MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 11/4/25

20:19Brett Meiselas:We got able bodied young men without dependents off the program. We got illegal aliens off the program and we saved.

20:25Ben Meiselas:So now what they're saying is that their health care plan was the disastrous budget bill, which everybody knows is the worst thing to happen to health care because it takes away people's health care. So if you're spiking the football and you say the disastrous budget bill is your plan, then why are people right now on open enrollment seeing their annual premiums go up$20 ,000 to$30 ,000 a year if you solved it in the disastrous budget bill? Maybe just maybe you're a liar. The disastrous budget bill actually made things significantly.

21:00Jordy Meiselas:And then isn't it so on brand? Like when I noticed this too, whenever these Republicans have to speak about like, so who are the experts in your party to speak about health care? Like who's going to be the future proponent? Who's going to be the guy who helps craft the incredible Republican health care plan of the future? If you ask this to Republicans, you know who they'll answer? Senator Rick Scott, of course. Senator Rick Scott. Senator Rick Scott is the guy who ran a company that had the biggest fine in history for committing the largest Medicare fraud scheme in history at the time. I think it's been surpassed since then.

21:37Jordy Meiselas:But at the time, his company had to pay a$1.7 billion fine for scamming people on the Medicare program. That was Rick Scott. And that's the guy they want to put in charge of health care. Just think about how crazy this is. I mean, I guess they view this guy as their like Medicare fraud expert, I guess in a sick, perverse way. He is a Medicare fraud expert because he was the guy committing Medicare fraud on scales that nobody has seen in our history.

22:03Ben Meiselas:Right. Because when we talk about waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid, it's not almost ever like the individual who's sick. Right. What are they saying? Oh, I'm going to fake back surgeries so I could get back surgeries that I don't need. Like, OK, that's not where it's coming from. It's coming from these medical conglomerates and oftentimes these providers and health centers. Right. That are billing for services not rendered. OK. And that was the issue to the tune of billions and billions of dollars with Rick Scott. The waste, fraud, and abuse are the billionaires who are partying at those Gatsby parties with Donald Trump, right?

22:44Ben Meiselas:They're the oligarchs who are the ones ripping off the taxpayers. It's not the individuals. They like to have this boogeyman, this gamer who's in the basement of their parents, what, like setting up back surgeries for themselves and then getting the surgeries going, ha ha ha, look what I did. I got a surgery that I didn't need. I convinced doctors to, you know, engage in an L5 S1 surgery. Come on. That's not what's happening. It's happening at the provider, more health center level is what's really going on. Very specific reference of surgery. Yeah. Well, because that's the one that I needed. Um, you know, finally, and then, you know, anyway, I won't go into my backstory and we, but then finally, I was, you know, just MAGA Mike, just talking about MAGA Mike, MAGA Mike Johnson then talks about the Epstein files during this was a kind of a repeated theme.

23:38Ben Meiselas:He goes back and just think about the admissions that they're making right here. And if you haven't thought that they're a liar, here's what Maggie Mike said about the Epstein files. Let's play it.

23:48Brett Meiselas:But the Epstein thing is a complete red herring. It's a distraction from what's going on right now and them causing harm to the American people with the shutdown. The Epstein estate documents are out. The Epstein files are out. 43 ,000 pages so far, more on the way.

24:01Ben Meiselas:Mission accomplished. They did it. Like, just think what they're going with. The budget bill helped healthcare. The Epstein files are out. There's not inflation anymore, and that Americans are experiencing a golden age, right? They say grocery prices have not increased, and the cost of other products and services have not increased. Let me explain to you why what's going on. They're living in their roaring 20s, Gatsby themed parties. They're living where their biggest issues are the club rose garden or building golden ballrooms and triumphal arches. They are so disconnected, one, from the American people.

24:42Ben Meiselas:And two, they so maliciously are okay with harming the American people that they're so disconnected from the suffering that's actually taking place outside. And just think about it. While we're in this government shutdown, approaching the longest government shutdown in history with no end in sight, as Americans are suffering, they have the idea, let's do a Gatsby party. Let's just go out there and show the most incredible wealth and just rub it in the people's faces. At least Marie Antoinette let them eat cake. This Trump regime is we're going to starve you to death. We have a lot more to talk about.

