MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 12/16/25

Summary

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MeidasTouch Full Podcast — 12/16/25

Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas
Date: December 16, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this charged and emotionally resonant episode, the Meiselas brothers confront a tumultuous week marked by tragedy and political chaos. They analyze Donald Trump’s unsettling reactions to major events—including the murder of Rob Reiner, a terrorist attack in Australia, and a school shooting at Brown University—while exposing patterns of gaslighting, disinformation, and psychological manipulation. The brothers critique media responses and discuss broader threats to democracy, interweaving personal reflection, unfiltered banter, and a call for humanity to prevail amid darkness.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. National Tragedies and Presidential Failure

• Opening Discussion (02:20–07:00)
  • The tragic murder of Rob Reiner and his wife, the Bondi Beach terror attack in Australia during Hanukkah, a school shooting at Brown University, and U.S. troop deaths in Syria set a somber tone.
  • The brothers highlight Trump’s "deranged" responses—downplaying tragedy, spreading conspiracies, and using divisive rhetoric instead of uniting the country.
• Quote (Ben, 02:09):

  “These are the times where the United States needs a president who is empathetic, compassionate, who recognizes the pain that people are feeling... Not only is Donald Trump not that person, Donald Trump is the person who creates the pain, the fear, the depression, the psychological torture. And that was on full display in the past 48 hours.”

2. Media Gaslighting and Trump's Health Controversy

• Fox News Segment & Response (07:18–19:23)
  • The hosts call out Fox News for attacking Jordy after he questioned Trump’s visible decline and unexplained bandaged hands; Fox alleges it's just heavy “hand-shaking.”
  • The brothers note the gaslighting and media manipulation, emphasizing the need for objective truth over partisan tribalism.
• Quote (Jordy, 12:11):

  “Fox has nothing but contempt for their viewers… Our mission here is to deal in facts and data, truth and receipt, and unlike Fox, we are very grateful for our audience.”

• Memorable Moment (18:43–19:10):
  • Lighthearted banter as Brett jokes about Fox not using Jordy’s “piss in my face” rant:

    “If they wanted to play Jordy on loop saying ‘piss in my face’ without context, I would have understood that… But what they did, they actually… elevated Jordy to a scholar, which you are.”

3. The Rob Reiner Murder and Trump’s Callous Response

• Comparing Reactions (20:46–32:04)
  • Rob Reiner’s humane reaction to the murder of Charlie Kirk is contrasted with Trump’s vindictive, victim-blaming response to Reiner’s own family tragedy.
  • Trump issues a statement blaming “Trump Derangement Syndrome” for Rob and Michelle Reiner’s deaths, framing them as suffering from a “mind-crippling disease.”
• Quote (Trump, reading his post, 29:41):

  “A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood, okay? Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director… passed away together with his wife Michelle, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome… May Rob and Michelle rest in peace.”

• Critical Analysis (Ben, 32:04):

  “Trump is creating a permission structure to kill people who don’t support him… I think he’s speaking to an audience, giving you my opinion, of murderers and killers and MAGA cultists who will kill for him, to basically normalize this behavior…”

4. Gaslighting Around the Brown University Shooting

• Disinformation in Real Time (38:17–46:14)
  • Trump spread false info about the suspect’s custody during the Brown University shooting, then deflected blame onto the school and local authorities.
  • The FBI’s error in identifying the suspect and the subsequent media spin are dissected.
• Quote (Brett, 43:26):

  “When you’re the President of the United States and you are just posting, just shitposting live, tweeting false information and pretending like you are getting classified briefings… that’s just the opposite of leadership.”

5. DOJ, FBI, and Manufactured Distractions

• Announcing Alleged Terror Busts (46:14–51:26)
  • The hosts cast doubt on a timely FBI announcement of a “radical pro-Palestinian group” bust, suggesting it may be a media distraction from the agency's recent missteps and upcoming Epstein file releases.
  • Frustration with the lack of trust in justice institutions under Trump’s regime.

6. Trump's Performative (and Dangerous) Foreign Policy

• Peace Deals, Collusion, and Absurd Antics (54:55–67:53)
  • Trump’s false claims about brokering peace between Thailand and Cambodia, his support for dangerous figures like Syria’s Al Qaeda-linked leader Jelani (Ahmed Al Shara), and bizarre behaviors such as spraying foreign leaders with cologne in the Oval Office.
  • The lack of strategy and the dangers of Trump’s impulsive, performative foreign policy are emphasized.
• Quote (Brett, 67:53):

  “Donald Trump is a psychopath surrounded by sycophants. And that is perhaps the most dangerous combination that you could put together.”

7. Authoritarian Tactics and International Parallels

• Connecting Dots Globally (71:48–81:00)
  • Ben draws links between Trumpism and global authoritarian trends—in Hungary, Europe, and beyond—particularly how strongmen project as protectors but enable corruption and exploitation.
  • US foreign policy is increasingly viewed as hostile by European allies; discussion of UN votes reinforcing international isolation.
• Quote (Ben, 75:56):

  “Europe recognizes America is a hostile force… Just look how America voted at the United Nations over the past week… The United States was the one country to vote against delivering humanitarian aid abroad.”

8. The Affordable Care Act and Healthcare Uncertainty

• Policy amid Chaos (81:00–84:29)
  • The looming expiration of ACA tax credits threatens millions’ healthcare. Ben shares insights from a recent dinner with Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who vows to hold the line on extending coverage.
• Memorable Moment (83:17):
  • Brett and Jordy rib Ben for looking “showered” and presentable in a photo with Jeffries, bringing levity to a personal and urgent political moment.

9. Empathy and Shared Humanity as a North Star

• Closing Thoughts (84:29–87:14)
  • The hosts reaffirm that their mission goes beyond partisan battles, rooting their analysis in shared humanity and empathy—a sharp contrast to the cruelty and divisiveness now endemic in politics.
• Quote (Brett, 86:01):

  “Empathy is a superpower, and it is one of our greatest superpowers… continue to lead with empathy, continue to lead with humanity, and that’s how we are going to continue to grow this community.”

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Selected Timestamps

• Trump’s failure as a consoler-in-chief: 02:09–05:21
• Fox attacks Jordy on Trump’s health questions: 07:18–13:29
• Ben’s analysis of gaslighting and leadership: 13:29–17:21
• Rob Reiner’s humane statement on tragedy: 20:46–21:48
• Trump’s callous Oval Office response: 23:23–24:01
• Analysis of Trump’s social media post: 29:41–32:04
• Brown University shooting & disinformation: 38:17–46:14
• DOJ/FBI distraction tactics: 46:14–50:36
• Trump’s bizarre diplomatic antics: 54:55–66:10
• Global perspective on authoritarian tactics: 71:48–81:00
• Healthcare/ACA coverage uncertainty: 81:00–84:29
• Empathy & closing reflections: 84:29–87:14

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Notable Quotes

• Ben on Trump’s effect on America:
  (38:17) “You know, the number one thing I hear from people… when you ask them to describe what it feels like to wake up in Trump's America, they'll say, psychological torture… There is an intentionality to the psychological torture that we see in authoritarian regimes historically that is embodied in Trump.”

• Jordy on the state of leadership:
  (37:20) “The only conclusion that I can come to is the person who authored that, who wrote that, is just a disgusting, soulless creature. And in this case, that person… just so happens to be the President of the United States, Donald Trump…”

• Brett, on destructive leadership:
  (70:28) “Donald Trump likes to think of himself as a builder, when the reality is he's a destroyer. Everything the guy touches dies… It’s easy to destroy. It's a lot harder to build.”

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Episode Tone and Takeaways

• Tone: Candid, impassioned, sometimes darkly humorous, but always fact-driven and committed to human decency.
• Main Takeaways:
  • Trump’s behavior in crisis reveals a lack of empathy and a penchant for cruelty, division, and misinformation.
  • Right-wing media’s performative defenses and attacks perpetuate gaslighting and tribal disinformation at the expense of truth.
  • The psychological strain on Americans under the current regime is tangible, linked to loss of stability, affordability, and basic human trust.
  • The fight for democracy and decency requires community, global awareness, and unwavering unity grounded in empathy—not partisan labels.

