← The Jim Acosta Show
The Jim Acosta Show
Happy Halloween from the Show! With Olivia Troye, Dem Influencer Sawyer Hackett and Federal Employee Union Pres. Everett Kelley
00:56:36
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- [00:00]
Sawyer Hackett
Foreign.
- [00:06]
Jim Acosta
Welcome to the Jim Acosta show. And it's another day that ends in Y in the affordability crisis in America. It's also Happy Halloween, Halloween for everybody out there. Thanks so much for joining us. My big guest at the top of this hour is Everett Kelly. He is the head of the Federal Employees Union here in Washington. And ever great to see you. I know federal employees across the country, not only in D.C. but across the country, they are really hurting right now. I wanted to just jump straight into this with you. It looks as though this is not going to be resolved before this government shutdown hits a record as the longest government shutdown. I believe we have a, a few more days before it hits that record and Congress is not in session. The Senate went home, they went into recession. And I'm just wondering your thoughts. I mean, it just seems to me if we're about to break a record for the longest shutdown ever, why aren't, why aren't they back in Washington trying to get something done?
- [01:08]
Everett Kelly
You know, Jim, first of all, thank you for having me. And that is a good question. You know, and I'm a soldier. And what I see right now is our Congress being awol. You know, they should be on the job, you know, they getting paid, you know, while they're on vacation or whatever, while the people that I represent are not getting paid, but they're going to work every single day providing the vital service to the American people. I applaud them for that. Okay. I really do. You know, but I think that Congress needs to come do their job, you know, and I don't know that if there is a stick in somebody's hat or something because they about to have a, a record longer shutdown in history or not. But they need to be on the job, getting this job done.
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Sawyer Hackett
Yeah.
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Jim Acosta
And it's interesting, the head of the Department of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, who has been in the center of this controversy over SNAP benefits, federal judge today said you've got to release these SNAP benefits. You can't just hold them back. But I want to play a little something that she said. She was with the House speaker earlier in the day and she kind of said the quiet part out loud. I don't know if she meant to say this, but she actually admitted that the federal government is failing the American people. And let's play a little bit of that. I'll get your reaction. And she literally said this. So let's play it setting in for.
- [02:32]
Brooke Rollins
A lot of people this weekend.
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Jim Acosta
So what do you say to the.
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Sawyer Hackett
Millions of people who stand to lose.
- [02:37]
Olivia Troy
Their food stamp benefits, what should they do?
- [02:41]
Brooke Rollins
My message to America is, first, the fact that your government is failing you right now, that poverty is not red or blue. It is not a Republican or Democrat issue. It doesn't matter who you voted for or even if you voted that. If you are in a position where you can't feed your family and you're relying on that $187 a month for an average family in the SNAP program, that we have failed you.
- [03:15]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, I mean, I, it might be the first time I've ever heard anybody in the administration tell the truth. They actually, she actually told the truth there and said they're. They're fail. She's right. They are failing us.
- [03:26]
Everett Kelly
She's absolutely right. I'm going to say this, Jim. True confession is good for the soul.
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Jim Acosta
Very good for the soul. Maybe she needed it. I don't know.
- [03:35]
Everett Kelly
Absolutely.
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Jim Acosta
But, I mean, you know, it. But it's true. They're failing.
- [03:39]
Everett Kelly
It is true. It is true. You know, the American people are being failed across the board, you know, and this government need to just, you know, think about the people right now instead of the politics, you know, and that's my message. You know, it's people over politics. We got to get to the point that we are more concerned about people than we are, you know, politics, because politics doesn't feed a person that's hungry, you know, politics doesn't pay a person's bill, you know, and, and that's the reason why, you know, I've taken kind of the stance that I've taken because the people that I represent, you know, are hungry. Right? People that I represent are going without paychecks and they are going without any ability to pay their bills, you know, and so I am saying, let's get this government open because the American people deserve the services that the workforce provide for them. And, and, and so let's do that.
- [04:35]
Jim Acosta
But, you know, at the same time, the President of the United States is posting pictures of his new bathroom. We can show this to the viewers. He, they just renovated the bathroom and the Lincoln Bedroom or something like that. There you go. Donald Trump, he put this on Truth. So I thought this was a joke. I guess he's not just redoing the, the, the East Wing, he's also redoing the bathrooms. This is the President of the United States posting this. Your thoughts on that? I wish I, you know, it would be nice to have a marble and golden bathro for all of your federal employees, but.
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Everett Kelly
Oh, wow.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah.
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Everett Kelly
You know, it tells us the mindset of, of, of this administration. Right. You know, they, they're not concerned about the people. I mean, you know, wonder how many people could have been fed with the amount of money that was put into that bathroom.
- [05:21]
Jim Acosta
Exactly, exactly. And, and I, I, how does, how does, how does the food stamp or SNAP issue impact federal employees? Because I have to assume that there, I mean, I was at a food line the other day, a food bank the other day. A lot of federal employees lining up for food, lining up for groceries. And they're employed by the federal government. They are working for the federal government. They should be getting a paycheck for the, for the honest work that they do, and instead they're at a food line. I just thought it was an absolute travesty when I saw this. These are people who work for us.
- [05:55]
Everett Kelly
I agree with you. And it's not that because they want to be there, they're forced to be there. These are patriotic people that want to earn their keep, they want to earn their living. That's why they have a job, you know, but they're being forced to go to places where they give free food just to eat. Now, you know, I'm looking at my TSA personnel. The average Pay is between 35 and, and 4 to $5,000 a year. You know, so when you start missing a paycheck, you know, that's going to be a rippling effect there, you know, because these are not high paying jobs. These are, and some of these are living in major metropolitan cities. And you can only imagine where $35,000 a year will carry you in New York City, where it will carry you in Philadelphia, you know, in major cities like that. So these people cannot afford to go without a paycheck too much longer.
- [06:51]
Jim Acosta
That's right. And you know, and there's Trump with his bathroom. I mean, this is the stuff that he's focused on. It's just, it's just unreal. But I, you know, I, I do worry about this, Everett, as it drags on air traffic controllers. Like you said, TSA workers, you know, people think, oh, TSA workers, they're just to inconvenience me when I go through the airport. No, they're checking to make sure that nobody gets a bomb on a plane, you know, that nobody sneaks a gun into the airport. They're doing important work. A lot of important people work in these jobs and they're just not getting paid. That must stress them out, affects their performance.
- [07:24]
Everett Kelly
That's right. You know, not only that, you know, they're forced to go to work without a paycheck now, thinking about the fact that they only get paid minimum amount 34, 35.
- [07:39]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
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Everett Kelly
Money to get gasoline to go to work, you know.
- [07:46]
Jim Acosta
Right.