25:23Ben Meiselas:I want to talk about New Jersey. I want to talk about Virginia. I want to talk about California. I want to talk about elections. I want to talk about former president Obama. Let's talk a little bit more about the discovery in some of these Epstein court documents that were released, the billion dollars money laundering. What are the implications there? We've got a lot to discuss, folks, don't go anywhere. Hit the join, though, if you want to help support the growth of this independent media platform and become a member of our YouTube channel. And you can gift memberships to others who may not be able to afford it.

25:58Ben Meiselas:Those subscriptions, those memberships, you get exclusive content like a podcast I do with Ron Filipkowski, and it helps grow our independent media platform. First quick break of the show, don't go anywhere.

26:09Jordy Meiselas:Let me say one thing while While we're at break, I want to hear if you're watching live in the YouTube comments, let us know if you had a chance to watch our movie, The Last Republican over the weekend. Would love to get your thoughts. Okay. And I'll let you guys discuss that now. We'll be right back after this. Don't you go anywhere.

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26:59Brett Meiselas:Drink responsibly and you'll feel your best tomorrow. Every time I have pre-alcohol before drinks, I notice a difference the next day. Even after a night out, I can confidently plan on having a great next day without worrying. So I first gave pre-alcohol a try when I was at a wedding over the summer. I drank it before my first cocktail and you wouldn't believe how on top of my game I felt the very next morning. Now fall is right around the corner. So that means it's time to raise a glass to your favorite team. Whether you're tailgating, enjoying a college game day, or watching Sunday's action on that fancy new TV, don't forget Zbiotics pre-alcohol probiotic drink.

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29:49Brett Meiselas:Let's go. Shout out to our sponsors. Links in description of both the audio and the YouTube. Use the links, use the codes. If there's an exit survey, let them know we sent you one sec there, Benji. I was thinking about something. I'd been thinking about it. So I promise this is going to lead somewhere. I went to a Big Ten school, the Ohio State University. We had our fair share of themed parties. We would do a lot of fun themes and they'd be great. You know the one day we didn't do a theme party on halloween why because it's already a theme there's no one talking about like the gatsby theme is offensive for so many reasons so many of which there are 42 million americans starving and they're just flaunting their wealth in people's faces but halloween is already a theme it's it's not it's not a bad point not a bad point at all it really is it's

30:35Jordy Meiselas:just such an f you right and that's why though it's intentional and like the things they do are intentional. They want people to know we are saying, F you. We hate you, American people. We hate you. And this is what we think about you, you little peasants. And it couldn't be more obvious when we see the things that they do and say every single day.

30:53Ben Meiselas:Look, Eric Trump dressed up his kid as money, right? And then they mocked the no kings peaceful protests. And he dressed like a king, and then he dressed up his kid as money. I mean, just think about that. I mean, it's just it's, it's behavior. It's behavior like that. What Lauren Boebert dressed up as like a Mexican person wearing a Sobrero. And then her new boyfriend was an ice agent. And it said, tell me if I'm a juicy ISIS coming or something. And it's like, it's not funny. I mean, you're, you're making fun of like, like Mexican people, like, like, and you have like an ice agent, but it just really, it's really strange behavior.

31:36Ben Meiselas:And then do you remember what was it? a few years ago, they dressed as trash. And that's like, remember, they dressed as trash at Halloween over and over again. It's just a very bizarre cult. And I think that obviously, we know corporate media is like fully capitulated to this. But I'm glad that we've been able to build this independent media platform, because I know there are so many Americans and so many people around the world that look at this behavior as just so grotesque and disgusting. And they're like, why isn't anybody like calling out this behavior? And then finally, it's like, the cavalry has arrived.

32:10Ben Meiselas:Let's call this behavior out. I want to talk about the key elections that are taking place on Tuesday. Before that, I want to talk about just some numbers. And I think it also helps inform why the Republican Party, why Trump are historically unpopular right now. Just think about this. Our editor-in-chief, Ron Filipkowski, writes, today, Mike Johnson will keep the House adjourned for the 91st day out of the last 103. 12 days of work in 103 days with full pay and benefits. The Senate at least has been working, so it's not about the shutdown. It's about avoiding a vote to release the Epstein files.

