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- [00:13]
A
It's Wednesday and welcome to Uncovered. I'm Anthony Davis. He's Ben Meisellus, not Ron Filipkowski. I'll tell you about that in a second. But we're here to uncover the MAGA propaganda that is not covered by the mainstream and, and corporate media. Ron's on vacation. We know about that because we talked about it a little bit last week but, and we had pre recorded a show but unfortunately through a technical thing it kind of, we lost the recording. So Ben has very kindly taken time out of his non stop full time video making and running this media empire to join us for Uncovered. Ben, thank you and welcome.
- [00:50]
B
It's great to be here. And I love that intro music. I think we need that on the brothers podcast. I feel pumped up right now.
- [00:56]
A
Right. We can just use the same music for every show. Let's just, let's just do that. So the serious thing today, and obviously it'd be a slightly different show because you know, neither of us are going to pretend to be, to be Ron. But I really do want to talk about what's going on in D.C. because this morning there was an announcement from Trump that he has, he's looking to kind of extend this 30 day, you know, extension. An extension of taking over the D.C. metropolitan Police, bringing in the National Guard and you know, basically federalizing dc. This is problematic and some of us predicted that the 30 day limit was probably not going to end there. Do you, as I feel, or do you feel, as I feel, that what we're looking at now is a kind of a whole new side of the MAGA Republican Party where they're just unleashing this authoritarianism and the rule book just has completely gone out the window. This is all heading for the midterms, isn't it? This is control of states, starting with, with Washington D.C. yeah.
- [01:58]
B
So they see the writing on the wall in the midterms, they see how deeply unpopular their policies are. They realize, these MAGA Republicans, that if you were to have an election right now the way it would exist in other countries that have snap elections and parliamentary systems, they would be wiped out today, right now in a landslide. They're thinking, look, we are an authoritarian party, here's what we are. And our chance of holding on to power truly depends on in unleashing everything. And so they are going for it, you know, full fledged, the way we've seen in authoritarian regimes. Now we knew that they had these intentions, we knew they choreographed that this is where they would go. But we're now in the Period, where they're doing it. And the question is, will the democracy survive? Will the resistance remain strong? Will the people fight back against this? And ultimately, where this is headed is those scenes that we saw on the, you know, 2014, what we would see in Ukraine with the massive protests in the town squares, what we're used to seeing in Europe and elsewhere in the fall of the Soviet Union with these massive pro democracy protests. To me, that's where this all heads right now in the United States, where people, because that's where the power is going to come from, from the people rising up against this. That's where we're going. We will be there.
- [03:39]
A
And we should remind people that this has nothing to do with the crime rate in Washington, D.C. which is down 30%. This, this is an excuse, isn't it, to give him this opportunity to federalize the Guard. Let's take a look at some pictures of what it looks like in, in D.C. right now and see if we.
- [03:57]
C
Can'T just show you a little bit more of this visual. Again, this is, you know, we, we have been told about the, the increased federal law enforcement presence in the city, and this is really the first major visual that we have seen. You have some onlookers coming and kind of asking these people questions and posing for pictures, and we're going to see in earnest what the, what the National Guard presence is going to be in the nights and days ahead as they really increase the law enforcement presence in this city.
- [04:23]
B
Kate yeah, as it ramps up and what it looks and how it evolves.
- [04:26]
A
Brian Todd, would you also say, Ben, that this is designed to quell protest, because he knows that protest is coming for his, for his entire regime. I mean, it's not just about D.C. is it? And so if he can get the tanks in sooner rather than later, then that really, because he hates protest, he sees it as the same as he sees homelessness. These are things that shouldn't exist as far as Trump is concerned.
- [04:53]
B
You know, there was something in that clip that deserves more attention also, which is the people taking photographs with the National Guard like it's Disney World or universal. It's a big problem that leads to someone like Trump rather rising to power because the, the discourse of politics, of, of war and peace, of life and death, of health and sickness, has become so divorced from the realities and treated as a game where this becomes a funny thing for people, or the people taking photos next to the alligator Alcatraz signs. Even Donald Trump's press conference this morning where he was talking about that topic where he was talking about meeting with Putin in Australia, which he previously referred to in Alaska, which he previously referred to as Russia, that happened as part of a Kennedy Honors event, which it's like, why are you there to begin with? And then there were two ladies in evening gowns standing kind of by this, like, this area where they were revealing who would be getting nominated for these awards. And like, Sylvester Stallone got in, you know, was nominated. And so in between these discussions of full blown authoritarianism, you had these two ladies, like, why, why were there, why were there two ladies in evening dresses like, like, dress that way unveiling Sylvester Stallone winning an award while we're talking about these topics? And that's the idiocy that our country, that the United States has become the idiocracy under what. What is, what the hell are we doing here? And why isn't it just being called out? Like, that's not normal.
- [06:49]
A
Isn't this the problem, though, that America is not really cut out for an authoritarian takeover of government? I mean, it is too much like Disneyland. And that's part of the reason why people have so much fun in the US and come to the US to visit is because they want the Disneyland experience and they want that informality and they want that fun and they want the sunshine or whatever. But when it comes to a serious, serious break in the chain, such as having a nutcase come in and completely change the rules of the game. Control the judiciary, control Congress, control the Supreme Court, and burn it all down, people still think it's Disneyland, don't they? I mean, there are a good number of Americans who can't quite wrap their heads around what's going on now.
- [07:39]
B
Yeah, this cognitive dissonance, this pretend that this isn't really happening. Yeah, you know, this. You know, it's. Sometimes you see those videos of people, you know, in the zoo and you'll see the cute, the animal that looks cute. And so you'll be like, hey, let me. Let me pet the animal. And then, boom, it eats your. It eats your hand. And that's kind of what this is, is that, you know, people are still, you know, although more people are waking up to it, deluding themselves with this notion that we are not, that it's all going to be fine, it'll all go away. We'll just figure it out and we can just go about our daily lives. And. And again, that's what's got us here. We've been spoiled in the United States by a different historical condition than. And Norms and traditions and things that, let's be clear, not only did not work perfectly, but had serious flaws that needed to be changed historically over time and the way many groups of people were treated in this country. But overall, at least the arc and directionally, there were norms and, and the Constitution held together.
- [08:53]
A
Yeah, the trajectory was going in the right direction, wasn't it?
- [08:56]
B
Exactly, exactly. You know, but now, and we hadn't had the experience of somebody who comes into power who goes, I, no, I'm not, I'm not going to do that. Everything's an emergency. I control everything. I'm the one who fixes it. And at that press conference, it was telling me as well, because he was asked, Trump was asked, well, who decides who wins the awards in December for the Kennedy honors?
- [09:22]
A
Me.