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Subscribe: For more brotherly banter, pro-democracy news, and deep dives, join the Meidas Mighty on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Yeah, it's good to be here, brothers. Good to be here. Midas Mighty. We're not here to sugarcoat the news, you know, that's not what we're here for. We're here to tell you how things are. And, you know, we got to be honest about what we've witnessed over the past, you know, 48 hours or so. It was a incredibly dark and tragic weekend, and I know a lot of people are feeling the effects of that. And unfortunately, as Ben said, we have somebody leading the country right now who makes everything worse, who adds gas to the fire, who is somebody, instead of being a consoler in chief, is like an arsonist in chief, making the situations worse and creating new problems along the way. I guess I just should probably start off the episode by sending my condolences to the Reiner family. I mean, the tragedy, it's just unthinkable what happened. Just absolutely horrifying. To the families of the American soldiers who were ambushed and killed in Syria, to all those affected by the incidents at Bondi beach, who were gunned down during that Hanukkah celebration simply because they were Jewish and were celebrating Hanukkah, I think it's so appalling. Supposed to be a day of hope, of celebration. And I got to send my gratitude also to that hero who we witnessed in that footage, Ahmed Al Ahmed, who is like a 43 year old fruit shop owner from Australia. He was the one who was seen on camera disarming the gunman. Incredibly heroic, selfless moment, risking his life in the process. And he was shot twice by the other other gunman while he was doing that. And he is now recovering at the hospital. He's in good condition. He should make a full recovery. There's a GoFundMe, an official GoFundMe that's crossed, you know, well over a million dollars already. It's great to see at least the sliver of humanity shining through right now when times are so dark. Jordy, good to see you. What's the latest?

[C]

Great to see you guys. Great to be here. Midas Mighty a lot to get into as we touched on to start the show. So, Benji, with that, where do you want to start off today, big bro?

[A]

Well, I'll mention a story that you were discussed in or attacked in by state regime media, which calls itself Fox. You will all recall on the last episode of the Midas Touch podcast, Jordi made a statement. I don't care if you're a Republican, Democrat, Independent, this is not political. Jordi said we need to recognize that Trump's physical and mental health is clearly deteriorating before our eyes. And the latest White House excuse, that Donald Trump's hand constantly has bandages on it and that his hand is discolored, looks almost like it's put in a piranha tank. That that was caused by Donald Trump shaking a lot of hands. First and foremost, if you look at how hands are shaped, that's not the area where the hand even gets shaked, where it is. And that's not what happens. It's a ridiculous thing for the White House to say. And it just treats the American people like they're utterly stupid. And it raises bigger questions. Is there IV infusions, is there blood being drawn on a consistent basis is what we're seeing on the back of his hand related to the cognitive decline that we see taking place before our eyes. His inability to walk in a straight line. We saw, for example, when he rolled out the red carpet for Putin. He made our troops bend down on their knees for Putin on that red carpet. Donald Trump was zigzagging. We saw in Japan. Prime Minister Takahishi of Japan almost needed to escort Donald Trump. We see his decline with our eyes. So Jordi raised a very basic question and made a very basic statement, stop the gaslighting. And we just deserve to know what's going on. To which Fox attacks Jordi. They double down on this White House ridiculousness that this is what happens. And they brought on a guest who said, I've been around so many a listers and they all got these bandages on their hands. That's just what happens when you're famous. Let's play the clip. And then, Jordi, since you were the one attacked, we'll have you respond. But this goes into a broader theme about what we're talking on this episode, which is a lot of these issues shouldn't be Democrat, Republican, independent. This should just be truth, bringing the receipts, talking about facts, talking about just the reality and not going into these disinformation and lie silos. Your play this clip. Caroline Levitt says the president had bandages on his hand because he shakes too many hands. Well, the guys on the Midas Touch Leftist podcast had an issue with that.

[C]

Watch. Donald Trump has all of those bruises and bandages because he's out there literally shaking so many hands. And you, you simple minded people, you guys can't even fathom the amount of hands he's out there shaking. And look, this is why I say at a certain point, I don't even believe what we're doing here is political, plain and simple. I just don't want to be lied to and I don't want to be gaslit.

[A]

The funniest part, he went on to say that the bandages on the hands were some kind of weird wacky disease. You know, like, oh, he had something and it was some zombieish thing.

[B]

Yeah, of course, in the words of my 12 year old bruh, you don't want to be lied to. Where were you when we were being lied to about Joe Biden's actual mental.

[A]

State and all of the people like.

[B]

Puppeteering him like he was a Muppet. Like, seriously, maybe that doesn't look suspicious to me at all. Having worked with a lot of A list talent that are actually out there shaking a lot of hands. This isn't surprising. I mean, the guy's an elderly man. Your skin gets thinner as you get older. At least he has the mental capacity to run the United States and run it better than Joe Biden.

[A]

So she. Jordan, I'm going to have you respond, but for those listening on audio, they showed the hand and objectively, it looks like ridiculous. Like, it looks discolored and odd and like, mangled. Okay, that doesn't look suspicious at all, in the words of my son, bruh. Then they go on to just say something that Jordi didn't say at all. They said that Jordy says it looks like some zombie ish thing, which is not what Jordi said. And so, Jordi, I'll have you respond to that because again, it's just. It's just, I just want the truth and I want the facts. And there's a broader issue that I think that highlights here. Jordi.

[C]

Exactly, Ben. Exactly. Oh, my goodness. I mean, rewatching that is just. I want to laugh, but I actually just get so upset because it's truly so pathetic that when you're watching that segment, Fox is genuinely trying to get their audience to believe that the heavy makeup and band aids and bandages on Trump's hand, that all of this is just from shaking hands. Ben, she deals with a lot of A listers. This is this, bruh. This is something that just happens. It's crazy to me, right? They attacked us for simply calling out that lie, referring to us as this, this leftist podcast. And then shocker lied again and said that I accused Trump of having some sort of zombie disease. I mean, you can't make this shit up. Fox has nothing but contempt for their viewers. And I just want to start this show here and just say thank you to everyone who listens and watches the Midas Touch podcast and came to our defense. The outpour of support from this community has just been incredible to see. And as always, our mission here is to deal in facts and data, truth and receipt. And unlike Fox, we are very grateful for our audience. So thank you.

[A]

Yeah, Brett. And one of the things you saw, and I'll toss it to you, Brett, they always go back. It's like very formulaic, right? So then they're said, where were you with Biden? Where were you with Biden? Now, you can get into the details here and you can say Biden looked old, but Biden, if you compare Biden and Trump, Biden's like riding bicycles and walking around versus whatever Donald Trump's, I don't think you even need to Go there, just accept what they're saying as true. Right. The right wing views Biden as the worst. They view him as elderly and addled and that he needed to go. Well, he went right. He quit at the end of the day, he didn't run for reelection and the Democrats lost. So by you comparing Donald Trump to Biden, aren't you comparing Donald Trump to the person that you've said is the worst person ever, by your own logic, then just accepting what you say, shouldn't Donald Trump then quit? Shouldn't Don, if you say that Biden was having all of these issues and now your defense of Trump is, well, Biden. So you're saying that they're on par with each other. Right? Because amongst the Democratic Party, I think while we actually can recognize, and I think history will recognize some of the benefits that Biden ultimately brought to the economy and his perspective and expanding NATO and the inflation reduction act and things like that, there's not a lot of people right now on the Democratic side who are like, you know what? Biden, Biden, Biden. Democrats are talking about affordability, affordability, affordability. That mag is about to rip away health care from tens of millions of people with these Affordable Care act subsidies about to expire that Donald Trump promised that he was going to bring down prices on day one and he's made prices go higher while housing is less affordable, not more affordable right now. And while people who are lucky enough to get a paycheck are psychologically tortured, living paycheck to paycheck, that's the discussion. There isn't people. And Brett, I'll toss it to you saying, you know, Biden, Biden, Biden, Biden, Biden. Like we're saying, affordability, affordability, affordability. Trump's in charge. So just act like grownups, act like adults. Your dear leader is there and recognize that there are problems.

