MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 10/31/25

21:55And you could just see it in the raw data that's coming out and the actual uh the actual details of the so-called deals that they are making right now i mean every single time china's just humiliating the us we're at a worse

22:08Brett Meiselas:off place now than we were before exactly and this is why i say too you know to the folks who like to claim that donald trump is this great businessman the ones who voted for him in 2016 i don't love his politics but he's a great businessman for the ones who voted for him this past election you know i something about kamala i i don't like trump but he's a good businessman no he's not like sorry you don't have cover on that he's a serial bankruptor dude was born halfway between third base and home plate with a silver spoon in his mouth he has done nothing to prove that he is a good businessman trump stakes what a win that was the trump casinos those didn't go belly up i mean it is so infuriating when folks try and put this guy like he why because he wrote a book called the art of the deal ooh fancy this this guy that he didn't

22:59Ben Meiselas:write yeah and here and here's the thing too you know i gave the example of well what happens if you go to the car dealer you make the deal and then you go back and you say you know what um i actually wanted a cheaper monthly lease or or whatever it is although right now in the trump economy, even doing the lease in the first place is difficult. You know that you did a deal, right? Like you signed paperwork. There are terms arising out of this. Has anybody seen any terms, anything signed? Is there a signature on behalf of Xi Jinping or the trade representative? Is there a signature on behalf of our trade representative for the United States, how these deals are actually done?

23:39Ben Meiselas:Are there details and specifications and penalties or anything. No, what they're what they're they're oral understandings. And Donald Trump presents it one way. By the way, China's been awfully quiet about it as well, right? Like you haven't heard them like saying anything tells you everything you need to know that they have been like dead silent about this. And Donald Trump is the one coming out and going, look what I did. Look at this. Isn't this a guy? Isn't this amazing? Isn't this amazing? And I think back with all these kind of things that Donald Trump says too, there was that one moment, guys, remember, in the White House.

24:18And it was Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg. And it was that hot mic moment after they actually wrapped up their meeting where Zuckerberg had just told the press that he had planned on pumping in – I forget what the exact number was – but X amount of billions of dollars of investment into the US economy over the next few years. and then he turns to donald trump when he when they think the cameras are off and zuckerberg was like so was that like a good number to say i don't know i'm just throwing things out here i could have done a bigger number i guess i could have done a lot like it's all a scam and they all either some people are in on the scam or trump is just doing the scam himself but it's like one big fraud perpetrated on the american people some people are in on it some people aren't in on it but it's the american people who are getting screwed i want to talk about that and i want to connect what happened there.

25:05Ben Meiselas:I want to connect it to what's happening here domestically with the government shutdown, with the fact that 42 million Americans are going to lose SNAP, 20 million Americans are going to lose healthcare. We'll tie it all together. I will show what MAGA Mike's saying, and we'll show Governor Pritzker saying to fight back. We'll show what Democrats are saying to fight back. Two reminders, though, or three reminders. Number one, join the YouTube page, subscribe, but also become a member if you can, and gift memberships to as many people as you can. It really helps us when you gift memberships. It helps grow this network.

25:44Ben Meiselas:Number two, watch The Last Republican. You could buy it on any of the platforms, whether that's Apple or Google Play, Apple TV, Google Play, Amazon, YouTube. You could buy it there. We're going to just say this. It's available in the United States right now. And so I know there are a lot of international viewers who want to see it. We're trying to figure out how to make this an international distribution. We're working on it. It's actually, there's a lot more red tape you got to go through to do that. We're working on it for right now. I don't know, use a VPN or something, but for the people in the United States, it's available on all those big platforms.

26:19Sorry, Ben.

26:20Ben Meiselas:We're going to put it the first 15 minutes on YouTube. As soon as this episode ends, I'm going to do a live viewing party with Kinzinger and you'll see me and Kinzinger introduce this first act and we'll show about 15 minutes or so. So you can watch the first 15 minutes for free. All right. First quick break of the show. We'll be right back with much more.

26:43Brett Meiselas:Ever have one of those moments where your body reminds you it's not 25 anymore? Maybe it's the slower recovery after a workout or the way your joints creak like an old floorboard. And don't get me started on how much worse it is in the winter. It's like my energy goes into hibernation. Aging is a reality for all of us, but our actions determine how we age. That's why I use Qualia Senolytic to help keep my cells healthy and my body feeling youthful. Zombie cells are real and they're aging you. These senescent cells stop being useful, but stick around draining your energy, slowing recovery, and making you feel older than you are.

