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That's iqbar.com promo code BAR20 to get 20% off plus free shipping. Iqbar.com code BAR20 Donald Trump's approval is tanking. The bottom is falling out right now. You take a look at the recent Data for Progress poll. Who do you trust on inflation? Democrats for the first time trusted more plus eight compare this to 2022 when Republicans were plus 17. That's a 25% swing. But when you get into the latest Fox poll of Donald Trump's overall approval, his approval is at 39% on specific issues like inflation. He's net negative 52% on the economy, net negative 4. 42% when you look at issues like foreign policy, net negative 24% the latest disaster trip to China net negative 9% on immigration net negative 8%. It just gets worse from there. The Quinnipiac poll has Donald Trump's overall approval at 34%. When you look at his approval on the economy and total free fall, just 33% approved, while 64% disapprove. Folks, this number looks like it will be heading into the 20s in no time. The latest ARG poll as well has Trump's approval at 31%. I can keep on going, but I think you get the point. And now we're seeing Republicans in both the House and the Senate rebelling against Donald Trump. Obviously MAGA Mike doing what he can to further reduce our Congress to the Russian Duma. But we had the United States Senate with Republican leader, uh, Thune shutting down the Senate after apparently there was a meeting with Donald Trump's acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, a massive fight broke out over Donald Trump's $1.8 billion slush fund to January 6th insurrectionist. Also Republicans, absolutely. That Donald Trump's on a retribution and revenge tour against Republicans. He doesn't like Donald Trump endorsing the corrupt Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over the incumbent Senator John Cornyn. Which now seeing James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for Senate, leading in a head to head with Paxton if Paxton ultimately makes it through the primaries, with Talarico winning by plus four as of this point, Republicans are telling Punchbowl and others it is a total meltdown of our chances to keep control of the United States Senate. We know previously the Republicans in the Senate joined forces with Democrats to pass a War Powers Resolution Act. They discharged that, meaning they voted to block Donald Trump's continuation of this catastrophic war in Iran. Earlier today, the House of Representatives was supposed to take a similar vote and Democrats and some Republicans collectively were going to pass it in the House of Representatives. So MAGA Mike Johnson delayed it until the next legislative session. He has the ability to do that like once. And so he's delaying it to the next legislation, next legislative session. And get this, he's now sent the House of Representatives home as well. So the House of Representatives now shut down also, and both the House and the Senate shut down until June. So again, no work going on there. And this was supposed to be a week where they passed the reconciliation bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol even more than they were already getting funded. So that's what's going on in the United States Congress right now, or I should say what's not going on. Then you have Donald Trump just again showing utter weakness when it comes to foreign policy. Trump further attacking Canada and Attacking Greenland. America getting booed out of Greenland during the opening of its consulate in Nuke, getting literally protested against. Photos of Donald Trump and Epstein line the streets there in Nuke, Greenland. Donald Trump continuing to attack NATO, asking Zelinsky, can you help, can you help me out with Belarus? Zelensky, Belarus wants to sell its potash. Can you help sell it in Europe, please, this fertilizer and Zelensky's like, what are you talking about? Like, you have Putin and Belarus threatening more incursions, more invasions into Ukraine. Why, why would we help you with that? Like, what are you talking about? And meanwhile, you had Putin doing nuclear drills with Belarus today, basically saying, you know, our nuclear triad will stand up against, you know, if we feel threatened. And this as Zelensky has been successful in targeting into Moscow, hitting oil depots there and infrastructure in Moscow. And so this is one of the responses by Putin after visiting Xi Jinping in China. Joint statement issued by Xi Jinping and Putin in China as Putin left, describing a multipolar world, a new world order. Talk about that. And you know, when Donald Trump is backed into a corner, you know, what does he want to do? He wants to continue this Ponzi scheme, if you will, foreign policy and manipulate the markets. But now they're talking about moving closer to this invasion of Cuba. We saw them setting this up with saying there were 300 drones in Cuba that's now threatening Miami. And we see an aircraft carrier now off the coast of Cuba. And so we'll keep you posted there. And I guess the Trump regime's view is if we starve the people in Cuba with the blockade, they're gonna overthrow the regime on their own. I mean, didn't you learn any lessons from Iran that that's not, that's not, not working. We'll talk about this and more here on the Midas Touch podcast. I'm Ben, myself Brett and Jordy. Good to see you both.
B
Good to see you, Ben. Good to see you, Jordy. Good to see you. Midas.
A
Mighty.
B
Always a pleasure to be here with you on the Midas Touch podcast, whether you're live or whether you're listening on the audio podcast on my on Apple podcasts or Spotify, wherever you get your audio podcast. Oh, man, I gotta say, why does the United States Senate, why does Congress as a whole work less than us? Why do they work less than the average American? It really drives me absolutely insane. I mean, you would think that this body, right, who is supposed to be so esteemed, obviously they are not these days. But People who are running the country, theoretically, that they should actually be working and be in the office. But they always call breaks early, like every opportunity they get. And then some people may get off like a day for Memorial Day. They take off like an entire week. I mean, the fact that they are pushing everything now on a Thursday and they're saying, you know what, we're not going to be back until June at this point, it's just a disgrace. And it just like throws it in the face at the American people who are out there every day. Some people work in one job for 12 plus hours, some people work in two jobs, three jobs. And then you see these people being paid with taxpayer money, just taking off all the time that they could get. And by the way, not. That's before we even get to all the other scams of the Trump administration, right? All the various stunts that they are pulling by giving your taxpayer money to January 6th insurrectionist, to Donald Trump's family members, to Donald Trump's allies. Like I was saying the other day, it's almost morally difficult to even square the concept that you have to pay taxes that fund these wars when the money is being used to kill girls, innocent girls in schools overseas, or give money to then possibly have it go to January 6th insurrectionists, it is just appalling. It is morally reprehensible, and it is representative of the moral rot that we are seeing right now out of this White House and with a spineless Republican Party every single day. We're going to get into all of it. We got a lot to discuss. But first, you know, I got to toss it over to Jordy. Jordy, what's the latest?
C
Brothers Midas? Mighty. It's great to be here. Pumped to get into today's show, Brett? Exactly, man. I mean, it's just like, we have to get to a point in this country where the politicians here actually want to work for the American people. Actually want to work. Like, let's just stop there. Actually want to do some work. And it's just so frustrating when an entire party, the Republican Party right now, has just, you know, decided no matter what, they are going to do one thing, and that is protect Donald Trump and the Trump regime every chance that they can get, American people be damned. And so to me, it's like, no wonder why Donald Trump's approval rating is just sinking further and further as the days go. It's because he's not working for the American people. None of these people in the Trump regime, Donald Trump himself, the Republican Congress, like, they Hate you like MAGA constituents, they hate you. Just so you know, they don't want to work, they want to take paid vacations and protect Donald Trump. And they don't care about how much you're paying at the pump. They don't care about your health care costs. They don't care that housing isn't affordable, affordable in this country. They don't give a about you, the American person. To me, it's so frustrating. But, you know, the smallest of silver linings here is like, it feels like the American people at large are waking up with Trump's approval rating, you know, taking the dips that it has over these last couple of weeks.
