Senator Rick Scott (14:42)

It's fascinating to me. The Democrats now talk about gas prices. Under Obama and under Biden, they tried to destroy the US Oil and gas industry. So we want prices to come down. I think, unfortunately, prices are going to be up for a while until this ends. But with Venezuelan coming on, with American oil and gas coming on, with hopefully a positive resolution to this conflict, then prices will come down even further.

David Pakman (15:07)

Yeah, Democrats should be running that video as a campaign ad, quite frankly. This is brutal. Prices are not up because of a random act of nature or act of God. Prices are up because Trump launched a war with Iran. And we have now seen a greater than 30% increase in the price of gas and it seems to be continuing up. Anyone who understands markets, which Republicans claim to do, would have predicted that if you do what Trump did, gas prices are going to go absolutely nuclear. But Trump has been arguing they're going to come down quickly. They're going to come down even faster to lower levels than they've ever been. Rick Scott is acknowledging prices are going to stay high. And what he's really kind of doing here, I don't know that he means to do it. He probably doesn't. Is punk punch, puncturing, punching a hole in the central lie that Republicans want to tell voters heading into November. They want to campaign as though inflation is this mysterious force that only exists under Democrats. Trump did everything he promised of lowering prices, but we just have a little bit of high gas and oil prices for no real reason we want to talk about. Except, of course, we've got to talk about the reason. And now one of their senators is saying what the truth Is which is that the war is costing you money and it's going to continue costing you money for a while. Democrats have to be aggressive. This is, it's too important a moment for Democrats to flop on this one. This is bigger than gas. Higher oil prices end up in everything. Shipping, groceries, airline tickets, delivery costs, manufacturing, commuting to work. Before the war, families were stretched very tight. And now Trump's war adds another layer. And you've got price pressure pushing up. And Republicans want to say, oh, it's temporary, but Rick Scott is acknowledging this is going to go for a while. And the White House itself has started to say this is only temporary but worth it. They've decided it's worth it and in a sense that validates the attack line. So Democrats need to cut this into an ad. Trump starts a war, prices go up. And Rick Scott admits going to stay up. That's the full story. You don't need an elaborate theory. Democrats often get into their own problems, self inflicted problems with, you know, 10, 15 minute explainers. You don't need one here. This is really, really simple. You just need the sequence. Trump starts the war, prices go nuclear. He says it's worth it, and Rick Scott says it's going to last a while. That's it. Your prices went up. And the deeper problem, I think for Republicans is that this exposes the broader scam of their economic populism. They love talking about kitchen table issues when they can blame a Democrat and when their decisions cause a problem for Americans, all of a sudden it's a sacrifice that we're making. It's geopolitically important. Freedom isn't free. Let's be patient, stop complaining, stop criticizing Donald Trump. The real scandal is not that prices are predictably rising after Trump starts a war. It's that they spent really a decade building a political identity around the claim that they are the number one protector of ordinary people and they will protect people from pain, economic pain and other types of pain. And now you've got one of their senators acknowledging the pain is real. It's not ending anytime soon. It's happening on our watch. And Trump caused it. And now they've got to deal with that politically. But Democrats have to make them account for it, because if they don't, it'll just be another wasted opportunity. Starting something new is exciting. It can also be intimidating. Whether you're launching a podcast, starting a business, or doing the side hustle you've had in mind. There is that moment where you wonder, is this really going to work? 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The link is in the description I come to you today with the delightful news that Marjorie Taylor Greene's very red Georgia Senate Congress Congressional seat. Sorry, Senate. That's a nightmare. Her congressional seat that she gave up could could be taken by a Democrat. We've got to look at these numbers. This is fascinating. So here's what happened earlier this week. Sean Harris is a Democrat. He finished first in the special election in Marjorie Taylor Greene's old district. He got 37% of the vote and Trump backed Republican CLAY Fuller got 35% of the vote. But the important thing to remember is is that no one cleared 50 because this was a multi way race and so now that race is going to a runoff on April 7, just between the top two vote getters, the Democratic candidate Sean Harris and the Republican candidate Clay Fuller. There is no doubt that with this being one of the most conservative right wing districts in Georgia, Trump had 68% of the vote there in 2024. There's no doubt that this is an uphill battle for Democrats. When Marjorie Taylor Greene last won in 2024, she got 65% of the vote. So I am not here to tell you a Democrat is going to take Marjorie Taylor Greene seat. But one of the really interesting things is that Donald Trump endorsed Fuller, a Republican, and even appeared with him during early voting and he couldn't even finish first. Put aside the didn't get to 50% thing yet. He couldn't even finish first with Harris the Democrat getting 37% of the vote to, to Fuller's 35%. Now, of course it is true that with multiple Republican candidates among the top vote getters in total, Republicans got way more votes across the entire race. But that means that number one, it is a fractured race. 37 in this dark red district in a special election, a Democrat gets 37%. That's important. And secondly, Donald Trump's endorsement wasn't even enough to get a Republican candidate over 50% in an extraordinarily right wing district. Now, I think that the details of the candidates are pretty interesting and important here. The Democrat, Sean Harris is a retired army general, He's a cattle farmer. These are, I mean, listen, this is a Democratic candidate with a profile that is both theoretically more appealing to Republicans than many Democrats and also more serious than what the Republican candidates are offering. Now, on the other hand, not only did Fuller have Donald Trump's endorsement and support, Fuller had help from outside right wing groups. Harris turned the race into a national fundraising story which raised over $4 million. And even if Republicans win the runoff, and I'm not naive, I understand that this is, this is stacked against Democrats significantly, even if ultimately Harris the Democrat doesn't win and Republicans do, this is a warning sign for maga. Democrats are competing in deep red districts where they have no business doing well. And so the bigger message is that if you can do this well in Marjorie Taylor Greene's district in Georgia, Republicans are going to have a pretty serious political problem in November. And when you look again, Trump 68% there and Marjorie Taylor Greene 65%, Republicans should win the seat and should win it easily. But seeing this narrow, narrow, narrow increasingly, and a Democrat getting the plurality of the vote in that first go round is stunning. So as I like to say, the fact that this is a fight is really the story because Democrats aren't supposed to even be competitive in a district like this. Sean Harris is actually a really interesting and strong candidate. He's the sort of person that I think in moderate districts that sometimes vote Republican people like Sean Harris should be running because they bring a lot to the table. That should be appealing to moderate and centrist voters. But it would be another self inflicted wound for maga. And because the chaos, the battle between Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene, which clearly played a role in her decision to get out of Congress altogether, all of this they could lock, forget about locking up an easy win. They could have just had Marjorie Taylor Greene in Congress if she and Trump hadn't gotten into the battle to begin with. And so Republicans can still win the seat. If I were a betting man, I bet they do. But maybe not by as much as they expect. But they will still come out of this looking sloppy, weak and vulnerable because of the internal dynamics of that race. And just forcing Republicans to spend time, money and attention. Defending Marjorie Taylor Greene seat is a victory in and of itself. None of this becomes anything in November unless we actually get out and vote. The special elections can be unique circumstances. Off year elections can be unique circumstances. All of the scaffolding points to the possibility of a massive blue wave in November. But it will not happen unless we actually get out there. I'm going to give you the pros and cons of what's going on with Joe Rogan right now. The pros are that Rogan seems to be recognizing Trump betrayed his voters, of which Rogan is one with promises that now he has done a 180 on. Trump is not doing what he told us that he was going to do. That's the pro. Rogan's recognizing that. And maybe telling that to the manosphere is going to be useful. On the other hand, on a lot of issues, including Covid Rogan's off the rails. And I will show you that in a moment. Here is Trump endorsing podcaster Rogan endorsed Trump in 24, saying people feel betrayed by the Iran war. Trump campaigned on ending this sort of thing and now he's doing it, but

