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Ben Mycelis
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Brett Meiselas
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Ben Mycelis
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Brett Meiselas
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Ben Mycelis
Contact T Mobile from unsolved mysteries to unexplained phenomena from comedy goal to relationship fails. Amazon Music's got the most ad free top podcasts included with prime because the only thing that should interrupt your listening is, well, nothing. Download the Amazon Music app today. Donald Trump's approval is absolutely plummeting. A new Pew Research poll shows that only 38% of Americans now support Donald Trump. That's going to start creeping, I think into the low 30s. We got new inflation data out today on the inflation faced by wholesalers and it is surging well beyond any expectations. Expectations. It is not a good situation here in the United States as Donald Trump takes a wrecking ball to our economy. Yup, we are just seeing the producer price inflation PPI spiking to 3.7% year over year when the expectation was 2.9%. And finally, finally, finally we're seeing Democrats fighting back, not just with talk, but with actions. That's what I loved about California Governor Gavin Newsom's press conference today. He wasn't just saying the right things in standing up against Trump fascism. He wasn't just framing the issues the right way. He was saying, here is how we are using our formal and moral authority in California to fight back against this fascist regime. So as California Governor Gavin Newsom was holding this press conference to announcing a ballot initiative in November about how California will now gerrymander to counteract what is taking place in Texas. Gavin Newsom was again saying, this is what we need to do at this moment. We're going to do it transparently. We're going to do it for a temporary period of time, but we're going to have to do it in order to counteract what Trump's doing. Trump then Sends militarized ICE agents and federal people dressed up in military gear to start arresting people and roughing people up outside of the Los Angeles place where California Governor Gavin Newsom was holding this press conference. And then Gavin Newsom calls it out and says, these are the actions of a failed president. You're sending ICE agents here while we're talking about defending democracy. That's what losers do. Watch California Governor Newsom fight back. Let's play that first clip.
Jordy Meiselas
Why else would you make the phone call? He's a failed president. Who else sends ice? Same time having a conversation like this, Someone who's weak, someone is broken. Someone whose weakness is masquerading his strength. The most unpopular president in modern history. An economy that's collapsing all around him. You saw the new wholesale prices going up almost a full percentage point today. Inflation is going up. Job creation is going down. He's trying to rewrite history. Smithsonian censoring historical facts. And in the spirit of what Adam Schiff said, he's trying to put America in reverse on voting rights, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, on women's rights. He wants to bring us back to a pre 1960s world. That's what this is all about. It's about power. And I want to end on this. And we are about to give power back to the people.
Ben Mycelis
Then California Governor Gavin Newsom talks about how Trump and MAGA are trying to rig these elections. Let's play it bound.
Jordy Meiselas
They want to rig these elections and they want the power that gerrymandering provides because they know what Donald Trump knows. He's going to lose the midterms. He knows de facto his Presidency ends in 17 months when Speaker Jeffries is backing up.
Ben Mycelis
He knows it. Why else.
Jordy Meiselas
Why else would you try to rig the system? Why else would you make the phone call? He's a failed president. Who else sends ice? Same time having a conversation like this. Someone who's weak. Someone is broken.
Ben Mycelis
Then California Governor Gavin Newsom says on November 4, you have the ability to stand up against Donald Trump, against his lap dogs. I'm empowering the voters in California to pass this ballot initiative to stop the rigging of elections. I'm putting it to the people. We're going to let you vote. We're going to be in this together. Let's watch it.
Jordy Meiselas
You have the power on November 4th to stand up for people that are being bullied. You have the power to stand up for people that are being intimidated. You have the power to stand up to the rule of law. We're giving the people of this state, the power to save democracy, not just in California, but all across the United States of America. I hope we are waking up to this reality. Wake up, America. Wake up to what Donald Trump is doing. Wake up to his assault. Wake up to the assault on institutions and knowledge and history. Wake up to his war on science, public health, his war against the American people. This is a guy who lays claim to want to get a Nobel Prize sitting there and bending his Knee to, to Mr. Putin. You have the power.
Ben Mycelis
We're going to talk about that Putin meeting as well in Alaska tomorrow, or if you're listening to this on Friday today. But I want to show you also what was going on outside of the venue where California Governor Gavin Newsom was speaking. Again, Donald Trump sent in the basically the military to harass and threaten Newsom and people who were there to show up to support our democracy. Let me show you how state regime media, known as Fox, was covering it. Let's play this clip.
Adam Mockler
Border Patrol agents are making arrests, illegal immigrants that I don't know if they were at this press conference, if they.
Ben Mycelis
Were in the area.
Adam Mockler
But this is a very, as John put it, we first saw this video, a very in your face way to let you know, Democrats, know that you.
Ben Mycelis
Are going to do your job, that.
Adam Mockler
You'Re going to carry out these Trump policies. Can you just respond to this video that we're watching right now?
Ben Mycelis
Yeah.
Adam Mockler
Every single one of our ICE and Border Patrol operations is built on information on investigative work. It's a case and an operation that has been planned because of who they think could be in that area.
Ben Mycelis
What a vile individual she is as well. Let me bring in Brett and Jordi starting off this episode with not just Democrats fighting back with words or press conferences, but here are tangible steps that we are taking. Great to see you, brothers.
Adam Mockler
And what a side by side that you see there with Gavin Newsom fighting for democracy and the Trump regime sending in their gestapo to try to cause chaos. Not exactly beating the authoritarian allegations there. I got to say, brothers and Midas, mighty. First off, hey, great to be here with everybody. Everybody. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. Make sure to check the show out on Apple podcasts and on Spotify and all the podcast platforms if you're watching us live on YouTube and make sure to check us out on YouTube if you're listening to us on the audio platforms. But I gotta say, I am incredibly proud of my state of California today. I am incredibly proud to see our governor here fighting back, showing how it's done. I Think Democrats, I think Independents, I think all pro democracy people have been looking for who is going to take the mantle here, who is actually going to show some fight. And Ben, like you said, not just with some words, but with some action. And we are seeing Governor Newsom deliver on just that. I gotta say, if Gavin Newsom is able to help prevent Trump and the Republicans from rigging the 2026 midterms and preventing Trump from continuing on this path of his authoritarian encroachment into the United States democracy, I will say that is a pretty damn good platform to run on in 2028. So kudos to Governor Newsom, excited to speak about that and much more. But first, you know, I got to toss it over to Jordy. What's up, little bro?
Brett Meiselas
What's the latest? What's up, Midas Mighty? What's up, brothers? I'm excited. I'm fired up. You know, I'm really excited to get into today's show, and I just want to build on what you were saying, Brett. I think what we're seeing here is a clear separation from the pack of who the players are and who the pretenders are. The pretenders are the people who say that they care about our country but have been sitting on their hands the last eight months during this Trump regime. And the players are the folks who are getting up and truly fighting for our democracy. I mean, what we saw out of Newsom today, that's what this country needs. It's not just lip service. This is someone who truly cares about what's happening and is screaming literally from the mountaintops that we have to take this seriously. Because if we don't, who knows just how bad these maps can get in 2026, 2028, beyond. I mean, it's going to be insane. Macro note here for the Dems. Not that I pretend to be some political strategist, but just as someone who gives a shit about this country, people want fighters and just gone are the days where they go low, we go high. I'm sorry that America does not exist. When they go low, you take them out by their knees. Metaphorically, of course. Benji, where we start off?