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Everett Kelly
And that's going to begin to call a breakdown, you know, in the, the system, you know, as it relates to air safety, you know, and that's the issue that has to be considered. And it's not being.
- [08:00]
Jim Acosta
It's not. No, absolutely. Well, Everett, thank you so much for what you do. Really appreciate it. And I hope they get this settled soon because you guys are not getting what you deserve here. A lot of hard working folks in the federal employees and they deserve to get paid. They deserve to be back on the job instead of what's being done to them right now. So thank you, Everett. Really appreciate it.
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Everett Kelly
Thank you, Jim. Thanks for having me here.
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Jim Acosta
You bet. Take care. All right. That's right. I think he said confessions are good for the soul. I believe. I believe is what he said there. Let me go to Sawyer Hackett. Sawyer is somebody we've had our eye on, on social media. He's been lighting it up. I've known Sawyer for some time because Sawyer, you were an aide to, I believe. Was it Congressman Joaquin Castro? Was that it back in the day? Was it Julian Castro, one of the Castro brothers? I believe. And you've been in Brother Julian.
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Sawyer Hackett
That's right.
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Jim Acosta
That's right, you were. And you've been involved in Democratic politics for some time and I guess lately you've been on social media. I see you on Instagram, you're on Tick Tock, you're everywhere. And I wanted to talk to you because, you know, I'm wondering what you think about what's happening with this government shutdown right now, the cruelty that we're seeing on display by Donald Trump. And he's putting in ballrooms and bathrooms while, you know, people are waiting in food lines and going without SNAP benefits and so on. And wanted to get a sense as to what you thought as to how the Democrats are handling this.
- [09:25]
Sawyer Hackett
Yeah, Jim, thanks for having me. You know, I jumped into the content business, you know, right after Trump was elected again. You know, I was consulting before that, working for, for politicians and, you know, advising them on political strategy. But I decided, you know, shortly after he won that, that I wanted to do something else and I wanted to kind of channel some of the skills that I picked up, communication skills to, to put something out on my own channel, to, you know, go out there and put myself out there. And I've really enjoyed it. And so I've tried to, you know, break down the news a little bit. I've done it with cooking videos. I've done it with some deep dives into the biggest news stories, but really trying to give people my perspective on. On the situation that we're seeing. And really, Jim, you know, this has got to be one of the weirdest shutdowns I think we've ever had as a country. I was once a federal employee who was furloughed during a government shutdown, and it was the biggest story. You know, it was headlined top of the Top of the newspaper every single day. This shutdown has kind of faded into the background because of all of the chaos. Right? But I think. But I think it's important, right, because, you know, Democrats are in the political wilderness, and we have been for some time. We're leaderless, we're rudderless. We don't have agreement among the factions about what kind of message we want to have as a party. But we've picked this fight and really zeroed in on the issue of health care to show the American people that we're fighting back against Trump, his abuses, but also trying to deliver for them. I think it's a good fight. I mean, I would love to be in a place where we were shutting down the government to say, you know, to stop all of Trump's abuses, but really, I think the Democrats chose wisely in zeroing in on one issue that they could explain to the American people why they're fighting for them. And so I applaud them for that. And I think, you know, Trump and Republicans continue to dig themselves their own hole, whether it's, you know, laying off federal, Using the shutdown to lay off federal workers, to cancel funding for critical programs for American families, to trying to benefit, stop paying SNAP benefits. It's absurd.
- [11:24]
Jim Acosta
I don't get. I don't get the political advantage there. And it was amazing to see Brooke Rollins, the Agriculture Secretary, just admit on camera that they're failing the American people. I mean, she literally did that. I assume over at the White House, they're going to be pissed off that she said that. But. But it's true. They are failing the American people. And when you intentionally try to deprive people of food stamps, SNAP benefits, food assistance, that's just the height of heartlessness. And it's something that Democrats should be just running. I mean, that video right there should be. It should be in an ad before the end of the weekend, I would think. But you know, who knows?
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Sawyer Hackett
And I, and I expect it will be. But you know, I also think they, they just continue to shoot themselves in the foot. The way they, they lie about what they can and can't spend money on, that they have to be firing these workers, that they have to be canceling these programs. I mean, with the judge now ruling that they have to use these contingency funds to pay those SNAP benefits, it really just is a self own because now, you know, they've gone on the record and say that they can't do this and this is Democrats fault and if you're not getting this, this funding to feed your family, it's Democrats fault. And now a judge is out there saying no, absolutely, you need to pay these benefits. And I think people can see through that pretty clearly.
- [12:36]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no, there's no question. And I want to show one of your videos. We've got a couple of videos to play. Sawyer does these great vertical videos for Instagram and one of them was on Bavino, this guy that is the head of the cbp. And you, you sort of did an explainer video on him. I thought it was very smart. And let's play it and talk about him because he's sort of like this. Everybody focuses on Stephen Miller, but there are other menacing figures behind the scenes and this guy is one of them. Let's play this.
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Narrator/Voiceover
You need to know about the man leading Trump's secret police. This is Gregory Bevino, the commander at large of U.S. border Patrol. Bavino has led Trump's mass deportation force in LA and Chicago, with other cities coming soon. Bavino has been with Border Patrol for decades. But after Trump was elected, this small man decided to put on a big show for Chancellor Trump. In early January, before Trump was inaugurated, Bavino led an immigration raid in Bakersfield, California, six hours north of the border and outside of his jurisdiction, arresting 78 farm workers and day laborers, 77 of whom had no criminal record whatsoever. That performative raid caught the eye of the incoming Trump administration, who tapped him for the lead role of enforcer in their mass deportation production. It was Bavino who led agents on horseback through MacArthur park in LA, forcing children at summer camp to flee. It was Bavino who was tapped to lead Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, where he was seen throwing a gas canister at civilians. And it was Bavino who was seen this week cosplaying as a military commander, giving goofy tactical hand signals to a bunch of officers on bicycles. And it looks like Bavino was headed for an even bigger role this week. The Trump administration carried out a midnight massacre at ice, firing or reassigning half of the agency's leadership and replacing them with loyalists at Border Patrol known for their heavy handed tactics. But while the tough guy theatrics might impress Trump, one federal judge isn't buying his act. After Bovino's agents tear gassed protesters and reporters in Chicago, U.S. district Judge Sarah Ellis ordered him to appear in court every single day personally to account for his operation and compliance with the law. It's important to remember that behind all the propaganda, the trench coat, the hand signals, the produced videos are a bunch of small, insecure men auditioning for a role in Trump's regime. We shouldn't fear them, we should mock them. So share this video to spread the word.