Joe Rogan (27:20)

just seems so insane based on what he ran on. I mean, this is why a lot of people feel betrayed, right? He ran on no more wars and these stupid senseless wars. And then we have one that we can't even really clearly define why we did it.

David Pakman (27:36)

Which is a few different aspects to this. Of course, Trump betrayed his supporters, but at the same time, if we figure figured out that Trump was bamboozling them and making this stuff up, why didn't they. Like, why did Rogan fall for it and fall for it so hard that he even said, I'm voting Trump, I'm endorsing Donald Trump? So it's good that Rogan is recognizing that this is a betrayal. It's good that Rogan is saying, this isn't what we were promised and this isn't what we voted for. But it wasn't shocking that Trump didn't do what he promised. He never does. And in fact, this was one of the most obvious lies that Donald Trump was telling Rogan. Going further, he says, we might be getting into World War III here.

Joe Rogan (28:20)

Yeah, I mean, it's just such a fuck. I mean, the whole. The whole situation internationally has been so tense already with what's going on in Gaza, with what's going on in Ukraine. It's like. And to add this to the pile, it's like. I mean, it genuinely feels like there's a real possibility that we might be entering World War iii.

Joe Rogan's Guest (28:47)

How would that. What would that look like?

Joe Rogan (28:50)

I don't know.

Senator Rand Paul (28:51)

I.