[B]

Brett, be serious for once.

[C]

Right?

[B]

Your response shouldn't be Bruh, as my 12 year old son says, bruh, but Joe Biden. There are serious issues at play here. And answer the question and I'll give you a little hint into the psyche of Fox News and how Fox operates and how Donald Trump operates, whenever they are bringing up a politician like a Joe Biden, whenever they constantly go back to Joe Biden, that's because they do not have the answers and they are afraid to actually give the answers because when they try to explain themselves and they try to explain the truth, inevitably they fall flat on their face and they sound absolutely ridiculous. And you could see that Entire thing play out within that one clip. You could see them use the Joe Biden excuse. That's their initial deflection. And then they tried to go into their explanation, which to me made it even worse. Their explanation was, as Jordy said, I did a lot of A listers. This happens all the time. And then they went to, he's an elderly man and you're thin. Your skin thins out when you're elderly. My whole confusion about this segment by Fox is usually, like, I at least understand their strategy and the way they're framing these stories in order to try to score political points or make Donald Trump sound tough or whatever it is that they're doing. In this case, I legitimately had no idea what their goal even was. Like, I feel like Donald Trump, if he saw that, he was probably pissed off. Like, why are they calling me elderly and frail and saying that my skin easily bruises? I got thin skin. Like, this is just like a weird segment to try to defend me. Like, please don't defend me in that way.

[A]

But.

[B]

But Jordy made a great point. Jordy was facts first. He didn't say the things that they said that he said about zombies and all the other weird stuff that they just decided to throw in there. And I think it's actually good that Jordy got on there on Fox with a very impressive clip getting the facts out to Fox viewers. And I think, like, as Ron Filipkowski, our editor in chief here at Midas Touch said, he said, wait, wait, wait. Fox is seriously actually trying to get their audience of lemmings to believe that the heavy makeup and band aids on Trump's hands for months is from shaking hands. And they are attacking Midas for disputing that they have nothing for but contempt for their viewers. And I think even if you are like one of the biggest kind of cultists out there, who's watching Fox, are you really buying this? Maybe a small percentage of people, but are you really buying that all these bruises on the hands, the bandages are all because he shakes a lot of hands? Because if so, I got a bridge to sell you folks. Also, I've never heard of bandages for bruises. Have you ever heard of putting bandages on bruises? None of this makes any sense. I think Fox looked ridiculous and. But I'm happy that our, you know, that the Mighty Touch podcast is getting to a new audience. And Jordy, great work out there.

[C]

You're not an A lister. That's why you've never heard of this, I'm sorry to say, but clearly I just Preposterous. I mean, absolutely preposterous. I am glad that the clip did make it on there. I think I did sound and come off really smart. I thought it was a good.

[B]

Let me tell you the one thing I'm upset about, Jordy.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

This whole rant about peeing on your face. And I'm a little upset that the piss on my face rant was not the thing that made it onto Fox.

[C]

Yeah, they didn't clip that portion. The second portion of that clip was to me, the way more clippable moment.

[B]

Yeah, see, I would, I would understood if they wanted to play Jordy on loop saying piss in my face without context, I would have understood that and I would be like, oh, deceptive clip. Okay, I see what you're doing, Fox. But what they did, they, they actually.

[A]

Like, they elevated Jordy to a, to a scholar, which you are.

[B]

Yeah, they gave you a good edit.

[A]

Jordy's a gentleman scholar.

[B]

But look, they gave you a punch up. You know, in the editing we'd say, can we punch that clip up? They punched it up for you.

[A]

Look, the, the important overall theme though is truth, objective reality, behaving like grownups and that again, these things shouldn't be Democrat, Republican or independent things. So that brings me to this tragic murder of Rob Reiner. His wife Michelle, you know, Rob Reiner, world famous director, and his son Nick had been suffering from drug addiction that had been chronicled publicly before. The main suspect in this brutal murder appears to be Nick Reiner. Horrific, horrific, horrific. And regardless of what your politics are, Rob Reiner's films had a major contribution just to popular culture. And this horrific murder should be universally condemned. Look, when Rob Reiner learned of the death of Charlie Kirk and I think we have this clip, his response was to immediately denounce it. This is a normal response. Let me show you Rob Reiner's response right now to the death of Charlie Kirk. Let's play it. When you first heard about the murder of Charlie Kirk, what was your immediate.

[B]

Gut reaction to it?

[D]

Well, horror, absolute horror. And I unfortunately saw the video of it and it's, it's in this, it's beyond belief what happened to him. And that should never happen to anybody. I don't care what your political beliefs are. That's not acceptable. That's not a solution to solving problems. And I felt like what his wife said at the service, that the memorial they had was exactly right. And totally, I believe, you know, I'm Jewish, but I believe in the teachings of Jesus and I believe in doing to others. And I believe in forgiveness. And what she said to me was beautiful and absolutely, you know, she forgave his assassin. And I think that that is admirable.

[A]

Contrast that to what Donald Trump said at a press conference earlier today in the Oval Office. But I want you to note also, the purpose of this press conference was to declare fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction, like a nuclear bomb. That's the very purpose of this presser. And we know that Reiner's son was suffering from drug addiction. Nick was. Which then also contributed to the fact that this individual was someone who became a murderer and hit rock bottom. And, and it's just to me where you're doing a press conference on drug addiction in theory, and your way of dealing with it is to declare fentanyl a nuclear weapon. I want to be clear. The impact of fentanyl is something that's utterly horrific. There are ways to address it. But to play dress up through propaganda tactics, to me is not the way you can deal with it at its kind of root cause. And the fundamental issues about how it's being brought into the United States. And it's not coming from Venezuela. Zero. Fentanyl comes from Venezuela.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Zero. And it doesn't come from Colombia. Cocaine comes from Colombia. Cocaine doesn't even really come from Venezuela. The fentanyl comes from China and Mexico and Central America. Up. That's how. That's where it happens. But anyway, watch what Donald Trump said at this press conference today about Rob Reiner.

[B]

A number of Republicans have denounced your statement on Truth Social after the murder, murder of Rob Reiner. Do you stand by that post?

[D]

Well, I wasn't a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned. He said he liked. He knew it was false. In fact, it's the exact opposite that I was a friend of Russia, controlled by Russia. You know, it was the Russia hoax. He was one of the people behind it. I think he hurt himself in career wise. He became like a deranged person. Trump derangements syndrome. So I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all in any way, shape or form. I thought he was very bad for our country. Yeah.

[A]

Then he moves on to the next question. We need to discuss that also. Just even the sentence that he said, he goes, Rob Reiner was a deranged person. As far as Trump is concerned, your Trump, like I know in all of the despicable things that he says, that point is probably and the hierarchy of things not at the top. But like this guy is. Trump is a, is a deranged person. I mean, imagine if I just started doing this show and saying, you know, not a great person. As far as Ben is concerned, I think you'd all be like, you're Ben. Like, what are you talking about? This is very strange way to talk about yourself. I wanna talk about that. I wanna talk about how Donald Trump then attacks Brown University. How Donald Trump also says about school shootings. These things happen. Was his statement at a Christmas event that he held over the weekend. A reminder, you may think you're subscribed to our YouTube channel. Just double check. Lots of people think they're subscribed, but then they go, whoa, I didn't realize it. The algorithm just gives me your videos or I search you every morning. So just double check that you're subscribed. Also, if you're on YouTube, subscribe to the Midas Touch audio podcast. Just wherever you listen to audio podcast search Midas Touch. And I know Fox pretended they didn't know our name. Midas Touch, you know who we are. It's ridiculous. So go search us out on audio and leave a five star review there. Also, become a member on our YouTube page and you can gift memberships to others. Let's take our first quick break of the show.

