Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (3:09)

So, at your direction, Mr. President, the war Department is going to fight decisively, not endless conflicts. It's going to fight to win, not not to lose. We're going to go on offense, not just on defense. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct.

Brittany Page (3:30)

You know, it's always a good sign when the morning show host on Fox News turned Secretary of Defense stands in the Oval Office declaring that international humanitarian laws are for beta males. Part of the problem is so much is happening all the time that it's. It's tough to keep track of the pattern that exists with this administration in allying with the worst actors to commit the worst crimes while lying and enacting the greatest harm with zero regard for civilian deaths in the process. I mean, you remember when we just bombed a girls school in Iran, killing nearly 200 people, most of them children. And Trump tried to lie and. And blame Iran instead of showing any semblance of Karen concern for the dead children that he is responsible for killing. Again, I ask, is it any surprise that this man woke up and casually threatened a war crime on his phone in honor of Easter Sunday? All of this is, of course, under the backdrop of Iran shooting down a US Fighter jet, prompting a search and rescue mission where one missing pilot had to be rescued. Which is another surprise because just one month ago, Pete Hegseth said this.

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (4:47)

We've taken control of Iran's airspace and waterways without boots on the ground. We control their fate. But when a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it's front page news. I get it. The press only wants to make the President look bad. But try for once to report the reality. The terms of this war will be set by us at every step.

Brittany Page (5:13)

More lies. This is all so dangerous. From Donald Trump's unhinged social media posts to his administration full of liars and grifters and incompetent, insecure, sad little men. It puts all of us at risk. Trump keeps trying to convince us that we are winning this pointless war that he decided to start on a whim. And because he isn't winning, he's growing more unhinged in his threats. It isn't just the social media posts. He's also giving quotes, giving interviews to Fox News, specifically their chief foreign correspondent. Yeah, guys, good morning.

David Pakman / Show Announcer (5:49)

I just spoke with President Trump for 15 minutes. He gave me some new details on the negotiations behind the scenes with the

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (5:55)

Iranians and what's going to happen if

David Pakman / Show Announcer (5:57)

Iran does not make a good faith deal? The President tells me, if they don't make a deal, and fast, I'm considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil. The president went on to say, you're going to see bridges and power plants dropping all over their country.

Brittany Page (6:13)

So, genocide. The President is giving quotes to major media outlets and straight up threatening genocide. I mean, what do we expect from a man who has cheered the genocide in Gaza and partnered with Israel to help expand their attacks on civilian infrastructure, including now in Lebanon, where Israel has displaced more than 1 million people, killed over 1,000, and is attempting to seize territory? The cascading horrors here are really difficult to fathom. And Donald Trump's every utterance is dangerous. It is horrifying. And how bad are Republicans going to allow this to get before they find their spines and even dare to publicly criticize this man who is near death, right, with his multiple rotting body parts from his neck to his hands? What is it going to take? Democrats should be holding daily press conferences detailing to the American people exactly what the cost of this war is and how complicit Republicans are in refusing to step out and criticize their boy here. No more my good friend across the aisle. No more we agree to disagree. No more behind the scenes, we Republicans are enraged. No, this is a five alarm fire and we need to treat it as such. One thing I keep thinking about is Trump's vacillating between this whole trying to play it cool and telling us that, you know, actually it doesn't matter if the Strait of Hormuz is opened to the repeated threats to commit war crimes if the strait is not opened immediately. And how. This is just one of many examples of, of how he is dangerous, doesn't know what he's doing, is a failure at everything he does in life, and desperately needs to be removed from office immediately. I mean, this was him just a few days ago.

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (8:09)

The United States imports almost no oil through the Hormuz Strait and won't be taking any in the future. We don't need it. We haven't needed it and we don't need it.

Brittany Page (8:20)

And now he's threatening Iran with annihilation if they refuse to open the strait immediately. So it's, we don't need it to. We need it now and in a, in a matter of days. And while his weakness, his lack of mental stability and his insecurity is running the show here, there is a wide range of complicit Republicans who still, still cannot dare to step out and say that something is very, very wrong here and it's time to do something. And this is, this is difficult to watch. Embarrassing, really. But the latest example of this is Representative Mike Turner from Ohio. He went on ABC this Week with George Stephanopoulos to give reaction to Trump's truth social post threatening war crimes should Iran not immediately open the strait. And he gave what amounts to a three minute word salad. We aren't going to play the whole thing. But even George was really struggling to understand what exactly Mike was getting at here. But remember, the question is, will ground troops be necessary to open the Strait of Hormuz?

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (9:31)

The President suggested that the Straits of Hormuz could open naturally. Is that realistic or is it going to take ground troops?