Joe Rogan (28:51)

Well, I never expected Iran to start attacking. You know, they. They launched bombs into uae, Dubai, I mean, where else?

David Pakman (29:01)

All right, so I think you get the point. Rogan is. Is concerned about what he feels to be a 180, even though most of us really saw through the promises of Trump. And then finally, this is also interesting, Rogan sort of pushes back on the idea that Trump isn't being blackmailed. Rogan seems to think it's possible Trump is being blackmailed.

Joe Rogan's Guest (29:21)

Russians aren't behind him. Israelis. I mean, Trump is. Look what he's been through. I mean, he's, you know, he's got. Where he is. There's no way he's going to. They don't have anything on him. That's why, you know, that I don't think they have anything on them.

Joe Rogan (29:30)

But how do you behave that way?

Joe Rogan's Guest (29:32)

Well, they could, but I'm not. We don't see any evidence for it.

Joe Rogan (29:34)

Well, you wouldn't see any evidence until it broke out, until they released it.

Joe Rogan's Guest (29:38)

Yeah. And. And, well, we'll get it. I'm sure we'll get into Epstein, but I mean, I just think when you don't have evidence of something, then you can't assume that it's happening. I haven't seen any evidence. I've seen evidence that Trump is fully independent with particularly this case of Elon Musk. Surprised me. I would have thought, at a minimum, you'd give your largest campaign contributor the one thing he wants. I mean, Doge was something you wanted, too, but. And then I look at Iran and I kind of go, you know, Trump has always won. I mean, Trump has been criticizing. He said he doesn't want Iran to have a nuclear weapon for a really long time. I don't know the exact date, but certainly.

Joe Rogan (30:13)

Well, no one wants Iran.

David Pakman (30:15)

So Rogan isn't convinced that Trump isn't being blackmailed in some way. All right, so listen, Rogan's not pleased with what's going on, and he's expressed displeasure at how the deportation campaign has been carried out. He's expressing displeasure at the foreign policy. That's interesting. Rogan saying some interesting things. But let me show you this. Just a reminder of how off the rails Rogan is on so many issues. Here he is on Covid and vaccines, which. I don't know. This topic has done something weird to Rogan. Rogan suggests that if you get vaccinated against Covid, you're more likely to get Covid. Hmm.

Joe Rogan (30:52)

Long Covid can cause altered smell.

David Pakman (30:54)

There it is.

Joe Rogan (30:55)

Or parasomia, where things smell distorted, foul, or different than they used to, even if the initial COVID 19 symptoms have passed. So did you get this after you got, like, when did this start happening? Did you get Covid?

David Pakman (31:09)

Yes. Six times.

Joe Rogan (31:12)

But of course you did.

David Pakman (31:12)

I just had.

Joe Rogan (31:13)

You got vaccinated. People get vaccinated. Got it once or twice. Really? Yeah.

David Pakman (31:18)

Look at the confidence with which he says that.

Joe Rogan (31:21)

Yeah, they, you, they, everybody. They, everybody with that goddamn stupid thing.

David Pakman (31:26)

I got it hard. See, I'll talk to you about this,

Pharmaceutical Company Representative (31:28)

and then tomorrow my liberal mom will

David Pakman (31:31)

be like, the vaccine is good. And I'll be like, yes, Mommy.

TikTok Representative (31:33)

I agree.

Joe Rogan (31:33)

It's a long conversation. It would take a long time.

David Pakman (31:36)