A
Ben, let me show you what went down moments ago on the floor of the House of Representatives. Congressmember McGovern was like, what's going on right now? Weren't we supposed to take a vote today on the War Powers Resolution the same way the Senate did? We have enough votes right here to block this catastrophic and unlawful war. Just so everybody knows, the House passes it, the Senate passes it. Donald Trump still has the ability to veto it. So they don't have the veto proof majority in either House. However, I think it would send a very strong message if it passed in both the House and the Senate, that both chambers, on a somewhat bipartisan basis, were able to pass legislation saying that Trump's war is unlawful, then Donald Trump would be forced to veto it, which in and of itself would send a statement that you are vetoing the will of the American people. You know, although we know that the will of the American people is reflected in those poll numbers that I shared with you at the outset, which Trump's approval and depending on the poll, 31%, 34% or 39%, you pick your medicine there or sickness there. Here's what went down. Congressmember McGovern's like, what's going on? We're supposed to vote and now you're sending us home and we're going to have to come back in June. What are we doing here? Let's play this clip.
D
What purpose of General Massachusetts Seek recognition. Mr. Speaker, can you explain to the members of the chamber what is happening with the Iran War Powers Resolution that was scheduled to be voted on this evening? The gentleman have a parliamentary request. Well, that is my parliamentary incident inquiry. I just want to know what has happened with the Iran War Powers Resolution. The gentleman may consult with your leadership regarding scheduling. Mr. Speaker, further parliamentary inquiry. Are we not voting on it because the American people are sick and tired of this Illegal war that it's costing tens of billions of dollars. Gas prices are through the roof. People can't afford. People can afford to their groceries. Is that why you're pulling it? You guys don't have. The house will be in order. The house. This house will be in order. The chairs. The chair is prepared to move on to the next question.
A
The chair is prepared to move on to the next question. What question is more important to Americans right now than the fact that inflation is surging, that people can't afford things? We're in a catastrophic war in Iran that's causing inflation to increase right now. What's another question that you're going to be bringing? Or is it that you are shutting down Congress and the question is, should you adjourn once again? And I know when some people watch our videos and you're like, isn't this deja vu? Didn't you tell me last week that Congress shut down? Now they're shutting down again. And then you tell me the week before MAGA Mike is shutting down. Yeah. So what they keep on doing, they're not working right now. And what they're doing. And this is what you see happen in, you know, in Russia, this is what you see happen in North Korea, that Donald Trump's puppets, MAGA Mike, are using whatever procedural rules they can to literally basically disband. The equivalent of like disbanding Parliament, but disbanding the, you know, adjoining Congress, adjoining the House so that you can't vote if no one shows up to work. That's. That's where they're at. Just let people vote. Like, why wouldn't you do the vote? Why? Just see what happens. And if the vote. And if you lose the vote, you lose the vote. And then you deal with it. That's what adults do. That's what happens with adults. And then you have that going on in the House. And then just think about how out of touch they are, because this is what's going on in the White House where Donald Trump's holding this press conference. You got this guy behind Donald Trump, which just completely distracts me with his belly and his Audi belly button just continues to distract me during this whole video. But then Donald Trump is out there saying, affordability. What's this word? Affordability here? Let's play this clip.
D
From day one, they said affordability. Affordability is a word because they're good at that. They're good at words. But I'm good at words, too. But they hit me with affordability. I just got There they hit me with eggs. We had a news conference on my third day, and they said, egg prices are through the roof. I said, I just got here. Tell me about eggs. And we got the prices down, way down, actually lower than it was four years before.
A
What do you mean they hit you with eggs? Anyone? They hit you with it. No one's hitting you with eggs. Things are more expensive right now. Inflation's up 3.8% year over year. CPI, PPI, wholesale inflation producer. Inflation's up 6%. Based on the monthly increases of inflation, we believe inflation will rise to 5% CPI by the end of this year. Notably, while we were talking about rate cuts before, what will probably happen is interest rates will rise and some of the next votes. That's likely the outcome. Interest rates increasing. And you may be saying, well, didn't Donald Trump just appoint that warsh guy who's the new chairman of the Federal Reserve? Wasn't he going to lower interest rates? He doesn't have that power on his own. There's still enough votes that are on because the former chairman, Jerome Powell, did not resign. He's still on the board. There's enough votes that the board has enough people that. That aren't gonna do what Donald Trump tells them to do. And when inflation surges, the way you reign it under control is to increase the interest rates. And that, in theory, helps bring down inflation. It could also induce recessions. But that's where we are right now. And from 2020 to the current moment, we're talking about 29 to 30% inflation since 2020. So for everybody who's like, well, we don't like Biden and Biden's inflation. Da, da da, da, da. Biden's inflation towards the end of his term was heading down to 2%. That's where it would have gone. If Donald Trump did nothing, 2% interest rates would have been cut, and it would have unleashed, I think, a lot of great economic things if unleashed with the right timing and under appropriate circumstances. But Donald Trump promised he was gonna reduce inflation. So all of the inflation, though, you didn't like under Biden, right? Donald Trump is adding 5% or last year's, whatever it was, 3%, 5% year over year to Biden. So take Biden's, then add last year's inflation under Trump, this year's inflation under Trump, 8%, 8% on top of what Biden's inflation, top of what Biden's inflation was. So let's go more to this press conference right here where they're asking, you know, look, the Senate just shut down as well. In addition to the House, they got into a fight with Attorney General Todd Blanche earlier in the day. Blanche showed up and said, we need this $1.8 billion slush fund for Donald Trump to pay off January 6th insurrectionist. Donald Trump settled that case with himself that he filed against the IRS for $10 billion. He settled it for $1.8 billion to create this fund for January 6th insurrectionist. But while you were looking that way with the sleight of hand, he also waived any and all audits of his taxes and waived any of his. Any claims that he didn't pay taxes in the past or any of, kind of the. From the point of the settlement agreement going back, any liability from taxes, it's a waiver of everything there. So all of these shady deals, I think, are covered, these quid pro quos, all of that.
B
I think Donald Trump, though, and his family and his businesses will abide by the honor system and pay what they're supposed to pay. Right, Ben? I mean, come on.
A
I mean, they built themselves tax liability, immunity in a deal. By the way, there were 450,000 other people who were impacted by the same data leak that Donald Trump sued for $10 billion. None of them sued because they don't have a claim.
B
Sometimes it feels like we're living like in the middle of a social experiment. Like, how far can you push the people before there's like a revolution? How far can you push people until they just have had enough with this crap? But the stuff they are doing is not only so criminal, but it's also just so brazenly criminal. It's so in your face. The COVID ups are so in your face. The way Donald Trump covers up the Epstein files and then goes after the Congress people who actually voted to release the Epstein files. The way he tries to hide his potential tax fraud, the way he tries to bail out the January 6th insurrectionist, the way he has already granted clemency and pardons to all these January 6th insurrectionists. Like any single one of these things should be the end of a presidency and the end of you ever being in public life and anybody associated with you in public life. But I think the one thing that we see is that, you know, Donald Trump, these Republicans, this whole crew, in many ways, they, they are like cockroaches in a nuclear attack. Like, they will, they are equipped. Their whole thing is we will survive at all costs, people be damned. We don't care how this impacts the rest of the population, we are going to do whatever we can to survive. And so I think that's another. And why they pushed this vote, for example, on the War Powers act, canceling it because Democrats had enough votes. This is something that wouldn't even necessarily have an impact, let's be clear, beside from being symbolic, because Trump would ultimately be able to veto it once it got to him if it passed both chambers. But they don't even want to have their, they don't even want to have to vote on it. Right. They don't even want that to be on the record. And they don't want to betray Donald Trump, who any moment now could go back to war with Iran or could go to start a war with Cuba. And you, you already see the language that they're using with those countries, especially with Cuba right now as Donald Trump tries to distract from the Iran disaster and debacle, as Iran continues to formalize its control over the Strait of Hormuz, building the Persian Gulf Strait authority, working with neighbors, giving Russia and China exemptions to tolls, all the things that they are doing. You already see this Trump regime. And then you spoke about the drones and you spoke about the other things that they're claiming Cuba has, which, you know, I'm sure they do have plenty of stuff, probably as a defensive posture because the United States for the past few months has been threatening to invade their country. And they've seen what follows when the United States makes these threats when it comes to Venezuela, when it comes to Iran. Right. So, yeah, I think they want to be prepared for a potential invasion.
