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Ben Mysellis
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Brett
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Jordi
From today, Lisa Schneider will trade in her office job to become the leader of a pack of dogs as the owner of her own dog rescue. That is a second act made possible by the reskilling courses Lisa's taking now with AARP to help make sure her income lives as long as she does. And she can finally run with the big dogs and the small dogs who just think they're big dogs. That's why the younger you are, the more you need AARP. Learn more@aarp.org.
Brett
So when I ask, what is Odoo, what comes to mind? Well, Odoo is a bit of everything. Odoo is a suite of business management software that some people say is like fertilizer because of the way it promotes growth. But you know, some people also say Odoo is like a magic beanstalk because it grows with your company and is also magically affordable. But then again, you could look at Odoo in terms of how its individual software programs are a lot like building blocks. I mean, whatever your business needs, manufacturing, accounting, HR programs, you can build a custom software suite that's perfect for your company. So what is Odoo? Well, I guess Odoo is a bit of everything. Odoo is a fertilizer magic beanstalk Building blocks for business. Yeah, that's it. Which means that Odoo is exactly what every business needs. Learn more and sign up now@odoo.com that's o d o o.com the Trump regime.
E
Is refusing to comply with the Supreme Court's unanimous 9 to 0 ruling ordering them to return Abrego Garcia, a migrant with protected status who the Trump regime kidnapped from Maryland and put in a gulag in El Salvador. In fact, the Trump regime has been pretending that they actually won the Supreme Court ruling when they lost nine to zero. And relatedly, the Trump regime rolled out the red carpet earlier today for El Salvador's authoritarian leader, Nayib Bukele. Trump was on a hot mic speaking to Bukele, saying that American citizens should be sent to the El Salvador gulags and asking Bukele to build five more facilities so. So that Americans can be sent there. Sounds pretty dictatorish to me. We'll cover that. We'll also cover other things that went down in Donald Trump's bizarre and dangerous Oval Office press conference, where now he's talking about additional tariffs on pharmaceuticals. What even is the status of these tariffs at this point? The volatility, the exemptions? I'm not sure the American government or the Trump regime even knows what it is. We'll talk about that. Also, Donald Trump's been spending the past 48 hours, frankly, like he's been spending the past few months in these, what are we, 75, 100 days, you know, still less than 100 days. Attacking the president of Ukraine, President Zelensky. It's particularly morbid what Donald Trump is doing as Ukraine experienced one of the most deadly attacks against it by the invader by Russia. Two ballistic missiles on Palm Sunday killed 34 innocent Ukrainians, injured about 117 others. In the city of Sumy, as people were out going to church to celebrate Palm Sunday, Donald Trump used the time to attack Ukraine. Also, a United States special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff, was there over the past few days in St. Petersburg, Russia, and in this bizarre photo puts his hand over his heart and shows subservience to Putin. Looks like he's pledging allegiance to Putin. Also, let's talk about the Fight the Oligarchy tour, which is taking the country by storm, led by Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman AOC. On Saturday, about 36,000 thousand people showed up in Los Angeles. Then Senator Sanders went to Coachella on the main stage, spoke to about 125,000 people in Coachella. They were all booing Donald Trump when Sanders brought up Trump's name. Then on Sunday, Sanders and AOC took the Fight the Oligarchy tour to, of all places, Utah, where about 10% of the entire Salt Lake City population showed up, filled this arena 20,000 strong, chanting tax the rich. That and more on the Midas Touch podcast. I'm Ben Mysellis joined by Brett and Jordi. We've a lot to discuss today, brothers indeed. Full on authoritarian beyond constitutional crisis in the United States. It's an authoritarian regime here. The question is what is the resistance to an authoritarian dictator look like?
F
Yeah, well, it looks like never stopping, never quitting, keeping up the pressure. And that's what we're going to do. It's great to be here with you brothers. It's great to be here with the midas mighty. Everybody listening right now on audio on Apple, podcasts on Spotify, everybody watching right Now Live on YouTube. You know, this is another instance where these so called alarmists, I put that in quot the alarmists about Donald Trump are right once again. You know, people have been consistently warning that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. They keep being proven right over and over and over again. They were right when they said he wouldn't respect the court rulings. Right when he said he'd surround himself with these authoritarian strongmen who undermine our institutions. They were right when they said he'd flirt with these foreign governments to enforce his domestic political agenda. And now Trump is out here openly defying a Supreme Court order, sending us floating the idea at least of sending US citizens to prison camps in El Salvador. This is the perfect storm of chaos and incompetence that we are seeing with the Trump administration. And there is just so much going on that sometimes it's hard to keep track of it all. He's crashing the economy this day, he's doing this horrific foreign policy thing this day. But, you know, we try to make sense of it all as best we can here and bring you all the data, all the information because the truth is, you know, in horrifying days like today, you cannot cover your eyes, you cannot cover your ears. You need to actually understand what is going on and you need to be able to sound the alarm to your friends and family. And so we're going to help you guys do that here on the Midas Touch podcast. Jordy, what's new on your end?
G
No, absolutely, Brad. And continue on with that. You can't see any ground. You give a guy the inch, you give the guy the inch, he takes your life. We've said that multiple times throughout this podcast, a bunch of episodes. Don't, don't give him anything because what he's doing right now is disgusting. And there's no other way to even talk about what's happening right now. And the way he's quote unquote leading this country, it's a disaster, what he's doing right now. And don't be gaslit by corporate media into thinking that what's happening is normal. None of this is normal. Continue to stay strong in the fight. Don't give him an inch. Benji, where do you wanna start with Donald Trump?
E
What's up is down and down is up. What's right is left and left is right. It is topsy turvy. And Donald Trump's view of strength is actually weakness. I mean, you look at who Donald Trump admires the most, obviously number one is Vladimir Putin. But then Javier Milei in Argentina, right, where inflation is surging, the poverty rate there, what, like 40, 50% in Argentina? Not exactly what you'd want to use as the model for the United States. The United States, which is supposed to be kind of the icon of stability, which Donald Trump is shattering, turning our dollar into basically the Trump dollar sign. Trump mean coin or the dollar sign Melania. Melania mean coin at this point. And other than Javier Milei, does Donald Trump look up to Viktor Orban, who's turned Hungary into like a failed state? Contrast Hungary's just kind of awful economy with a democracy like Poland, which is thriving. Does Donald Trump like Poland? No, Donald Trump likes Hungary. And then you go and you see naive Bukele, the leader of El Salvador. And El Salvador is a poor Latin American country. Its entire annual GDP is like 34 billion. Right? Donald Trump attacks Canada, says Canada's weak. Canada's GDP is like 3 trillion. Donald Trump attacked Europe like real wealthy nations. But Donald Trump loves naive Bukele. Why? Because the incarceration rate per capita in El Salvador is the highest anywhere in the world. Trump loves this image of naive Bukele sitting there, no tie, looking like, you know, this, this dictator of the modern age, you know, chin lifted up, you know, while they talk about torturing human beings. Trump loves the torture. That's why he loves naive Bukele. Just showing you other facts about El Salvador. The poverty rate in El Salvador is about 20 to 25%. About 10% of the country in El Salvador lives in extreme poverty. So this isn't exactly the success story that MAGA Republicans want to tell you about, but just think about it. El Salvad, Argentina, Hungary, Russia, North Korea, right? That's who Donald Trump admires. So with naive Bukele showing up, I can't but think of the contrast between how Donald Trump attacks our allies in the Oval Office, then the Trump propaganda media that's there would like attack Zelensky for not wearing A suit and tie. But here you have the authoritarian leader of a poor Latin American country who's now cut some partnership with Donald Trump so that the Trump regime can kidnap migrants and soon. They want to do this to American citizens, kidnap them, disappear them to El Salvador, torture them, and put them in basically an extermination camp where they'll never be heard from or seen ever again. Like that's what's going on. Let's use the right language. Let's not mince words about what's actually taking place here. So with that said, Bukele is sitting there with Donald Trump. And for these quote, unquote strong men who claim they have all of the power, who are in a partnership with each other, you have naive Bukele in the Oval Office getting the VIP treatment, saying, there's nothing I can do. I cannot return Abrego Garcia. There's nothing I can do. What are you talking about? Here, watch this. Gaslighting 101. Let's play it.