- [14:52]
Jim Acosta
And I wholly endorse that. And it's true. Greg Bevino, I, you know, you don't want to make, you know, ad hominem attacks, but it is sort of a Napoleon complex that appears to be going on here. And then you're right with the, what's he doing with the hand motions in that video and stuff like that. I mean, this is some weird, this.
- [15:14]
Sawyer Hackett
Guy has turned like immigration enforcement into a performance art. And I think, you know, the reason why I wanted to do that video is first because I think it's important to characterize what these people are doing because it is cosplaying, it's play acting. They're trying to put on a show for Donald Trump. It's a one man show for Donald Trump. And yeah, him doing those hand signals, looking like he's like sending out his platoon out to the beaches.
- [15:39]
Jim Acosta
It's looks like Mussolini or something. Yeah, right.
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Sawyer Hackett
He's, he's in Chicago and he's in the, and he's in a pickup truck which he's driving and he's talking to or he's signaling to a bunch of cops on bicycles. Like, it's so silly. And I think it's really important. Of course, you know, it's scary. Of course, these, these, you know, ICE and Border Patrol, they're terrorizing neighborhoods and communities and tearing apart families. But at the end of the day, like, we have to be able to point and laugh at these people because we shouldn't be afraid of them.
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Narrator/Voiceover
They're, they're breaking the law brazenly.
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Sawyer Hackett
The cruelty is clearly their point. But also they're a bunch of losers. And I think we should say that. And you know, you may not want the ad hominem attacks, but I think we should give them some Ad hominem attacks when they're terrorizing families.
- [16:20]
Jim Acosta
And I will, you know, and I mean, they're bozos. And he looks like a bozo out there when he were. It almost looks like. I mean, they don't like to get called the Gestapo, but, I mean, that's some Gestapo looking right there. I mean, you know that with the.
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Sawyer Hackett
Look at that weird.
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Jim Acosta
The trench coat and the hand motions. And he went out and bought that.
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Sawyer Hackett
Trench coat at some, you know, vintage store and then took his little patches into the, to the, you know, to get them sewn on and then showed up to a CNN interview.
- [16:50]
Jim Acosta
Bastards or something. He thinks this is a Tarantino movie.
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Sawyer Hackett
And then when he's not wearing that, he's. He's in full battle regalia in the streets of Chicago as if he's facing some sort of insurgency. It's.
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Narrator/Voiceover
It's absurd.
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Sawyer Hackett
And I think the American people see right through this stuff. They think it's absurd, too. And, but I think it's important that we, you know, not play into the fear. And, you know, that's what this is all about. Right. They're putting on this performance for Trump, but they're also doing it to try and scare people. And I think we need to be able to, you know, counter that with, you know, telling people about the facts about what's going on, about who they're targeting with these raids, citizens being arrested and detained. But also, we need to mock them a little bit because, you know, I think people see it.
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Jim Acosta
No, I'm all about that. And I mean, I'm a, I'm a big fan of the don't give in to the fear approach. That's, that's been one of my mantras since getting started here on independent media. And I absolutely try to drive that message home as much as possible. I'm wondering, since you've worked in Democratic politics a long time, if you think the Democrats are using the right playbook or are they all over the place? And that's part of the problem. You've got some in leadership who can do, get the job done, and you have others who are just. They just fold where they. They want to go along to get along. They're institutionalists, they're establishment people. I mean, what. Have you been able to put your finger on it? What, what bugs you about what you're seeing from the party?
- [18:13]
Sawyer Hackett
I think, you know, the Democratic Party is, is where we are because we had, you know, four years of, of a Biden administration that was unable to articulate an agenda A vision for what we stood for as a country or as a party. And right now, we're left leaderless, essentially. You know, we had. Joe Biden's got to fade into the background. Kamala Harris is out on her book tour. Obviously, you know, she didn't win the election. She's still very much in the mix, but we don't have a central figure who's able to kind of marshal the party behind them and rally behind a message. And so you see a lot of people trying different things. And I think what you're going to see over the next few years is, you know, which is the best kind of strategy that that wins out. And I think, you know, you're seeing politicians like Gavin Newsom are trying different things. J.B. pritzker, you know, these guys are more in the kind of fight back lane. And then you have others who are kind of, you know, soft pedaling it a little bit, try and just get, get through these four years, get to 20, 28 so they can, you know, launch their primary campaigns. I think everyone's trying different stuff, and I think, you know, we kind of need to throw it all out there and see what sticks.
- [19:18]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no, and I, and I think there's sort of a, there's a, there's a march or there's some momentum. I shouldn't say march, because that sounds like everybody's in unison. There's a momentum in the direction of fighting back and getting tougher. And we're seeing that with the government shutdown right now. We're seeing that with what Pritzker is doing, what Newsom is doing. I agree with all of that, but I, you know, we should have. One of the things I like about what you do, what we like about what you do, Sawyer, is that you have a little fun with this and, and you incorporate cooking into some of your videos. And let's play a little bit of that and talk about why you do that. I thought it was brilliant. And I thought, okay, this is great, because this is what I like to do. This too. I like to put the phone down, put all the screens away, you know, and just start cooking. And it's one of the best ways to take your mind off things. But let's watch a little bit and talk about it.
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Sawyer Hackett
Question for you while I make steak sandwiches. Is the Trump presidency going as you expected?
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Narrator/Voiceover
I've always been extremely clear about who.
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Sawyer Hackett
I think Trump is and what his.
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Narrator/Voiceover
Goals are for a second term. But even I have to admit I.
- [20:13]
Sawyer Hackett
Didn'T expect things to Go quite like this.
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Narrator/Voiceover
Sure, he spelled out a lot of his agenda in Project 2025, but we're.
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Sawyer Hackett
Way beyond that at this point.
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Narrator/Voiceover
Because if you told me last year.
- [20:21]
Sawyer Hackett
That within nine months, Trump would create.
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Narrator/Voiceover
Foreign prison camps, assemble an army of masked police, rig election maps ahead of the midterms, and bulldoze the east Wing of the White House, I would have said that you were crazy.
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Sawyer Hackett
And I think most conservatives would have said the same thing. The truth is, we're living through an.
- [20:35]
Narrator/Voiceover
Authoritarian takeover attempt, and I get how hyperbolic that sounds. And I know many of you still have your doubts, and trust me, I've had mine, too. There were times I thought it was just about trolling and owning the libs.
- [20:45]
Sawyer Hackett
There were times that I thought it.
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Narrator/Voiceover
Was just about money and corruption.
- [20:48]
Sawyer Hackett
But it's much bigger than that.
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Narrator/Voiceover
The difference between Trump's first term and his second is the people around him.
- [20:53]
Sawyer Hackett
He's gotten rid of anyone who might.
