Rep. Auchincloss Responds to the Trump Shutdown Mess

Summary

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The MeidasTouch Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Rep. Auchincloss Responds to the Trump Shutdown Mess
Release Date: October 4, 2025
Host: MeidasTouch Network (Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas)
Guest: Rep. Jake Auchincloss (Democrat, Massachusetts)

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Overview

In this episode, the MeidasTouch brothers sit down with Congressman Jake Auchincloss to discuss the chaos and political gamesmanship surrounding the government shutdown attributed to Donald Trump and supported by MAGA Republicans. They dig deep into the implications for ordinary Americans, the performative politics coming from the GOP, and the urgent need for responsible leadership. The conversation ranges from AI-generated memes and social media battles to serious issues of policy, leadership, and the future agenda for Democrats.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Trump Shutdown and Meme Politics

• Background Context: The episode opens with the ongoing government shutdown, described as orchestrated by Donald Trump and his supporters, causing real hardship for Americans, especially those reliant on federal programs and jobs.
• Political Immaturity: The hosts and Auchincloss criticize the White House and MAGA Republicans for focusing on social media “sideshows” like AI-edited racist memes of Democratic leaders instead of negotiating or addressing substantive concerns.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “It's treating the American people like we're the joke. Like our lives and our family and our children are the freaking punchline here. And that's the part that upsets me.” – Political Commentator (02:22)
  • “This is one of the most petulant, thin skinned crybabies in American political history, trying to claim that everyone else should be able to take a joke.” – Rep. Jake Auchincloss (05:05)

2. Impact on Ordinary Americans

• ACA Subsidy Crisis: The episode highlights the risk to Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, noting most Americans recognize the personal impact, with premiums potentially skyrocketing and endangering basic healthcare access.
  • “71% of Americans say we need to extend these Affordable Care act subsidies...people can't afford this stuff.” – Political Commentator (05:43)
• Cost of Living Concerns: Auchincloss frames 2025 as an especially tough year for the middle class, with wages outpaced by the rising costs of housing, healthcare, and utilities.

3. Policy Failures and GOP Strategy

• Lack of GOP Solutions: Auchincloss highlights how Republican infighting and the refusal to negotiate are harming the middle class, mentioning failed efforts to reverse Medicaid cuts, fund police hiring grants, build public trust, and counter inflation.
  • “I don't know why the GOP would rather drown the federal government than just help the middle class stay afloat.” – Rep. Jake Auchincloss (08:29)

4. Leadership and Military Values

• Trump’s Visit to Quantico: Auchincloss, a Marine veteran, discusses the contrast between true military leadership and the spectacle of Trump’s appearance at Quantico.
  • “Leadership by example. It's literally emblazoned upon the statue at the entrance.” (09:03)
  • Critiques Pete Hegseth and Trump for lecturing proven military leaders despite personal and organizational failures.
• Concerns About National Security:
  • “The biggest challenge that the American military has right now is that the commander in chief doesn't know who the friend and the enemy are. He thinks Los Angeles is the enemy and Russia is the friend.” – Rep. Jake Auchincloss (09:45)

5. The Democratic Forward Agenda

• Simple but Not Easy (Substack): Auchincloss plugs his newsletter, focused on big ideas for 2028, designed to define a “new center” in American politics and move past tired left-right divides.
  • Priorities include financial freedom, cost disease (cutting costs in housing and healthcare), education overhauls, challenging social media companies, and government effectiveness.
• The ‘New Center’: A group of Democratic policymakers is working on a unifying blueprint that embraces pragmatic, non-partisan solutions to big systemic problems.

6. Underreported Top Issues (Auchincloss' Three Themes)

1. Cost Disease: Need for practical solutions to out-of-control costs in housing, healthcare, and education, including regulatory reform and technology adoption.
2. Corruption: Strong stance for banning congressional and executive stock trading, and for making elections more competitive.
3. Classroom Crisis: Both parties lack bold education reform, especially after catastrophic pandemic-related school closures. Proposes one-on-one tutoring, investment in trade schools, and making tech companies pay for educational infrastructure.

