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Ben
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MacKenzie
MacKenzie and I started a GoFundMe for the adoptive mother of a non verbal autistic child. The mother had lost her job because she wasn't able to find adequate care for this autistic child. So she really needed some help with living expenses, paying some back bills. So I launched a GoFundMe to help support them during this crisis. And we raised about $10,000 within just a couple of months. I think that the surprising thing was by telling a clear story and just like really being very clear about what we needed, we had some really generous donations from people who were really moved by the situation that this family was struggling with.
Jordy
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MacKenzie
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Ben
The Trump regime continues to use the alleged White House correspondence dinner incident to push for a golden ballroom that they now want the taxpayers to pay for. They immediately started pitching and pushing that message, quite literally within minutes of the alleged incident when they were seen, like, laughing with each other and acting like it was the, the funniest thing ever, like they were having a grand old time with the press. You can see them smirking, laughing. They brought the party after the incident to the White House. Very, very bizarre and suspicious behavior. They've also been talking about banning no kings protests, and they continue to attack the press. Donald Trump has somehow tied this into an attack on Jimmy Kimmel. And that Jimmy Kimmel is to blame for the incident because. Because he did a joke about Melania and then that's what caused the incident. So Jimmy Kimmel needs to be fired. And this is why Republicans need to win the midterms. They push that message within seconds after this alleged incident. And by the way, with the complicit press, who was all in that room and they were saying, how unifying is Donald Trump? He acted like a true leader. We all deserve to rally around. We all deserve this. We should rally around him. And we at the Midas Touch Network held our ground, called out the truth, pushed back, and continued to fight back against the lies and all of this gaslighting because the truth remains. His approval right now is worse than Nixon at the time Nixon resigned. Donald Trump likes to talk about Carter or Biden or George W. Bush, but Donald Trump's approval across the board and on the economy, economy far worse than any of those former presidents. Yet the compliant media, the corporate sycophants, the corporate media, sick of it, Try to push this guy. Like, he's like the most popular guy ever. They love him. It's weird. And the American people are absolutely static. Remember when they were pushing on Friday that there was going to be a big meeting over the weekend between Witkoff and Kushner, who. Why the hell do they have anything to do with our country? And by the way, they're all financially involved in all of this as well. But they had a big meeting in Pakistan and it was going to be with Iran's Foreign Minister Iraqi, and Pakistan was going to be mediating it. And we were saying on the Midas Touch network, lie, market manipulation, not true at all. It's not happening. Foreign Minister Iraqi is doing a three day tour. He's going first to Pakistan and then to Oman, and then he's going to Russia to meet with Putin. And they've made clear they're not meeting with Donald Trump and the Trump regime. And then Donald Trump's like, nope, they're absolutely meeting with us. We're sending our people. We're dealing with real good people over there in Iran right now. And then on Saturday, Donald Trump's like, I'm canceling it. I don't want to do it. Iran sent us a proposal. I didn't like it. So I told my people, we're too busy, don't go. And in fact, guess what, everybody? Iran is going to blow up in the next three days. What do you mean blow up? It's going to all be destroyed. How is it going to be destroyed? You see, their oil pipelines are getting congested and they don't have a pressure valve. So because of the naval blockade, the pipeline, it's filling up with all of this oil, and it's about to explode, and the whole country is going to be destroyed in 72 hours. It's like, Donald, it doesn't work like that. Yes, it does. So that's what they're pushing now, that the whole nation of Iran is going to be destroyed because there's nowhere to put their oil. It's the most ridiculous thing. But I'll tell you what's actually happening. The Iranian foreign minister is meeting right now with Vladimir Putin and Russia, and they're out there just saying, we're cooperating. We're top allies. We're coordinating everything together. I mean, the statements out are, we've done everything together in the war. We'll continue to work together. They're not hiding what's taking place right now. They've supported us. Our cooperation is paramount. But I bet you you're not hearing that on corporate news here in the United States. But I guess who's even watch corporate news anymore? Speaking about the Midas Touch Network fighting back against lies and disinformation, Katie Fang, Midas Touch host, launched a lawsuit against the Trump regime demanding the release of the Epstein files. It's one of the first of its kind lawsuits alleging violations of the Epstein Transparency Act. And she says that she has standing as a journalist with the Midas Touch Network to bring our viewers, her viewers, the truth, and that this is being prevented by the Trump regime's failure to comply with the Epstein Transparency act, their violation of the law. So ain't just talking the talk here on the network, walking the walk. And Katie Fang is a superstar, and she's going to fight to get those files. So shout out to her. And we're going to talk about how MAGA Republican sycophants are out there using this White House correspondence dinner incident also to push their agendas. And it's just so wild to see how corporate news kicks into gear. Like, they got got the message. All right, this is how we're going to try to help Donald right now. But it ain't working. The people see through it. The Midas mighty see through it. The Midas Touch Network continues to lead all news in terms of audience share at this point. And I know that people are getting real truthful information here. Bretton Jordy, how are you doing?
Brett
I'M doing great.
Jordy
It's good to be here. Ben. Good to be here. Jordy in regards to the media, I've never seen a group bend over backwards so much for a man who so openly despises them and would never, ever reciprocate that sort of grace. How many? I mean, it became a joke in the first term when the media would constantly say new tone, new tone. Donald Trump has adopted a new tone. The fact that they're still doing this in the year 2026 makes me want to lose my fricking mind, I got to be honest. But you know what? We're going to get into all that. I do also want to give a shout out to to Katie Fang. How badass is Katie Fang? And by the way, been loving all the videos Katie's been putting out on her YouTube channel. Make sure you subscribe at our new podcast. Sidebar Brothers is so good. She's been doing this live show Tuesdays after Ben's live show and she's doing it on her channel and it's been top notch and the show goes on her podcast feed. Sidebar with Katie Fang. Make sure you look it up, make sure you add it. I promise you will not regret it. Jordi what's the latest, Brothers?
Brett
What's going on? Midas Mighty nice to be here. Thanks for joining the show tonight. If you're listening tomorrow on Friday. Thanks for listening to the show. Excited to get into the show. We have a lot to get into. I have a lot that I'd like to comment on personally about this DC brain rot from these legacy outlets. I won't do it right here. But Ben, let me toss it over to you and let's get going. Where are we starting off?
Ben
You know, a lot of people have asked me, Ben, talk about how you're covering what happened at the White House Correspondent's Dinner. And I just said, just think about it this way. Whatever happened or didn't happen, why don't we just look at what the Trump regime did right afterwards, right? How did they behave right after? And did they behave with the seriousness, with the demeanor, with the type of conduct that that you would expect in a serious, solemn situation? Or did they behave like deranged political animals? Did they almost seem giddy and happy and laughing, like they were in on a private joke? How was their objective behavior afterwards? Were they serious or were they a bunch of jesters? And I think you look and evaluate their conduct and you can come to the conclusion, well, if they ain't taking it serious, if they're using it to immediately push political narratives, to attack Democrats, to attack Kimmel, to attack the left, to say that taxpayers need to pay for Golden Ballrooms, demanding literally within minutes of the incident, that the National Trust for the Preservation of DC that filed the lawsuit to block the ballroom, which has prevailed, that they now immediately dismiss the case. The Trump regime was in court, like, within hours of the incident happening, saying, you see, Judge, they had a letter out to the lawyer for the nationals within minutes almost of the incident, saying, look, now you need to withdraw your lawsuit right away, folks. That's not normal behavior. And then Donald Trump's like, and that's why these no Kings protests need to stop. And that's why we need to pass legislation to ensure voter ID in election. That's why we need Republicans to win the midterm. So when they behave that way, I don't think that aspect is in dispute. And so you have them doing that, and then you had corporate news acting like somebody got killed. They acted like somebody, like, literally died. This was the most solemn incident. And could you believe it? And then he called the press conference afterwards and he united us, and he didn't say anything negative about us. I mean, the more we learn about this, the guy barely breached the first layer of the Secret Service security. It was basically tackled right away. The Trump regime refuses to say if the guy even was the person who shot at the agents that were there. And when asked a very basic question, I'll show you in a little bit, Todd Blanche was like, we're still investigating that. There's still an ongoing investigation about what really happened there or what didn't happen there. Okay. And it should be viewed as a serious event now. They didn't have the Trump regime dealt with it at all. It wasn't even on the same floor, really, of where the actual White House correspondent's dinner itself was taking place. But then you had the media, like, we need to unite around him right now. Don't you think the Democrats need to take down that tone? Right. You had Dana Bash saying to Jamie Raskin, don't you think you need to take down the tone a little bit? Need the Democrats to take down the tone for criticizing Donald Trump's threats to, like, kill people, sending Border Patrol and ICE Gestapo to literally kill, kidnap, and throw people into concentration camps while the Trump regime is covering up child sex trafficking, trafficking rings. You want Democrats to tone it down for calling out that behavior? That's what. That's your lesson out of this. I mean, Brett and Jordi to your point, when we talk about, like the media talking about tone change, Brian Stelter literally said Trump's calm, respectful tone toward the press on Saturday night was newsworthy because it was unusual. He said. Then he, then he goes, I purposefully did not lead today's newsletter with Trump's latest bid of media criticism because it's not novel or surprising. So Donald Trump posting all of these attacks at the media. I didn't lead with that, however, because of his new tone shift. That was newsworthy. And by the way, the whole media was pushing this. Here's what Stelter said on TV after this alleged incident. Let's play this clip.