A
I totally understand that aspect of it.
B
Then you see someone like Marco Rubio today and he's getting out there and he's starting to say the same things that we heard in the lead up to or the Iran war, the same things we heard in the lead up to the Iraq, Iraq war. It's the same lines that these Republicans have used for decades and decades and decades. Oh, they have these weapons now and they're a threat to the United States. And, and there could be an attack on the United States imminently. And we need to be prepared and we need to understand they're a state sponsor of terror. They use these buzzwords to manufacture consent and try to sell these wars, even if they kind of like half ass it. Like Iran didn't even try to sell the war. Right. But they use these lines in order to try to manufacture consent, in order to say, look, listen, we had no choice. They were going to have a nuclear
A
weapon in two weeks.
B
And if we didn't do this, well, you would, you should have seen what would have happened. Even when all independent analyses say the exact opposite, even when all independent analyses say that it's the United States and Donald Trump who is the aggressor. And I think it's a problem right now when we look at the geopolitical landscape out there that we see the United States is the erratic one, the one who our allies are unable to trust. And at the same time time these countries who would normally be relying on the United States, be partners with the United States, be working with the United States, they're looking outwards, they're looking to countries like China, they're looking at countries who have been historically our adversaries. And they're going, okay, this may be a communist regime, this may be a regime that does some bad things, but they're stable, like, they're not nuts. And we know what they do and we know that we could at least deal with these people. Donald Trump, I don't. He could rip up our deal tomorrow. He could just start, go on a rampage. We just don't know. This is a maniac in the White House. And when you, you don't have stable leadership, everything else falls apart. Which is why historically, presidents have actually tried to project stability and actually try to court our allies and try to come from it, from a sense of, of dignity, diplomacy. Donald Trump is none of those things. And it's having effects on every facet of the geopolitical landscape. Everything abroad and everything here at home.
C
What our allies or former allies have realized too, is that Donald Trump is not governing for the people and by the people. He's ruling for himself and the Trump regime and the Epstein class. And that's Donald Trump's like, main group right there. That's all he cares about. And so these former allies of ours have just, they've come to the conclusion that, oh my goodness, this guy is so psychotic that he does not care what's happening on a day to day basis for the American citizens at large. We can't trust him to give a damn about us if he doesn't give a damn about his own people. I mean, Donald Trump says jump. The entire Republican Party right now says how high? It is a damning indictment of our entire government here that we have an entire political party that only cares about one person. I mean, I will say this until I'm blue in the face because it is just so crazy to witness playing out in real time and how they bend over the backwards to bend the rules and make up new rules and use these policy things to just benefit Trump, you know, American people be damned. And it is so deeply upsetting, as someone who actually loves this country, to see it being manipulated and used in such a nefarious way to really only benefit, like, the top 1% of the country here. And again, as oil prices are skyrocketing, as affordability is just out of hand for every, you know, for everyone's lifestyle, whether it be housing or health care or putting food on the table, you name it, Donald Trump could care less. The entire Republican Party could care less. Literally, they don't care at all. So long as Donald Trump and the Trump regime could push forward their agenda, whatever that may be. Invading Cuba, going to war with Iran, like, whatever Trump wants to do, the entire Republican Party lines up, no questions asked, and gets behind him to do it.
A
At the very beginning, Donald Trump said, I was going to bring peace to Ukraine in 24 hours and bring down prices in 24 hours. Both of those utter lies. And the same thing with Ukraine. What was he saying? Give me two weeks. One more month. Month. We're making progress. Two weeks. One month. Oh, breakthrough. Two weeks, One month. All bs, right? What was he saying? With prices? We're getting there. Don't worry. Give me two weeks. Give me Most Favored nations provision. Look, this is going down. This is going down. We're right around the corner. Next quarter. Next quarter's our quarter. Don't you worry. We're about to unleash fourth quarter, first quarter, 20, 27. This is what Ponzi schemers do, and they create new crises to try to mask the old crisis. And then a lot of the domestic crises are distractions from other domestic crises, which are distractions from other crises, which are distractions from the Epstein files. And then you just have this mess that we find ourselves in heading into Memorial Day. We find ourselves in an absolute mess. No predictability, no certainty. People are suffering and saying, no predictability, no certainty. That's like generous. It's chaos. It's chaos out there. It's Trumpian. And this is how Donald Trump ran businesses into the ground. This is how he's destroyed, you know, companies and entities. This is his MO and we're seeing it here play out in our country. There's a new global world order that is forming right now where America first has meant America alone. And America finds itself weaker than ever, as right now, the person in the Oval Office continues to suck up to Xi Jinping and Putin while they're out there mocking him and, and forming alliances to weaken the United States. And they're going about doing it methodically, with plans and tactically while Donald Trump wakes up and posts photos of reflecting pools and golden statues and ballrooms and and, and all that. We're going to take our first quick break of the show. When we come back, we've got a lot more to discuss. What's going on in Capitol Hill, what's going on in the rest of the world. Todd Blanche, Acting Attorney General and by acting, I mean acting and acting. He's Trump's personal defense attorney. What he's doing is an act. It's a farce as well. We'll take our first quick breaker reminder hit subscribe, help us get to 7 million subscribers and also if you can become a member, click Member Join right now. Become a member and gift memberships to others if you can. Let's take our first quick break of the show.
B
Show I've always had the same problems with jeans. If they fit my waist, they're either too tight in the thighs or way too long. If they do fit my legs, the waist is huge. And by the end of the day I'm doing that awkward mid conversation adjustment that everyone pretends not to notice. That's why I was honestly skeptical when I tried a pair of the perfect jeans. They sent me a pair. I put them on, did the full squat test, sat down, moved around and immediately thought oh damn. These are actually awesome. Awesome. They look like classic denim but they feel as comfortable as sweatpants and that was hugely important to me. The four way stretch means you can bend, squat, sit and actually live your life without feeling like your jeans are crushing you. Whether you're doing yard work, heading to a Memorial Day cookout or just going out to dinner, they move with you and they fit right out of the box. No tailoring, no break in period. No nonsense. They are built with YKK zippers, reinforced belt loops and they come come in thousands of size combinations for actual human bodies. I wholeheartedly recommend them. Our listeners get 15% off their first order plus free shipping at ThePerfectGene NYC or Google the Perfect Gene and use code MIDAS15 for 15% off. Again, our listeners get 15% off their first Order plus free shipping at ThePerfectGene NYC or Google the Perfect Gene and use Code MIDAS15 for 15% off. That's M E I D A S15 Magic Spoon has figured out how to turn treats into something you could actually feel great about eating. If you're like me. And you love having something sweet during the day or after dinner, but you don't want the sugar crash. This is going to be your new obsession. Their magic Spoon treats are crispy, airy snack bars that taste like dessert. But they have the macros of a protein bar. 12 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber, 0 grams of added sugar, and they're certified gluten free. They come in flavors like marshmallow, chocolate, peanut butter and double chocolate. They're perfect to toss in your bag, keep in the car or grab when that sweet craving hits. And of course, Magic Spoon cereal is still iconic. You know, I love it. All the childhood nostalgia you remember with 12 to 14 grams of protein and between 0 to 2 grams of sugar per serving. Fruit, Fruity, Frosted, Cinnamon Crunch, Cocoa, peanut butter. They've got all the classics and I truthfully love them all. Magic Spoon is easy to find. Just look for Magic Spoon at your local grocery store. And they just rolled out treats nationwide at 7:11. And if you haven't tried them yet, check out Magic Spoon's new protein pastries, a high protein, low sugar take on the classic toaster pastries you grew up with. You can get $5 off your next order, including the protein past at magicspoon.com midas that's magicspoon.com midas M E I D A S for $5 off.