H
How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don't have the power to return him to the United States. You can release him inside El Salvador. Yeah, but I'm not releasing. I mean, we're not very fond of. Of releasing terrorists into our country. We just turned the murder capital of the world to the safest country in the western hemisphere. And you want us to go back into the releasing criminals so we can go back to being the murder capital of the world now?
E
That's.
H
That's not going to happen.
Well, they'd love to have a criminal.
You know, I mean, I mean, there's, There's a fascination.
They would love it.
Yeah.
E
Brago Garcia has never been charged with a crime. He's been checking into the ICE detention centers in Maryland pursuant to his protected status order that was issued by a Trump immigration judge during the. During 2019. That's what happened. And he was disappeared. Same thing with all these other individuals, like the gay hairdresser who fled Venezuela, and he had a tattoo that said mom and dad on his arms. But the Trump regime, which farmed this out to, like, private security guards. And when you look at some of these private security guards, their background was like, they were fired from the police force. Well, they just use a point system. They're like, okay, two tattoos equals trend. Aragua gang member ms.13 send them to the gulags. And we've seen that repeat itself over and over again. 60 Minutes did a report that 75% of the people who are now in the extermination camp, the Gulag in El Salvador had no criminal record in their home country, no criminal record in the United States. Now, I want to show you, though, what the Trump regime was saying, because this is Putin esque to a T, which is even though the Supreme Court ruled 9 to 0 against the Trump regime and they said Trump regime, you are hereby ordered to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia and treat him as though he never left the country. And yes, the district court has jurisdiction. The attorney general, the top law enforcement officer in the United States is going with the line that actually Trump won 9 to 0 even though he lost 9 to 0. Here, play this clip from Pam Bondi.
Brett
That's up to El Salvador. If they want to return him, that's not up to us. The Supreme Court ruled, President, that if as El Salvador wants to return him, this is international matters, foreign affairs. If they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plan.
E
I'm going to read for you what the Supreme Court said so that it's very clear because I think it's important that facts matter. But here's Stephen Miller, Donald Trump's other top authoritarian advisor here. He talks about, oh, we won nine to zero. The Supreme Court said Trump wins nine zero when it literally did the opposite. Play this.
Ben Mysellis
I promise you, if he was your neighbor, you would move right away.
Brett
So you don't plan, but the Supreme.
E
Court's asking to.
H
In the Supreme Court, Steve, was it nine to nine?
Ben Mysellis
Yes, it was a nine. Zero.
H
In our favor.
Ben Mysellis
In our favor against the district court ruling saying that no district court has the power to compel the foreign policy function of the United States. As Pam said, the ruling solely stated that if this individual at El Salvador sole discretion was sent back to our country, that we could deport him a second time. Well, no version of this legally ends up with him ever living here because he is a citizen of Elizabeth, El Salvador, that is the president of El Salvador. Your questions about it, per the court, can only be directed to him.
E
I, and I want to be clear here. First, the Supreme Court did not say that at all. The Supreme Court actually said the opposite. Second, this is more than just Abrego Garcia, although it's a travesty if any human being we're talking about, human beings are treated like trash and sent to extermination camps because that's what they are and disappeared and never heard from again. But it starts with Abrego Garcia and then it moves on to American citizens and then it moves on to people who Donald Trump says are the enemy of the people, who he, Donald Trump says are criminals. Right. It's people in the media. It's people like prosecutors Donald Trump doesn't like. It's politicians who Donald Trump doesn't like, who he calls scum, who he calls vermin. Remember how we covered that during the campaign? And the media didn't want to acknowledge the parallels between Trump's language and Hitler's language and made it very, very clear. Well, here's Donald Trump on a hot mic speaking to Bukele about the homegrowns. Donald Trump says the homegrowns need to be next. Naive. This was before the official press conference took place, but they were miked up and Trump goes, you got to build five more places for the homegrowns. Here, play this clip.
H
I feel supported.
I want homegrown criminals next. Yeah, I said homegrowns are next. The homegrowns built. You got to build about five more places. Yeah, that's better. All right. It's not big enough.
E
Come on. So this is a much different five more facilities. He says you got to go after the homegrowns next. Brett and Jordy, I want to get your reaction. Then I want to go through just what this. I want to read what the Supreme Court actually, so people can hear not my commentary, but the language.
F
I just think it's all the epitome of evil. And I think it's just so Orwellian to take something that was so clear cut like a unanimous Supreme Court ruling against the Trump administration and then try to pretend like it was actually for the Trump administration. I mean, what they're doing right now is, is what autocratic nations have done throughout history, forever. They lie, they make up fake justifications for their actions. They try to create their own reality. And I got to say this, what we're witnessing right now, it's a billion times more evil than anything we saw during the Trump administration. This pales in comparison. We've never seen anything like this throughout all of American history. Anything at this level of evil that we are seeing right now with this administration. And it is just sickening to the core, especially hearing, you know, not only that Donald Trump is now trying to go after American citizens, trying to send them to these El Salvadoran prison camp, trying to expand this program, which has been so horrific. I mean, there was the court filing that the Trump administration put today filed the other day, and they've been incredibly evasive with the district court judge about this issue where the district court judge was simply asking, is Abrego Garcia alive? Is this person still living? We need proof of life. And they, even the way they answer those questions are just so offensive to me. They say, per, you know, per what we've heard from the ministry in El Salvador, he is alive. You know, just all sort of hearsay, not actually saying, yes, we know he's alive. Here's a photo. Here's what we know. They are just trying to toy with the courts here. And quite frankly, shame on the Supreme Court because this is what happens when you do these decisions, like the immunity decision, and you give Donald Trump essentially full power to do whatever the heck he wants. Guess what he's going to do? You think he's going to hold back? No, he's going to say, well, I have immunity from doing anything. What's the Supreme Court going to do? They've already ruled in my favor on immunity. What are these district courts going to do? What's the DOJ going to do? I control them. You gave Donald Trump carte blanche to do this. And by the way, at least the time that we are live right now on this, I've not heard the Supreme Court come out with a statement rebuking Donald Trump for his twisting and complete fabrication of the Supreme Court's order. And to me, this is a constitutional crisis that demands a crisis like response. It demands an emergency response from the Supreme Court to be incredibly clear and unequivocal about this, that Donald Trump is violating their order and the Trump regime.