32:46Ben Meiselas:I want to talk about these other numbers right here. The layoff, the amount of layoffs in the first three quarters, 950 ,000 layoffs. So other than COVID and other than the great recession, in the first three quarters ending in September, the most layoffs in a year, and we still have one more quarter to go. And there was just a massive amount of layoffs by Amazon and all these other companies that are now citing AI as the reason. Like in October, a massive amount of layoffs. So to me, the biggest amount of layoffs that we're going to see in this data is coming in this last quarter. As Max Kennerly writes, congrats to everyone who put Republicans in charge, quote, for the economy.

33:37Ben Meiselas:The first three quarters of 2025 already had more layoffs than any of the years in which Biden or Obama was president, except 2009, when Dems were still cleaning up the prior Republican mess. And you You can see it there in the data. I mean, that's not -

33:55Jordy Meiselas:One of the things that's so dangerous about AI though, right? And I'm not like somebody who's like anti-all AI. I think AI, there's a lot of AI that has a purpose. But I think the way that you see these big corporations using AI right now, and at least at this moment in time, thinking that they could replace a lot of their workforce thanks to AI. And you're seeing now like this very big seismic change kind of happening in the United States economy and around the world right before our eyes. And nobody really has an answer to it. And I think back to, you know, what former President Biden would say that a job is more about it's more than just a paycheck.

34:33Jordy Meiselas:What it's about, it's about your dignity. It's about your dignity. And you're throwing all these people out of their jobs. You're replacing them with computers. And then what? Like, well, ultimately, we're going to have to, like, cut checks to people. All I see that's happening right now, especially when you see these parties and when you see people like Eric Trump dressed as a king and their son dressed as money and all the various things, is I think back to that dynamic, Ben, that you speak about so much on this show, which is that Lord versus peasants dynamic where they want all the corporations and the billionaires.

35:02Jordy Meiselas:They want all these people to have all the money, all the success, access to everything. And then they basically give the scraps to the regular people in the country. And they hope, well, AI will settle your little problems. This little check will settle your little problems. Go enjoy. And I think it's just a troubling thing that is like I think currently happening that I think is going to get worse. I think when we look at these various kind of AI platforms, like the way Elon Musk is using his like rock, you know, that's like his answer to chat GPT, for example, using AI to push certain propaganda.

35:36Jordy Meiselas:When we see these kind of like betting markets that are out there using these betting markets and the odds and all these various things to push propaganda, to propagandize people, to try to push certain narratives and whatever. It's all so manipulative and it's all coming at people kind of it's everything, you know, everywhere all at once coming at people. And I don't think people's brains are like quite equipped to handle just this intense flow of disinformation and lies and gaslighting that is being funneled at every people by these massive technological conglomerates every day. And it's just it's a frightening thought.

36:10Jordy Meiselas:It's a little bit of a tangent, but I, you know.

36:12Ben Meiselas:No, but I think it's an important one because the philosophical underpinnings of the J.D. Vance and this Project 2025 movement, you know, comes from these people like a Peter Thiel. but I think even more than like a teal, somebody by the name of Curtis Yarvin, who we've covered here before. And we were actually talking a lot about Yarvin in 2024, because he imagines a technocratic monarchy that is along the lines of feudalism, okay? And that it is a significant, significant way that you have this division of labor and this feudal-like system. and that was actually part of the plan. So I think that it is important to know these underpinnings.

36:58Ben Meiselas:And Brett, to your point, not all AI is bad and actually AI opens up a lot of opportunities. However, with opportunities comes responsibility and this is where you need common sense regulation in this area. And with Trump and this regime, there's no guardrails at all. And I think that there is no balancing here. And what you expect in a system of checks and balance is this type of balancing and trying to strike the right compromises, whereas Trump is one way all the way into the extreme. But I do want to talk about Prop 50. I do want to talk about New Jersey. I do want to talk about Virginia. And I think it's important to see kind of Democrats addressing the issue.

37:47Ben Meiselas:And I want to talk about New York City, because really it's Zoran Mamdani, who's I think really led the way in showing the importance of focusing on affordability. And I think what's interesting is that Donald Trump actually, if there's, this isn't a compliment to him, but one thing he's able to recognize as a con artist, it's people's suffering and he understands how to use it to manipulate them. So that's why he He promises Doge dividend checks and tariff rebates, and he knows exactly how to find a mark and lie to them. So he knew that you can't be saying the economy is doing great when people aren't able to afford groceries and basic necessities.