Jackie Heinrich
You know, a couple minutes before this happened, I was with House Speaker Mike Johnson. I shook Johnson's hand, I was talking to him, and then I was walking across the, the ballroom. Victor kind of taken the long way toward the CNN tables because I wanted to see some of my friends and some of my sources. And so I ended up on the ground next to executive from Comcast, some people from NBC. And in that moment, you know, there was a lot of unity. And I'm thankful that President Trump talked about that unity last night and did not try to heighten the tensions or escalate the situation. He could have very easily gone out there and bashed the press last night and blamed the media for attracting this suspect to the ballroom. But instead, he basically said, we're all in this together. And that's certainly true. And that's how it feels this morning as well.
Ben
Well, within moments of you saying that, he started bashing the press and blaming the press for it and blaming Kimmel. And there was no actual hesitation. Donald Trump's mouthpieces were out there saying that pretty much right after the event. But I want to toss it to you and Brett because I know you have strong views on that. I just want to point out other things that he said right there. He's like, I was talking to Mike Johnson, okay? And then I left Mike Johnson. And then I saw a lot of my sources over there because it is incestuous. All of the sources are my White House source, my this or my that. And then I walked past the Comcast executives, okay, now you talk about all of your right wing oligarch buts. And that's when I realized the whole journey right there that he described is exactly why people are fed up with the corporate news. That whole arc leading to his conclusion that Donald Trump showed unity is everything. Why people are like, I ain't watching this. And frankly, it's why people are watching Midas Touch Network and Independent News.
Jordy
It is so true. And, you know, that's why that event to me, like, if I were ever invited to the White House Correspondents Dinner to be around those people, I would say no in a heartbeat. There's no reason to go to that. And it really is just the epitome of kind of access journalism and people wanting to be partying with the people from the Trump administration and all these oligarchs and be doing all these things. It pollutes your ability to actually report on these people objectively. And you end up vomiting things like what Brian Stelter was saying. And I just got like, all that just makes me so sick. Whether it's Caroline Levitt saying it, whether it's whatever Republican hack of the week or the day or the hour is coming up and saying all this stuff about the new tone and Democrats need to turn down the temperature. It's like, listen, Donald Trump is the President of the United States, okay? You've lost all moral high ground. You're talking about the guy who, when Rob Reiner was brutally murdered, immediately went to his social media app, basically said, too bad. So sad. He had Trump derangement syndrome. He had what was coming. Robert Mueller died recently. Robert Mueller, an American war hero. What did Donald Trump say? He said something like, good, I'm glad he's dead. He was just overtly gleeful about it. You could go back to Paul Pelosi. I mean, there are like hundreds and hundreds, hundreds and hundreds of examples. Trump on the campaign trail would call Democrats vermin, the enemy within, radical left lunatics, scum, like, do all these things. And the second that people actually speak out against that, they try to say, stop the hate speak. You're not allowed to tell them to do that. And I just want to be clear about what this all is, because it's nothing about, you know, it's nothing about tone or morality or be nice, because Donald Trump does this every fricking second. This is one goal in mind, and that goal is to silence you. That goal is to say, don't criticize Donald Trump, don't criticize us, or we are going to take revenge against you. This is an effort to silence you, and we will not be silenced. And it's one of the reasons why, frankly, I'm happy to not live in Washington D.C. i like Washington D.C. as a city. I like going there. I like visiting. But it's. But I don't like that D.C. kind of capital. Insider group think that's so exists there. It's so toxic to me.
Brett
It's so humiliating. Here's the thing, these legacy reporters like manufacturing like this sense of danger to validate their own self importance, this main character syndrome that we see on display. It's exactly the reason why so many people are just fed up with corporate media. It's the height of narcissism. Like you literally had some reporters taking selfie style videos as they were in, you know, quote unquote danger, right? Others wrote these grandiose reflection pieces less than a few hours later of their own harrowing experience. And some were in tears talking about the trauma that they felt. And look, I could sympathize that. In the moment, in the chaos, unsure of what's going on, you see the Secret Service pulling the President, it's chaos. Like I could see how that could be a scary situation. Okay, I agree with that. But that said, once you get all of the facts of the situation, you're left with no other thought then honestly, the reactions post event have just been humiliating. Like this DC bubble is very much a real thing. Brett, to your point, I'm so glad we don't actually like live there. And it was just on full display this weekend. They have somehow managed to treat like this distant trespasser as a national tragedy. And watching these insiders and elites melt down over this while also simultaneously moving on from news cycles about like school shootings within 48 hours, it's the height of hypocrisy for me. And I know it's a tough pill for some of the people who work at these legacy outlets to swallow, but people want the news, right? Like they want factual reporting, they want data. They aren't tuning in because they love your celebrity. Like just stop. Like the self important, wannabe celebrity, holier than thou Persona, it's just so exhausting for me.
Jordy
And listen, I said this to you guys yesterday, but I think one of the issues that we see on a daily basis with the Trump administration is they are weird about everything. They are weird about everything. They cannot tell the truth about a single thing. And so when people start doubting every single thing that they see and hear coming out of this White House, it's kind of easy to see why Ben brought up the ballroom. Suddenly this is like the new national priority. It's almost as if like these people, like they replaced, they did like an iPhone update or something and now they're just like ballroom, ballroom, ballroom, ballroom. It's weird. Like it's frickin weird. It's tone deaf. It's disconnected from what people care about. It's disconnected from reality. And this is the pattern we see with everything the Trump administration does. They are weird about everything and they can never just tell the truth, even if it's something basic. Like Trump was asked in 60 minutes, you know what happened when you fell and he denied falling. It's like, dude, just why are you denying falling? We all saw the footage. Just be normal, Stop being weird. Just be honest with the American people. And these lies are damaging for this exact reason. And it's not just those specific lies, but the aggregate of the lies that we see. Because every time these people open their mouth, whether it's Donald Trump or Caroline Levitt or Jeanine Hero, you name it, they erode trust by the American public that much more until the American people don't believe anything. You could go to any example. You go to Alex Preddy with ice, Federal agents, shoot him and kill him, and you have Kristi Noem come out, call him a domestic terrorist. Then we see the footage and we see what actually happened. That's happened multiple times with ICE already. They've lied multiple times. We've seen the footage, we've seen the truth about what actually happened. We see it with the example that Ben brought up earlier with Iran, Donald Trump making up these fake negotiations that are going to happen, then being called out on the lies, then having to double down with some sort of other lies, like a Russian nesting doll of lies. Donald Trump lies about everything. So when you see something like this happen, I don't blame people, quite frankly for going, is this real? Is this fake? Because this administration has kind of programmed people to just assume that everything is false. And I think that is what is damaging. And I think it speaks to the complete lack of credibility that this administration has.
Brett
And I just want to say this real quick too, Brett. That iPhone update line like this, that's so brilliant because you're so right. They went from like all these MAGA lemmings went from Build the Wall and now they're chanting build the ballroom. I mean, it's just so humiliating. Like they're like, go oligarchs, go build your ballroom. We don't care about the wall anymore.
