The MeidasTouch Podcast — Episode Summary

Episode Title: Bernie Destroys Trump at Packed Rally in Charleston
Date: August 18, 2025
Hosts: Ben, Brett & Jordy Meiselas

Overview

In this energizing episode, the MeidasTouch brothers spotlight Bernie Sanders’ rousing, no-holds-barred speech in Charleston, West Virginia, as part of his “Fight the Oligarchy” tour. Speaking to a packed house in a deep-red state, Sanders not only takes direct aim at Donald Trump’s divisive politics and the billionaire oligarchy but also lays out a populist, inclusive vision to unite American workers across all boundaries. The episode curates major segments from Sanders’ speech, highlights memorable crowd interaction, and unpacks the key issues Sanders says the country must address—while preserving his distinctive, passionate tone.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Unity Over Division: No “Red State/Blue State” Rhetoric (01:45–04:40)

• Sanders dismisses partisan divisions:
  “I happen not to believe in blue state, red state nonsense.” (02:37)
  He emphasizes shared struggles: inadequate wages, unaffordable education, and high healthcare costs affecting both Vermont and West Virginia.

• Working class as the focus:
  “Whether you're a working class person in Vermont or a working class person here in West Virginia, the issues and the struggles you face are exactly [the same].” (03:06–03:24)

• Call for solidarity:
  “Let us not allow the establishment people to divide us up. Not blue state, not red state, not whether we're black or white… We are one people. And if we stand together… we can do enormous things.” (03:25–04:25)

2. Exposing Economic Inequality & The Oligarchy (05:08–07:49)

• Unprecedented inequality:
  “We have more income and wealth inequality than we have ever had in the history of America.” (05:11)
  Sanders contrasts billionaire extravagance with working class struggles, noting:
  “Mr. Musk… owns more wealth than the bottom 52% of American households. The top 1% owning more wealth than the bottom 93%. CEOs… making 350 times what their workers make.” (05:39–06:18)

• Vivid stories of greed:
  “Jeff Bezos… gave his new wife a nice little gift—a $5 million ring. Guy owns 14 homes… their incredible greed… is what is going to destroy this country unless we turn it around… They worship on the altar of money.” (06:39–07:41)

3. Defending Democracy vs. Rising Authoritarianism (07:53–10:53)

• Sanders vs. Super PACs:
  “Let us not have… what we have now is super PACs putting zillions of dollars into these ugly 30 second TV ads. That is not democracy.” (08:32)

• Critique of Trump’s political tactics:
  “He is moving us toward an authoritarian society… challenging the responsibilities of the courts. He is suing the media. He is trying to undermine universities and law firms throughout this country.” (09:07–09:21)

• Warning against scapegoating:
  “Trump… plays the same old playbook that demagogues have always used: pick on minorities… blame those minorities for all the problems… Today, the targets are primarily undocumented people and the trans community.” (09:56–10:53)

4. Systemic Failures: Healthcare, Education & Housing (14:12–22:56)

• Healthcare system critique:

  • “Does the American healthcare system work? That is exactly the response I get to every audience I talk to.” (14:18)
  • “We are spending $14,000 a year for every man, woman and child… we have one of the worst systems.” (14:44–15:09)
  • “The function of the American healthcare system today is not to provide quality for everybody. The function is to make a whole lot of money for the insurance companies and the drug companies.” (15:15)

• Medicare for All:
  “We got to take [insurance and drug companies] on and move to a Medicare for all single payer system.” (16:58)

• Education & student debt:

  • “If you are the son or daughter of a working class person, you got to think twice about whether you even want to go to college. Yes, you're going to come out 50, $100,000 in debt.” (20:20)
  • “It is not a radical idea to say that we should make public colleges and universities tuition free.” (21:01)

• Affordable housing:

  • “In America today, 800,000 of our people are homeless and 20 million households are spending half of their limited incomes on housing.” (22:11)
  • “Maybe instead of building tanks and guns, maybe we should build low income and affordable housing.” (23:04)

5. Stagnant Wages and Wealth Redistribution (23:21–24:49)

• Declining real income:
  “Over the last 50 years… real income accounted for, weekly wages for workers are actually lower today than they were 50 years ago.” (24:04)

• Massive upward redistribution of wealth:
  “There was a $75 trillion redistribution of wealth from the bottom 90% to the top 1%.” (24:32–24:49)

6. The Labor Movement and Solutions: Unions & Minimum Wage (25:19–26:56)

• Workers’ desire to unionize:
  “All over this country, workers want to join unions… their companies are acting illegally in preventing them from forming a union.” (25:19–26:03)