38:29Ben Meiselas:So he played to that, and then he said, I alone can fix it. Now, I think what you can do is recognize the pain and suffering, speak to it, but actually offer real solutions. And if I were to say, what was one word that defined the Mamdani campaign and why was it successful? In addition to him running a very smart, savvy, energetic campaign, that he's a great campaigner, Allah and Obama, quite frankly, I don't think I've seen as good as a campaigner in terms of energy since Obama, but it's affordability, affordability, affordability. And I think we see lots of people speaking to this issue. And then I think you see in California, Governor Gavin Newsom understanding the moment in such an important and timely way, right, to stand up, to not just say, look, I'm going to do an op-ed or speak out against Trump.

39:23Ben Meiselas:I'm going to use my moral and formal authority with Prop 50. Now, recall that when Governor Newsom first announced Prop 50, all the right wing was swarming the zone, right, with all this stuff. Oh, Prop 50 is going to fail. Remember they showed all those polls and said it's underwater. They trotted out all of their right-wing people and they said, this is dead on arrival. And I remember all the op-eds and think pieces from all the corporate media trashing it. They tried to set up a dynamic that it's like Newsom versus Schwarzenegger. And Newsom really focused on a digital first strategy. He focused on bringing his message directly to the people, being strong, right and right.

40:07Ben Meiselas:Whereas Donald Trump strong, wrong and fraud weakness masquerading as strength. And now we're seeing what it looks like to run a powerful campaign. So I want to show you California governor Gavin Newsom. This is today where he says the thing with Trump, it's nothing more than weakness masquerading as strength. Here, play this clip.

40:27Brett Meiselas:It's great to be back here. And I'll just conclude this. Jen said it. Other speakers said it. Donald Trump is nothing more than weakness masquerading as strength. Why else do you need to make a phone call to Greg Abbott in the middle of the midterm redistricting? Unless you're weak. You saw today Donald Trump one-upped himself. Historic president.

40:58Ben Meiselas:Historically unpopular president. The most unpopular since his first term. He's underwater in every key category. He knows he's going to lose the midterm elections, period, full stop. That's why he made the call to Greg Abbott saying he's entitled to five seats. That's why he sent J.D. Vance to Indiana. That's why he moved them to make the decision they did in Missouri.

41:26Brett Meiselas:That's why they moved in North Carolina. of these guys are not screwing around. Not screwing around.

41:33Ben Meiselas:Then I want to show this as well, because I hadn't watched many speeches of California Governor Gavin Newsom's wife speak before. She was incredible. I just want to show you here Governor Newsom's wife speaking, because again, I thought that I thought her speech was very powerful. And to me, it just spoke to raising a family in normalcy and not having this hate and bullying. Here's Jennifer Siebel Newsome. Let's play this clip.

42:00Brett Meiselas:And I will tell you right now, I will not raise my children to think Donald Trump is an acceptable American leader.

42:13Brett Meiselas:Nor that he is what the leader of our great country should behave like. I won't raise them to think his terror enables his power and that his greed equals success. He is the exact opposite of what real strength looks like. So in our house, Gavin and I will continue to teach our kids what strength really looks like. If you see someone sitting alone at a table, you invite them to your table. If you see someone being bullied, you speak up and ask an adult for help. And you always, always tell the truth. Maybe if Donald Trump's parents had taught him any of these lessons, we wouldn't be in this mess.

43:02Brett Meiselas:On the contrary, Trump is enriching his immediate family and cronies. He is stripping away our rights and our democracy. When he knows he's going to lose, he cheats. When the game isn't rigged for him, he rigs it himself. sometimes no is a full sentence trust me that's right but donald trump's never accepted no for an answer he's a con artist a predator a malignant narcissist in chief and the worst president in our nation's history powerful words right there and what an incredible speech that she gave as i said

43:46Ben Meiselas:I hadn't seen many speeches that she gave before. And I watched that and I'm glad that ASIN clipped that. I'm glad we're highlighting it because it's much more refreshing seeing that than a Melania speech. I'll just, I'll leave it. I'll leave it at that. When Melania is selling her crypto and Melania is selling this and that and what, you know.

44:08Brett Meiselas:Melania? Cash sign Melania?