• “We should make the social media corporations who have been treating our children like products pay for that entire educational infrastructure.” – Rep. Jake Auchincloss (12:52)

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Meme Politics and Leadership Failure:

  • “It's treating the American people like we're the joke.” – Political Commentator (02:22)
  • “This is one of the most petulant, thin skinned crybabies in American political history, trying to claim that everyone else should be able to take a joke.” – Rep. Jake Auchincloss (05:05)

• On Real Economic Pain:

  • “The middle class has had a bad 2025. They came into this year really suffering from the cost disease.” – Rep. Jake Auchincloss (06:46)

• On Military Leadership:

  • “Leadership by example. It's literally emblazoned upon the statue at the entrance.” – Rep. Jake Auchincloss (09:03)
  • “He thinks Los Angeles is the enemy and Russia is the friend.” – Rep. Jake Auchincloss (09:45)

• On Big Picture Democratic Vision:

  • “We are defining the new center of American political life.” – Rep. Jake Auchincloss (10:53)
  • “Politics has become so sophomoric and so irrelevant to their life that they can't bear to tune in.” – Rep. Jake Auchincloss (11:33)

• On Underreported Crisis Areas:

  • “Neither party is putting forward a bold agenda on education...We should make the social media corporations who have been treating our children like products pay for that entire educational infrastructure.” – Rep. Jake Auchincloss (12:45)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:28–03:17: The meme wars, AI disinformation, and political sideshows
• 03:52–05:43: Jake Auchincloss joins—Leadership, Trump’s hypocrisy, substance vs. spectacle
• 05:43–08:29: ACA subsidies crisis, middle-class economic pain, policy solutions, and opposition tactics
• 08:29–10:02: Military leadership, Trump at Quantico, and national security concerns
• 10:02–11:42: Auchincloss’ Substack, the “new center”, forward-facing Democratic policies
• 11:42–13:35: Underreported issues—cost disease, classroom crisis, and corruption

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Conclusion

The episode is a sharp critique of the GOP’s performative governance under Trump, juxtaposed with substantive policy advocacy from Rep. Jake Auchincloss, who calls for practical leadership, a focus on the middle class, and a new political center. Auchincloss urges Democrats to pivot from just opposing Trump to providing real solutions on cost of living, corruption, and education.

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For More:
Check out Rep. Auchincloss’ Substack, Simple but Not Easy, for extended thoughts and policy proposals.

Transcript

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[Political Commentator]

NMLS 696891 these are obviously very serious times with the Donald Trump government shutdown inflicting real pain on the American people. And so all of the MAGA Republicans are in lockstep with the Trump regime's decision to treat these, I guess, negotiations, if you want to even call what Donald Trump's doing by posting AI memes of like alien technology from outer space and kind of constantly posting images of Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing sombreros and AI manipulating the voices of Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. You have MAGA Republican Congressmember Carlos Jimenez says you're going to see a lot more of this. This is what we're doing. So if you want to be a politician, you got to develop a thick skin because this is how we're going to handle things in the Republican Party from these people are ridiculous. Here, play this clip.

[Interviewer]

One of the things that's happened in this negotiation is the administration is celebrating this AI meme of Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero with a mustache. Vice President Vance says he thinks it's funny. There are a lot of people look at this and say it's just flat out racist. How does this help with the negotiations, Congressman?

[Republican Congressman]

Look, I think he's just making fun of Yakim Jeffries. I think everybody needs to chill out a little bit, okay? And you're going to see more of these things happen. And so people need to develop a little bit thicker skin, you know, and that's. And it comes with the territory when you are a politician. So I would expect the meme to.

[MAGA Supporter]

Come out of me.

[Republican Congressman]

And so if you complain about it, you're just going to get more of it. And so, no, I saw it, you know, okay, I kind of chuckled and then we move on.

[Interviewer]

No one would ever meme you, Congressman, but I do wonder what the thousands, I do wonder what the thousands of furloughed federal workers think and how they think this is helping them right now.

[Political Commentator]

And that's exactly the point. I mean, look, obviously politicians should have thick skin. Obviously, humor is something that we should all embrace. I think I like a Good joke. I like comedy, but there's also a time and a place for things. And also, this is coming from the Oval Office. AI images during an issue where tens of millions of Americans can lose their health care and die. And die. The serious stuff. And it's. And the behavior here, you know, I go back to that California Governor Gavin Newsom, Marie Antoinette photo. The behavior is not just like, eat your cake. It's like, it's treating the American people like we're the joke. Like our lives and our family and our children are the freaking punchline here. And that's the part that upsets, that upsets me. Here you have Maga Mike talking about that as well. Here, play this clip.