Mike Turner (9:38)

Well, George, in any conflict, the certainly, you know, Iran is going to have some things that they're going to be able to do during the conflict. But if you don't undertake the conflict, if you just step back and watch as the Obama administration was going to do while Iran became a nuclear power and they became North Korea, we wouldn't be looking at the Strait of Hormuz. We'd be looking at what's, you know, having Europe be at risk. You'd have the United States being at risk. You'd have all of our allies and ultimately the continental United States at risk from Iran and the whole world being held hostage by a terrorist state in this. As they, as they in their last throes, you know, begin to do whatever they have left as a state militarily, they still are being significantly diminished and their ability to be able to be marching toward a nuclear state is being eliminated.

Brittany Page (10:37)

Yikes. I didn't hear an answer there, did you? I mean, what do we think Republicans like Mike Turner do after an appearance like this? Do they walk off set and pat themselves on the back for a job well done? Or do you think someone like Mike, like his ego, allows him to be like, dude, that was truly embarrassing. You are defending a rapidly dying white supremacist president who has no idea what he's doing and it's time to get honest with yourself. Now, wouldn't that be great if these people had said some semblance of a moral compass guiding them? But this idea of putting boots on the ground in Iran was a topic across networks with Republicans giving answers ranging from what you just heard with Mike Turner's word salad, given he doesn't want to upset Trump, so he just takes a non stance until Donald Trump decides what he wants to do and Then you have someone like Representative Mike Lawler from New York who says, sounds more than willing to support boots on the ground. So let me ask you, would you support President Trump actually putting US Troops on the ground in Iran?

Mike Turner (11:46)

I think in this instance, a rescue mission. It was necessary to do everything in our power to ensure that no troops were left behind. And I commend the president for taking decisive action to do that. I think the question moving forward with respect to any troops on the ground would be for what purpose? And I think the only purpose that I could see would be to get the enriched uranium. And I think that is something that does need to be discussed with Congress in a classified setting, and I think Congress would need to be briefed on that particular matter.

Brittany Page (12:24)

Now, this is confusing because, again, with all of Trump's vacillating, in June 2025, we have this press release from the White House. Iran's nuclear fac facilities have been obliterated, and suggestions otherwise are fake news. But then we actually needed to go to war with Iran to prevent them from developing a nuclear weapon after their nuclear facilities had been obliterated, according to the administration. And now in the middle of the war, going very poorly for Donald Trump. He was asked just a few days ago by Reuters about a stockpile of enriched uranium, saying that he does not care about that. He said, quote, that's so far underground. I don't care about that. We'll always be watching it by satellite. So what are we doing here? What are, what are we talking about with boots on the ground when the administration has no idea what it's doing, what the goals are here? One moment Donald Trump says that things are serious and we need to commit war crimes, and then he's saying he doesn't care. It's like being in an abusive relationship. One moment he loves you, and the next moment he doesn't, and the dance continues. This level of instability is fundamentally unacceptable. And I, I need to add a clip here of Democratic Senator from Virginia, Tim Kaine, because I was really disappointed with how he handled a question on Meet the Press about Donald Trump's unhinged Truth Social post.

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (13:56)

And so I hope the White House, I doubt the president will, but please dial back the rhetoric because you don't need to put people like these pilots more at risk by the rhetoric that you use.

Brittany Page (14:06)

Well, you raise the rhetoric. Let me ask you about some of the president's rhetoric. This morning, posting on Truth Social, quote, open the straight, you blank bastards. Do you think that is an effective negotiation tactic?

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (14:22)

No, the bombing them back to the Stone Age, cursing them. Secretary Hegseth saying, you know, it's death from above. No mercy, no quarter. We will ignore stupid rules of engagement. This is all embarrassing and juvenile and it's people trying to act like they're puffed up and tough when what we really see from the administration in this war is the absence of a plan, the absence of a clear rationale, no effort to get allies on board and thus deep unpopularity of this war with the American public.

Brittany Page (14:54)

Tim says please dial back the rhetoric and that all of this is juvenile. But it is so much more than that, Tim. I mean, what a platform you have, with an invitation to meet the press, to inform the people watching that program, to guide them in how they should see this situation. And what a spectacular failure to not speak with outrage and horror of yet another example of how desperately unqualified this man is to be in a position of power. It isn't just stop the rhetoric. It's stop because these are actions, not just words. Bridges are already being bombed. We're already bombing a girl's school. It isn't just rhetoric. It isn't just juvenile, it's dangerous.