Ben Mycelis
Well, look, you also have California Governor Gavin Newsom aggressively pushing back and bullying Donald Trump on social media, using Donald Trump's kind of social media parlance. Although I shouldn't give what Donald Trump does even a word like parlance, because it's basically just a bunch of dribble. Like, it's just gross. It's grotesque. You know how Donald Trump all caps, typos just attacking and bullying people, referring to himself, Donald J. Trump is the greatest. Just ridiculous stuff. But California Governor Newsom now trolling Donald Trump and people in maga's orbit with that type of language, like, you're low, you know, low iq. Caroline Levitt, the worst polling president in history, the very handsome and powerful governor of California, Gavin Newsom, is giving you the deadlines. Last warning. You're going to miss deadlines the way you miss deadlines with your businesses and bankrupted them. You weak and pathetic. You know, I'm going to liberate America from you. That's how Gavin Newsom was fighting back. What was interesting, it was so good. But what was interesting, and I've seen this a few times now, where the media then kind of has the audacity to ask Newsom, like, why are you writing like that? Like, do you think this is? I saw it in a press conference a few weeks ago where the media was like, do you think it's appropriate if you want to take the moral high ground and moral authority for you to be posting like that? And then someone in today's press conference asked a similar question. Let me show you the question here. Play this clip.
Brett Meiselas
Thank you, everyone.
Ben Mycelis
We were out of time with those folks on X that are clearly trolling the President.
Jordy Meiselas
I don't know, it's, I hope it's a wake up call. The President, United States, sort of following his example. If you've got issues with what I'm putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns about what he's putting out as well.
Ben Mycelis
President.
Jordy Meiselas
So to the extent it's gotten some attention, I'm pleased. But I think the deeper question is how have we allowed the normalization of his tweets through social posts over the course of the last many years to go without similar scrutiny and notice.
Adam Mockler
Such a brilliant response. Such a brilliant response. And what the hell is wrong with these reporters? The audacity, the audacity, unmitigated gall of.
Ben Mycelis
These reporters to have the nerve to.
Adam Mockler
Say things like that. Donald Trump posts the most batshit, unhinged, crazy stuff minute by minute by minute.
Ben Mycelis
And you're just like, oh, it's Donald.
Adam Mockler
I guess Donald Trump's fighting forcefully for our country. Like the way that they frame stuff that Trump says, which is objectively insane, often illegal, often incredibly anti American, against all of our values, against the Constitution. They normalize and whitewash all of that. They sane wash that crap all day long. The second Gavin Newsom does it, all of a sudden they're like, whoa, Whoa, whoa, buddy. Isn't that a little intense? Like, do they not realize what they are saying? And I saw other people, not to double down on hating this guy two episodes in a row, but I saw, like, Chris Cuomo also do, like, a tweet today, and he was like, does.
Ben Mycelis
Gavin Newsom really think this is the.
Adam Mockler
Appropriate way to be tweeting and speaking? I was like, are you an idiot?
Ben Mycelis
Like, or like, what, What.
Adam Mockler
What are we doing here, people? What Newsom is doing is cutting through. He's found a way to cut through. He's trolling Trump. He's getting his message out there incredibly effectively. And we have to understand the moment that we are in, and too many people do not understand the moment that we are in. This is a crisis. This is as 5 alarm fire as you could possibly get in our country right now. This is the last stand, folks, okay? Like, the midterms are a big, big, big, big deal because Donald Trump is actively trying to steal our eyes so that he could complete his authoritarian takeover. Gavin Newsom is trying to stop it. And we all have to realize what's going on. And the media continues to normalize this over and over and over. You know, Ben was on the local media here in Los Angeles last night. And, Ben, you were great, by the way.
Ben Mycelis
And I don't.
Adam Mockler
I don't mean to throw, like, the reporter under the bus. He didn't do the segment before you, but there was a segment before Ben where they spoke about Trump's appearance at the Kennedy center. And they normalized the crap out of this deranged press conference where Trump said, you know, he's basically taken over as host of the Kennedy center. And. And then he started rambling about Russia and Putin and Ukraine and grass and all this stuff. And they acted like it was normal in the report. And Ben came on, and one of the first things they asked in this. In this segment was like, why do you think you're resonating? And Ben called him, and Ben was like, you know, this segment that you just had before this, where you acted like that's that craziness that we saw at the Kennedy center was normal. Most people don't think it was normal.
Ben Mycelis
Okay?
Adam Mockler
Most people think that was pretty crazy shit. And I hadn't heard what Ben said in this interview beforehand. When I watched it, I was like, oh, yes, like, finally, there we go. We need to understand the moment that we are in people. It's also why, you know, and I'll see occasionally people be like, okay, you know, your titles Might as touch the Trump really have a psycho press conference today. Is hell really breaking loose and decent?
Ben Mycelis
Yes. Yes, yes, yes. What do we understand about this people? What if there's not.
Adam Mockler
If now is not the time to use this sort of language, if when the military is being sent into our cities, sent into our Capitol, if the President taking over the museums to rewrite our history, stripping away our rights, lying about literally everything, if this is not a time to use this sort of language, then I'm sorry, I do not know when it is and I will not apologize for it one bit. Trump lies about everything and too many people are accepting his framing of stuff and are trying to normalize it and we have to fight back. Trump sending the National Guard, the military into Los Angeles was not about immigration or riots. Trump sending the national guard into Washington, D.C. federalizing the police is not about crime. His attacks on Harvard and other universities, Columbia, it's not about antisemitism. Firing the Bureau of Labor Statistics head is not because they released bad data. There were no immigrants eating dogs or cats in Springfield, Ohio. There wasn't any spigot of water to turn on during the LA fires. USAID was not a corrupt criminal organization funneling money to Democrats. This is all about Donald Trump capturing every single aspect of our government, our culture, and our society. It is an authoritarian power grab happening before our eyes and nothing more. So wake the F up.
Brett Meiselas
Preach, big bro. Let's go. Got me fired up even more than I already was for the pod. I just want to add this again, the audacity of that reporter to ask the question about Newsom's tweets, man, that is just like, laugh out loud to me, but also really sad because it just shows you how far, you know, corporate news and corporate media has really fallen here. Donald Trump was on stage, you know, need I remind everyone, talking about his great friend Hannibal Lecter and talking about getting electromacuted from sharks in the ocean or even by sharks in the ocean. What are we doing here, folks?
Ben Mycelis
Why.
Brett Meiselas
Why do the Democrats all of a sudden have to play by a different set of rules than you're allowing Trump to escape by with as Trump actively destroys the country.
Adam Mockler
Think about how they rewrote to the Trump campaign, right? They've rewritten the entire campaign. They were like, Trump was laser focused on lowering prices. He was laser focused on it, though. Like, he may mention it, he may have done the press conference where he brought out cereal and said. But he was also talking about Hannibal Lecter and swimming with sharks and. And all this other batshit crazy things.
Ben Mycelis
That y' all didn't talk about while.
Adam Mockler
Kamala Harris was speaking about her plan to lower housing costs for people and to help the working class. That. And you'll just ignored all those plans. So don't rewrite history here, people.
Ben Mycelis
Well, Donald Trump would also say things like, we need to get rid of the vermin. Like, we're gonna expel the vermin. And we. Remember we went through it. We're like, okay, well, that looks like a Hitler passage. That looks like we did a graphic quote.
Adam Mockler
It's a graph.