- [20:54]
Narrator/Voiceover
Check his impulses or steer him towards normalcy. And he surrounded himself and empowered fascist.
- [20:59]
Sawyer Hackett
Sycophants like Stephen Miller.
- [21:00]
Narrator/Voiceover
They don't just want to beat Democrats or racing, reshape the government. They want to reshape society.
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Sawyer Hackett
And they do it by slowly normalizing.
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Narrator/Voiceover
Things like prosecuting their enemies or putting troops in the streets. That's how authoritarianism works. It's the slow boil of our democracy.
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Sawyer Hackett
You don't realize you're cooking until it's too late.
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Narrator/Voiceover
So don't let them normalize it. Speak out. Share this video and follow me to.
- [21:19]
Sawyer Hackett
Learn how we can keep fighting back.
- [21:22]
Jim Acosta
Okay, first of all, now I need to eat because. But let's talk about that. I mean, I like the approach. And was that. Was that provolone there at the. I mean, first of all, it looked like a chimichurri you had going there. There was a lot going on there. Tell us about this.
- [21:39]
Sawyer Hackett
You know, I. I grew up in a family that loves to cook. You know, my dad has been in the restaurant business for 30 plus years. You know, I learned a lot from him. And. And I think in the pandemic, I really kind of accelerated my cooking game and spent a lot of time in the kitchen. It's really one of my. One of my passions, one of my hobbies, and so is politics. And so, you know, when I decided to get into the content biz, I decided to kind of merge those two, I think, as a way to help the medicine go down a little bit. You know, I love watching cooking videos on TikTok on Instagram, and I think you know, providing a little bit of context on kind of the moment we're in as a country, or some of the news that's taking place while giving somebody, you know, something to watch while they. While they take it in, that was kind of what I was thinking. And really, it's just become a source of, you know, it's video essays. I get to kind of give my perspective on the news, not just break down the news, not just talk about what's happening, but also my opinions on what's going on. And so I kind of put together these little video essays and try to pair them with a dish that I'm making each week. And I've been posting, you know, one each week. At this point, I'm trying to do a lot more, but they take a lot of time to put together. But I love cooking, I love politics, and I think we're in really scary moment. And so I think, you know, being able to kind of merge those two and help the medicine go down a little bit while giving, you know, giving people a little bit of perspective, I think that's. That's kind of the thought behind it.
- [23:03]
Jim Acosta
But, yeah, and you've got to figure out ways to get that message across and do it in a. In a way that just looks different when people are doing their. Scrolling. They're scrolling, they're scrolling. And then there's you. And I don't know if we can go back and play just a tiny bit of that video, but there's some music there. There's some. There's something. There's something else cooking there besides the steak. Sawyer. I don't know. I think some of the viewers at home might be saying, oy, muy caliente. You know, what's happening here?
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Sawyer Hackett
Yeah, you know, it's. It's fun. I mean, like, I. I had no video.
- [23:34]
Jim Acosta
I don't mean to make you blush. I'm not saying that. Sorry. You're a handsome guy, but, you know, thank you.
- [23:39]
Sawyer Hackett
Thank you. No, I. I love. I love doing it. I. I don't really love being on camera. You know, surprise, surprise. It's not my favorite thing to do when content. You know, jumping into content in my 30s was not something I had on my to do list, but I really love being able to kind of combine my two passions and the Trump. You know, I hope to do a lot more of it soon. Do you do any cooking yourself, Jim?
- [24:00]
Jim Acosta
I do. You know, listen, I try to do as much cooking as I can, and I made a lasagna this week. It Wasn't that fancy? Nothing to write home about. If I can get some time to make some Cuban food, because my dad's Cuban, so every once in a while I like to make a little Cuban food. I can make a decent shrimp, shrimp creole. I can make a decent aro pollo. There are some things that I can do that are not too bad. They're pretty decent. I'm. My goal is we're showing some beef right there in addition to the beef that you were showing with those guns there. I don't know about that story, but anyway, I was thinking maybe I should try a ropa vieja soon. But anyway, your thoughts.
- [24:38]
Sawyer Hackett
Funny, you brought. You brought up Cuban food because I just finished filming a Cuban sandwich with. I did like a marinade with this, like moho pork. I don't know if you've seen that movie, Chef. That.
- [24:48]
Jim Acosta
Yes, I love that movie.
- [24:50]
Sawyer Hackett
And I'm sorry, I can't remember his name. The. The other guy. Anyway, a great movie, but they make this great Cuban sandwich that they sell out of the food truck. And I decided to kind of recreate that while I was at my parents house this weekend. And it was a lot of fun cooking with my parents. But I'm hoping to put that video out soon. I'm not really sure what the message is going to be, but I love. I love a Cuban sandwich.
- [25:10]
Jim Acosta
Love Cuban food, love a good Cuban sandwich. And you're a sandwich guy. I like the steak sandwich. It's a great idea when you get to be my age or you gotta. The carbs get to be an issue, but no Cuban sandwich. And as I like to say, only the Cubans are crazy enough to combine ham and pork in a sandwich, you know, and those are my people, so I can see that you can't go wrong. So, I mean, so Sawyer, I mean, is this your new gig now? This is what you're doing?
- [25:36]
Sawyer Hackett
Yeah, you know, I'm still doing a little bit of consulting. I actually still do some. Some work for Congressman Joaquin Castro. But besides that, the. The content is really 100% what. What I'm dedicating my time to. So each day I'm. I'm here in the studio kind of filming videos about what's going on in the news and then in the kitchen trying to. Trying to cook up some. Some dishes that I can pair with some of that political commentary. So I'm having a lot of fun doing it. And like I said at the top, like, it's really. It's really been rewarding, I think, to Kind of use the skills that I harnessed over 12 years working in Democratic politics, you know, on behalf of politicians, to be able to kind of channel that for myself and put stuff out on my own has been really, I think, rewarding. And also, I think, you know, people just are looking for something different right now. And I think there's really a lot of, like, news fatigue happening. But at the same time, people do need to stay alert, stay informed, and be paying attention, because the attention wars are really kind of the. The whole game right now in politics. And Donald Trump is excellent at the. At the attention wars. And so part of this, I think, is grabbing people's attention with something a little bit different. And I try to use the cooking to, to do that.
- [26:42]
Jim Acosta
Well, yeah, and Trump's. In the meantime, you know, there's a government shutdown. Snap benefits are about to end. And he's putting out. He's putting out pictures of the new bathroom that they've installed at the White House in the Lincoln Bedroom. I mean, there it is again. I mean, what the fuck is happening? I mean, this is unreal. I will engage in ad hominem attacks on this. This is bananas.