David Pakman / Show Announcer (15:39)

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Brittany Page (18:27)

back to the David Pakman Show. My name is Brittany Page from the page perspective right here on YouTube and I am today's guest host. If you happen to be looking for other independent media to support, I would love to have you join me over on my channel where I talk about politics, public policy and many of the issues close to my heart. As a licensed psychotherapist passionate about changing systems to work better for the people, I have a small channel, especially compared to David's and I would love to see you over there now. One aspect of the onslaught of chaos coming out of the Trump administration is that important stories sometimes fall in the ranking of what is top of mind and the Epstein files have been fighting to stay toward the top of importance while we have numerous five alarm fires surrounding us. But the Epstein files. The story took an important new turn when Donald Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi last week, with Todd Blanch stepping into the acting Attorney General role and leading the Department of Justice. Todd is of course Trump's personal attorney and the man who paid Ghislaine Maxwell a visit in prison before moving her to a more cushy setup. He recently went on with one of the most notorious ghouls over at Fox News, Jesse Waters, to outline his priorities at the Justice Department and ensure that we all know that Pam Bonnie's firing was not at all related to how she handled the Epstein files. It was not at all related to her horrendous the dow is over 50,000 performance before Congress and Todd won't and doesn't say that her firing was actually related in part to Donald Trump's frustration over her inability to prosecute his political enemies. What Blanche does make clear is that by firing Pam Bondi, Trump hopes to move on from the Epstein files and put it all behind him.

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (20:27)

Now, the Epstein files, you'd agree, not handled well, and I don't. First of all, I have never heard President Trump say that the Attorney General wasthat anything that happened to her had anything to do with the Epstein files. And so look, the Epstein files has been a saga that's lasted for the entirefor the past year. And what happened when the President signed the Transparency act is the Department of Justice has now released all the files with respect to the Epstein saga. And the Attorney General Bondi and I appeared in front of Congress voluntarily a couple weeks ago to answer any questions they had. We have made every single congressman, Senator available to come and see any document redacted, unredacted that they want. And so I think that to the extent that the Epstein files was a part of the past year of this Justice Department, it should not be a part of anything going forward.

Brittany Page (21:18)

Did you hear that, guys? It's time to move on. Move on from Epstein. Even though there has been zero accountability and nearly everything that he said in that clip is a lie. Todd says that all of the files have been released. Not true. Still waiting on millions. We're still missing essential documents related to specific accusations that Donald Trump abused a minor child. Epstein survivors have been fighting for full transparency and accountability only for there to be numerous instances where the DOJ redacted names of abusers and left unredacted names of survivors leading to their harassment. Todd says that he and Bondi voluntarily appeared to answer questions. And we all see what happens when they appear for questioning. Right. We get screamed at about how the dow is above 50,000. And what about Todd's claim that the DOJ made every Epstein docum available unredacted for elected officials to review. A hilarious claim given that we know they had to travel to a particular room, select from one of like four computers where their research was then tracked. All of their searches in the files recorded for future use against them in some unknown fashion, to the point where members of Congress called for an investigation into what exactly the Department of Justice was doing with records of their searches in the files. Fully transparent, fully accountable, just endless lies. There have been no arrests in the United States and yet the acting Attorney General is ready to move on. The COVID up continues even as the Post and Courier continues to dig into allegations against Trump from a woman who was a child at the time of her allegations against Trump, corroborating numerous aspects of her claims and life in other areas outside side of her allegations against Trump. And I hope that they keep digging because we know accountability and transparency will not come from this administration. Well, it's about that time when all of the politicians who will inevitably be throwing their hats in the ring for president start their book tours. We've seen Gavin Newsom promoting his book. Cory Booker is making the rounds promoting his book. Basically, any politician promoting a book right now is essentially also announcing their run for president without actually announcing it. And Vice President J.D. vance is also about to launch his own book tour with his book Communion Finding My Way Back to faith coming out June 16th. It's about his conversion to Catholicism as an adult. And hopefully, you know, he's prepared to answer for how the Catholic Church has endlessly criticized the Trump administration. I mean, from cardinals releasing statements asking the administration to use its moral compass or Pope Leo directly criticizing the Trump administration's horrifying attacks on immigrants or never ending wars and its imperialist project. JD Will have a lot to answer for on this book tour, but it's his wife making the headlines today, and not just because Usha Vance is launching Story Time with the Second Lady, a new show where she invites a guest to read children's books for her. On her new show. She's also making headlines for ever so subtly burning her husband during a promotional interview on FOX News. And we're going to go through a few of these clips, but we'll start with my favorite J.D. byrne here.

Usha Vance (24:59)

Yeah. And he's described you as being his rock and being just the steady voice. What do you want America to know about your husband? I know it's been asked in reverse, but, but what's something we don't know that you want America to know? It's hard cause he's written a book, he's had a movie. We know about him. He's given a lot of speeches. Gosh, there's so many misconceptions about him. He is just the nicest, funniest guy. He makes everything an adventure. He's really just a wonderful person to be around. And our children, our family has so much more joy because he is a part of it. And I wish that people saw more of that. So when we look at the priorities,