C
Let's go. Shout out to our sponsors links in description, both the YouTube and the audio. Use the links, use the codes. If there's an exit survey, let them know we sent you. Love me some magic spoon Love me the perfect gene. They've been great sponsors to us for a while. Definitely show them love. If you're in the market for those products, Benji, real quick, I also have to make an apology here to my in laws. So last episode I may have put them on blast talking about how hot the house was, you know, about 95 degrees or whatever. They listened to the show like they listened to the whole show. I thought I buried that deep in the episode. They heard it, they got upset with me and my father in law who's 82, he was extra upset with me because he said it was my fault. He said I didn't put the. Apparently there's like a secret AC unit over here on this side, you know where I'm supposed to flip it on. So I apologize. It was my fault, not the house's fault.
B
Here's Meemaw and Papa. Here's the thing. Jordan, you're still sweaty.
C
No, no, I'm not maybe I'm just a little oily.
B
Is Jody not.
C
Relax, Brett, relax. I did the apology. They asked me to apologize. I apologize. Benji, where to next?
A
You know, one of the main reasons why, though, Republicans are now standing, I don't wanna say they're all standing up to Donald Trump. Why? On these certain kind of core issues, they're pushing back with War powers resolution, the $1.8 billion slush fund, and Donald Trump wanting $1 billion in taxpayer money to go to the Golden Ballroom, one they see in the generic ballots just getting wiped out. I mean, the midterms are right around the corner. I mean, just think about it. Before we know it, I mean, just think about from Memorial Day to Labor Day, boom. Now we're going to, then elections are going to be quite literally right around the corner. So I think they were in their own mind doing kind of the Trump delay, delay, delay. And now they're like, my gosh, elections are really right here. And then also Donald Trump continues his revenge and retribution tour against Republicans. I mean, against John Cornyn, who's, you know, he's definitely a right wing guy. He's a Trump enabler. He's not like a MAGA MAGA guy. But Cornyn's pretty bad, but he's not like ultra maga. Ken Paxton is as corrupt and MAGA as you get the AG in Texas. And then Donald Trump said, I'm going to endorse Paxton in a primary over Cornyn. And Republicans in the Senate were pouring in millions of dollars to support Cornyn, and they still are going to because he's one of their colleagues. And now when you look at the actual polling that's taking place in Texas, you have James Talarico leading right now in Texas on a head to head with Paxton. And now Republicans like, well, we're probably going to lose Texas now and we're going to be spending tens of millions of dollars to fight for Texas while we lose Texas. And now that money could have been spent on other states. And now we're looking at this map and this is, this is deeply, you know, this is, this is deeply problematic for control of the Senate. Senate. And so they thought they'd at least control the Senate, lose the House. Now they're thinking in the Republican circles, we're going to lose this. We could lose the Senate right now if we lose, if we lose Texas. So you had Attorney General Todd Blanche, he shows up and he talks about that $1.8 billion slush fund. And apparently Republicans were like, we're blocking Your slush fund. You screwed us. We're not, you know, you screwed us over. We're not doing the slush fund. We're not doing the ballroom. We're not doing that stuff.
C
It's just not.
A
We're not. We're not going to support it. We will support blocking it. And apparently Blanche started, like, yelling at them, and they were like, who are you? Like, who are you to yell at us? You're Donald Trump's personal attorney. So that's what went down there. Senate shuts down, House shuts down, and Donald Trump's in the Oval Office, and he's asked in the Oval Office, are you losing control of the Senate? Are you losing control of Republicans in the Senate and even the House? Here, let's play this clip of Whitram's.
B
Are you losing control of the Senate, Senator?
D
I don't know. I really don't. I can tell you. I only do what's right. I don't need money for the ballroom. You know, I'm making a gift of the ballroom. This is the biggest misreporting that I've ever seen. The ballroom is being built. It'll cost. We've done. It was going to be 200 million. I've doubled the size of it because we need it. And it's being done in conjunction with the military and with the. Very much in conjunction with the military and Secret Service.
A
What does it even mean? It's being done very, very much in conjunction with them. We saw the reconciliation bill. You asked for $1 billion for it. I mean, the guy, as I said, every sound syllable, everything is a lie. You know, I note a lot of diplomats overseas, like, when they see someone like Jeff Landry, Donald Trump's envoy to Greenland, the governor of Louisiana, it's like, why are you even there? No one invited you there. There was like, a business conference, and he showed up and acted like he was invited. And then he goes there and he does, like, the Trump thing where he goes, no one's ever heard of Greenland since we were there. Just think about it. There's been no diplomats who ever showed up here until me. Like, you all should be very thankful. And what. You know, so many diplomats who I speak to in Europe and elsewhere, you know, say is like, we're used to, like, certain propaganda. Like, we're used to kind of, you know, you know, tough and sharp practices sometimes when it comes to, you know, foreign policy issues. But, like, just the outright. Living in a whole other universe, we just. We just don't understand what world you're all living in like, Colin Powell was there, John Kerry was there. You know, you have every major, you know, Anthony Blinken went to Greenland. People recognize the importance of Greenland. And so it's a very weird thing when you said you put us on the map, you didn't put us on the map. Like, we, we had a good relationship with the United States. You had military bases here. We had a NATO alliance that protected it. We just don't even understand what world you're living in where every single word, every single thing is a lie. I mean, Trump says, there, it's a gift. I'm paying for it. What are you paying? We've seen no indication that you personally are paying anything for this Golden Ballroom. And you asked for a billion dollars. And that's one of the things that you're frustrated about, is that that billion dollars is not in the reconciliation bill, because Republicans and Democrats are like, no. Then he was asked a question that I find very telling also, which is, are you attending your son's wedding? And listen to what he says to that question.
E
Let's play your son's wedding this weekend, by the way.
D
He'd like me to go, but it's going to be just a small little private affair, and I'm going to try and make it. I'm in the midst. I said, you know, this is not good timing for me. I have a thing called Iran and other things. That's what I can't win on. If I do attend, I get killed. If I don't attend, I get killed. By the fake news. Of course, I'm talking about now, but he's got a very person who I've known for a long time, and hopefully they're gonna have a great marriage.
A
Mr. President, actually, to add. Okay, so it's a small event. Usually at a small family event, the dad would be at that. The family, you would be there. And then he goes, I have something called Iran. But didn't you say that we won in Iran? So what are you doing? You say we control the Strait of Hormuz and everything's going great. We've already won. We've obliterated them. And it's just a. So you're using that as an excuse not to go, to go to your own son's wedding?
