GOP Leaders SUFFER Major BACKLASH in New Year

Summary

The MeidasTouch Podcast: "GOP Leaders SUFFER Major BACKLASH in New Year"
Release Date: January 2, 2025
Host: MeidasTouch Network (Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas)

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Episode Overview

In the January 2, 2025 episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast, the Meiselas brothers delve into the significant backlash faced by GOP leaders following a devastating domestic terrorist attack in New Orleans, Louisiana. The discussion centers on the responses of prominent Republican figures, particularly Governor Jeff Landry, and critiques the broader MAGA Republican strategy in addressing national tragedies. The episode highlights concerns over leadership effectiveness, political blame-shifting, and the manipulation of national incidents for partisan gains.

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Key Discussions and Insights

1. Response to the New Orleans Terrorist Attack

The episode opens with a detailed analysis of the recent terrorist attack in New Orleans, which resulted in 14 confirmed deaths and 30 injuries. Speaker B critically examines Governor Jeff Landry’s response to the tragedy, highlighting his social media activity immediately following the incident.

• Governor Landry’s Actions:
  "Posting a photo outside Bonton's Prime Rib, a fancy steakhouse with a bunch of his friends... a lack of leadership, zero leadership." ([00:41])

  Speaker B condemns Landry’s choice to showcase a social outing rather than addressing the victims and the community directly, depicting it as a failure of leadership during a crisis.

• Official Statement Critique:
  "You're trying to act like it was an act of bravery that you went to Bonton's Prime Rib Fancy Steakhouse before going to a football game." ([03:15])

  The critique emphasizes that genuine leadership would prioritize transparent communication and support for affected individuals over personal image management.

2. MAGA Republicans and Blame-Shifting

A substantial portion of the discussion focuses on how MAGA Republicans, including figures like Mike Johnson and Randy Weber, are responding to the attack by diverting blame towards immigration and border policies.

• Blaming Open Borders:
  "Speaker Mike Johnson was on Fox and Friends... suggesting that it's Biden's wide open border that played a role in the New Orleans attack." ([10:11])

  Speaker B argues that this narrative is unfounded, pointing out that the attacker was a U.S.-born citizen and military veteran, thereby discrediting the claim that open borders contributed to the incident.

• Political Exploitation of Tragedy:
  "They're using the pain and suffering of we the people to achieve a political end... holding hearings... confirm everybody right away." ([10:11])

  This segment criticizes GOP leaders for leveraging national tragedies to push their political agendas, particularly in hastening the confirmation of cabinet nominees without adequate scrutiny.

3. Critique of GOP Leadership and Policies

The episode further critiques the GOP's overall approach to leadership and policy-making, especially in the context of national security and border control.

• Bipartisan Border Deal Failure:
  "President Biden wanted a bipartisan border deal passed... MAGA killed the bill because Trump said he wanted chaos." ([05:45])

  Speaker B laments the obstruction of bipartisan efforts aimed at strengthening border security, attributing the failure to MAGA Republicans prioritizing political advantage over effective policy.

• Economic Manipulation and Division:
  "The Mar-a-Lago billionaires entrench their wealth when we the people are pit against each other... picking our pockets and looting us while making billions." ([07:30])

  This critique suggests that the GOP's divisive tactics are financially motivated, aiming to consolidate wealth by creating societal fractures that benefit their economic interests.

4. FBI Findings and Media Misrepresentation

Addressing the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) findings, Speaker B underscores the lack of evidence supporting conspiracy theories about the attack, countering the misinformation spread by certain media outlets and GOP figures.

• FBI Report Clarification:
  "The FBI now says that there is no evidence that the New Orleans attacker was anything but a lone wolf." ([04:50])

  This statement reinforces the narrative that the attack was an isolated incident, debunking claims of coordinated conspiracies involving multiple actors.

5. Call for Unity and Responsible Leadership

Concluding the episode, Speaker B urges for unity and responsible leadership, emphasizing the need to focus on facts and collaborative problem-solving rather than partisan blame.

• Emphasis on Truth and Unity:
  "We just need to stick with the truth, people." ([12:45])

  This appeal calls listeners to prioritize factual information and collective action to address terrorism and other national challenges effectively.

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Notable Quotes

• "You don't play host idiot messages and photos of himself... a lack of leadership, zero leadership."
  — Speaker B ([00:41])

• "When we knew what the data was yesterday, all we said, it's a 42-year-old... stationed in Texas."
  — Speaker B ([04:20])

• "MAGA killed the bill because Trump said he wanted chaos because it was a winning issue for him."
  — Speaker B ([05:45])

• "If we open our eyes and we see what they're doing picking our pockets and looting us while making billions."
  — Speaker B ([07:30])

• "We need to stick with the truth, people."
  — Speaker B ([12:45])

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Conclusions and Takeaways

The episode underscores a critical examination of GOP leaders’ responses to national tragedies, highlighting perceived failures in leadership, the propensity for political blame-shifting, and the strategic exploitation of fear to further partisan agendas. The Meiselas brothers advocate for a return to truthful, unified, and effective leadership that prioritizes national security and community healing over political gain. They call for accountability and a focus on bipartisan solutions to strengthen America’s resilience against terrorism and other societal challenges.