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30:00Brett Meiselas:Let's go. Shout out to our sponsors. Links in description of the YouTube and the video and the audio. Hit the links. Use the codes. If there's an exit survey, let them know we sent you really quickly. the Shopify ad always gets me because when Ben does the boom, boom, boom, for those who don't know or don't know the story, that was an audio cue. That was for editors to tee up a boom, boom, boom sound effect. But Ben being the champ that he is just read that one for the squad. And then the other thing - A bit of a Ron Burgundy. It's okay. Benji's doing a lot. The other thing here, store.midustouch.com, everybody, store.midustouch.com.

30:34Brett Meiselas:We got new Midas merch. Not only that, very special Midas merch that been working on for a while the play the clip merch everyone is familiar with ben's famous phrase at this point uh when he does all of his hits and and all of that the play the clip we say it all the time in the show so we decided to uh immortalize it with merch at store.midastouch.com go and check it out pick up yours today benji where to next alex i want to show you this other

31:00Ben Meiselas:clip of scott bessent who said promises made promises kept by donald trump he says because Plus, Wall Street is doing great. But he says, don't worry, everybody else, all the American workers. Next year, we got you back. Like, 2026 is your year. This year was Wall Street. It's about to trickle, trickle, trickle down on your head. We got you next week. If you were someone convicted of a felony and you owned a crypto company that invested in Donald Trump's family, you got pardoned and you're doing very, very good. If you're Argentina, you got$40 billion. The Trump family, golden age. If you're one of these right-wing oligarchs, a great year for you.

31:44Ben Meiselas:If you're a farmer, pretty much the worst year. If you're a construction manufacturing, horrible year for you. Most Americans, 99 % struggling to afford groceries or pay their rent, but your year, next year. And then next year, what are they going to say, just wait 2027 and then 2028. And then what happens? I was about to do it. It was going to be the greatest, but then the Democrats came in Biden. Wow. Wow. 2020 election. These people are such fricking losers. Here's best. Let's play it.

32:21Brett Meiselas:Because what's really happened here is the low end consumer has gotten killed and president Trump is promises made, promises kept on his campaign promises. And it's going to start flowing through to working Americans next year. We're going to have Wall Street's done great and Main Street can do great also. So I think we're going to have parallel prosperity next year. That's wonderful to hear. And Secretary, I want to thank you so much for all of your efforts. Obviously, it is making a huge difference for the American people. Parallel prosperity. What a slogan. Parallel prosperity. prosperity next year.

33:00Brett Meiselas:I mean, what hour now? I can just see that on the billboard.

33:03Ben Meiselas:I mean, so, so stupid. So then you go to what's J.D. Vance saying at the White House. J.D. Vance, I guess they're going to run with this for what, Brett? This is going to be J.D. Vance's 2028 slogan. It's going to be, there's much more suffering coming your way. The suffering will get worse. This is what J.D. Vance said. Let's play it. On the issue of the shutdown, there is the concern about 42 million people losing staff benefits over this weekend. The administration has moved a lot of money around to pay troops, to pay federal law enforcement, and is telling Congress he can't move money around to pay some of the benefits.

33:39Ben Meiselas:Why not? Would there be some push perhaps in the next 48 hours to try to do that so Americans don't go hungry?

33:45Brett Meiselas:Well, here's the problem. If you go back to previous government shutdowns, what has happened is that sometimes the president has tried to make the shutdown, as painful as possible on the American people.

33:56Ben Meiselas:I give the president of the United States great credit and the entire team for trying to make this as painless as possible.

34:01Brett Meiselas:The Democrats are acting irresponsibly. He doesn't want the American people to suffer because of it. But look, right now, this government, this administration, we're like guys running around with a leak in a damn wall trying to plug it with bubble gum.

34:16Ben Meiselas:And we plug one spot with bubble gum, and we plug another spot with bubble gum, and we plug another spot with bubble gum. Why don't the Democrats? I think more you're like the guy with a blowtorch who goes to the home and starts burning it down and then starts saying, me? I'm not, what? I'm not doing, the Democrats are doing it. How could Biden do this? How could Biden do this? We see you burning us down. Those are, I don't know why he sounds like a weird Disney character. Those are mine. Honestly, it's what he sounds like to me. so i i think what did he character is that though is that a goofy impression don't don't don't press him on it okay yeah don't drill down on those details jordy it leads nowhere it leads nowhere of substance okay um vance has to be like the single most about what's really happening in the like that's what's really happening i mean you had earlier this week yes you had a small rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

35:20Ben Meiselas:But future rate cuts are likely not in the offing, which where there was supposed to be a ton of rate cuts as inflation was going down under former President Biden, because there were steps taken to reduce inflation, like the Inflation Reduction Act and other pieces of legislation that were pushed forward to help deal with the situation. If Trump just let the economy go into over, just go into auto drive, autopilot, we'd be fine. But of course, he did tariffs against the world. So we got this report from Jerome Powell. Here's what he had to say. Let's play the first clue.