Brittany Page (25:38)

there are so many misconceptions about him, including that he has just a dog shit personality, but he's actually such a nice and funny guy. You guys, his personality is not completely dark sided. No. He's actually such a joy to be around and he loves adventure do you. Do you believe her? Do you believe that J.D. vance actually has a great personality, despite the many years of evidence to the contrary? She wishes that people saw more of how fun and nice he is. But I guess that's kind of JD's problem, right? That's not really a problem of the public failing to pick up what he's putting down. I mean, when he spends his days shape shifting into Trump's best foot soldier after calling him America's Hitler, it might make sense that the general public fails to see how nice and funny and cool and full of adventure JD Vance is. When he's generating animus toward our nation's Haitian immigrants by saying that they eat pets. We're supposed to think, what, he's just a. A super cool and funny guy? This is a personal problem, Usha. We don't see JD Vance as this person because he's not this person. He's a slimy political actor who is propping up the worst among us, standing idly by while everything burns, eager to continue as the Vice President for America's Hitler. But Usha was also asked about how she and JD talk to their kids about real world events in the news. How do they answer questions from their kids about the horrors that they're complicit in? Okay, maybe that wasn't the question, but I really wish it was.

Usha Vance (27:23)

Talking to your children about complex topics. I heard you talk about this before, and I just wanted you to share it again because it's really tough. You know, you are in this lane, which is obviously politics. You keep your kids away from these world events. But it's hard. You know, I'm in news and my daughter's walking through the room, and I remember when she looked up and she saw the war in Ukraine, and she said, mommy, baby hurt. And like, it crushed me to hear that. So how do you talk to them? You try to shield them. But about these big topics? Yeah. No, it's an excellent question. It's something that we grapple with constantly because, of course, they're aging and their awareness and interest and the questions they ask change every year. So I think we try to meet them where they are. You know, we try to actually hear what question they're answering and answer it truthfully and directly without a ton of extraneous information. And we really do try to keep politics out of it, if that makes sense. It's not necessarily important for them to have formed an opinion at this point. They have their life to form opinions that make sense for them. We try to, to give them information that they can understand and digest and, and see where their thoughts are leading and follow those.

Brittany Page (28:27)

I just marvel at these politicians and their families. What a strange situation to be responsible, complicit for so many of the horrors that we see on TV while trying to balance how to talk to your kids about what is happening and inevitably, I guess, preventing them from fully understanding your level of responsibility and complicity in the horrors. But more than anything else, this question and answer is supposed to be a message for the people at home watching Fox News who have their own families about how they should talk to their children about the. Well, I would call them horrors. They don't see it that way, that they're also complicit in, given their vote for Donald Trump. And the message there from Usha is about avoiding accountability and keeping the indoctrination moving. And one thing I keep thinking about is how Usha is starting this project, this, this show of reading children's books all the while the Trump Vance administration oversees the tearing apart of families, the throwing of children in concentration camps where they eat moldy food and have their artistic renderings of life in the camps stolen from them. Because ProPublica reported on those artistic drawings revealing to us the depths of depravity in these concentration camps. Agents taking crayons and paper from children who were trying to process the trauma that they're experiencing. What about those kids, Usha? What about the kids in Iran that we've killed? What about the kids in Gaza? What about the kids in Lebanon? These children matter too, do they not? I mean, this is what happens when you're a political actor who says you try to keep politics out of it. That is just another way to avoid accountability. And we see you, Usha. We see you trying to launder your husband's image, wash away the hypocrisy, and keep the focus on anything other than what matters. We see you.

David Pakman / Show Announcer (30:31)

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Brittany Page (32:43)

Welcome back to the David Pakman Show. As you can see and hear, I am not David Pakman. My name is Brittany Page and I host the Page perspective here on YouTube, which you can subscribe to by clicking the link in the description below and finding me by searching my name. I am thrilled to be returning as guest host for David while he is away. And one thing that you hear me say often on my channel is that budgets are moral documents. They reveal our priorities. If we look at Donald Trump's budget, we see that his priorities are massive tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and adding to the already ridiculously bloated defense budget, while gutting our social safety net and making life harder for Americans already on the edge. We just learned that Trump is requesting the largest military budget in history, $1.5 trillion for the military. He is also proposing reductions in the budget in the areas of education, housing, health, environmental protections. All the while, Americans are losing their health care, fighting food insecurity and increased hunger. And more Americans than ever before are rent burdened, paying more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities. And Donald Trump's policy choices are making life harder for Americans. We're continuously sold on this idea that Republicans are the party of fiscal responsibility. They are the ones concerned about the national debt. Oh, but we have a headline on this one, too. The national debt just crossed $39 trillion, almost doubling since Trump vowed to erase it. Trump's director of the National Economic Council isn't intimidated by any of this, though. I mean, why would he be when he can make his media appearances and lie and tell us that all is well, that actually a budget request of $1.5 trillion for the military is the height of fiscal responsibility?

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (34:44)

Proposal from the White House came in about 60 minutes ago. Just give me a top line headline. What does it say about this White House and what its priorities are?

