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Ryan Reynolds
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Narrator/Host
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Political Commentator
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Political Commentator
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Economic Analyst
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Political Commentator
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Narrator/Host
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Political Commentator
Santa. Santa, did you get my letter?
Narrator/Host
He's talking to you, Bridges. I'm not.
Economic Analyst
Of course he did.
Narrator/Host
Right, Santa, you know my elf Drew Ski here. He handles the nice list.
Political Commentator
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Economic Analyst
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Economic Analyst
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Guest Analyst
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Political Commentator
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Political Commentator
Bill credits for well qualified customers plus tax and $35 vice connection charge credit and balance to pay off earlier. Cancel Finance 256 gigs $830 eligible for in a new line $100 plus a month plan without a payment. Taxes, fees required. Check out 15 minutes or less per line. Visit t mobile.com a clearly demented Donald Trump continues to spiral out of control on a disastrous Thursday morning for him where we're getting news that jobless claims have now topped 1.1 million in 2025. The that's right, 1.1 million job cuts. That's the most since really 2008 and right around Covid. Also MAGA Mike Johnson's response to the horrific economy is just be patient. Relax. We've got it all under control. Just wait until next year. Let's get into what's going down right now. But first I want to remind you, make sure you subscribe to the Midas Touch YouTube channel. And as you know by now, this channel is under attack by Donald Trump. He's been making social media posts about us and the interviews I've been doing this week, state regime media known as Fox is attacking us. We're on our way to 6 million subscribers. You may think you're subscribed, but you may not be subscribed. So help us reach that 6 million subscriber market. Subscribe now. Here's what Donald Trump's posting this morning. I'm dealing with the poisoning of America. And he puts it all in caps with an exclamation point. Poisoning of America. Okay. I mean, dude, just, can you just act like a grown up and an adult for a moment? And then he goes turnberry in Scotland, number one rated in the world. He's talking advertising for his golf course again. Just grow up. The President of the United States, unfortunately. Can you just behave for a single moment like a leader? No, he can't. And we're now learning about the classified briefing that took place between the admirals who was involved in the likely war crimes off the coast of Venezuela involving the individuals, the survivors who were killed on the fishing boat in the September 2 shot. I believe the entire operation, by the way, is a war crime. But the ranking Democratic member right now of the House Foreign Relations Committee, Congressmember Himes says the following. Admiral Bradley and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Kane showed the video of what went down. The unedited video has now been seen. And here's what Democratic Congressmember Hime says. What I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I've seen in my time in public service. You have two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion with a destroyed vessel who were killed by the United States. Here's Congressman himself. Watch this.
Narrator/Host
We don't. People will someday see this video and they will see that that video shows, if you don't have the broader context, an attack on shipwrecked sailors.
Political Commentator
This comes at the same time where we got this latest job cuts report. And again, a lot of the data we get now comes from private sources because the Trump regime doesn't publish this data anymore. So here's what they were reporting about as well. More than 71,000 job cuts in November. Let's play this clip from Bloomberg Television.
Economic Analyst
Right now we are getting some economic data and this to me really is going to be telling Challenger coming out with their latest job cuts announcement announcing more than 71,000 job cuts in November, bringing the Year to date total to nearly 1.2 million in total. Just to give you a sense of what the commentary is, look, this is good news and this is bad news. On one hand these are fewer layoffs than we saw in the prior reading. On the other hand, job cuts in November have risen above 70,000 only twice since 20082022 and in 2008 that is according to Andy Challenger who is the chief revenue officer for this company. This to me is the concern when you start talking Emory about an analogs to 2008 and 2022 not a great look.
Political Commentator
Now here's how it was being reported on Fox but then they say well this was a, this is a good thing. Let's tell you why 1.1 million job cuts up 54% year over year. But Fox says this could be a great thing for Donald Trump. Right. Just like when they were saying that the bad indica economic indicators yesterday that was also a good also a good news for Donald Trump because that could mean more. That was what 35,000 jobs in the private sector laws they go interest rates can be cut anyway here play this clip. Employers have announced 1.1 million job cuts in the first 11 months of this year which is a 54% increase from the same timeframe last year. Job cuts though are down from October to November. This signifies the cooling job market that we've seen for some time now Stu. But it could be good news for the president and here's how they were talking about it on Maria Bartiromo show like she couldn't even hide what bad news this is here let's play this clip.
Economic Analyst
Port was a market mover usually challenging reports I don't think move markets but we've got another embargoed.
Challenger report which is now off embargo and it says that job cuts surpass 1 million.
Narrator/Host
Right.
Economic Analyst
The highest October total since 2003. Companies cite cost cutting AI in October. John this is exactly what I asked the president.