- [09:23]
B
And he goes, I'm the one who picked the people if they were too woke. They didn't. I chose everyone who gets the awards. At the same time, he's saying, well, that they said, well, what are you going to do about Congress's authority over the 30 days with these troops in D.C. and he goes, I don't need Congress. I, I, I, I, I. And so we are past constitutional crisis. We're not in a constitution. We are past that. We have in the United States an authoritarian who's no different than Putin or an Orban or Kim Jong Un that exists right now, whether we choose to believe it or take photos with the National Guard thumbs up. There is fascism in the United States. It exists. So the question is, what do we do about it? What are our leaders doing about it? How do we make sure that in four years this is done? And this isn't like Putin's Russia, that lasts indefinitely.
- [10:21]
A
But it's not just the people that can't get their heads around this rise of fascism. It's the media. And the media really is that kind of communication tool between the people and the authority. It certainly always has played out like that. But, but I, you know, for me, looking at American news media, to me, it's like infotainment. Like, there really isn't any serious interviews with politicians. It's, it's not part of the democracy as it is in Europe, where politicians are required to be interviewed by serious journalists at length and be grilled and be questioned. That forms part of the democracy. That just doesn't happen here. You're lucky if you get 10 seconds when someone chases a, a Republican congressman down, down the hallway and, you know, just as they get in the elevator and the door shuts, it's like, see ya like that. That's kind of what we're dealing with here. Is the media the problem? I mean, I know we're trying to solve it with what, what we do, but is that part of the, the downfall of American freedoms is the media is just not playing their part?
- [11:25]
B
Yeah, I mean, that's, that's one of the big things, and that's the one area that we could try to solve for at the Midas Touch Network is bringing what I think is necessary back to the fourth estate, covering the topics that need to be covered, pointing all of these things out, rallying with people, saying fascism is fascism, calling authoritarianism out for what it is, rallying people and bringing people together, letting them know where the protests are, what's happening, and being relentless about it. That's. I think that's one of the issues. I think another major issue is, is that there are, there are a group of people in this country who are okay with authoritarianism. You know who, you know, this Republican Party, in its current constitution, is okay with no constitution. They are okay with authoritarianism. And the reality is, if you look at the human experience historically, since Homo sapiens rose, it was never democracy. It was always strong man, authoritarian kings and queens and peasants, oligarchs. The, Our experiment was, was different. And that's what people were like, holy crap, how'd you do that? And by the way, we're like, not perfect, but how do you figure that out? Where someone can rise to the top from positions where, where, where they shouldn't have been, you know, that people could, you know, people could go about pursuing their dreams and, and people, Someone would lose an election and then shake the person's hand, and then someone else would. Would come in even after they would say all these horrible things. And then other countries would look at that for inspiration and then, wow, we, we. That's great. We should do that too. Teach us how we could learn from that so we can refine our democracies. Because our historical experiences were different. We led that coalition. And so now, though, to see the international forces, because of fascism, sweep over like a tsunami, other countries and hit the US and this was one of the things that, I think Putin and these fascist forces recognized us was primed to be able to be pulled into that language.
- [13:48]
A
Right.
- [13:49]
B
They figured it out, they targeted it, and, and America let its guard down to it, and now there's this sickness that, that needs to be. That needs to be. The media is a problem, but it's not the, it's not the only problem. You know, it, it is, it is a peep. It is, it is being apathetic in general.
- [14:10]
A
It's part of, it's part of the pie. Because you're not going to hear the word authoritarianism on NBC News or ABC News or CBS News, are you? They don't use that, that language. And that, to me, is the problem that you have to. We've been explicit about this long before the election, long before the previous election. You know, even during Joe Biden's presidency, we were talking about the threat of a second Donald Trump presidency, and Kamala Harris said it in clear language and Hillary Clinton said it in clear language. I tell you who else is not falling for it, and that is the mayor of D.C. let's see what Mayor Bowser had to say.
- [14:46]
C
And then can I ask, the president threatened to use not just the National Guard, but militant to bring the United States military, federal troops, into the District of Columbia if needed. Can you respond to that threat? I mean, we're in uncharted waters already. A lot of people are seeing this as the first step in an assault on home rule, which the president has threatened. He's been making these threats since last year, and now he's carrying through with them. There's no reason to believe he won't go further. What do you say to the president about his threats to bring the military, not just the military.
- [15:21]
B
We don't. We don't. And I think I speak for all Americans. We don't believe or believe it's legal to use the American military against American citizens on American soil. I'm not a lawyer, but I think that's a fairly widely held.
- [15:40]
A
Fact.
- [15:42]
B
And so, but we've seen them move, I think, the active military into California. So it is, it's a question. We've seen active military on the borders of D.C. some years ago, and we don't believe that our military should be used against American citizens.
- [16:02]
A
Yes, a lot of this was instigated by Trump being driven to play golf, which he's done way more of than he has presidenting. And he sees graffiti on the walls of, of the streets of D.C. and then, you know, one of his buddies from Doge gets carjacked. And he used that as the kind of impetus for kind of leading the charge on this. But, I mean, none of that really makes sense to me for a start. I mean, D.C. is a beautiful city. It's tourists head there all the time. It really is nothing like, I mean, he used words like squalor to describe it. I mean, do you think people have. Have realized that this is a confidence trick?
- [16:46]
B
No more people need to. I think they are realizing it, but I think that the fact that you still see, even if his approvals are 37% to 40%, that means 37% to 40% are literally falling for the biggest con artist fraudster ever. And that's, That's a huge amount of people who don't get it or get it. And they are okay with the cruelty, which should be very concerning for everybody else. And it's why people, all the other people who form the actual majority, the true silent majority, can't be silent. I mean, again, this is a guy who has bankrupted most of his businesses in the past. This is a guy who's been found liable for sexual abuse. This is a guy who's been found criminally responsible for engaging in fraud. And he's bringing with him all of those qualities, bad ones, to the White House. And he's doing it in public. And I don't think more people need to get it, and I think we can't. And it's always great to hear these stories, people saying, I manipulated. I'm turning against Matt there is that. Yeah, happening. So I don't want to just be so pessimistic because I'm actually very optimistic, but my sleeves are rolled up because there's a lot of work. What we're doing is working. I actually think we have the momentum. I think people are getting it. But I think that right now is like the key moment because Trump's going to push the authoritarian stuff right now before the midterms. We've got to push the people power right now. Like, this is the most important. We did good this summer. The people did well. The no Kings protest was great, brilliant. You know, Trump was, I think, relying on people going away on vacations, and people stayed engaged. But now we're heading back to these critical moments and we gotta fight.
- [18:54]
A
Well, Fox obviously are responsible for, you know, taking the message, or Trump's message. You refer to them as the state regime media, don't you? But this is really the issue, isn't it, that all of these networks that people are watching on the right are kind of carrying Trump's message explicitly. Let's take a look.