Ben
And now it's taxpayers need to pay for the ballroom. That's where it needs to come from. Not these so called private donors. And what the hell was even as this, it should be in the different the DHS supplemental. We all need to pay for the Golden Ballroom. Then there was speaking of the Norah o' Donnell Interview. She read the purported manifesto from the purported shooter, the alleged shooter called Thomas Allen, where he was describing how he needs to stop pedos and horrible people. And she just read it. He just said in his manifesto, he wrote, I'm no longer willing to permit a pedo rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes. What's your reaction? And Trump goes, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you're horrible people. I'm not a rapist. I didn't rape anyone. I'm not a pedophile. The Nora o' Donnell kind of chimes in and she goes, oh, you thought he was talking about you?
Jordy
And he's like.
Ben
And then Trump's like, listen, I didn't rape anyone. I'm not a pedophile. Excuse me, Excuse me. You read that crap from a sick person. I was totally exonerated. You should be ashamed of yourself reading that. You're a disgrace. Now, what she should have done after that, I like that she said, you think he's talking about you? I like that part when she said,
Jordy
I gotta say, it was a, it was a softball interview overall and very cringeworthy for the most part. But she kind of made it up for me personally when she said, oh, wait, you think he was talking about you with that? Like, like Trump had to admit that portion of it, which was, you know, I would say, a good part of it.
Ben
No, I mean, I think as a journalist, though, if you're in that room, you should point out, what are you saying you're exonerated from? What are you saying you're just to flesh that out a little bit. Oh, weren't you found civilly liable for sexual assault? So aren't you a sexual predator based on being found civilly liable for sexual. Aren't you on audio and video saying that you grab women by their genitals because you're rich and you get away with it? Don't you say that you inspect their girls in the beauty pageants because you own the shows and you get away with it? I mean, I get that's not necessarily a topic, but if he's going there, you can maybe ask a follow up. But what she ended up doing afterwards, she goes, I just want to let you know, on behalf of the White House Correspondents association, thank you, Mr. President. We were grateful for your leadership. It's like, what, he just called you a despicable person and said that you're horrible and you follow up with that? I mean, there was other weird moments in that as well, Brett, to your point, when Donald Trump's like, I never fell. When they wanted to evacuate the room, they told me, get down on the ground. So I went on the ground to listen to their instruction. But then you go from, you know, one regime media, cbs, new state regime media, to older state regime media, which calls itself fox. And you had Jackie Heinrich do this interview with Donald Trump. It's like a media tour on all of this. And she. And there are all the corporate news people, like, are saying the exact same line. I don't need to show you nor o' Donnell's line, because Jackie Heinrich and Nora, like, literally read from that same script. You know, that. What was that? The Sinclair script that you saw all of the local affiliates read, you know, read at the same time. It's basically a version of that right where they were. They're like, thank you, Mr. President. We are so grateful for everything that you've done. Without you, we don't know what the White House Correspondents Dinner would be. It's like, dude, you're talking to someone with 33% approval, like, far worse than Biden, far worse than anybody. He's least popular, less popular than Nixon when Nixon resigned. You just play this clip quickly of Jackie Heinrich.
Donald Trump
And Jackie, with that, I have to go.
MacKenzie
Okay. I want to thank you, Mr. President, for joining us today. And I also want to say how grateful we were last night as a member of the board of the White House Correspondents association and the incoming president of that association. We were very grateful to have you there taking part in a tradition that recognizes the role of a free press in our democracy. And we're all sad that it went the way that it did. We're all grateful that we get to come home to our loved ones and be together afterward. And thank you for your leadership in the moments afterward and for coming on and giving the country the strength to not let those who would wish to harm us stop us from our pursuit of.
Donald Trump
Well, Jackie, thank you very much. It's very nice. Very nice. Let's do it again.
Ben
Let's do it again, Jackie.
Brett
It's just so humiliating. Ben and Brad and Midas, mighty. I mean, look what is like state regime media. That's what you're looking at. And look, my thoughts on the Nor O' Donnell 60 Minutes thing. I saw a lot online, like, a lot of social chatter. This was a really power. She did a great job. And then I saw the other side of that. Like, I can't believe she would. You know, this is such A softball interview. What's going on? I'm kind of in that camp, right? Like, part of me I could understand. Okay, Nora, you're interviewing him. You have, you know, subjects to sort of hit on and you just kind of have to take it in stride as you're going to make sure you hit all these topics. He's hurling insults at your face to you. And we're all here supposed to champion free speech and celebrate him like he's some sort of like national global hero who champions free speech. And meanwhile, he hates you like he hates you. I'm not saying this to be hyperbolic. He hates you and he hates anyone that actually wants to report accurate information. So for me, the reason I fall into that ladder camp is because. Ben, to your point, you have to be ready for a follow up question. Actually, the courts found you guys guilty. So what's going on here? Actually, you're lying right now. So don't just use your platform because you're a serious reporter. At least you, you like, you liken yourself. How about this 60 Minute. Hold on. 60 Minutes is like, supposed to be at its best. What it was was supposed to be this like, very serious program. Of course, the way that entire direction of that network and that program is crumbling is really just, it is so horrific for this country that that's where it's falling, that they could just be used as mouthpieces for the president.
Ben
Toss it to bre. Found civilly liable. Yes, Brett.
Jordy
Yeah, and we, you know, we're talking about access, access journalism and the issues with access journalism. I mean, you're praising a guy for coming to your soiree. You're praising a guy for coming to your party. That, that, that's what you're doing right now. As that same individual kicks all the press out of the Pentagon, is calling on all these bullshit outlets that aren't real news sources. I mean, he's destroying your jobs, he's destroying your livelihood, he's destroying the free press. And you're thanking him because he came to your party. Oh, and he's never come before. This has for a long time. It's the first time he came. And this time he came not only, you know, he came with preconditions and so there wasn't even a comedian at the party because he didn't want to get his feelings hurt. And this is the purveyor of free speech. Now that you want to hold up as like this, I don't even know, like, just what are we doing here, people? And then Like, I think it's just worth mentioning quickly that the ballroom has nothing to do with, with this event at all whatsoever. The White House Correspondents Dinner is put on by the White House Correspondents association. That is a private organization. Has nothing to actually do with the White House as an entity. You think Donald Trump, these past, you know, the other many years of his term where he hasn't attended, would have allowed this press who he refused to go to this event or he was, would have had them rent out the White House ballroom, which, by the way, as big as it is, isn't even as big as the room where this event in the Hilton Hotel. It's a non sequitur, which is one of the things going back to when I said it's all weird. Like, it doesn't even make sense. The ballroom has nothing to do with this event. They're completely different thoughts. They're completely different things. And the fact that they deflect and go to that and all this stuff, it just makes you think, like, all this is really freaking weird.
Ben
Couldn't agree more. Let's talk more about that. Let's talk about what's going on right now as the Iranian Foreign Minister Ranchi is in Russia meeting with Vladimir Putin and coordinating everything publicly. Like, it's not like, how do you know this? Are you just doing, Are you just speculating? No, no. Like, they're like, literally doing press conferences together saying that they're coordinating everything. I want to talk about Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz. He's come out with some powerful statements against Donald Trump. So has the Premier of Manitoba in Canada, also Prime Minister Carney. Also throughout the world leaders, I think, are. They're no longer post Trump's unlawful and catastrophic war, an invasion of Iran with Netanyahu. Like, people are done with this guy. Like, they're done with them. I mean, you saw the report today that NATO really doesn't want to even do any meetings anymore for the rest of Donald Trump's term. That's one of the big proposals. Let's just do a meeting after 2028. Because having Trump in the room doesn't allow them to focus on their work. Right. That's what Reuters was reporting today. No more NATO meetings with Donald Trump or just. Because. Let's just try to get through these years and then maybe we'll DO meetings after 2020. Just think about that right now. We'll talk about that and more. Let's take our first break of the show. A reminder. Make sure you hit subscribe. We're so close to 7 million subscribers. Help us get to 7 million. We know we can do that together. Also, subscribe to our audio feed our audio podcast Wherever you'd get audio podcasts, just search Midas Touch and subscribe to our audio podcast as well. Thanks everybody. We'll be back after our first quick break.