G
They lie as easy as people breathe. I mean, this is why we say you can't trust anything that comes out of the Trump regime because, well, what we're showing you right now, I mean, it's so upsetting to me that these people have so much control over the lives of the American citizens, and yet they're the most despicable and hateful people. It's cruelty for cruelty's sake. It's unbelievable to see play out. And quite honestly, it's just frankly upsetting to me as someone who deeply loves this country, to see our quote, unquote leadership act in such a way that just makes a mockery of our Constitution, that makes a mockery of our country and of the great people that make up this country.
F
And I want to be clear. If they could say this about Abrego Garcia, if they could so nonchalantly sit there in the Oval Office, the Oval Office of the United States of America, sit in our White House, the People's House, they could sit there and go, go. This person's a criminal. This person's a terrorist. No more questions. We've deemed that to be the facts. And so they're okay to be shipped off to this El Salvador in prison camp. I'm telling you, if they could do it to him, they could do it to you. That's all they have to say in their world to justify their actions. And you see that they are more than willing to do so.
E
You know, it's because Donald Trump, though, is causing such grievous harm to the economy, to the dollar, to the bond markets, though, then I actually think that lots of people give a crap. I unfortunately think that if it wasn't affecting people's money, that they would. A lot of people would be okay about the authoritarian extermination stuff that Donald Trump is doing, which I think is absolutely reprehensible. So the fact that the economy is having this level of volatility with the tariffs all backfiring at the same time of the extermination camps in El Salvador, they then become inextricably intertwined. So I think that's just an important point. And then, Brett, your point of having this El Salvador dictator sit there, feign that they don't have any authority whatsoever in the People's House, in the Oval Office, you know, is a image and a message that is, you know, something that I think still needs to even be processed. How bad is. Let me just read from the Supreme Court ruling so people can know what the Supreme Court actually said. So the Supreme Court said the district court's order properly requires the government to facilitate Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that this case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador. That's nine to zero had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador. Okay. Now the Supreme Court does go on to say the intended scope of the term effectuate in the district court's order is, however, unclear and may exceed the district court's authority. The district court should clarify its directive with due regard for the deference owed to the executive branch and the conduct of foreign affairs. For its part, the government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps. The order heretofore entered by the chief justice is vacated. So the Trump regime reads that last part as saying, we've taken all the steps. We asked Bukele, and Bukele says, nope. So now there's nothing we can do. So you can't force us to do anything. That is it. Let me read you the opinion that is by the three liberal justices who agree with the disposition of the Supreme Court's ruling saying facilitate the return and treat Abrego had he not been improperly sent to an extermination camp in El Salvador. Let me read for you just how powerful this language is. It says the United States government arrested Abrego Garcia in Maryland and flew him to a, quote, terrorism confinement center in El Salvador where he. Where he has been detained for 26 days and counting. To this day, the government has cited no basis in law for Abregos Garcia's warrantless arrest, his removal to El Salvador, or his confinement in a Salvadoran prison. Nor could it. The government remains bound by an immigration judge's 2019 order expressly prohibiting Garcia's removal to El Salvador because he faced a clear probability of future prosecution there and demonstrated that El Salvador's authorities were and would be unwilling to protect him. The government has not challenged the validity of that order. Instead of hastening to correct its egregious error, the government dismissed it as an oversight. The government now requests an order from the court permitting it to leave Abrego Garcia, a husband and father without a criminal record, in a Salvadoran prison for no reason recognized by law. The only government. The only argument the government offers in support of its request is that the United States courts cannot grant relief once a deportee crosses the border. And that is plainly wrong. The government's, moreover, implies that it could deport and incarcerate any person, including US Citizens, without a legal consequence so long as it does so before a court can intervene. Because every factor governing requests for equitable relief manifestly weigh against the government. I would have declined to intervene in this litigation at all and denied the application in full. Nevertheless, I agree with the court's order that the proper remedy is to provide Abrego Garcia with all the process to which he would have been entitled had he not been unlawfully removed to El Salvador. That means the the government must comply with its obligation to provide Abrego Garcia with, quote, due process of law, including notices and an opportunity to be heard in any future proceedings. It must also comply with its obligations under the Convention against Torture. Does that sound like a 9 to 0 opinion that Trump won? I just read from you what the Supreme Court ruled. And, Brett, just one note. You know, the Supreme Court on its own is not going to just issue statements. It has to to. The case has to go back to be heard before they're even allowed to comment, which it will. Fourth which that's going to happen. But now the question is, is that they're already being defied and the Trump regime is going to say, okay, Supreme Court, you said facilitate. We facilitated. He's in El Salvador. There's nothing we can do. And the reason why the absolute immunity opinion is so significant is that had the Supreme Court not given Trump immunity, Trump or someone in that position would be afraid that they can be personally charged with murder. Right? Like kidnapping, like it would be a crime, what took place. But because the Supreme Court said, well, you get immunity, there's no ramifications other than the Supreme Court saying, you've been naughty, you've been naughty. And that is why the Trump regime is doing what it's doing. I want to talk about more aspects, context of what went down in that Oval Office, that Oval Office meeting. I want to talk about. Trump's talking about more tariffs on pharmaceuticals this time and the chaos that's causing with treasury yields, the 10 and 20 year soaring now, the dollar at some of its weakest levels almost ever. Money finding its way into the London gold market now because America's not look as they looked at as a stable economy anymore. Mortgage rates above 7%. A lot of instability here. I want to remind everybody that on Thursday we will have our Patreon meeting with all of our patrons. The state of the resistance, the state of the opposition, the state of the Midas Touch network. If you ever wanted to meet Brett, Jordi and myself, that's where you do it. You could ask us questions. There's a Secret link on patreon.com Midas Touch Touch. On Thursday, as soon as that live show ends, we'll go right into the Zoom meeting and you'll click on the secret link. Also store.midas touch.com get your Midas merch, including 100 made in Canada maple Midas merch. That's store.midas touch.com of course, Canadians, you know, we had to make it elbows up 100 made in Canada. And then for everybody else, you've got the other midas touch gear store.midastouch.com We've got a lot more show, a lot more to discuss, including what's going on with the Fight the Oligarchy tour. We'll talk about that and more. Let's take our first quick break of the show.
F
Hey guys, Brett here.
