AOC Utterly Torches Republican Leaders to Their Faces on Live TV

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2:28Ben Meiselas:This is how it's done. MAGA Republicans like Mike Johnson and Donald Trump were just ripped to shreds by AOC on live TV. I mean, she eviscerated them for being MIA on vacation, abandoning the Capitol building while this government shutdown is taking place. This is how it's done. Watch Congresswoman AOC live last night on CNN. Let's play this clip. They need to pick up a phone. They're saying that they're doing all this work. They are twiddling their thumbs and talking to each other. It is actually an unconscionable abdication and refusal to work. They refuse. I've never seen people who hate working so much in my life.

3:21I mean, genuinely, they won't even pick up the phone. They won't. If I were Mike Johnson, you should be in that office negotiating with Hakeem Jeffries every damn day until we reopen this government. And any day that you don't do that is a failure. It is a failure. And until there is accountability for people who refuse to work, to work, then we're going to continue to be in this cycle. So, you know, in the Senate, the Senate majority leader is John Thune. He should be negotiating with Chuck Schumer. President Trump should be having congressional leaders in the White House. Do you see that every day?

4:03No, you don't, because they're playing golf and they're going to Mar-a-Lago. And the House and Republicans in the House have been on vacation for weeks now. We are here in Washington, D.C. We are ready to work. We are ready to strike a deal. We're not here to just be my way in the highway about everything. But what we're also not going to accept is the complete collapse of the American health care system. So that just just because the Republican Party has decided to take a million federal workers hostage.

4:32Ben Meiselas:Exactly, exactly. They're twiddling their thumbs. They're on vacation. What the hell are they doing, these MAGA Republicans? Here's another clip from AOC where she says MAGA Mike Johnson and these MAGA Republican House members, they refuse to even be here. They're like partying. What the hell are they doing? Here, play this clip. Right now, House Democrats are in Washington, D.C. Senate Democrats are in Washington, D.C. Even Senate Republicans, I believe, are still in Washington, D.C. The only people who are not in Washington, D.C. are the over 200 elected Republicans in the House of Representatives because Speaker of the House Mike Johnson refuses to call the House in session.

5:19He refuses to also seat Adelita Grijalva because they want to prevent the 218 signature on release of the Epstein files as well. Can I ask you on that? Because Speaker Johnson was asked about that today and he said it has nothing to do with that. so she can have all the pomp and circumstance that is afforded to most members when they're sworn in. You don't believe that? No, Mike Johnson has sworn in several members, Republican members, in pro forma sessions. He understands that the importance of this country, the importance of representation is not about pomp and circumstance. And in fact, it's not just about Representative Grijalva.

5:55It's about the over 700 ,000 people in the state of Arizona, veterans, seniors, teachers, students who do not have anyone to call in an emergency because their elected representative that has been certified at municipal, state and the federal level, federal acknowledgement, he refuses to seat a duly elected official here in the House of Representatives.

6:19Ben Meiselas:And that's how you message it, authentically, authentically, authentically. Here, AOC is talking about how these MAGA Republicans are canceling large-scale wind energy projects, and they're saying these are democratic issues, that energy is somehow democratic. This is energy, damn it. The country needs energy. The country needs FEMA. The country needs disease control, okay? These are not democratic issues. These are issues that people need to live. watch AOC as only AOC can do it. But people need to learn and take note here. Play this clip. To reopen the government. Of course. Well, you know, here's what we have to say.

7:02Not only should should the this infrastructure funding be released, but in New York, which this administration is targeting in some of these infrastructure cancellations, Some of the projects that they have canceled have been large scale wind energy projects. And again, they think this is a Democratic priority, right? Because it's because it's wind energy. But this is energy, period. In New York State, con ed bills, that's our energy utility. Con ed bills are set to go up, go up almost another hundred dollars next year because of those cancellations. that's affecting and it's jacking up the prices in mike lawler's district in nicole amalia takas's district in republican districts across the state it is affecting and they are jacking up the price the prices on maga voters too they it is killing all of us and so while they think that's sabotaging energy projects in this country, which by the way, oil and gas, much more volatile, that goes up and down all the time, that they think sabotaging these projects are somehow owning the libs.

8:21No.

8:21Ben Meiselas:That AOC says you damn right. These are democratic priorities. You are damn right, MAGA Mike Johnson. Here play this clip. Once again, this administration is making a foolish mistake by saying that they think that investments in housing and in energy are so-called Democrat priorities. Cutting the EPA as a Democrat priority. You know what this country looked like before the EPA? Rivers in rural areas were on fire because of corporations poisoning the people who lived in those areas. Poor middle-class communities getting poisoned and dumped on by corporations like Deloitte and 3M pouring chemicals into these places and they want to call it a democratic priority.

9:08And that's why they want to eliminate the FDA. Well, you know what? You're damn well right that it's a democratic priority to keep people from getting poisoned, from identifying dangerous chemicals that are being dumped and causing cancer in people without their knowledge. You're damn right that it's a democratic priority to bring down the cost of housing and mortgages and rent. And you're damn right that it's a Democratic priority to raise the minimum wage in this country, to allow people to get a fair shot at the American dream. If they want to say that that's a Democratic priority, they're right.

