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Host/Commentator
Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are in full terror after Donald Trump surrendered to Iran. As I noted earlier, Donald Trump is no longer even trying to do a deal with Iran in the United States. Instead, Donald Trump's latest threats are Iran. You've got to make a deal with Oman or else. And then we're going to take credit for that deal because Trump is incapable of making a deal. Americans did not want to be involved in this catastrophic war ever. Donald Trump promised it was going to be a complete victory despite the fact that Americans did not want to be in this catastrophic war. And America saw the entire country put through a daily humiliation ritual as Donald Trump would threaten war crimes on Iran, then back out, threaten war crimes in Iran and back out, and threaten more war crimes and back out. And now our economy is suffering. Trump, though, continues to manipulate the markets and. And MAGA Republicans are out there in panic mode. I'll show you. You mean you got Trump cabinet members right now, like Brooke Rollins, you know, she's out there in Minnesota and she's like, we delivered. We got rid of the crazy woke.
Ben (Guest Analyst)
Huh?
Host/Commentator
We got rid of the crazy woke, huh? We anti woke. This is what you're doing right now with everything that's going on right now. We've got rid of the. Ain't working there, Brooke. Here, play this clip with my boss,
Trump Administration Official
President Trump, and what he was trying to figure out was if we've got a. We gotta, we gotta, we gotta del. Deliver on our promises. We promised a smaller government, we promised to deregulate, we promised tax cuts. We promised to get rid of all the crazy woke.
Host/Commentator
And then she was like, hey, everybody, give us applause. Because Trump has done more for farmers than anybody. Well, maybe he's done more bailouts for farm. For farmers after bankrupting the farmers. But this is what the Trump administration officials are doing now. Here, play this clip.
Trump Administration Official
And the biofuels industry has never had a bigger backer, a more vocal backer than, than my boss, President Donald Trump. This spring he announced. I think this may be due for another applause. This spring, he announced the highest renewable volume obligation RVO's in the history of the program. How about that, y'? All? That's a big deal for this state. A big deal.
Host/Commentator
Then they send out Dr. Oz, and Dr. Oz is like, when I'm lying to you and you know I'm lying to you and, and I know that you know I'm lying to you and on and on and on. That's how countries collapse. Yeah, we know. That's what's Happening here. Play this clip.
Unknown Speaker
Texas, I think there's a bigger problem here. And this is not fraud, waste and abuse by itself. This is corruption on the underlying system. When you corrupt the practices that rot out the foundation of the boat that we're all in together and we start taking on water, we can start pointing fingers. But when everyone is doing it, which is maybe the most important quote from this press conference not said by any of us up here, that's a real pathology because then if you're not part of the corrupt system, you're a fool. When I'm lying to you and you know I'm lying to you and I know that you know that I'm lying to you and on and on and on. That's how countries collapse.
Ben (Guest Analyst)
Thank you all.
Host/Commentator
Oh, and then you have MAGA Republican senator. Don't let him even consider call himself a centrist. John Cornyn, uh, say there's nothing that he and the GOP can ever do for survivors. And yes, they didn't want Todd Blanch confirmed because he's covering up the Epstein files and then he further tormented them. But Cornyn's like, there's nothing we can do. Yeah, we know because you're all part of the Epstein class. You are involved in the COVID up of the child sex trafficking ring by not releasing the Epstein files and confirming. Blanche, in my opinion. Here, play this clip right here.
Trump Administration Official
Senator, your Democratic colleagues seem to think
Interviewer
that this, that your vote yes on Planche is going to have a chilling effect on survivors of sexual assault and things like that. What's your response to them? They were frustrated that you didn't meet with them in person too.
Senator John Cornyn
Well, what happened to them is a tragedy. There's. And we know that people have been convicted of trafficking and crimes and Epstein is no longer with us. But the. I don't believe there's anything we could do to assuage them at this point, but we need to continue to help them every way we can. But I just think that's one of those things that cannot be remedied by a no vote.
Trump Administration Official
And Senator, your Democratic colleagues say that.