Ben Mycelis
Hitler. And they were almost verbatim. And we said, looks like he's saying things almost identical to Hitler very frequently. And people were like, what are you talking about? Why? I'm go. Just like, are you watching the speech? Do you remember he did that press conference where he talked about Arnold Palmer's penis? And he was like, I looked at it. What a. What a big penis he's got. I'm like. And like, no one, like, really reported on it. I'm like, what? I went to his locker room and I looked at it, and I said, that's a pretty big thing you got there. And then, like, Donald Trump focusing on prices. I'm like, he just is randomly talking about. You know, he's talking about. What was it two weeks ago that Donald Trump. Last week. Two weeks ago, yeah. This was the graphic that we put up. Trump echoes Hitler's words on the campaign trail. This is what we. This is what we were talking about on the Midas Touch network last year. Hitler goes, I will get rid of the communist vermin. Trump goes, I will get rid of the communist vermin. Who uses that language? Communist vermin? I mean, like, Hitler, that's. Who does. I will take care of the enemy from within. I will take care of the enemy from within. Jews and migrants are poisoning the Aryan blood. Trump migrants are poisoning the blood of our country. One people, one realm, one leader was Hitler's quote. Donald Trump. One people, one family, one glorious nation. And by the way, the way Donald Trump talks about Washington, D.C. is basically the way Hitler would talk about, like, Vienna. He would say, I need to get rid of the filthy and the slums and the. It's. They're very similar. There's very similar language.
Brett Meiselas
And.
Ben Mycelis
And what was it two weeks ago that Donald Trump was on the roof of the White House? He, like, went to the roof, and he was saying, I'm gonna put nukes on here. Like, what are you doing, Donald? He's like, nukes? I'M gonna put nukes on here. Like, what? And then he walked away. And then the press was like, did you hear him? Did he say nukes? And remember on the podcast, I was like, are they talking to him like the way I was talking to, like, my wife and my 10 month old daughter when we were at the Los Angeles Zoo and we saw the gorilla come out with this family? Did you see the gorilla? Did he wave to me? No, no, this isn't funny stuff. I mean, Donald Trump's up there talking about, like, nukes, and he's like, I bought all of this. I. This is my money. I bought all of this. This is. Did you see all of this? My money? What are you talking about? Did you see all of this? And by the way, can we have freaking Democrats look into whether or not they're actually building this ballroom right now? Because I've seen videos showing that they've started construction on this ballroom and I want to see Democrats fight that. I don't want to hear, oh, you know, why would American people care? We care about it all. It's symbolic. I don't want to see him rip apart the east wing of the White House and make a 90,000 square foot. Who the hell's paying for this thing right now? He ain't putting up $200 million himself, I can assure you that. Who the hell's funding this thing? Who's funded the architectural plans? But, Brett, to your point, I want to talk about this when we come back from our first break. I want to go through it lawy. Like, I want to go through it like when I was a litigator, when I was doing trials, because that segment before I went on the local, the local channel, they were like, you know, here Donald Trump appoints himself chairman at the Kennedy Center. He shows up and he also appoints himself to be the host of the show. Donald Trump announcing the awards. Sylvester Stallone got the award, and then Donald Trump talked about taking over the Smithsonian.
Adam Mockler
Let's forget podcaster Ben Mysellis, the Joe.
Ben Mycelis
Rogan of the left. Why do you think you're resonant? But just show this graphic for now. Just show this one. These two ladies in evening dresses that are holding like this, behind these drapes or whatever you want to call it, is a poster of Sylvester Stallone. And I'm like, why are there two ladies wearing, like, one's weight in a short red evening dress, the other is in, like a white evening dress? I'm like, why are these ladies, like, behind him like this? Why Is there a big photo of Sylvester Stallone? What the hell is happening here? And then he talks about Vladimir Putin and giving away, like, considering giving away America's natural resources. I'm like, this ain't normal behavior at all. And this is like a daily occurrence. Multiple times a day. He's out there holding these deranged press conferences. But they have real world implications. They're weakening the United States. There's another clip I'll show you from his disastrous press conference today where he's asked like, well, what do you think about the fact that Mexico and Brazil and countries in Latin America are now moving towards China and not doing business with the United States? I don't care. I really don't care. Those are failed countries. We're doing so good here. We don't care about them. What if you don't care? You don't care about any alliances, you don't care about trading partners. You want to. What are you talking about? Any one of those things should be outrageous. They shock my conscience. They shock your conscience? When I watch it, my conscience is literally like, I'm hooked up to a conscious shocking machine. And he says these things, every single one. And we. But the media and the whole thing, they're complicit and. Or numb to it. And they act like this is normal. Then they see Gavin Newsom standing up and they're like, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're calling him names. That's mean. No, that's what. Fight. Fight back. That's what people are looking for right now. We're going to talk about that and more. Let's take our first quick break of the show. A reminder. We've grown with zero outside investors on this network. So if you can help grow this platform, one of the best ways to do it is by becoming a member of our YouTube channel. Hit that join button right there. You see it? You can gift memberships to people as well. Check that out. We will be right back after our first quick break of the show.
Adam Mockler
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Brett Meiselas
Let's go Shout out to our sponsor. Shout out. Qualia. Qualia has been with us for a minute. Y' all definitely check them out if you're interested. Link in description of both the YouTube and the audio. Shout out Opus man, they're brand new to the network. Definitely, definitely check that out. We worked out that really special offer. That's really dope. One month free is pretty awesome. So link in description, check it out, use the codes. If there's an exit survey, of course, let them know we sent you. Benji, where to next?
Ben Mycelis
Let me just go through the exhibits. Let me do lawyers. Lawyer Ben Closing argument, Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I first want to show you exhibit A. And exhibit A is these two ladies wearing an evening dress standing behind Donald Trump. They're about to unveil a photo of Sylvester Stallone. Donald Trump is announcing that he has reluctantly appointed himself and he has reluctantly accepted becoming the host of the Kennedy Center Honoree Awards in December. That he's personally made sure that the wokies, as he calls them, that the Wokies won't get awards. The woksters. He's, he's, he's determined who's going to get the awards. And one of his big things that he wants to talk about is grass. He's going to make sure that he'll redo the grass. The finest grasses you have ever seen. The greatest grass ever. Here, let me show you. Here, play this clip.
E
We're doing that and doing some other things and we're going to also fix up a place called Washington D.C. we're going to make it so beautiful again. We're going to be redoing the parks, redoing the grass. You know, grass has a lifetime, like people have a lifetime. And the lifetime of this grass has long been gone. When you look at the parks where the grass is all tired, exhausted, we're going to redo the grass with the finest grasses. I know a lot about grass because I own a lot of golf courses. And if you don't have good grass, you're not in business very long. Lindsey Graham, by the way, you have very good poll numbers. Lindsey. I just saw. Congratulations.
Ben Mycelis
Lots of grass. Lindsey Graham. Grass. Lindsey Graham. Grass. Grass. Lindsey Graham. I'm just going to start saying a bunch of word salad. Grass is actually doing pretty good. Only person who destroyed the grass was Donald Trump. He literally destroyed the Rose Garden and put a, like a whole. What do you. Concrete area over it. So not sure you should be doing that then. Donald Trump brags about wallpaper. He does the greatest wallpaper. And if you really wanted to fix the Federal Reserve building, just some more wallpaper, everybody. Here's what he wants to talk about. Here, play this clip.
E
And they did a job that shouldn't have been done. It was unnecessary to be done. Instead of, I could have gotten the greatest wallpaper anywhere in the world from the finest stores in the world. I could have fixed up a wall a little bit. It would have taken about two hours and covered it with the most magnificent silk and most magnificent paper for thousands of dollars as opposed to tens of millions of dollars. What a shame it is that they did. But they would take down areas of the building that shouldn't have been taken down. They could have literally been painted and they didn't do that. So they've got a long way to go. And I think it's just grossly incompetent.
Adam Mockler
But Mr. Newsom. But Mr. Newsom, could you explain your all caps tweet, please? We need an explanation.
Ben Mycelis
Please, please, please, please. And then Donald Trump goes, I guess this would be exhibit. I've lost track. Exhibit D, I guess another exhibit. Donald Trump saying, and I've been asked to host the awards by myself because I'm also the chairman here. Play this clip as we officially announce.