- [19:13]
C
And you know, the people who are naysaying this is really the. It's the liberal administration in these cities. If you look at the people who matter, the law enforcement, the police union in D.C. is supporting what the president is doing, which tells you that they acknowledge there's a problem. They are welcoming the support and I think we need to take our streets back, especially, especially in our nation's capital. So I applaud the President for taking bold action. Hopefully this is a harbinger of what we see in these liberally run cities across the country that have crime problems and have a problem with us just not enforcing our laws. I mean, it's a really simple thing. Enforce the laws, make our streets safe again. So you think that's why crime has.
- [19:54]
B
Been gotten so bad in Washington, because.
- [19:56]
C
There'S no enforcement of the laws? I think that that's exactly the problem. They haven't been enforcing it. You know, we've got, you know, this lackadaisical, you know, thought on actually, you know, dealing with these problems. And you see it across the country and especially in cities that have liberal administrations, they're just not enforcing the law. Homeless problems, crime problems, drug problems. And we need, we need to send in the troops, which is exactly what we're doing, living.
- [20:20]
A
It is no coincidence that the cities that they're now referencing, that they're likely to kind of move the troops into are all run by black mayors. There, There is a kind of racist element to this as well, isn't there?
- [20:32]
B
There, There absolutely is. Let's just. The stats are red states, red cities, highest crime, highest violent crime in the nation by far. It's not even close without blue states and without blue cities, red states go bankrupt. They are failed regimes like Orban's, Hungary or Argentina, they, they don't exist quite literally. The blue states fund the existence of the red states, quite literally subsidize them. As you see Arkansas and Oklahoma and all of these states with high crime failing. Look at, you want to look at Texas also. Texas is a taker state. I mean, it takes 20 billion, 30 billion more than it gives, while California gives 80 billion more than it takes. And you go around the country like that, you'll see that same pattern. Repeat. And so to me, it's just one of the height of the most offensive things in the world that you have, you know, blue states, blue cities that fund these red states. And then what do they do? They come back with these MAGA Republican representatives who then attack the blue states with the money that we're paying for the National Guard and all of these things to truly do the work that we want them to do. And then they base it around to your point. You know, all of these, you know, all of these racist tropes, they're not even dog whistles anymore. They're going after Baltimore. Okay. Black mayor. They're going after Washington, D.C. black mayor. They're going after Los Angeles. Black mayor. They're going after Chicago. Black mayor. Okay. It is that they want to put back. They want to celebrate the Confederate monuments. They want to. They want to celebrate it. We don't have to ignore our. This is one of Ron's points. We shouldn't ignore our history. We can acknowledge these Confederate generals existed. That doesn't mean we have to build statues to them and praise them as though they're great people. And, you know, you go back in our history to the Civil War, you know, a lot of this, you know, post Reconstruction Jim Crow, there's been a lot of unresolved issues in the United States with very, very angry people who were upset at all of the things that I loved and you love or we love about this country and its diversity and what makes it great. There were people below the surface, lots of them, who hated all of those things that were like, that's why we're doing great. That's why our economy is booming. You want to know why? California is crushing it and it's the fourth largest GDP in the world. Because of our diversity. That's what. That's why we're great, actually, and America's great for those. But people like, nah, we'd rather see in these horrible conditions knowing we're making other people suffer. And I think we just have to acknowledge that that exists and then figure out how we fight it. And that's what we're doing.
- [23:41]
A
On the Midas touchdown, it's so sad because it really is a national mental health issue. And if we're talking about 30 or 40% of the population who relish people suffering, I mean, it's very hard to get your head around because it doesn't even fall into the categories of left and right or liberal or conservative. It's just good people and bad people and. And they really are on the wrong side of history, a lot of these people. I want to kind of investigate this racism and the mayor's thing a little bit more, but we have to take a quick break. We'll come back and do that next here on Uncovered. The hardest part about cooking or barbecuing meat, steaks, chicken or fish is being tethered to a hot stove, sweating, constantly checking it. Well, those days are gone. I got a Chef IQ Sense, and I'm ready for the Food Network. Chef IQ Sense is a brilliantly simple cooking sensor that goes into whatever I'm cooking. It's kind of like a meat thermometer, but wireless and way smarter. It takes the stress out of not knowing if your meat will come out any good. You just enter whatever you're cooking into the Chef IQ Sense app. Steaks, chicken, fish, whatever. Choose exactly how you want it cooked. Well done, medium, medium rare and Chef IQ Sense continuously monitors and predicts precisely when the food will be done. No opening a hot oven, no sweating over a hot barbecue or frying pan. You're free to kick back, visit with guests, do whatever else needs doing. Then Chef IQ Sense sends an alert to the smartphone when the steaks, chicken or seafood are cooked to order just the way you like it. No more guessing. It's the world's smartest, simplest to use wireless cooking sensor. And the best news is they just announced a flash sale you'll need to jump on. This summer grilling season is here and Chef IQ Sense makes you a grill master. During their Flash sale, you'll get 15% off, so visit chefiq.com and use promo code UNCOVERED. That's chefiq.com promo code UNCOVERED when you start a podcast, it seems like you have to figure it all out on your own scripts and setup and filming schedule logos. It can be super overwhelming and every day seems to introduce a new decision that needs an answer. When you're starting off with something new, it seems like your to do list keeps growing every day with new tasks and that list can easily begin to overrun your life. Finding the right tool that not only helps you out, but simplifies everything can be such a game changer for millions of businesses. That tool is Shopify. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started. Accelerate your content creation. Shopify is packed with helpful AI tools that write podcast descriptions, page headlines, and even enhance your product photography. Get the word out like you have a marketing team behind you. Easily create email and social media campaigns wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling. And best yet, Shopify is your commerce expert with world class expertise in everything from managing inventory to international shipping to processing returns and beyond. If you're ready to sell, you're ready to Shopify. Turn your big business idea into With Shopify on your side, sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com uncovered. Go to shopify.com uncovered that's shopify.com uncovered and you can find links to our sponsors in the description below. So, Ben, we were kind of coming at this from the kind of racism angle just for a minute because I think this is really important and a lot of people have kind of been talking up, speaking about this, about the, the mayors in multiple jurisdictions who are all people of color. Donald Trump, as we know, is an outright racist white supremacist, along with pretty much everybody in his cabinet. Let's see what Baltimore Mayor Scott had to say about this.
- [27:56]
D
But a military presence in Washington D.C. is that the right way to fight crime here, given your experience in Baltimore?
