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Political Commentator
We were returning home and one of the flight attendants asked Bronx if he wanted to see the flight deck and meet Kath and Andrew.
Young Man Responding
I got to sit in the driver's seat.
Political Commentator
I grew up in an aviation family and seeing Bronx kind of reminded me of myself when I was that age.
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That's Andrew, a real United pilot.
Political Commentator
These small interactions can shape a kid's future. It felt like I was the captain. Allowing my son to see the flight deck will stick with us forever. That's how good leads the way. Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security was just caught in the act. They were caught red handed engaging in one of the most heinous acts of defamation of character. This individual who they defamed has a massive, massive defamation lawsuit. And this is part of the Trump regime trying to justify its claims that Mexican cartels have put out $50,000 bounties on the heads of ICE Agents A that Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum absolutely denies. Sheinbaum says that she was trying to get information from the Trump regime about it. The regime refuses to provide even shine bound with any information. Seems that the Trump regime is just making it up. I'll give you the data point of one of the things they're doing to make it up. It is a heinous act of defamation. So the official Department of Homeland Security account posted this video. I'm not going to play the video because it has a rap song in the background. It would trigger a copyright issue if I played it on this YouTube channel. But here is what the post says f around and find out. The Department of Homeland Security account says if you threaten or lay hands on our law enforcement officers, we will hunt you down and you will find out real quick. We'll see you cowards soon. And the video that they post purports to be a group of young African American males and they're putting masks over their face. And the idea of this video, the Way it's being portrayed is that they have a menacing look at the camera. And then the text on the video reads, ice, we're on the way. Word in the streets cartel put a 50,000 bounty on y'.
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All.
Political Commentator
And the Department of Homeland Security says, we will hunt you down, referring to these young African American males in this video. That's not what the video actually ever said. You see, the video was posted back in mid June. And the video was posted in response to the United States taking military action against Iran. There was a trend going on about people in different communities standing up to Iran and answering the call by the United States government patriotically to defend the country from from Iran. There was a whole kind of trend like Iran were coming for you at the time when those B2 bombers attacked. Iran never actually destroyed the nuclear arsenal. There are Iran still has the nuclear weapons. A whole other topic that we could talk about at another time. But the actual true video that was posted by this individual whose account was Mr. Florida J H I T said, you seen what we can do. Don't say something that you can't finish. Iran, we already united. We all stand. American flag, we want all the smoke. And then the same individual posted another video a day earlier that says, you can say something that you can't finish. Iran, we're on the way. And it was like a fun TikTok trend that young people were doing. And it actually shows that this young group of people over here who are in this video were saying that they wanted to stand up for the United States. It didn't mention ice. It didn't talk about a bounty or anything. So what happened was the Department of Homeland Security completely manipulated the video, altered the video to try to frame and set up these young African American males to make it appear that they wanted to take a $50,000 bounty to go after ICE agents. So then ICE says, We're hunting you down, young African American males. We're hunting you down. And this has serious repercussions on the lives of these individuals. Right here. The individual who made the post is talking about how serious this is getting and how the entire government now is. Seems like they're coming after him. And who the hell altered these images and who manipulated these images? It's crazy. So the individual who made the video, the young man responded as this account by Danny Glover says Department of Homeland Security is the real clear and present threat to the American people. With all the tech and surveillance tools at their disposal, they couldn't tell this video was edited, incompetent racist, dangerous. So here's the young man explaining what happened. He goes, I don't even know what this was. That wasn't the video I made. The video I did was talking about Iran, not talking about, I settle. Why would the government manipulate this? And then subsequently, this individual's been posting on his Instagram stories like, this is getting serious, y'. All. Like, people are coming after me now as a result of what the government is doing, attaching me to cartels. What a sick thing that this government, that this regime did. Here's the young man responding. Here, play this clip.