35:55Brett Meiselas:In the near term, risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside. A challenging situation. There is no risk-free path for policy as we navigate this tension between our employment and inflation goals. Our framework calls for us to take a balanced approach in promoting both sides of our dual mandate.

36:15Ben Meiselas:I want to show you this next clip of him as well. Play this clip.

36:18Brett Meiselas:Higher tariffs are pushing up prices in some categories of goods, resulting in higher overall inflation. A reasonable base case is that the effects on inflation will be relatively short-lived, a one-time shift in the price level. But it is also possible that the inflationary effects could instead be more persistent, and that is a risk to be assessed and managed.

36:40Ben Meiselas:And then I'll show you this other economist from University of Michigan who I like, Justin Wolfers. He has a humorous way of describing what's going on with the economy. And he explains basically what we're in a period of what's called stagflation right now. As your GDP is shrinking, as unemployment is rising, and inflation is rising, Those things happening together is deeply, deeply problematic. Oftentimes, if the economy is doing well and you see GDP growth, then you'll see inflation rise and you'll have to deal with that. That's normally what you see. But to see GDP contract and inflation rise and unemployment rise is a very difficult problem to combat.

37:26Ben Meiselas:And it's being caused because Donald Trump has engaged in a trade war against the world with these disastrous tariffs. He's also gutted our labor force with or a major portion of the labor force as well with the disastrous policies by ICE and Border Patrol. And they're terrorizing of communities. Here's how Justin Wolfers puts it. I like how he puts it here. Play this.

37:50Brett Meiselas:Look at these prices right here. Ron was saying this has only happened a handful of times. times what normally happens after?

37:59Ben Meiselas:Yeah, so normally what we get is either a strong economy, which is bad for inflation, or a weak economy, which is good for inflation. And what we have is two bad things happening both at the same time right now. And the real question is, how do you respond to that? So we've got high and rising inflation, it's about 3%. And there's a whole lot of tariffs that might push that a little higher over the next few months. we've had the unemployment rate drift up over the last year or two and while the GDP statistics have been a little stronger the reality is if unemployment's drifting up you're not doing things right.

38:31Ben Meiselas:Very very hard place for the Fed to be. I've got a very good secret plan for how we can get rid of this supply shock by the way Katie. It's a supply shock that comes about entirely because of uncertainty induced by the White House and tariffs. So if they just walked back the stuff they've been doing, I think you'd see inflation start to calm down a little and you

38:55Brett Meiselas:might see the labor market start to stabilize.

38:57Ben Meiselas:One more clip I want to show everyone. And, you know, I cover every morning now MAGA Mike Johnson's disastrous press conferences where he goes through this humiliation ritual where he just lies and lies and lies. And he was asked this question by the reporter, even MAGA Republican Senator from Missouri, Josh Hawley, says, let's just do a single piece of legislation. Let's do it on a bipartisan basis right now and fund SNAP. We can't have 42 million Americans starving to death starting this weekend. We can't starve the American people. Let's deal with SNAP right now. Let me be clear there too. There is$6 billion in a bank account right now called a contingency snap fund that can be accessed immediately.

39:48Ben Meiselas:The Trump administration's own USDA, Department of Agriculture website, said that it can be accessed like five days ago. They deleted it from the website. The Office of Management and Budget opinion said that this money can be used for this purpose. The whole purpose is a contingency. It's an emergency situation. And in any event, we were sending$40 billion, even if it wasn't like an obvious thing, right? Let's just say it was complicated. Okay, we figured out ways to, that we, Trump, unlawfully to, what, destroy the East Wing of the White House in three days and to give$40 billion to Argentina, to do tariffs against the world without going through Article 1, to invade cities with the military.

40:30Ben Meiselas:so we can't figure out a way you're telling me to feed starving Americans. And then let me just add this because, you know, this isn't like a hypothetical thing. It's not something you need to do some like sort of exercise about. This has been, we've gone into this contingency fund for SNAP. Not only have we as a country gone into this contingency fund for SNAP, Donald Trump has done this. In 2019, during the last Trump, during that government shutdown under Donald Trump, once again, SNAP benefits were going to lapse due to the same sorts of things. and Donald Trump at that point decided to use the Emergency Snap Contingency Fund in order to make sure that those programs were still funded so that people were not going hungry.

41:09This time, however, they are refusing to do that because like you see in authoritarian countries throughout the world, the suffering is the point. They want the American people to suffer, it seems by design, and the things they are spending money on as the American people are worried about where they're going to find their next meal are just so offensive when they're pouring all this money into the military, militarizing our streets, detaining civilians, detaining citizens, bombing random boats at sea. Just the imagery of him with these golden crowns, giving$40 billion to Argentina. They find money whenever they want to find it to do anything that they want to do.