I
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E
Well, I think just in case you're all losing track on these tariffs. So first Donald Trump announced them, what he called Liberation Day, which is really Annihilation Day or Liquidation Day, that there were going to be reciprocal tariffs. But actually they were not reciprocal tariffs and they were imposed on everyone other than Russia other and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The penguins were retaliated against and somehow they got tariffs as well. And then we learned that it was like some cockamamie formula based on the deficit being used as a measure of how the Trump regime viewed tariffs going against the United States. So then tariffs went down to 10% on everyone but China for 90 days. And then actually we then learned that there's still 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada even though they weren't included on the Liberation Day chart. And then there was 50% more tariffs on China and 50% more tariffs on China. But then not computers and electronics. But then maybe on computers and electronics. Also, due to a system glitch, a lot of the tariffs haven't been collected. Also, some of the tariffs may have to be returned on computers and electronics. So the External Revenue Service is actually the external return service. Also, there's going to be separate tariffs on steel, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. Maybe it's possibly there's going to be just some gifts given to Tim Cook and maybe to some automakers temporarily. Trump doesn't know. We're going to have to find out what he posts next. Okay, now, if you are a business, what are you going to do? What are you going to do? You're going, how is there going to be M and A activity, mergers and acquisitions? How do you know what the cost of your supplies? How are you going to make projections? You're going to build a factory. You're not going to build a factory. Is Donald Trump going to wake up and make this post or that post? Donald Trump in the Oval Office was asked about additional tariffs and he talks about tariffs on pharmaceuticals. That's one of the big ones that he wants to go after. Tariffs on pharma. Here. Listen to what Donald Trump said in this bizarre and dangerous press conference with naive Bukel. We would spoil it. Question on tariffs. No, not you. And potentially pharmaceuticals.
F
Semiconductor tariffs and potentially pharmaceuticals.
H
Pharmaceuticals we're going to do. We have. We don't make our own drugs, our own pharmaceuticals. We don't make our own drugs anymore. The drug companies are in Ireland and they're in lots of other places, China. And all I have to do is impose a tariff. The more, the faster they move in, the higher the tariff. It's very serious. It's inversely proportional. The higher the tariff, the faster they come. And yeah, we're going to be doing that. That's going to be like we have on cars. We have, as you know, a 25% tariff on cars. We have a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum. And that's what that category fits.
E
Right now, it's unclear what the hell he's even doing it, by the way. I'm not sure if you noticed that moment at the very beginning where he got asked a question and he just looked at the reporter and I think it was a female reporter and he was like, not you, not you. And kind of just like shooed off the reporter. That's not normal. Behavior. I know in the swing of things what he does, like people just ignore that behavior. I mean, could you imagine, again, just like the CEO of a company behaving just behaving like this. You couldn't. You know why? Because if someone was a sexual predator, a sexual abuser found liable for sexual assault, someone's a felon, a felon 34 times over, someone found liable for fraud, and someone who's bankrupted business after business after business in their life is a destroyer, not a builder. And by the way, someone who speaks in front of kids. Kids like Donald Trump spoke at the Young Republicans in New York in the past two years and said the most courageous thing he was told he did, he claims by someone who was a general who said he's seen death on the battlefield was tell Donald Trump how courageous it was. When Trump referred to sexually assaulting women as locker room talk. Trump said, that's real courage. That's part of the message to the Young Republicans. Okay? There's a reason why character matters and why Donald Trump's character is disqualifying. I won't even get into it on the show. I covered it elsewhere as well. But like Donald Trump released what he claimed to be his physical. And they described he is clearly in good health, as indicated by the fact that he's won many golf tournaments recently. It actually says that. And then it refers to what took place in Butler, Pennsylvania as his ear being scared. It says, says it says his ear was scared. The word is scarred. They don't even know how to spell it. And then they claim he's what, 6, 3, 2, 20 or 224? It's the most ridiculous document ever. And I know just sometimes, like the way the question was asked and you know, saying that, oh, he's so strong because he wins golf tournaments. In the swing of things, it seems minimal, but it's all part of this demented mindset of this insane, despicable, vile human being. And then just talking about Donald Trump not answering that question and Donald Trump defying court orders. Trump is defying a court order from a judge that Trump appointed in D.C. judge McFadden is a Trump appointed judge who ordered that the Associated Press be able to return to the White House press corps and be able to ask questions. A Trump appointed judge. But the Trump regime will say all of these leftist injunctions, that they're killing everything. All these leftist this, leftist that Trump appointed judge Trump's refusing to abide by that court order as well. Utterly despicable. And Brett Jordy Speaking about utterly despicable what Donald Trump said about Zelensky at this press conference and over the past it's been since he took office, but. And forever. But while Trump's there with naive Bukele, while Donald Trump previously, I guess what is 3 days ago at this point. Send Steve Witkoff, his special envoy to St. Petersburg. Witkoff looks at Putin, puts his hand over his chest. Looks like pledging allegiance. Laura Loomer, the 911 conspiracy theorist, posts about how strong Steve Witkoff is with a photo of him shaking Putin's hand and putting his hand over his heart. And Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, is reposting a 911 conspiracy theorist reposting a video from the Kremlin of an American special envoy putting his hand over his heart and greeting Vladimir Putin. Okay, did you. Did you. What in the mad libs. Is that right? Did you hear that? All of that happened then. Trump in the Oval Office. Here he is attacking Zelensky. Let's play it.
H
Let's not start.
E
Mr. President.
H
Wrong. Yeah, please.
Ben Mysellis
Yeah.
H
Thank you.
Ben Mysellis
Mr. President, you repeatedly mentioned last night.
E
That Russia's attack on Ukraine was a mistake. What is the exact mistake?
H
And had you given Putin a deadline.
Ben Mysellis
To actually move toward a ceasefire?
H
The mistake was letting the war happen. If Biden were competent and if Zelensky were competent, and I don't know that he is, we had a rough session with this guy over here. He just kept asking for more and more. That war should have never been allowed to happen. That war. I went four years and Putin wouldn't even bring it up. And as soon as the election was rigged and I wasn't here, that war started. There was no way that war should have been allowed to happen and Biden should have stopped it. And you take a look at Putin. I'm not saying anybody's an angel, but I will tell you, I went four years and it wasn't even a question. He would never. And I told him, don't do it. You're not going to do it. And it was the apple of his eye.
E
Apple of his eye. He says the 2020 election was rigged. He blames Zelensky for Putin invading Zelensky. He calls Zelensky not competent, with naive Bukele, the leader of a poor, authoritarian Latin American country sitting by his side.