[MAGA Supporter]

Many of you asked me this morning about sombreros and memes and why, why Hakeem Jeffries is all alarmed by that. But look, these are games. These are sideshows. People are getting caught up in battles over social media memes. We've got to keep the, this is not a game. We got to keep the government open for the people. I don't know why this is so complicated. And to my friend Hakeem, who I was asked about, man, just ignore it. I mean, Gavin Newsom was trolling me last night. He painted me like a minion. He painted me yellow with big glasses and overalls. And I thought it was hilarious. You don't respond to it. For all my friends.

[Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss]

For all my friends, yeah.

[Political Commentator]

Governor Newsom is mocking the way that Donald Trump is behaving like a petulant little baby. And again, the gaslighting here is just next level. Donald Trump ordered all of the Republicans do not even talk to Democrats yet alone negotiate with Democrats. Then the message from the White House in response to Democrats saying, look, we want to make sure we extend these Affordable Care act subsidies. Last week, the White House literally said, I hate to curse, but this is what they said. Go yourself. Was the official statement from the White House spokesperson. It was an official statement that was given. I want to bring in Democratic Congress member Jake Auchincloss here, Congressmember Alca Kloss. Great to see you again. I mean, look, I, I, look, I, I, I try to bring humor to the show. I like to laugh. I like all of that. Like, this is serious stuff. And to me, beyond the Democrat Republican, blue, red, purple. It's leadership and it's just acting like freaking grownups. And having principles and values like that, to me, is what frustrates me about this whole charade coming out of the White House. What about you?

[Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss]

Yes, and the hypocrisy always is galling. Donald Trump famously can take a joke about himself, right? And Donald Trump has very thick skin and never gets upset or ruffled by barbs thrown at him online or through the court system. This is one of the most petulant, thin skinned crybabies in American political history, trying to claim that everyone else should be able to take a joke. When has Donald Trump ever laughed at himself? When has he ever had that amount of self awareness to do that? I mean, my goodness, he tried to get a comedian fired for making a joke at his expense.

[Political Commentator]

Yeah, going after standup comedians canceled the White House correspondents dinner because he didn't wanna be roasted. But let's talk about the real issue right here, which is American people are scared. Saw a Washington Post poll. 71% of Americans understand what's up. They rely on these subsidies. And there's 71% of Americans say we need to extend these Affordable Care act subsidies. They because, you know, you see the Data family making $85,000, their premiums are going to go up to like potentially $24,000 a year. Like, is it? We can't afford this stuff. People can't afford this stuff. And when Donald Trump's doing his whole let's blame transgender people and let's blame illegal immigrants, I don't know, I just think that this is a little bit different for the American people because like, wait a minute, wait a minute, I'm on an Affordable Care act plan. I need this, I need this. Do you think this is different or, you know, because this is the same playbook they always try to use?

[Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss]

I think what you're seeing in that Washington Post poll is that the middle class has had a bad 2025. They came into this year really suffering from the cost disease that afflicts housing, health care and utilities, particularly where their rent payments, their insurance payments are going up two, three times as fast as their wages. And they came into 2025 worried about growing instability throughout the world at home and abroad. And since then, what have they seen? They have seen that housing, that utilities and that healthcare have continued to inflate at double digit rates. And they've seen that this president is picking a fight with Canada and Los Angeles while rolling out the red carpet for Russia. This is not an America that they recognize. And what they want are some wins. They want some wins for the middle class. So before this shutdown, well, before this shutdown, I led a group in laying out some starting conditions that the Republicans should meet us at not expecting to get everything that we want. That's not how Congress works when you're grown ups. But at least starting a negotiation on reversing the worst of the Medicaid cuts that are going to raise the cost of long term care for the middle class. On refunding the COPS grants that the GOP has gouged. It's going to make it harder to hire and train local law enforcement. Releasing the Epstein files as a way to build back some public trust. Giving Congress a vote on the tariffs that are inflationary across the country. These are all things that have a super majority support across the country. They're not actually particularly partisan if you look at the data. And I don't know why the GOP would rather drown the federal government than just help the middle class stay afloat.

