MAGA Mike Shuts Down House over Midterm Disaster!!

Summary

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The MeidasTouch Podcast

Episode: MAGA Mike Shuts Down House over Midterm Disaster!!
Date: April 13, 2026
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas

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Episode Overview

In this episode, the Meiselas brothers dissect House Speaker Mike Johnson's (dubbed "MAGA Mike") decision to adjourn Congress for over two weeks amid crises at home and abroad. The hosts shine a spotlight on Johnson’s attempts to boost turnout against new congressional maps in Virginia, his inflammatory rhetoric about Democrats and midterms, and the broader dysfunction of MAGA Republicans during a time of international turmoil. The episode is marked by the Midas Touch signature blend of sharp political analysis and witty brotherly banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Congress Adjourned During Crisis

• [00:08] The episode opens with the House being adjourned, causing the hosts to point out Congress is absent during an escalating war in Iran and failed negotiations in Islamabad.
• The Meiselas brothers criticize Speaker Mike Johnson for this dereliction, emphasizing Congress’s constitutional duty— especially regarding war powers.

2. MAGA Mike’s Virginia Stunt

• [00:08] – [05:34] Video footage shows Speaker Johnson in Virginia with former Governor Glenn Youngkin, striving to stir anti-gerrymandering sentiment against new congressional maps.

• Johnson rallies a small crowd (the hosts humorously note just 12 people attended) warning of dire consequences if Democrats win the House, resorting to culture war rhetoric and fear-mongering.

  "He's like, please, please, we need a win in the midterms because the Democrats, they're going to impeach Donald Trump and they're going to investigate Donald Trump and they're going to do all of these woke things..." (Midas Touch Host, [00:49])

3. Johnson’s Talking Points—Fear and Culture Wars

• [02:20] Johnson’s warning:

  “They would roll the markets, they would turn all the committees of Congress into investigative bodies, they would go into lawfare again. All the woke crazy agenda stuff that they tried to hoist upon the country... they would bring it right back...”
  (MAGA Mike Johnson, [02:20])

• [04:46] Johnson brands Democrats “Marxists” and calls Representative Abigail Spanberger’s campaign a “charade”.

  “She talks like a moderate and she governs like a Marxist.”
  (MAGA Mike Johnson, [04:46])

• Johnson wraps up by calling the upcoming election a “contrast between common sense and crazy,” continuing his partisan attacks.

  "It's a contrast between Republicans' return to common sense and the Democrats' radical woke agenda. To put it bluntly, it's a contrast between common sense and crazy."
  (MAGA Mike Johnson, [06:26])

4. Democratic Pushback & Gerrymandering

• The hosts refute Johnson’s narrative, highlighting that Democrats put forth legislation to ban partisan gerrymandering—opposed by Republicans.

• “The Democrats were the ones who put forward a law... that MAGA Republicans were against to ban political gerrymandering, period, Full stop. You all voted against that.”
  (Midas Touch Host, [03:00])

• Mocking the spectacle, they play snippets from Johnson and Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff during the Virginia campaign event.
  ([07:37] – [07:53])

5. Republican Hypocrisy and Response to Trump

• The Midas Touch team skewers MAGA politicians for calling Democrats “crazy” while Trump posts AI images of himself as Jesus and spreads conspiracy theories online.

  “The level of sociopath derangement of these Magas... Like legitimately the craziest human beings around right now is like all of you MAGA weirdos.”
  (Midas Touch Host, [05:34])

• Hosts point to the irony of MAGA accusations of 'madness' versus actual MAGA behavior—like proposing to rename the Persian Gulf and attacking the Pope.

6. Congressional Inaction and Oversight Failures

• [08:03] – [15:01] The podcast highlights the abdication of Congressional oversight, exemplified in interviews with Republican representatives:

  • Mike Turner is pressed on Face the Nation about congressional understanding of military maneuvers in the Strait of Hormuz, dodges questions and admits to being uninformed.

    “The president just tweeted this this morning. So you'll have to ask the President.”
    (Meet the Press Host, Kristen Welker, [10:51])

  • Turner also contradicts MAGA claims that the Iran conflict is “won,” reflecting confusion and lack of coherent strategy.

    “The negotiation itself is proof of the fact that militarily you cannot achieve destruction of nuclear ambition, is it not?”
    (MAGA Republican Congressmember Mike Turner, [11:30])

  • Byron Donalds on whether Pam Bondi should testify regarding the Epstein files, equivocates, highlighting selective application of contempt charges.