Brett
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Jordy
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Brett
Shout out to our sponsors links in description of both the YouTube and the audio. Use the links, use the codes. If there's an exit survey, let them know we sent you. Maybe I was being a little too hard on Nora, but like, it upsets me because Trump hates the press. So like this whole idea that he is like some like gentleman and scholar because he decided to attend the White House dinner, the correspondence dinner, it's just, it, it's so beyond anything thing. It's just like. And, and by the way, the rhetoric which everyone's saying, hey, time to tone it down, right? Both side. No, it, it, it's primarily coming from one side and like, like a group and that's MAGA and Donald Trump. Like, can we just like call out what we actually see and stop gaslighting people?
Jordy
They always just want to blame others, right? It's not our fault that people don't trust us, right? Or it's not our fault if you're the White House that, you know, there's violence and threats and people use charged language. Can't be. Can't be our. But they never look in words, right? They never go, well, maybe I shouldn't be doing this, or maybe I should be honest with people about all of these other things. And all they're doing is they're stoking doubt in reality all the time and they're making people pissed off and angry and they are stoking the violence that they then act all offended by and the language that they act all offended by because they go out there and they say the most horrific stuff you've ever seen a president say and then defend it and double down on it. And I think people are just like, sick of it. They're sick of this double standard and they're sick of this sort of rhetoric coming from the President of the United States and seeing no consequences.
Ben
Right? I mean, just think about right after this incident, in addition to Golden Ballroom, you have Caroline Levitt and I think we have the clip right, Caroline Levitt talking about, you know, this all is because of the cult of leftist terrorists. It's like a cult of leftist violent people. And it's like, what are you talking about? I mean, what we talk about on the show and what lots of people talk about, who you put these labels on, can we get people more health care? Can we get people free health care, access to health care, access to education, allow people to afford a home, pay rent, you know, stop people from feeling psychologically tortured all day, you know, not engage in war crimes, not do never ending catastrophic wars abroad, you know, focusing on allowing people to afford groceries and things like that. But they're out there right away after. It's the left that's the cult of the leftists. You know, now we need a ballroom and this is why we need to suppress your vote. And it's like, really, I mean, this is. And I'll just like let people know, I mean, viewers who are my age and older, I think know this, although perhaps the younger generation, you know, doesn't. This wasn't the way it always was, right? In my lifetime, before Trump, when there was a national tragedy. By the way, this started to stop a little bit during Obama where the right wing did everything they can to just try to destroy his presidency and everything from wearing a suit that they didn't like the color of became a major Fox story every day and became a major scandal. By the way, every. I'm gonna get back to my point in a moment. Every time you had Kim Jong Un fire any missile. That was like the biggest story under Obama.
Jordy
Right? Right.
Ben
Man, he's so weak. Letting Kim Jong Un do missile tests. Dude, every day right now, Kim Jong Un does multiple missile tests and then brags about having nuclear weapons. It's not even a story right now. Who's talking about Kim Jong Un right now? I just remember under Obama, my God, he did another test. What are you going to do, Obama? You're so weak. Trump gave the guy nuclear weapons, basically allowed the guy to develop. And by the way, that's what you want to know, what Trump's. Two week, two weeks, two weeks, two weeks, 2 weeks. I'm going to go there. I'm going to shake Kim Jong Un's hand. I'm going to get the headlines. Kim Jong Un developed a nuclear weapon and more missiles than ever. What do you think? What do you think Iran is going to be doing right now? Do you think they're more inclined or less inclined to develop nuclear weapons right now? And from all of the reporting, they have facilities that were not. This is going to shock you. Totally obliterated by Donald Trump and Netanyahu last June. According to lots of reports, they have a facility deep underground near Ishfahan, near one of their facilities, where they have enough nuclear material to be able to make over a thousand or at least 100, but between 100 and 1,000 nuclear weapons if they want to. I think it's a hundred nuclear weapons if they want to, which is more than a lot of countries have in a nuclear arsenal. Now, do you think, based on Trump's behavior, they're going to be more likely or less likely to actually enrich the uranium into weapons? Great. I digress there. But don't you see that this is a path that likely leads to Iran getting nuclear weapons, just like Kim Jong Un? We'll talk about that in a moment. But there used to be a time where there'd be a national tragedy or a big situation or whatever, an incident, and we would just rally around as Americans. That was just like a normal thing. And I'm not saying this because I hate Trump or this or that, that. I'm saying it because it's an objective fact. Trump and that bridge with that Tea Party during Obama, into Trump, they. With that whole movement, it's been everything is a thing. That's. That's the source. That everything then became some political thing. You blame the Democrats, you blame this, you blame that. Everything is a culture war. Everything is that. You remember during Biden's term, they would make up terrorist attacks that wouldn't take place. It'd be like some incident at the border of Canada, you know, and there would be, like, someone who was, like, coming home from a casino. And, like, I forget if there was, like, you know, what the issue was, but someone, like, crashed into, like, the, like, a barrier in the border. And then all right wing pushed out like these, like, photos of, like, jihadist terrorist faces. They're like, massive terrorist attack. Look. How weak Biden is, is they made up the thing and they went like, two days on that. It was like a terrorist attack.
Jordy
And Biden, every day they would do something like that, right? Like, and, you know, I think back towards the end of Biden's term, Remember, like, they were aliens in New Jersey and Biden wasn't telling you the truth about the aliens in New Jersey, and all of a sudden that just magically went away.
Jackie Heinrich
Oh.
Ben
Oh, yeah.
Jordy
No, we were wrong. But they just move on to the next thing. And I think of one thing that, you know, these ballroom stories allow us to do here is point out to you this kind of flood the zone method of how they try to change the narrative, because you see it happening before your eyes. If you were on social media the other day, within minutes, within minutes of this happening, dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of MAGA aligned accounts were all tweeting the same exact thing. This is why we need to build the ballroom now. We got to build the ballroom. If only the Democrats built the ballroom.
Ben
Ballroom, Ballroom, Ballroom.
Jordy
You think that's coincidence? It's not. We even learned from some MAGA influencers who have kind of left the MAGA cult and now expose the MAGA cult and speak about it. We've learned how these mag influencers have these group chats with each other, with people from the Trump administration in the chats who dictate their messaging, who tell them what to write, who tell them what to push out. And that's why we see all at the same time, all of these people doing it. You know, they have this with the influencers. They definitely also have these chats and other forms with the politicians, with the senators, with the members of Congress, and they are having them also push out that same messaging, and then they're getting them on the Sunday shows to say the same messaging. It's not a coincidence. Everyone just didn't wake up one day and have a thought, oh, I need a ballroom now. I need a ballroom. No, it's. It's a coordinated process, and all we want to do is get the objective Damn facts about what is actually going on. And stop with the gaslighting. Stop with the lies. Stop with the distraction. People are suffering. People want you to help them. They don't want a fricking ballroom. Yeah.
Ben
And just whose mind, when an alleged incident like this happens, goes, okay, now I can get the ballroom like a sick person, right? I'm gonna get a ballroom now out of this. Ooh, maybe I could use this to push forward legislation to suppress the vote. Ooh, maybe I can now put ice people at election centers and say, this is somehow related. Ooh. Ooh, maybe I can say this is a anti. This is a way to stop no kings protest. Like. Like who. Who thinks about that? By the way, Alina Haba was posting messages. Do you like my fit? Right after you. Like my fit. 10 of 10. Like, they were all like, she thinks she slayed her fit. Look at her look afterwards. I mean, this is again, some bizarre behavior. Let me just share with you what some of the MAGA people were saying. This is maga. Mike Johnson, Republican speaker of the House, who goes, the ballroom is the solution for all of this. Clearly, the way we deal with this is a ballroom. What? The way we deal with is a golden ballroom. What are you talking about? Here, play this clip of me and the opposite.