9:40And they are targeting all of us with this. And so I do think it's important for us to remember that and that these priorities are actually not partisan at all.

9:52Ben Meiselas:I thought this was a particularly poignant moment where AOC talks about how these MAGA Republicans are radicalizing a generation of young boys and taking them away from healthy masculinity into this insecure masculinity. A great point that is not discussed enough. Here, play this clip. When they talk about Republicans and their success online, they have been successful because they have also been very clear, especially digitally, about what they believe. That women are inferior. And they do not deserve equal rights. That they believe that LGBTQ Americans are subhuman. That they believe and are circulating disgusting racial and white supremacist messaging that they are able to get away with digitally and online.

10:50And they are able to radicalize and target and exploit a generation of young boys, in particular, away from healthy masculinity and into an insecure masculinity that requires the domination of others who are poorer, browner, darker, or a different gender than them. And that is why they are resonating online, because they are appealing to the most basest and worst parts of human nature to divide us. And why to divide us? so that the same people who own those platforms, people like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, that these people can continue to get away with highway robbery in tax cuts and in order to lease all of our pockets, cut our health care, keep our wages low so that we remain fighting amongst ourselves while they make themselves richer.

11:53And so in order for us to fight back against that, we must be clear about what we believe, have strong beliefs, and also be completely unwilling to bow to that kind of division and stand in solidarity with one another, especially when it is someone whose culture is different from ours or whose background we may not entirely understand, but that we honor, love and see as our fellow Americans.

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13:47Ben Meiselas:And also everything sourced right here in the USA, which I like as well. So for a limited time, our listeners are going to get 15 % off at Stopbox when you use the code TRUTH at checkout. So head to stopboxusa.com and use the code truth for 15 % off your entire order. So after your purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show. Tell them that the Midas Touch sent you. Again, go to stopboxusa.com and use the code truth for 15 % off. And then tell them the Midas Touch podcast sent you. But I love this response here from AOC as she's asked, Well, you hear Marjorie Taylor Greene now saying that she supports getting people extensions of the Affordable Care Act subsidies.

14:36Ben Meiselas:Can you ever imagine yourself working with her? And AOC's like, it's easy to talk. Talk is cheap. Walk the damn walk. Do it. And then we can have a conversation. But show that you're going to do it. It's easy to go out there and just open up your mouth and yap. Here, play this clip. You mentioned Marjorie Taylor Greene. She's your colleague over in the House. The way she frames this is she says Democrats created this mess, but Republicans don't have any solutions to fix the health care issue either. Is she someone that you could see yourself working with? On what? On the health care. I mean, listen, I think people can talk a good game, but until they actually support policy that helps people, I, you know, I'm not particularly interested.

15:33But if she wants to if she actually wants to support legislation and expanding health care, I've I've worked with plenty of Republicans as well on health care. I have a bill that I've introduced with Congresswoman Malia Takis, a Republican from New York, on expanding maternal health and reauthorizing the Healthy Start program to help newborn newborns and new moms be able to support their kids. And so in terms of bipartisan legislation on health care, I'm more than open to doing that. But it's not just about talking the talk. We've got to walk the walk. And you would need to see her actually support something that you're behind in terms of legislation on health care.

16:18Ben Meiselas:Then you have AOC answering a question that I think is, you know, on a lot of people's mind as well. But she says it perfectly. And this is the point that I make over and over again on this network. I said, just remember your fifth grade government class. You have to negotiate governments about compromise and talking with each other and finding solutions. Set aside your political party. That's what we're supposed to do. Republicans, Democrats, we're supposed to talk and find solutions. So when Republicans say, we're not talking to you, it's like little petulant children. No offense to petulant children, right?

16:58Ben Meiselas:Like, nanny, nanny, poo, poo, I'm not talking to you. That's like petulant children crap. That's not how adults behave. That's not how government works. Watch as she describes. Do you all remember Schoolhouse Rock? Yeah, play this clip. Particularly as a TSA employee, I represent LaGuardia Airport. And so I know very, very well all the hard work that you all do and put in. And you all deserve a dignified workplace, you deserve a safe workplace, and you deserve the paycheck that you are working for. What I believe the best thing that we can do is to reopen the government right now and to ensure and to also call on our representatives and put pressure on individuals like the Speaker of the House to actually pick up the phone.

17:46The problem here is not even that there's a disagreement. It's that the Speaker of the House and the Trump administration refuses to even have a negotiation. They refuse to even pick up the phone and talk about this. And so I do not want us to start to agree with what Mike Johnson is saying and to have them preview for us and normalize the idea that everyone's just going to miss a paycheck, that a million federal workers are just going to go without that and to just warn that in advance and to have us accept that. This is not acceptable. This is not normal. And what is normal is for us to negotiate when one party wants the votes of another party, you negotiate, you come to a compromise, and you pass a bill.

