In short
The MeidasTouch Podcast Episode Summary
Episode Title
Furious Canada Makes Trump Squeal as Boycott Crushes Him
Hosts
- Ben Meiselas: Top lawyer and business partner of Colin Kaepernick.
- Brett Meiselas: Emmy-winning video editor from film and television.
- Jordy Meiselas: Award-winning advertising executive.
Episode Overview
The brothers discuss the escalating tensions between Canada and the United States, particularly focusing on the implications of Donald Trump's administration and its impact on U.S.-Canada relations. Ben Meiselas highlights a public statement made by U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, expressing confusion over perceived anti-American sentiments in Canada, which the hosts analyze critically.
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Key Points
Canada’s Reaction to U.S. Policies
- Anti-American Sentiment: Ben Meiselas points out that Canada’s discontent with the U.S. stems from Trump’s threatening rhetoric and policies that have jeopardized Canada's sovereignty.
- Hoekstra’s Remarks: The ambassador's complaints about anti-American feelings in Canada are seen as disconnected from the reality of the situation, emphasizing a lack of understanding of the underlying causes.
Economic Impact on U.S. Tourism
- Boycott: Canada has initiated a boycott against U.S. tourism, which has significantly affected places like Las Vegas, leading to a downturn in business and economic struggles for workers dependent on tourism.
- Personal Accounts: The episode features testimonies from Las Vegas workers regarding their struggles with declining tips and job instability due to the downturn in visitors.
Political Commentary
- Criticism of U.S. Leadership: The hosts criticize Hoekstra and the Trump administration for their failure to recognize the consequences of their actions and the economic implications for industries reliant on Canadian tourism.
- Comparative Leadership: The episode also highlights how Canadian leaders, like Prime Minister Carney, exhibit more diplomatic and constructive behavior compared to Trump.
Broader Implications
- International Relations: The episode discusses how Trump’s approach to international relations has strained not only Canada-U.S. ties but also how it has affected America’s reputation abroad.
- Calls for Unity: The hosts underscore the need for Canada and the U.S. to work together, as both nations face global challenges that require cooperation rather than conflict.
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Takeaways
- Importance of Understanding: A deeper understanding of international relations is crucial for political leaders to foster better diplomatic ties.
- Economic Interdependence: The episode illustrates how interconnected economies can be impacted by political rhetoric and decisions, emphasizing the real-life struggles of workers in affected industries.
- Democratic Values: The Meiselas brothers advocate for an approach that supports democracy and constructive engagement over adversarial tactics.
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Conclusion The MeidasTouch Podcast episode demonstrates the complexities of international relations, particularly in light of leadership styles and policies that can lead to economic ramifications and public sentiment. The hosts combine humor with serious commentary to engage their audience and promote democratic values.
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Subscribe and Support To keep up with political discussions and insights, subscribe to the MeidasTouch Podcast and explore their other content on platforms like YouTube and their website.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00A furious Canada is making the United States of America squeal. They're making the United States say mercy. They're making the United States tap out and whine and complain in public. Just take a look at this. This is Pete Hoekstra. He's the United States ambassador to Canada. And here he is whining that people in Canada no longer like the United States. And he's like, why don't you like us anymore? Why would you treat us? Why is there an anti-American sentiment in Canada? We here in America don't think that way about you. Why do you do elbows up? Why are you saying me too there about America? Why are you doing these things?
0:45I don't know, Pete. Maybe it's because Donald Trump has threatened the very existence of Canada, has threatened the sovereignty of Canada, has repeatedly referred to Canada as the 51st state. Maybe, Pete, it's also because of people like you who are sociopaths who are there attacking Canada each and every day. And then when Canada fights back to protect itself in retaliation to the offensive threats by the United States, you and people like you in the Trump regime play the victim. And you're like, why are you going after us? What did we ever do to you? Threaten the very existence of the country, Pete Hoekstra.
1:26That's what you idiots have done in the Trump regime. And you have crippled United States tourism as Canada has led a boycott throughout the entire world. Las Vegas is suffering as a result of morons like you and Americans across various industries are suffering because Canada is buying Canada and making relationships with the rest of the world. Pete, it's pretty obvious. And when you're out there saying things like that at the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, you are just pissing off Canadians even more. You're not making things better when you have such a detachment from a reality, when it's obvious the cause of this.