Host/Commentator
And let me just show you what some of the polling looks like for Trump out today. The aggregate of this stuff from Harry Enton, Donald Trump, the worst position ever right now according to Enten's aggregate. Here, play this clip.
Harry Enten (Poll Analyst)
President Trump thinks his own polls are good. He is, simply put, not on planet Earth. He is on some planet far, far, far away and a galaxy far, far, far away. I mean, just look at this. It has been A steady decline like a slide going into the sea. You know, you go back January 2025 +6, May of 2025 -7. September of 2025 -8. December of 2025 -13, April of 2026, -17. And now in an average of polls, he is 21 points underwater. This is the lowest he has been in term number two. The bottom line is this. Trump is at record lows for himself in term number two. He is very much underwater despite whatever he is claiming up in his head of his.
Co-Host/Interviewer
A slide going into the sea. Evocative imagery there from Harry. When did this slide begin?
Harry Enten (Poll Analyst)
When did this slide begin? When Trump slide into the c begin. I mean, just take a look here. I mean, you know, it'd be one thing again if we were talking about just one poll, but we're talking about the average polls. But when we're talking about one poll, is there any poll that has Trump anywhere close to positive territory? Take a look here. Trump's negative net approval rating. Every single poll that meets CNN standards for publication has had Donald Trump underwater in the negative since March 29th of 2020 five days in a row. It is 494, nearly 500 days in which Donald Trump has had a negative net approval rating. He's not anywhere close to positive.
Co-Host/Interviewer
The Lou Gehrig of President's Attorney Lou
Harry Enten (Poll Analyst)
Gehrig, the Cal Ripken of negative ratings.
Co-Host/Interviewer
But people would say, hey look, you know, the President had low approval ratings in his first term also not this
Harry Enten (Poll Analyst)
low, not this low. Take a look here. Trump's not a per ring at this point in term one. At this point he was 12 points on the water. He is now broken the 20 point barrier in the negative. Minus 20 points. And you know I always love a little nugget here goes from -8 to -47 points. With independence, we're driving this.
Co-Host/Interviewer
And what are the prediction markets say this means about his chances of maintaining control of the House?
Harry Enten (Poll Analyst)
Yeah, okay, if you have a negative 21 net of parade, no way your party controls the House if this holds until election day. Chance to win the House. Democrats now up to an 84% chance, up from 73% just a few months ago. Republicans now with just a 16% chance. According to the cash prediction markets, Trump's negative net approval rating is.
Host/Commentator
What about even moderate Republicans? What do they think amongst Trump's own party Republicans, he only has a plus 10 approval, down from plus 69 in 2024. I mean it is a 59 point drop here. Watch what Enten says here.
Harry Enten (Poll Analyst)
Yeah, okay, so you know, we often talk about, oh, that conservative base, that MAGA base, but how about where the other GOP lives? That is moderate Republicans capable with moderate Republicans and in a word, yikes. Yikes is the word. Okay, take a look. This the moderate GOP on Trump. This includes leaners. This is about 30 to 40% of the party, depending on how you exactly look at, versus Kamala Harris. Trump easily was winning amongst them by 69 points back in October of 2024. Come over to this side of the screen. Look at this decline in the Lake Erie. I mean right now we're talking about as they're talking about just a plus 10 net approval. This is within his own party. This is within his own party. He's just barely above water. Do the quick math with me. That's 6910. That's a 59 point drop. That is 5 and 9 in the course of under two years. So moderate Republicans are abandoning Donald John Trump.