Young Man Responding
So I'm getting these mad messages from my DMs and social media and on my comments, and I randomly get a text message talking about a recent video that was posted in my account. I was like, what are y' all talking about, by the way? I'm sick. So if I sound weird, yeah, I get threats daily on IG and everywhere, all over my social media all of a sudden due to an old video I posted months ago about Iran. Iran. That was not to be a threat. It was literally a joke, bruh. Like, seriously, it's just content. Anyways. Once I seen that video that was posted in my account, then I was like, what the. Was they not post this? Like, months ago? Then I seen the caption, and then I was like, wait, I didn't do that. Still got the video saved on my draft months ago on Tick Tock, bro. I'll, like, I'm gonna pull it up right here. Now. Here's the up part. The federal government is involved with something that I didn't do. Like what? So this is what they reposted off my Tick Tock. That video got taken down. So here's what they reposted on their page. Now that video is going crazy to hell on Twitter, bro. Now I'm a threat to the government or something that I didn't do, bro. I'm being called a wannabe Y N. A wannabe gangsta over a video that I didn't caption or I didn't post. So thanks for my followers for letting me know about this, because seriously, this is getting out of hand. Like, literally, this is going crazy viral all over social media right now. Probably might end up being on the news, bro. So my apologies for that contradiction and rumors from happening. I know my First Amendment, but I did not post that video. So to clear that out, I did not post that video. And I apologize for all the rumors that is going around right now on social media about this conflict and those other kids that was on the video, bro, they volunteered to want to be on the video, bro. I asked them if you they wanted to be on the video and then they said yeah, they agreed with it but it wasn't really aware with the caption, the caption for the Iran video. But that Iran video trend that was going on a few months ago, I wanted to hop on that trend and I peeped. A lot of people was doing the same thing too. So I wanted to be creative and change my perspective. So then I seen comments saying oh what if somebody made on my end type of video. So then I ended up making that video and then I started getting threats like what? How is it my fault? That's what y' all wanted.
Political Commentator
And now we've seen over and over again now the government utilizing deep fakes as part of their horrific message about the shutdown. They've used deep fakes about Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer literally manipulating words and putting words in his mouth. Here, play this clip right here. Every day gets better for us. Chuck Schumer thinks playing with Americans livelihoods.
Young Man Responding
Is just a game.
Political Commentator
Very strange and bizarre behavior right here.
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Political Commentator
And ultimately one of the things that this is trying to create a pretext for is Donald Trump's invasions against blue cities. They're trying to create the pretext to invade American cities. I want to give you some other data points I mentioned at the outset. President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, she's dismissed the US Claims of these cartel bounties on immigration officials. She says she has no information about the Trump administration's claims as experts are also deeply skeptical. President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government has no information regarding claims by the Trump administration that Mexican cartels are offering bounties for U.S. immigration officials. Quote, we are requesting information, but there is none. Sheinbaum said during her morning press conference. We learned of this just like you, via the Department of Homeland Security's publication. Sheinbaum's comments come after the Department of Homeland Security claim that this is all taking place. Um, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem doubled down, posting on social media that Trump has been, quote, so effective in dismantling cartel operations in the U. S that cartel members in the U. S Are now placing bounties on the heads of our agents. Organized crime experts express skepticism at the claims and interviews. A former Mexican cartel trafficker, two former DEA agents and a drug policy scholar all said it was highly unlikely that Mexican organized crime groups are directing US Based gangs to target immigration officials. This is more farcical BS from the Trump regime. This is like when Putin talks about denazification of Ukraine. They come up with these pretexts to support their fascist ends, to support their invasions. Now we should talk about the real facts. Like let's not forget that back in May 2025, 17 family members of the notorious cartel leader El Chapo entered the United States in a deal with the Trump administration. Mexico said Mexico security chief didn't get apprised of this information, but just learned that Sinaloa cartel family members were given the red carpet treatment and put right through the border from Tijuana into the United States. El Chapo's ex wife, Griselda Lopez Perez, her daughters and others. Right now they are living in the United States like we were giving sanctuary to cartel family members apparently. Um, in addition, we've reported on this before. Reuters was the one to first break it. Federal drug prosecutions have fallen to their lowest level in decades as Trump has focused his efforts on raiding Walmarts and farms and Home Depot parking lots and food vendors and, you know, and factories and, and construction workers and has moved people away from actually going after the violent criminals and the Drug dealers. Federal Drug prosecutions dropped 10% in 2025 as agents focus on non violent immigrants. High priority drug investigations have stalled. Reuters reviewed nearly 2 million federal court records and found about 10% fewer people have been prosecuted for drug violations. This is the slowest rate since the early 1990s. And money laundering charges have dropped precipitously as well. Um, and we're seeing the reprioritization on the non violent individuals right there. Now, other data points that we need to discuss as well. While all of this is taking place, we learned yesterday that Kristi Noem has just spent $172 million of our taxpayer money on two private Gulf Stream jets, top of the line private jets. So that she and Corey Lewandowski, whatever that relationship is, can travel the country on the taxpayer dimension. 