F
Yeah. And it's just the whole thing is horrific to watch. He continues to make an enemy out of Vladimir Zelensk. He calls what Putin did a mistake. I mean, that's the most that he could say, that it's a mistake. And when he says that, he clarifies there that he's not even saying that, which is like, maybe the best way that you could even decipher this. He's not even saying that Putin made a mistake. He's saying the mistake was made by Zelensky and it was made by Biden because the war should have never been started. 34 people died in these missile strikes. Putin is essentially laughing in Donald Trump's face as Donald Trump said in the first 24 hours that he would solve the Ukraine issue. He said he was going to be able to just get everybody together, together and fix this thing. And ever since Donald Trump even started to do anything here, tried to bring the sides together, Putin has just been mocking him with these attacks. The second Donald Trump says, oh, we have an idea about this peace treaty, bombs start falling in Kiev, bombs start falling throughout Ukraine. It's the same pattern we see over and over again now. Two children died in these attacks. 34 people total. 117 people were wounded. And Donald Trump came. He can't even build the courage to say that was wrong. He can't even say the minimum here right now because he's on Vladimir Putin's side. He wants Putin to be killing Ukrainians. He wants to embrace dictators like, like Bukele and Putin and Orban and all these folks around the world. That's who Donald Trump has an affinity for. He does not have an affinity for the free world, for our allies. That's why right now, the United States is, quite frankly, not a rational partner to be dealing with in the world.
E
World.
F
Donald Trump has completely upended the entire world order, the entire global order. That's why you see leaders like Mark Carney coming out and saying, the United States cannot be trusted anymore. That's why you see people from the EU coming out and saying, the United States cannot be trusted anymore. This is happening all across the world right now. And it's because of one individual, Donald Trump, and those sycophants around him, like the Marco Rubios who damn well know better and then on, but are embracing fringe figures who are now, I guess, part of the mainstream in Donald Trump's administration, like Laura Loomer, and are just trying of parroting everything that Donald Trump says, which are the most despicable things imaginable.
G
The closest he got to criticizing Putin was saying, he's not an angel, he's. That was it. Then he spent the rest of that answer criticizing Zelensky, criticizing former President Biden. And I just sincerely Ask. You know the reporters in that room. I know you care about that act. I know you do. I know you hot. You hold this as a high regard. And look, I appreciate your craft. I genuinely do. But please, for the love of this country, you need to push back on the guy. You need to say, you are president right now. What are you going to do about this? What are your thoughts about this? And don't let him escape on. I didn't know about that. Or I haven't read that yet. Stop it. Stop it. This isn't a fricking game. This isn't a game show. You know, these are real world consequences. These are people's lives. People are dying. He's the leader of the free world, whether we like it or not. Hold his feet to the goddamn fire and ask him some questions.
E
I got to disagree with you that he's no longer the leader of the free world. Like, let's be very clear, like he's not. America right now is like a bigger version of North Korea to the rest of them. No one's looking towards America. We were the leader of the free world. America looks like a pariah regime right now. Allah. North Korea. Europe is forming its own alliances. And Canada looking to Europe as more reliable partners. Australia looking to Europe. That's the dynamic right there. You know, I think we saw from the European Commission, when they send their diplomats over, they now go through the same protocols as though they were going to Russia. Russia or a China. They bring burner phones and they protect themselves as though the United States is a hostile nation. That's from the Financial Times. And who's this benefiting most? Xi Jinping is just feasting, right? He's going to Australia to buy beef over there. He's going to all these other countries saying, join the BRICS block. He's going to Europe and saying, hey, we're going to make our BYD electric vehicles available to you. Why don't we do deals with you? We're a better partner partner than the United States and we should be relied upon more. So that's who's benefiting most from this. And then something that I think's gone under reported as well. But it's one of the biggest stories is that you have China suspending the rare earth exports as part of the trade war. So, you know, and I think Spencer Akimian points this out aptly here where he goes, I don't think people are appreciating what this means, that China is suspending rare earth exports as the trade war with the US Escalates, you can't build weapons, drones, radars, cars, smartphones, laptops, MRI machines, CT scans without rare earth minerals. China has about a 95% market share over these minerals and their refinement and has chosen to stop exporting them to the United States. This will be front cover news within a few days. Just wait. And Brett, I think you've mentioned this before. You're like, you know, my level of viewing what the business community saying is at an all time low. Also business news reporters who like always underplay the facts. You know, it'd be like in a tsunami where the water is receding and most people would say a tsunami's coming. They're like, yeah, that just looks like a unique wave pattern that's taking place. It's like, say what's happening so people can prepare for it because what China's doing there and the way China is just outplaying Trump in this trade war every step of the way. The, the fact that the impact is being felt now, that's the actual shocking part because we know it's going to be felt soon when the data starts picking all of this stuff up. That was supposed to happen more like the summer or at the end of the year, but it's happening already, Brett.
F
Right now the economy is in, it's in a really bad place and we see the dollar falling every single day. We're just seeing a weakening states as people around the world realize, like that the United States can't be trusted to do business with. And I think that's a first in a very long time that that is the case. You know, it's interesting because I think we have a benefit here that we have a global audience, which is something super cool that, that, that's just really incredible for us to have. We get to speak with people all across the world. We get to get feedback from people all across the world. Not that we necessarily needed verification of this, but when Donald Trump says things like America never been more respected, you know, those are the first people to tell us. You know, everybody here is laughing at you right now. Everyone here is scared of you right now. And this is not the United States that we are supposed to be as a country. And so we do need to fight back against this every step of the way. I see some great movements building up every single day, every single week in this country. You see the 50, 51 protests all across the country. The protests that we saw April 5th. There's going to be more, I think, later this weekend and Then you see Bernie Sanders and aoc, they're building these crowds, the Fighting Oligarchy tour. And you see that people have had enough. The people do not want to live in a United States of America that looks like this, that looks more like North Korea or Russia or Nazi Germany than it does the United States of America. So I'm calling on everybody out here right now to continue to fight back because the autocrats want you to give up. They want you to be so overwhelmed with anything. But I know that this community will not do that. So keep fighting, keep pushing ahead. Let's make them more afraid of us than we are of them. And let's continue to spread pro democracy value values and, and just be a team in this, in this pro democracy movement.
E
Look, we've got a lot more to discuss. I also want to send our kind of heartfelt message to Governor Shapiro Jordy of your State of the Commonwealth, who was targeted for an assassination attempt. The governor's residence received serious damage when an arsonist lit it on fire. And the plan by this arsonist, by this individual who engaged in an attempted murder, was to go there and to kill Governor Shapiro on Passover with a hammer, by the way, what? Donald Trump mocked Nancy Pelosi's husband for being a victim of a, of a hammer attack, which Trump and the MAGA Republicans there kind of, you know, played off as like some sort of, you know, sick, twisted joke. When we get back, I'll show you. When Trump was asked about Governor Shapiro, Trump said, Trump said nothing. As I heard about it, no message of sympathy, of like, we're with you. Like that can't be tolerated, nothing at all. But instead, Donald Trump wanted to talk about the Masters, the golf tournament. Donald Trump posing in front of gold statues of himself. He's building more gold statues of himself at his properties when he goes back over the weekend to golf and vacation. We're going to talk about that and more. We're going to take our last quick break of the show. I want to remind everybody, though, that on Thursday we're holding the State of Midas Touch Zoom meeting. Go to patreon.com Midas Touch. There's a secret link there for how you join that meeting. You could ask me and my brother's questions if you ever wanted to do that. Also go to store.midas touch.com get those Maple Midas shirts. It should be noted, Even though they're 100% made and manufactured in Canada, you can still get them in the US as well. I know a lot of people in the US want their maple Midas gear as well. But for the Canadians, you know, we had to make it 100% made in Canada. Canada manufactured in Canada. Also lots of other great gear@store.midas touch.com check it out. We'll be right back after our last quick break of the show.