[C]

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[B]

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[C]

Let'S go. Shout out to our sponsors links in description about the YouTube and the audio. Use the links, use the codes. If there's an exit survey, let them know he sent you Real quick Benji. Last thing on that Fox beat. Real quick. Like you know how I know that guy was just being a schmuck and just like trying to pretend he didn't know the name Midas he, he tripped himself up on the wrong, on the wrong part. Right? Usually when people try and pronounce Midas, if they don't know, they go like me, Dias or. But he, he, he tripped up on the Midas. And the touch, it was very all, it was all very confusing. That segment, I don't know who produced that for them, but I don't think they had their own people's best interests at heart on that one. Benji.

[A]

It's basically a Midas touch advertisement thing.

[B]

Appreciate the publicity.

[A]

We appreciate. So before we went to break, I showed you the horrific statement that Donald Trump made about Rob Reiner at the Oval Office event that Donald Trump held earlier in the day. Donald Trump posted the following. So when he was saying that in the Oval Office, he was doubling down after being criticized by most people in the country who even have a shred of a heart, including even some people in maga. But earlier, Donald Trump wrote, A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood, Okay? Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, passed away together with his wife Michelle, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome, sometimes referred to as tds. He was known to have driven people crazy by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump. With his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness. And with the golden age of America upon us, perhaps like never before, may Rob and Michelle rest in peace. There's an obvious criticism here, right, how disgusting and despicable this is. But there's a point that I don't want to leave out, that I think Trump is creating a permission structure to kill people who don't support him. The way Trump describes it, as they passed away. Strange way to refer to people who were brutally murdered but passed away because Trump says that they were inflicted by a disease that Trump says is Trump Derangement Syndrome. And to me, when I read this, what it's really doing at a level beneath the. This is obviously horrific and despicable. And who talks like this? I think he's speaking to an audience, giving you my opinion of murderers and killers and MAGA cultists who will kill for him to basically normalize this behavior against people who criticize him. Brett, let me turn it over to you. Yeah.

[B]

I mean, what's Donald Trump's thing since been, since day one, it's been, let me bail out Anybody who supports me, no matter what crimes they commit. One of the first actions he took was issuing those pardons for all the January 6th defendants, regardless of what their crimes were on January 6th, regardless if they were violent, if they beat police officers. And we are seeing a lot of those people who Donald Trump pardoned now being unleashed on the streets, crime being unleashed on the streets, threatening and harassing politicians, being arrested for a variety of other reasons. And Donald Trump, every step of the way, when we look at what he's doing with these kind of crypto barons and we see what he's doing with these corrupt executives and all of these various people, the message that he is sending is, as long as you support me and do not cross criticize me, I got your back. So go ahead, commit crimes. You got free range. Remember when Donald Trump during the campaign suggested essentially the Purge, like the movie the Purge for the United States, where he said, maybe we just have one day. We have everybody get it out of their system. That's. That's the actual. That's the plot of a movie called the Purge. It's a horror movie. And that's what Donald Trump was suggesting for our country. But I think that's how he views this country. He thrives in the chaos. He likes the chaos. He likes when his enemies are attacked. And you think about also what happened after the murder of Charlie Kirk, when any mainstream figure out there spoke out strongly against that. Like the clip of Rob Reiner that we saw, like we did here at the Midas Touch podcast, like every single Democratic politician did, like every talking head on TV did. And what MAGA does is they will take the statements of that are made by random people on the Internet with no likes, no engagement whatever, just whoever they are, random people on TikTok, just people with no actual power in a political party structure in the media. And they will say, look how they behave towards Charlie Kirk. And they use that back then as pretext in order to go after people to try to suppress speech, to try to shut up any dissent over the Trump administration as a whole. They use that to deport people, people who weren't even critical of Charlie Kirk, but simply posted Charlie Kirk's own words on their social media feed. They deported people because of that. They made people's lives hell over this, and they made this their entire thing. That was their entire narrative. And then you see over the past, you know, 24 hours or so, you see MAGA try to act like they're, you know, above this, that they would never say such Things ever. This is. This would never happen. And meanwhile, yes, it was already happening as they were saying, all making all those comments. If you look through any sort of magazine, magathread, on Twitter, on Truth, social, whatever it is, you would see, you know, a lot of people that would say, I don't agree with his beliefs, but, you know, he's a human being. And I'm. And I send my regards and my condolences to his family. Great, that's what you should be saying. But I would say about half the comments that I was reading yesterday were also the most horrific stuff that I'm not going to repeat here. And, you know, you could cherry pick comments like that from random people. Uh, but that's not what we do here at the Midas Touch Network. But it's what they did for folks who were commenting on Charlie Kirk. Meanwhile, you actually have somebody of substantial power, the President of the United States, and he's out there saying things that are way worse than any of the things that they deported people over, that they got people, like, fired from their jobs, expelled from school. That's coming from the top of the Republican Party. And at least today we saw that there were like, a handful of people in the Republican Party who actually condemned Donald Trump and spoke out and said that that was too far. But you also have a whole lot of people who are still too cowardly to say anything. And honestly, the fact that you see, you know, the White House itself reposting Donald Trump's words, almost embracing it with glee, right? They are, like, excited that Donald Trump said such vile and hateful things. To me, that shows me that the rot may start at the head, but the entire thing is rotten. Everybody who works for this administration is responsible for being complicit in the just vileness, in the hatefulness, in everything that is coming stemming from this regime and the pain that he's inflicting on the American people, and he is, frankly causing the American people trauma when he does this, and he is stoking more violence and more hatred. It's bad for the United States. And I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope that as more and more people begin to see just how despicable Donald Trump is. Like, if Marjorie Taylor Greene could see Donald Trump's statements that she saw today and she spoke out as she's been speaking out against Donald Trump, then hopefully, maybe there are other people who are MAGA diehards, MAGA cultists, who will see what Donald Trump, Donald Trump said and realize, holy shit, is this really the guy that I support, is this really the person that I want to embrace? Is this really what I want to align myself with and who I want to identify with? Have some humanity, okay? This, these are human lives. I don't care what side of the political aisle you're on. This is not how you treat human beings.

[C]

Well said. Be well said. Look, that statement, when you read that, the only conclusion that I can come to is the person who authored that, who wrote that, is just a disgusting, soulless creature. And in this case, that person who wrote that just so happens to be the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who just when you think he can't go any lower, lowers the bar again and again. At a time when the country, man, when the world is just like deeply hurting, experiencing troops being shot, mass chaos, school shootings, holiday shootings, the murder of an American icon, the President of the United States doubles down on division. This isn't political. This is just human to human. Where is your moral compass? Like, where is your North Star when you ask of the presidency? It just used to be used as a position that sought to unify. But this guy, man, it's just so pathetic. It's so garbage, and he just can't help himself. It's gross.

[A]

When you ask people how they feel living in America right now, you'll often hear it's why it's important that you listen to people and not just talk. I really pride myself at the Midas Touch Network of telling everybody we need to listen. Because when you listen, you hear what people are feeling. You know the number one thing I hear from people when you ask them to describe what it feels like to wake up in Trump's America, they'll say, psychological torture, it's a word that's repeated not just once. It's not an aberration that you hear it. People say they feel psychologically tortured. Whether it is because their health care is being ripped away, whether it's because of Donald Trump's grotesque behavior, whether it's because if they're fortunate to get a paycheck, they live paycheck to paycheck with, whether it's because they can't afford their rent, housing, it's impossible right now. Job losses up 54% year over year, 54% increase in job losses, 1.2 million job losses. And we're not even through the end of the year, that number could get closer to 2 million job losses. But when you think about psychological torture, what's the purpose of psychological torture? Think about it. It's to break you. Right. Torture, in theory, is inflicted to break people. And what happens when people break? You can do whatever you want with them, in theory. That's the purpose of the torture a lot. And that's what they're trying to do. Like there is an intentionality to the psychological torture that we see in authoritarian regimes historically that is embodied in Trump. It's why I study and why I do lots of reports on what's happening internationally. Because Trump is a symptom and a vessel, not the creator. Okay. The authoritarianism has existed historically. We see it embodied in the Putins and the Orbans and the Bukele's and the Javier Malaysia and the Le Pen movement in France or the Reform Party movement in the uk, the Pierre Poliev's in Canada. It is a international in scope and it's to psychologically torture and control and hoist up authoritarians. So I want you to be cognizant because if we know that, we can recognize it and fight back together, which is what's happening right now. And that's what the Trump regime never accounted for. They thought they would break us with their psychological torture, torture. But we're holding the line together. And when I say we, I mean you, I mean this whole community, I mean the pro democracy community, not just in the United States, but in the world. Shout out to all the Midas mighty international as well. So let me show you what Donald Trump next said about Brown University during the press conference today. You'll recall that when the shooting was taking place, Donald Trump posted that the suspect was in custody. He said that he had been briefed and the suspect was in custody. When that was not the case, eventually they brought someone into custody and that person was not the right person. So the FBI, it wasn't just one time thus far, Trump said they had someone in custody when the shooter was on the loose and the shooter's still out there. Then they brought someone into custody who they said was the suspect, who actually wasn't. Based on information that came from the FBI that they gave to Providence. They gave him the wrong person. So first let me show you what Donald Trump said in the Oval Office. Then I'll show you what he said at the Christmas party. Then I'll show you what the mayor of Providence said. But first, Trump in the Oval Office.

