enrich himself. And we've talked about some of the ways and once, if and when we see the final text of this agreement, we will probably see more ways. Send in your comments info at David Pakman Dotcom. Remember that my book is now available for preorder. David pakman.com/access a limited number of signed copies are available. The information is at David pakman.com/attention. You can also get the audiobook. You can get the E book, you can get whatever you want. And I am in the process right now of recording the audiobook. A very painstaking process to get the pronunciation of everything, like sabotage tool C. Everything must be pronounced correctly in the audiobook. And my commitment to you today is it will be. We've got a great bonus show for you today. I'll see you then and I'll be back next week.