172 during the government shutdown. Let's put this in perspective, folks. $40 billion has gone to bailout Argentina, while 20 million Americans will lose their health care and millions more won't be able to afford their health care as the Affordable Care act premiums skyrocket as a result of the subsidies that many Americans, millions of Americans rely on going away. But everybody, guess what? Kristi Noem bought herself $172 million jets, private jets, so she can travel the world and cosplay everywhere. How utterly despicable is that? Now, another data point I want to give you as well as we talk about drug interdiction, as we talk about all of this is tied together, you see. It is a story, yes, about the defamation of that young African American male, placing him under attack. As in this cosplay dystopian world that put it in this. This is what Trump's done his whole life. Trump's entire life has been falsely accusing black people of crimes and of things that they haven't done. Remember when Donald Trump called for the death penalty on the Central park fight? Remember what Trump did back in the day? Remember what Trump and his dad did when, when it came to their rental units and how they've always treated minority communities and black communities? Well, they just go to the old playbook. Apparently. This group of young black males who is actually being patriotic perhaps too page, saying, let's help with Iran. They've been labeled as receiving money from ice and the government says, we're going to hunt you down. How horrific. Now, at the same time that's happening, the Trump administration announced yesterday, the Trump regime, rather announced yesterday that it will be repatriating two survivors of a deadly US Strike on suspected Drug runners in the Caribbean Sea. Rather than prosecute or hold them in military detention, Donald Trump then confirmed that they would be sent back to Ecuador and Colombia. They weren't even from Venezuela. So I'm trying to understand this. Trump said that these are narco terrorists is the label. Two of them survived, 25 have died in Trump blowing up these shipping boats over and over again, which are war crimes. Let's not mince words. War crimes. Hegseth. War criminal. Trump. War criminal. Christino, war criminal. These are war criminals who should be tried one day in war tribunals. Let's be clear what they're doing. But two people survive this and these very dangerous narco terrorists. What does the regime say? Oh, we're just gonna send them back to their country. They could go back to Ecuador and Colombia. Why wouldn't you want to extradite them and try them in the United States? Say, the way El Chapo was tried or people have been tried before, why wouldn't you call them military combatants if you're saying that they are actually narco terrorists? What I suspect, and you know, even though they say Trump says we're going to send them back to be prosecuted in their home countries, call me a conspiracy theorist. Call me what you want. I think those people will probably sadly disappear very quickly when they step foot in Colombia and Ecuador and never be heard from again. That's what my prediction is. What happens to them? That they wind up. Let me not mince words. It's my prediction. It's my opinion that they'll just wind up dead. No one will know who they are. They'll head there and then there'll be a bounty on their head, and that'll be the end of it. Because Trump doesn't want them telling their story. He doesn't want them saying what went down. Because if they told their story, more of these war crimes would be exposed. So let's find out who those individuals are. I, I, I suspect we'll never find out who they are and the world will never find out who they are and that they'll disappear very quickly. But I could be wrong. Oh, and by the way, remember how I said these Russia propaganda tactics? Well, the Russian propagandist task, TSS and others, they've been praising Pete Hegseth for wearing the colors of the Russian flag on his tie during the press conference with Zelinsky. Just think about that. Hegseth wore a tie that had the colors of Russia's flag on it when he met with Zelinsky. Don't Give me all the red, white and blue. No, those are the. It's the Russian flag that he was wearing. Anyway, we'll tie this all together. We'll keep you posted every step of the way. Hit subscribe let's get to 6 million. Thank you for watching. 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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Episode: Trump DHS Gets Caught as Cartel Stunt Backfires in Their Face
Date: October 19, 2025
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas
This episode dives into a controversial and explosive news story: The Trump-era Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was caught spreading a manipulated video to justify false claims—namely, that Mexican cartels had put $50,000 bounties on the heads of ICE agents. The Meiselas brothers unpack the incident, its implications for democracy and targeted communities, the broader political narrative, and compare it to historical and ongoing abuses by the Trump regime.
The tone, as always, is direct and unapologetically pro-democracy, blending hard-hitting analysis with relatable, at times humorous, sibling banter.
Manipulated Video: DHS officially posted a video on social media, threatening, “If you threaten or lay hands on our law enforcement officers, we will hunt you down and you will find out real quick. We’ll see you cowards soon.” The video portrayed young African American men with the implication they were working for cartels (“Cartel put a 50,000 bounty on y’all.”)