2:05in the first place. You, Trump, your regime. Here, watch him right here. What a maniac this guy is. Here, play this clip. The thing that was probably, you know, the most unexpected, and we're going to get right into the meat of the stuff that we want to talk about today, okay? I'm disappointed that I came to Canada, a Canada that it is very, very difficult to find Canadians who are passionate about the American-Canadian relationship. You ran a campaign where it was anti-American, elbows up, me too. It was an anti-American campaign. And that has continued. That's disappointing. I talked to a lot of business people.
2:55They are passionate about the relationship because they recognize rebuilding ecosystems and rebuilding the kind of economic relationships that we have. As some people talk about, oh, we'll go other places. It's kind of like, that's hard. Plus, this one works pretty well. We've created a lot of prosperity and wealth, high quality, high paying jobs by working together on both sides of the border. Like I said, I'm passionate for it. The business community is passionate for it, but they're not very public about it. And then he has the audacity to say, why are you even calling this like a trade war?
3:38Why are you using this language? We don't use this language in the United States. Why are Canadians being so aggressive with us in the United States? Are you an idiot? Are you seriously? Are you an idiot? You know, no, it's just the sociopathic nature of your fascism. It's literally because you've threatened the existence of the country. And, you know, the first time Trump did it back in November after the election, they're like, oh, right. You know, then in December, oh, right. I guess that Trump being Trump. OK, maybe he's being funny. Then it went into January. And then Trump started actually implementing policies that made it clear that he really wanted to declare war on Canada.
4:19So it was enough was enough. And Canada said, stop it. Cut it out. You're going to keep on doing this. Just stop it. and Canada united Canada strong elbows up. Here play this clip. The cabinet's now saying that we're at war with America. That doesn't help. Okay. That doesn't. An American opinion. Okay. Maybe in Canada saying we're at war. Maybe that's something that Canada's Canadians stand up and say, yes, yes, yes. Okay. We have an enemy. I don't think so. I know a little bit about Canada. Hoekstra warned calling it a war is misleading and dangerous. No, we're not at war. If the president thought he was at war with Canada, you'd see a whole different kind of relationship in trade negotiations.
5:05He then took aim at politicians who've called for Canadians to boycott U.S. travel and American products like alcohol, suggesting Americans aren't stooping to that level. We don't say don't go to Canada. And by the way, you had Prime Minister Carney of Canada visiting Mexico City where President Claudia Scheinbaum was there. They were showing what adult leadership looks like, how grown up leaders actually behave in a dignified manner. You didn't have some orange Mussolini flapping the decrepit hands or whatever it looks and breaking news. We're going to put more troops into Afghanistan, breaking, you know, whatever the hell Donald Trump was saying, you know, in the ridiculous trip he did to the United Kingdom, I was like patting Kierre Starmer on the back.
5:53So anyway, so Claudia Scheinbaum, I love this part of her speech when she was with Prime Minister Carney. She's like, you know what? I want to thank the Canadians also. Our tourism is way up right now in Mexico, thanks to Canadians. We love having Canadians in Mexico. Yeah, I'm sure you do. You're making a lot of money that way. Here, play this clip. I didn't say this in the meeting, Prime Minister Carney, but I'm saying it right now. We celebrate constant growth of Canadian tourism in Mexico. We truly celebrate it because we have an increasingly growing number of families and visitors coming to Mexico as their tourist destination.
6:30We express our will to continue facilitating this because this strengthens human cultural ties and also economic ties between our two societies. And by the way, you know who's suffering right now? The people of Las Vegas, the people of Nevada are suffering right now as Donald Trump conned them yet again, just like he conned the people of Atlantic City back in the 90s into the 2000s and destroyed the economy of Atlantic City and bankrupted three casinos there. He just did it to Vegas and all the Vegas people are like, yeah, we're going to get no tax on tips. Well, guess what? You need people to buy things to get tips in the first place.
7:08Also, the no tax on tips was just a scheme. It's a deduction. It's capped. It expires in two years. Not the tax cuts for the billionaires. Those don't expire. Those are basically forever. But yeah, the no tax on tips, it's capped. It expires. It's a deduction. So you have to actually claim it on your returns, which most of those workers were not doing with the cash tips anyway. And guess what? Your business is down 50 to 75%. So you ain't getting them tips like you used to get. Okay. So enjoy those no tax on no tips here. Play this clip. You'll see Las Vegas tourism declining significantly. And now casino workers can't find shifts.