- [28:09]
E
No, I think we all know that. Right. And we all know what the President is doing is really just spitting this right wing propaganda and using the media in the bully pulpit of the highest office of the land to push things that we know. No one in dc, My sister mayor is not saying that they don't have issues to work on, but the reality is that DC's violent crime is at a 30 year low. And, and quite frankly, that's the case for cities around the country. I think it's very notable that each and every one of the cities called out by the President has a black mayor. And most of those cities are seeing historic lows in violent crime. In my city in Baltimore, we have the fewest amount of homicides through this date on record. That's 50 years, a 50 year low. Maybe we are too far gone, too far gone from the broken right wing policies of zero tolerance policing and all the things that did not make our city safer for all those many years. But we know that having the military there is not the way to do it. The way to drive down violence in cities has been proving mayors across the country have brought together law enforcement, the legal community, the actual community, the community violence intervention work to reduce violence across this country in cities to lows that we have not seen in decades. The President could learn a lot from us instead of throwing things at us.
- [29:33]
A
It makes a mockery of the civil rights movement, doesn't it? And then, and all the effort and all the work that went in the 50s and the 60s to kind of bring about change. I mean, it's like Trump is just undoing all of this as, as quickly as he can.
- [29:49]
B
I think a way to think about it, you know, is certain things have a lagging impact where we've seen the results. I think the civil rights movement, the battles that have been fought by civil rights activists generationally have created conditions where in these cities, as the Mayor of Baltimore says there, where there were major problems caused by Republican policies of the past, playing tough guy, playing, you know, oh, we're good, we're coming for you. That, that was not the approach that worked. And now you're actually seeing, you know, in places like Baltimore, in places like D.C. in cities, crime getting reduced. And just as it's going in the right direction, that's when Trump says, you know what? I'm not only going to double and triple down on what didn't work, I'm going to declare a war. I'm going to declare a war on these cities, and I'm going to create the conditions economically and the disparities economically that often result in the conditions that create crime. We're gonna take away social safety programs. We're gonna take away people's healthcare. We're gonna take away people's job opportunities. We're not going to fund historically black college. We're going after these communities and placing communities, black and brown communities, particularly, in conditions that become dire and desperate, and then blaming them for the dire and desperate conditions that the policies, that the policies themselves are creating. You know, and so to me, that's one of the things that's clearly happening here. And as I mentioned before, we always have to go back to crime is higher in red states and in red cities. But Trump never mentions that. And then he and Magus create this. You know, I don't know if it's the idyllic vision based on television shows from the 70s or the 60s and black and white television shows where everybody, where everybody's white in them and, you know, and everyone's oh, hey, everybody, how's. How you doing? Oh, great to see you there. Why? I mean, you know, those. Propagate. Those. Those shows created a propagandized view of what those errors were like. There was lots of crime in these periods. You go back and you look at statistics of these errors that Donald Trump thinks are great, and there's high crime, high poverty, and bad situations. But I'll toss it back to you just with this, though. You have Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security and the White House account on an almost daily basis now posting overtly white supremacist memes daily, hello, Western man. Which is a reference to a book written by a white supremacist that praised Hitler. And they go, hello, American man. And they're using the exact same imagery that was used in Nazi Germany and that was used to dehumanize people. Reclaim your culture today and join ice. I mean, stuff like that.
- [33:05]
A
Well, it clearly resonated with the former Superman Actor Dean Cain, who was one of the first to sign up for ice. But maybe people forget that, you know, that the Nazis were inspired by the Jim Crow era. That's the other thing. It's like, you know, America has been fundamentally racist for, for, well, since forever, really. And, and my concern, though, is that what we're seeing with this administration, especially with people like Stephen Miller behind the scenes, is it's, it's a kind of neo Nazi or even Nazi takeover of America. And, you know, aside from the fact that the, the Nazi salutes are coming thick and fast, you know, you can only deny so much of that when it turns out everyone's doing it, from Laura Ingram to Steve Bannon and Elon Musk. We need to maybe start to use that language and talk about the fact that, that they are literal Nazis that have taken over the White House. Do you think that might wake people up to what's going on? Because there are, you know, there are some lawmakers are not holding back using this language. I want to play a clip from Jasmine Crockett. I mean, she's never one to mince her words, but, you know, she's, she kind of nails it.
- [34:15]
D
And to be clear, Florida is already in this thing. We know that Texas is in this thing. We know that they're putting pressure on Indiana as well as Missouri. So here's the deal. They have already decided that the only way that they can win because they have failed policies is by making sure that they can cheat their way. And while they're cheating their way, the only way that they can do that is while they also, at the same time, violate the Constitution as well as the Voting Rights act and make sure that it's people of color. We're talking about them going after Clyburn in South Carolina. We're talking about them going after Andre Carson in Indiana. We're talking about them going after Reverend Cleaver in Missouri. We're talking about them going after Amelia Sykes in Ohio. We're talking about them coming from four, three of the four black representatives that we currently have in the state of Texas. So don't tell me this isn't about race when they are clear about who it is that will lose the most when it comes to having their say so on the federal level. They are absolutely, systemically making sure that they roll back all that was fought for, bled for, and died for as relates to those that came before us.
- [35:20]
A
Congresswoman JASMINE Crockett, Democrat OF I mean, and this takes us into the redistricting subject as well. But, you know, clearly, people of color who have grown up in, in America recognize that there's. There's two. There's two Americas. There's, there's one for the white people, and then there's one for everybody else. And I think that we're really starting to see that. And it's great that, you know, people like Jasmine Crockett, who have that lived experience and that historical trauma, are not frightened about saying it out loud. I mean, we haven't really heard it before in this kind of explicit language. If we.
- [35:56]
B
No, I'll just give you a personal experience and tying it back to the Disney Ification of our country and how these issues need to really be handled seriously, and how you can be an ally for communities under siege and under attack, which is you're always there, you're constant, you're steady, and you're supporting, you know, communities that are under attack. And so I just remember, you know, when Colin Kaepernick first took a knee and I was representing him, nobody wanted to do business with Colin. No one wanted to talk to him or us. And, and we were basically blacklisted from, from, from most things. And then all of a sudden, there was, you know, this, this moment that, that people had this awakening for, like, 18 months or 20, 24 months. And it was like Black Lives Matter. And then it became almost like, like a slogan in, in Disney that then, you know, corporations were, oh, we need a diversity officer. We need to do certain things. Not because they really wanted to do the hard work and, and get it done, but because they felt that this was the moment and this was what you should do in this moment. And then when fascism comes back, they're like, yeah, let's do book deals with Melania Trump now, and let's do, you know, let's do deals with Trump. Let's go to the White House, let's hand golden bars, you know, to Donald Trump. And then. And then there's going to be a time, you know, in the next, you know, few years, you know, when the pendulum swings, where those companies and those groups of people are going to want to come back. Hey, you know. Yeah, you may have seen, you may have seen me give Donald Trump the gold bar at the White House. But, you know, I didn't, you know, I just had it. I just had to do that. I'm really with you. And so what we have to do as advocates, though, is we have to get out of this cycle. We have to get out of this. There's a cycle of Republicans Burning things on fire, tearing it down. Then we have this movement of all right, peace, love, equality, let's focus on it. And then they get blamed, the Democrats get blamed, then Republicans come back in and tear it down. And we have this, we have to for once truly get out of this cycle or we're going to always constantly be on a decline. And so when I think about the Midas Touch network, when I think about what we're building here, I do think generationally of not just how do we defeat and beat and fight back against Trump, but what are we doing 20, 30, 40 years from now? Because if we just stop this for three years and then return to a Desantis version of it and then go back and then, and then go back to, all right, we care about the environment and we care about black and brown people, but then we go back to, you know, whoever's the AG right now of Florida, the next version of a Descent, and then we go back to a Don Jr. No, we have to use this moment right now to say we need to get the hell out of this. And so while there's all of this horrible things going on, there ain't no hiding it. There's no dog whistles. It's out there. It's on full display. So, America, is this what you want? It's been uncovered. Here it is. Or do we want a, a better path where we respect our fellow human beings and we respect, we respect the dignity of humans? So that's how I think about this.