Yeah, listen, it's a long conversation, but it's not that complicated. And it sort of goes like this. There's no evidence that getting vaccinated makes you more likely to get Covid. And at the same time, unfortunately. I mean, listen, it's just. It's just the reality. The recent Covid vaccines don't seem effective at preventing you from getting Covid. They're quite effective at preventing death from COVID They're quite good at preventing hospitalization from COVID but they're not really good at preventing you from getting Covid. The first one against the original Covid strain seemed Very good at that. And then subsequently, as the virus started to change and the vaccines tried to keep up, its prevention capacity is not that great. I wish it were better. I wish it were like measles. It's not. But the people that got vaccinated get Covid way more times. But if you don't get vaccinated, you still get Covid, but only once or twice. What now, of course, first of all, these are mere anecdotes. I can give you an anecdote, but it wouldn't mean very much. I was vaccinated against Covid and I've only gotten Covid once in the six years or however long it's been. But what does that mean? I'm not naive enough to think that my personal story of vaccination and only once getting Covid means anything. It's just, what does it prove if I do that? So Rogan, I mean, listen to the extent that he is deprogramming some of these MAGA bots by saying Trump promised us a lot of stuff that's not happening. The deportation thing is a fiasco. The Iran war is a fiasco. That's good. The idea that he now is clear eyed and clear minded, he's still getting sucked into a lot of wacky stuff. And unfortunately, if you look at his guest list now, in fact, let me pull it up. Joe Rogan guests. It is overwhelming, like even more than I think it has been for a really long time. Right wingers. This was Michael Shellenberg. He had RFK Jr. On recently, had Rachel Wilson, Jim Brewer, Michael Malice, Dr. Robert Malone, Cheryl Hine. You know, it's just, it's a lot, a lot of right wingers. I think the big picture of this is that it's still a very concerning picture. But to the extent that he's able to deprogram anybody on Trump, I think it's a good thing. A lot of clothing brands today talk about sustainability, but our Fair harbor sponsor actually builds it into how their products are made. Fair harbor was founded with a specific goal, reduce plastic waste by turning recycled plastic bottles and into durable, comfortable fabrics. Instead of treating sustainability as an add on, make it the core of the company and make it the core of how Fair harbor clothing is designed to be worn and reused over time. I've been wearing some Fair harbor pieces and what stands out is the environmental factor doesn't come at the expense of comfort or practicality. 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Look at this moment where you see MAGA Mike Johnson, Steve Scalise, Tom Emmer, a whole bunch of Republican congressional leadership clapping like trained seals for Trump. And none of them wanted to be the first to stop. Like in North Korea. You had better not be the first person who stops clapping for the Dear Leader, because that will reflect in your review. Take a look at this New York

Donald Trump (37:18)

to where there's pride in every American heart. And it's time.

David Pakman (37:25)

So Trump is standing there looking around, waving, and they're just clapping and clapping and clapping and clapping. They can't stop. They don't want to be the first to stop. And you saw Scalise stopped for a moment and goes, oh damn, they're all still. They're all still clapping. I got to start clapping again. All right. So that went on for several minutes until they were allowed to stop without punishment. I think what actually happened is the music ended and then it sort of was like a natural moment for them to stop clapping, like, like trained seals. Trump then said maybe the truest thing that he has said in a really long time. Take a listen.

Donald Trump (38:03)

But you know, they've said this about a lot of things no other president could do. Some of this shit I'm doing, that is probably true.

David Pakman (38:11)

More specifically, no other president would think of doing. Some of the shit that Trump is doing now. Wildly, as gas prices are surging, as oil prices saw their fastest spike in over 40 years, Trump goes, no one talks about affordability anymore because prices have come down anymore.

Donald Trump (38:33)

They don't say it anymore because we've brought down prices so much.

David Pakman (38:37)

Right.

Donald Trump (38:37)

So our message anymore.

David Pakman (38:39)

The truth, of course, is prices are up, not down. And everybody's talking about it. The entire country is plagued with what is going on with affordability. A really weird moment. Now I'm going to play two things for you. Trump said that a girl has to be of age, like above six years old. Okay, I'm going to play for you the short clip first. And then people said, oh, it's missing context. Well, then I will give you the context and we'll see if it's less weird. So here's the original clip, like voter

Donald Trump (39:09)

id, but you know, it can be given to you by your daughter. You know, your daughter, she has to be of age, like above 6 years old. She's allowed to say you had to see some of this stuff.

David Pakman (39:21)

Okay, so people said, oh, that's so unfair. If you look at the full context, it was not weird at all. All right, well, let's check out the full context again.

Donald Trump (39:30)

And we just keep going with it. And I put that down as a top three. Look, no mail. And now you have the exceptions for the military, and I would even say foreign based military, but for the military, for disability, for illness, and if you're traveling, you know, you have an excuse. And I was lenient on that. But those three things, then I added two more. These are best of, you know, best of these are called Best of Trump. We should also add on to this bill. And so what I've asked Mike to do is to draw a new one with these few things added. And, and let's go for the gold. Let's not just get one like voter id, but you know, it can be given to you by your daughter. You know, your daughter, she has to be of age, like above 6 years old. She's allowed to say you had to see some of this Stuff is so bad.

David Pakman (40:22)

Yeah, it doesn't really make it any less weird. The whole idea here is you've got to get ID from people to make sure that they're of age for voting, I guess. And if you add the additional context, it's no less weird that Trump is going they've got to be of age, like above 6 years old. I guess what Trump means is it can't be a six year old's ID that you present. But why is he saying of age and 6 years old? This is the last thing that Donald Trump should be talking about. Then Trump goes full 1984 War is Peace, the ministry of peace which wages war. And he says, oh, inflation is plummeting. And listen, try to find anything true

Donald Trump (41:00)

in this clip in our country, inflation is plummeting. Incomes are rising, the economy is surging, Our border is the most secure at any, any time in American history. And the murder rate is the lowest in 125 years. That's before my father was born. My father was born six years later than that. I don't know if he'd like me to say that. Never liked to talk about his age. He said don't talk about that. But think about 125 years ago, 1900. The year 1900. The stock market has set 53 all time record highs since the election. And it's going to go a lot harder as soon as we get rid of this stuff that we're doing right now that we really.