[D]

Hopefully they're going to capture.

[B]

Has Cash Patel told you why it's been so difficult for the FBI to.

[A]

Identify who the shooter is?

[D]

Well, it's always difficult. So far we've done a very Good job of doing it with Charlie, with, you know, the various times this has happened. They've done it in pretty much record time. But you really have to ask the school a little bit more about that because, you know, this was a school problem. They had their own guards, they had their own police, they had their own everything. But you'd have to ask that question really to the school, not to the FBI. We came in after the fact, and the FBI will do a good job, but they came in after the fact.

[A]

In addition to the fact that that's the most disgusting form of fake leadership to say that we're not involved at all. He actually inserted himself into the shooting by providing false information while it was taking place in the middle of it. And then also the FBI were the ones who gave the wrong information, the false information to Providence, to the mayor there in Rhode Island.

[B]

And I also want to specify too, so there were a lot of Trump people supporting, you know, coming to Donald Trump's defense after he wrote that the suspect was in custody and, and saying all that. And they were saying that, oh, he is actually just repeating like what the university said. And all these people said they had already announced that that was not true by the time Donald Trump had posted it. And Donald Trump said that he got a briefing and that this came from his briefing. But what it really appeared that he was doing was reading Twitter and parroting things that he saw on social media. No different than these right wing influencers who just make things up. But when you're the President United States, you should be held to a much bigger standard than a random person on the Internet. And I think those people on the Internet who spread those despicable lies should be held accountable. But when you're the President of the United States and you are just posting, just shitposting live, tweeting false information and pretending like you are getting classified briefings from your FBI or whatever it is. Like that's just the opposite of leadership right there.

[A]

Absolutely. Now I want to go and show you what Donald Trump said at the Christmas party where he said, these are the things that just happen. Just happen. Shootings happen. Here, play this clip.

[D]

And Brown University, great school. Great, great. Really one of the greatest schools anywhere in the world. Things can happen. So to the nine injured, get well, well fast. And to the families of those two that are no longer with us, I pay my deepest regards and respects from the United States of America. Thank you very much.

[A]

Because these are the things that happen. Let's hear from the mayor of Providence. When they release the suspect. Then I'll show you the police chief. But first the mayor. Let's play it.

[C]

Shortly, we will be releasing the person.

[A]

Of interest who had been detained earlier today. And the attorney general can speak a little bit about the rationale for that. But we want to inform the community that that individual will shortly be released from Providence Police. Let's hear from the police chief. Let's play it.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

So there was a tip that came in just like we were taking any other tips. And that one came in specifically identifying.

[D]

A person of interest, which was this individual.

[A]

And so we, our detectives got on.

[D]

It just like they got on another one, this specific one.

[A]

It was actually picked up by the, by the FBI. And they followed through with it, and they ended up coming and located this individual of interest. And at that point, we did a.

[D]

Thorough investigation, examine, ended up drafting some.

[A]

Search warrants, came up with some evidence.

[D]

But those. That evidence was examined and we didn't.

[A]

Have enough, obviously, to be able to prosecute anybody. And so the person was released. Go ahead. So you hear, you heard him right there say that that information came from the FBI. Again, anything I say on this podcast, I want to show you the receipts. So that's what they say. So what did the FBI do today after giving Providence the wrong information? Well, this is a pattern that we've seen before. And they made an announcement and they leaked this announcement to Fox. That's part of their plan. And Fox goes. FBI arrests four alleged members of a radical pro Palestinian group accused of plotting New Year's Eve bombings. Individuals self identified as members of the Turtle Island Liberation Front. And then Pam Bondi posts, we got them the Turtle Island Liberation Front, far left, pro Palestine, anti government, anti capitalist group. And their overall point here is, look how great the FBI is doing. Look over here. Look over here. Now, let me be very clear. I've never heard of the Turtle Island Liberation Front. I certainly condemn terrorism. I am very happy if the FBI and the DOJ are getting the bad guys and getting terrorists off the street. Okay? I also don't trust this DOJ and FBI with anything. We've seen this pattern with them where they prematurely make announcements that they've got big busts, they put in confidential informants, their CIs into these chats and message boards. And then very early on while they're having discussions. And again, I'll need to know more here. I always want to preface what I'm saying with these types of caveats. But then while there are discussions with people who are not even like leftist. I mean, they're trying to act like this is like a Democratic aligned group as part of a broader agenda to use the DOJ and FBI to attack them. Turtle liberation. But I've never known anyone even heard what this is and then say, oh, look, here are people saying things on 4chan and message boards or 8chan or this Chan or whatever. And we got them, we busted them. We saved the day. When you go through the indictment like I did, it said they got them before they were going to be testing the potential bombs to target areas. And again, we'll have to let the legal process play out here. And I'm certainly glad if we got the bad guys. I'll just say that with the Epstein files due in a few days, with the FBI taking more heat, this has been Cash Patel's MO And I think it's frankly sad that you can't trust anything this DOJ and FBI says, like anything. And that's a sad state that we go, ah, you know, who knows? This is what they normally do, right? That's not a good place to be at. I don't want that to be the case. I don't like that they have all these United States attorneys on interim bases who never have worked as a federal prosecutor who are unlawfully serving who federal judges from both political parties who appointed them say, leave. You're not real. Why are you here? You know that they go after New York Attorney General Letitia James in Norfolk and then Alexandria after getting it dismissed and grand juries are rejecting it because these claims are bogus and bs. I don't. I want the FBI and doj, even in administrations that I don't identify politically, to be made up of competent people. And this DOJ is involved in a ppp, a pedo protection program. So we'll see what they release when it comes to the Epstein files. But those are the facts right now. And that's what we deal in in the Midas Touch Network.

[C]

Facts.

[A]

Where I don't know something, I'll say I don't know. It's okay, we don't have to know everything. But I think we bring the receipts and we show you the facts. Let's take our last quick break of the show. Double check that you're subscribed to the Midas Touch YouTube channel. You may think you are just because you get the videos every morning and every afternoon and at night. Just double check, hit, subscribe. If you aren't, share this network with anybody you know and consider becoming a member of the YouTube channel. You know from the earlier segment, we're under attack from state regime media. Any support you can give to help this independent media platform grow is appreciated. But the best way you can help is just share this message that this network is out there fighting the good fight. All right, let's take our last quick break of the show.

[C]

Christmas parties, holiday dinners, late night gift wrapping with a glass of eggnog. It's the season for celebration. Just don't forget the Zebiotics Pre Alcohol Probiotic Drink Zebiotics Pre Alcohol Probiotic Drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by PhD scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut. It's a buildup of this byproduct, not dehydration, that's to blame for rough days after drinking. Pre Alcohol produces an enzyme to break this byproduct down. Just remember to make Pre Alcohol your first drink of the night. Drink responsibly and you'll feel your best tomorrow. Look, I won't lie. I was a little bit on the fence about giving Pre Alcohol a try initially. But then while hanging out with some friends over at a wedding, I gave it a shot and believe me, it's the real deal. Make the most of every toast this holiday season. Just don't forget to bring Pre Alcohol along for the ride. Go to zebiotics.com midas to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use Midas at checkout. Zebiotics is backed with 100% money back guarantee. So if you're unsatisfied for any reason, the refund your money, no questions asked. Remember to head to ZBiotics.com Midas and use the code MIDAS at checkout for 15% off.