41:48But when it comes to feeding people in this country who need it the most, they decide, F that, we're not doing that. And so Mike Johnson was asked about this and he was, because there are other people, there's actually like a bit of a consensus in the United States Senate, at least the people who say, of course, we should be going into the SNAP contingency fund. That is exactly what it's here for. Even people like Senator Josh Hawley, they want to dip into this fund because it's for this exact purpose. Mike Johnson was asked about this by Dana Bash on CNN. Here's what he said. The reality is that this has been a stalemate for 30 days.

42:22And it's not just Democrats. You also have one of the most conservative Republican senators, Josh Hawley, who says, at least please move money around to feed people. Why not consider that?

42:33Brett Meiselas:Because if you deviate from the goal of reopening the entire government, Chuck Schumer and the radicals over there will continue to play games with people's paychecks, their livelihoods. And if you do just part of this, it will reduce the pressure for them to do all of it, to do their basic job. And that is reopen the government. This is very real and very serious and they can end it today. They can do it right now. All they have to do is we just need five more Democrats in the Senate to help us reach the 60 vote threshold. We don't have enough Republicans to do the right thing on our own. We need them to do the right thing.

43:04Ben Meiselas:Doesn't he just admit it right there? The reason we're not doing this, we're going to starve Americans because it puts more pressure on Schumer? What do you even, like, this isn't a talking point by Democrats. 42 million Americans, I'll be willing to bet that over 50 % of those individuals are red state Republican voters, most likely. When it comes to healthcare, Obamacare, which the MAGA Republicans want to say, do we have the clip of Duffy Brett where he's like, What are Democrats doing to fight for Obamacare? Do we have that clip? It's like, it's called Obamacare. It's a Democratic initiative.

43:50Ben Meiselas:Do we have that one?

43:52Brett Meiselas:I've got this stuffy clip. Let's see if it's that. Go ask the Democrats that question. Say, what are you going to do to make sure that people get SNAP benefits this Saturday? Or they have healthcare assistance for their Obamacare. What are you going to do? Because we're doing everything we can on our end, but there's not much more we can do because

44:10Ben Meiselas:the rules of the road by which we have to play. Can you believe that that's even words that he said? What are you Democrats doing? Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, the subsidies lowering the price were Democratic initiatives and Democrats would like to make it cheaper. Republicans have fought at every step of the way to destroy Obamacare all the time. By the way, a Democratic initiative that you could argue was based on a Republican initiative put forward by Mitt Romney in Massachusetts. And it wasn't controversial when Mitt Romney did it there. I mean, that's kind of what the Affordable Care Act was based upon.

44:43And the nerve of someone like Sean Duffy to say, when there's a party and a president right now who spends every waking day, maybe not every, there's the ballroom, there's all the other stuff, but spends a whole lot of time trying to chip away at Obamacare, trying to chip away at the Affordable Care Act, trying to remove those subsidies, trying to make it, going back to what we were saying about J.D. Vance before, and it's a comment that Mike Johnson said today, trying to make it as painful as possible for the American people, put as much suffering on it, the American people. And then they go ahead and blame the Democrats for it.

45:15Going back to what Mike Johnson said before too, you don't need five Democrats. And if you do need five Democrats, then maybe you should negotiate with them and try to actually act in good faith and do it. But this is all because y 'all didn't pass a budget. If you want to pass a budget, go ahead, pass your budget. Why are you still working off the Pelosi budget? You're still working off the Biden budget. Pass your own damn budget. You wouldn't be in this problem. Instead, you're trying to patch it up and you're trying to put these CR after CR after CR. We don't have to be in this game. We're in this game because you don't do your jobs.

45:44If you want to break the filibuster, you could do that too. You have a million ways that you could get around it. But the one way that you have to get around it in this system, if you really want to actually do what you're supposed to do, is work with the other side, acknowledge that there are a whole bunch of Americans out there, actually a majority of Americans who did not vote for this president, and then acknowledge that you need to do what you can to help them. And it's not like the demands from the Democrats in this negotiation are all that crazy. It's extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies so that a person doesn't have to go from spending$10 ,000 a year on their health care to spending$40 ,000 a year on their health care.

46:20I think that is like the most reasonable request imaginable.

46:23Brett Meiselas:That's such a good point. And then you got actors up there, like wannabe actors, failed actors, like a Sean Duffy, you know most famously on real world road rules on mtv i mean this whole cabinet is just such a joke this whole republican party right now is such a joke when you get these people up there who are just acting and really trying to just appease dear leader do i have the talking points exactly correct today okay yeah okay say say radical chuck schumer okay perfect and then uh talk about hakeem being uh radical and okay perfect got that check mark and those radical marxist liberal democrats in New York.