C
I mean, like, you know, the, the fake news media would kill me if I went there. I mean, like, I think it'd be the one thing that people would be like, oh, yeah, it's your son's wedding. Like, yeah, you show up for, I don't know, at least five minutes. It's weird. And then I. I understand what I think he was trying to say, but I'm not trying to make excuses for him, because at the end of that, he basically said, he's someone I've known for a long time.
B
Time.
C
Like, it sounded almost as if he was referring to his son in that moment.
A
He just.
B
He slurs his word. He could have been talking about the.
A
The wife. The sooner.
C
Exactly. But I don't even want to give him that out because that's not what he said. It's just not. What he's. He's like, is he's someone I've known for a long time, and I'm like, your son, of course. Yeah. You've known him his whole life. This is also so insane to me. This guy has no idea where he is, and yet he's bombing countries left and right and bringing us into wars. It's madness. It really is mad madness.
A
It definitely is madness. Then he goes on to say that he controls the Strait of Hormuz, but he's got. So what are you spending time on doing? If you control the Strait of Hormuz, and if you control the Strait of Hormuz, then great, then the ship should be leaving. Everything should be fine. What's even the question? We control it. Okay, so we're done. And again, it's just.
B
What do you mean we control.
A
We know. We don't control it. We know that you asked for a billion dollars years. It's just lie after lie. Here, play this clip.
D
They've had a relationship with them before, and we'll see. We have total control of the Strait of Hormuz. As you know, with our blockade, the blockade's been 100% effective. Nobody's been able to get through it. It's like a steel wall.
A
31 ships got through today. I mean, like 31 ships. And they're all using Iran's route that Iran and Oman have worked out this kind of port authority where they charge tolls and get exemptions, and people are negotiating bilaterally with Iran to get their ships out. They're not allowing any ships that are allied with the United States out. And that's what's going on. You don't control the Strait of Hormuz. And then Donald Trump brags about the arch building an arch. It's going to be bigger than the arch in Pyongyang, the biggest arch there is. And by the way, just so you know, the arch is right by Arlington Cemetery. And it's just like this. And it just obstructs the view of both the Lincoln Memorial and the cemetery. If this thing gets built the way. The way it is, and there's no congressional. Again, no congressional authorization for this at all. And what the Trump regime is arguing is that 100 years ago, in something completely unrelated, Congress talked about doing some beautification project that involves some sort of arch 100 years ago, and then they're like this. So Congress authorized us to build this arch 100 years ago today. And that's what we're relying on. And it's just. All this stuff is just like, enough is enough.
B
It's.
A
It's. It's humiliating to our country. And here's what he says about the arch. Let's play it. You need Congress to sign off on it.
D
No, we don't. No, no, we're doing it. It's. The land is owned by. Secretary. By the Interior Department. We don't need anything from Congress.
A
The land isn't owned by the Interior. The land is owned by us. It's public land. Not. The Interior Department isn't a corporation that owns land. It's American soil. It's in our capital. And when you do things with our money, you need our approval for it as exercised through the legislature. This is not a complicated thing, whether it's an arch, whether it's a ballroom, whether it is a $1.8 billion slush fund. If Congress voted for a $1.8 billion sluSH fund for insurrectionists that was then signed into law, we can hold members accountable for voting on such a thing, because they would have cast their vote. They're elected by the people. They'd have the ability to do that. I think it would be a travesty if they did that. But that's our system, and we could hold them accountable. When there's lawsuits that are filed and there's conflict, there's adversary, there's adversity between the plaintiff and the defendant, and there's a jury verdict or a judge makes a ruling on something, and there's a fair resolution that is reached in the context of a court adjudication, and a federal judge approves a settlement, that's part of a process that's used and that's been used in the past to deal with disputed claims. And what we've seen before happen was when there were lawsuits filed, when there was a judge who approves a settlement agreement, that is viewed as a way to have an independent authority, create an independent authority, adjudicate claims. What Donald Trump wants to do is just what authoritarians do. Hand pick a commission of people that he likes and then just have them vote for whatever he wants and then go around Congress or go around the courts or go around and everything. That's just, that's not America. It's not our system. And if you like that system of kings and authoritarians, there are other countries where that system. But that's not fundamentally, that's not the American system. I don't say this is a Democrat isn't a Republican thing. I'm just telling you what our system is. So you know, when you, by the
B
way, you see him doing that now as you look at the ballroom, right, the fine arts commission that he put together, it's all Trump lackeys. You see that with the commission that Todd Blank Blanche is putting together with this 1.776 billion dollar fund is going to be all people who are direct, directly approved by Todd Blanche, Donald Trump's former personal criminal attorney. I know he gets upset when you call him that, but the facts are the facts, Mr. Blanche. Now he also does that everywhere, every aspect you look. He's making these kind of fake committees. He's putting his people on, he's stacking it. And I just want to give you like a list that this was compiled by Ron Philipkowski in the, in our daily bulletin on Midasplus.com just to show you the consequences now of Donald Trump dangling this 1.776. What a stupid number for him to put behind this. Just shows it's all another like stunt, right? This 1.776 billion dollar fund. I'll just read some of these because it is absolutely reprehensible. Enrique Tario, the former leader of the proud Boys said, I'm not greedy, but my life was all ft up because of this. He is asking for between 2 and $5 million from United States taxpayers. Peter Tington, an attorney representing more than 400 January6 defendants said that that $1.8 billion is not going to be enough. He said, quote, people lost multimillion dollar businesses while they were locked up. I don't think the Department of Justice is ready for us yet. You have Mike Lindell saying that he's going to file a claim for $400 million saying, quote, it cost the brand and my pillow $400 million. It is horrific that our own government can do this. It will be a blessing to my employees made whole who are stockholders in my pillow. BRANDON fellows to CNN. The number I put in for is $30 million, according to Chat GPT. I'm in the 3 to 5% tier of how strong a case I have. How I rationalize people getting paid for January 6th is because the government set it up. And on top of that, they set it up, stole the election. I could go on and on and on. We got a huge list. The QAnon Shaman told CNN he's putting in a claim because he's filing a, filing a $40 trillion lawsuit and is representing himself. This, to me, there, there's no, this is why I like to say there is no gray area when it comes to things like this. And so I don't see the point of even trying to debate somebody on issues like this and muddy the water. The truth or the right versus wrong on this issue is not somewhere in between. Do we pay the people who try to, who storm the Capitol and try to overthrow our democracy, or do we not? Oh, let's settle. Somewhere in the middle there must be a gray area. And, and we could find that in the middle. No, that's not how these things work. There is right and there is wrong. And this is so clearly wrong, wrong. And when Todd Blanche is out there justifying this sort of stuff, he is showing that he is indeed, as Ben said earlier, the quote unquote, acting Attorney General. He is putting on an act here. And I will also add, he's not only putting the acting and acting Attorney General, but Todd Blanche is putting the criminal in criminal attorney. There is no justification at all for what we are seeing here. Every American, even the most ardent Republican, should be absolutely enraged that your tax money could go to these people. And all these people want you, right? Think about the language they constantly use, right? Of people who actually could use government assistance of, of disabled people, the people below the poverty line. And they call them freeloaders and they say they don't deserve right as they give away millions and millions, millions of dollars to people who ended up in a situation of their own making by breaking the law, by trying to attack our politicians, by trying to overthrow our government. It is an absolute disgrace any way you look at it. And I'm sick of hearing these clowns, these evil people try to defend this.