Mike Johnson
They've incited violence in my view. I mean, you have some of the most prominent figures in the House and the Senate on the Democrat side effectively, you know, calling for war. I mean, they use those kinds of metaphors and it incites violence because there are crazy people in society and they get radicalized online. And so we've got to recognize that it's time to turn down the rhetoric. We've been saying this over and over and not use that kind of language. I hope that this will be a sobering reminder for everybody about that very important cause. I'm grateful to Fetterman. He's right. The ballroom will be a solution for this because it'll be on the most secure compound in the world. It won't have hotel rooms above it. And it'll have 7 inch thick glass, for example, on the windows. So it'll be a very safe environment to do events like this. We need a place. We have needed a place like that. And the President keeps pointing it out.
Ben
We don't need a place. What are you talking about? Then you have Mike Lawler who pretends to be a moderate, but he's a magi, Republican extremist from New York. He goes, a ballroom is imperative. You're playing when you go to the White House, you need id. You need to be on a pre approved list. You cannot just walk in. Obviously, everybody goes through magnetometers before, before you even get on site. And you know that protocol needs to be applied, especially when you have the President at a major event like this and especially after now three assassination attempts. So, yes, a ballroom is imperative for a lot of reasons. I mean, look at tomorrow night. We're going to have a state dinner in a tent on the South Lawn. It's absurd. I don't think any other president was like, you know what, what is absurd that we do state dinners on a tent in the South Lawn. I mean, there's Trump's, like, For the last 150 years, people have been asking us, no, no, no one's asking for a golden ballroom, okay? One of the strengths of the United States and one of the messages that the White House sends is a message of humility. If the US Wanted to build golden palaces, we could do that. But the point is, is that here you have the People's House, not the Trump House, the People's House. I could show you other. I'll just show you. Every Republican had this talking point today. You had MAGA Republican Congressmember Michael Rowley. Here's what he said, what needs to be done. Now, I think we got to build that ballroom as soon as possible.
Brett
We can't have functions like this on
Friedrich Merz
things that aren't secure.
Ben
Then you had MAGA Republican Pat Fallon. He said the following. Let's play this clip. Certainly the White House borrows a great argument.
Jackie Heinrich
That's something that they can, can completely control.
Ben
They can have events there. You got toss it over to you, Bretton. I mean, I could show you every con. I could show you every Republican Congressmember.
Jordy
Like, I was like after school shootings, all of a sudden, like, we, let's not talk about it. We can't do gun control. Nothing. We can't protect these kids. There's just nothing we could do. And after this, it's like, oh, that's. And that's why we need a ballroom.
Brett
That's what I was going to say. Anything but sensible gun reform.
Jordy
Right? You know what every school needs? Forget, you know, a security guard in every school, you know, and things like, like, we. Every school needs a ballroom. If only every school had a ballroom, none of this would happen. Like I said, it's just a non sequitur. Like, it doesn't make any sense. It's another distraction technique. They don't want you talking About Epstein. They don't want you to talk about the failing war effort. They don't want you to talk about the failing economy. They don't want you to talk about the high prices, the high gas prices. They don't want farmers to be thinking about the fact that they can't afford fertilizer and they have to cut down on their crops this year. They don't want you to talk about that. So they want you to talk about. Talk about a ballroom.
Brett
Exactly. And it's just yet another instance of MAGA and specifically the Republican Party. They think you're stupid. They're treating you, the American person, like you're stupid.
Jordy
Right.
Brett
That you don't have real concerns about your health care or housing or how you're gonna put food on the table and the economy going sideways. Like, they think you're so dumb that they're like, I'm gonna dangle the Golden Ballroom over your head and you guys are just gonna be so happy about it.
Donald Trump
It.
Brett
And the thing with MAGA specifically is they get duped because of the trillion dollar propaganda operation that is Fox News, that is right wing media where they're able to just flood the zone with shit. And like, I kind of made the joke earlier, but, but for real, it was build the wall in Trump's first term and then in Biden's term, it was all about, you know, the MAGA people saying, build the wall. And now they've somehow duped. And I say somehow. Well, because they poured that billion dollar propaganda arm into this message messaging to build. Forget the wall. Build the ballroom for the elites, for the, for the top 1% of the 1%. Build the ballroom for those folks. We don't care about the wall anymore. That was so 2016, 2018, 2020. No, no, no. We need a Golden Ballroom for our Supreme Leader, Donald Trump, who, by the way, by the time this thing, if it gets constructed is to come up, in theory, he should be out of office.
Ben
Right?
Brett
Like, just how construction generally works in this country. Like he shouldn't even be able to reap the benefits of this ballroom as President of the United States. You know, it's hard for me to believe that someone who is putting a major renovation up in their home or their area is going to be so willing to move out once that renovation is fully up and complete. A renovation that you've got in your entire party to do for you. I'm just, just, I'm just saying that now.
Ben
Yeah, look, all his posts though are like triumphal arches, Golden Ballrooms the new one he's been doing, like, over the weekend, I think he posted close to 50 times. It's not an exaggeration. I think he did like 50 posts. If you add the past few days about the reflecting pool, and he'll do like a photo of the reflecting pool from 2004, which was George W. Bush, and Trump will write Hussein Obama. And either Trump uses AI or whatever they do to kind of make the reflecting pool look dirty. And then on the photo next to it, it says Trump. So one says Hussein Obama and the reflecting pool is dirty. The other, when you actually analyze it, it's the exact same photo because you can see the birds in the same place, the clouds are in the same location, and it doesn't have the AI that makes it look dirty. And he goes, trump. Like, there are things like just that in a normal presidency, you would say, this guy needs to go. That would be a front page story. Like, could you imagine if former President Biden made a post like, just like that and did nothing else there? The uproar would be the biggest story for two weeks. And probably calls for resignation. I mean, Trump does, as I've said, probably 20 to 30, in my opinion, impeachable things. Many of which, in my opinion, I'm just giving you my opinion, protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Feel free to agree or disagree with my opinions here. I think by noon, he commits multiple criminal conduct every single day. And it just like, oh, it's just, as Brian Stelter would say, it's not newsworthy at this point. So why even publish it if he just keeps on crying? It's not even newsworthy. You know, you got to do your job and you got to explain to people why it is newsworthy and why it isn't normal. And you got to stand up to it and you got to call it out. And it's not a political thing to call it out. You got to call it out. If you value truth and you have to call out his behavior and you have to just say, this is wrong behavior, even if he does it every day, you can't get numb to it. You have to not be numb to it. And you have to, as a journalist, also make sure people don't get numb to it by explaining it and by reiterating what we can do about it. That's what we do here on the Midas Touch Network. But I'll give Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffrey some credit here because he was asked about Caroline Levitt's presser I don't want to even play her press or I did a video on it before, so we don't need to. I don't think we need to play it. But she was basically saying, Hakeem Jeffries has used the words multi. We want to do warfare everywhere all the time. And Hakeem Jeffries was talking about fighting for redistricting. It's like, that's violent rhetoric. That's what led to this. And then she's like, Governor Shapiro used language like head should roll, you know, regarding the corruption in the Trump regime. Head should roll, maximum warfare. They're calling for this. Look at the rhetoric. And it's like you're taking it out of context, what's being said. Whereas Donald Trump's out there just outright calling for violence every single day, in my opinion. But watch what Akeem Jeffries does when he's asked. So do you think you should tone it down a little bit? He has a really good response. Let's play it.
Jordy
Mr. Leader, I know you said you
Ben
stand by your comments.
MacKenzie
At the same time, you have been the subject of threats as well. So with respect to the comment about maximum warfare, even if it's about redistricting, why not tone down the language here in this moment?
Hakeem Jeffries
I think that what's interesting to me, as you pointed out, is that the so called White House press secretary, who's a disgrace, he's a stone cold liar, had the nerve to stand up there and read talking points being critical of statements all taken out of context, that Democrats had made and didn't have a word to say about anything that MAGA extremists have said or done, including providing aid and comfort to violent insurrectionists here at this Capitol on January 6th, who brutally beat police officers. The president then pardoned those violent rioters, many of whom have gone back into communities across the country to reoffend. And as you pointed out, one of whom threatened to kill me, he said, kill the terrorists. Where did that language come from? What? Republicans use that language. Why did that pardon MAGA extremists, violent insurrectionists, choose to use the language of terrorism directed at me when he threatened to kill me at an event? And so how can we take them seriously when they raise these partisan attacks and completely ignore the fact that a lot of folks, including Governor Shapiro,
Brett
his
Hakeem Jeffries
home was attacked by an arsonist when he and his kids and wife were there. And this so called White House press secretary wants to lecture America and lecture us about civility. Get lost, Clean up your own house before you have anything to say to us about the language that we use.