[A]

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[C]

Let'S go. Shout out to our sponsors links in description of both the YouTube and the audio links. Right. I'm sorry for the audio listeners. Brett's like, like cracking up on the side of the screen. I don't know why. And he threw me off my, my spiel that I do when I come back from. What's so funny? You're on mute now.

[B]

Oh, no, I'm screwing up. I just think Ben is a very interesting look in that Shopify.

[A]

Boom, boom. You know, literally read my scripts. Like Anchorman.

[B]

You got a bit of a mad scientist look in that one. I appreciate it.

[A]

There. There are phases of. I'd be like Trump. There are many phases of the. Ben. There are phases of the moon.

[B]

The moon.

[A]

Are you gonna get a half, Ben? Are you gonna get a full. Ben, Are you gonna get a combed hair, Ben.

[B]

A showered bin.

[A]

Showered, Ben.

[B]

A toothbrushed bin.

[A]

Worn the same shirt for four days in a row, Ben. That's, you know, that's, that's exactly. Okay, let's talk about, let's talk about. Let's go back to that press conference though. First, let me show you what Donald Trump says about Thailand and Cambodia during this press conference where Donald Trump previously tried to claim that he created a peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia that he frankly had nothing to do with. Malaysia and China were the ones who helped negotiate a temporary ceasefire. But the war between Thailand and Cambodia since Trump's been president has never been this bad before. And America, who had traditionally been allied with Thailand, you know, Trump wants these to be acknowledged as doing peace deals. Right? So what Donald Trump does in doing fake deals, and we saw this between India and Pakistan, we see this now with Thailand and Cambodia is Trump very precipitously changes the alliance on whoever says that he got a deal done. So Donald Trump goes, okay, Pakistan, they're going to give my family crypto money, which they did at World Liberty Financial, and they're going to say I should get a Nobel Peace Prize. So I'm Pakistan. And India isn't going to say that because that's not what happened. And India also has its own sovereignty issues where it's not going to say, yes, Donald, you dangled trade in front of us even though there's no trade deal with India. And we were begging, please, let's have that American money. Yes, we don't want those tariffs. Oh, you did it, Donald. You did it. Like, they don't want to say that because that's not what happened. And it's the same thing with Thailand and Cambodia. We heard the kind of deputy defense minister in Thailand saying, the things that Trump's been saying about Thailand are very unfortunate and not true. And Thailand has continued its offensive against Cambodia. I mean, there's been a lot of people who have died in Thailand and Kabodi. I'm going to show you this clip. But also, you should also note, while Donald Trump announced a fake deal, a fake peace deal between Congo And Rwanda, the M23 forces that identify with Rwanda, Warren Congo killing people on that day. Like, he's like, we've done peace. And remember, I showed you the question that the one reporter from Africa asked who was like, when is the actual peace going to happen? Because, like, the war is happening still. Just give it a few months, two weeks. Anyway, here's what Trump said about Thailand and Cambodia. Play this clip again.

[D]

We don't want to have a war startup again. You know, as I said, with Thailand and Cambodia, two people I get along with great. And I dealt with them and I called them and I said, look, fellas, you got to relax. You got to take it easy. They lost. You know, they started the war again. I got it ended. And things like that are going to happen. War, there's nothing, nothing pretty about war. Nothing good. And there's nothing you can do to predict what's going to happen.

[A]

Okay? Just imagine you're Thailand and Cambodia and Trump calls you a person. Okay? Those are countries. And just imagine the call Thailand. Mr. Thailand. Relax, relax. You want us to do some more tariffs? Relax. I mean, could you imagine the way these phone calls actually. Mr. Cambodia. It's ridiculous. Next, I want to show you what Donald Trump said about Syria. This is disinformation that he's Providing the troops that were killed in Syria, the American troops that were killed in Syria, and an interpreter. The individual who killed them was actually affiliated with the Jelani government. Just so you have a sense of what's going on, you know, in this area. Jelani was the leader's name when he was the leader of Al Qaeda. He now goes by the name of Ahmed Al Shara. It's the leader of Syria. He leads the Syrian Transitional Government. He was Al Qaeda. And there was like a $20 million bounty on his head. It was increased, I think, from 10 to 20. But he was the leader of Al Qaeda. A lot of ISIS forces have infiltrated his government. A lot of people are pissed at him for seeming to undermine a lot of causes that they thought that he was affiliated with. And he's actually very weak and vulnerable right now within Syria. And people who are studying that region recognize that Donald Trump's physically attracted to the guy. And I'm not saying this like Trump has said, you're handsome, you're good looking. The guy fits the part. He has a look that Donald Trump views as being like a strong man. And he was the leader of Al Qaeda. He did topple the prior Syrian regime, but right now, he's actually struggling, and we see that playing out. There have been multiple ISIS attacks, ambushes in this region. I think a lot of people were surprised that the US has military patrolling this region. An obvious thing. Obvious question. Wait a minute. We have active troops not in a base patrolling Syria. Like, did you know that, Brett and Jordan, did you. I mean, and might as might like, did you know that the same way we had troops in Iraq, that we just have troops driving around in Syria, and the person who killed them actually turns out to be affiliated with one of Jelani's top delegates, Abu Jabar Safayan, and that's who this was. So, yes, this person had ISIS sympathies but was embedded in the government of Syria itself. Let me show you what Donald Trump said at the presser today about Syria and what happened here. Play this.

[B]

Have you recently spoken directly to Putin?

[D]

Yeah, I have.

[A]

On Syria, Mr. President, on the US troops killed in Syria over the weekend. Why do we have troops in Syria?

[D]

Because we're trying to make sure that there's going to be and remain peace in the Middle east. And Syria is a big part of it. The new leader is a strong person, and that's what you need. This is a rough part of the world, and we've. It's been amazing what. What's taken place in Syria. We got rid of Assad, we got rid of.

[A]

Well, now what you have in Syria is a massive army that's actually very sympathetic to Hamas and with ISIS backed affiliations as well. Because Jelani, you know, Jelani was Al Qaeda and there's different factions there. But what's actually happening there in that region, if you're studying it, it's actually really, really bad. And there's going to be a lot more attention paid to Syria soon. Everybody should focus on it because we know that it's one of those things that are happening that corporate news doesn't cover. But there have been multiple terrorist attacks there recently. So follow focus on. You'll see me come back probably in two months from now. And I said, remember when I said Jelani was weakening, like I've showed you the receipts before, that's what's actually happening right now. And he actually has a very tenuous grip on power there. But remember when he came to the Oval Office and Donald Trump started spraying him with cologne and sniffing him? And Caroline Levitt, Trump's chief propagandist, was asked about it to the New York Post in one of their podcasts, Miranda Devine's podcast. Remember what Levitt said? Here, play this clip. The president went, the Syrian president came.

[C]

In and President Trump sprayed perfume all over him.