• The PRO Act:
  “We’ve got to pass… the PRO Act, which would punish any corporation that acted against workers’ legal right [to] form a union.” (26:03)

• Raising the minimum wage:
  “You got to raise the minimum wage nationally to at least 17 bucks an hour.” (26:39)

• Paid leave:
  “Mothers should not have to make the choice about whether or not they stay home with their sick kids or get fired… guarantee paid family and medical leave and sick leave to every worker in America.” (26:48–27:02)

7. Protecting Social Security & Veterans’ Benefits (27:46–28:51)

• Social Security expansion:
  “We're not going to cut Social Security. We're going to expand Social Security. And the way you do that is not hard… lift that cap and ask those folks [high earners] to start putting the money into the system.” (27:55–28:15)

• Support for veterans:
  “Trump and his friends want to lay tens of thousands of workers off from the Veterans Administration. We don’t. We're going to expand Veterans Benefits, expand the healthcare and get more doctors and nurses into the Veterans Administration.” (28:31–28:51)

8. Fact-Checking Trump's Promises vs. Actions (28:51–30:30)

• “Trump campaigned on a lot of things, but what he ends up doing is not what he said he would do in terms of the most important issues facing our country.” (30:25)
  Sanders lists unmentioned campaign promises, such as tax cuts for the wealthy, Medicaid cuts, hospital closures, and increased student loan costs.

9. Climate Change & The Urgency of the Moment (30:30–31:46)

• Reality of climate crisis:
  “We are facing environmental problems because of climate change. I just flew in from Vermont… we're breathing filthy air from Canadian wildfires… unlike Trump, [we must] recognize that climate change is real.” (31:13–31:46)

10. Historical Perspective & A Call to Action (31:46–36:51)

• American history as inspiration:
  Sanders reviews the abolition of slavery, the civil rights movement, women's rights, and LGBTQ advocacy to illustrate that progress comes from struggle and organization, not despair.

  “When we stand together, we win. These are not radical ideas. They're supported by the majority of Americans in this country.” (35:21–36:45)

• Unique responsibility for West Virginia:
  “West Virginia, you have a unique role to play… This is a working class state. Your job… is to bring people together, to make it clear that every person… deserves a decent standard of living [and] a vibrant democracy.” (36:45–36:53)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On unity:
  “We are one people. And if we stand together, we can do enormous things.” — Bernie Sanders (04:25)

• On the oligarchs:
  “I do know that 99% is a hell of a lot larger number than 1%. And our job is not to allow them to divide us up.” — Bernie Sanders (04:40–05:01)

• On billionaire greed:
  “They are very religious people and greed is their religion, they worship on the altar of money. And I gotta tell you, they are not nice guys. They could care less about what they are doing to ordinary Americans.” — Bernie Sanders (07:41)

• On democracy:
  “I want to see elections where what matters is a clash of ideas… not super PACs putting zillions of dollars into these ugly 30 second TV ads. That is not democracy.” — Bernie Sanders (08:03–08:39)

• On progress:
  “I’m not going to tell you that the struggle against the oligarchs is easy. It is not. I know these guys. They have unlimited amounts of money. They own the media. They control both political parties… But you are not powerless. When we stand together… we win.” — Bernie Sanders (34:51–35:21)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Unity Across States (Red vs. Blue): 01:45–04:40
• Highlighting Economic Inequality: 05:11–07:49
• Scapegoating and Authoritarianism: 09:07–10:53
• Healthcare System Critique & Medicare for All: 14:12–16:58
• Education/Student Debt: 18:10–21:31
• Affordable Housing: 22:03–23:04
• Decline in Worker Wages & Union Advocacy: 23:21–25:19
• Social Security and Veterans’ Benefits: 27:46–28:51
• Climate Change Urgency: 30:30–31:46
• American Historical Struggle & Progress: 31:46–36:51
• West Virginia’s Unique Role: 36:45–36:53

Tone and Takeaways

The episode encapsulates Bernie Sanders’ trademark fusion of passionate outrage, wit, and practical vision: both scathing of the billionaire class and uplifting toward the working people. His speech in Charleston compellingly reframes the conversation from cultural division to economic and democratic unity.

Final rallying cry:
“Let us not go backward in field. Let us go forward. Let us take on the oligarchs. Let us win this thing.” — Bernie Sanders (36:53)

For listeners who missed the episode:
The rally coverage on The MeidasTouch Podcast is a masterclass in left-populist mobilization, blending moral clarity, economic critique, and real stories from ordinary Americans—always with an eye toward tangible policy change and mass democratic action.