[Political Commentator]

Congressman Alca Klaus, you're a Marine veteran trained at Quantico. I gotta get your reaction to what you observed. When Donald Trump went to Quantico. You had all those generals and admirals there who were basically silent the entire time. And lots of people are saying that their silence actually spoke volumes to the kind of clown show that Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth were doing there. And you and I often talk beyond just the politics of it, just leadership service. What'd you observe there? We'd love to get your take on that.

[Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss]

The first thing an officer candidate learns in Quantico is leadership by example. It's literally emblazoned upon the statue at the entrance. And so the irony of Pete Hegseth lecturing a bunch of four star admirals and generals who have a combined tens of thousands of years of combat experience on high standards, when this guy has driven multiple non profits into the ground through malfeasance and poor leadership, when his own personal conduct has been laid bare before the American public and found wanting I think is quite galling. The standards of the United States military should be the standards of lethality. That makes us no better friend and no worse enemy. And if the standards are failing, then fix them. Fine. But the biggest challenge that the American military has right now is that the commander in chief doesn't know who the friend and the enemy are. He thinks Los Angeles is the enemy and Russia is the friend. Fix that and then go tell us about what you're going to do with PFTs.

[Political Commentator]

Now, Congressman, you run a substack right now called simple but not easy. And tell us about that. Because it's not just what we're against, it's what Democrats are for. And what a forward Face racing agenda looks like. So talk to us about what you want the American people to know. If Democrats were to take control of the House, what does that agenda look like in an ideal world?

[Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss]

Yeah, I write weekly. It's called simple but Not Easy on Substack. And what it at its core, it's about big ideas for 2028. Because Democrats have spent the last decade telling Americans who we are against, we now have to tell them what we are for. So I've written specific ideas about financial freedom, about treating cost disease, about improving education, about taking on the social media corporations, about enhancing law and order, about fixing our appropriations process. And I am working now on these ideas with a group called Majority Democrats. It's a group of 32 of US mayors, soon to be governors, members of Congress, and we are defining the new center of American political life. The debate right now between the center and the left, the center and the right. It's a stale debate because politics has realigned. And the opportunity is to define a new center that draws upon the best ideas across American ideological life and in the faction that is able to define that new center controls the terms of debate and can uplift that exhausted majority of Americans who feel like politics has become so sophomoric and so irrelevant to their life that they can't bear to tune in.

[Political Commentator]

You know, before we go, I often ask you this question because, you know, you're out there not just in your home state of Massachusetts, but you're also speaking to people, you know, across the country, right there, as you mentioned, for the substack, just kind of getting ideas of what Democratic leadership looks like in the future. Are there any issues that you see right now in this country that you think are just not getting enough attention out there, you know, in the press who are focused on, you know, a lot of other things, but that you're like, I really wish that I could, you know, bring this up. We have 6 million subscribers here. So I often like to ask a question like that just so so I could learn something new before I wrap up these interviews.

[Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss]

I think there are three themes that are particularly resonant right now. Cost, disease, corruption in classrooms, and briefly in all three. And again, it's simple but not easy. I'm writing about them on classrooms. Candidly, neither party is putting forward a bold agenda on education. At a time when American students are behind on reading and writing and arithmetic, and when the school closures have proven catastrophic for our educational readiness, we need to be surging one on one tutoring. We need to build 1,000 trade schools. And we should make the social media corporations who have been treating our children like products pay for that entire educational infrastructure on cost disease, in particular housing and healthcare. Democrats need to be the doctors of cost disease. We have got to cut regulations where they're holding back productivity. We've got to adopt technology where it can help. And we got to take on the special interests like the health insurance corporations that are artificially keeping costs high. And then I'll close with corruption. I think this one is obvious to every American. Corruption is directly threatening the American dream. It's endemic in this administration, but we have to be willing to take it on wherever it exists. That means banning stock trading by members of Congress and executive branch officials. That means fixing our electoral system so that every election is competitive every November.

[Political Commentator]

Congressmember Jake Auchincloss, thanks for joining us and everybody. Check out his substack simple but not easy on substack. Thanks Jake.

[Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss]

Be well everybody.

[Political Commentator]

Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers. Thanks for watching. Be sure to add the Midas Touch podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast for new updates every single day.

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[Political Commentator]

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[Political Commentator]

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