[01:40]
Origin of the Video: The original video was a TikTok from mid-June, part of a trend showing solidarity against Iran after US military action. The content was patriotic, not criminal or cartel-related.
“The way it’s being portrayed is that they have a menacing look... The text on the video reads, ‘ICE, we’re on the way. Word in the streets, cartel put a 50,000 bounty on y’all.’”
[02:09] Political Commentator
Government Manipulation: DHS edited the video and falsely reframed it to suggest these young men were working with cartels, painting a target not just on them but more widely on young Black Americans.
“The Department of Homeland Security completely manipulated the video, altered the video to try to frame and set up these young African American males...”
[04:24] Political Commentator
Young Man’s Response: The young man whose TikTok was used explained he’s now receiving threats, government scrutiny, and viral attention for something misrepresented out of his control.
“Now I’m a threat to the government or something that I didn’t do, bro. I’m being called a wannabe Y N. A wannabe gangster over a video that I didn’t caption or I didn’t post.”
[07:33] Young Man Responding
Real-World Dangers: The hosts emphasize the real mental, legal, and safety consequences for the young men falsely depicted as cartel associates.
Pattern of False Narratives: The hosts draw connections to other instances, both past and present, where similar dishonest tactics have been used—against Chuck Schumer (deepfake-style manipulations), and against Black Americans during Trump’s earlier political and business activities.
“This is what Trump’s done his whole life. Trump’s entire life has been falsely accusing Black people of crimes...”
[16:33] Political Commentator
“Russia Style” Pretext: The false cartel narrative is compared to Russian propaganda (“denazification of Ukraine”) as a way to justify aggressive or invasive government action, particularly against blue (Democratic) cities. [10:59] Political Commentator
“President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government has no information regarding claims by the Trump administration that Mexican cartels are offering bounties...”
[11:31] Political Commentator
Trump’s Handling of Cartel Figures: Hosts note that, as recently as May 2025, family members of cartel leader El Chapo were allowed into the US, allegedly at the Trump administration’s behest.
“Sinaloa cartel family members were given the red carpet treatment and put right through the border from Tijuana into the United States...”
[13:03] Political Commentator
Drop in Drug Prosecutions: Despite the anti-cartel rhetoric, federal prosecutions for drug crimes have fallen dramatically as law enforcement agents are redirected toward non-violent immigrants.
“Reuters reviewed nearly two million federal court records and found about 10% fewer people have been prosecuted for drug violations. This is the slowest rate since the early 1990s.”
[14:06] Political Commentator
Government Waste and Graft: Secretary Kristi Noem reportedly spent $172 million on private jets during a government shutdown, further underscoring the administration’s misappropriation of taxpayer funds.
“Kristi Noem bought herself $172 million jets, private jets, so she can travel the world and cosplay everywhere. How utterly despicable is that?”
[15:44] Political Commentator
Repatriation of Survivors: After a deadly US strike on suspected drug runners, surviving individuals are being repatriated to countries where they risk disappearance or death, avoiding legal proceedings that might expose war crimes.
“Because Trump doesn't want them telling their story. He doesn't want them saying what went down. Because if they told their story, more of these war crimes would be exposed.”
[18:23] Political Commentator
Symbolic Gestures Favoring Russia: The episode ends by noting that a senior American official wore the Russian flag colors during a meeting with Zelinsky, alluding to the alignment with foreign autocracies. [19:34] Political Commentator
On Video Manipulation:
“The federal government is involved with something that I didn’t do. Like, what?”
[07:02] Young Man Responding
On Threats and Fallout:
“I get threats daily on IG and everywhere... Now I’m a threat to the government or something that I didn’t do, bro.”
[06:17, 07:33] Young Man Responding
On Trump’s Playbook:
“This is what Trump's done his whole life. Trump's entire life has been falsely accusing Black people of crimes...”
[16:33] Political Commentator
On the Broader Strategy:
“All of this is tied together ... it is a story, yes, about the defamation of that young African American male ... placing him under attack ... this cosplay dystopian world.”
[15:24] Political Commentator
The episode is a pointed, fact-heavy critique of authoritarianism, racial scapegoating, and government manipulation under Trump-era policies. Through breaking down a specific and timely scandal, the Meiselas brothers highlight both the immediate harm to individual citizens and the broader erosion of democracy and truth. The tone is urgent, analytical, and caustically witty, maintaining MeidasTouch’s signature call to action for listeners to stay aware and active in defending American democratic values.