Mike Turner (34:54)

Well, I guess that because of all the stuff we've done, like cutting government employment, that we're being very fiscally responsible. But we also have an increasing eye on the importance of national defense and the potential budgetary costs of that. And so it's fiscally responsible and increasing spending on defense because of all the things that we're seeing in the world.

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (35:14)

We will see in the end what kind of traction it gets. Kevin has to thank your time and

Brittany Page (35:19)

the Fox News host, I think, I think Hemmer is his name. He's just completely content with that response. But someone should really tell Kevin there about the Pentagon failing its eighth audit in a row. Just completely unable to pass an audit. Keep handing out the cash while they continue to fail audit after audit after audit. And remember the one big beautiful bill Act. I hate to, I hate to call it that, but that's what it's called when Donald Trump cuts $187 billion from SNAP, $1.1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care act marketplaces to pay for the $1.4 trillion in tax cuts for Americans making more than $500,000. This budget is just more of that. It's an insult. It is going to cause widespread harm and pain. And Trump does not care, of course. He recently even said that we cannot afford to have a social safety net. $1.5 trillion for the military, of course, we've always got the money for war. But helping people, oh, no, sorry, we, we can't do that because the United

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (36:31)

States can't take care of daycare. That has to be up to a state. We can't take care of daycare. We're a big country. We have 50 states. We have all these other people we're fighting wars with. We can't Take care of daycare. You got to let a state take care of daycare. And they should pay for it, too. They should pay. They have to raise their taxes, but they should pay for it. And we could lower our taxes a little bit to them to make up, but it's not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things. They can do it on a state basis. You can't do it on a federal. We have to take care of one thing, military protection.

Brittany Page (37:09)

Now, Donald Trump hates poor people. We know that. But it is still stunning to hear him so flippantly describe what he believes we cannot afford, that we cannot afford to have a social safety net. When he wants $1.5 trillion for defense. The only priority he has now is his personal imperialist project, the suffering of Americans. It doesn't rate. Thankfully, we have Democrats who see all of this for what it is. Additional funding for the military should be a no go. And Representative Ro Khanna is a firm no on any additional funding scenario where you would support new funding if it was determined necessary for the readiness of the military.

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (37:51)

No, I'm not supporting new funding. I mean, they're asking for $400 billion. I know you asked Senator Kaine and your Representative Lawler. The answer for every Democrat should be absolutely no. Absolutely no. We don't need to read it. We need to study it. It's $400 billion for a war that we oppose. We could have universal childcare for that. We could have free public college for that. We could pay teachers $60,000 for that. I call it new economic patriotism. Democrats need to oppose this funding and say we're actually for the American people.

Brittany Page (38:20)

So this is exactly right. And it is particularly beneficial in educating the American public in lieu of this war that is doing nothing but causing harm. We should have universal childcare. We could have that. We could have public, free public college. The American public needs to hear things framed in this way. And Governor West Moore of Maryland offered a similar message on Face the Nation.

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (38:45)

Quote, it's not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things. He argues the federal government shouldn't have to pay for those programs because, quote, we have to take care of one thing, military protection. That's nonsense and that's not what any of us want.

Mike Turner (39:02)

We don't want to be fighting foreign wars while you're taking away our health care.

Brittany Page (39:06)

This is exactly right. For so long, the Republican Party has tried to convince the American public that we couldn't afford to take care of people to ensure a robust social safety net so that when the bad luck comes for you, you can land on your feet. And I'm a first generation college student who benefited from Pell Grants, who grew up on food stamps and public assistance that so many right now desperately need but cannot access because of the policy choices of this administration. This is a choice we can either spend endlessly to prop up one dying man's ego, or we can take care of our nation. This choice needs to be made clear to the American people voting in the midterms and beyond. Over the weekend, the rumor mill picked up online with false speculation that Trump was hidden away in the hospital dying. And I saw David actually post about Donald Trump Jr. Going after him for his post about this very rumor. But even though Easter has already passed, the Easter egg roll today was floated as a moment that would be a proof of life situation for the president, given that he hadn't been seen publicly for enough time that people apparently started wishing that he had had a medical episode. I mean, what does that say about your life and legacy when you're absent from public for a bit and many people are like, oh, good, hopefully it has happened. It is the situation that Trump has created for himself. But leading up to Easter and the Easter egg hunt, Trump and his merry band of religious faith leader enablers have been making the rounds to tout Trump's deep dedication to Jesus, to faith, to Christianity. And and while his administration purges black people and women from positions of power in the military and threatens war crimes online and sends children to eat moldy food in concentration camps, you know, the typical actions of the best representations of the faithful. Just last week, Donald Trump's spiritual advisor, Paula White, literally compared him to Jesus.