44:11Ben Meiselas:Maybe I'll do a video on Melania based on the contrast right there. I don't know. I want to remind everybody, I did an interview with California Governor Gavin Newsom. It's on his podcast channel on YouTube and on his podcast channel on audio. So check it out. It's an 80 minute interview that I did last week. It dropped on Thursday. So I'm not sure if you've seen it since then, but watch it. I talk about the origin story of Midas Touch. And I think it's a, you

44:37Jordy Meiselas:know, I think the governor interviewed Ben for clarity. The governor interviewed Ben for his podcast then and then i thought i thought he did a great job i found it inspiring i found it informative i talked to you all day i still learned some things uh you know watching you listen to him in an interview it was like an hour it was like an hour and 20. this is in depth uh many people were excited to learn that ben is not just a torso that uh he's a full legs i do have legs

45:02Ben Meiselas:a reminder as well check out the last republican the movie that we produced with adam kinzinger we distributed. It's with a bunch of great producers who came together and we were honored to be the distributor of this film. And it was the number one documentary and is the number one documentary on Apple TV. So check it out. When we come back, I want to talk about New Jersey. I want to talk about Virginia. And by the way, as I mentioned before, it was not a foregone conclusion that Prop 50 was going to get this type of momentum. And I think it just shows that it is important to just be proud and stand behind your values and fight back and not listen to all of the noise.

45:43Ben Meiselas:And I think Democrats have done a good job heading into Tuesday with that. We'll ultimately see the results. We definitely should not get complacent. Everybody's got to make sure you have a voting plan. If you haven't voted and get out there and help others, let us know in the comments what you're doing to do that. When we come back, I want to talk about the Mikey Sherrill race in New Jersey. She's running for governor, Congresswoman, helicopter pilot. You don't get much more accomplished than that. Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, and she worked in the intelligence agencies, also a congresswoman as well, really accomplished people who are running for these important offices.

46:17Ben Meiselas:We'll talk about that and more. Let's take our last quick break of the show.

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49:41Ben Meiselas:Yeah, I want to talk about this Virginia race, Abigail Spanberger, former Democratic Congresswoman against Winsome Earl Sears. Sears has been saying all these, she's like ultra MAGA, and she says that it's not discrimination if you fire people because they're gay. She says, I don't understand. By the way, the Lieutenant Governor candidate in the Republican Party is gay. She says that she doesn't know why people are upset when they get fired by Donald Trump at the federal government. She goes, we've all gotten fired. Get over it. She doesn't care about the suffering that's going on in Virginia right now.

50:17Ben Meiselas:So that's the Virginia race. And Abigail Spanberger is leading in the polls, but should not get overconfident there at all. Should never get overconfident about any of these races. Let's be very clear. Then you have the race in New Jersey. You have Mikey Sherrill, the Democratic, former Democratic congresswoman there, fighter pilot, I mean, a helicopter pilot, former federal prosecutor. I mean, these people's resumes are unbelievable. Then you've got this guy, Jack Cittarelli, the MAGA Republican candidate who gives Donald Trump an A. He was asked during the debate, what score do you give Donald Trump so far?

50:51Ben Meiselas:He goes, an A. Well, what do you think about Donald Trump destroying all these projects for New Jersey? And Cittarelli's like, whatever. It is what it is. I'll make it work. It doesn't make a big difference. You're giving the guy an A? Just think about that. If you think this is an A, okay you've got a lot of problems like you're in a cult if you think that this is an act and then you have in new york city of course you have zoran mandami um who's running as the democratic candidate and then he's running against uh andrew cuomo for all purposes is basically kind of running as a maga candidate he got a trump endorsement like seems to be okay with that and he's courting

51:27Jordy Meiselas:all of maga there you know it's so it's so it's so bizarre honestly i like honestly like i listen i I just can't wrap my head around it, honestly. And we could all think back to the COVID days of Cuomo and the beginning of COVID. The guy was like a hero at that point, right? He was given the daily bulletins and recaps when there was this void of leadership, when we had no idea what was going on. He was there. He was doing his thing. And just to see this kind of downfall play out before our eyes, whether it was with the various assault scandals that we witnessed and him not taking no for an answer again after he lost the race in the Democratic primary, then running as an independent, which I thought was a weird move.

52:11Jordy Meiselas:And then his entire kind of transformation into becoming the MAGA pick for mayor of New York City. Honestly, it's upsetting to me. And to me, I think that a lot of New Yorkers, I think that you should be pissed off at Andrew Cuomo for how horrible of a campaign that he's run. I think especially in these last few weeks, I've seen some of the most disgraceful political messaging that I've seen in my entire life. And that says a lot in the age of Trump, where they're invoking things like 9-11 and all these other Islamophobic and racist attacks on Zoran Mamdani in the last minute. I just think it's a total disgrace to watch the downfall of this guy who I once had respect for.