David Pakman (41:40)

I'm so sorry but nobody's falling for this crap. Americans know that inflation is steady to slightly up. Incomes are not rising, the economy is not surging. None of that stuff is true. And then a weird Freudian slip. Trump says we have to crush health care.

Donald Trump (42:00)

Narrated that one of the first targets must be the crushing health care. We have to crush the and take over the health care situation, which we can do.

David Pakman (42:11)

We are going to crush health care like no one has ever seen. Trump did start to glitch.

Donald Trump (42:18)

It's the easiest thing we have. I can't.

David Pakman (42:23)

And I've got a bunch of that stuff on my soundboard.

Donald Trump (42:25)

Yeah, right. Ah, ladies and gentlemen.

David Pakman (42:35)

Yeah. So weird, weird moment. And then a very strange glitch when talking about one of his favorite, favorite topics, gender affirming care on five things

Donald Trump (42:45)

that are like close to 100%. No transgender mutilization surgery for our children.

David Pakman (42:52)

Well, you know what, I have to admit it. Trump has really done something. There is absolutely no transgender mutual association surgery for our children happening right now. It has Nothing to do with Trump. But he's right that whatever that describes certainly isn't happening. Trump wildly claims that every time he goes anywhere, people are just begging him to pass the Save America Act.

Donald Trump (43:16)

They say, sir, if you get this, your midterms. And they know it for two reasons. Number one, they won't be able to cheat. And number two, the people are demanding it every time I go out. Save America, sir. Save America Act. We want the Save America act, sir. That's all they talk about. They don't.

David Pakman (43:36)

I assure you, no one is going up to Trump and saying that. This was a funny moment. On the topic of undocumented aliens, undocumented immigrants, he calls them illegal aliens driving commercial vehicles. Listen to what he had to say.

Donald Trump (43:53)

Criminals, they fight ICE all the time. That was a problem up in Minnesota. They had a lot of criminals and they wouldn't give it to us. And to stop illegal aliens who cannot even speak English from driving 18 wheel tractor trailers, they have no idea what they're reading. I wouldn't be able to do it in their countries as arrows. It has speed limits. They have no idea what they're reading.

David Pakman (44:15)

You know what's funny? Numbers are the same in every language when numerical.55. All right, well, is it kilometers or is it miles per hour? But 55, I can do. Arrows are arrows in any language. And hilariously, I've driven in countries that speak languages that, to quote Donald Trump, no one's ever heard of. I'm of course, completely kidding. But Trump loves to say these are. These people are speaking languages no one's ever heard of. I guess Trump, who is not known for being a particularly good driver, would not be the one you want driving you around when you visit Cancun. That seems to be very clear. Finally, Trump going back to this entire mental institution thing, which, if you haven't heard about what Trump means, what the confusion is. I'm going to tell you in a moment.

Donald Trump (45:05)

They empty their mental institutions. They empty their insane asylum. That's a step above a mental institution. They emptied them all right into our country.

David Pakman (45:16)

We've been wondering what this is about for a very long time. Why does Trump say that they are emptying their mental institutions or insane asylums into our country? I am convinced, and Senator Ruben Gallego agrees with me on this. I'm convinced that Trump has heard about people seeking asylum, political asylum, and he is confused and thinks that this is people coming from a psychiatric hospital, sometimes known colloquially as a mental asylum, insane asylum or mental institution. I can't think of any other explanation as to why Donald Trump continues to say that other than complete and total confusion. Republicans in the room were reportedly stunned. Remember, this was not a speech to a rally crowd, which would be bad enough. This was a speech to congressional Republicans and they were reportedly stunned by Donald Trump's incoherence. Rand Paul is occasionally right. And I've got to tell you, when it comes to civil liberties, when it comes to due process, when it comes to the Constitution, when it comes to war, Rand Paul is often much more right than your average MAGA Republican. Here is Rand Paul on Fox News, no less, stunning the interviewer into silence by saying, hey, this is our second war this month. I think we're a little bit overextended

Senator Rand Paul (46:36)

here and so I don't want to weaken our country further. I think we've gotten overextended. This is our second war in a month. And these wars are very, very expensive. Not only the lives that are lost, but also in treasure. And so, no, I'm very, very concerned about the debt. It's been my number one focus for some time now, I know it has. And a half a trillion dollars to the military budget, it is, is fiscally irresponsible.