Paula White (41:18)

And Mr. President, no one has paid the price like you have paid the price. It almost cost you your life. You were betrayed and arrested and falsely accused. It's a familiar pattern that our Lord and Savior showed us, but it didn't end there for him and it didn't end there for you.

Brittany Page (41:43)

And now she's going on Fox News with Lara Trump to talk about Trump's long history as a faithful servant to God. But maybe you can talk about how special it is when you look across our cabinet right now. There are so many of our folks in leadership positions who lean heavily on their faith and are very open about it. That's a really special thing.

Paula White (42:04)

Oh, Laura, as you said, this is probably my favorite subject to talk about. First off, to give honor to God and to President Trump for being bold and unwavering with his faith. Many people don't know like you do and, and say hello to Eric and everyone in the family about the upbringing of President Trump that he went to sometimes three times a week to. He said it depended on the teacher to Saturday school, Sunday school, church. It was at Norman Vincent Pills Church was a big part of his life. Of course, Billy Graham, Crusades. And then he began to watch people on TV, including myself. And that's how we connected over 25 years ago and developed this relationship, not only with him, but obviously the family and so many others. And now to serve in the highest place. And President Trump really is the one that takes that bold stand and has so many believers that are in his administration.

Brittany Page (43:02)

So several things. Do we really believe that Trump was going to church three times a week? Do we really believe that he is a religious person? I mean, he didn't even go to church for Easter Sunday yesterday. And listen, I'm, I'm not a religious person. I went to a progressive church from about ages 12 to 18, and I haven't been since. But I still stand back in awe of people who think that Donald Trump is a religious person. And it isn't just how his face looks when these people are praying over him either. This is a man who. Do you remember when he deployed officers to abuse protesters in 2020 here in Washington, D.C. in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, when he went to St. John's Church and had a photo op, awkwardly holding a Bible. Not his Bible, a Bible. And sorry if you're listening on Spotify and not watching the video, but I had to include the full weight of cringe in that video with Donald Trump having no idea how to hold his body that he has lived in for 70 years. Just. Just an endlessly awkward, empty vessel. He is. But it's not his Bible. It is a Bible that they just found on the way there, I guess. What about when he was asked his favorite Bible verse?

Mike Turner (44:40)

Okay, you mentioned the Bible. You've been talking about how it's your favorite book. And you said. I think last night in Iowa, some people are surprised that you say that. I'm wondering what one or two of your most favored Bible verses are.

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (44:52)

I wouldn't to want to get into it because to me, that's very personal. You know, when I talk about the Bible, it's very personal. So I don't want to get into verses I don't want to get into.

Mike Turner (45:00)

It means a lot to you that

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (45:01)

you think about or cite the Bible means a lot to me, but I don't want to get into specifics.

Mike Turner (45:06)

Even to cite a verse.

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (45:07)

No, I don't want to do that. Old Testament guy or New Testament guy, probably equal. I think it's just an incredible. The whole Bible is an incredible. I joke very much so. They always hold up the art of the day. I say my second favorite book of all time, but I just think the Bible is just something very special.

Brittany Page (45:25)

So now asking a person who says the Bible is their favorite book, which Bible verse is their favorite is like asking their STD status. Or what about when he reduced communion to having a little bit of wine and a little bit of cracker when

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (45:39)

we go in church. And, and when I drink my little wine, which is about the only wine I drink and have my little cracker, I guess that's, that's a form of asking for forgiveness. And I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed.

Brittany Page (45:51)

Again, I don't consider these things a personal affront. It just speaks to the level of hypocrisy constantly on display here. We're supposed to believe a man who only signals religiosity to gain a cult following is deeply religious despite having zero knowledge of the faith that he supposedly belongs to. And Paula says church three times a week.

Paula White (46:15)

No.

Brittany Page (46:16)

Also when she said Saturday school, you know, those of us who were in Saturday school for getting in trouble heard something very different. Please tell me it's not just me, right? I'm like Saturday school. You mean when you got busted in school and they sent you to Saturday school? That seems more likely than Trump being at church on a Saturday because of his dedication to the faith. So this particular signaling of holiness from Paula and Trump and Trump's daughter in law is disturbing, especially in the broader context of the many crimes of this administration, from protecting child predators, to lying about American citizens murdered in the streets for protecting their neighbors, to kidnapping families and children. I mean, the list goes on and on. When you do these things and you try to give it a protective shield of holiness, it makes it even more disturbing. So this trend will continue, but hopefully with growing outrage from religious leaders in particular who don't work in the White House faith office. And the Easter Egg Roll will be Trump's proof of life until the next time we don't see him for a period of time and everyone starts wishing again that it it had happened.