Ben
Yeah. And I think that's the energy right there that needs to be had regardless of your political party. When you stand up to Trump, that's it. I mean, that's what American people are. That's how American people feel. Like what he just said. And so it was good to see that. Brett Jordi, I want to get your thoughts on it in a moment. And I do want to talk about this meeting between the Iranian foreign minister And Russia, Donald Trump's lie that Iran's about to blow up in now 48 hours, the whole country because the naval blockade is going so well that the pipes are clogged and it's going to cause a major blow up. Which if that was the case, why aren't any of the other Arab nations blown up? Because they had the issue about 30 days ago. But okay, we're just going to go with that one. No one's going to like fact check it or whatever. I want to talk about what Germany's Chancellor is saying about Donald Trump and I think it's actually pretty spot on and more let's just take our last quick break of the show. Reminder hit subscribe Help us Get to 7 million subscribers subscribe to the Midas. Touch on audio and word of mouth really helps grow this channel. So share this network with a bunch of people that you know. Tell them about it after the show ends. We'll be right back after our last quick break.
Jordy
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Brett
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Jordy
Sometimes I'm like, how do these brands even afford this, like, cool stuff? One of the things I like also is watching my ad reads, Jordy is I see the var. I see the different kind of cycles of my haircut.
Brett
Yeah.
Jordy
You know, like, I'm like, okay, I'm like, probably four weeks into my haircut during this ad read. I got a fresh cut right before that read. You could just.
Brett
There you go. We have a system over here. We have a system and we get it done. I just want to comment on this really quickly, Ben. So, like Caroline Levitt, for example, example, going after Josh Shapiro for his quote, unquote rhetoric. I mean, to me, it's just like, laughable. First off, like, I. I like Josh Shapiro. I think he's doing a great job here in the Commonwealth. He's not exactly like the rhetoric guy, though. Like, it's not his slant.
Jordy
Yeah, when I think Josh Shapiro, I think rad. Radical.
Brett
Radical. I mean, but. But that's what I mean. Like, they think we're stupid and they think you're stupid. That, like, you wouldn't realize that she's like, misquoting or. Or taking his quotes totally out of context. It ridiculous, but they do it all the time. Shapiro, by the way, he's going to win his reelection here with like 65, 70% of the vote.
Jordy
Looks like he's like one of the most popular governors in the country.
Brett
But that's what I mean, though, Brett. Like, aren't I right? Because it's to your point, like, they just lie about the dumbest stuff.
Jordy
They lie about the dumbest stuff. They make up. You know, the most offensive things about politicians they don't. Like when they have nothing else to say. Like Ben was saying with Biden. You know what? Here's an example. They've been doing this with Mum Dan, right over the, like, they have nothing really to complain about with Mamdani. So, like, what do they do? Mamdani's to blame for the New York Mets having a bad season. The Mets have lost 11 games in a row thanks to Mayor Mom Don like these. And they were. They'll run that, like, seriously over and over again on their nightly segments, like in prime time, as if it's serious news. It's the Obama playbook. It's the tan suit playbook. That's what they. Even. Even in a very peaceful time, without the Trump chaos, when things are, like, normal and you got someone who's doing a good job, they'll always find something to latch onto and try to make a big deal out of it. It's, you know, and you got to say, like, they're good at that. Like, they are very good at that. But it needs to be combated. It needs to be the way they flood the zone with shit. You got to flood the zone with the truth. You can't just say, oh, well, we're used to hearing them say all that, so we're not going to even bring it up. No, you got to report on it. You got to fact check it. You got to push back. You got to show what's actually true, which true is happening and not these phony narratives.
Brett
I'm going to say really quickly, there's just so much stuff happening. I actually haven't seen the stuff about the Mets being bad because of Mandami. For me, it's just that, again, this dumbest lie as a suffering Mets fan my whole life, they're bad just because they're cursed. It's not his fault. That's wild. I'm going to look into that after the show.
Jordy
The Mets curse.
Brett
These people are sick.
Ben
Ben, look, I want to show this as well. You have Lindsey Graham then holding a press conference at Donald Trump, Trump's behest. I mean, talk about raising major red flags here. And Lindsey Graham's out there saying, now the taxpayers need to pay for the ballroom. I just want to show this clip as well, because I forgot to show it before. Here, let's play it.
Lindsey Graham
We're going to introduce legislation that would authorize $400 million to be spent to secure the. To build the Presidential Ballroom. Underneath there will be a lot of military stuff. Stuff there will be a Secret Service annex, and we've paid for it by offsetting it with custom fees. But the estimate is 332 million. We're going to do 400 million because I think it's probably going to take more Private donations can be used, but I think they should be used for buying China and stuff like that. Underneath this ballroom will be infrastructure that is national security centric. The ballroom itself will avoid the dilemma of having to leave The White House grounds with future presidents and this presidents to go downtown in a place that's less secure. President Trump said to me this morning, excuse me, yesterday, we need the ballroom, not just for me, but for future presidents. He literally could have left his bedroom, walked out the back of the White House and been at the ballroom. That's what needs to happen when you have a thousand or two thousand people gathered in today's environment. And the sooner we get the ballroom built, the more hardened it is, the better for the country. So I hope and pray that most people in the Senate after Saturday night night will support this bill that.
Ben
Doesn't that tell you everything right there?
Jordy
We told you from the beginning that you were going to be paying for this stupid ballroom, right? When they were saying, oh, it's paid for, it's fully paid for, donors are paying for it. They got these quote, unquote commitments from donors. It's obviously going to cost a lot. Even if donors did cover it. First off, I think that's so incredibly corrupt, given Donald Trump's deals with these companies and his just called the Commitments what they are. They're bribes.
Brett
They're bribes from other.
Jordy
Yes, Jordy, you're right. They're. They're bribes. And then the money hasn't even materialized and now they're begging the American people for the money. And the ballroom is another example of all of this crap out of the Trump administration where they really, like, in a very offensive way, don't give an F about the American people. They don't care what you think. Because to me, you know, if I just say, okay, he wants a ballroom, sell it to the American people. Like, don't just knock down the east wing and say, we're building a ballroom. Try to do it the right way, right? Try to explain why you need it. You got the super, you know, secret national security bunker or whatever the hell you're building underneath the ballroom. And so you need this ballroom so Donald Trump could party about. I don't, I don't know what it is, but sell it to the American people, try to make the case for it, try to explain why you need it. And then you control every branch of the government. You're in charge of the Congress, of the Senate, you control the courts, you control the executive, executive branch. So just pass the piece of legislation then. I don't understand this. Let's knock down the thing and then let's all of a sudden just say we're building a ballroom. That's not going to get anybody on your side. It's exactly basically what he did with Iran. Right. He didn't try to sell the American people on the Iran war. He just bombed them one day and then expected us to go along with it, expected all the European countries to go along with it, like try to communicate with the American people. You have the press going back to the press, this episode, they praise him for how he calls me, picks up my phone calls, I call him and he picks up. Yeah, then he just fucking lies to you. Excuse my language. He lies to you. He says things that aren't true. How is that helpful? And then you just regurgitate it as if it's fact. You just regurgitated. Like you are a stenographer. Your job isn't to be a stenographer. And don't get confused and think that getting more contact with Donald Trump or more information from Donald Trump, don't think that that means you're getting better information. I could assure you, I know that President Biden did not speak to the press as much as Donald Trump. Maybe he didn't take your calls as much and call you personally, text you whatever. But I could guarantee the words coming out of his mouth actually meant something. Unlike this guy where his words mean crap. His words mean absolutely nothing. Yet you just fawn over it because this guy is speaking to you like, enough is enough, man.
Ben
Well, to your point, Brett, let's take a look at what Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Mayr Gertz had to say when he was talking about the lack of planning here and that there's two clips I want to show you. The first one is in the elementary school where he says Trump's been absolutely humiliated. The US has been humiliated because there wasn't a plan and Iran has a plan. And Iran, he said, is in a very sophisticated way handling negotiations or not handling negotiations. But they're very intentional what they're doing while trying to. Trump isn't here. Play this clip.