- [39:25]
A
Someone who is breaking the mold as you describe is Gavin Newsom in California. And these posts that he's been putting out on X in the last few days, which you talked about on the Midas Touch podcast, are rather brilliant, aren't they? Do you think that's the approach, is to play Trump at his own game? Because very few people have got the confidence to actually take on Trump or call him out for who he really is. The media certainly aren't doing it. The press pool certainly aren't doing. That's why they've replaced a kind of traditional press pool with a, with a right wing and far right media. So Gavin Newsom is posting in Trump's style, taking on this redistricting issue in Texas. He posted Donald, Taco, Trump all in capitals in the same style as Trump writes, as many call him. Missed the deadline. California will now draw new, more beautiful maps. They will be historic as they will end the Trump presidency. Dems take back the House. Big press conference this week with powerful Dems and Gavin Newsom, your favorite governor, that will be devastating for maga. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Gn. I mean, it's rather brilliant, isn't it, that he, he is finally as, I mean, he lost his way a little bit with his own podcast and Charlie Kirk and that stuff. I think he's back on track now, Gavin Newsom, fortunately, and he's actually using his podcast for some good. But I recognize that these tactics are something that, that MAGA doesn't really know how to, to respond to. What's your take on this tactic?
- [41:01]
B
Yeah, I think that's one of the keys. Part of it's doing that. The other part is what Bernie Sanders is doing. If you can marry what Newsom is doing and what Sanders is doing, yes, you are unstoppable. So the Newsom approach, that's a path towards the presidency in my view. Similarly, what Bernie's doing, although it's probably not going to be a Bernie just based on age, someone who takes that mantle and speaks true populism, real issues of affordability, really speaking against the oligarchs going into those towns and, and energizing.
- [41:42]
A
People, is his partner in that. Right?
- [41:45]
B
That's, that's a path, you know, as well. And so to me, the person who brings those two paths together, the I, I'm fighting back, I'm suing you, Trump. I'm fighting for my state. Don't tread on California. Get the hell. Physically standing up to Donald Trump, shaking is looking him in the eyes and fighting, you know, and doing it visually and symbolically and then and actually every day, the no path, the Bernie path, not doing the tweets and the posts and the things like that. Also Bernie's a senator, not a governor. But going into West Virginia, listening to people speaking about affordability, calling out the atrocities in Gaza, listening to the America that's to me a, you know, hearing what the American peoples are saying and not shying away. The not path is the wishy washy, where do you stand? You know, there's this and there's that. So that to me is, is where we are in this moment right now.
- [42:48]
A
I had an idea that I was fleshing out on the weekend show last week of just doing away with the kind of traditional single candidate and bringing together the Avengers, something that maybe the American people can connect with. The, the Avengers, the big hitters of the Democratic Party, who are all young, who all bring different skills. So where you say that Bernie or AOC are bringing that language and, and Newsom is bringing that Language. Why not have half a dozen. Pete Buttigieg brings his own language, which is also rather brilliant, and create a kind of Avengers Marvel style group that will face off fascism in this way. Do you think people might throw the rule book out the window and actually form a coalition to fight what's happening right now?
- [43:38]
B
The short answer is they won't rally around one person because they're all ambitious people to be the person. So there will be, you know, who's it going to be? Is it going to be Newsom or is it going to be a Pritzker or is it going to be a Waltz or is it going to be. So, you know, I, I think you'll start getting into, you know, into those types of conversations. Or is it going to be a Bernie or an aoc or is it going to be Bashir or is it going to be. I wouldn't sleep on Talarico in, in, in Texas, you know, so. But I do think what I would. If this Avengers group would want to do something to me, there should be at least a weekly Democratic press conference.
- [44:23]
A
I was just gonna say that. Absolutely.
- [44:25]
B
100 once, once a week. They could all take turns doing it as part of this committee. And then it, then it could deal with their competitive juices of. Okay, I want to make sure mine's better than this one. The, the rules, there should be rules. It doesn't go longer than 20 minutes, you know, and then maybe 20 minutes of questions. Although I'm not even sure if it even needs questions. I mean, I just think it may just be a 20 minute address to the people. Here's where we stand. Here's what we're doing to fight for you. I remember when we broadcast live on the Midas Touch Channel, it was Congressmember Brendan Boyle and two other members of Congress from the House Budget Committee. Okay. Regarding the disastrous budget bill. I mean, we got nearly a million views on that 15 minute press conference. And, you know, Congressman Brendan Boyle, I'm sure could handle this joke. It's about the budget and the Budget Committee. So the fact that people were really engaged, though, on a press conference on Midas about the budget tells me that there's a thirst for this type of content. Remember, the Democrats were crushing it with these shadow hearings and then all of a sudden they stopped kind of doing the shadow hearings, you know, in at least a public way. And I'm like, where'd the shadow hearings go? Yeah, that was an amazing way.
- [45:48]
A
I know it was the first sign of actually something happening, but people are Crying out for leadership right now, aren't they? And, and obviously there's criticism of Schumer and even Jeffries in many cases, too. Is there an interim kind of leadership? Because obviously the presidential election is way off. I just want to see these avengers in the meantime. You know, I just think to show a united front and offer people some sense of leadership and direction would just pay dividends in the current climate.
- [46:20]
B
People want fighting and sometimes want people who fight for them. And sometimes Democrats are like, oh, well, what does that mean? I mean, first just look at the people and truly tell them, I care about you. Yeah, I'm fighting for you. I hear you. Like, like, we should actually start with that, say that to people. But then people are going to say, okay, okay, what are you going to do for me? And then you've got to actually do it. I just. I don't see that a lot. I'm just literally saying I want. Don't. I mean, Anthony, don't you want to know that people care about you? Don't you want to know that your life and your existence on this planet has a purpose and that people care about you?