G
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E
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G
Let's go. Links in description of both the YouTube and the audio. Use the links, use the codes, let them know we sent you if they, if they ask you on an exit survey or something like that. Benji, where to next?
E
Let me just read to you what former President Biden stated the statement that he put out. Out. Jill and I are disgusted by the attack on Governor Shapiro and Shapiro's family and their home during the first night of Passover. We are relieved that they are safe and grateful to the first responders. There is no place for this type of evil in America. And as I told the governor yesterday, we must stand united against hatred and violence. As Carl Quintanilla writes, at least one US President cares to denounce this attack. You know, a lot of what we talk about here on the Midas Touch network I think is beyond politics, right? I mean, I like to think of what we do here first as beyond fighting for, you know, a political thing or that it's like empathy, honesty, like truth, objectivity, equality, workers. And then I think once you're there and you have the strong values and principles set, then the politics falls in line. But we have to start with the fact that a governor of state in the United States was targeted, a Jewish governor also was on Passover, was targeted with an assassination attempt on Passover. And you don't even hear, hear Donald Trump saying anything about, I mean, just think about that statement I just read from former President Biden. But the media wants to be like, oh bukele, you've got a cool dictator in the White House, you know, like or, or Trump spending the day glazing an authoritarian. And again, I don't want to ever lose sight of it's not normal that a president of the United States does not not acknowledge and express sympathy and solidarity with a governor or anyone who goes through that situation who's targeted with an assassination attempt. You know, like, not to even mention right And I did a whole video on this, too. Like Donald Trump denied the governor of North Carolina's request for additional FEMA aid from Hurricane Helene. The same way to remove emergency removal of debris. Right. With everything that story gets lost and drowned out. The same way Donald Trump denied the request by the governor of Georgia, Republican Governor Kemp of Georgia's similar request for the removal of debris. Donald Trump, I mean, come on. Like you, you should not be okay with that. Regardless of what political party that you're from. You should not be okay with the fact that, that you have the head of Health and Human Services, our, our health department here, RFK Jr doing exactly what people warned about, bringing in people who are vaccine deniers, going to post things to the website that spreads lies about vaccines. You shouldn't be okay about that at all. You shouldn't. You shouldn't be okay. You know that they are attacking Medicaid. That necessarily in their Republican Trump budget plan, it's $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid. That's just what it says. It's what it says. They want to hide it, but that's what's in there. We already know Social Security administration offices are being shut down. Again, to me, regardless of what political party you're from, you should not be cool with that. Here's Donald Trump landing in D.C. today. He's asked about Shapiro and the assassination attempt. Here's what Trump says. Let's play it.
F
Your reaction to the governor of Pennsylvania. His mansion was set on fire. Do you have any reaction?
H
I just heard about it. No, I have to look into it. You got the perfect health report.
E
All the one, all. Everybody in the press wants to know this. How do you do it, Mr. President, I haven't set up the 2A. And did you hear the second question by one of the propagandist media? You have incredible health, Mr. President. How are you staying so healthy? I mean, maybe he's lying. Maybe because the report is like a bunch of. He's not 220 pounds and six. You know, it's not how much he weighs. Okay. It says his ear is scared. You mean scarred. Okay. We've never seen scarring on the ear. He claims his ear was hit with an AR15 bullet, but he didn't need stitches and refused to release the report from the Butler Medical Center. Okay. He claims that he's in perfect mental health. And you can tell hell because he wins golf tournaments, as Sean Broderick says. There's an old saying from Turkey, I think when a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace becomes a circus. Boy, do I think of that a lot lately. And thinking about the circus, by the way, no offense to clowns. This is, these are fascist clowns. Clowns is a real profession. Elon Musk now saying that what, Doge is going to just be able to cut 150 billion. That's his claim. And I think billion of that is also in doubt. There's more federal government. Remember he said it was going to be 2 trillion in cuts. 2 trillion. They, that was their promise. Now they're saying 150 billion. About 100 billion seems made up from that as well. And there's more federal government spending now with their hostile government takeover and destruction of our federal government, firing veterans. Think about the impacts of what's going to happen, though, with future pandemics and illnesses and aviation issues and all of the above as a result of what they're doing. And Brett and Jordy just did you notice the turnaround in a short period of time of this morning consult poll from last week to this week? Congressional trust on issues whom voters trust more on issues like the economy and national security, national debt, foreign policy. The Republicans were ahead just last week, week. And pretty much now Democrats are ahead on essentially every issue. The economy plus three. It's the first time since May 2021 that more voters trust Democrats than Republicans to handle economy. Like, like that's like their issue. Then if you look at the remaining issues, more people trust Democrats and foreign policy, taxes, the economy, trade, energy, Medicare, health care, abortion, lgbtq. And still more people, for whatever reason, reason trust Republicans on immigration, national security and national debt. I think a lot of it has to do also, though, Brett and Jordy, with the fact that Democrats are fighting back, they're doing the fight the Oligarchy tour. They're taking the message to the people in red states and purple states and areas as well. And they're actually fighting. And voila, when you fight, it has results. And we're seeing that, huh?
F
Yeah. The fight is important because right now, what we're seeing, I'm sure a lot of you have heard the saying death by a thousand cuts. We're seeing death by a thousand cut United States of America every single day. And oftentimes, you know, you see the one big event, like the signal event. You see the incident with the Oval Office. You see, you know, the deranged press conferences where he has his stooges asking the questions. Each of those on its own is crazy. And you're like, okay, that was a crazy, singular incident that happens together. It's that death by a thousand cuts. And when you stack it all together, you realize, oh, my gosh, America has already already transformed into an authoritarian nation. It's happened right before our eyes every single day. Thousand cuts every single day, just destroying the democracy that we all knew and love. Thankfully, there are people out there speaking out. Bernie Sanders. This weekend I've seen a few different quotes for the LA crowd. I've seen upwards of like 70,000 people out here in LA for that. For that Bernie crowd in la. Whatever the number was, it was a whole lot of people. And that was almost just like the start. Because now Bernie's going to Bernie, naoc, they're going to all these Republican areas now. They're going to Montana, they're going to Idaho. They were in Utah. I mean, they had so many people in Utah. They filled the Huntsman arena completely. So about 20,000 people in the arena by itself. But that wasn't it. They filled the overflow area, like, as far as the eye could see. You saw people in the overflow area. That's in Utah, which is supposed to be red state Utah. Bernie Sanders and AOC able to get those sorts of crowds. And you're seeing people are flocking to their ideas because they're good ideas. They are ideas that speak about the needs of people, that speak about to cost of living, that speaks about Donald Trump as a dictator, that speaks to people's want for universal health care. They are speaking to people right now. And it is such a contrast to what Donald Trump is offering and what Donald Trump is doing right now every single day to the American people. And it's giving folks what we really need right now more than anything. And that's hope. Because like I say on the show, the thing that authoritarians want is they want you to give up. They want to beat you down so bad that you don't even want to wake up in the day and fight back. What AOC right now, what Bernie are doing, they're getting out out there. They are keeping people hopeful, they are keeping people strong. And most importantly, when it's not even an election year, they are out there building a movement. That is the most important thing. I see people be like, okay, what does it matter? They got crowds here, they got crowds there. How do you think movements form? You don't just go a week before the election and go, okay, everybody, here are my ideas. Let's go beat them. That's not how it works. You Got to build a movement from the ground up. And that's exactly the kind of work right now that Bernie and AOC and the other folks who are joining the tour are putting in.