46:56Brett Meiselas:Okay, great. It comes all at the expense of the American people, is what I'm trying to get at, because it's so infuriating. At its heart, at its core, this country could do so good, and it could do so good by its citizens. But when you see a regime that takes control like this Trump regime, and how they bring these oligarchs in, Brett, to your point, and Donnie gets the golden iPhone, and he gets the golden crown, and he has Zuckerberg up there talking about okay uh did i say the talking point correct about the trillion versus billion was that the right number you wanted sir why so y 'all could get your pockets lined so you could buy 15 yachts 30 yachts so y 'all could be living your best damn lives while 42 million americans are about to go hungry why why is that the world you want to live in and at its core this country could be so great if everyone just stopped acting if this mega republican party just stopped acting and started working for the American people.

47:51Ben Meiselas:We've got a lot more to discuss on this episode. Become a member of our YouTube channel. Make sure you're subscribed first, then become a member. And you can also gift these paid memberships to other people as well who can't afford them. You just click the join and then there'll be a feature where you can gift memberships that helps grow our independent media platform. Make sure you watch The Last Republican. It's across all of those streaming platforms. It's on Apple TV, it's on Google Play, it's on YouTube, and it's on Amazon. And it's right now the number one documentary on all of Apple TV and the seventh most watched movie there.

48:29Ben Meiselas:Also, check out the interview that I did with California Governor Gavin Newsom on Gavin Newsom's YouTube page and tell me what you think about it. We spoke for about, he interviewed me, which was like, I'm like, you sure you want to interview me? Okay. We went about an hour and 15 minutes. It was a long interview. We covered basically every topic imaginable on the interview from the Midas origin stories to current events to fighting for people in this moment to Prop 50. You name it. It's been covered there. So just search Gavin Newsom's YouTube channel. And I'd love to get your feedback about what you thought about that interview.

49:10Ben Meiselas:you. And let's take our last quick break of the show. A reminder, when the show ends, we're going to bring you to the live that will be about a 15 minutes or so, the first act of the last Republican documentary for free. And Adam Kinzinger and I will introduce that. All right. Last break of the show. We'll be right back.

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50:53Brett Meiselas:Featured products include compounded drug products, which the FDA does not approve or verify for safety, effectiveness, or quality. Prescription required. See website for details, restrictions, and important safety information. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com slash Midas and get on your way to being your best self. Shorter days don't have to be so dismal. It's time to reach out and check in on those you care about and to remind ourselves that we're not alone. As seasons change and days grow darker sooner, it can be a tough time for many. This November, BetterHelp is encouraging everyone to reach out, check in on friends, reconnect with loved ones, and remind the people in your life that you're there.

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52:41Brett Meiselas:Let's go. Shout out to our sponsors. Links in description of the YouTube and the audio. Use the links. Use the codes. If there's an exit survey, let them know we sent you. Benji, where to next?

52:51Ben Meiselas:So we all know by now, I think this is an undisputed fact, right? Who could dispute this? That as ICE and Border Patrol are invading, rolling through, being deployed in, I believe, invading American cities, they're not just rounding up the bad guys. They're not rounding up the criminals. We all agree the criminals should go. They're overwhelmingly targeting people who have been here for a long time without criminal records, maybe at worst a traffic ticket from 20 years ago or 10 years ago, but mostly people, migrants with no criminal records who have just been working in farms and factories or Home Depot parking lots, outside street vendors, people working in restaurants, people working at car washes.

53:39Ben Meiselas:We know that's basically their main targets. We've seen it. It's why it's so important we document. It's why we show you these videos every day. It's why we work with groups like Migrant Insider, Status Coup, Sidewalk School, you know, other groups just to try to get you this data and bring it to you 50-51 and try to share with you on a day-to-day basis these videos of what's happening. We also know, and this is an undisputed fact, that ICE and Border Patrol are going after American citizens, that they've detained many American citizens. We've highlighted the stories. We've interviewed the people.

54:15Ben Meiselas:We've showed you clips of American citizens getting interviewed. We've showed you reporters videotaping and getting arrested and detained. It's an undisputed fact that ICE has also detained American citizens. That shouldn't be a controversial fact. I mean, it should be controversial that it's happening, but it shouldn't be a disputed fact. It's despicable that it's happening. Let me use the right words. So, Kristi Noem held a press conference because they want to ramp up operations on Halloween to target children. They want to attack children. They want to zip tie children. The way they've raided apartments in Chicago, they put the children outside naked.

54:57Ben Meiselas:They gas the children. We see the gas canisters, the chemical weapons being used on children. I've showed you videos of the children lined up, cuffed. I mean, some horrific, horrific images. So Christine Ohm was asked, what about the American citizens that you're also detaining and arresting? Play this clip of her. I can't hear you.