E
The incredibly talented artists who will be celebrated later this year at the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors. It's going to be a big evening. I've been asked to host. I said, I'm the President of the United States. Are you fools asking me to do that? Sir, you'll get much higher ratings. I said, I don't care. I'm President of the United States. I won't do it. They said, please. And then Susie Wells said to me, sir, rock at our house. I said, okay, Susie, I'll do it. That's the power she's got.
Ben Mycelis
What did she say to you? Because it sounded like you just said, she said to me. But then, look, on a serious note, on a serious note, he's asked a question, right? Donald Trump said that he would bring Peace to Ukraine, not just in 24 hours of taking the presidency, but after the election. It would be very easy. He said he would bring Putin in a room and Zelensky in a room. It would be the easiest thing to do in 24 hours. Now Donald Trump says he was being sarcastic about it. He was just joking. Lol, everybody. That was, he didn't really mean that he was going to bring peace to Gaza or bring peace to Ukraine. It's, you got to realize when he's doing his stand up comedy routine and when he's talking about real matters of war and peace. But while he's there, photos of Sylvester Stallone, ladies in evening dresses. Reporter asks him, can you convince Putin to stop targeting civilians in Ukraine during your meeting on Friday? Let's see what he says. Play this clip.
Jordy Meiselas
Yeah.
Ben Mycelis
Do you believe you can convince him to stop targeting civilians in Ukraine?
E
Well, I'll tell you what, I've had that conversation with him. I've had a lot of good conversations with him. Then I go home and I see that a rocket hit a nursing home or a rocket hit an apartment building and people are laying dead in the streets. So I guess the answer to that is no, because I've had this conversation. I want to end the war.
Ben Mycelis
I guess the answer is no. I will not be able to stop the killings of the civilians. I'm just going to meet with them. But what do you, you know, there's a lot of reports out there, Donald Trump, about you're considering giving him natural resources from Alaska, rare earth minerals from Alaska in the United States, rare earth minerals from Ukraine. So you forced Ukraine to sign a rare earth minerals deal with you, then you're going to take those rare earth minerals and give them to Putin in exchange for basically nothing and also give Putin huge chunks of land in Ukraine. And we've also heard that you've proposed a Israeli style occupation with Putin of Ukraine. The, the way Israel's occupying Gaza and the west bank and all of the atrocities committed there, that's your template. Telegraph reported. That's your template for Ukraine.
Adam Mockler
When I think things that are going great and have worked out great for humanity, I, I think the occupation, I.
Ben Mycelis
Couldn'T think I would, Brett, you know, look, if you think sarcastic, Brett's being sarcastic. Like, if you were to say, truly, what is the worst way to approach Ukraine, like, come up with the worst possible thing, like, other than basically saying, you know, look, Putin's gonna put like sharks with lasers that are gonna kill everybody and key, like, like, like without getting like crazy, you know, which I wouldn't pass Trump to say something like that, but going at it very serious. Like, the worst thing you could literally say right now, 20, 25, is let's mimic what Israel's doing in Gaza and the west bank and bring that to Ukraine, and then let's give Russia all of these minerals from Ukraine and the United States. But Gavin, know some why you posted all caps. Things like Donald Trump, you're supposed to have the moral. Why are you doing that, Gavin? Stupid. What are we talking about? Today's press conference in the Oval. I'm not even sure what that voice was. Was, though. I guess that's how I.
Brett Meiselas
It sounded just like the reporter.
Ben Mycelis
What are you doing, man? That's what I heard.
Brett Meiselas
That's exactly what I heard.
Ben Mycelis
Angie the Ox, my role from Guys and Dolls, sixth grade. Hey, Nathan, you say who's in town? Sky Masterson. Sky Masterson's in town. That was my one, bro.
Brett Meiselas
Were you ever in a play?
Ben Mycelis
Okay. By the way, don't let anyone tell you that those seven words were not significant in Guys and Dolls. I literally. I literally introduced. I was coming to town, Sky Masterson, which was a pivotal moment in Guys and Dolls. But anyway, Donald Trump in that. That was my only line, by the way. Donald Trump's Today was asked, are you prepared to offer Putin access to rare minerals to incentivize him to end the war? Right. The answer should be no. Right? The answer. Let me. Let me tell you how a president should answer this. We're not going to agree to anything until there's a ceasefire. Okay? Once there's a ceasefire, we can then start having conversations. I'm demanding, as a precondition for this meeting, an immediate ceasefire. President Zelensky of Ukraine has agreed to a ceasefire. Putin must do the same. Otherwise I'm not meeting. But we live in a Trump regime clown, fascist presidency or dictatorship. Here's what he said. Let's play it. Mr. President, one on your Putin meeting.
Jordy Meiselas
And then one on DC Crime.
Ben Mycelis
Are you prepared to offer Vladimir Putin access to rare minerals to incentivize him to end the war?
E
We're going to see what happens with our meeting. We have a big meeting. It's going to be, I think, very important for Russia, and it's going to be very important for us. And important for us only that we're going to save a lot of lives.
Ben Mycelis
Look, how about, ah. How about important for Ukraine? Ukraine, the party that you're not inviting to talk about them giving up chunks of land and natural Resources and rare earth minerals and their sovereignty. How about them? It's going to be very important for Russia and us. Fortunately, we have Europe now. The coalition of the willing, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, European Union European Council President Keir Starmer. I don't, I don't love a lot of the things that Keir Starmer is doing and sucking up to Trump on a lot of areas, but I think with Ukraine, he's strong. I don't like when. I like the Macron approach to Trump more than the Starmer approach. I like the Mark Carney approach to Trump over, over that. That's, you know, that, that, that, that's just me. But in any event, Europe is standing up and, and laying down their rules. Ceasefire first. Ukraine's not going to give up land and Europe needs to be involved in every step of the way. Here's what President Macron of France wrote. You know, it just, it's just funny. They act like these meetings with Donald Trump are excellent when Don. They clearly aren't. But, like, they push it as though, like, Donald's agreeing with them. Right. He goes, excellent meeting today with our European partners and President Trump ahead of his upcoming meeting with Putin on August 15th. Unity and strong alignment with our allies on the priorities. Nothing about Ukraine should be decided without the Ukrainians. A ceasefire is the essential prerequisite for any negotiations. These negotiations must lead to a solid and lasting peace with security guarantees ensuring Ukraine's sovereignty and the stability of our continent. We all agree that until a ceasefire and lasting peace are achieved, our support for Ukraine will remain unwavering. Translation what the hell are you doing? Why are you doing this? You're not going to be able to cut a deal with Putin without Ukraine and us. They're absolutely never going to happen. Brett Jordi. Yeah, and it's.
Adam Mockler
The whole thing's a total disgrace. The fact that he's boxing Ukraine out of these decisions and, like, not even having Zelensky there is, like, criminal in and of its. And the fact that he's inviting Vladimir Putin to a US military base in Alaska, and I thought all that was bad enough, right? He's looking to sell out Ukraine, he's inviting Putin into America, he wants to remove sanctions, and then on top of that, to offer basically to give up a part of the United States of America and give it to Putin. Like, what an absolute disgrace. And where. How did that even possibly come into the discussion? Like, okay, Vladimir. Yes. You want to end this? Well, what if I give you some of Alaska's rare Earth minerals. Take it, take it, take it. Is that what he wanted, Senator Lisa Murkowski, is that what you envisioned for your state when you backed Donald Trump, that he would take the rare earth minerals from your state and give it to the Russian dictator? It's such a disgrace. It's so treasonous. This is so anti American. As I said in the beginning, nothing about this shit is normal at all. And we need to stop pretending like it is. I know we don't. I know the people listening and watching don't. But these reporters, people out there, the Republicans, I know, they're beyond repair. The ones who are in office at least. And any of these Democrats, independents, stop acting like this crap is normal. Go on the offense and call it out.