G
It's. It's so perfectly said, Brad. Right. What's one of the expressions we say on the show? ABC always be campaigning. And now we get to see that play out in real life. And it's not campaigning just for campaigning sake. Right. These are good ideas. These are. These are ideas for the people. They're timely, ideal ideas. It really matters to people. And you can't just show up, Brett, to your point, three months before an election and expect that folks just have your back. Because you're the Democratic Party. No, the Democratic Party, it's truly the party for people. It's the party for the working class. It's the party for America, hands down. But the ideals and ideas constantly get lost in the shit show that is our politics, because the Republicans like to grab the microphone and just spout all this MAGA nonsense and frankly, lie and lie to the American people. So to get out in front of crowds, to go to states, to go to red states as Democrats and hear your message, message resonate and hear it loud and hear people understand. Like, I, I get this. I, I am for this. Yes. And not be concerned that the next election is two and a half, three years away. No, you got to get those ideas. You got to get the movement going now.
E
So let's show some of those ideas, because here's the thing. The moment politics becomes gamified, right? And it's viewed like a sporting event, there's the team Democrats, the team Republicans, do a split squad screen, watch people fight in two minute sound bites and then go to the next one and show anger and rage and who's gonna win. You know, I saw this interview over the weekend on Meet the Press with Senator Cory Booker and Kristen Welker, the host of Meet the Press. What her main focus was this weekend is, so what do you think about Kamala Harris running in 2028? And Booker was like, stop, stop. And it's not what I'm trying to talk about. I want to talk about the people suffering right now and what we're doing to address that. And Welker from Meet the Press, she would keep pushing, but I really want to know, what do you think about Kamala? Are you going to support her right now? And he's like. He's like, stop asking those questions. She'll make whatever decision she wants to make. I want to talk about what's happening to the people. I want to talk about the fact that people are being disappeared to concentration camps, that people are losing their life savings. I want to talk about that veterans are being fired and have having their lives destroyed, that the VA is being gutted, that all these government programs are being gutted and destroyed. I want to talk about those things and I want to talk about what the MAGA Republicans are doing to create this fascist state in the United States. So stop gamifying, you know this. So that's why I always say here on the Midas Touch Network. To me you always have to talk about your values and principles. And sometimes those just start with empathy, trying to be a good person, lifting people up, not punching people down, not attacking marginalized communities, being a helping, a helping hand to support people, right? Building community, bridging gaps. That to me is kind of equality. That's peak. And then we can start going, okay, well now that I have these values, who are the people fighting for them and who are the people fighting against them? Right? To me, that's why this is fight the oligarchy. Not necessarily fight for or against a party. It's fighting, it's appropriately identifying the source of this problem is a fascist oligarchy that's trying to destroy and is destroying our country. So here's Bernie Sanders from the speech and he's like, okay, idea one. Instead of spending $1 trillion a year on the military, maybe we focus on things like low income housing. We build homes. Okay, here, play this clip.
J
Here in la, in Burlington, Vermont and all across this country, we have a major housing crisis. Am I right? And it's not just homelessness. It's people paying 40, 50, 60% of their limited incomes in housing. Instead of spending a trillion dollars a year on the military, let's build 5 million units of low income and affordable housing.
E
Let's talk about education. Education, right? As Donald Trump wants to abolish the Department of Education, as Donald Trump attacks universities, as Donald Trump attacks opportunities available to Americans, what are Bernie Sanders, what should we be fighting for here? Senator Sanders in his Fight the oligarchy speech from this weekend talks about education's a human right. Here, play this clip.
J
Brothers and sisters, we live in a competitive global economy. And if we're going to effectively compete, we need the best educated workforce in the world. It is nothing less than insane and counterproductive that we have young people leaving higher education 50, $80,000 in debt. We need more. You know what? Doctors are leaving medical school with $500,000 in debt. Nurses are leaving $100,000 in debt. Education is a human right. From child care through college. We need sheet metal workers, we need cooperatives, we need construction workers, we need apprenticeship programs. We need to make public colleges, universities and trade schools tuition free.
E
And that is how it's done. We stream the Senator Sanders fight an AOC Fight the oligarchy speeches live. We then do lots of videos about them. And I just want to leave you all with this, like how we try to meet the moment at the Midas Touch Network, how we use our platform now that the Midas Touch Network gets more views than Fox News, twice as many podcast downloads as Joe Rogan. We're the fastest growing substack on all of Substack. By the way, you can join the substack@midasplus.com mei-s p l u s.com but thanks to this movement, movement we've been able to build together with your help, a media network that can now bring attention to the speeches that corporate news would never cover. There was a recent article in Semaphore by a renowned writer named Max Tenney. He talked about how the Midas Touch Network is covering the shadow hearings and how these shadow hearings expose the MAGA crimes. Now have a place where people can see them. That's how we use the platform to try to meet the moment. And we have a great editorial team and research team. We've been breaking stories in state election races where we've got a number of MAGA Republican governors and MAGA Republican governor candidates basically saying screw the people on audio, that we don't care if you lose your jobs. We broke a great story in Nevada, Nevada, a great story in the Commonwealth of Virginia that have become the biggest stories in those areas. So what we're doing here is very tangible. We bring a plan, short term, long term, brick by brick, every single day, building this with you. And it is finally, finally, finally covering the things that we, like you always said were never being covered, especially in the right way by corporate news. And now that our platform is bigger, we're the most viewed channel on all of YouTube across all categories. That is how we use our mic and our voice. And this is how we bring this community the Midas mighty and continue to grow. So a few points. Midasplus.com As I mentioned, is the substack. You could even subscribe for free. We'd love for you to become a paid subscriber, of course, since that helps grow the network. But try it midasplus.com Sign up. Now. I think you'll really enjoy Ron Philipowski's daily summaries and the other content we have there. Midasplus.com Remember patreon.com Midas Touch on this Thursday coming up, we're going to do our State of Midas Touch, State of Resistance, State of Opposition Zoom meeting where our patrons will get the secret link to attend. Patreon.com Touch Check that out. And then for the Midas merch, I always get lots of requests about Midas merch store midas touch.com check it out the maple Midas gear for our Canadian Midas fans. But also you can get that in the United States as well, but it's 100% made in Canada, manufactured in Canada store.midas touch.com check that out. And we also got a bunch of other merch gear there as well. Well, we covered a lot of topics today. Stay strong Midas Mighty Stay strong Maple Midas Stay strong International Midas. We'll have to go country by country and develop like maple Midas, but for real, they want us to back down and tap out and give up. Hang in there. We're in this together. Brett, anything else you want to say?