Maria Bartiromo (47:00)

Fiscally irresponsible in the face of China on the march, China undermining the United States at every turn. Russia continuing its assault on Ukraine, Iran, North Korea. So when you look at the world that we are faced with in terms of the reality that we're in, you still won't budge on increasing money for the military in this changing backdrop?

Senator Rand Paul (47:23)

Well, well, to put it into perspective, we currently spend more on our military than the next 10 countries combined. So while there are threats we face around the world, and while we should combat and check China around the world, we spend, you know, four times more than they do, but we spend more than the next 10 countries combined. So our military budget is not inadequate, it is enormous.

David Pakman (47:46)

He's right. Rand Paul on this issue is correct. And you don't have to agree with his broader libertarian right wing philosophy. You don't have to agree with that ridiculous statement he made years ago that if you have universal health care in a country, doctors become slaves. That was wacky. That didn't make any sense. But every once in a while he's right. And Rand Paul explicitly explains on Fox News to an audience that desperately needs to hear it that the reasons we have been given for this war, none of them are convincing and by the way, none of them are even being achieved.

Senator Rand Paul (48:20)

As far as the reasons for the War. There have been many different reasons floated, but none of them, I think, have been very convincing. One reason is that we want to free the Iranian people from oppression. I have a great deal of sympathy. I want people to be free around the world. But if our foreign policy is to free oppressed people, I'm not sure where war would end. I mean, there are many people that are said to to be oppressed in China, Tibet, the Uyghurs, North Korea, Russia. Where, where would war end if our goal is to free oppressed people? So I think that goal is too grandiose and would perpetually tie us up in war. Another statement has been made. Well, they're a week away from a nuclear weapon. You can take clips from the 90s all the way through the present of people arguing that there are weak away from nuclear weapons.

David Pakman (49:07)

Correct.

Senator Rand Paul (49:08)

Then there were arguments made with our ballistic missiles are almost able to reach the U.S. but then our intelligence countered that and said really they would be six months to a year if they made that attempt. We were also told their nuclear weapons were obliterated. And now we're told their nuclear weapons are just moments away from being a bomb. So I guess I don't think the arguments are valid. And I think war should be the last resort, not the first resort. A war of choice is not my choice.

David Pakman (49:35)

This is, of course, all completely true, but I want to kind of zoom in on one specific issue here, which is there are horrible things going on all around the world. And in fact, there were horrible things going on in Iran, and they still are. By the way, we haven't stopped the horrible things by what we did. But can the United States be responsible for going to every country where those things are going on? And by the way, there are horrible things going on in the United States. There are people going bankrupt from health care bills. There are people going hungry in the United States. There are people dying on the street because they don't have housing and it's freezing out. And we aren't even dealing with all of the horrible things happening here. So the idea that simply out of our humanitarian hearts we need to go to war with Iran because of this, I despise that Iranian regime and I despise what China is doing to the Uyghurs. And I am, I am disgusted by what the North Korean regime is doing to North Koreans. But we, we can't just go to war everywhere. And Rand Paul is actually pointing this out. Finally, on the 2026 elections, Rand Paul seems to concede Republicans are going to get crushed because of what's going on in this economy.

Maria Bartiromo (50:41)

About how worried are you that a split Republican party will only mean losses in the midterm elections? How are you expecting the midterms to play out? And if you do lose the majority party, doesn't that put the GOP behind the eight ball in terms of getting anything done in terms of your priorities?

Senator Rand Paul (51:01)

I don't think a split party is the problem. I think high oil prices will be a problem. I think the 2026 elections already we are behind the eight ball as far as the electoral process. I think if you add in high gas prices, high oil prices, and if we are still bombing Iran with kinetic action, people don't want to call it war. There's still kinetic action that causes all to be over $100. I think you're going to see a disastrous election. Wow.