Brett Meiselas
Absolutely. And Donald Trump, I can't stand those who think, oh, Donald Trump is this expert dealmaker. What a sharp businessman this Donald Trump is. He's literally, quite literally the worst dealmaker in the world. And it's playing out in front of our eyes. And none of this could be normalized. How just utterly anti American this behavior is. I mean, this week has just felt like the longest month of the year. It's been an insane week and it's not even over yet. And I just, I just want to implore our audience here, stick, stick with it, stick with it, because that's what they're trying to do. He's trying to tire you out. The endless gaslighting, the endless just anti American behavior that he's exuding from the highest office. It's all meant to get you down and just make you want to look away. But now is the time to dig your heels in even more and say, we give a damn about this country and we're not going to let you ruin it, Donald. No way. Not on our watch, Ben.
Ben Mycelis
And look at just the people who Donald Trump puts into kind of key positions of power, right? Donald Trump fires someone who was approved on a bipartisan basis to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So that commissioner gets fired. Then Donald Trump brings in this guy, E.J. antony. E.J. and Tony. Now we learn was there in the insurrection. There's like photos of the guy and he's like, I just happened to wander there into the crowd of the insurrection. Look at me. I was just there and then in his office.
Adam Mockler
That happened to the best of us, Ben. Like you're just, you're just hanging out and you're like, oh, my God, how did I get in the middle of this violent insurrection against the United States of America? How did I End up here. This is great. How did I end up in the middle of the pack? I'm showing a picture right now for the. For the audio listeners out there that shows the guy was, like, in the thick of it.
Ben Mycelis
It.
Adam Mockler
It wasn't like he was reporting from the outside of it. He was wearing a red. You know, he. He was matching all the other insurrectionists.
Ben Mycelis
He's.
Adam Mockler
He's wearing their outfit. At. At minimum, that guy look.
Brett Meiselas
That guy looks like the voice that we were doing before would be his voice.
Ben Mycelis
Hey. And I end up here, y'. All. What the heck is January? What is going on, Ben? How did I end up in this? Do not, do not compare him to Angie the Ox. Angie the Ox was a hero.
Adam Mockler
Angie.
Ben Mycelis
Without Angie the Ox, there's no guys in Dogs Dolls. How did I end up in this guy? Look for stars in the sky. You can bet that he's doing it for a doll. Call it sad. Anyway, anyway, here he is. He's got the. He's got a poster of Hitler's favorite ship behind him as well. EJ And Tony's office decorated with the.
Adam Mockler
Hitler ships behind me.
Ben Mycelis
You guys don't have Hitler ships. It's is, you know, Hitler ships just keeps on happening.
Adam Mockler
Everybody.
Ben Mycelis
Mussolini merch, Hitler ships. It's just kind of par for. Par for the course. Oh, God. We got. We got stuff a lot more. We, we. We. We have to, we have to never, though, lose our joy in this. And I mean this because we're going to get through this situation together and we're going to keep our joy while we fight together through this. Because Trump and all of these idiots want us and he's maga fascist want us to lose our joy. We're not going to lose our joy at all. We got a lot more to discuss on the show. A reminder. The Won't Back down tour, the Midas Nudge, the Midas Touch Network tour with Move On. It's passing through Omaha, Nebraska. We're going to be in Omaha, Nebraska, August 23rd. We have a few spots remaining. So please, if you're from that area, RSVP@won't back down tour.com show up. Our very own Adam Mockler will be hosting it. Guests include Senator Elizabeth Warren and Congressmember Maxwell.
Adam Mockler
I'll say this, Ben, There were a bunch of people last time Mockler did this in Tucson the other day, same part of the same tour. And a lot of people in the comments after the fact went, ugh, I wish I knew about it. I live in the area I would have been there. Well, now is your time. If you live in the Omaha area, sign up.
Ben Mycelis
Go.
Adam Mockler
These are inspiring. They are real concrete plans. It's Midas touch top lawmakers hitting the pavement, actually putting in the work. And Adam Mockler absolutely brought down the house in Tucson and I know the same is going to happen in Omaha. So sign up at won't backdown tour.com RSVP today.
Ben Mycelis
Also, if you could become a member of our YouTube channel, you never know what the membership features are. Maybe I will sing Sit down, you're rocking the boat. Sit down, sit down, sit down, you're rocking the boat. Maybe I do that for members. I don't know if that persuades you or not, but I do have a special exclusive podcast I do with Ron Philipkowski and you get access to the emojis. And we've grown with zero outside investors. So please, if you can become a member of our YouTube channel today and you can let out, you could gift memberships to people as well who may not be able to afford memberships during these tough economic times. We'll be right back. Last quick break of the show.
Adam Mockler
Don't go anywhere.
Ben Mycelis
Don't go anywhere.
Brett Meiselas
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Adam Mockler
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Brett Meiselas
Let's go. Zebiotics Fast growing tree Simpler hair color. I mean some of my favorites on the network links in description of YouTube and audio. Use the links, use the codes. If there's an exit survey, please, please please let them know we sent you. Benji, real quick before I toss it to you. Last quick play story of the podcast. I think you probably don't remember this, but Brett does. I was in a rendition of High School Musical.
Ben Mycelis
I do remember this.
Brett Meiselas
Yeah, I was 15. So you were eight years older than that and so you probably don't even know. But like I sang and danced and I'm just saying I'm probably going to regret this. Somewhere on the Internet a video of me exists as Troy Bolton in High School Musical from start to finish. It's like an hour and a half. So I. I haven't been able to find it since it Went live back in the day. So if anyone finds it, please send it my way. Angie, where to next?
Ben Mycelis
Donald Trump continues to attack foreign countries, allies, trading partners. During Donald Trump's disastrous press conference in the Oval Office today, he says when it comes to Mexico and Canada, I just tell him what to do. Mexico, you do this. Canada, you do this. I just tell them, and they do it. Here, play this clip.
E
Now, they know it meant a lot. And Mexico does what we tell them to do, and Canada does what we tell them to do. Because we had the two borders, we have the northern border, southern border, and they were both horrible. But now it's, It's. Some people say it's a miracle. Well, what.
Ben Mycelis
Canada's gone. Elbows up. Let's be very clear. And right now, tourism from Canada's down. Think conservative estimates about 40%, which is just destroying the economy of Vegas, destroying lots of other vacation spots where Canadians would go and visit. Also, the boycott on US Goods outside of any retaliatory tariffs has been crushing numerous industries in the United States. But Donald Trump continued to say, we're going to take your sovereignty. I mean, you have to understand, for people in Canada, Donald Trump's words were not funny. Although Canada had a lot of patience for Donald Trump. Trump, way too much patience. Many Canadians would say that, you know, he said it at first, then he said it again, then he said it again that he wanted to take them over. And then they started getting annoyed because Canadians are polite people. But. But Canadians have a history of fighting fascists. And once it was clear, oh, got it. Like, you really want to invade Canada. This isn't just like trade war language, which would be bad. This is war, war language. This is Putin language versus Zelensky. And whereas Putin talks about denazification, you're saying that Canada's killing Americans with fentanyl. That's your version of the kind of fictional pretext to invade Canada or attack Canada or strip Canada of its sovereignty. Yo, you're serious about this. Canada went elbows up and inspired an international boycott against a United States. Not just Canadians not traveling here. It's people across the globe not traveling to the United States, and it's causing massive, massive problems with our economy here. Also, in a changing global world order where America was once the leader, America is now either getting laughed at by our former adversaries or just our former allies and trading partners look at us with horror. And they're finding new alliances. Whether you have the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meeting in China with Xi Jinping and saying that's our most important trading partner. Whether we have Japan working out deals, ships with Australia, whether we have, you know, South Korea, Japan, China at a minister level meeting with each other, Brazil and China. Prime Minister Modi of India, first time going to visit China in seven years. The BRICS block Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. BRICS is growing stronger than ever. People are looking away from the United States, a Canada security agreement with the European Union. And, you know, all these countries either they will either do a fake, a fake deal with Trump where they say, we're going to give you X billions of dollars, which they then say, actually we're not going to give you because there's nothing binding in writing. Trump's then actually zero trade deals. You either go that approach or you do what Canada is doing, which is like, we're not doing or, you know, we're not doing fake deals with you. We're going to do a deal in the interest of Canada. We're not even going to give you a fake deal and we're going to stand up for Canadian sovereignty. Donald Trump was then asked at this press conference, well, what do you say about the fact that Mexico, Brazil, Latin American countries are increasingly doing deals with China? What's your response? Like, they're moving away from the United States. Isn't that problematic? And Trump's like, nah, those countries are fouls, they're failures. We're richer than ever. We don't need them. We don't, we don't need to do business with them. Here, play this clip.