- [27:06]
Sawyer Hackett
I mean, it would have been absurd for any other president, politician, whatever, to leave the country in the middle of a government shutdown. And that's like, not even a blip on the news radar. I mean, he tore down the East Wing of the White House in the middle of a shutdown. He's, you know, remodeling his bathroom and posting about it online. I mean, like, there are so many issues in, in this country right now.
- [27:28]
Jim Acosta
That I really don't want to see his shitter. I'll just be. I'll just put that out there, too, Friday. So I'm just going to be loose here, but I just, you know, like, these are things that I wish I could unsee, but I'm surprised.
- [27:37]
Sawyer Hackett
It's. It's not gold. I mean, like everything else in the White House. I mean.
- [27:41]
Jim Acosta
He's a good point.
- [27:42]
Sawyer Hackett
The Oval Office just looks tacky. And it's, it looks. It's very like, you know, Gaddafi before the fall of Gaddafi. It's like these weird Royal Palace.
- [27:55]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, it's the last tour. It's the last Elvis residency in Las Vegas kind of vibe.
- [28:01]
Sawyer Hackett
And he, he seems to relish in, like, his design prowess and, and loves to talk about his. His ability to build things and his design and the, and the ugliness of certain things. He hates, you know, ugly lawns or ugly. He's the Most tacky, like, poor taste, man, I've ever seen. It's like, zero. Zero taste whatsoever. And, like, when you have the combination of, like, somebody who cares deeply about the aesthetics but also has no taste whatsoever, it's just, like, the worst possible combination.
- [28:31]
Jim Acosta
It is not a good combination at all. And all that gold stuff in the Oval Office, and then he's holding up the Golden Ballroom, that he wants to build a name after himself. And then the bathroom. I'm just like, you know, I think.
- [28:41]
Sawyer Hackett
This is, like, one more thing. We should point and laugh at them, though. You know what I mean? Like, they all have their own little things. And it's not just Gregory Bevino, who is obviously this short little man who. Who wants to put on this performance for Donald Trump. But they're all like this. I mean, J.D. vance, Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, they all have these characteristics that they put them completely out of the ordinary with the American public. And we spend so much time talking about the cruelty, talking about the pain, talking about all the horrible things that he's doing. And we should be talking about those things, but also we should talk about how out of touch they are just with normality of the American people. Like, these guys are not normal.
- [29:15]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, it's a freak show. It's a total freak show. There's no.
- [29:18]
Sawyer Hackett
I actually thought that was, like, one of the better messages coming out of that 2024 cycle. Like, these guys are just weirdos. They're losers. They're weirdos. And, like, we should talk about that more because they're the ones who are bullying us, and they're the losers. Like, and we're losing to them, and so we shouldn't be losing to such losers.
- [29:35]
Jim Acosta
You're absolutely right. No, it's a great point. And Sawyer, I'm so glad we did this. Let's do this again. And we'll be on the lookout for your videos on Instagram, on TikTok too, right? You're blowing up on Tik Tok as well.
- [29:46]
Sawyer Hackett
Is that correct?
- [29:47]
Jim Acosta
And, dude, way to go, man. Great stuff.
- [29:51]
Sawyer Hackett
I appreciate it. And. And I don't know if you know this, but we are actually alums of the same college.
- [29:56]
Jim Acosta
Is that what.
- [29:57]
Sawyer Hackett
Yeah, jmu.
- [29:58]
Jim Acosta
You went to James Madison. Oh, my goodness. I did not know that. See the skills that, you know, that people don't quite realize coming out of Harrisonburg, Virginia.
- [30:07]
Sawyer Hackett
Go Dukes.
- [30:08]
Jim Acosta
Go Dukes. Awesome. Well, great stuff. Sorry, you keep doing what you're doing, man. You're blowing past me. I'll be. I'll be coming on your show, hopefully, if you'll have me.
- [30:16]
Sawyer Hackett
You know, I'm hoping to put something together soon. Some sort of show with guests or. Or something like that. Maybe it's cooking, maybe it's not. But would love to do some cooking with you at some point, then talk.
- [30:26]
Jim Acosta
I do a badass buffalo chicken dip. I will say on Super Bowl. That's. That's my go to Buffalo coming up. That's coming up, man. Good to see you, man. Go Dukes.
- [30:35]
Narrator/Voiceover
All right.
- [30:35]
Jim Acosta
Great to see you.
- [30:36]
Sawyer Hackett
It's good to see you, Jim.
- [30:37]
Jim Acosta
Thanks, thanks, thanks. So I appreciate it. All right, well, we're. As you can tell, we're. My executive producer, Matt, is adding in the Halloween graphics as we speak. We're just slowly. But there was a Dia de los Muertos, I think that thing that popped up at one point. We're getting in the Halloween spirit here on the Jim Acosta show. And right behind me, this is going to happen at the tail end of the newscast. We. We have to hold off. Oh, God damn, this thing is heavy. My Acosta tequila, which is not my tequila. I just want to say, this is not an ad. I'm not doing it. I have a friend named Acosta who sent me Acosta tequila. Anyway, I thought since it's Halloween trick or treat time, the treat for yours truly will be to have a little bit of this tequila. My producer, Sam, will have some as well in just a few moments. And speaking of tequila, I have a friend who is down at the border. Very close to the border right now is Olivia Troy. Is she. Oh, no, she's not quite ready yet. Okay, hang on. Olivia Troy is here. We're gonna get her on in just a few moments. She is down in El Paso. You know, Matt, what we could do is why don't we show. Olivia's been down in. Down in the border town of El Paso. This is where Olivia Troy is from. She is of Mexican heritage, and she crossed over the border. We're going to talk to Olivia about why she did that. She went across the border into Mexico just recently. Let's play a little bit of that and we'll. We'll get Olivia ready.
- [32:03]
Sawyer Hackett
Let's.
- [32:03]
Jim Acosta
Let's show that.
- [32:05]
Olivia Troy
No, I've been a little bit.
- [32:06]
Jim Acosta
We haven't. No, not the bathroom.
- [32:08]
Olivia Troy
But I wanted to let you know that it's because I'm traveling. I decided to take a little time to travel the border. The border of Texas and Juarez, the border of New Mexico as well. And Mexico. And so today I am in Puerto Palomas here's the border. It is the border of Columbus, New Mexico, and Puerto Palomas, Mexico. And I'm here. And this is actually in 1916, Pancho Villa watched his attack on Columbus, New Mexico. Let me show you what the structure is here. There's this big sculpture behind me which is pretty grandiose. And so you know what? I thought it was important for me to visit the country that my family is from, visit border towns. I am a border town girl. I think white people have forgotten that. I think it took a while for the first Trump White House to figure it out that, yes, there was actually a Mexican working in the White House. Don't tell Stephen Miller, but I just figured it was important to have context to what's happening here before Stephen Miller decides to unilaterally start bombing random towns and cartels in Mexico, which I think is the plan. And I'm telling you this because this was discussed in meetings that I was in as a Homeland Security advisor to Vice President Mike Pence the first time around about what they were planning to do. And as I watch what's happening in Venezuela, which, by the way, I have some interesting takes on that because I worked on Venezuela during the first Trump administration. And it's interesting watching what the Trump administration is doing now because they had an opportunity to really help the people of Venezuela the first time around. And the reality is that Trump failed on them. You know, he decided that the opposition.