Listeners are encouraged to critically assess the motives behind political narratives and to support leaders who demonstrate genuine commitment to democracy and national well-being.

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For those interested in more in-depth discussions on political leadership and national security, subscribe to The MeidasTouch Podcast and join the MeidasMighty community.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Here. Take a look at this folks. This is the MAGA Republican governor of Louisiana Jeff Landry at 7:15pm 16 hours after I think it's now 14 people were confirmed dead and 30 injured from the domestic terrorist attack in his own state in the city of New Orleans. The second post that you'll see here was 90 minutes later when he learned that the feedback he was getting was less than stellar. Posting a photo outside Bonton's Prime Rib, a fancy steakhouse with a bunch of his friends. As this account Laura Burkhart says, elect better people. It doesn't have to be this way maga. You don't have to bring in such ghoulish people who do stuff like this. You can actually elect people who care about we the people. And I go back and I remember all of those videos we were doing with the red flags of Jeff Landry and how he was just a Donald Trump MAGA sycophant who would post those bizarre messages and photos of himself. And this is what you get. A lack of leadership, zero leadership. Then Landry posted 90 minutes later. It's important to understand that we have many visitors in the city of New Orleans right now. Safety is our top priority and we want our guests in the world to know that Louisiana does not cower to radical Islamic terrorists. Our restaurant and all New Orleans has to offer has to remain open for business. By the way, I'm not sure if that message is all that much better. You're trying to act like it was an act of bravery that you went to Bonton's Prime Rib Fancy Steakhouse before going to a football game. I mean, you think or in preparation of going to a football game, you think that's what's actually showing leadership right now? And folks, it's important to get the facts. What a leader does when there's a domestic terrorist attack or when there's something tragic is first you speak to the people after gathering the information about what happened. You don't lie and spread disinformation. And as I've said in a video I did earlier today, there was once a time, believe it or not, in American history, not all that long ago in my lifetime, where when there would be natural disasters or terrorist attacks, we would come together as a nation and try to actually solve the problems. We wouldn't finger point and say, oh, it's this person's fault or that's person's fault. But that's all MAGA does with all of these attacks and natural disasters. I mean, just think about even how Donald Trump was campaigning. You know, when there were those horrible hurricanes that hit the East Coast. What would Donald Trump do? He would lie and say that Biden is making sure that FEMA's helping illegal immigrants and not helping the people and Biden's not going to give you any money or resources, which was 100% false. False. It was a way though to turn it into a political thing and to blame things on immigrants and rile people up. That's not what leaders do. Let's just talk about what the latest set of facts are, what the latest data is. The FBI now says that there is no evidence that the New Orleans attacker was anything but a lone wolf. After there was a lot of disinfo out there about, oh, that this was a conspiracy with lots of other people. Again, this was someone who was in an American in Texas who was in the United States military, who did this and who was working and living in Texas. Here's updates from Mike Baker. Post the latest updates. There's actually 14 dead down from 15. The attacker, Jabbar, he reported joining ISIS last year. Two explosive devices were found in the French Quarter. Jabbar placed them. Investigators are now confident he acted alone. They have not ruled out any connection with the cybertruck blast in Vegas. So that's what we know now. And with that data, it is important just to report that as we said yesterday, when we knew what the data was yesterday, all we said, it's a 42 year old, his name is Shamshid Din Jabbar, American citizen, US army veteran, born and raised in Texas. But now what's MAGA saying this morning? Even when they're given this information, even when they're given this data, they find a way to attack immigrants with the information that I just gave you. Speaker Mike I'm not going to play you the videos of Mike Johnson and these Magas. I know my policy only applies to Trump right now that I'm not playing Trump videos or Trump audio, but I don't want to play. It's a new year. I may play in the future clips of MAGA Mike Johnson and in these magnets, but I just, I don't want to play the clips. If you want to see the clips, you can go and look at our social media platforms, Midas Touch, we have them there but I'm just not playing them here. I hope by now you trust that I'm saying what's in the clip. So Speaker Mike Johnson was on Fox and Friends this morning and he suggested that it's Biden's wide open border that played a role in the New Orleans attack. Again, the perpetrator was born in Texas and served in the United States military. But they're going all in on wide open border border. And at the same time I've said this before, President Biden wanted a bipartisan border deal passed. The lead negotiator of the bipartisan border deal was none other than James Lankford, a very right wing guy, a very right wing conservative from Oklahoma. This would have had the strongest borders ever and it would have had ways to deal with humans with dignity and it would have addressed all of the issues about labor shortages and it would have had extra would have paid border agents more money. It would have been great for the police and border agents. But Magaz killed the bill because Trump said he wanted chaos because it was a winning issue for him and Republicans to run on a chaotic border. Don't you see people that they are running on our pain? Don't you see that they like when we're in pain and we're suffering these MAGA Republicans so that they could divide us. And why are they dividing us though? Think about follow the money. Where does it go? The Mar a lago billionaires entrench their wealth when we the people are pit against each other. When we're in fear, that's when they thrive. If we open our eyes and we see what they're doing picking our pockets and looting us while making billions of dollars, then they get exp. Don't you see that's why they want you to get angry about all of these issues that don't you see? And they don't want you to know the truth.