7:48Here, play this clip. I went to a job fair at the Boulevard Mall to see what workers are actually experiencing. And I met people who may not be laid off, but they're not working either. Been off of work for like two months, so on call and it's kind of slow and I need some money. This is Sonia Owens. She's lived in the Valley for eight years and has worked at Caesars for the past year, but she tells me she hasn't worked a single shift in two months. And bills backed up and, you know, I just got to find something permanent. She says because they aren't seeing the volume of tourism, she's feeling the impact and it's not the first time.
8:21How slow? I mean, two months at a time, just like my second or third time that I've been off for two months. You're not getting paid right now. No. For Sonia, she says the financial pressure is overwhelming. When she started, she was getting scheduled regularly at least three to five days a week. If I know this was a situation, I would have never started. In July, the LVCVA reported that visitation has been down for seven months straight, and Sonia's not the only one feeling it. Is that concerning for you as somebody who's getting in that field? Well, it is. Kimberly Antti says she is searching for work in the casino industry, And the tourism slump is worrisome, even impacting longstanding employees like Kimberly's friend.
9:02And they laid off five of the regular servers. Therefore, she's now pushed all the way down to the bottom of the list, has not worked in three and a half weeks. And it's not just a decline in national and international travelers. Many tell me strip prices are hurting us, too. Almost gotten to the point that tourists can't afford to come into town. one of the on-strip casinos and at the food court for two burgers, two fries, and two beers, it was $75. To me, that is absolutely ridiculously overpressed. So here's the deal. If you're an owner of a handgun like me for self-defense, your storage likely fits into one of two frustrating categories, but there's a way to solve that frustration, right?
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11:21Please 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. Now, Las Vegas tourism downturn is also affecting more than just the Strip. Let's play it. We've all heard that tourism is down in Las Vegas, but it's not just fewer visitors on the Las Vegas Strip or in downtown. It also means fewer customers of businesses around the valley that depend on tourists for their bottom line. I caught up with local Zach Wilcox at Governor Joe Lombardo's campaign kickoff earlier this week.
11:59He told me when things get slow in Las Vegas, they also slow down at his gun shop, which includes a popular shooting range. The shop that we operate, we're near the Strip, and we can actually kind of see and feel the slow in tourism and things like that. So anything that he's willing to do economically to help out Southern Nevada, I really appreciate. Because we're near the Strip, we kind of do really feel the fluctuations in the tourism. So when things are down there, we really can see and feel it at the store. The downturn also means fewer customers and less in tips for workers in restaurants on and off the Strip.
12:29Long-time food server Josefina Hurtado told me recently she's seeing fewer people and is worried about how long the slump will last. If this goes on, if this continues, how's it going to affect you? By a lot. You know, I just don't know where I'm going to get the funds or even do what I need to do to make sure my kids, you know, have a better future than I did growing up. Hurtado is a single mom with four kids working to make sure they all have a chance to go to college. That's not easy on the best day. And she tells me it's all the more difficult with fewer customers and fewer dollars in tips.
13:05I just hope and pray that, you know, we come out of this Trump's lump that we're in. Because it's real. It's definitely real. And it's a struggle. The downturn is also a concern for Ted Papageorge, the secretary treasurer of the Culinary Union Local 226. He says the drop in visitors has a big impact on many locals here in Las Vegas. The facts are in that we're the only country of all the ones that are being monitored that's going to have a downturn in tourism. And it's going to be in tens of billions of dollars. And that means jobs in Las Vegas. And that's a real problem. And most folks didn't vote for that.
13:39So what we want to see is some real refocus from this administration on the cost of living. And if they don't do it, there's going to be repercussions in the ballot box next year. Tourism authorities say upcoming convention business will bring more visitors and they've launched a new ad campaign designed to lure more people back here to Las Vegas. And for workers whose livelihoods depend on visitors, this downturn can't end soon enough. Reporting in studio, I'm Steve Sebelius. I want to share this with you as well. This was Prime Minister Carney's very dignified speech in Mexico City. Let me show you what he said here.
14:16Play this clip. Let me conclude just by observing what's obvious, but what's essential. We are both undertaking massive transformations of our economy. Plan Mexico, Canada strong. Our efforts will be strengthened by working together. As President Scheinbaum said at the G7 summit, and I quote, in an interdependent world, no country can isolate itself. And as your predecessor, one of your predecessors, Benito Juarez, counseled, entre los invividos como entre las naciones, el respeto a derecho a genio es la paz. And if I butchered that too much for the translator, among individuals as amongst nations, respect for the rights of others is peace.