- [47:06]
A
Well, it taps into our humanity, doesn't it? We need it.
- [47:09]
B
You want to wake up. Yeah. And feel and feel that, like, I'm not just being ignored and I'm not just, you know, some, you know, decimal of seven and a half billion people or however many people live. Live on Earth. Like, do you care about me? So I think you begin like we do on the Midas Touch network and saying, I care about you. I'm fighting for you. I hear you. I. I'm listening. I know what you're going through. And now let me show you what we're doing for you. That I'm giving you as many hours in the day as I have to fight for you every single day. You start there. Democrats don't say that. Donald Trump, because he's a lifelong con artist and fraudster, he fakes it. He's the suffering. Yeah. So he goes into those towns and he says, they're doing it for you, the migrants. These are the people who are hurting you. I'm going to fix it by doing that. And I alone can fix it. That's the. That's the fraud that he's selling while stealing from them and giving it to his rich friends. So there has to be a counter to his fake populism. Pro oligarch. And that's what we need to see.
- [48:21]
A
Jamie Raskin's very good at this stuff. Let's Take a look at what he had to say.
- [48:26]
C
In any event, if he really cared about public safety in D.C. he would release the billion dollars he has held up and the Republicans have held up in funding for the local budget. That's all local money that they've put a hold on it. They would. He would not have pardoned 1600 insurrectionists and violent cop beaters on his first day in office, and he would not have sacked all of these experienced federal Prosecutors at the U.S. attorney's Office at the Department of Justice and replaced them with literal January6 participants and lawyers for the January 6th defendants and other people.
- [49:08]
B
Who are clearly at odds with the.
- [49:11]
C
Actual public safety of people in the District of Columbia.
- [49:15]
A
When you spell it out like that, I mean, maybe that's another thing. Trump's very good at, marketing his fake successes. You know, on the, on the White House website, there's a list of all the investments that he has achieved to bring into the U.S. of course, if you go through them one by one, you realize that they were either in place before he showed up or they're just not real. The other thing is, he never says what is going to come of this money. He'll, he'll say, there's billions and billions coming into the US but he's never once spoken about building a bridge or reinvesting in, in housing or getting jobs for people. And I do think that people are eventually going to realize that it's all very well talking about these vast sums that he is negotiating. But, but how does that manifest itself for regular working people? What does it look like on the ground?
- [50:03]
B
Well, you know, even before getting into that, where is the deal? Like, where does it exist? Like, that's what I try to tell people. I say, show me the piece of paper, like your rental agreement or your lease agreement or your mortgage. I go, we got to get a little more basic than that. First, does it make sense to you that he's saying that there's a deal, but you've never seen the paper and nobody sees it and you can't find it? Do you believe a deal is just a social media post? Does that truly make sense to you? Then ultimately, Anthony, if someone goes, yeah, that makes sense to me. I'm not going to be able to have the further conversation with that person. And it's a good test because I could just end the conversation there and go, bad faith act. I won't be able to deal with you similarly, because I want to get into the issues, though, about what he's going to do for the economy, but bring it back. When we talk about Donald Trump saying he would end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. And now Donald Trump says he's being sarcastic and it was all a joke. So I like to ask people, do you believe that that's, that he was being sarcastic and that it was just a joke? Like is that you, are you okay with that? And if they go, yeah, like okay, we're done talking, I don't need to talk. Because then, because then what you're telling me is all of these other things as we talk about the economy or whatever, it's all sarcasm and it's all a joke. You're not a serious person because you embrace that he's not a serious person. And that's one of. To your earlier point about this shouldn't be about Democrat, Republican. It should be about good versus evil. It should be about serious versus unserious. You know, he's a deeply unserious human being. In very serious times. There are times when you can be funny, stand up comedy. Maybe you're with your family and you're telling jokes around the dinner table, maybe at the White House correspondence dinner, which Donald Trump basically canceled because he can't handle real humor. Maybe in certain self deprecating contexts, you know, there are certain types of humor. But doing jokes that I was being sarcastic about bringing down prices or ending wars or the atrocities happening in Gaza, like that's, that, that's not. Those aren't jokes. You're just a clown then. You're a deeply unserious fascist clown. And nothing that you do is take, should be taken seriously. And yes, you promised that you brought in trillions of dollars. He says he brought in $17 trillion, which would be basically more than or just about half the entire GDP of the United States. Where's that 17 trillion going then? It ain't going to healthcare, it ain't going to roads and bridges. It ain't going to making homes more affordable. No, people aren't getting doge dividend checks or tariff rebate checks. It ain't going there. It ain't going because it doesn't freaking exist. And lots of times the dictators premise is I built the highway, I did this. Look, I'm horrible, but look, I built this, I made this work. And your lives at least is, is better. Trump is trying to do that with where we started at the show of force of just putting troops on the street randomly, but is in no way helping people's lives. People's lives are getting way worse. And Trump's response is what it always is. Stop the testing. If we don't test, there are no cases. If we don't get the economic data, you can't say the economic data is bad. But again, I'm optimistic because I think people are getting it. People are learning. It's not at the numbers where it needs to be yet, but we're actually headed in the right direction.
- [53:41]
A
We have to take another quick break, but I want to come back and talk about his meeting with Putin that is due on Friday, either in Alaska or Russia, wherever he wherever he directs the plane to land. We'll do that next on Uncovered. You know when you taste a meal once and then you just can't stop eating it well, Cook Unity was made for adventurous eaters with countless global cuisines. From 161 award winning chefs explore an ever expanding menu of small batch meals, all tailored to your lifestyle, dietary needs and cravings. Get ready to eat meals delivered directly to your door by going to cookunity.com uncovered free or enter code UNCOVERED FREE before checkout for free. Premium Meals for Life it's easier to achieve your health goals with nutritious, ready to eat meals made by top chefs. Helps you snack less, have more energy throughout the day, and it feels like you're savoring rather than sacrificing. This is why cookunity is better than ordering takeout or home cooking your meals. Their roster of all star chefs includes James Beard Award winners and acclaimed restaurateurs. They balance bold flavors and nutrition in their handcrafted meals which are freshly prepared and delivered to your door and never frozen. Personalize your menu by navigating the easy to use platform Filter by chef. Protein Cuisine or dietary need to find meals that satisfy your cravings and stick to your health goals. Meals are delivered fully cooked. Heat in as little as five minutes in the oven or microwave. Enjoy high quality culinary masterpieces for a fraction of restaurant or takeout prices. Subscriptions start as low as $11ameal. Skip deliveries, pause or cancel at any time. Get what you're craving. Try the best tasting meal delivery made by your favorite celebrity chefs. Go to cookunity.com uncovered free or enter code UNCOVERED FREE before checkout for free. Premium Me for Life that's free Premium Meals for Life by using code uncovered free or going to cookunity.com uncovered free terms and conditions apply. Go to cookunity.com for details and once again links to those sponsors down in the description. So I mean, I wasn't joking when Trump Couldn't work out where, where he was going to meet Vladimir Putin. Let's have a quick look at the clip.