    “Well, like I said, we'll see what happens when we get back to D.C. if the committee still wants the former AG to come in, then I'm quite sure Pam Bondi will come in and you won't even get down that road.”
    (Byron Donalds, [14:33])

7. Democratic Vision—Sen. Jon Ossoff’s Speech

• [16:49] The episode ends with a rousing segment from Senator Jon Ossoff, laying out the stakes for ordinary Americans, critiquing Trump’s “casino” administration and misplaced priorities.

  “That’s what the president said. He said we can only afford to fund war. And then two days later released his budget demanding we increase Pentagon spending to 1 1/2 trillion dollars per year, paid for by ending the program that helps millions afford utility bills, by canceling affordable housing programs and by cutting cancer research. All this just one year after they sent insurance premiums skyrocketing and gutted Medicaid to cut taxes for the rich.”
  (Sen. Jon Ossoff, [16:49])

• Ossoff’s call to action to Georgia Democrats is highlighted as a model of clear, values-driven persuasion.

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Memorable Quotes

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |:---------:|---------|-------| | 02:20 | MAGA Mike Johnson | "All the woke crazy agenda stuff that they tried to hoist upon the country... they would bring it right back." | | 04:46 | MAGA Mike Johnson | "She talks like a moderate and she governs like a Marxist." | | 06:26 | MAGA Mike Johnson | "It's a contrast between common sense and crazy." | | 16:49 | Sen. Jon Ossoff | "That’s what the president said. He said we can only afford to fund war…This is their answer to America's cost of living crisis." |

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:08] – Criticism of Congress being adjourned during global crisis
• [02:20] – Mike Johnson’s fear-mongering over Democratic control
• [04:46] – Johnson’s “Marxists” accusation and culture war framing
• [07:37] – [07:53] – Clips from Virginia gerrymandering rally
• [10:28] – [12:09] – Congressional oversight issues discussed with Mike Turner
• [12:42] – [14:33] – Byron Donalds on the Epstein investigation and subpoena double standards
• [16:49] – [19:41] – Senator Jon Ossoff’s impassioned speech and Democratic messaging

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Tone and Style

The episode retains the signature Midas Touch mix of irreverence, sharp political analysis, and unwavering advocacy for democracy. The hosts employ humor and sarcasm to skewer Republican leaders, while lifting up the clarity and moral urgency expressed by Democratic voices.

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Summary

This episode exposes the performative political theater and hypocrisy of Speaker Mike Johnson and the House GOP during a time of national and global urgency. It underlines the contrast between Republican culture war grandstanding and Democratic efforts to address real policy issues, concluding with a forceful Democratic message on behalf of working Americans.

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Transcript

[MAGA Mike Johnson]

The House stayed adjourned until 2:30pm on Monday, April 13, 2026.

[Midas Touch Network Host]

So Congress has stood a Jordan now for over two weeks, not in session, while the United States has engaged in this horrific and disastrous war in Iran, the failed negotiations in Islamabad. And now we're seeing what MAGA Mike Johnson has actually been doing over the past two weeks. And folks, it is s. Some video footage that the Midas Touch Network was able to obtain emerged. It's MAGA Mike Johnson speaking in Virginia as they MAGA Republicans are trying to prevent people from voting in favor of the new maps, the new congressional districts that were put in place in Virginia. There's a referendum that the people have to vote on in response to Donald Trump starting in Texas. But all the gerrymandering that Donald Trump did, Democrats fought back. And so what MAGA Mike Johnson is using these two weeks for, we see it right here. He's in Virginia with the former Virginia governor Youngkin. And MAGA Mike Johnson's out there telling people, you gotta vote against this gerrymandering. How dare the Democrats gerrymander. This is not what our Constitution was based on. And so the reason that MAGA Mike Johnson has shut down Congress now for two weeks is to engage in cheap stunts like this. And then MAGA Mike Johnson, I mean, it's fairly pathetic. I'll show you the video. He's like, please, please, we need a win in the midterms because the Democrats, they're going to impeach Donald Trump and they're going to investigate Donald Trump and they're going to do all of these woke things and something about women, men's sports woke this, woke that. He's like, by the way, in front of a crowd of 12 people showed up to watch him, the former governor, and to watch like the entire Virginia congressional delegation, like nobody is there. I want you to watch as MAGA Mike here starts saying they're going to impeach Donald Trump if you don't help us. This is so utterly pathetic. Let's play this clip right here.