E
I would like to say it's Brazil.
Ben Mycelis
Mexico and Latin America are getting closer to China and they say it's partly because of the tariffs you're imposing those countries. Are you concerned them getting closer to China?
E
No, not at all. I'm not concerned at all. They can do what they want. You know, none of them are doing very well. And, and what we're doing in terms of economics, we're blowing everyone away, including China. We're doing better than any other country in the world right now. Brazil.
Ben Mycelis
The thing is, that was true under former President Biden, right? The headlines from the Economist and Wall Street Journal were some variation of America's economy is the envy of the world. But will politics get in the way to stop its growth? Because America was truly surging at the end of the Biden presidency. America's economy, the Goldilocks economy of the world, just right. It was the place where foreign countries and sovereign wealth funds and wealthy people would want to buy treasury bonds, they'd want to buy American real estate. They'd want to travel to the United States. People and countries accepted a structure where the United States was the leader of the world in terms of the economy, in terms of the military. And Donald Trump has ruined that and destroyed that and he's destroyed all of these relationships. And he goes, I don't care. And instead he's meeting with Putin in Alaska on American soil, where Putin's thrown down his preconditions. He wants huge chunks of territory of Ukraine, wants natural resources from the United States. And Trump's agreed to meet knowing that he's just. Or maybe not knowing, or wanting rather to give Putin this real, like, PR victory, that Putin's this conquering hero in the United States. It's a horrible, horrible look for our country. And then you have the United States ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra. He went on a right wing Canadian podcast, and I'm not gonna. I'll just show you this one short clip. But he continues to say, you know, really, like, Canada's been treating us horribly. They've been so vindictive. And, and how dare Canada do this. And, you know, one of the things you'll hear him talk about is maybe the United States needs to get out of Kuzma. The Canadian U. S. Mexico Agreement, sometimes referred to as the USMCA United States Mexico Canada Agreement, the Free Trade Agreement that Trump entered into his own first term. He's like, maybe we need to leave Kuzma because Canada is treating us horribly. Here, play this clip of the United States ambassador to Canada. Some of the retaliatory tariffs to the US Are a huge irritant. We have protected the integrity of Kuzma. Okay? Our negotiators have said we are not going to implement tariffs on any products that are covered under Kuzma. Canadians have said, well, those guardrails are off. Canada is calling into question the future of Kuzma. It's not the United States of America. It's Canada. Powerful, powerful betrayal of the truth. I don't know how else to describe it other than how powerful Canada is standing up, up against that. And I mean, just how ridiculous that. I mean, does he know the definition of retaliatory? That's what I was gonna say.
Adam Mockler
These retaliatory tariffs are really, really. They don't realize how much of an irritant they are. And why are they retaliatory tariffs? What happened first? You see them do this all the time where they, like, try to kind of change around the actual time frames of how things actually happened to try to always make themselves the victims when they are the bullies in every single aspect.
Ben Mycelis
Oh, absolutely. Just so people know that that was, that was my pivot right there because I'll drop a secret because people are going to get to see it right after this show ends. So I'm interviewing California Governor Gavin Newsom, and I'm, as soon as this show ends, I'm going to do that and then put the Newsom interview up, like, right away. And so I, and so I got an interview from, I got a message from my team there. That's that one played. And then I saw that the camera went back on me and I was like, powerful power. That was like the least powerful thing. It's like powerful, powerful betrayal.
Adam Mockler
It happens. It's a big interview. We've been, and obviously, you know, we're excited to speak to Governor Newsom, especially on this day when he made this big announcement and had that big, beautiful rally that he had earlier in, in Los Angeles. And I'm excited to hear what he has to say about all this, what the next steps look like, his thoughts on. I'd love to get his thoughts on the press question that we played earlier, but definitely, everybody, after this episode, just keep a lookout for the interview with Governor Newsom. And if you're listening to this on, on audio, it's, it's up already, so check it out. And it'll be on the, the Midas Touch podcast audio feed very soon as well.
Ben Mycelis
Let's talk about these inflation numbers. I mean, from earlier in the week, seeing that kind of core inflation rising year over year to 3.1%. I think it's important for people to know, too, the Consumer Price Index cpi, it ingests all of this data on consumer prices, on the price of goods. It's like a poll and things need to get reported to the National Bureau of Labor Statistics. And they take all of this data together and they talk and they are able to make these projections kind of the way polling works. Because Trump fired so many data people. A lot of the data that's being ingested, if you even want to call it that, into the Consumer Price Index now is what's called, like, imputed. It's like guesses. It's like estimates versus the actual costs of things because we no longer really have the people who can go out and actually document this data. And so, yes, it's 3.1%, but is it higher than that? I mean, when you look at certain goods and services and you see some of the Costs of things like the cost of coffee at 15% or the cost of clothing, you know, is up significantly. Kind of toys are up significantly. Back to school supplies. I mean, you just take a look at this. Coffee up 25.9% actually. Beef and veal 14.7. Cookies 14.5. Peanut butter 14.1. Canned vegetables up 12%. Canned fruits 11.1. Ice cream 9.1% higher. Dried beans 8.6. Vegetables 8.4. Frozen fruits 7.4%. Fish, 4.3%. Spices 4.4%. I mean, when you talk about energy costs, significant, your home energy, significantly higher. So that was one of the first reports. Then we got this other report which is called PPI, producer price inflation. And that spiked 3.7% year over year. But even bigger than the fact that it was 3.7%, it was just how significantly it jumped from 2.6% to 3.7%. So it jumped a full percentage really just in, in one month. And it was expected that it may rise 0.3%, but it jumped to 3.7%, which like nobody even expected in the worst case scenarios. And it makes sense. It makes sense when you think about it, because what's happening right now is the tariffs are not being eaten by the countries that are exporting to the United States. Now, sure. We could have an honest conversation about this, right? Is it possible that manufacturers abroad are going to try to lower their prices because they're worried that the American importers will try to find another factory? It's possible that that happens at some point. But at some point they can't really make the prices much lower than they are. And what they're exporting it from. So they export it. The tax is not paid by them. Okay, the taxes paid by the importing company, you know, which in this case with the ppi, right. The companies that you know or the companies that get the stuff in the United States are the ones who are ultimately paying the taxes. Now you then have people in the United States who are making products, you know, like lots of wholesalers and other, you know, they have to assemble lots of products come from all different countries. So like, oh crap, I got to pay that tariff from this country. That tower from this country, that tower from this country, that tower from this country in all of my products. So the American companies are the ones that are paying the tax if they're putting together, even if they're fully made in the USA products, they're often getting their stuff though from still other countries. Even if the factory is literally in the United States. So then the question becomes, how much can the company? Because they are. They're the ones paying the tariff. How much can they eat? How much do they suffer? And they may do their best because they realize, holy, if we all of a sudden raise prices, we're not going to be able to sell. The consumers are going to stop spending. And we're seeing that. We're seeing consumer spending dry up, and so they can hold for as much as they want. But we've also seen the biggest bankruptcy numbers in the past 15 years, because if you keep doing that, the companies then go bust. They go bankrupt when we're seeing the highest bankruptcy numbers. And then. So they can hold it. Hold it. Can we hold it a little longer? No, Maybe we'll start passing this off to the consumer, and we'll pass that to the consumer. And before you know it, mostly all of the stuff gets passed on to consumers, which is why the data has lagged a little bit, because everybody's been trying to figure out the situation, and now we're seeing it get passed on to the consumer, and consumers are really getting screwed. So that's. But then I think we have the clip for Donald Trump today when he says our inflate. This is what he says, yeah, inflation's perfect. We got it down to the perfect number. We've done it, we've solved it, and things are great. Watch what he says today. Let's play it.