C
This is why, too, I, I champion having a strong 4th of September state in this country. And this is why, like corporate media, we just need you guys to do your job and hold folks accountable here. Because this is one of those issues, in my opinion, that needs to be talked about every single day until this is stopped. And also every single Republican needs to be put on record as to what their stance is about this. That's why I'm so happy that, that we have our Washington D.C. bureau out there asking these questions on the ground. And I just wish that there were other medias doing the same, specifically corporate media out there. So shout out to independent media, you know, getting these answers and getting the answers to these questions and putting these Republicans on the record because it's vital, it's absolutely crucial that we know where every single Republican stands on this issue specifically.
A
Ben, let's take our last quick break of the show. A reminder, make sure you hit subscribe. Help us get to 7 million subscribers members. In addition, make sure you if you can join the Midas Touch YouTube channel and gift as many memberships as you can. If you can afford it, that would be great. To help other people get access to some of our bonus features, including the special podcast that Ron Filipkowski does now with Pablo Manriquez, our Washington D.C. bureau reporter who does an incredible job. And we come back. I'm going to show you some of the video that Pablo captured on Capitol Hill, some powerful interviews. Him and Scott McFarland leads our D.C. bureau. We'll talk about that and more. Let's take our last quick break of the show.
B
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C
let's go shout out to our sponsors. Link in description of the YouTube and the audio. Use the links, use the code. If there's an exit survey, let them know we sent you. And just the heads up. Speaking of Shopify, we use Shopify here. Store.midas touch.com Right now we are running and I don't even think the brothers know this yet. One of our biggest sales of the year, our Memorial Day Sale. 20% off. Use code MIDAS20@store.midustouch.com that's code MIDAS20. You'll see it when you go to the website. Get 20% off your order. Let's do this. Benji. Where to next?
A
I just want to share with you these two clips from that Todd Blanche interview with cnn. I thought the report reporter on CNN did a very good job asking him some pretty basic questions that you know he gets an F on first question. Wouldn't the average taxpayer respond why do my Tax dollars need to go to people from the January 6th insurrection. Why are you taking my tax dollars and giving it to them? Here, play this clip. But wouldn't the average taxpayer respond and say, okay, but why is that now my problem? Problem?
B
Why do my tax dollars now need
A
to go to people who are upset about their involvement in invest in investigations?
E
Well, the if you're just upset, you're not getting it done. On the other hand, I think if you said to the American taxpayer pair that there is a horrible wrong committed by your government and now you can apply and you can have your lawyers fees back, you can, you can be compensated for what you lost financially, what American would say, oh my gosh, that's terrible. I mean I don't one, I very much disagree with the idea that the American taxpayer is indignant about the fact that a victim of weaponization, a victim who suffered, whether it was legal fees, lost a job, had their life turned upside down in a way that was not appropriate. If it was appropriate, there should be no compensation. And that's why we have five commissioners who will take a look at it. But I do not think the American people have issues with that. To the contrary, I think, I think they do want their tax dollars spent on things like that.
A
Tax dollars to go to January 6th insurrectionists. That's why you have five commissioners. Let me explain to you what we have in America. We have courts. If somebody is a victim of so called weaponization and they have been maliciously prosecuted, that's called a cause of action. They have a claim that they can file a federal lawsuit under a federal statute or under state law. One of those federal statutes is what's called a section 1983 claim, a civil rights violation for violation of your due process rights. You can file a federal lawsuit. It gets assigned to a federal judge. You then prove that you have a claim. A judge decides whether you've established the requirements to assert a claim. If the judge thinks you've met those requirements, the case goes to a jury and you can argue to a jury what your damages are. And a jury decides that, not five commissioners appointed by Donald Trump and Todd Blanche. A jury decides what that's going to be. That's what our system is. And you're not maliciously prosecuted. If you pled guilty, you're not maliciously prosecuted. If you are convicted, especially if the guilty plea or the conviction is for attacking police officers, if it's for assaulting the Capitol building, if it's for trying to overthrow an election, you will get laughed out of court. If you filed such a lawsuit, especially if you were convicted or pled guilty, it automatically bars you from a lawsuit. And you would have no claim. You would have zero claim whatsoever.
B
So you.
A
Creating a commission is not the way our system works. And taxpayers are not. We have federal courts. That's the way the system works. He was then asked, would you be okay with people who are convicted of hurting police getting taxpayer money? Let's play this clip. You're the nation's top law enforcement official right now. Would you be okay with people who were convicted of hurting police, Police getting taxpayer money?
E
Just to be clear, people that hurt police get money all the time. Okay? There's a process where, where if you are, if you are, if you believe you have your rights violated, you can, you can apply for funds, you can sue, you can file a claim, you can go to court. In some of those cases, the state, the government, the federal government settles those cases. It's abhorrent to ever, ever touch a law enforcement officer, which is why anytime anybody does that and it's a federal officer, we'll prosecute them. But that's a completely different question with whether an individual is allowed to apply for a claim, whether they'll get a claim disqualifying.
A
Frank Leach loses bar license for that answer. People that hurt police get money all the time. Name me one. Name me someone who hurt police, who pled guilty for hurting police and got money and got rewarded for hurting police. What are you talking about? I mean, seriously, you're the acting Attorney General and that's what your view is. Anybody, I suppose, can file a lawsuit in the sense that you can click file. But the lawyer who filed that case asking for money in a federal lawsuit, when you attack a police officer or your client does, you will get Rule 11 sanctions sanctioned, and you will have to pay the other side's fees, and you will probably get referred to the state bar by the federal judge. And I say this on a bipartisan basis, and the federal government doesn't settle cases for people who attack and hurt police. And what world are you living in? And again, it's stuff like that to me that whether you're a Democrat or Republican or independent, we should all rally around and we should all call out as just being wrong and inappropriate. The same way when Donald Trump trades 3,700 times, 3,700 stock trades in Q1 of 2026, right around the dips and the rising of the markets and the manipulation that we saw during the war, that's deeply problematic. We can still focus on all of the other horrible things that Trump is doing. We can still focus on the Epstein file cover up. We could still focus on the fact that things are not affordable and that people are struggling and that healthcare is being ripped away. All these things. We could still, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. And we could also say, why are you selling stocks? Even if you're doing it through a broker or whatever in companies, individual companies that you're traveling with their CEOs and you're inviting to the White House and you're making social media posts where you post the stock ticker. Why are you doing that? Why are you doing that? And if you're already a billionaire before you were in the Oval Office, why are you like what, you need to be more of a billionaire. You need to do more. Why are you doing this? Is the greed that insatiable that you have to trade that amount of times. You shouldn't be even trading once. And so on the Midas Touch network, we spoke with with some of these MAGA Republicans and asked them, what do you think about it? So we spoke to Tommy Tuberville, Tuberville MAGA Republican senator from Alabama. Here's what he had to say. So, Coach, what do you make is going to ask Donald Trump 3,700 stock trades in the first quarter of this
B
year is what do you make of that?
A
Donald Trump 3,700 stock trades. Yeah, in the first quarter of this year, it's like nine. Every nine minutes and 45 seconds of trade. I know it's not him personally doing that, but. Exactly. And I do the same thing. I never look at my stocks. He does the same thing. You give it to somebody knows what you're doing. That's how this country runs. People have jobs, give them your money. If you don't invest in the country and corporations, that's what we all do. I'm getting sick and tired hearing Republicans and Democrats say we need to stop all this trading. If you're sure if you're inside trading, you need to stop. But I guarantee President Trump's not inside trading. I'm not inside side trading. And it's ridiculous. Even people bring that up. Most people that bring it up don't have a clue what you're talking about. Got it, Coach, who's gonna win the World Cup? World Cup? You got me on that. I'm an American football fan, bro. Just say usa, man, would you say that like you couldn't think of one team that's you're you're, you're, you're a coach. You should know a little bit about sports. Like. And even if you don't, let me just train you on what the answer is. USA country that you live in, just say the usa.