55:22There's no American citizens have been arrested or detained. We focus on those that are here illegally. And anything that you would hear or report that would be different than that is simply not true and false reporting. Thank you, everybody. Have a great day.

56:04here who wears the trench coat who you can judge what he's what he's doing the footage by the way

56:11Ben Meiselas:that we're playing for audio listeners is him looking like he's like saluting he's doing these weird hand gestures very like performative i mean this literally looks like a video that you would see like in germany in like the mid 1930s 1940s like that's like that's what this thing looks like and specifically the way goes to die the department of homeland security like they this is the imagery they wanted out there. They wanted this to the American people to see this specifically. Yeah. So Governor Pritzker said, you're sending these chemical agents in front of elementaries because like you're torturing our children here in Illinois.

56:45Ben Meiselas:Like you're attacking our peaceful communities. Can you just agree to stop for Halloween? So these kids who are suffering right now because of what ICE and Border Patrol are doing, that they can at least just like at least have a holiday that they like, Halloween. Here's what he says. Here play this clip. I want to now speak directly to Greg Bovino. Mr. Bovino, your operation has sown fear and division and chaos among law-abiding residents in our communities. If you are unwilling to cease operations and leave our city, can we at least agree that our children should not be victims, especially on Halloween.

57:27Ben Meiselas:Can we agree that there is no imminent threat that should disrupt their holiday? No child in America should have to go trick-or-treating in fear that they might be confronted with armed federal agents and have to inhale tear gas. I honestly can't even believe that I have to make this plea. This is not the America that I know. I ask you to restore some sanity for the sake of our children. So, Christy Noem is then asked about his statements to Vivino and to her, saying, can you please just stop doing this on Halloween? Like, just give our children in Illinois, especially in Chicago, a rest. Let them just go out and trick or treat and stop using chemical agents on them.

58:18Ben Meiselas:Stop beating them. Stop terrorizing their lives. Like you're torturing children in our peaceful communities. Can you stop doing it? And watch what Kristi Noem says in response. Let's play.

58:30Brett Meiselas:A quick final question following up on Chicago, because I know that there are a lot of Chicagoans talking about this right now, because there is a lot of ice activity, obviously, in that city. And you are making the case, obviously, rightly so. But the governor has asked you specifically to pause immigration enforcement operations in that city. So he says that kids can safely celebrate Halloween. Do you have any plans to alter activity tomorrow on that day? No, we're going to be out on the streets in full force and increase our activities to make sure kids are safe. Every day in Chicago, we're arresting murderers, child pedophiles, those who have perpetuated assault and pornography against children.

59:18We're going to be out there to make sure that they can be safe, enjoy the holidays, spend some time with their families and their neighbors and their communities. And they don't have to be the victim of a crime because of these illegal aliens that are in our country victimizing them.

59:31Ben Meiselas:You know, there's, I mean, a sick, vile human being, like a real trash human being she is, like really scum, scum of the earth. I don't know how else to describe what I'm watching there. But you know what it reminds me a lot of, rather than me just calling her names? It reminds me the pretext that Putin uses to kidnap children in Ukraine. It's part of a denazification plan. And so we need to kidnap thousands of children because we need to bring them over to Russia because they're actually really Russian and we need to save them. We're doing this to save you. This is the MAGA way. you live in a liberal city we're doing the mag away we're bringing you over to the map you got to join us in our cult and you've got to watch donald trump wear the golden crown from south korea you've got to watch us donald trump bulldoze the east wing of the white house you know you you need to pledge allegiance to a sexual abuser in donald trump who's covering up the epstein files You need to be part of what – join the MAGAs, the people who cover up the biggest pedo sex trafficking ring.

1:00:42Ben Meiselas:That's how they're protecting the children. Do you see what they're doing? Do you see it is – and this is what I said to California Governor Gavin Newsom in our interview as I was reflecting on the Midas Touch Network. I said, I think something that I did wrong in our coverage in 2023, 2024, that we've evolved to do better is now to do more of a historical perspective on things and an international perspective versus just focusing on domestic events in a vacuum. because what we see here with the Christy Gnomes and the Trumps and the MAGAs, it's a mindset that is actually not historically unique.

1:01:25Ben Meiselas:What's historically unique is the American democracy experiment, that we were able to have co-equal branches of government, checks and balances, a constitution based on good faith and fair dealing. That's the exception, not the rule. That's what actually made America exceptional. Historically, you would have the lords versus the peasants, and you would have the people gaslight you the way the Christie gnomes and the besants and the trumps do and inflict suffering on the people. Pain and cruelty is the purpose by the lords, the sicko oligarchs. Brett, sorry. No, don't be sorry. No, I think that was a great point.