52:49Jordy Meiselas:It's honestly, it's just a shameful thing. I truly wish the race was between Mamdani and Sliwa. And voters actually had more of a choice there between the two candidates. And I think Zoran Mamdani has run an inspiring campaign that's not about what he's against, but about what he's for. And what he's for is affordability. And every time I notice, they try to get him off message. Could he respond to, you know, Donald Trump saying he's more handsome than you? Can he respond to this? Can he, you know, they throw everything at him. He's very smart at bringing the conversation back to, I care about the affordability of New Yorkers.

53:21Jordy Meiselas:That's what I'm going to talk about today. That's my focus. I don't care what Donald Trump says about who's better looking or whatever the hell's going on. And I think that's been resonating with people. And I think as we look at these various races that are kind of underway and these elections on Tuesday, I think you see a lot of different kinds of candidates, a lot of diversity in the Democratic Party, diversity of thought, diversity in other ways. And I think that is a good thing. I think it's a good thing to have diversity in the party. I think it's a good thing to have a big tent party that's inclusive of all ideas where you could have somebody run in one district or one city, and then you could have somebody run in another state in another district, all running on maybe not the exact same message, but fighting to move the country in the same direction and in a direction of progress and a direction of hope, trying to actually inspire the people, push back against this MAGA BS that's going on, all the chaos that we're seeing.

54:12Jordy Meiselas:And so that's why I think it's cool to see this developing right now across the country from California to Virginia to New York, this big tent party and the Democrats forming, seeing these ideas that are proactive rather than reactive and showing a party that's actually trying to fight for the people right now in a time where there's so much chaos going on.

54:28Brett Meiselas:When you were laying out sort of that downfall of Cuomo, Brett, you know who just kept coming to mind? And I just think it's very on point of who it reminds me of? Giuliani. It's the same arc that they all sort of take into this MAGA sphere of where they were once sort of these beloved New York figures, and now you're just left scratching your head, especially someone who lived in New York at the time and saw how the people on the ground at least felt energized for these folks. The brothers for the audio listeners, they're not really buying this arc.

55:01Ben Meiselas:Well, because Giuliani was always a Republican. He was always kind of a fairly right-wing guy who was beloved after 9 11 yes and then he became the people's mayor yes that's where

55:12Brett Meiselas:i'm going with that as someone who at least from a new yorker perspective was at least someone who was a fighter and then fell down the maga ark remember maga didn't exist jordy's favorite mayor jordy's favorite mayor jordy's favorite mayor now i got it but point taken rudy was a generally

55:28Jordy Meiselas:well-liked figure in the post 9 11 world and then ruined his reputation by kowtowing to trump and becoming this bizarre caricature with duty dripping down his face during conferences and screaming outside of landscaping facilities, Four Seasons landscaping. I get what you're trying to say.

55:46Ben Meiselas:I'm just - Speaking of duty dripping down people's faces, think about - I can't believe this transition really works. It actually works. So because of Donald Trump posting memes of himself dumping diarrhea on peaceful protesters, which is something that he's done. You had former president Barack Obama actually address that. But in the context of these are distractions that Donald Trump is trying to throw in people's faces. I mean, gross. In order to distract from the fact that he's, you know, ripping people off and he is hoisting up this right wing oligarchy at the expense of the people. So this is Obama.

56:27Brett Meiselas:The fabricated conspiracies, the weird videos of a U.S. president with a crown on his head, flying a fighter jet and dumping poop on American citizens.

56:47Ben Meiselas:don't boo

56:49Brett Meiselas:no no no no that wait wait that's not even worth booing about because all of that is a distraction all of it is designed to distract you from the fact that your situation your life has not gotten better. They do it so you won't notice that at the same time that they're helping the wealthiest, most powerful people in the country consolidate more wealth and more power,

57:23Ben Meiselas:your bills are still going up.

57:27Brett Meiselas:You're waiting longer at airports because there aren't enough air traffic controllers. The program that helps your kid with special needs just got gutted. They are hoping you don't notice that. But the good news, the good news, good news, is there something you can do about it, New Jersey, right here, right now, because you've got a candidate for governor who's a proven fighter, who's got a track record of getting stuff done, somebody who sees you and knows your struggles and will work for you every single day. New Jersey is time to point America in a better direction by electing Mikey Sherrill as your next governor.