B
What a crazy response.
A
A like, oh, we all do that.
B
We all trade like that. We all do that. I think it's actually disgusting that people are upset. You're upset that we're trading these stocks and controlling policy at the same time. That's what you're upset about.
A
Really Guarantee you he's not inside trading. He just brings the folks over from Dell, then tells people Dell's a great stock stock, and then he buys Dell. I guarantee you there's nothing shady with that, personally.
B
And then he has the government buy a large stake in intel, which then shoots up the price of the stock. But I'm sure there's nothing nefarious going on there. The crazy thing about this issue and for him to take that stance is this is one issue that has incredible crossover appeal. When you look at the Democratic Party and when you look at the Republican Party, it's like somewhere near 90% of both parties actually agree that Congress should be prohibited from trading stocks. The only people who think that Congress should not be prohibited from paying stocks, Congress and members like that. And you're, you're seeing this movement start to grow, right? You're seeing people like Ro Khanna push forward policies that legislation that would say that members of Congress cannot trade stock. But you have these holdouts, and it's people like Tommy Tuberville who justify it in those terms. In my opinion, my personal opinion, if you are making decisions that could dictate the price of stocks, if you are making these decisions with insider knowledge by nature, right? Being on a Homeland Security committee, being on any committee that could impact any of these various businesses, I mean, you are literally pulling the levers and deciding what happens. It makes a very perverse relationship with the stock market. And you, if you are the ones who are doing that. And so, like, this is like, I, I think everyone in our, everyone in our chat right now agrees. I think everybody out there agree. I mean, it's just such a, like a reprehensible. Even if you're going to take that position, a reprehensible way to try to be like, how dare you?
A
I'm not.
B
Dare you.
C
I'm not saying Tommy Tuberville is insider trading. That's not what I'm saying. However, what I am saying is he answered that question as if he Is the most guilty person doing insider trading that you could imagine. I mean, he used the word insider trading.
A
I got a good five.
B
I got a good five. Followup for what you got from that, we might have to talk to Pablo and, and Scott about. Oh, okay, okay. So you're okay with politicians insider trading, right? Okay, so you're a football coach. Would you be okay with your players betting on the betting markets on, on the poly markets, on, on, on the betting markets about your own games? Yes or no, would you be okay with that? Because there, there's a relationship there that, you know, if they bet against your team or they bet that they, there's, there's a reason why people are getting into TR things and why that is, you know, incredibly not allowed. So are you okay with that? And if you're not okay with that, then maybe you shouldn't be okay with this. They're kind of the same thing.
C
That's a good follow up.
A
Dude is doing 3,700 stock trades in the first quarter, having his own personal criminal defense attorney become the acting Attorney General, then enter into a settlement agreement with Trump, Trump's own criminal defense attorney attorney entering into a settlement agreement with Donald Trump in his personal capacity, preventing the DOJ IRS in the United States from ever auditing Donald Trump and releasing all claims for all past audits of him. Seriously, like, I don't. I just. I mean, honestly, what Nixon did is a fraction of. A fraction of a fraction of what Donald Trump does almost every damn day.
C
Day.
A
And it's of a scale that's so massive that it just becomes another day's story, though, which is why we here at the Midas Touch Network hold on to that story and don't just let it have its three hours on Tuesday. That's why we talk about it every day. And the important thing is to then connect it with, okay, this is what Trump is doing. Here's how the Epstein class is living, and here's how the American people are suffering right, right now. Here's how inflation is impacting Americans. Here's how Americans can't afford rent. Here's how Americans are getting their health care ripped away. Here's how Americans are having data centers built by their homes and they can't stand it. Here's how the American people are getting absolutely screwed right now. And that's how you have to just, you can't just take these stories and be like, oh, my God, could you believe what Donald Trump just did? That doesn't, that's not a story. You know, I get it. He does shocking things and horrible things and illegal things all the time. But you have to take that and then you have to make the connection with. He's doing this, and here's how he's treating you. That's the most important thing when we talk about all of this. So that was good.
B
A Democratic autopsy. Just listen to that, folks.
A
That was Tommy Tuberville. Let me show you Nels. Here's what Nels has to say. MAGA Republican Congressmember Troy Nels, what do you make of Donald Trump doing 3,700 stock trades in the first quarter this year? Why don't you guys focus on something that's really, really important? Instead of worried about Donald Trump and his stock trades, why aren't you more concerned about what's happening with Iran and their willingness to, you know, have a nuclear weapon? Donald Trump was over there in China trying to cut some deals, trying to bring manufacturing here. He's trying to. Trying to end wars across our entire globe. And all you're focused on is stock trades, Stock trades.
B
Corruption.
A
We have corruption. You want to talk about corruption?
D
Yeah.
A
Let's talk about the previous administration. Now that's corruption. And all these people complaining.
B
It's kind of funny that there's no good issue that they could even pivot
A
to at this point.
B
It's like, why are you talking about these stack trades? Why don't you guys talk about Iraq, Iran? Okay?
A
It's a disaster. He's out there. He's trying. We're trying to give him a participation trophy. He's trying to cut deals. He's trying to bring manufacturing. He's trying to end wars. People don't elect people who are getting participation trophies for trying and failing. I mean, again, just think about when they elect one of their MAGA fascists to offend office. Their view of somebody succeeding is trying and failing when they're not. Like, we should applaud somebody for trying. And he's not even trying. He's trying to do the opposite, by the way. And it's like that's.
B
He's out there. He's just working really hard. Did you see him?
A
He bowed down to Xi Jinping. He told Putin, you're going to get another extension of your sanctions being removed on oil. He's telling Zelinsky, can you help us a little bit with the potash right there? That from Belarus. We need your help on these issues. Please, can you please help us Right there.
C
It's so. It's so comically evil, like Nel's response. He. He sounds like a cartoonish feeling. He goes, why are you asking about insider trading? Why are you asking about stock trading? It's like, because this is. This. This doesn't.
B
He's probably subset. He can't have a cigar in his mouth. Inside.
C
Now I know why he has a cigar in his mouth.
A
Journey. If you thought.
B
If you thought he. What are you asking about?
C
Insider tr.
D
What.
C
That's.
B
If you thought he looked like a movie villain and sounded like a movie villain. May I present to you Representative Ralph Norman,
A
people who assaulted police.
D
Look, January 6th is a issue that was made up in the first place.
B
Convicted of assaulting, made up.
D
That was a. That was a staged thing from day one.
A
What about it makes the riot mistakes.
D
When you had ple. When you had police officers letting people in the building. When you had people. That's not being prosecuted, Ray, Forget his name.
B
There's no excuse for your colleagues, though.
A
Your Republican colleagues ran for their life and barricaded themselves in their chamber. Do you think they were acting?
B
No.
D
There was a riot there, but it was self made. Right. But members who hate Trump. It was made up.
A
Who hate Trump.