[C]

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[B]

As Tim Miller talks about here. Also, the idea that racially motivated extremism was nonsense would be news to all the dead people in El Paso, Buffalo, Christchurch, Charleston, etc. Here's a pro tip. It's important to oppose mass murder in all cases, not just when the perp is a convenient political cudgel. So then the Fox hosts have on Mike Waltz, who's the incoming National Security Adviser to Donald Trump, currently a MAGA Republican Congressman. This is a big job. National Security Advisor, head of the National Security Application apparatus here. And this is what Mike Wallace does. Mike Waltz does. Mike Waltz uses the attack in New Orleans and the incident in Las Vegas to now insist that Trump's Cabinet shouldn't even be questioned. They need to be confirmed immediately now because of these incidents. So you see how they use the pain and suffering of we the people, of the people in New Orleans, of the whole situation, to achieve a political end. Well, now why are we even holding hearings? You have to confirm everybody right away. As Michael Freeman says, in challenging times, Cabinet nominees need less, not more scrutiny. It's not a very good argument to make. They need more scrutiny. And what Democrats should be saying is, actually, in these times, we can't be having these compromised, unqualified people who are, what, going to post photos of themselves in front of steakhouses when there is an attack. They're going to be missing in action because they don't even have the qualifications to handle these jobs. But, folks, this has been all morning today, MAGA Republican Representative Dan Mauser, he blames DEI and the FBI investigating Trump for the attack in New Orleans. And what he means there is that the FBI agent who's been holding press briefings, she's black. It's a black woman. And so that's what they're referring to. And again, MAGA has to make this DEI stuff versus just saying we all need as Americans to stop this terrorism. This is what MAGA does on every issue. Then you have next MAGA Republican Congress member Randy Weber. And as Aaron Rupert explains, even though the New Orleans attacker was born in Texas and is a veteran, all the House Republicans on Fox are following Trump's lead and just pretending that the terrorists came across Biden's open borders. And they're making this an open borders thing. It's an immigrants thing. Bring it home. And we need to round up and do bloody mass deportations. And as Eric Columbus says, once again, this is a great opportunity for Dems not to defend Biden, but to insist that the GOP take the danger seriously and reject nominees plainly unsuited to the task, like Cash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard and others. You then have Tom Homan, Trump's border czar, goes on Fox and then continues to talk about this as a border issue as well. And they repeat this over and over again. Now, who going back to what ultimately Trump's statement was, and you saw Trump's statement, I read it to you earlier this morning. I mean, Trump said, when I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by the Democrats in the fake news media. But it turns out to be true. The crime rate in our country is at a level nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump administration will fully support the city of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil. So again, I mean, why can't you just say our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones. We're investigating and will make sure you have all the up to date information and we'll take all action to stop this. But no, they make it about the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country. That's not even a true data point and that's not what, that's not what's happening here. And by the way, with all of the information about what's going on with the Tesla truck, what we know about this individual, the man connected to the rental of the Tesla cybertruck that exploded outside of the Trump Hotel in Vegas on Wednesday, is a U.S. special Forces soldier who was assigned to the 10 Special Forces group. Per four U.S. officials. The mass shootings that take place in the United States are Americans who are doing that, you know, who are radicalized here. So we just need to stick with the truth, people. And the going to the steakhouse is so utterly ghoulish and gross. Anyway, thanks for watching Hit Subscribe. Let's get to 4 million together. Thank you.

[C]

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[B]

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[C]

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[B]

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[A]

Marketing is hard, but I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be. Let me point something out. You're listening to a podcast right now and it's great. You love the host, you seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working out, cooking, even going to the bathroom. Podcasts are a pretty close companion. And this is a podcast ad. Did I get your attention? You can reach great listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Libsyn Ads Ads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements or run a pre produced ad like this one across thousands of shows. To reach your target audience in their favorite podcasts with Libsyn ads, go to Libsynads.com that's L I B S Y N ads.com today.