[A]

And I just wondered like, did he smell? No, let me tell you, that happens all the time, not just with the Syrian president, but I've seen it with other foreign leaders. I've seen it with members of our cabinet myself. He sprays cologne and a perfume. Yes. He's just showing off his wonderful sense. He's very generous. Okay, so I want to go back to the theme we started off talking about because all of this is connected, right? The behavior, the behavior here. Now, I don't know what context, honestly, it would actually be funny if you were in any entity and the boss started spraying people or you with cologne and perfume and sniffing you. I don't know any setting where I could imagine. Oh, that would actually be a funny thing. Ha ha, ha, ha ha. Okay, this is the White House. This is the Oval Office. And I know with Miranda Devine there and the New York Post and, you know, and Caroline Levitt's response. And this is one big game. This is one big joke, you know, and then when corporate news reports on this through its gamified lens, they report on it as though, oh, outrageous. There's a deeper, there's a deeper way we need to be covering this, which is how we Talk about it here, which is, this is serious. Life or death, war and peace. And the behavior. I'll show you what it looked like when Trump was in the Oval Office. Our audio listeners. I'll play a very short clip of Donald Trump spraying the guy with cologne and sniffing him. This is not, it's just not okay behavior as grownups or as children. And you know, I think about that expression that, because it's always projection that Trump uses to refer to people who oppose him as, oh, you've got this Trump derangement syndrome, or you've got this, like, mind virus or whatever it is. But to some extent, they're telling on themselves and what their movement was able to normalize, that these sites are actually acceptable. But you see, while it's happening, our enemies across the world are gaining ground, and America is weakening. Perfume spray or cologne spray? By cologne spray. Here's what happened here. Play this clip.

[D]

This is men's, Men's fragrance. Yeah. This is what? No, no, it's the best fragrance. Come here. I have one here, sir.

[A]

Okay, so I'll toss it to Brett and Jordy. But here's the thing, too. I, I, I, I also want to recognize from the perspective of Jelani, whose reputation was this Al Qaeda strong man turned leader of Syria, when Trump does that to him also. And again, yes, it makes Trump look ridiculous in this, but one of the things it's actually doing from a geopolitical perspective is it is severely. If Trump's goal is to uplift this guy and make him his puppet, like, let's just say that was what you're trying to do here. You're completely undermining that. Right? You're making him look weak and feeble. And the ISIS contingent or his former Al Qaeda contingent are watching this guy and saying, this guy looks weak. He's going into the Oval Office and they're sniffing him. He's going to the belly of Western civilization, and he's being mocked and he's allowing himself to be sniffed. I just want you to think about, even if your goal was to prop this guy up, what are you doing? Like, you're, that's why there is no strategy behind any of this at all. Brett and Jordan.

[B]

Donald Trump is a psychopath surrounded by sycophants. And I'll repeat that. He's a psychopath surrounded by sycophants. And that is perhaps the most dangerous combination that you could put together. And I don't mean psychopath in, like, some sort of flippant way. Like, oh, that guy's psycho. I mean, I actually believe that this individual is a psychopath. And I think all the evidence shows that as we watch him every single day. And if this is the way that he behaves in public, that his Department of Justice behaves in public, that all the people around him, the way that all the people around him behave in public. When you see Donald Trump's bizarre affection around dictators and former Al Qaeda leaders, when you see the attacks on Rob Reiner, when you see him blaming universities for the FBI's mistakes and school shooting investigations, when you see these fake indictments that he's trying to present to grand juries against innocent people, when you see his lies about Jeffrey Epstein and what the FBI is doing to try to redact the files, to take Donald Trump's name out of the files, when you see the lies about the war crimes near Venezuela, just imagine we see all that stuff happening before our eyes, but just imagine what happens when the cameras aren't on. Imagine what's going on behind the scenes. And to me, that's the most horrifying thing.

[C]

Absolutely. When you look at this and Brett, to your point exactly right, Trump, he lives in this maga bubble surrounded by, yes people. And the only reality that he understands anymore is the one that him and his handlers have invented for themselves. You know, throwing Great Gatsby themed parties. When the American people are suffering, it's just like little things like that you could point to time and time again. And it's frustrating to see because, again, this country could be so great if everything was just operating at full capacity. But when you have someone in the office of the presidency, like a Donald Trump, who just constantly seeks to sort of undermine what that position at least used to mean, or used to try and do, which was, you know, at its best, help this country, help the people, help the world, seeing what it's become is really sad, to just put it simply. And it's a real travesty that, that, that this continues to show itself every single day. And I'm hopeful, though, that with a community like this, the Midas mighty, with the community of many pro democracy voices that exist, that one day we will be able to take back this country in a very positive and uplifting way.

[B]

Ben, you know, let me just add before Ben jumps in. Donald Trump likes to think of himself as a builder when the reality is he's a destroyer. He destroys people's lives, he destroys people's livelihoods. He destroys, quite literally every single thing he touches. I mean, we all know the Famous Rick Wilson phrase, everything Trump touches dies. It's it caught on top, caught on popularity, because it's true. Everything the guy touches dies. He's a destroyer. And guess what? It's easy to destroy. It's easy to go around knocking shit down. It's a lot harder to build. It's a lot harder to forge bonds between people and countries and actually make deals. It's a lot harder to actually pass durable legislation. It's a lot harder to actually reimagine our society in a way where it's going to benefit people. So it's easy for Donald Trump to do all of his destructive activities that he's currently doing. If and when the Democrat comes into office after this term, it's going to be a whole lot harder to build it up. And I think we're all going to have to keep that in mind as well, that they will be building a destroyed from a destroyed country. And that's going to take a lot of work and it's going to take a movement of people, pro democracy amongst both parties to push the country forward. To Geordi's point, after all the destruction.

[A]