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
Now I want to bring in Democratic Congressmember Raja Kristamoorthy. Congressmember, great to see you as always. At the beginning, I was talking about how, you know, yet again, Congress is in recess, the House is in recess. I mean, you know, yes, there's an election in less than, you know, 100 days and yes, there's usually a summer recess, but when you take as many breaks as maga, Mike has recessed this House of Representatives. When we're in this catastrophic war and Donald Trump one day threatens, I'm going to blow the effing s out of a country, and then he comes up with imaginary fake negotiations that aren't taking place. Meanwhile, Iran continues to strike the US Bases because they don't see it as a ceasefire. I mean, they're not going with his imaginary narratives. I mean, he engaged, he invaded them. And so they're like, yeah, we're in a war. And now we learned that America is out of ATACMs and interceptors, not to like our stockpiles depleted, but according to some of the latest reporting, it's like we don't, the public reporting is almost like we don't have weapons. And my broader point is like, where's Congress? Like, this is quite literally the job. And it's like, okay, summer chill. What's going on?
Ben (Guest Analyst)
Well, what's going on is, you know, basically Congress has become a fully owned subsidiary of Trump Inc. And the White House. And at this point, you know, Mike Johnson and the Republicans would just prefer to put his interests above their own constituents. Interests and those of the country. You're right, by the way, with regard to the munitions issue, it's pretty serious. We're not only running low on atacms, we're running low on Tomahawks, which are long range precision fires that would be necessary for holding off adversaries. We're low on SM3 interceptors and patriots. That's what provides our, basically our ballistic missile defense, especially the fads, which we're also low on. And so we're kind of in this situation where we've basically exposed ourselves, we're lowering our deterrence, we're inviting aggression and I think we're sliding towards war. I'm just going to say it. I think we're sliding towards yet another war and it's not the one we're currently in, but war with other adversaries because they're going to take advantage of this situation and make more provocative moves and that could really escalate very quickly.
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
Well, you know, our adversaries or countries that there is, you know,
Senator John Cornyn
to that
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
point, Donald Trump, though, almost doesn't see the adversaries as the adversary. So when you say that, I hear that, but I think to myself, who does Donald Trump see as an adversary? Canada, Greenland, Spain, you know, Europe. I mean, that's who he sees as an adversary. I mean, I hear you probably implying what's going to happen with China, what's going to happen with Russia, what's going to happen with North Korea as these countries start to see us is out of weapons, baby, we're going to, we're going to start making our moves because, you know, he ran out and so he can't protect, you know, no umbrella in Asia, no umbrella over here anymore, they have Arab umbrellas over. But then I think, you know, Trump's given China basically the top semiconductor chips. I mean, he's given uae, the Blackwell, which they can just basically give to China. And he gives China the other one, the second Nvidia chip. That's basically like the. So I guess my point is, is that, you know, maybe the only calculus for them is just like, just let him keep on going, he's destroying the whole country.
Ben (Guest Analyst)
You know, I think that this is where I see things kind of potentially breaking down, which is that he may not view them as adversaries, they view us as adversaries. And if they act according to their viewpoint, then he could be put into a situation where we're left with no choice, we're dragged into a conflict. And at that point it doesn't really matter what Donald Trump believes. The reality will be screaming that we have to protect our soldiers, protect our interests, and we may be in conflict. And so we've got to do the exact opposite of what we're doing right now. We got to end this illegal and unconstitutional war. And by the way, you know, every day that we fail to wean ourselves off the very fossil fuel that they have a chokehold on, namely the Iranians, we're giving them more and more leverage, which really hurts our ability at the bargaining table to do anything to resolve the situation either. So we can't resolve this militarily, and we're not going to be able to resolve it on proper terms at the bargaining table. The more leverage that we give the Iranians and the less that we do to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, start to develop these renewable energy technologies and EV technologies, which unfortunately, the Trump administration has axed to the tune of two to 300 projects at the Department of Energy already.
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
He's very focused on gilding bronze statues, gold and golden ballrooms, and something about the red bricks he was talking about yesterday. You have access to certain information that the public doesn't that you see in skiffs and other places. And so I know there are probably some things you can share. You can share. But when you say it appears we're moving potentially towards war in other directions, meaning outside of the one that we're aware of right now, what can you. I don't want to leave our viewers totally hanging with a statement like that. So what can you share about what you know that you feel comfortable sharing?