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I'm just going to toss it to Jordy.
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Shout out to the Midas.
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My day.
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Can'T get enough Midas. Check out the Midas plus substack for ad free articles, reports, podcasts, daily recaps from Ron Philip Cow and more. Sign up for free now@midasplus.com.
The MeidasTouch Podcast – Episode: MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 4/15/25
Release Date: April 15, 2025
Hosts: Ben Meiselas, Brett Meiselas, Jordy Meiselas
Description: In this episode, the Meiselas brothers dive deep into the escalating authoritarian tendencies of the Trump administration, the burgeoning resistance movement led by prominent Democrats, and the profound impact of recent political maneuvers on both domestic and international fronts. Through rigorous analysis, spirited debates, and insightful commentary, they shed light on the current state of American democracy and the relentless fight to preserve it.
Defiance of Supreme Court Ruling ([02:31]):
Ben Meiselas opens the discussion by condemning the Trump administration's refusal to comply with a unanimous Supreme Court decision ordering the return of Abrego Garcia, a migrant with protected status. He criticizes the administration for misrepresenting the court's ruling, stating:
"The Trump regime has been pretending that they actually won the Supreme Court ruling when they lost nine to zero." ([02:31])
Press Conference with Nayib Bukele ([04:24]–[16:03]):
The hosts dissect Trump's bizarre press conference alongside El Salvador's authoritarian leader, Nayib Bukele. Ben highlights Trump's suggestion to build additional facilities in El Salvador to incarcerate American citizens, framing it as a clear sign of authoritarianism:
"Donald Trump says the homegrown criminals need to be next. (...) That's why[...] he loves torturing human beings." ([10:59])
Jordy reinforces the severity of the situation, emphasizing the Trump administration's blatant disregard for legal obligations and human rights:
"They are treating human beings like trash and sending them to extermination camps." ([11:22])
Economic Turmoil Due to Tariffs ([31:47]–[34:07]):
Ben elaborates on the chaos surrounding Trump's tariff announcements, particularly focusing on pharmaceuticals and their unpredictable implementation:
"I'm not sure the American government or the Trump regime even knows what [the tariffs] are." ([34:07])
Brett underscores the economic instability caused by these tariffs, noting the volatility in treasury yields and the weakening dollar:
"The dollar is falling every single day. We're just seeing a weakening state as people around the world realize that the United States can't be trusted to do business with." ([46:24])
Fight the Oligarchy Tour ([05:36]–[34:49]):
Ben, Brett, and Jordy passionately discuss the "Fight the Oligarchy" tour spearheaded by Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC). They highlight the massive turnout at events in Los Angeles, Coachella, and Utah, illustrating the public's thirst for change:
"About 36,000 people showed up in Los Angeles. Then Senator Sanders went to Coachella and spoke to about 125,000 people." ([05:36])
Building a Grassroots Movement ([60:02]–[63:54]):
The hosts emphasize the importance of establishing a robust grassroots movement, separate from mere electoral politics. They commend Sanders and AOC for their proactive approach in engaging with voters across traditionally Republican strongholds:
"They are building a movement from the ground up. That's exactly the kind of work Brett and Jordy and the other folks are putting in." ([62:41])
Jordy adds:
"These are good ideas. These are ideas for the people. They're timely, ideal ideas. It really matters to people." ([63:54])
Assassination Attempt on Governor Shapiro ([48:09]–[57:03]):
Ben addresses the critical incident involving an assassination attempt on Governor Shapiro, criticizing Trump's lack of response and empathy:
"There is no place for this type of evil in America... But the media wants to be like, oh Bukele, you've got a cool dictator in the White House." ([48:09])
He underscores the contrast between former President Biden's empathetic statement and Trump's dismissive reaction during a press conference:
"Trump said nothing. As I heard about it, no message of sympathy. Instead, Donald Trump wanted to talk about the Masters, the golf tournament." ([56:58])
Trade War with China and Rare Earth Exports ([34:10]–[46:24]):
Ben and Brett analyze the deteriorating trade relations with China, highlighting Trump's illogical tariff implementations and China's strategic suspension of rare earth exports:
"China has about a 95% market share over these minerals and their refinement and has chosen to stop exporting them to the United States." ([60:02])
Brett points out the long-term implications of these actions on the U.S. manufacturing and technological sectors.
Erosion of America's Global Trust ([41:47]–[43:30]):
The hosts lament the loss of America's standing as the "leader of the free world," noting how global leaders and nations are turning away due to Trump's policies:
"America looks like a pariah regime right now... Xi Jinping is just feasting." ([41:48])
Media's Role in Shaping Perceptions ([63:54]–[67:23]):
Ben criticizes the media for focusing on trivial matters, such as potential future political runs, instead of addressing pressing issues like the rise of authoritarianism and economic instability:
"When politics becomes gamified... stop gamifying, you know this." ([63:54])
Jordy reinforces the need for media to prioritize substantive issues over partisan theatrics.
Policy Proposals by Sanders and AOC ([66:28]–[68:32]):
The episode highlights key policy proposals from the resistance movement aimed at addressing systemic issues:
Housing Crisis:
"Instead of spending a trillion dollars a year on the military, let's build 5 million units of low income and affordable housing." ([66:28])
Education Reform:
"Education is a human right. From child care through college... we need to make public colleges, universities, and trade schools tuition-free." ([67:23])
Vision for a Pro-Democracy Movement ([68:32]–[72:27]):
Ben outlines the strategic use of the MeidasTouch platform to amplify democratic voices and counter authoritarian narratives. He emphasizes the importance of continuous resistance and community building to reclaim American democracy.
"We are building a media network that can now bring attention to the speeches that corporate news would never cover." ([68:32])
Final Thoughts and Encouragement ([72:24]–[72:46]):
The brothers conclude with a rallying call to their listeners to remain steadfast in the fight against authoritarianism, stressing unity and collective action.
"Stay strong Midas Mighty. Stay strong Maple Midas. Stay strong International Midas." ([72:27])
Notable Quotes:
Ben Meiselas ([02:31]):
"The Trump regime has been pretending that they actually won the Supreme Court ruling when they lost nine to zero."
Brett Meiselas ([34:07]):
"The dollar is falling every single day. We're just seeing a weakening state as people around the world realize that the United States can't be trusted to do business with."
Jordy Meiselas ([66:28]):
"Instead of spending a trillion dollars a year on the military, let's build 5 million units of low income and affordable housing."
Conclusion:
In this comprehensive episode, the Meiselas brothers provide an unflinching critique of the Trump administration's drift towards authoritarianism, highlighting significant domestic and international consequences. They celebrate the rising resistance movement led by key Democratic figures and emphasize the critical need for sustained collective action to restore and uphold democratic values in the United States.