E
We're also fighting the menace of inflation to make life more affordable for American seniors. And we've ended Biden's inflation nightmare. So we had the worst inflation in the history of our country, and now our inflation is down to a perfect, perfect number, a beautiful number, hardly any at all. And yet our country is taking in tens of billions of dollars and trillions of dollars, actually, trillions of dollars in tariffs. You know all about it. It's been amazing. They say, why are we taking in so much money? Last week they found $29 billion, and they couldn't figure out where it came from. I said, check the. Check the tariff shell. And they said, how did you know that's where it came from? Taking in billions and even trillions of dollars in tariffs paid by other countries who, frankly, were taking advantage of us for many, many years, and they were doing that to us. But our people didn't know it. We didn't have smart business people.
Ben Mycelis
Yeah, that's not what's happening. And Brett, as you've reported, too, our deficit right now is skyrocketing. The US Budget deficit soars. New data shows that the deficit jumped 19% to 291 billion in July. This is despite, let's have the real number, 21 billion is what was collected from Americans due to the higher import taxes, taxes on Americans, which have now led to higher cost of goods like furniture, footwear and auto parts. The deficit for 2025 is already at 1.63 trillion, up 7% from the same period last year. And we saw the national debt soar past $37 trillion as well. And you know, so with DOGE, federal spending is actually higher. With the tariffs, it's actually increasing the deficit year over year significantly more than under former President Biden. And all Trump has is his fraud and his Ponzi scheme and his state regime. Media lies.
Adam Mockler
Yeah, we're looking right now at basically a block of TNT with a fuse. And we're watching that flame go down the fuse slowly but surely. And Trump saying everything's okay, nobody worry about it. Going back to what he did through Covid. You know, if you don't test, there are no cases. Don't test, there are no cases. Let's get rid of the data, people. Let's get rid of anybody who's going to tell you what's going on. Let's just guess. What with inflation, trust my word on it. Inflation's going down, real reports come out, we see how bad it is. These companies are desperately trying to eat as much of the cost as they can, but ultimately they can't because they will all go out of business. And we are watching right now the complete and utter obliteration of the United States economy by Donald Trump. We are seeing the yields spike like crazy, showing uncertainty with our economy. We are seeing Trump just continue to lie and gaslight about what is going on. And similarly to Covid, we're seeing, seeing that same stubbornness and that same refusal to admit that you were frickin wrong. Admit that you were wrong when you said that tariffs would not be inflationary. You had J.D. vance a couple weeks ago or a couple months ago, you know, when one of the inflation reports came back and it was kind of in line with expectations, JD Vance was like, see all you economists, you were all wrong. All you experts. Well, what are you saying now, J.D. vance? This is a real problem. This is going through our wholesalers as we see in the ppi. This is going to eventually hit consumer. It's already hitting consumers. It's going to hit consumers hard, hard, hard, hard. And you cannot tell the American people with a straight face that their prices are coming down when they are going to the grocery store week by week and they are seeing the cost of beef skyrocket or the cost of everything skyrocket that they go to purchase. And that's one of the issues. That's why Donald Trump's approval rating is in the toilet. That's why his disapproval is record highs. That's why he's getting the worst marks ever. Why inflation is the top issue and the economy is the top issue on voters minds right now. It's not immigration, it's inflation, it's the economy, stupid. And Trump is failing on that metric just like he's failing on every single metric. He's a liar, he's a fraud, he's a criminal, he's a felon. We need to continue to call him out. We need to call out these lies every single day.
Brett Meiselas
Remember what he said to a Brett about COVID Like a miracle, it will just disappear like a mirror. I mean that's, that's how he's handling inflation at this point. Other than the fact that he's telling people no, what you're feeling, you're not actually feeling a gaslighter in chief Donald Trump at the moment.
Adam Mockler
Because what do they say throughout that Jordy? They go, oh, we were right. Vaccines weren't good. Actually vaccines weren't good. Let's get rid of the MRNA vaccines that actually helped end the COVID pandemic.
Brett Meiselas
And it's the smugness of the behavior too which for me is the most frustrating part about it. Like just admit that you were wrong right at the end of this. There are real American lives at stake here who are being impacted by, by your stubbornness. So shouldn't we just live like in this country with our politicians in a way where the politicians actually want to help the American people and not just be right all the time. I think it's really important here as we continue to go forward here that to remember there's a real human element on the other side of this. So when Donald Trump is up there talking about the Epstein hoax, ladies and gentlemen, there are real victims there. There, there are real victims there. So him calling that a hoax is ridiculous. And we still demand the release of the Epstein Trump files. Donald Trump. Release the Epstein Trump files. Donald Trump. And while we're at it too, inflation, same thing Donald Trump says, inflation solved. That is so arrogant and just stubborn. And again, at the other side of this, there's humans, Americans being impacted by Donald Trump's ridiculous policies every single day. And they feel it with their wallets and their families are feeling it. And that is the most frustrating part for me.
Ben Mycelis
And then you've got criminals from this criminal regime like Peter Navarro, right, who was convicted of crimes. He was also part of the Green Bay sweep to steal the 2020 election. He's one of Donald Trump's top economic advisers and he goes on CNBC and cnbc. You know, to me it's just been, it's been atrocious on, I mean they, they platform this MAGA nonsense with very little pushback. It's really sad, bad to see they've got that Joe Curtin guy, who's MAGA guy in the world. And then even the other hosts are just, they let these, they let these Trump talking points go, but they bring on Peter Navarro. And Peter Navarro says, why would you listen to who do you trust, me or the economists? Literally what he says here, play this clip. There's no tax cuts, no tariffs, no tax cuts. So it's our tariffs, price hikes or tax cuts. I say they're tax cuts.
Adam Mockler
I mean, many, many economists would say that they're, they're tax hikes because ultimately a consumer will pay for some of these prices.
Ben Mycelis
Look, that debate has been going on since the first term and most economists just don't agree with us. The problem with most economists is they got it wrong the first time around, just spectacularly wrong. So who has credibility here, the Trump administration or the economy?
Adam Mockler
I give you plenty of credit every day here.
Ben Mycelis
And you hear what she said there, that the almost more disturbing than him is her because she then co signs that. And if you're watching, I give you credit. What do you give him credit for? What are you talking about? Inflation is surging. Inflation people can't afford. And I mean maybe for her that she lives in some fancy apartment in Manhattan for millions. I'm sure she does for millions of dollars a year. And her, and she gets paid millions of dollars. You're so disconnected to what people are actually experiencing right now. Inflation is crushing people's lives right now. This economy is destroying people's lives. I don't know in what idyllic world you think that people aren't paying the tariffs right now like they say they quite every data point shows this is happening and this is, and this is getting worse right now. And then his, his argument to her is who do you trust, the economists or us? And her response is I give you a lot of credit. We don't see the. We do. We do. We do all of the Things that came out show that we do and if you go into a grocery store or go into the market or go buy anything, you go holy crap, how did that get that much more expensive? So I want to leave on that note because to me that identifies the problem. I could easily show you a Fox clip but that's too easy. State regime, media more insidious. That's cnbc. Yeah, they're supposed to be. We're giving you the straight economic news. Nah, you there in many ways were worse than Fox.