That we've faced, you know what's fascinating about taking an international perspective on the way we cover the news is that you start to see these themes in authoritarians. Take a look at Trump. Take a look at Viktor Orban. Take a look at what's happening in the United States right now with the Epstein files. Take a look at what's happening in Hungary right now with these mass protests over their own version of an Epstein scandal, where the juvenile prison system in Budapest, which is run by Orban sycophants, was used as basically a pedo prostitution, child sex trafficking ring amongst people in the juvenile detention system there in Budapest. Also massive physical abuse, sexual abuse. But one of the things that Orban ran on, very similar to maga. It's why, as I mentioned, Trump's a vessel and a good vessel for bad. I don't mean good in a good sense. He's been a vessel for these types of themes. And I guess everything is bigger in America. But part of it is these authoritarians run on their stopping sex trafficking and that they're the protectors of the vulnerable people when they're actually part of the protection racket there, too. So I just found it fascinating as I was watching these protests, massive protest in Budapest against Orban, that one of the main reasons for it, there's so many reasons they're protesting Orban as well, but that Orban ran on A similar. We're the ones stopping the sex trafficking, but then in power, they were the ones covering it up and perpetrating it and being involved in it. So I just wanted to flag that. And if you take a look, though, at what's being said in Europe about America, you learn things too. And again, this is why we cover it here when it's not being covered on corporate news at all. Like to me, shouldn't it be front page, top news when the Chancellor of Germany, who's basically the representative from Europe at these Berlin meetings with Ukraine, where the United States is effectively representing the interest of Russia, where you have in Berlin, Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz, representing the interest of Germany in Europe. That Merz, Friedrich Merz gave this speech where he said the era of the Pax Americana of America being allied with Europe is effectively over. It's done. Watch what he says here. Play this clip. I will come back to this point shortly in the context of foreign and security policy. But, dear friends, the decades of Pax Americana are largely over for us in Europe and indeed for us in Germany. It's not the same as we once knew it, and no amount of nostalgia will help. And I'd be one of the last who wouldn't gladly give in to such nostalgia. But it's no use. That's how it is. The Americans are now very, very firmly asserting their own interests. And that can only mean one answer, that we must now also assert our own interests. And, my dear friends, we are not nearly as weak. We are not nearly as insignificant. Now, we heard the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, make similar statements. And now we're hearing it in Europe and elsewhere that in this meeting that took place in Berlin, it's now recognized in Europe that America's not an ally and America's a hostile force representing the interests of Russia. Just look how America voted at the United nations over the past week. There was a resolution that I believe was like 153 to 1 to recognize and support humanitarian effort by the United nations abroad. You know who the one country was that voted against that? The one country, Even Russia abstained. The United States was the one country to vote against it. In 153 to 1 US votes against the United nations delivering humanitarian aid abroad, there was another resolution to mitigate the impact of the Chernobyl disaster. It was spelled in the Ukrainian spelling, C h o r vs c h e, the Russian spelling. And it was all about mitigating the disastrous consequences of Russia's negligence and maliciousness. You Know who voted for it? Most nations, you know who voted against it? The US Joined with North Korea and Russia to vote against mitigating the consequences of the Chornobyl disaster. And so Europe recognizes America is a hostile force. If you listen to what Ushakov and Dmitriev and the top Russians who are dealing with Witkoff and Kushner right now are saying, they're saying this, I mean, they're saying that they want surrender of Ukraine, that they're not interested in a peace deal. I did videos earlier this morning where I showed you what they said. And these are the people speaking on behalf of Putin. And when Putin speaks, they want all of eastern Ukraine, which they then want to use, to use to launch more attacks on Kiev. And then they want Europe. That's what they want. That's what they're saying. It's not complicated what they're saying because they're saying it. And then Donald Trump is just trying to figure out ways to poke and prod Ukraine for surrender. Now, a lot of what's transpired has been Trump working with Putin, yes, Russia, Russia, Russia, to try to buy time for Putin to take eastern Ukraine by force. Zelensky, with the help of Europe, but really with Ukrainian ingenuity, has built this incredible drone army that has managed not just to hold back Russian forces on the front lines, which Zelensky then visited, but launch counteroffensive. When history is written, this Ukrainian drone army has been next level in being able to adapt and stand up to Russia, which has way more forces. Almost like the telling of 300, like a modern day version of that story, if you will. So what Trump has been promised by Putin is we're making massive advances on the front and east and we're going to take it over. So Trump parrots that line like Ukraine needs to surrender because Russia basically is winning when that's not actually what's taking place on the front. And meanwhile, it's just trying to buy time for Russia to carry out its military objectives. I mean, that's while Russia says they want total surrender. So I just want you to be aware of the facts. The final topic I do want to bring up before we go is the most up to date information that we're just learning right now about the extension of the Affordable Care act tax credits. So Republicans were out there pretending the so called moderates, there's no such thing. We know that. But the so called moderates saying that they were going to work on these discharge petitions because MAGA Mike has this extremist bill that has all of these bans on women's reproductive rights and all of these things that don't actually deal with just simply extending the Affordable Care act tax credits. And so the Republicans, different factions of these extremists who pretend to be moderates had their own versions of the discharge petition and they can't come to an agreement amongst them. Democrats are saying, let's just do a three year extension on the Affordable Care act tax credits. Let's do a three year extension. The American people need this. Let's make it clean, let's make it easy. And then we could utilize the time to methodically think through if there are better plans out there. Personally, I believe single pay or Medicare for all is the way to go. That's what my view is. I understand why Obamacare couldn't go that far and tried to deal with a system where you have private insurance that's given through employers and trying to expand a risk pool to allow people to get health insurance who otherwise didn't 20 million, 30 million uninsured people before the Affordable Care act. And the Affordable Care act has literally saved people's lives, saved lots and lots of people's lives. That's why it's generally popular. Despite it costing too much, the subsidies have helped bring down the cost and those are what are said to expire. So when those expire, people are going to not be able to pay for it. So let's just extend it. And if you magas have a better plan, come up with one. But it's not a better plan to say, oh, we're just going to give people 2,000 bucks and that's it. That's your health insurance one, because you're not going to do it. It's the same lie you told about the Doge dividend checks and tariff rebate checks. But also it fundamentally doesn't understand the very concept of insurance. $2,000 is not going to be able to help people with health care costs that are more than $2,000. Just think about the cost of a surgery, a procedure, tests, MRIs, chemo, whatever it is, it's more than 2,000. So the idea of insurance is that if you have risk pools that include healthy people who pay and don't need to use it and people who are not healthy or people who are healthy, and guess what happens with health? It can fade very quickly amongst healthy people, but it's there to ensure you against those risks. So the pool of technically quote, unquote healthy helps people who get sick. And that's the Very nature of it. It's why Magas don't like it. We're healthy. Why would we fund the sick people? Because that's not the way health works. If you're. You could be healthy today and sick tomorrow. Okay. And also we should be able to address helping sick people. One of the fundamental things, a fundamental right, I believe, in a country is having health care. That's my own view. Pretty much every country in the world other than the United States. So, maga, if you have a better plan, though, bring it to the American people. No gimmicks. Lay it out. Not, oh, it's coming in two weeks.

[B]

It's two weeks.

[A]

Have a serious plan. So I actually had the opportunity to grab dinner last night with the Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, and I think we may have a photo of he and I together. And I left and I left that dinner feeling very comfortable that he is going to fight, fight for the American people, especially on this issue. And we're seeing him fight for the American to people and saying, I'm not buying. I'm not getting tricked by these Republican gimmicks. Holding the line right now. There we are together.

[B]

We're whole.

[A]

I'm holding the line right now.

[B]

Looking good. Looking good, Ben.

[A]

Thank you. I guess.

[C]

Yeah, no, B, that's a great Q zip you got there.

[A]

Appreciate it.

[B]

He got showered, Ben. I say.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, exact. Exactly.

[C]

I guess that's what it takes.

[A]

So anyway, that's where. That's where we are now. But again, going back to what I said earlier, this is an issue that psychologically tortures the American people, though, right? Like, this is their health care. People are seeing the deadlines coming up. The enrollment period right now is happening. I can't afford to buy this health care. I can't afford to enroll without the subsidies. What do I do? This is real stuff. This requires leadership. This requires compromise. This requires actually getting things done. And the theme of this episode is that, you know, this current regime, it's not just woefully unable to meet the moment. They are the ones affirmatively inflicting the pain in this moment. Moment, Brett.

[B]

Well said, Ben. And you know, the one thing I'll just add before we wrap up, because I think we covered a whole lot on this episode, is, you know, when we come up with the programming for the Midas Touch podcast and for the network as a whole, one of the things that is always our North Star is, is this rooted in our shared humanity and not politics. Does not. Does this fit into A left versus right framing is this pro Democrat, pro Republican, is this moderate, is this whatever. I think all those labels, I think they're bullshit. And I think you see also how these other networks often use those labels in order to divide, in order to signal to their viewers that what you're about to see, you should not trust, you should mock, you should laugh at, as we saw in that Fox clip of Jordi, when they said. And now let me show you what those guys at the crazy leftist podcast, the Midas Touch podcast are talking about. Look at the ridiculous stuff that they're saying. And Jordi said something that's incredibly logical and intelligent, and they're ones who look insane and ridiculous, but they. They put that word there. They throw the leftist word there. They throw that in to signal to their viewers. Don't treat these people like they're human, essentially. So I think it's important as we move forward, you know, that we continue to root all of our coverage here in our shared humanity, and that the folks who are listening to this podcast come from a variety of different backgrounds and that, you know, I think one of the reasons that people come from a variety of different backgrounds. I get emails every day, comments every day from people who say, I'm a Republican. I want nothing to do with whatever the hell's going on here. I used to. I voted for Trump in the past. I voted for Trump three times. I don't know what the heck I was thinking. You get people who are as far left, left, left as you could be. You get people who consider themselves moderates, who consider themselves center, whatever the labels are that people want to give themselves or what people want to place on people. I think this entire community, that GSC here at the Midas Touch Network is connected with our shared humanity. And I want more leaders who share that sense of humanity. It was one of the things I admired about President Biden even more than any policies he passed in any laws he passed. Anything that, you know, anything that he signed into law, anything that he did was that he constantly put empathy first. And what we've seen, and they're pretty public about it, we've seen what people like Elon Musk have said on podcasts like the Joe Rogan podcast, when they say. When they say empathy is a weakness, I think the opposite. I think empathy is a superpower, and I think it is one of our greatest superpowers. And it's not easy to have empathy, especially in difficult times, but continue to lead with empathy, continue to lead with humanity and to me. That's how we are going to continue to grow this community. And that's how at the end of the day, this community of pro democracy, pro humanity is going to win. Jordy, I'll let you say some final words or feel free to sign us off.

[C]

Shout out to the Midas Mighty. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our [e-mail] you'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipowski, ad free episodes of our podcast and more exclusive content only [e-mail] hey Ryan Reynolds.

[B]

Here wishing you a very happy half.

[C]

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[B]

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[D]

Com.