1:02:08It always reminds me so much of what this administration, what these Republicans say, reminds me of that Voltaire quote, which I'm sure a lot of you have heard, which is anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. And I think anytime you see them saying things that are so outrageous, that are so left field, you can understand that that's the goal, right? If they could convince people, right? And I was thinking about this too. I was rewatching the last Republican last night, had to support. and uh and that really honestly is like a big thesis of what happened around january 6th as well right there was that moment that kind of brief respite where you're like oh wait these people might actually be break breaking away from trump they're calling him out he's a pariah you know all this stuff and then there was that meeting where kevin mccarthy kissed the ring down in mar-a-lago and all of a sudden everyone shifted and oh it's it was a tourist visit and it was a great day it was a day of love a day of celebration what are you talking about this was actually the FBI did it, the BLM did it, so-and-so did it.

1:03:11And the whole point is just to spread these absurdities, make people not even be able to believe their own eyes. And unfortunately, what we've seen is this entire Republican Party basically be co-opted with that belief. This entire Republican Party co-opted with that strategy. And when I said at the beginning about these people kind of all having various personality disorders, I do mean that, But a lot of it also is like a concerted effort and a concerted strategy in order to mask their extremism by making people believe the most absurd things imaginable. And when I see them telling these stories about these cities, I mean, hey, I live in Los Angeles, right?

1:03:55You'd think I'd walk out of my place and there would be murders and fires and chaos. But it's like the most beautiful place imaginable. We don't want ice here. We don't want these people here. Get the hell out of my city, you know? I'm sure the people in Portland feel the same way when they're being told lies. And you've seen the videos of like the – those to me were like the best protests that I've seen back, like dancing in the animal suits and things like that because it just shows the absurdity of what they're trying to make the American people believe about these cities. It's all lies. I saw J.D.

1:04:26Vance yesterday even going back to their eating dogs, eating cats. He went back to that line saying that that was true. When a bunch of Haitians come into your city and they start eating your dogs and your cats, like y 'all are still pushing that stuff. But if they can make people believe that stuff, if they can make you believe that your neighbors are eating your dogs and your cats or that your city is on fire or whatever it is, then they could justify whatever action they want to take. And that's what's so dangerous about this administration. That's what's so dangerous about the propaganda. And that's why it's so important, even when it feels helpless, even when it feels like we are so buried by all of this bullshit that we continue to fight back.

1:05:01Brett Meiselas:And it's why I'm so grateful, Brett and Ben and Midas Mighty for all of you. For one, obviously everyone at the Midas Touch Network and everyone behind the scenes here is doing unbelievable work. But you, the listener and you, the viewer, you, the Midas Mighty, you who go out to the No Kings protest, you who are having your voices heard peacefully and pushing back because we are not living in normal times right now. And don't be gaslit by anyone around you or corporate media and the cable TV that tries to tell you otherwise we all are witnessing what we're witnessing collectively i'm glad that we are all here together to hold each other responsible and not just each other but hold this regime responsible that one of the things i love so much about sorry just one of the things i love so much about the last republican is i really think it is a it's a reality check right it's that it snaps people back to reality and it shows it's not just a rehash of january 6th and the committee and all that.

1:05:56It's so much more. It's really a personal story. It's heartwarming at times. It's funny at times. It's infuriating a lot of times. It makes you want to just shake these people who put our country on this path. It's enraging, but it's important that we continue to flood the zone with the truth every single day to show these images, to show that what actually happened then, what's actually happening now, because it's all connected. And it's not just here, but it's all over the world. We are seeing these networks of autocracies that are behaving in this sort of way.

1:06:31Ben Meiselas:I want to leave you with this, leader Hakeem Jeffries. I like that I'm seeing Democrats fighting right now. And I know that there was a lot of people who are saying they needed to fight harder. They needed to fight harder. I give a shout out to California Governor Gavin Newsom. I think he really led the way. I don't want to mince words, right? And showed how you fight in this current moment. And then I think that that also provided a template, I think, for a lot of other Democrats across the country. I also want to separately, I think, and I say this in my interview with Newsom, I think you have Governor Newsom fighting in a very proactive way.

1:07:11Ben Meiselas:But I also think you have, you know, Bernie Sanders, AOC fighting in a very proactive way as well, commanding huge crowds at their Fight the Oligarchy tour. And I also like that I'm seeing emerging of those worlds as well. On my interview with Newsom, he gave a shout out to Mondami and the energy that was brought to that campaign and recognizing you've seen a lot of Trump supporters who are voting for Mondami. And I think we have to understand that the issue of affordability is real. It's real. I mean, you know it. I don't need to tell you that because we know it when we go to the supermarket and they're at the register, the groceries are going through the register and it's like, beep, beep, beep.