Narrator/Host
Yes, that's right. That's the problem. Not only were announced layoffs I think now for the entire year the highest level since 2020 that's a recession year but announced hirings are also down considerably. That's not a good mix. And you have to worry about jobs growth if you don't start growing payrolls eventually that's going to hurt the growth of consumer Inc. And in turn consumer spending will suffer. The other thing that I want to point out is a lot of these people that are losing jobs because of AI have white collar jobs but as you noted, we have a lot of openings for people with skilled trades. How in the world are we going to get somebody who has a background in accounting, maybe finance, to consider becoming an auto mechanic, the CEO of electrician or an electrician. Electrician.
Economic Analyst
But by the way, that's one of President Trump's. He wants to encourage these trade schools. And this challenger report is for November. The U S based employers announced 71,321 job cuts in November, up 24% from the job cuts announced last year.
Political Commentator
Now, one of the things that we're seeing as well with Trump's awful policies that are backfiring and blowing up in his face.
Companies across this country are struggling. For example, beer brands. Just take a look at beer brands. Their sales are plunging based on the regime's mass deportation. Let's take a look here. Play this clip.
News Reporter
The Trump administration's mass deportation push is surprisingly taking a toll on beer Sales for Constellation Brands. The US Owner of Modelo and Corona have plunged and its stock has dropped nearly 40% this year, making it one of the worst performing companies on the S&P 500. Latinos make up roughly half of Constellation's customers and we have seen and heard over and over again how Latinos are fearful and are not going out to stores, restaurants and bars and the like like they were due to the immigration blitz happening in cities across the country. There have been, there have also been contributing to this. They believe job cuts in industries with large immigrant workforces causing customers to pull back on spending. Other corporate giants are also hurting. Wingstop, colgate, Palmolive and PepsiCo have also reported sales declines at stores and restaurants in heavily Latino neighborhoods.
Ryan Reynolds
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Political Commentator
Boston Globe right now. Rising health insurance costs take toll Families, businesses are forced to make hard choices. Each time one of Tara Modig's children's needs a telehealth appointment, she boots up a fragile 13 year old laptop and praise it'll hold the charge. Then Moding is forced to fret over another concern, the cost of health care. The Frittsburg Public Schools employer and her husband pay more than $9,300 annually in health insurance premiums for their family of five. It's already a substantial chunk of their combined $160,000 income. And now you're talking about increases by 4,000, $5,000 more on top of that and they're making $160,000. Think about the person who's making 65,000 or less or 85,000 right now. 9,000, 10,000, $15,000. It is not affordable. And Trump ran on the lie on his fraud that he was going to make things much more affordable. And Maga Mike and Trump said they were going to come out with a healthcare plan. Well, Trump said it during his first term. Give me two weeks. I need two more weeks. I need two more weeks. And Maga Mike said as soon as the government shutdown ends, we roll out our plan. There's no plan. All this regime does is psychologically torture we the people. They're psychological, they're abusers. Take a look at real wages. After inflation, they were growing at 2% last year. Now it's 0.8% again, clearly playing into what a majority of American households define as an affordability crisis. Now here was the quote from Maga Mike Johnson that Melanie Zenona got. She asked Maga Mike Johnson, are the Republicans doing enough to address affordability concerns? Maga Mike said people will start feeling relief next year when the budget bill provisions kick in. What they call the beautiful bill, which I call the disastrous bill. Relax, says Mag and Mike, we're exactly on the trajectory where we've always planned to be. Steady at the wheel, everybody. It's gonna be fine. Our best days are ahead of us. Okay, Maga Mike, this as well. Sean Duffy, the Transportation secretary, he's got some ideas that he was talking about this morning and he talks about slashing Biden's fuel economy standards and pass fuel economy standards. And he goes, look what we need to do is go back to the time where there were 1970 station wagons. Here, play this clip.
Narrator/Host
And also, I think if you're building a car, developing a car that Joe Biden or Pete Buttigieg wanted you to build, that's different than market demand. I want the market to decide what kind of EV I should offer. What kind of, what kind of vehicles do the American consumers want to buy? This rule will actually allow you to bring back the 1970s station wagon. Maybe a little wood paneling on the side. Phil, we can bring back toys to consumers. So, yeah, the minivan is awesome, but maybe the station wagon is cool, too.
Political Commentator
But the average price, okay, this is just institutional regression masquerading as consumer protection. I think Carl Quintanilla framed it that way. It is institutional regression. That's not consumer protection. There's a reason why we have things like seatbelts and better standards, and we've, we've moved in the right direction. As Fred Wellman, who's running for Congress, said, why are they obsessed with the past that we happily left behind? Does anyone fantasize about descending through the orange cloud of poison over their city? What does fuel efficiency have to do with outdated styles? We have minivans with 4K theaters in the back. What are we talking about here? Now, I just want to show you this. This is a MAGA Republican Congress member on the Foreign Services Committee, Mike Turner. Here's what he had to say. Play this clip. This is about, by the way, this is about the war crimes being committed off the coast of Venezuela. Play this clip.