David Pakman (51:29)

I think he's right. Wow, says Maria Bartiromo. But I think Rand Paul is spot on, especially in the context of this latest war. I think they're going to get absolutely crushed. But we've got to go out and vote to make sure that that happens. Most scammers rely on information that's already public. Your name, address, phone number, family connections. A lot of that is online and available to be scraped and abused. Our sponsor, Incogni, reduces the risk by removing you from the Internet wherever that personal data appears. It works across many types of websites, not just one category, so scammers have fewer ways to piece things together. About you Incogni automatically submits removal requests to hundreds of sites on your behalf, but the standout feature is custom removals, where you find your information on any website, even one not in their database. You paste the link and Incogni's team will get to work to remove it. I can tell you I've personally been getting way fewer scam and spam calls and messages ever since I started using Incogni. You can accomplish a lot quickly with Incogni. Protect yourself before your data is used against you. Get 60% off when you go to incogni.com/pacman and use the code PACMAN. The link is in the description many of you wrote to me this week. We will look at some praise, relatively limited, but a lot of criticism as well, and different ideas about what's going on politically. You can always email, leave comments on Spotify, tik tok, Instagram, YouTube, anywhere you want. We will, we will find it and we will react if necessary. We start today with Davo Davos, says Pacman. You were losing credibility by telling the far left just what they want to hear. The shit Trump does needs no spinning or exaggeration. Be honest, be fair. Well, listen, as usual, I would love specific examples. I'm telling the far left what they want to hear. The far left mostly hates me and this show. So as is often the case, you know, I sometimes will get criticized at the same time for being a far left socialist and a centrist fiscal conservative or something along those lines. I just tell it the way I see it. I don't direct the show to the far left or the left or the center left or the middle or Republicans or anarchists or communists or socialists or white supremacists or anti semis. I just do the show. That's it. You know, if you don't like it, then evaluate what I'm saying and tell me what I'm getting wrong. But in fact, one of the biggest rifts I've had with my own audience over the last year and a half was in September, October of 2024. I came to the audience and I said, listen, Trump's polling better in all seven swing states than he did in 2020 against Biden, and he's even polling better in the seven swing states than he did against Hillary Clinton back in 2016 when Trump won. And there were people in the audience that were angry with me and said, we need positivity right now. We need and enthusiasm. And I just tell it like it is. And if I see a problem in the polling, I mention it. And I did, and a lot of people didn't like it. So anyway, let's move on. Curious Olive said on the subreddit, Democrats should steal the election. If the midterms are really so important, then I think Democrats should allow Pay Dominion voting systems to write an algorithm that casts an extra vote for them in a certain pattern that is hard to decipher. If 2024 taught us anything, it is, don't trust the consultants. So it's time to take matters into our own hands and stuff the ballot box. Yeah, I'm against this. For me, you know, there's a difference between let's fight fire with fire, let's not unilaterally disarm, and let's start committing crimes. It's sort of like, hey, you know, someone else would have stolen this car if I hadn't, therefore it's fine for me to steal the car. I don't think so. And that is not the way I operate. And so there is a difference between saying, hey, we've got to be more ruthless. We have to call things as they are. We need to be more proactive in how we communicate the urgency with people and that's all totally fine, but you're suggesting committing crimes at the end of the day and it's not. It's a no for me. Dog. I am not going to say that it's time to start committing crimes. However, we should be aware of all of the tactics and techniques that the right is going to and has tried to use to win elections and and on that basis, we need people like Mark Elias from the Elias Law Group and others ready and resourced to put a stop to that. All right, Plea for Peace wrote on the subreddit Would anyone be interested in Girl dad content from David I'm a Girl dad writes Plea for Peace with one around David's kids age and would be interested to hear his thoughts on fatherhood life changes since becoming a parent. I know he's pretty private, which I would be too if he was interested in sharing his thoughts on the subject and his audience responded, maybe he would. What about the bonus show? Just polling the subreddit. Yeah, I think most of the audience does not want that. I. I don't. And from the responses to this post, I think that there would be a mutiny among the ranks if there was too much or really any. I think maybe I'm misunderstanding the audience. I think if there were any Girl dad content on the show, it would be very, very bad for the show. I'm scared to do that. Nick Lewis says Trump the dealmaker couldn't make a deal even though Obama could. Got it. Yeah. You know, this is of course in reference to the Iran deal and the idea that Barack Obama was able to achieve a diplomatic I don't know if I would call it a solution, but certainly a temporary solution. At least with the Iran nuclear deal. And for Donald Trump it was bomb them over the summer, obliterate their nuclear program. But then it's back and now you've got to go right back in and Trump starts this war. What you have to understand about Trump is he just wants credit and he doesn't want other people like Barack Obama and Joe Biden being looked upon as successful. And so a great example is Trump talking about NAFTA's