- [33:59]
Jim Acosta
And there's Olivia Troy down at the border now. We're trying to get her on. I We kind we may have bitten off more than we we can chew. I because Olivia and I thought it'd be a great idea to have Tequila live on the show when she gets on here now. It may just be a signal issue. So we're going to work on that in just a moment. But Olivia did mention just a few moments ago the situation in Venezuela. I do want to get you caught up to speed on that, because both the Wall Street Journal and I think the Miami Herald are now both reporting that there's the possibility in the next day or so. They're saying it's an imminent thing that could happen any moment now that the Trump administration may try to carry out some sort of military action in Venezuela. Now, we're going to have to wait and see. I believe the administration or Donald Trump himself has said, no, no, that's not happening. But a lot of mixed signals as to what is going on with Venezuela right now. But in the, in the midst of that buildup of American forces in The Caribbean. This is something we should. We should point out to the viewers that Venezuela's leader, Nicolas Maduro, is reaching out to Russia, China and Iran to enhance its war and military capabilities and solicit assistance. This is according to the Washington Post. The Venezuelans are requesting defensive radars. They're requesting aircraft repairs and. And potentially missiles. This is According to internal U.S. government documents obtained by the Washington Post. So when you hear that kind of news, I mean, that tells me right there that the Venezuelans are anticipating that something may happen, and so they're getting ready for it. And now, as. As Olivia was saying a few moments ago. Exactly. One of our subscribers saying right now, Mr. Nobel Peace Prize. I. You know, how does. How does he spin this one? How's he going to spin this if they carry out airstrikes in Venezuela? Does. Can anybody tell me how Venezuela poses any kind of a threat to the United States? I mean, you know, in the last several weeks, they've been doing these. These drone strikes, these missile attacks on these boats in the Caribbean and trying to claim that these folks are somehow a threat. They're not even giving them the chance to be brought into custody and. And stand, you know, for themselves on charges in court.
- [36:15]
Sawyer Hackett
And.
- [36:15]
Jim Acosta
And anyway, we'll talk about that in a second. In the meantime, we do have Olivia. She is here with us live from El Paso. Is that correct?
- [36:23]
Olivia Troy
That's correct. Can you hear me?
- [36:24]
Okay.
- [36:25]
Jim Acosta
You sound great. Yes.
- [36:26]
Olivia Troy
All right, cheers. I'm at Rosa's Cantina on the.
- [36:29]
Jim Acosta
Oh, there you are. You're doing it now. You're way ahead of me.
- [36:32]
Sawyer Hackett
Okay.
- [36:33]
Olivia Troy
No, no, we can wait. I'm just gonna. I'm a. I'm Mexican. I sip it anyways, Jim.
- [36:37]
Jim Acosta
I sip it and it's 3 o'. Clock. It's not even 4, 5 o' clock where you are. It's 3 o'. Clock.
- [36:43]
Olivia Troy
Don't be judging.
- [36:44]
Jim Acosta
I am not judging. But it's a Friday. It's Halloween, and I thought, here we are, you know, we might as well. I have this. I don't know if I've ever shown you this before. Olivia. Special Acosta Tequila. This is not my brand. I just want everybody to know right now, I am not selling.
- [36:59]
Olivia Troy
You've been holding out on me, and you have never shared this with me.
- [37:03]
Jim Acosta
Although I would. I would rather do that. I'd rather sell to get. No, I'm just joking. I. I do love what I do. No, a friend of mine whose name is also Acosta makes this wonderful tequila. And this. This is expensive. I shouldn't call it. This stuff is very expensive, and I can't even get out of the damn box. Look at this bottle. Look at this beautiful bottle.
- [37:21]
Olivia Troy
Oh, it's beautiful.
- [37:22]
Jim Acosta
It looks like. What is that? Sex Panther cologne and anchorman. It kind of has that sort of a logo right there. And then here's the. This is the tequila right here. I'm just gonna get my little. I have two shot glasses. One for me, one for my producer, Sam. We picked these. I picked these up in Portugal, I think, over the summer. Anyway, a couple of shot glasses and. Hang on here. Oh, I didn't get the lime. I should have gotten the lime. Room temperature tequila. Yeah, that's probably my producer Sam asking if we're doing room temperature tequila. There you go, Sam. Where's Matt? Matt. Matt's gonna have to pour his own.
- [37:57]
Olivia Troy
Where is Matt?
- [37:58]
Jim Acosta
Matt is at home. He's in luxurious Chevy Shavings, Maryland. There's Matt. And you know what? It's been that kind of a year. Are we still on the air, Matt, or. We do. We are still on the air. We're doing this live on the air. And there'll be more, when you count the recording later in the YouTube and everything. More people will be watching.
- [38:20]
Olivia Troy
There's people watching, Jim.
- [38:21]
Jim Acosta
Oh, there's people watching there. See, we have a live audience.
- [38:24]
Olivia Troy
Yeah, we have a live audience. Yeah.
- [38:25]
Sawyer Hackett
Yeah.
- [38:25]
Olivia Troy
We're at Roses.
- [38:26]
Jim Acosta
People there with a baby. Hopefully the baby's not doing any shots.
- [38:30]
Olivia Troy
But she's got a tiger with her.
- [38:33]
Jim Acosta
She's got a tiger with. Oh, Matt's got something there. Hey, cheers, guys. Cheers. It's been that kind of year. Salud. Wait, I know that. What about that Ariba?
- [38:44]
Olivia Troy
It's been a scary.
- [38:51]
Jim Acosta
Man. That's good stuff. Mamma mia. That is.
- [38:57]
Olivia Troy
I think yours is better than mine.
- [38:59]
Jim Acosta
Damn, that was great. Well, I'll give you some of this because it's really. It's. It's really good stuff. I should not have said it's good. It's good stuff. It's very tasty. And I. We had to. We needed to get. Oh, look at that.
- [39:12]
Olivia Troy
They brought me nachos.
- [39:14]
Jim Acosta
Those look delicious. See, and you were telling me I need to come down to El Paso with you. Is that. Is that like a go to place?