15:14And it's by balancing this respect for sovereignty and the belief in cooperation that Canada and Mexico will build together for the benefit of our peoples. Thank you, President Steinbaum. Merci beaucoup. Gracias. And while we're showing you what's going on in Mexico City, You know, Charlie Angus, who runs Midas Canada, was in Mexico City speaking to the great people of Mexico City, spreading democracy and and spreading the Midas touch way. He was in Mexico City and he was in an area that they were calling utopia in Mexico City. And Charlie Angus, you should go watch Midas Canada. He did a whole great piece about how Mexico has been working to lift all these people out of poverty.
16:02Let's bring in Charlie Angus here. Charlie, no one doesn't like Charlie Angus here play this clip. Welcome to Utopia. That's what this place is called. In fact, there's many utopias here in Mexico City, a massive city of 22 million people. And why is this utopia? Well, this was this was wastelands in poor areas that the people of Mexico redeveloped in order to give the community options for swimming, for education. This is what happens when you invest in your communities. This is what we're fighting against with the fascist threats coming from the United States, that they want to pull out investments.
16:41They want to attack communities. Like, check this out. They're doing astronomy here in the inner city. And not only that, they're making the telescopes themselves. Imagine that kind of investment working for people instead of just the fascist gangster capitalists.
17:03Can you explain your telescope? We're from Canada. Okay. And we need friends because we're fighting Trump and you're fighting Trump. So we got to show people in Canada, the good stuff you're doing. Well, here we show these telescopes that are handmade. We did all the optics and the mechanics of the telescopes. Richard is our teacher and he, this kind of workshops helps people to get close to science because the people that are here in the workshop, not all are scientists. They are from all ages and they are, they come from all places of the city. Yeah, I'm reminded when Donald Trump recently stated that, you know, Mexico and Canada, they just do whatever the hell we want.
18:00Remember when he said that? Here, play this clip. And Mexico does what we tell them to do. And Canada does what we tell them to do because we have the two borders. We have the northern border, southern border, and they were both horrible. But now it's it's some people say it's a miracle. And while that's all going on, you have a lot of people in deep red areas, you know, like people in Josh Brickene's district, MAGA Republican from Oklahoma. What he wants to know is like, like, dude, to the Congress member when he held the town hall about a month ago, they're like, why aren't you traveling to Canada?
18:36They're our closest. Why do you keep talking about Israel? Why aren't you talking about Canada? Why are you screwing Canada, our neighbor? And why aren't you focused there? Here, watch what these constituents said in a deep, just think this is in a deep, deep red area. Here, play this clip. So you guys, I mean, whatever APEC paid for congressmen. Okay, now, last month, before you even coming to this meeting, you went to Israel. I did go to Israel. There's no other country allowed to take 40 member or 30 member of Congress, American Congress, to a different country. You didn't go to Britain. Did you go to Canada?
19:12These are our allies, too. Did you go to... I don't want you to go a little bit. I'm Lebanese. I don't want you to go a little bit. I don't want you to pay a little bit. I'm not Syria. Well, but don't go to Syria. That's what I've been working on for two weeks. Do you know about the genocide that's happening in Soweda? I know. I follow up with it. I completely... I can discuss that with you all day. And by the way, you know, you have Charlie Angus, former member of parliament, now runs Midas Canada. He's a member of the new NDP, They're kind of kind of party that's considered more on the far left.
19:40If you want to use labels, you have Prime Minister Carney. It was kind of considered center, center left. And then you have the Ontario Premier, Doug Ford, who's considered right, who used to be a little maple MAGA back in the day, who in their first Trump administration, who's now very anti-Trump because Trump is anti-Canada, Trump attack Canada. So just to remind you, really liked when Doug Ford said the following. And here play this clip. And we're lowering taxes. We're making sure we're competitive for companies to come and invest in Canada. Ontario alone last year attracted over$40 billion of investment, creating more jobs, more opportunities.
20:22I would much rather work with our greatest ally and closest friend and increase jobs in both countries. And we can do that. We'd be the two strongest nations in the world economically. quickly. That's our goal. But unfortunately, President Trump doesn't want to go down that avenue. He wants to hurt the American people. And that's exactly what he's doing. So there you have it, folks. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers. Love this video? Support independent media and unlock exclusive content, ad-free videos, and custom emojis by becoming a paid member of our YouTube channel today.
20:58You can also gift memberships to others. Let's keep growing together. www.skoda.de
From the publisher
MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Canada making the United States squeal and beg for mercy as the U.S. Ambassador to Canada gives another disastrous public interview.
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