Friedrich Merz
It is quite obvious that the Americans have absolutely no coherent strategy whatsoever. And the fundamental problem with these kinds of conflicts is always the same. It is not enough to simply get yourself in, you must also figure out how to get yourself out. Again, we witnessed that reality quite painfully in Afghanistan over the course of 20 long years. We saw the exact same thing happen in Iraq. So this entire situation is, as I have mentioned previously, at the very least it was ill considered. And I really do not see at this present moment which one you mean, what strategic exit the Americans are choosing now, especially since the Iranians are obviously negotiating very skillfully, or for that matter, very skillfully, not negotiating and making the Americans travel to Islamabad and then letting them leave again empty handed. A whole nation is being humiliated there by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so called Revolutionary Guards. As Europeans, we have also extended an offer stating that we are prepared to assist in ensuring that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened just as soon as these hostilities have finally come to an end. From Furthermore, we have offered to dispatch specialized minesweepers from Germany to clear that vital strait of all its mines. After all, it has quite obviously been mined, at least in some significant part. Well, we could certainly do something about that. But first of all, the fighting has to come to a complete and total stop. And right now I honestly do not see how that is even remotely achievable in the short term because the Iranians are proving to be much stronger than we had initially thought. And the Americans clearly do not have a truly convincing or coherent strategy for these negotiations either. I truly hate to have to say this, but I'm afraid it is a rather complicated and difficult situation at this moment.
Ben
I'll show you the other clip of Maers, Germany's Chancellor. Let's play it.
Friedrich Merz
As far as Iran is concerned. Yes, I have become disillusioned with that by now and that is simply because the United States of America and Israel had assumed right at the beginning that this problem would be solved within a few days. And today we have to realize that it has not been solved. That is why we on the European side also want to make a diplomatic effort to find a solution. I have pointed out that for some time now diplomatic efforts towards Iran have been taking place again from Germany as well. We are coordinating closely with the American side side on this. But we also state that we have our own European ideas on how to reach a solution to the conflict. I hope we succeed, but I am not sure.
Ben
Now take that and contrast it to what Donald Trump said when he called Jackie Heinrich on state regime media, which calls itself Fox. Here's what Trump said about the Iranian pipes are getting so full of the oil that they can't keep the pressure. So it's going to result in a mechanical failure. And in 48 hours, Iran's about to blow up. Cowabunga, dude. It's going to blow up, man. Here, play this clip.
Donald Trump
But what you're referring to is that when, when you have, you know, lines of vast amounts of oil pouring through your system, if for any reason that line is closed because you can't continue to put it into containers or ships which has happened to them. They have no ships because of the blockade. What happens is that line explodes from within, both mechanically and in the earth. It something happens where it just explodes. They say they only have about three days left before that happens. And when it explodes, you can never, regardless, you can never rebuild it the way it was. In other words, it will always be if you rebuild it. It's hard to rebuild it all but, but it would only be about 50% of what it is right now. So it's a very powerful thing that takes place sort of having to do with nature. But when, when that gets clogged at the end, in other words, when you have to turn it off because you have no place to store this oil, either put it on ships or storage tanks, which they are just about finished with, a very bad thing is going to happen. So I think they're under pressure.
Ben
Yeah. So just inject yourself with horse medication or inject yourself with bleach and clor and see if that gets rid of your Covid everybody. I mean this is not how oil facilities work. As Daniel Davis, an expert in this area, but you don't need to be an expert to tell you because common sense would say, huh, so they build these pretty complex oil facilities that just blow up and spontaneously combust. Yeah, no, that's not the way they're built. Go back to the post for one more time. Daniel Davis says that's not how oil facilities work. Pipelines don't just blow up up because they can't store enough oil. That's a lie. If that was a risk, then five of the six GCC countries, that's the Gulf Cooperation Council, right? Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, they would already have their pipelines explode and none have. So literally the systems are designed with fail safe measures to make sure that doesn't happen. Plus Iran is definitely not three days away from full storage capacity. It takes a lot longer than that to reach that level. If an Iranian pipeline suddenly blows up in the next three days, the likely culprit will be a US missile and that will trigger a massive retaliation from Iran. If Trump is trying to be cute again, it's going to blow up in all of our faces. Well said Daniel Davis. Now the way Donald Trump was saying that too, he's like, that's how nature works. That's how nature works. And it's like the fact that he just spews that incoherent slop that is not tethered to any reality at all is just complete and Utter madness. Like, that is a made up thing. That's not, it's not happening. He makes up negotiations. He makes up these like weird movie scripts that are not real life. These aren't real things that are going, you know, and the issue is, is that when people who exist in real world, foreign leaders, they, you know, again, maybe you can fool who's ever left in that 30% or 33% of Trump support that exists. Maybe you fool them and this is like, ah, that's why we're okay. They're gonna all blow up. This is all part of the blockade. This is gonna be amazing. But in the world of reality, it ain't working that way. And it's deeply problematic. And everybody looks at this and goes, oh my God, this guy is a freaking loser. And he's turned America into a loser country. I would say they're all laughing, but lots of people are horrified. Like, what are we gonna do? I mean, this guy is, is, is, is an absolute loser. Loser. And yeah, he has. He's been. His whole life, he's been a damn loser. That's why he's bankrupted so many things. He's an idiot. You know, the one thing that he's able to do is somehow convince people he's a great con person. He's as great as does converse. I don't, I truly don't understand how he taps into people's reptilian brains and convinces them of this ridiculous crap that isn't tethered to reality. Although I would say he feasts on the chaos. He waits to the crisis and the chaos. And, you know, I think that, you know, one of the things that he's doing is he waits two weeks. Two weeks, two weeks, two weeks. Eventually, what's happening in Iran is gonna be cataclysmic. Not in the sense that it's blowing up, but at some point we're just gonna run out. Like the, the, the world supply of stuff is gonna, is gonna blow up. But see, what Trump does, if you look at his whole life is he waits for these moments. And when people are suffering and scared at their worst, that's when he comes in and either blames or takes credit. And usually it could be both. Blame, blame, blame, take credit. Because that's actually what his skill is, stealing credit from other people who do things and blaming people during catastrophes or during events, often manufactured catastrophes, but also also other catastrophes. And that's what he's built. That's, that's the. I don't want to Call it a skill set because it's so nefarious, but that's the thing. And meanwhile, you have Iran, their Foreign minister is in Russia right now. You have Foreign Minister Iraqi shaking Putin's hands. And yes, they are laughing and all smiles, while Donald Trump is laughing after this alleged incident in the White House correspondence dinner with his team. Oh, my God. Golden ball wall. This, this. That's how they're gonna. That's what they're laughing about. Look at the jesters. Look at the clown squad. I would say the B team, but these people are like the Z team. Look at the Z team. A bunch of freaking losers and grifters and the worst possible people for their position. Look at what they're laughing at. The aftermath of the incident at the White House correspondence dinner. Now look at what Putin and Foreign Minister Iraqi are laughing at. You know what they're laughing at? They're laughing at the jesters. They're laughing at the Trump regime. They're laughing at Donald Trump saying, oh, Iran's gonna blow up in 72 hours because the oil pipelines are congested. Everybody. Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are negotiating. We've got talks in Islamabad, everybody. No, you don't. And they're out there planning and plotting in Russia about what they are doing to destroy America's role in the world. And frankly, all they got to do is sit back and watch you squirm while they laugh at you. They're the ones laughing in your face, Donald. While our allies or former allies are absolutely horrible. Horrified. Brett and Jordy.
Jordy
Well said, Benjamin. It's just, it's such a disgrace. It's made the country so much less safe. And, you know, I, I, I think all those pictures tell a story, and all these clips that we have shown have told the story. You know, I mean, when you see the German chancellor, those are pretty strong words that he's using about the United States. You know, remember when Donald Trump would say that the world is laughing at us under Biden? I mean, quite the contrary.
Ben
Yeah.