Ben (Guest Analyst)
Well, I think we're definitely starting to enter a dangerous phase in the Indo Pacific region, especially with regard to China. China is throwing its elbows militarily in the South China Sea, which, by the way, it claims as its own. This is a huge tract of the ocean that it claims as its own kind of internal body of water. Then, of course, there's Taiwan, which Xi Jinping has tasked the People's Liberation army with successfully conquering potentially by 2027. And so we're entering this dangerous phase where Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party have certain deadlines, are seeing their power start to peak in certain ways, even at the same time that they're seeing our munitions at an all time low, they're seeing our alliances and partnerships fray. And so it's a very fraught moment where they could say, look, this is the time to strike. We're not gonna find a better time than now. And if that happens, Katie, bar the Door. This could be just a catastrophic situation for America.
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
I can only imagine. I mean, they clearly see that we're out of weapons. I mean, we're out of weapons in
Host/Commentator
the United States of America for the
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
trillions of dollars that were funded to the military industrial complex were out of weapons. And not only that, but Trump's been putting the weapons in the wrong thing. He wants to build the. The Trump. The Trump. Gigantic ships, you know, and it's like we're in drone warfare where we're in unmanned submersives. You want to build ships that look like. What does he say? I love. I love the way the ships look like in World War I and World War II.
Interviewer
These big.
Host/Commentator
I don't like stealth.
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
I don't like the way it looks. I don't like the way the. You know, and it goes to this broader point, you know, it's like, I don't like stealth. Okay? I don't care if you don't like it. It's stealth, man. What are you talking about? I don't like aircraft carriers. I don't like. Okay.
Host/Commentator
I don't like the.
Ben (Guest Analyst)
Okay.
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
There's this kind of common sense disconnect. And, you know, just. Let's just switch topics for a second, for a moment. It's like, you know, we all look at the post service as saying, we want to get our mail. Trump looks at the post service and
Host/Commentator
says, how can I withhold people's votes
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
from this post office?
Host/Commentator
Like, no, just give us me freaking mail, man. I just want the mail stop making this post service weird. I just want the mail to get
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
from point A to point B and
Host/Commentator
receive it and open up my letters,
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
and then, I don't need you to have a post service, you know, head of the post service who's out there, like a political guy who's like, I'm not going to deliver mail on elections.
Co-Host/Interviewer
Crazy.
Ben (Guest Analyst)
It's absolutely nuts. Look, the US Post service has already been in decline over the past several years because Trump installed a guy named Postmaster General Dejoy when he first entered office in Trump term one. That guy totally hurt the Postal Service. Mail is not arriving on time, primarily because of quote, unquote reforms that he put in place. Now Trump wants to use the postal service to essentially withhold election mail, mail in ballots, basically, from people that he deems not to be citizens, not to be eligible voters. Well, guess how he's going to determine that. He's going to force states to turn over their voter rolls to the federal government to be screened by Donald Trump and dhs, and once they get screened, then the Postal Service will deliver mail in ballots to, quote, unquote, eligible voters. That is not only illegal under our privacy laws and other protections, but it's also illegal under the Constitution because the federal government does not have primary authority for elections. And yet he's now using the US Postal Service as an instrument for voter suppression. Now, the U.S. postal Service, for its part, is supposed to stay out of politics completely, and the Postmaster General is supposed to do the same. Instead, he has allowed himself, he's enabled Trump to use the USPS in an illegal, unconstitutional way. So I'm calling for his removal now. His name is Steiner. Postmaster General Steiner. The same way I did with Dejoy. These guys have got to go, and we've got to get our U.S. postal Service back. It used to be one of the most trusted institutions in America, and unfortunately, it's also falling on hard times thanks to Donald Trump.