David Pakman / Show Announcer (47:36)

The David Pakman show is an audience supported program and the best, most direct way to support the show is by becoming a member@join pacman.com 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

Brittany Page (47:57)

pacman.com welcome again to the David Pakman Show. My name is Brittany Page from the page perspective on YouTube, and I am so grateful to be here today to take you through the news of the day. And as I prepare to wrap my time as guest host today, I would invite you to please join me over on my much smaller YouTube channel where I talk about politics, public policy, and all things trying to improve the system that we have here now. The lengths to which these conservative commentators are going to try to prop up public support for Trump's $400 million ballroom and his many renovations. I mean, from the Kennedy center to the White House, it is truly wild. And Mark Levin on Fox News actually referenced George Washington and his love of ballrooms to try to paint a picture of Donald Trump as no different than other presidents, including the founding fathers, who were just classy fellows like Trump obsessed with ballrooms.

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (49:01)

And you took a hit for that. What about George Washington? You know, George Washington was very popular for a very long time, but he was also unpopular for a period of time, too. Toward the end of his presidency, he faced intense criticism from political opponents, including Jefferson Madison, who accused him of being influenced by back then, the notorious Alexander Hamilton. And despite Washington's efforts to remain above politics, rise above the Federalist and Democratic Republican parties, he became a partisan target. The Jay Treaty, which was the treaty with Britain in 1794, was viewed as highly unpopular, although it was very important. Critics accused him of having a formal European style of leadership with his receptions. He liked nice, proper receptions. He liked ballrooms. I think I know another president who likes proper receptions in ballrooms. You know what it shows?

David Pakman / Show Announcer (50:03)

Class.

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (50:05)

Class. Well, Washington had class, but he was attacked for it. And by the time he left office, he was not a wildly celebrated as he was during the Revolutionary War as he is today.

Brittany Page (50:17)

How desperate is this? George Washington loved ballrooms, you guys. It's called class. Guess who else likes ballrooms. Donald Trump, because he's classy. Now, you should all definitely support his ballroom projects. And conservative commentator like Mark Levin, I'm sure that he has no issue with Donald Trump looting the government to renovate the White House to make it nice for himself. Right? I mean, we, we didn't talk about this part of the budget when we were talking about the budget earlier, but get ready for your head to explode. President Donald Trump plans to spend more than $377 million renovating the White House executive residence in fiscal 2026 and is estimating another 174 million on top of it for the next year, according to the White House's fiscal 2027 budget request. This is reporting from Politico. The budget document, which proposes slashing domestic programs to help fund a $1.5 trillion bump to defense spending, estimates spending 377 million in fiscal 2026 under an account for repairs and renovations to the executive residence. That's a mammoth 866% increase over the $39 million estimated to have been spent in fiscal 2025 on sprucing up the area of the White House where the President lives. You remember when Elon Musk and his gang of 18 year olds took a hammer to USAID condemning hundreds of thousands of people to death? They called life saving programs waste, fraud and abuse. But funds that ensure Donald Trump sits on a golden toilet are what, for these people, essential spending. And to me, knowing that Trump's budget attempts to gut essential funding for hud, housing and urban development, attempting to steal funds from essential programs to keep Americans housed, it is a particular betrayal to know that Trump wants millions of dollars for his own personal vanity projects. To live a life of golden comfort. All the while Americans across the country sleep in their cars with their families before going to work all day or wait on housing voucher lists for months, sometimes years, while suffering in poverty and trying to survive on the streets. And with the endless self dealing from this administration, you know, the betting on war crimes before they happen, the poly market of it all, we have to assume that when Donald Trump talks about funding coming from private donations, like he says about the ballroom, he is, well, number one, lying. And number two, those private donations are in exchange for some sort of deal. Right? And the private donations came up in this reporting as well. Quote, the budget shows that 350 million of that $377 million figure is counted as mandatory spending, a classification used for programs that Congress must fund by statute, such as Social Security or Medicare. A mandatory spending account is not subject to the annual congressional appropriations cycle. When asked for details on the mandatory spending, the spokesperson said it includes the private donations being used to fund Trump's new ballroom. And, and that funding is considered mandatory. I mean, this is a mess, you guys. This is a complete mess. This is what happens when we have a grifter as president. And it's truly, endlessly enraging that someone like this was elevated to the highest position of power and is being permitted by a Republican party of cowards who refused to do anything to stop the looting and self dealing. I mean, is this base going to go for this kind of thing, though? That's my question. We're starting to see anger about gas prices, anger about the lack of action on the promise to lower prices generally. Can the base of supporters really go for the idea that George Washington loved ballrooms? So we have to support Donald Trump's ballroom. I don't think any of this works without distractions. They need to keep the distractions going. They need someone like Dr. Oz, for example, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. They need him making the rounds on Fox News talking about fraud in health care. All the while Trump is engaged in a massive personal renovation project at the White House.

Various Political Commentators / Interviewees (55:04)

This is making a difference. Yes, because the president and the vice president, the task force says yes. So I spent yesterday, when we weren't doing the bust, talking to collaborators and talking about how we're going to be able to recruit the right people back into government because we need people. And by the way, please, I came on the show in part to recruit folks. This is a generational opportunity to serve your nation. If you're interested in this space of fraud, come on, give us a call. We want to hear your tips.