Jordy
The world is was relieved and thankful that somebody like Biden was president working to strengthen NATO, working to expand NATO. And now the world is both laughing and is horrified at the United States, and it's because of Donald Trump and it's because of his sycophants. And everywhere you look, you see Donald Trump pushing people away from the United States. All this progress that the US Was making right now being reversed. And there's even this major globe at summit happening right now. The New York Times is reporting on this earlier 60 countries meeting in Colombia to. To figure out how to phase out fossil fuels. And so they invited all of these countries except guess who didn't get the invite. Brothers, I'll give you one guess, Jordy. Guess who didn't get the invite to the Clean Energy Summit in Colombia.
Brett
Was it us? Was it us?
Jordy
Yeah, yeah, no, it was us. It's ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Unfortunately. And so like, that. That should be, like, a big deal, right? That should be, like, very big news. And this obviously comes in the middle of this insane energy crisis that's, like, caused by Donald Trump. Trump and his war with Iran. And so you have all these countries across the world right now, as Ben was saying, facing these shortages, these prices going through the roof, they're rationing fuel. If you see some of the conversations that prime ministers and presidents in these other countries are having with their people, I mean, it's almost reminiscent of COVID They're telling people, get ready. Like, we need to, you know, start, you know, really conserving energy here. If you don't need to go to work, don't go to work. You know, try to limit your use of gas and oil. Like, they're really sounding the alarm over there. And the U.S. meanwhile, has, like, pulled back and reversed course on all of this clean energy stuff that. That they're doing. And so the world is off on their own trying to build a coalition of the willing to actually get things done, to try to actually help the planet develop new sources of energy that don't require our presence in the Middle East. And so there's this major moment happening right now in Colombia, and the United States is not even part of.
Lindsey Graham
Part of it.
Jordy
And it's a combination of climate policy, yes, but also global economics, national security. It's all of these things colliding right now at the same time due to the geopolitical dynamics that we are seeing. It just, it's. It's just, you know, it's a sad indictment of where the country is.
Brett
Look, when you're the annoying kid in class, when you're the bully, you can't be shocked when you don't get invited to the birthday party. And Donald Trump has made us the bully for no good reason other than just to isolate us from everybody else. Tell me one time in history when this notion of isolationism actually worked out to benefit a country or, you know, a citizenship, like, just absolutely never. So for me, it comes to this where I could sort of, you know, hang my hat as we close this episode is Donald Trump's approval rating, as we mentioned earlier, has never been lower. Collectively, this country is seeing threat through the bs. The world is seeing through the bs, even though it's still a horrible reflection on the United States and us as individuals. Like, it's just brutal. But I feel confidently that one day in the not too distant future, we could start to reclaim, like, what this country is supposed to be about, which is doubling down on the truth, doubling down on data and the facts, and championing democracy in a way that's supposed to be championed not by just praising one man and having our leaders in Congress and the Senate or whatever just do the bidding of an individual, but to work for the people. And so I'm excited to get back to that point. And this country just means too much to me and personally and I know brothers to you too, and Midas Mighty to give up on that hope that we can reclaim that, because I know we can. And I know this country at its best when things are firing at all cylinders, and quite frankly, I don't know if it ever has, but when we could get our leaders and our citizens to. To start working together and having the leaders in this country, quote, unquote, work for the people as it's meant to be, public servants versus trying to just do the bidding of one specific man in one ballroom, right? We could be so great. And so I think that's truly where we could ultimately go here as a country. And I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful because I've seen the growth of this audience. Please subscribe to the YouTube channel if you aren't already. Many people think they're subscribed, but you might not be subscribed to the audio feed, right? We are on our way to 7 million subscribers. We are already over 9 billion views. You can't tell me that truth doesn't have a place in this society. I'm seeing it. We are seeing it with our own eyes, that people are fed up, man, with this corporate BS and this corporate glazing and this media that has just let the people down and are tired of that and are hungry for truth and facts and data. So thank you guys for watching the show tonight.
Ben
Benji, as Jordy said, make sure you subscribe. We're grateful for you. Thank you, everybody. Everybody, we'll see you next time on the Midas Touch podcast. Jordy, take it away.
Brett
Shout out to the Midas Mighty. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our substack@midasplus.com. you'll get daily recaps from Ronfield Calculator ad, free episodes of our podcast and more exclusive content only available@midasplus.com
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MeidasTouch Podcast – April 28, 2026
This episode of the MeidasTouch Podcast, hosted by brothers Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas, delves deep into the political circus following a controversial incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The brothers dissect the Trump regime’s immediate pivot to pushing for public financing of a so-called “Golden Ballroom,” analyze media complicity, address viral rightwing talking points, and provide commentary on international developments including US-Iran relations and America’s standing on the world stage during the Trump administration’s second term. The episode is characterized by the hosts’ signature blend of critical analysis, fierce advocacy for democracy, and irreverent humor.
Immediate Reaction & Narrative Spin (02:00–09:00)
"Within minutes of the alleged incident... they were pushing for a golden ballroom... It's very, very bizarre and suspicious behavior." — Ben (02:00)
Corporate Media’s Response (09:00–19:30)
"I've never seen a group bend over backwards so much for a man who so openly despises them and would never, ever reciprocate that sort of grace." — Jordy (07:43)
"These legacy reporters like manufacturing this sense of danger to validate their own self-importance... It's the height of narcissism." — Brett (17:42)
Gaslighting and Surreal Spin (19:30–24:00)
"Every time these people open their mouth... they erode trust by the American public that much more until the American people don’t believe anything." — Jordy (21:47)
Trump’s Deflections (22:06–28:04)
"As a journalist, if you're in that room, you should point out, what are you saying you’re exonerated from? ...Aren't you on audio and video saying that you grab women by their genitals because you’re rich and you get away with it?" — Ben (23:44)
Messaging Groupthink (41:45–43:27)
"Dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of MAGA aligned accounts were all tweeting the same thing. This is why we need to build the ballroom now... it's a coordinated process." — Jordy (42:21)
GOP Embrace of the Ballroom (46:49–65:07)
"You were going to be paying for this stupid ballroom... The money hasn't even materialized and now they're begging the American people for the money." — Jordy (65:09)
World Leaders’ Perspective (67:54–78:30)
"It is quite obvious that the Americans have absolutely no coherent strategy whatsoever... a whole nation is being humiliated." — Friedrich Merz (68:31)
"When you have to turn it off because you have no place to store this oil... a very bad thing is going to happen." — Donald Trump (71:40)
America’s Growing Isolation (78:30–81:11)
"Truth doesn't have a place in this society? I'm seeing it. We are seeing it with our own eyes, that people are fed up... and are hungry for truth and facts and data." — Brett (82:43)
On Media Sycophancy:
"Thank you for your leadership in the moments afterward and for coming on and giving the country the strength to not let those who would wish to harm us stop us from our pursuit of..." — Jackie Heinrich to Trump (26:09)
On Right-Wing Political Messaging:
"After school shootings, all of a sudden, like, let's not talk about it. We can't do gun control... After this, it's like, oh, that's why we need a ballroom." — Jordy (47:08)
On Trump’s Explosive Iran Claims:
"They say they only have about three days left before [the oil pipelines] happen. And when it explodes... you can never rebuild it the way it was. It's a very powerful thing that takes place, sort of having to do with nature." — Trump (71:40)
Germany’s Chancellor’s Criticism:
"A whole nation is being humiliated there by the Iranian leadership." — Friedrich Merz (70:24)
On Truth and Democracy:
"The country just means too much to me... and to give up on that hope that we can reclaim that, because I know we can." — Brett (81:11)
The MeidasTouch Podcast episode is energetic, outraged, and darkly humorous, as the brothers slice through layers of government and media spin to expose underlying truths. They deride the veiled grift of the “Golden Ballroom,” lampoon establishment press, and highlight the international community’s growing disdain for Trump’s America. Listeners unfamiliar with current events will emerge with a vivid, if critical, sense of the media’s failings, the administration’s corruption, and the ongoing struggle to defend democracy in an era of disinformation.
Final word:
This installment stands out for its rigor, biting wit, and commitment to independent journalism. The Meidas brothers urge their audience to reject gaslighting, seek the truth, and keep fighting for democratic principles—ballroom distractions be damned.