- [56:09]
C
See, this is a tragic emergency and it's embarrassing for me to be up here. You know, I'm going to see Putin. I'm going to Russia on Friday. I don't like being up here talking about how unsafe and how dirty and disgusting this once beautiful capital was with graffiti all over the walls. It's another part of it.
- [56:31]
A
I mean, he's just ridiculous now, isn't he? But this is a very serious week, isn't it? Because firstly, Trump wants to meet Putin alone. I mean, I guess there'll be an interpreter. But this is just going to be a repeat of helsink from, from 2017. Right. Where, where Trump just gets his orders from Vladimir Putin and then tells the rest of the world what it is that he wants them to, to hear this. This could, we could find as a result of this that there will be no deal on Ukraine. Vladimir Zelensky said that he is not going to give up any land. It's a sovereign nation. Of course he shouldn't. Donald Trump really is on the side of Russia over this. And this could be the moment that Europe and the. And America splits the. The. This is as, this is as serious as it, as it, as it could be for the future of this kind of world coalition. And we find out on Friday.
- [57:26]
B
Could you imagine though, if FDR or Truman held a press conference to talk about issues regarding World War II where they had two ladies in evening gown dresses.
- [57:41]
A
Yes.
- [57:42]
B
Giving awards to whoever the Hollywood person is and talking about the Hollywood Walk of Fame at the same time. These issues over war and peace at the highest historical levels are being discussed. We already lost this negotiation that's already been lost by the setup of it. Putin gets what he wants. He is in Alaska. He is on US Soil at an American military base being legitimized by the United States. President Putin already set his preconditions. You can attack Putin all he wants. Putin was actually clear to Witkoff, I do not want to meet Trump's special envoy unless Ukraine gives me this territory. Yeah. And, and, and basically what we've heard now that comes out of it is a West bank style occupation is kind of how the way Witkoff's conversation.
- [58:45]
A
Some swapping. Yeah.
- [58:46]
B
Not, not even a swap. Not even Witkoff tried to sell it as a swap. Right. Russia gives Ukraine back land. Ukraine gives Russia Zapricia and areas in Donetsk. That's not. That was. The swap was a Bad deal. But that's at least what it was pitched as. Putin said no swap. Putin said, we take over Donetsk, we take over Zapricia, we get all this land that's already in fortified areas in advance of Friday. Putin's pushing all of his troops even further along. And Ukraine just needs to surrender in exchange for the ceasefire. Whereas Zelensky says ceasefire first, full ceasefire, then let's. Then we can have a discussion. And Putin doesn't want that. So Putin's already speaking with North Korea, Kim Jong Un about this meeting and bragging about this meeting. And so all Putin has to do is go there. Putin's not going to give concessions as there's no chance that's happening. Zelensky says there's no. We know there's no chance of that happening. So all that's going to happen is Donald Trump's gonna come out, attack Ukraine, and we're gonna be in this cycle longer.
- [59:57]
A
We can predict how it's gonna play out. I mean, the fact that Zelenskyy's not even invited to these peace talks tells you everything you need to know.
- [60:06]
B
He's not invited to peace talks about handing over chunks of territory of Ukraine to a hostile invading nation. Yeah, Europe's not that. One of the most important things in negotiations is where is it going to take place and what's the framework for a negotiation. I know that from doing negotiations. When I was a transactional lawyer, I wasn't negotiating war and peace issues, but when you would do a deal, which office is it at? What. How are we approaching the negotiation? What are. Are we positioning other deals to show that we have other opportunities and offers out there? You don't just agree to the other side's points right away unless you're preparing for a surrender. And Donald Trump has done this with Russia. Donald Trump has done this on the trade war as well, and against the war, the world's worst negotiator imaginable. And then you think about other issues. What precedent is this setting for Taiwan? You remember when all of the Republicans were all like, democrats are weak on Taiwan. We're Taiwan hawks. I mean, Donald Trump wouldn't even let the leader of Taiwan land in New York on his way to Central America because Xi Jinping said, we will hold withhold rare earth minerals from the United States if you allow the president of Taiwan to land in the United States. Like, the level of weakness that's already been on display. If a Democratic president showed this weakness, they would be impeached, remove. Oh, my gosh. You would hear this every single day. But it seems that Midas Touch network shows like this are the only ones calling it out with the objective force that it deserves. Whereas corporate news is like a big meeting is set up for Friday between Donald Trump. I know Vladimir Putin. They will be discussing a potential peace deal. Donald Trump says that he's optimistic. Roll the clip. I'm very optimistic about the opportunities for peace. Donald Trump strongly. It's like, did you watch that whole freaking press conference that I just watched? What are you talking about?
- [62:19]
A
There's always an excuse. Also from Caroline Levitt. Let's take a look at her.
- [62:25]
C
Charlie, The President said podium yesterday twice that he was planning to go to Russia. Was that a verbal slip up or does he actually plan to go to Russia?
- [62:34]
D
Perhaps there are plans in the future to travel to Russia.
- [62:38]
B
And on Friday, the President will be meeting with the Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
- [62:42]
D
As you know, Phil.
- [62:44]
A
Yeah, they've all, they've all got his back, haven't they? I mean the, the gaffes is the other thing, I suppose that the media does not kind of COVID in the same way either. The fact that we're watching Donald Trump's brain turn to mush slowly over every, every single day that passes and yet that is kind of ignored in favor of the fact that he's this kind of master deal maker when really the only thing he's ever really done is badly renovate properties. I hate to think what that ballroom is going to look like if it's ever built.
- [63:16]
B
Well, he made my issue too. Just quickly because I know we're running time, but the, the ballroom issue. Democrats, where's your lawsuit to block the ballroom?
- [63:26]
A
Right.
- [63:27]
B
Where's the lawsuit? And don't be oh, there's a million other things. No, you fight every little thing. You don't seed an inch. I don't want that ballroom being who the hell is building it. It's private donors. Is it going to be the Jeff Bezos wing? Is it going to be the Qatari wing? We need clarity. Who the hell is funding this thing? Because Donald Trump ain't putting up $200 million who's already funded the architectural plans because that requires approval. Want. There needs to be lawsuits on everything. Especially this pisses American people off. We don't want to see our people's house have some 90,000 square foot fricking golden ballroom. What are we talking about?