Narrator/Host
So there's very much concerns where we all go back to the issue of the intelligence and what intelligence is being used. What do we really know about these individuals? What do we know about this cargo? What do we know about the communications that here. And quite frankly, many members have very much concerns as to whether or not the accuracy of what information is being used is to the level for us to even know what's happening in this area. And members are very concerned.
Political Commentator
But MAGA Anna Polina Luna says Trump's just doing what Obama did. Obama was blowing up these fishing boats off Venezuela, too. So Obama, Obama, Obama.
Guest Analyst
Here, play this clip for any of these people. I don't care if they're Democrats or not, but are they super critical of President Obama when he did the same thing? The fact is, is that for the most part, to my knowledge, since I've really been alive, which has been, you know, for 36 years, there's been many presidents who have used this authority, and it hasn't been a big deal. I do Understand, though, that it might be shocking for people to see footage of narco terrorists being blown out of the water. But I would argue that maybe those people need to go into inner city Chicago or maybe they need to check out skid row and see what happens when you have people injecting themselves with drugs or see what happens to the families in this country that have to deal with children that are ODing. So I have no sympathy for those people that are choosing to traffic drugs into this country. And I definitely don't have any sympathy for the fact that these terrorist networks are responsible for destabilizing and causing mass atrocities in part of these countries in South America, of which I've traveled to, I have seen the mass graves and the footage of mass graves that are responsible and funded largely by these terrorist networks. So, no, I don't have sympathy. This is called governing, and we are going to do what we need to do to keep the American people safe.
Political Commentator
Lastly, I think this is a media. I did this opinion piece and it's so right. And I saw the New York Times talk about this as well. In this way, Trump's hateful Oval Office rant about Somali immigrants shines a harsh light on the cowardice of his cronies. What did the group of little more than a dozen people around Trump do when he made these comments saying that Somalian people are garbage? That's what Trump said. The Somalians, he said they're bad people. Somalians, they're garbage people. Pretty much nothing is what the people did around him. Actually, it was nothing. Just crickets, frozen smiles and laughs. That's the thing. So many people who are complicit in this moment, who have remained silent, who have aided and abetted, and who treat this stuff like it's funny, it's hateful, it's racist, it's disgusting human behavior. Setting aside your politics, it's disgusting human behavior that's taking place in the Oval Office. From the war crimes, the fraud, the hateful rhetoric, the invasions of cities with Gestapo, the putting people in concentration camps. It's grotesque. From a grotesque individual like Donald Trump, let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million. Thanks for watching. Want to stay plugged in?
Ryan Reynolds
Become a subscriber to our substack@midasplus.com you'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, ad free episodes of our podcasts and more exclusive content Only available@midasplus.com.
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Ryan Reynolds
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Political Commentator
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Ryan Reynolds
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Guest Analyst
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Podcast Summary: The MeidasTouch Podcast
Episode: “Trump Panics and Spirals in Morning Over Horrible News”
Date: December 4, 2025
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas
In this episode, the Meiselas brothers dissect a series of disastrous headlines plaguing Donald Trump’s administration and reelection bid. The show blends sharp legal and political analysis with their characteristic brotherly banter and unapologetic defense of democracy, covering topics from a spiraling jobs crisis to war crime allegations, extreme policy failures, and shocking White House rhetoric. The episode lays bare the administration’s chaos, media spin, and lack of coherent solutions to mounting national crises.
[03:35]
Notable Quote:
“Can you just behave for a single moment like a leader? No, he can’t.” — Host, [03:40]
[03:50–08:19]
Notable Quotes:
“This to me is the concern when you start talking... analogs to 2008 and 2022—not a great look.” — Economic Analyst, [05:45]
“Not only were announced layoffs… now for the entire year the highest level since 2020… but announced hirings are also down considerably. That's not a good mix.” — Narrator/Host, [07:15]
[08:19–10:36]
Notable Quotes:
“Latinos make up roughly half of Constellation’s customers… fearful and are not going out… due to the immigration blitz.” — News Reporter, [08:41]
“It is not affordable. And Trump ran on the lie… that he was going to make things much more affordable.” — Political Commentator, [10:36]
[10:36–13:48]
Notable Quotes:
“All this regime does is psychologically torture we the people. They're psychological, they're abusers.” — Political Commentator, [11:55]
“This is just institutional regression masquerading as consumer protection.” — Political Commentator, [13:48]
[03:59–15:21]
Notable Quotes:
“What I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service. You have two individuals in clear distress... who were killed by the United States.” — Rep. Jim Himes, [04:26]
“From the war crimes, the fraud, the hateful rhetoric… It’s grotesque behavior. Setting aside your politics, it’s disgusting human behavior that’s taking place in the Oval Office.” — Host, [16:50]
Summary in the MeidasTouch Tone: Relentless, witty, and outraged in equal measure, the brothers expose Trump’s morning spiral and his administration’s failures. They provide clear, accessible analysis of why the news is so grim—and why it matters—casting Trump as both inept and dangerous, and driving home the imperative to stay vigilant and informed in defense of democracy.