- [39:23]
Olivia Troy
The Roses Cantina has been here since, like 1957, I believe. And it's the Cantina that's in the Marty Robbins songs. Do you know that song? Down in the west Texas town of El Paso. And then he falls in love with The Mexican girl. And he talks about Rosas. And it became this famous country hit back in the day. Now I sound very old, but it reminds me of my mom and dad because my dad met my mom in El Paso on the border. It's a whole thing. She was working for Process three. So, yeah, it's pretty much home.
- [39:52]
Jim Acosta
And why did you go across the border to Mexico? Why? You just thought, hey, let's do this. We're going to be seeing friends down there.
- [40:01]
Olivia Troy
So I've been in the rounds I went to last weekend and yesterday I went to Puerto Palomas, Mexico, which is on the border of New Mexico, Columbus, New Mexico and Mexico. And I went because it's more of a smaller town, smaller town feel, actually, for starting his invasion of New Mexico. And I wanted to visit this really cute place called the Store. Yep, there I am. And I think it was important for me to remind people of the humanity of the border, the culture, and that in, in Texas and border towns in New Mexico, we call it just a border. Every day, it's like a daily thing. You go there, there were people having lunch. I met many Americans from Minnesota, all these different places, who were actually grateful that I was doing that because they're like, sometimes the border gets bad. Rep. And like, I'm very concerned because of all this bombing, cartel language that we're seeing and what we're seeing, the.
- [40:55]
Jim Acosta
Venezuela thing, that that's getting serious.
- [40:58]
Olivia Troy
Yeah, I'm very, very worried about that because given the meetings that I was in during the Trump administration and the things that I heard the first time around, I know that this has been part of Steven Miller's sort of plan when it came to this. And it plays his overarching narrative of, you know, the bad immigrants, they're taking over our country. Oh, the fentanyl. And he blames it on that. And it's all strategic. Right. So I worked on Everybody's Bad. And I just, you know, and I'm worried about what comes next because they're not, they're not, they're not talking to Congress about these things at the time. They're not, they're breaching international arms. And I'm worried that when I see them talk and they have been hinting on this, I wonder which country next. And I am concerned about what executive action they're going to take on places like Mexico and towns and what that looks like potentially. And so, you know, as someone who worked on Venezuela, and I'll say this, it was incredibly frustrating to watch the public narratives be like we stand with the Venezuelan people. And every day Trump undermined the opposition. So I'm very curious as to what Trump is going to do this time and then what does the aftermath look like? So it's very unclear as this continues, but that's why I felt like I need to go to border towns and walk, talk to the people there, see how they're doing, talk to the immigration. I crossed the border a couple of times.
- [42:19]
Jim Acosta
We saw, we saw that. And we're getting a little, might be getting a little audio interference. I don't know what it is, but it seems like it sounds like the ghosts and the goblins are trying to interfere with our signal here. I don't know what it is, but I, but the dead, it could be, it could be the, the undead, if that's. Yeah, no, I believe that's a big concern to me. And the other thing I wanted to ask you about, because, you know, we're seeing Trump going after political enemies and stuff like that. I mean, did you see him saying, I'm going to go after Joe Biden or that Joe Biden should be in jail? I mean, he, he's posting a lot of crazy on his Truth Social these days. He's posting his new bathroom, which feels like, you know, grandpa's over sharing a little too much. I mean, that's what that looks like there. But then he's also saying on Truth Social that Joe Biden should go to jail. And so, I mean, what do you think about that? I mean, he's just, it's just unhinged.
- [43:18]
Olivia Troy
It is. And I kind of wanted to, like, let it go. You're in office, right? Like, run, run the country, and right now you're running into the ground. Right? I mean, you've got people, I will tell you that down here. I've been talking to a lot of people. They're very concerned about SNAP benefits, the government shutdown. These are real world problems. They're not sitting around. I mean, there's plenty of Republicans in Texas where I am. They're not sitting around asking me why Joe Biden's still running amok and not in jail. No one's asking that. And this is just Trump, his vindictive self, probably because he's upset about his own, you know, crimes that he's committed along the way, his own convictions and his protection, like always. So, I mean, this is more Donald Trump being Trump.
- [44:05]
Jim Acosta
Yes, I think you're right. I think you're absolutely right. Well, Olivia, great to see you. Love the hat. When you get Back. We need to. We need. We need to get together.
- [44:13]
Olivia Troy
And I'll be back next week. I'll be on the border tomorrow, actually, because I'll be covering the border maps. The bishop is holding a mass on the border of El Paso and Juarez, and because it's militarized right now, it's making it logistically significantly harder, but they're going to proceed with it, and then they're going to make it happen. So I'll definitely share some clips from there with you, and then I'll be going to the cemetery to visit my dad's grave because it's day of the Dead, and so we'll be doing a celebration there.
- [44:44]
Jim Acosta
Oh, well, our hearts are with you and stay safe and say hi to your mom and everybody down there in El Paso. And always great to see Olivia. I love the outfit. Perfect for the. For the holiday. I went as Clark Kent, so I don't know. That's. And Duke is around here somewhere. He's dressed up as super Dog, but I don't know. Can we. If we open up the door, will he come in? Is he even out there now? We'll figure it out. We'll get. We'll get Duke in here. All right, Olivia, you stay safe.
- [45:14]
Olivia Troy
All right? Take care.
- [45:15]
Jim Acosta
All right. All right. It's always great to see Olivia. She. She's having a ball down there in her. In her hometown of El Paso, and it's. It's. It's just fun to. To catch up and. And do a tequila shot in the middle of my show. I hope everybody enjoyed that as much as I did. I doubt that you did. I'm feeling a little looser now, which is great. Yes, it is Halloween. We're very excited to be coming to you on this Halloween. Happy Halloween to all of you. I do want to say before we get going and my producer, Sam is trying to get Duke. We're trying to see if Duke will materialize. I should have brought a treat. Oh, I can hear him. He's coming. He's coming. He's coming. Where's Duke? Is Duke coming in here? Duke, where are you? Come here, buddy. Come here. Oh, your cape's all screwed up. I've got dookie right here. Come here, buddy. Where's the treat? Where's the tree? Come here. Come here. There he is. Hold on. I'll just let everybody into the madness of my life. There's Duke. He's dressed up as superdog. He's yawning right now. Duke, say hi to everybody. Buddy. No, there you Go. Okay.
- [46:21]
Sawyer Hackett
No.
- [46:22]
Jim Acosta
That's about as much as you're gonna get. Unless I have a tree.
- [46:25]
Sawyer Hackett
Come here.
- [46:25]
Jim Acosta
You want me to take off? You want to take off the cape?