18:41That is schoolhouse rock, and that is how things should be. So I thank you for that. And I want to make sure that we, of course, pass a bevy of federal protections for workers, but we don't want them to be necessary in the first place.

18:58Ben Meiselas:Now, AOC talks about how the MAGA Republicans and VP J.D. Vance and others keep lying about this issue, about emergency room health care. Play this clip. Well, we already know. And this is a common this is a common lie that Republicans have been repeating, that this shutdown is about Democrats trying to provide health care to the undocumented. And we all know, we already know that it is federal law and federal statute that undocumented people cannot be covered by the ACA. They cannot be covered by Medicaid. They cannot be covered by Medicare, period. That is the law of the land. There are plenty of federal laws on the books.

19:46Now the vice president has been trafficking this other misconception, saying that the emergency Medicaid program is providing health care to undocumented people. That, too, is a complete, just, I don't even know, whole cloth storytelling, we should say. the truth of the matter is that we have a federal law as it should be that any person who walks into a hospital in desperate need of medical attention receives that medical attention regardless of their insurance status and regardless of who they are and i don't know about you but me as a human being i don't want to live in a world where if a human being is struck by a car or is getting rushed into a hospital that the people in the ER surgical room are asking for your insurance information or asking for documents before they save your life.

20:46Ben Meiselas:Here's what she says about Russ Vogt, who is the head of the Office of Management and Budget, Donald Trump's hatchet man as they're out there destroying important government programs. Here, play this clip. The problem is that But this administration, the Trump administration, folks like Russ Vogt, they think that destroying our health care, making sure that housing is too expensive to live in, that jacking up the costs of our groceries, they think all of this is about hurting Democrats. what they are doing is hurting Americans and they are hurting this country. And if Mike Johnson wants to say that this shutdown is going to last a long time, it is because he is choosing to punish the American people and we cannot stand for it and we cannot allow it.

21:38And we also cannot enable it by acquiescing and enabling the behavior of bullies. So it ends today.

21:47Ben Meiselas:She answers this question from Caitlin Collins about, let's say the White House says they will extend these subsidies. What do you need for there to actually be a deal? And then AOC is like, written, signed, on paper, irrevocable. We can't trust what these people say. These MAGAs lie about everything. Here, play this clip. But let's say that the White House and Republican leaders say that they will extend these subsidies. It's not clear how long because you say one year is not enough. They haven't even really put that forward yet. I think the question is, does that need to be enshrined into law?

22:22What does that need to look like before you would vote to reopen the government? Or is it a commitment from the White House and Republicans? Oh, yeah.

22:27Ben Meiselas:No doubt. I mean... Mr. President, you know, is a very honest man. And if he says something, man, you could take it to the bank. So you're saying his word is not enough? Bankruptcy court. His word? No. So what do you need to see? What commitments? I think we need to see ink on paper. I think we need to see legislation. I think we need to see votes. And I think we need to see these things pass on the floor of the House and the Senate and signed by President Trump. I don't accept IOUs. I don't accept pinky promises. That's not the business that I'm in. Okay, so you need a signature from President Trump in order to vote to reopen the government.

23:06Correct.

23:06Ben Meiselas:And then finally, I think this is a great question. Someone says, and I'm sure you ask this question a lot, So it's great that you could hear Bernie Sanders and AOC answer this there together. Why even try to help Republicans? Like if they want to destroy the health care of their constituents and Republican voters are going to be hurt more by this, why do you even care? Watch her response. It's pitch perfect. Play this clip. Hi. On the issue of health care, a lot of the clinics and hospitals that are negatively affected the most under the one big beautiful bill are located in rural mostly republican areas a lot of the increases in affordable care act premiums that democrats are fighting to prevent are concentrated in more rural republican areas if the republicans are so insistent on sticking it to their own voters on this issue why don't the democrats just let them i mean i think alizantia touched on this before.

24:02Ben Meiselas:And that is, we are, you know, one of the things, and this really annoys me about Trump, he's dividing this country. Why would I not? You know, when we hit the road, we were in Idaho, right? It's the most conservative state in America, I think. We had many thousands of people coming out. We are Americans. What, you think I would feel okay if somebody in a Republican state died because they couldn't get health care? I would hope not. I hope nobody feels that way. And I think it also speaks to a big difference between someone like Trump and someone like me or someone like Bernie, which is that Trump believes that if you don't vote for him, he doesn't have to be your leader.

24:48That if you didn't vote for him, that you don't deserve good things to happen to you. I don't care if someone voted for me or not. I don't care if someone is a Republican or an Independent or a Democrat. I don't care if someone likes me or not. That will never change the fact that I'm going to fight for them to have health care. I want MAGA to have health care. I want MAGA to be paid a living wage. But he doesn't want people who are Democrats, or he doesn't want people based on their political affiliation, to benefit. And that is the difference between a strong man and an authoritarian and a leader of a democracy.

25:38Ben Meiselas:There you have it. I thought that was a great moment by AOC. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers. Thank you so much for watching.