- [64:07]
A
Even putting the concrete over the Rose Garden is just an example of how he kind of misses the mark so much. But did you notice that when Trump was on the roof and he was doing all of his site inspection, it was like the only time I'd actually seen him genuinely engaged in something. And it was, it exposed the fact that that is really his limit going onto building sites and, you know, pointing at where wall four walls are going to be. He has no interest in being the president. He has no interest in, in Ukraine. He has no interest in Gaza. He has no interest in anything that won't enrich him. But he does seem to have some interest in renovations and refurbishments. I mean, that, that's, that's where he should have stayed at the very beginning.
- [64:53]
B
But he was even with those things his whole life was being a con artist.
- [65:00]
A
Yeah.
- [65:00]
B
And defrauding people. He's good at walking around and go, oh, you know, I think I'll put a little bit more molding over there. You know, do that. You know, when, when you're born with daddy's money and you get to walk around, definitely just adjust it a little more gold. Right. You know, you know, but, but ultimately he's left a trail of disaster everywhere he's went. I mean, but, but here's the thing that we have to focus on that the human mind, the ability to be sucked into disinformation because you even take a place like Atlantic City, Donald Trump destroyed, like, destroyed the city. You know, I mean, people lost their jobs, you know, their parents lost jobs, you know, and he did it the same way. He's destroying the country. Built three casinos next to each other. Everybody said, you're going to bankrupt them. You can't, you know, they're going to compete with each other. What are you doing? It's the stupidest strategy imaginable. He goes, no, no, no. He attacked whistleblowers. They lost their jobs. Litigation, total mess. They go bankrupt. They go bankrupt again. Like, it wasn't even just like a quick bankruptcy. It went bankrupt. Like every five years, there was like a new restructure. More people got screwed. Trump pulled out money for himself. But then again, Anthony, during his campaign, he goes to Wildwood, New Jersey, nearby, draws one of the bigger crowds that he had. He lied about the size, but it was still about 30,000 people there. Not 110,000, but still a 30,000 person crowd was getting cheers within a pretty close radius to the site of, of destroying people's lives. So we have to study and recognize, like, did y' all forget? He literally screwed up all of you and he screwed your futures, but you're there cheering for him. How is it that this guy who had the worst term during his first term, where his approval was whatever, people are like, you know what? He may have killed 2 million Americans with COVID He may have added trillions of dollars to our debt, but he's the deal maker.
- [67:08]
A
Yeah, let's, let's give him another chance. But it's just lazy, isn't it? It's lazy. And I do think a lot of it is down to the information that people consume. And it's increasingly hard now because people live in their little information bubbles. And so, you know, they, they get the feed that they, they request. We have to finish in, in just a sec, but we have one final clip. Did you know that J.D. vance has been on vacation every single month since the, since he assumed office as Vice president? Let's take a look at him debriefing on his trip to Disneyland.
- [67:39]
B
So we had the island ourselves, which was very cool.
- [67:41]
C
I'd never been to Disneyland.
- [67:42]
D
They were shutting down the Disney World one.
- [67:44]
B
Yeah, that's, that's sorry to all the people who are Disneyland for the longer lines, but we had a very good time.
- [67:51]
A
What's the deal with this guy? Because, you know, I, I actually think he's far more dangerous than Donald Trump in as much as he actually has an opinion and he is somebody that if anything was to happen to, to Donald Trump and we get J.D. vance, then really all of this authoritarianism will be unleashed. We shouldn't be distracted by his vacationing in, in Disneyland, should we?
- [68:16]
B
Well, he's had multiple identities and personalities and names.
- [68:21]
A
Yes.
- [68:21]
B
Throughout his life. I mean, just think about that. I mean, he grew up and he thought he was gay. He thought he was a gay man. And then he got conversion therapy or he convinced himself that he's not gay. Then he became like reinvented himself as like this Yale law student smart guy who got out of a drug abusive situation and he was fighting for the working people in Ohio and in Appalachia. And then he was, I'm a never Trumper. And all throughout these periods of times from when he thought he was gay to, to, you know, going to law school, to being the Appalachia guy, to then to being the big never Trumper to being the big pro Trump. He changed his name.
- [69:09]
A
He was an atheist as well. And then he became a Catholic, changed.
- [69:12]
B
His name, changed the, you know, so there's nothing that like who is this guy? Number, you know, number one. I mean, could you imagine any, you know, Democratic candidate who's changed their identity three or four different times in their life, you know, basically by the age of 40. But there's really nothing he won't say and he won't do in. In terms of he'll go wherever it is. It really doesn't matter to him. And he's got a unique ability, though, of sensing. Of becoming this chameleon, sensing these, changing the identity and parroting where he sees the directions of. Of power going. But just using that as an example, and I think we leave on this, which is the way corporate news covers that. Barely a peep from the media on what he just said. He just said he shut down Disneyland so he can take a vacation while Americans can't afford things, as the price of Disney's going up, which is pricing people out as people are getting screwed in this economy, he's shutting down Disneyland. That was one trip. The other trip that he went to recently was in an Ohio river where he made the Army Corps of Engineers raise the water level to have a better kayaking experience there. I mean, could you imagine if Kamala Harris made the Army Corps of Engineers raise the water to have a better kayaking experience? Then he goes to the uk where he's in right now, and in the local town that he's in, he's making his Secret Service go around and ask people for their social media so that he can determine if their social media is suitable for them to be around where he's vacationing. Could you imagine if Kamala did that? It would be everywhere. All. Just that, forgetting all the fascist stuff that he's doing. She'd be done. It'd be over.
- [71:00]
A
Yeah. She get heat one time for going into a little shop and buying an expensive saucepan or something. You know, I mean, this is. This is the problem, isn't it? It's one rule for one, another rule for the other. But, but Vance was laughing through that clip. You know, he, like, finds it amusing that he shut down Disneyland. And, and that is the measure of the man and of this movement. The, the cruelty and the disrespect for people that don't look like them and sound like them and are as wealthy as them. And I think going forward, that's really what we need to look out for, especially with someone as, as slippery as. As J.D. vance. Okay, well, we'll. We'll look forward to Friday, and we'll obviously be debriefing in full on the, on the meeting with Vladimir Putin and see how that plays out. Ben, I'm very grateful to you for stepping in to Ron's shoes. They're large shoes. And, you know, I think we. I think we just about got away with it. So, Ronald, come back next week and we'll do another Uncovered then. Thanks.
- [72:00]
B
Irreplaceable. But I was happy to be a slightly adequate substitute.
- [72:06]
A
Yeah, I feel the same, actually. All right, all the best to you. We'll come back next Wednesday with another Uncovered. Download the audio podcast that drops later tonight, and we'll see you on the other side. Thanks for now.
- [72:18]
B
Thank you.