- [46:28]
Everett Kelly
You don't like the cape?
- [46:29]
Jim Acosta
What is it? Huh? What is it? Come here. Come here. Come here. You want to sit up? You want to stand up? Come here, come here, come here.
- [46:36]
Sawyer Hackett
Oh, no.
- [46:38]
Jim Acosta
All right, one more look at Duke. There he goes. No. All right. That's about all you're gonna get. He's out of here. I did want to say, because it's the end of the week and I do, I try to not lay it on too thick during the week when it comes to the importance of subscribers like yourselves. But I will say on this Halloween, in a trick or a treat, I do want to, I do want to mention this, and that is all of our major TV networks, and this is going to be somewhat serious note here. All of our major TV networks right now, they're compromised in some fashion as the US Evolves or mutates into having a state dominated TV system. NBC is now the latest network to compromise itself. The parent company of NBC Comcast recently donated money to Trump's ballroom. Add that to the bribes that ABC and CBS paid to Trump earlier this year, not to mention CBS being taken over by right wing zealots. And of course, we all know what's happening over at Fox, which is already state tv. You have a situation in this country that is starting to seem like state dominated television in the United States, or at least state compromised television here in the United States. Add to that what's happened at the Washington Post, and you get the idea. And so on, on and on and on, folks. Media companies owned by giant corporations that are worried about getting their merger and acquisition deals approved by the Trump administration have lost their way. They have forgotten that they are using the public airwaves to sell their product. The airwaves belong to us, not to the corporations, not to Donald Trump. And the way we have to fight back is that we hold the feet of these corporations to the fire. And we, we do that by supporting independent media. And so I just wanted to throw in that pitch there. That is why independent media is so important to me these days. I hope it's important to you. I don't have corporate executives who get pissed off every time I slam Donald Trump for acting like a dictator. And I will say this. I'm just going to end on this note. Check out the New York Times. They just came out with a piece for this weekend on the top signs on whether or not we are losing our democracy. And one of them is that the leader of a country is taking control of the media. And according to the New York Times, Trump is on his way to doing that just, just as we speak. And you know that that is something that we all need to be careful of. We all need to guard ourselves against these, these signs of our democracy backsliding. The New York Times piece also talks about using the military in domestic law enforcement settings, coming up with rationale that is faulty for sending the military into cities and towns across the United States. That is another sign that is outlined by the New York Times. And it goes on and on like this. And I just encourage everybody out there. I think it's a really important piece to take a look at it this weekend. It struck a chord with me as being something very important. Number nine, for example, an authoritarian tries to take over universities. Trump has started to do that. This piece talks about. But one of the warning signs of a country slipping into authoritarianism is the state taking control of the news media, having control over the news media. Folks, you can't have corporations, giant corporations in charge of these media companies in charge of news divisions like NBC, ABC and cbs, or else we're going to get news organizations that are afraid to be aggressive, afraid to report the facts, afraid to hold the feet of the administration to the fire. And that's some of what we're starting to see right now. We're starting to see those kinds of warning signs play out at all of these different networks. And it's why I'm glad to be an independent media, and I hope you're glad that independent media exists in this country, that it's starting to just blow up. You're seeing people like Sawyer Hackett, who was on earlier, was a Democratic aide, an aide to Democratic politicians. He's now doing his own vertical videos on social media. And he's just blowing guys, blowing up on social media. Hundreds of thousands of people now consume his content. It's because there's a hunger, there's a thirst, there's a desire, there's a craving out there for new independent media voices telling it like it is and doing it in new and unique ways. And so we wanted to highlight that today we have people like Olivia Troy on the show. She also is on Substack and lots of other platforms. And she's lending her national security expertise to the many voices out there in independent media. And it's just highly important to what we do right now. So, yeah, I did Want to have a little fun today. That's why Olivia and I did a shot there a little while ago. But I also wanted to make sure I didn't let you go for the weekend without driving home. This very important point with Duke coming in here and rattling his, his collar and so on, that the media, the information that we consume in a democracy, is very important. It's critically important to the functioning of, of our democracy. And news organizations, journalists, reporters who work in this country, they have to be free to be able to report the news. They have to be free of any kind of corporate pressures and government pressures to get the facts to you. And if they're working for news organizations that are owned by giant corporations, and those corporations are relying on the administration to get their mergers and acquisitions and their deals through, which is what we're seeing right now by almost every major network in the country right now, now then you just do the math, and it makes perfect sense that you would have a situation in this country where the media is just the national news media, the legacy media, the corporate media. It just, it is what it is. I, I have to tell it like it is, folks. And they're, they're, they're a bit compromised right now, and more than a bit compromised. When you have Comcast as one of the, the donors of the Trump ballroom over at the White House, you know what, what happens to the news gathering process, what happens to the editorial process internally over there at NBC? Are they, are they leery of covering the ballroom project? Are they leery of what Donald Trump is doing over at the White House? Because they're, because they have to be worried about what the corporate ownership might say. I hope that's not the case. But it sets the table for that kind of a situation to occur, for those kinds of, that kind of tug of war to occur inside these companies. And we just can't have that in this country. And so that's why, a long story short here, that is why independent media that is free from corporate pressures is so very important right now. It's, it's so very important to support. And so it does make a difference. I want to sound like I'm begging. I don't want to sound like I'm doing a pledge drive. But when you hit subscribe, whether you pay or not, whether you hit subscribe on Substack, YouTube, wherever you get this show, it makes a difference. If you hit the like button, it makes a difference. If you watch a program and give it some of your time and attention, it makes a difference. And for the folks who are doing that now, I just want to say thank you. Really appreciate it so much. And Duke is right here, right now saying thank you as well. Aren't you? Aren't you, Duke? Yeah, you are.
- [54:03]
Sawyer Hackett
He's right.
- [54:04]
Jim Acosta
He's right here below me with a Superman cape turned around. So really appreciate that. And, and all of the folks who subscribe, my understanding is that Adam Kinzinger has just joined the chat. He's in there right now. And if you're wondering why the shot is shaking right, it's because Duke has come up to me. He's coming in for ear rubs right in the, in the middle of this closing soliloquy. So in my Clark Kent outfit, this is what I'm doing on Halloween. Duke is super dog or Crypto, if you like the new Superman movie. That's what we're going as tonight on this Halloween. Happy Halloween, everybody. Really appreciate everybody tuning in day in and day out. It means so much to me, and I hope we're we're able to bring some kind of information and maybe just a little bit of entertainment, maybe just just a tiny entertainment value to you on a regular basis on this program. Thanks everybody for tuning in. Really appreciate it. Still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Have a great weekend and happy Halloween.
- [55:07]
Sawyer Hackett
Boo. It.