1:07:59Ben Meiselas:It feels like a heart monitor. And it's like, okay, not that, not that, not that. And that's across all areas and all levels right now. And so it's important that we, I think Trump was able to recognize the importance of the issue, but the way a fraudster does and exploit it and lie to people and cause more suffering because Trump's the cause of the issue to begin with. But the arsonist convinced people in the fire that they were the firefighter. It's what happened. The wolf and sheep's clothes basically, right? So what I think we have to recognize is people are not, this is not a golden age. People are not doing great.

1:08:40Ben Meiselas:And we need to fight for people like we try to do here every day in the Midas Touch Network and deliver for the people. And whereas Trump sees their pain and uses that as their mark, as his mark, we have to see their pain of people and lift them up, support them, provide real solutions and be there for them and show them we're real fighters. That's what we need to do. So I'll leave you with this video right here of Hakeem Jeffries. Let's play this clip.

1:09:09Brett Meiselas:We're talking about now potentially more than 40 million people that are not going to get their SNAP benefits and thousands of federal workers who are going to miss their second paycheck now. At some point, does the pain from the shutdown at the very least match pain from people having to pay higher premiums if these subsidies are not. We want to reopen the government and do it immediately. And Donald Trump needs to instruct his employees here in the Capitol. That would be Mike Johnson and John Thune. They work for Donald Trump. They don't work for the American people. In fact, Donald Trump is the one who recently said, I'm the president and the speaker of the House.

1:09:53Brett Meiselas:This is extraordinary stuff. Like Donald Trump is openly mocking Republican leaders. We can find a path forward, but it's not going to come from Republicans in the House and the Senate at the leadership level. It's got to come from the Trump administration saying the American people have had enough of this Republican shutdown, have had enough of the refusal to deal with the health care crisis as Marjorie Taylor Greene has indicated. This is a Republican health care crisis and they refuse to do anything about it. She can't find their health care plan. We can't find their health care plan because it doesn't exist.

1:10:37Brett Meiselas:So all of this pain that's being visited upon the American people by Donald Trump and Republican policies needs to end. And we're saying we remain ready, willing and able to find that bipartisan path forward to ending it. And addressing the needs of the American people.

1:10:56Ben Meiselas:I mean, I want to hear that. You know, that's where I think people want to see more of. So we'll leave you with that. I want to thank everybody for watching. I want to we've got additional news, which is that during the show, We found out that The Last Republican is now number four, most watched amongst all movies in the world right now. Number four. Let's get it number one. We're going to send you to watch. Just like when Ben says number four and all movies out, like out of all movies of all time, like it's ahead right now of F1, which is a major blockbuster release, ahead of Jurassic World, ahead of – and then literally name every – I can name every other movie in existence.

1:11:32It's ahead of every other movie in existence other than four. Let's get it to number one. Like I said, if you're in the US, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube, go check it out, support. It's an important film. Like I said, it's heartwarming. It's funny. It's infuriating. It really runs the gamut. It runs the full range of emotions. It is really, really well done. And it's a really important story that needs to be told now at this instant and shared at this instant. I really, really, really believe in this film and the filmmakers, Steve Pink, the director, who also did one of my favorite movies, Hot Tub Time Machine, did an absolutely incredible, incredible job with this.

1:12:11So please check it out.

1:12:12Ben Meiselas:Absolutely. And I just want to give a special shout out to everybody who was involved in the picture. MCDC Media Courthouse Documentary Collective. Rob Bindler, Chapin Wilson, Jason Cohn, Serafina de Feliz, A.J. Jalevitt, Steven Pink, and Kevin Morris. These were seven friends who united to make movies that matter. MCDC, Media Courthouse Documentary Collective. And I think after the success of this one, they're going to want to make some more documentaries with the Midas Touch Network. I'm just saying, shout out MCDC. We see you all. Reminder, join on the Midas Touch YouTube channel right now.

1:12:57Ben Meiselas:Hit subscribe, join and gift memberships to as many people as you can as well. Watch the interview I did with Governor Newsom on his YouTube channel, the Governor Newsom, Gavin Newsom YouTube channel with his podcast. I'd love to get your feedback of it. It was interesting being interviewed by a governor. So it was, you know, a different role. A lot of people seem shocked that you have legs, Ben. And that's the big thing I'm seeing.

1:13:20Brett Meiselas:Ben has one of your first interviews without Brett and I by your side to hold your hand throughout it, too. So thank you, everybody, for watching.

1:13:31Ben Meiselas:We'll see you next time. I look forward to your feedback as well when we show you the first 15 minutes of The Last Republican. Jordy, take it away.

1:13:38Brett Meiselas:Shout out to the Midas Mighty. The Midas Mighty is standing strong.

1:13:49Against the fascists we sing our song. We will get it right whenever.

1:14:02Brett Meiselas:at MidasPlus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, ad-free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at MidasPlus.com.

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