Brittany Page (55:27)

The pattern here is clear. Donald Trump wants to make claims about certain groups of people engaged in fraud, preferably non white immigrants and poor people, to distract from the actual source of waste, fraud and abuse that is his presence in the White House. And for a lot of people, it works. They are happy to turn their anger and frustration on non white people, poor people, homeless people, immigrants, anyone but the man actually responsible for the pain and suffering and who's capable of stopping it through moral budgets and policy choices and an end to the endless self dealing. Can you believe we're at a point where the Holocaust Museum is altering their content to avoid upsetting the Trump administration? Politico is reporting that former employees have come forward to allege that the museum removed resources on racism from its website and changed the names of workshops to avoid becoming a target of the Trump administration. And listen cannot be said enough that Donald Trump is a white supremacist. He started his career as a slumlord fighting the Department of Justice after they brought a suit accusing him of refusing to rent apartments to black people in violation of the Fair Housing act, the same act that he is preventing the enforcement of as president, per HUD whistleblowers who came forward as you can see there in my write up from substack when I attended the whistleblower hearings. His first declaration when he launched his campaign for president was to accuse Mexican immigrants of bringing drugs and crime and rape. And he's led a cleansing campaign across the country in an attempt to purge the United States of non white people, while also trying to strip birthright citizenship from people he doesn't want here. Undocumented immigrants and visa holders. The list is long and I could keep going for a very long time. But there's this thing that happens in polite society, heavy air quotes where you can't call someone a racist. You can't speak plainly about their racism. You know, we saw this when Elon Musk was initially doing his work with Doge. From the Nazi salute onward, there was this discomfort with calling these racists what they are. And Elon is now, I don't know if you've seen this reposting what he calls an important reminder. Never get so racist that you forget white leftists are the worst people in the world. He doesn't want too little racism or too much racism. He wants just the right amount of racism. But do not under any circumstance call him a racist, you guys. And the same is true of Trump. The media really struggles to just be honest about what we're facing here. But when the Holocaust Memorial Museum is censoring its content on racism and the fragility of democracy to avoid becoming a target of the Trump administration, what do we call that? I think we know what to call it. Reading from Politico, the museum pulled from its website a page called Teaching Materials on Nazism and Jim Crow. At some point after August 29, 2025, the last time the page was captured on the Internet Archive, that page provided lesson plans and resources about the connections between American de jure racism and and the Nazi regime, including links to sites about African American soldiers during World War II and Afro Germans during the Holocaust, among other topics. It also linked to a 2018 video on the museum's YouTube channel featuring a conversation between a Holocaust survivor and a woman whose father was lynched in Alabama. That video is now unlisted, meaning it does not show up on the museum's YouTube page, but is still, still accessible via direct URL. So pulling teachings on the history of Nazism and Jim Crow polling, conversations with the Holocaust survivor and a woman whose father was lynched in Alabama, these are truly disturbing examples of the kind of censorship we've come to expect from the Trump administration. Whether going out of his way to put up statues of enslavers or ripping down slavery exhibits. This is what this administration does, attempts to censor reality to keep people ignorant of history. That way they're more easily manipulated, more easy to use to build the base of support in the cult. And this reporting continues. Leaders at the museum also renamed a one day civic education workshop designed for college students from Fragility of Democracy and the Rise of the Nazis to Before the German Society and the Nazi Rise to power. In an email obtained by Politico between a senior staff member at the museum's Levine Institute for Holocaust Education and a staffer planning the workshop, the senior staff member said the change was necessary due to concerns regarding how the term fragility may be perceived or interpreted in the current climate. I really believe we're in this place because we've refused to name this problem what it is directly for more than a decade. Whether the media, prominent figures in the media or other people in positions of power refusing to name all of this what it is. I mean, how many reports do we see of Pete Hegseth firing someone who was black or a woman? More than a dozen senior officials in the military he's gotten rid of? And we still have to play this game like it's impolite to describe someone as a racist when that's what they are. This administration knows who they are signaling to with all of this, but it isn't even a signal at this point. I just wish the media would name it directly and accurately. And if you're still with me, we do a lot of media criticism like this on my podcast. I doubt it. The podcast that I have hosted with Jesse Dallimore since 2014. We'd love to have you join us on the bonus show coming up where we will be covering a few more stories for you as I wrap here. My name is Brittany Paige and I have loved being here today for my triumphant return to the Guest Host Chair in these extremely trying and horrific times. I wish you moments of peace and will look forward to hearing your thoughts on all of these stories that I've talked about today in the comments. Please don't forget to join me on my channel, Paige Perspective Brittany page linked in the description below and for today. Take care and I'll see you next time.