[MAGA Mike Johnson]

They would do exactly the opposite if they took the majority back in the House. Heaven forbid, you know, that they would impeach the President in the first week of the new Congress in January. But it would get far worse than that because they would roll the markets, they would turn all the committees of Congress into investigative bodies, they would go into lawfare again. All the woke crazy agenda stuff that they tried to hoist upon the country and that the country rejected in 2024, they would bring it right back and they would impeach the President, reopen the borders, they would return men to women's locker rooms and girls sports trans surgeries for everybody, as the President says, right? Without parental consent. All of the crazy stuff that the American people rejected, they want to bring it back.

[Midas Touch Network Host]

More from MAGA Mike Johnson as he starts talking about how unfair it is that Democrats are now gerrymandering Virginia. And this is so unfair, MAGA Mike says, because the Republican majority in the House of Representatives is so slim. And how could the Democrat, the Democrats or the gerrymandering party. Hey, MAGA Mike, the Democrats were the ones who put forward a law. Remember those things called laws, right? They put forward a bill that they wanted to turn into a law that MAGA Republicans were against to ban political gerrymandering, period, Full stop. You all voted against that. And then your plan with Trump was to gerrymander Texas to pick up five seats. And then starting with Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom in California, Democrats fought back. And now they're fighting back in Virginia. And now you're whining in front of the this crowd of like 12 people here. Play this clip right here.

[MAGA Mike Johnson]

One of the smallest margins in US History right now. We had a special election last Tuesday, so I have, I have an embarrassment of riches, guys. We have a two vote margin right now. We were down to one, okay? We have got to get every single one of these patriots on this stage reelected in November. And I know you're committed to help us get that done, but that's why the eyes of America were upon your state right now. And I'm telling you what you already know the obvious thing. The eyes of America are upon you because you have the power in your hands. This is a very serious deal. You have the power to say no to this totally scandalous, unlawful, unconstitutional Democrat gerrymandering scheme that they're trying to push upon this state. You get to say no.

[Midas Touch Network Host]

And then Magamike is like, they're all Marxist. The Democrats are a bunch of Marxists. Play this clip.

[MAGA Mike Johnson]

You also have the power to say no to Abigail Spanberger's charade. Okay, can I call it something charitable, Governor? She talks like a moderate and she governs like a Marxist. I mean, this is serious stuff. And you have the power to say no to this insurgent left Democrat Party that is trying to take over the US Congress. How many of you know this is not your father's Democrat Party? They're open Marxists. They believe in everything that is the opposite of what made America the greatest nation in the history of the world. You have another very important power. You have the power to protect fair maps in Virginia and to protect truly the entire House Republican majority in the Congress. That's in your hands right now. This is big stuff.

[Midas Touch Network Host]

And then as Donald Trump is posting AI images of himself as Jesus and Donald Trump posting like fake information that he saved and McMahon's home in 2008, which is like a totally fake and made up story, or Donald Trump talking about blockading all of the Persian Gulf. MAGA Mike has the audacity to say, and these Democrats, they're crazy, man. They're a bunch of crazy people. The level of sociopath derangement of these Magas, they're like the Democrats are the crazy ones, Mike. Y' all are literally a bunch of nutcases. Like legitimately the craziest human beings around right now is like all of you MAGA weirdos. But go ahead, here, play this clip of MAGA Mike.

[MAGA Mike Johnson]

This is not a Contract With America election cycle. You guys did that. You signed the Contract with America in 2024. You were fulfilling those promises as promises made, promises kept. He said, mike, this isn't a Contract with America election. This is a contrast for America. It is a contrast between Republicans return to common sense and the Democrats radical woke agenda. To put it bluntly, it's a contrast between common sense and crazy. Okay, Crazy. You remember the president of the State of the Union when he just kind of went off script a couple of times behind them and joined show and at one point he looked over to the Democrats and he said, you're crazy. They are. We all applauded. I know you stood up in your living rooms and said yes, amen. Because that's what this is. It's not your father's Democrat party and the state should not be any higher because of that.

[Midas Touch Network Host]

Look, and I'll just show you what was going on before that. You had Glenn Youngkin right here, the former governor of Virginia is like, we need a vote no on this gerrymandering. This is Democrat gerrymandering. This is very, very, very unfair. Here, play this.

[Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff]

Vote no.

[MAGA Mike Johnson]

It's that simple.

[Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff]

Vote no against gerrymandering. Vote no against being silenced. Vote no against being lied to.

[MAGA Mike Johnson]

Vote no.

[Midas Touch Network Host]

And demonstrate to the United States of America that Virginians lead. We do not follow. Now look, this is super important.

[MAGA Mike Johnson]

Important.

[Midas Touch Network Host]

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[MAGA Republican Congressmember Mike Turner]

Did they mind the Strait of Hormuz? Because in that tweet today, the president also said they might not have.

[Meet the Press Host Kristen Welker]

Well, I think.

[MAGA Republican Congressmember Mike Turner]

Because he said no, I think you'll

[Meet the Press Host Kristen Welker]

have to ask the President.

[MAGA Republican Congressmember Mike Turner]

But that's the point, that Congress has not done that. As a member of Oversight in Armed Services, do you feel like this has actually been adequately explained to you? Because the American public does not.

[Meet the Press Host Kristen Welker]

The president just tweeted this this morning. So you'll have to ask the President.

[MAGA Republican Congressmember Mike Turner]

We would Love to ask the president or the secretary of state or the secretary of Defense, but members of Congress from his party are the only ones sitting here today. And we do appreciate you answering questions on it.

[Meet the Press Host Kristen Welker]

Thank you, Margaret.

[MAGA Republican Congressmember Mike Turner]

All right, we'll be right back.

[Midas Touch Network Host]

Then, more from MAGA Republican Congressmember Mike Turner who said this conflict is ongoing. And then to her credit, the host is like, yeah, but didn't Donald Trump say that the war is won? What do you mean the conflict is ongoing? I thought you said that the Isn't this war supposed to be over? Here, watch this. Let's play this clip.

[MAGA Republican Congressmember Mike Turner]

The weapon preventing that, however, the negotiation itself is proof of the fact that militarily you cannot achieve destruction of nuclear ambition, is it not?

[Meet the Press Host Kristen Welker]

No, it's not because they're still ongoing and the president has what's ongoing. This, this, this conflict, this, this act, the negotiations, this is, this is not over. And as it's not over, Iran is going to have to come to the realization as are remember the jcpo, the original enrichment deal that Obama had negotiated where he said we're not going to allow them to have nuclear weapon, but we're just going to watch if he

[MAGA Republican Congressmember Mike Turner]

didn't have a nuclear weapon and where

[Meet the Press Host Kristen Welker]

we're going to watch and they don't

[MAGA Republican Congressmember Mike Turner]

have a nuclear weapon and we're going

[Meet the Press Host Kristen Welker]

to watch them enrich until they get close enough and then we'll take military action.

[Midas Touch Network Host]

Then you have MAGA Republican Congress member Byron Donalds and you know, you want to see the COVID up of the Epstein files in real time. You have Kristen Welker over at Meet the Press said so are you going to. Pam Bondi's supposed to sit for her deposition on Tuesday. She was subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee. You sit on the House Oversight Committee. Don't you want to have her over here? Here, listen to what he says. Play this clip.

[Meet the Press Host]

I want to move to some domestic issues now. Major headline this week, the first lady Melania Trump put Jeffrey Epstein back in the headlines when she made a surpr announcement denying ties to the convicted sex offender. You're a member of the House Oversight Committee which was scheduled to hear from former Attorney General Pam Bondi this coming Tuesday about her handling of the Epstein files. The Justice Department says Bondi's ouster excuses her from having to appear. Do you think Pam Bondi should testify this week?

[MAGA Republican Congressmember Byron Donalds]

Look, I don't actually, at this point, I don't really think so now that she's a former Attorney general of the United States.

[Meet the Press Host]

Well, Hillary Clinton hold on Hillary Clinton was in an office and she testified.

[MAGA Republican Congressmember Byron Donalds]

Well, let me be, let me be very clear. We're going to be continuing with our investigations into this matter. The Oversight Committee has been steadfastly working on this, also with survivors who chose to come forward to bring more information. I think if a former AG Bondi comes in, that'll be a determination of the committee as a whole. Let me also say that the now former attorney general, she did come into the committee in a session to have open conversation and dialogue with Republican and Democrat members. Republican members came. Hold on, let me explain. This is important. Republican members came to that committee hearing asking the attorney, the former Attorney General Bondi, important questions. The Democrats refused to ask her any questions because they wanted the cameras on, because they wanted to turn it into a political circus.