B
Members who hate Trump. Now let me show you. Before you go jordy, let me just show you. That's Ralph Norman, right? Let me pull up Ralph Norman's communications, his tweets from around the January 6th time. Let's see if he had a bit of a different perspective back then. Okay, I'll pull these up just for reference. On January 6, 2021, Representative Ralph Norman, the same person you just heard say that the January 6 was staged. All that, all that nonsense he said back then, this is utterly unacceptable. This is not who we are. And I condemn in the strongest possible terms the actions of rioters who breached the Capitol building, attacked US Police, and doing so have jeopardized the safety and lives of everyone on Capitol hill. As the U.S. capitol Police and others supporting law enforcement agencies work to get the situation under control, I cannot say enough about their bravery and heroism. Thank God for these men and women. Then he also said this. He showed a. He had a literally on his door, and underneath his plaque with his name on it had a sign that read, thank you, U.S. capitol Police. Hashtag heroes. And he wrote on Twitter, I could not be more proud to display my support for the hashtag heroes of the United States capitol police. That's January 11, 2021. On January 8, 2021, he wrote heavy hearts this morning with the news of Brian Sicknick, an officer with the U.S. capitol Police has come last night to injuries sustained during the horrific riots on Wednesday. His killer deserves nothing less than the full weight of American justice. But now it's all fake.
A
It's all fake. Now his killer should get paid from our tax money. And then the acting Attorney General says that that happens all of the time. It is so in a non political way, so dystopian, so Handmaid's Tales that you couldn't even write this in a script because you'd be like, no, they can't do it, but it's happening. I suppose the good news news, which is what we talked about at the beginning of this episode, is that Donald Trump's crashing. I mean, the approval is lower than Nixon when Nixon resigned. Even though if you watch corporate news, they don't talk about it like that. They talk about the gamification of this side, that side, this, that every day. What they should be talking about is why isn't this guy resigning yesterday? Cuz his numbers reflect someone who should be be resigning. That should be the types of talks. The way in the UK there's talks, you know, should care Starmer resign.
D
Right?
A
You know, and that's through some of the links he has to Epstein through the ambassador of the uk. It wasn't even him, it was the ambassador from the UK to the United States. And it was, you know, Starmer's chief of staff who brought, you know, who brought the guy in. And Donald Trump with covering up the Epstein files. $1.8 billion slush funds, 3700 stock trades, golden ballrooms and arches, and demolishing the East Wing. My God, dude, if Obama demolished the east, could you. If Obama. Let me give you this guarantee. If Obama demolished the East Wing at the White House without going to Congress, I can assure you that Obama at best would be doing life in prison.
B
Prison.
A
Does anybody here have any doubt that not only would he be impeached, he would be sentenced to life in prison? That's what would happen. And here you have Donald Trump doing that on a Tuesday, stock trading on a Wednesday. He's out there meeting with Vladimir Putin on red carpets on a Thursday, he's out there helping, you know, bowing down to Xi Jinping on a Friday. It's everything. Destroying our NATO alliances on another day, you know, and it's like, here we stand. By all accounts, the Strait of Hormuz. No, not going to be opening up anytime soon. You know, you wake up in the morning and you hear, I'm sure you all heard this morning, we're Very close to a letter of intention. We really got it this time. The issues are narrowing. Iran is, Iran is ready to sign. Except there's two major issues that they're dealing with. The nuclear material and the Strait of Hormuz. You mean like the main, like the main issue? The main issues, they're not giving up the Strait of Hormuz. They're not going to transfer any nuclear material to the United States or to another country. The Islamic Republic's going to stay in power. They have their ballistic missiles. They've been able to restore all of their Shahi drones and ballistic missile arsenals and launchers. They have all of, they have all of that. That and what, so what's gonna happen? And then you hear later on, no, there's actually no progress, war's imminent. And then it's just a back and forth market manipulation. Iran's for their credit, I guess they've remained pretty consistent since early to mid March when they led when they said, here's our framework, 10 points. If you've been watching the Midas Touch network, I've gone through all of those points. What they are, they want reparations. They and their proxy groups want permanent security guarantees. They control the Strait of Hormuz. The ISL Islamic Republic stays in power. They're not going to hand over their nuclear enrichment at all. They're agreeable to an Obama style deal, but they're not going to hand over nuclear material to other countries. One of the things that they and others have said is that because the Trump regime got rid of all of their Iran experts and we got rid of all experts in nuclear material that the Trump regime doesn't even understand the way enrichment works, works. Weapons grade, non weapons grade. How you bring 20% enrichment to 60% to 90% and how it becomes weapon grade nuclear material dilution. Like we don't even have people in the government at a technical level who can explain the way nuclear material works. And we don't have allies anymore either. And so here we are. Here we are May 21st. Will war break out tomorrow? Come, could well war break out tonight? It certainly could mean there's all, I mean this, this is a fake ceasefire to begin with. America's security umbrella in the Middle east, gone. Security umbrella in Asia, gone. The strength of the dollar forever tarnished. Our alliances forever gone. Other countries are like, you know what, you, you elect Trump once, okay, maybe we'll say that was a FL fluke. You put this guy back at any point in time, America, you could go bring back Another version of a Trump, a Desantis, a Rubio, a Vance. You know, hopefully that never happens. How could we ever trust you again when you did this? The ultimate betrayal. The ultimate betrayal. And so the rest of the world's preparing for a future in a multipolar world where I don't think America's gonna be weakened to the extent of a, of a non power. America with its population size and its companies will always have a certain degree of strength and power, but it ain't gonna be, it ain't the global superpower. Trump basically gave that to Xi Jinping in China. Right now, the rest of the world is looking at what, at what's happening. And you've got global alliances forming where the U.S. america alone is America first. America first is America alone, alone. That's what it looks like right now. So look, as we head into Memorial Day, we have to keep up our fight. We can't allow this regime to completely break our spirits. We have to fight back. We're very close to the midterms and democracies. Ultimately, that needs, to me, it's democracy that needs to prevail more than anything. And that's what we're going to fight for. Democracy, basic values, principles. That's what we're fighting for here on the Midas Touch Network each and every day. So thank you, everybody. We appreciate you. We covered a lot on this episode. Episode. Thanks for watching Brett and Jordy. I'll let you take away. Brett. Anything else?
B
No, just have a good weekend. Have a good Memorial Day weekend, everybody. Hope you get some time to relax, recharge, and you know, we'll be here every single day pumping out more videos, more reporting, more content. And so continue to check in.
A
We look forward to it.
C
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Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas
Episode Theme:
A deep dive into the political upheaval under the Trump administration, with a focus on Congress’s dysfunction, Trump’s crashing approval ratings, brazen corruption, and the ongoing dangers to American democracy at home and abroad. The brothers tackle the shutdown of Congress, Trump’s international blunders, economic fallout, the January 6th slush fund, insider trading scandals, and the erosion of U.S. global standing—all interspersed with their trademark banter and sharp commentary.
Timestamps: 00:48–07:46
Congressional Shutdowns & Dysfunction
Trump’s Collapsing Approval Ratings
Timestamps: 07:46–13:22
Republican Party Fractures
Congressional Abdication
Timestamps: 13:22–21:49
Timestamps: 21:49–25:42
Worsening Global Standing
Notable Quote:
Timestamps: 25:42–28:16
Timestamps: 32:01–49:15
Senate Revolt Over Slush Fund
Commission to Funnel Money to Insurrectionists
Outrageous Claims & Applications
Timestamps: 49:15–66:25
3,700 Trump Stock Trades in Q1
Congressional Gaslighting
Timestamps: 71:08–77:49
Unchecked Presidential Power
Call to Action
Final Word:
“We have to keep up our fight… We can’t allow this regime to completely break our spirits… We’re very close to the midterms and… democracy needs to prevail more than anything.” – Ben Meiselas (76:17)