terrible NAFTA this, NAFTA that back to 2015, Trump telling people we're going to solve NAFTA and get rid of it. He got rid of it and he put in usmca. Yes. It has a different name. Yes. There are some small differences with regard to vehicle manufacturing between Canada, US and Mexico. But usmca, which is Trump's doing, is extraordinarily similar to nafta, which Trump said is terrible. What's the most important thing Trump wants? Credit. Trump wants the prevailing trade deal to have his name on it. Similarly, and I apologize, I just hit my microphone. I don't do it on purpose, I really don't. And I know for headphone users it's bad, it's bad. Similarly with Iran, Donald Trump couldn't stand that Barack Obama had gotten the Iran nuclear deal signed and that Iran was adhering to it, as far as we could tell. And so he started insisting Iran is not adhering to it, even absent any evidence to that end. And then he ripped it up to which Iran said, I guess we'll go back to doing the nuclear program because the deal is done. Which then precipitated Trump's alleged need to to go and bomb them in 2025 and now to start this war. It's how Trump operates. That's it. It doesn't make any sense, but it's what he does. Roon Warrior writes on Instagram doesn't matter what we want or how we feel, they will do whatever they want. This administration does not care who they hurt either abroad or here. Well, you know, you don't have to take Rune warriors opinion. You can just look at the facts. Donald Trump callously said Americans are going to die. More Americans are going to die, but it's going to be worth it. Says who? Trump doesn't care. As gas prices have started to spike and oil prices have gone nuclear, Trump has said, well that's okay, it may go up for a little bit, but essentially Trump has decided it's worth it. This is a sacrifice you are going to make that Trump is OK with. And so it is quite literally the truth that the administration doesn't care who gets hurt. Do they care about the soldiers and service members getting killed and injured? Well, maybe in some general sense they care, but they believe that it's a worthwhile trade to do whatever the hell they're doing in Iran. Does Trump care that people are seeing prices go up on everything and gas prices have spiked 20% and now everything's going to get more expensive because transportation depends on petroleum based fuels. Maybe in some nominal sense he cares, but he's determined that it's ok, it's worth it to him for you to pay more. So yes, they don't care who they hurt and forget about all the civilian deaths that are happening. They do not care. A Nigel Cops from Spotify says David, thank you for being realistic and pragmatic about Trump's potential influence in the 2026 midterms. Fear mongering about a potential scenario where Trump cancels the elections and installs Republicans in Congress is unproductive. Those incremental tactics you highlight, including sending immigration enforcement to suppress turnout, consolidating polling locations and drop boxes, and restricting mail in ballots, are much more likely and require less maneuvering. Let's all stay vigilant. Yeah, you know, listen, I've talked with my audience about this before. There are ways to get clicks and we could employ those methods, but at the end of the day I just wouldn't feel good about it. And this show is just what do I want to talk about? In what terms do I want to talk about it and do I feel good about what we're saying? And there is a lot of mileage to be had from going he's going to cancel the election, and I don't believe that he is. I've reported that Trump would love to cancel the election. I've reported that he will attempt mechanisms to effectively circumvent the will of the people. But I don't believe he's going to cancel the election. So I'm not going to tell you that he's going to. However, I do believe that he is going to employ a ton of the mechanisms that Nigel points out there to try to make the election reflect his will rather than the will of the people. And so that's what we have to be prepared for. It's fewer clicks for me, I know, but it is the truth. At the end of the day, Delicious wrote on Spotify every weekday I thank my lucky stars I have David Pakman to listen to thank your lucky stars every day. You're not David Pakman. Exactly. My commute, my break, any time. Thank you sir. Well, I appreciate that. And I can't. I do need to do a special shout out. We are seeing such growth on the audio podcast, especially on Apple podcasts and Spotify. People are connecting with the long form version of the show and I love that. I've long felt that someone who listens to the our show is much more directly connected to what we're doing than someone who just does a drive by hate comment after watching a minute on YouTube. So I love that the audio podcast is growing. Love the comments from Spotify. I basically do all my podcast consumption in the car and in the gym and I love it. It's great. Remember to leave us a rating on Apple podcasts and Spotify. Okay, here we go. This is going to get a little edgy. Bitch in kitchen wrote in and said you can keep your little video. You stupid bitch. Quit spreading misinformation and pretending to be a fucking doctor or I'll have your entire channel banned. Don't start no shit. Won't be no shit. Listen, at least the grammar is more or less okay. Oh, boy. This is what we're up against, folks. This is what we're fighting. This is what we need to understand if we want to win and get power again. There are people like this who will on the one hand go, free speech, free speech. And on the other hand, go, I'm going to get your entire channel banned. Well, sir or ma', am, probably sir. It's almost exclusively men that send these insane screeds. Sir, challenge accepted. Go again and get me banned. You'll take my channel out of the grip of my cold. Okay, let's not go there. Send your emails in infoavidpakman.com we have a phenomenal bonus show for you today. It's just a good show today. That's the important takeaway

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