[Midas Touch Network Host]

And more about the subpoena where he was like, well, we'll see. We'll see. What do you mean we'll see? Here, play this clip right here.

[Meet the Press Host]

Since for you, you actually voted to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in criminal contempt earlier this year for failing to comply with a subpoena, why shouldn't the same standard apply to the former attorney general, Pam Bondi?

[MAGA Republican Congressmember Byron Donalds]

Well, like I said, we'll see what happens when we get back to D.C. if the committee still wants the former AG to come in, then I'm quite sure Pam Bondi will come in and you won't even get down that road. What happened with Bill and Hillary is that we had a bipartisan subpoena for them to come in and the Clintons basically ignored the subpoena. So we had to move through towards criminal contempt proceedings because Bill and Hillary were trying to negotiate their way out of actually coming in and answering questions.

[Midas Touch Network Host]

And I just find it so fascinating, I think would be putting it lightly, that as you have MAGA Mike Johnson saying the Democrats are the crazy one, the Democrats are the crazy one. I mean, I did a whole video on it this morning. But you saw Donald Trump's post this morning, right? And Donald Trump's post throughout the day and his interviews with Maria Bartiroma where he starts talking about renaming the Strait of Hormuz and calling it the Donald Trump Gulf or changing the name of the Persian Gulf and doing a blockade because he read about it in justthenews.com or something, some right wing blog. He attacked the Pope. What about that MAGA Mike? He attacked the pope. Now all of MAGA said the pope is Marxist, the Catholic Church is a Marxist organization. That's literally what the MAGAs are going with. Right. Okay. So MAGA. Mike, let me just ask you a question. If you think this behavior is normal right here, here, play this clip.

[Meet the Press Host]

Going to be enough. The blockade in the strait, the opening up capacity in the United States, is this going to be enough to lower the price of oil and gas, sir?

[Meet the Press Host Kristen Welker]

Well, it's going to be eventually. It's going to be lower. Now, it might not happen initially, but

[MAGA Mike Johnson]

it's going to, it's going to go

[Meet the Press Host Kristen Welker]

down when this is all over. Look, the stock market, The Dow hit 50,000. It was supposed to be in four or five years. They said it won't happen during his.

[Midas Touch Network Host]

Okay with all of that. Let me just share with you just to do a refresh of all of this, let me show you Democratic Senator Ossoff who gave an incredible speech as part of his campaign for reelection in the Senate. This is some of the top, I was going to say some of the top messaging, but this is just being a human being and fighting for people. Watch Democratic Senator Ossoff here, play this clip.

[Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff]

Now, I don't know if you saw, but the president apparently promised pardons for the entire White House staff. Did y' all see that? Which I guess is the kind of thing you do when you run the White House like a casino. Now, maybe the West Wing's too busy placing Kalshi and poly market bets on the war to care, but Americans are getting hurt, hurt by the illegal tariffs that send prices higher and higher, by skyrocketing health premiums by $4 gas, hurt by insurance companies that deny claims for needed care, hurt by the hedge funds snatching up tens of thousands of homes across our state, hurt by the data centers driving up power bills. And so when you're out there talking to folks over the next six months, remind them what the president of the United States said last. It's not possible, he said, for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid or Medicare. That's what the president said. He said we can only afford to fund war. And then two days later released his budget demanding we increase pentagon spending to 1 1/2 trillion dollars per year, paid for by ending the program that helps millions of afford utility bills, by canceling affordable housing programs and by cutting cancer research. All this just one year after they sent insurance premiums skyrocketing and gutted Medicaid to cut taxes for the rich. This is their answer to America's cost of living crisis. This is their answer to the Savannah nurse working a double shift whose utilities are about to get shut off. The Tift county farmer getting crushed by the trade war and now diesel and now fertilizer. The family in College park skipping doctor's visits because premiums are just too high. In Donald Trump's America, the rich get tax cuts, the well connected get stock tips and everybody else makes sacrifices. But Americans have seen through this scam and it's up to Georgia Democrats to end it. Are you ready to win Georgia Democrats?

[Midas Touch Network Host]

There you have it folks. Let me know what you all think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. We appreciate you new Midas merch. Head to store.midas touch.com today and get yourself the best pro democracy gear and show your support. That's store.midas touch.com.