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
And finally, what used to be a trusted organization, the Department of Justice. I mean, you and I, both lawyers, you know, working at the DOJ after law school was the biggest honor. The top lawyers would at some point try to want to work at the doj, maybe before going back into private practice. And this spanned all different administrations. The presumption of regularity, where, you know, a federal prosecutor shows up in court and the judge, you know, basically says, we kind of trust what you're saying because, you know, you're the doj, and sometimes you don't get that benefit when you were on the other side of the DOJ in a case. But now they're basically viewed as, like, a firm on I don't want to offend the show. There are good firms on Ventura Boulevard out here in California, but, you know, like a small Ventura Boulevard, you know, Lemon law firm that has been sanctioned repeatedly by courts for, you know, whatever for recruiting client. Let's like. Like, I'm going to take the analogy because there are good Lemon lawyers. They're good small law firms. They're good firms of Ventura Boulevard. I don't want to. Don't want to offend any target audience there. But the point is, is that you and I, when we would go into court, we would see some firms that were like, man, how'd this person even pass the bar exam? And the courts would yell at these lawyers, and you'd be like, oh, my God, these imp. This bad lawyer is crazy.
Host/Commentator
And the DOJ is.
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
Is that. And maybe even worse than that. And now, you know, Blanche is doing settlement. You know, he's doing the order where he says that I'm revoking the prior order, but I'm affirming that Trump gets tax immunity, giving the guy tax immunity. And that's enough for Tillis and Cornyn. You know, we've narrowed the scope of it.
Host/Commentator
I'm like, what do you mean you've
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
narrowed the scope of. You've affirmed that Trump and his kids and all of the trusts get tax immunity from the day of the settlement,
Host/Commentator
going back in time forever.
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
That's as expansive as it could possibly be.
Host/Commentator
You didn't narrow anything.
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
But the American people get it. You know, Raja, the American people like, what is this?
Ben (Guest Analyst)
Totally what's going on. It's a different system of justice. You know this, Ben. Look, I think there's a system of justice now that applies to billionaires, people like Trump, and then there's the system of justice that applies to the rest of us. And I think that just to take another example, let's just look at the Epstein affair. You know, this guy, Donald Trump is out there prosecuting vandals who supposedly ruined the Reflecting Pool. And yet he has not filed a single charge or announce a single investigation of anyone beyond Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. And for Maxwell, he's transferred her to a low security prison in the hope that she would, quote, unquote, exonerate him from any wrongdoing in the Epstein affair. That is this type of justice that we have right now. And I think that goes to what you were talking about with regard to the DOJ and his credibility, which is shot. It's completely shot at this point, thanks to its prioritization of crazy issues that Donald Trump makes to be the issue of the day. Going after his political enemies, going after others who might kind of cross him, and not going after the people's business and not trying to even bring justice to the thousands of girls, now middle aged women who've yet to receive a single iota of justice after decades of abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein and others. So this is a very sad moment.
Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy
Congressman Krishnamoorthy, thanks for joining us as always. We always loved having you on the show and we'll hope you come back soon. Thank you Everybody. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers.
Book Promoter/Host
Before you go, our book, WTF America is available for pre order now. It's the story of how we got here and how we fight our way back. To pre order, scan the QR code or click the link in the description. Let's do this.
Date: August 5, 2026
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas (MeidasTouch Network)
Featured Guest: Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi
In this episode, the Meiselas brothers are joined by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi to analyze the crumbling MAGA movement amid unprecedented political turbulence under Donald Trump’s second term. The discussion covers the massive decline in Trump’s popularity, the chaos and hazards of the ongoing conflict with Iran, Congressional dysfunction, depleted US military resources, Trump’s weaponization of government institutions, and deep concerns about corruption and the two-tiered system of justice.
The episode is charged, sardonic, and deeply alarmed—mirroring the MeidasTouch podcast’s blend of biting brotherly banter with serious warnings about democracy, American institutions, and foreign policy under Trump’s leadership. Rep. Krishnamoorthi provides expert legal and legislative perspective, reinforcing the sense of institutional crisis and the urgent need for a Democratic resurgence.
For those who missed it:
This episode delivers a sweeping indictment of the current administration, exposing cracks in MAGA’s foundation, deepening legal and military crises, and a roadmap for why American democracy faces peril—unless corrective action is taken soon.