Adam Mockler
And then co signing the fascist propaganda.
Ben Mycelis
You're reciting fascist propaganda. So then going back to the point of the Midas touch network and going back to that interview I did on the show when they asked the question are you the answer to the Joe Rogan? I hope that I'm just the answer to the lies by telling the truth. I don't, I don't think that even what I am. I don't, I mean yes, I'm anti Trump because Trump lies. I'm anti lies. I'm anti fascism. I'm pro democracy. That's what we are on this network and that's what we're building here. A reminder. I hope to see you all in Omaha on August 23rd. It was a great turnout in Phoenix. Adam Mockler will be hosting the Won't Back down tour with Move on. Go to won't backdowntour.com Reserve your spot in Omaha. We've got a third trip coming that we're going to be announcing soon as well. So we'll do a third trip and then we're off to the races because it is important for me that we go to. We go across the country with this Won't Back down tour and we're gonna hit red states, purple states, blue states, wherever. We're gonna meet you at a. Mockler's gonna meet you. I'm gonna try to meet you. We're gonna go to Canada. We're gonna be everywhere. Excited for that. Of course be in the United States as well. Reminder, try to become a member of this YouTube channel if you can. We've grown with zero outside investors thanks to you. So please, if you can gift memberships to people. If you want to also check out midasplus.com that's our substack. Go there right now. Number one on substack right now as well on their rising charts. So Please go to Midasplus.com. make sure you spell it right. M e I-a s p l u s dot com. You can check out all of our sponsors. The discount codes Jordy got for you is in the description below. I'll also give a shout out to our friends over at Snapstream. You know all of those clips. Snapstream is a tool that helps us kind of people like Acin on our team and others help capture those clips. So if you have a business that wants to get these clips and know how we do them snapstream, there's a link as well. You can go and find out. Reach out to them. It's really more for businesses but you know feel free to reach out to them and tell them Midas Touch sent you as well. That's all I got. Thank you everybody. We appreciate you Jordy. You want to take it away? Shout out to the Midas.
Brett Meiselas
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The MeidasTouch Podcast Summary – Episode: Full Podcast - 8/15/25
Host: MeidasTouch Network
Release Date: August 15, 2025
Title: MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 8/15/25
Ben Meiselas opens the episode by highlighting a significant drop in former President Donald Trump's approval ratings. Citing a Pew Research poll, he states:
"Donald Trump's approval is absolutely plummeting. A new Pew Research poll shows that only 38% of Americans now support Donald Trump. That's going to start creeping, I think into the low 30s."
[00:43]
The discussion underscores Trump's waning popularity and its potential impact on his political influence.
Ben presents alarming economic data:
"We got new inflation data out today on the inflation faced by wholesalers and it is surging well beyond any expectations... we're just seeing the producer price inflation PPI spiking to 3.7% year over year when the expectation was 2.9%."
[00:59]
Jordy Meiselas emphasizes the severity:
"The most unpopular president in modern history... producer price inflation PPI spiking to 3.7% year over year."
[03:18]
This spike indicates escalating costs for producers, which is likely to ripple through to consumers.
Ben shifts focus to California Governor Gavin Newsom's proactive stance against Trump's policies:
"Finally, Democrats are fighting back, not just with talk, but with actions. That's what I loved about California Governor Gavin Newsom's press conference today."
[01:10]
Jordy elaborates on Newsom's initiatives:
"Gavin Newsom was holding this press conference to announce a ballot initiative in November about how California will now gerrymander to counteract what is taking place in Texas."
[04:26]
Newsom's move aims to use gerrymandering as a temporary measure to preserve democratic processes against perceived authoritarian threats.
The hosts critique the media's inconsistent coverage:
Ben criticizes how media handles Newsom's aggressive tactics compared to Trump's similar behavior:
"Why all of a sudden have to play by a different set of rules than you're allowing Trump to escape by."
[18:10]
Adam Mockler adds:
"What Newsom is doing is cutting through. He's trolling Trump. He's getting his message out there incredibly effectively."
[12:39]
This section highlights perceived biases in media portrayal, suggesting a double standard in reporting similar actions by Trump and Newsom.
Ben segues into Trump's recent press conferences, pointing out his erratic statements and policies:
"Donald Trump sent in the basically the military to harass and threaten Newsom... he's sending ICE agents here while we're talking about defending democracy."
[06:10]
Jordy echoes the sentiment:
"He wants to bring us back to a pre-1960s world. That's what this is all about. It's about power."
[04:26]
The hosts express concern over Trump's use of militarized law enforcement and authoritarian rhetoric.
Ben dives deeper into economic issues exacerbated by Trump's tariff policies:
"Our budget deficit soars. New data shows that the deficit jumped 19% to $291 billion in July... the national debt soar past $37 trillion."
[67:10]
Adam Mockler likens the situation to a crisis:
"This is a crisis. This is as 5 alarm fire as you could possibly get in our country right now. This is the last stand, folks."
[13:05]
The discussion focuses on how tariffs have led to increased costs for American companies, bankruptcies, and a significant rise in the national deficit.
The podcast scrutinizes Trump's foreign policy decisions, particularly his dealings with Russia and Ukraine:
Ben critiques Trump's approach:
"He wants to bring Putin into America. He wants to remove sanctions and offer to give up parts of the United States to Putin."
[32:33]
Jordy reinforces the dangers:
"Nothing about this shit is normal at all. We need to stop pretending like it is."
[18:39]
The hosts argue that Trump's foreign policy is diluting America's international standing and compromising national security.
Ben addresses Governor Newsom's use of aggressive language on social media, mirroring Trump's style:
"Gavin Newsom is now trolling Donald Trump... why are you writing like that?"
[09:33]
Adam Mockler defends Newsom's approach:
"What Newsom is doing is cutting through. He's trolling Trump. He's getting his message out there incredibly effectively."
[24:33]
The conversation highlights the necessity of strong language in countering Trump's tactics and the media's inconsistent response to it.
Ben discusses the deterioration of U.S. relationships with allies due to Trump's policies:
"Foreign countries and allies are either getting laughed at or looking away, finding new alliances."
[51:41]
Adam Mockler adds concern over the U.S.'s diminished leadership role:
"America is now either getting laughed at by our former adversaries or just our former allies and trading partners look at us with horror."
[51:41]
The hosts express worry over the weakening of U.S. alliances and the emergence of powerful blocs like BRICS.
Towards the episode's end, the hosts promote their "Won't Back Down Tour":
"We're passing through Omaha, Nebraska, August 23rd. RSVP@won'tbackdowntour.com, show up."
[43:59]
They emphasize the importance of grassroots activism in combating Trump's influence and supporting democratic values.
Jordy Meiselas:
"You have the power to save democracy, not just in California, but all across the United States of America."
[04:26]
Adam Mockler:
"This is a crisis. This is as 5 alarm fire as you could possibly get in our country right now."
[13:05]
Ben Meiselas:
"Nothing about this shit is normal at all. We need to stop pretending like it is."
[18:39]
The MeidasTouch Podcast episode delves into the deteriorating political and economic landscape under Donald Trump's influence, emphasizing the urgent need for proactive measures to preserve democracy. Through sharp analysis and vigorous discussion, the hosts call for increased activism and awareness to counteract the challenges posed by Trump's policies and rhetoric. The episode serves as both a critique of current administrations and a rallying cry for listeners to engage in democratic defense.