58:22Ben Meiselas:Powerful, powerful stuff right there. Still got it. Still got it. Yeah. So what he was doing, just to be clear, that one was in Mikey Sherrill, but he did the Spanberger ones. In that same day, he went to both Virginia and he went to New Jersey and he gave speeches for each and they were both like that. And it was, you know, I think powerful, appropriately calling everything up. But I want to show this because, you know, one of the data points that we saw earlier today with all this horrible polling by Donald Trump or from CNN, from YouGov, from The Economist, is that Donald Trump's underwater on every single issue.

58:56Ben Meiselas:Also, every single demographic, also including white people. He's negative one right now. And that was the only demo that seemed to not be underwater. But now that's underwater. He's like negative 74 with black Americans. I think it's like negative 38 with Hispanic Americans. young people, he is like absolutely plummeting. Like he started off actually having being net favorable amongst young people. And that's like crashed 18 to 29 year olds. Trump's like as unpopular as any president in modern presidential history right now. And you think about all of these, you know, younger people, these, whether it's the right wing podcast bros who are saying this or like the UFC fighters, you know, who were all pro Trump.

59:43Ben Meiselas:You're just seeing a lot of this right now. Like here's UFC fighter, Bryce Mitchell, rescinding his support of Donald Trump and saying that actually not only is he rescinding his support, this guy was ultra magus, said he would take a bullet for Donald Trump. If you remember, he now says that Donald Trump is likely the biblical antichrist. Here, play this clip.

1:00:05Brett Meiselas:Hey, I want to let y 'all know I'm not with Donald Trump no more. I don't support him. I don't like him. I think he's a corrupted leader. And yeah, it took me a while to come to that conclusion, but I finally am coming to it. I do not like the guy at all. The first thing for me was he didn't release the Epstein files. They're even acting like they didn't exist. And of course, they're sending Israel and Ukraine all of our tax dollars, just like the numbnuts before them did. put in America last and now he's blaming the beef farmers for the price of beef. Hey, I'm not biased, man. He talked a good game.

1:00:45Brett Meiselas:He tricked me. I was fooled. I admit it. Okay. Now, let me tell you how bad I think this is though. This is really this bad guys. I want y 'all, if you're a Christian, I want you to get into revelation 13 free and I want you to read that verse. Yeah, about the Antichrist, about the one who was fatally wounded in the head. Then he was miraculously healed and the whole world marveled at him and said no man can make war with him. Yeah, I do think that Donald Trump is that beast of Revelation 13.3. Yeah, go read it. Go read it. There ain't another man that's ever walked a planet that fits Revelation 13.3.

1:01:25Brett Meiselas:Okay, I think we get the point there.

1:01:27Ben Meiselas:And it goes on for a while there. But like, here's the thing, though. Remember, I'm not trying to like, self glaze right here. But do you remember the audio listeners been patted himself on the shoulder? Do you remember when we called this the rug pull presidency starting right away? And that was the name. We said, this is going to be known as the rug pull presidency. And we started that with the crypto schemes that they were launching right away. For young people, I think they're seeing the rug pull. And I think they genuinely believed it. Maybe they don't have the historical experience with this guy as a con artist who spent his whole life bankrupting things and bankrupting people and destroying lives.

1:02:12Ben Meiselas:But he somehow spoke to like, I'm going to make you rich. And people thought, I guess, I don't know how you believe this thing. After a guy who's bankrupted multiple casinos and put multiple companies out of business before stepping into politics, but whatever. But it's been the ultimate rug pull. And they're doing it in ways right now that are just so grotesque and ugly and obvious. Like, you know, when he says, oh, I brought in$22 trillion, dollars or from Asia, I brought in trillions of dollars. Okay. Well, if you brought in that money, then why aren't you giving healthcare free to everybody?

1:02:46Ben Meiselas:Why aren't you giving education to everybody? Why are people suffering? Why are things so expensive? If there truly is all this money that you brought in, then why is it that, you know, that what you're claiming doesn't match up with people's realities? So to me, the more he says, there's no inflation, we're in a golden age right now, that prices are dramatically down that he's brought in trillions. It just kind of backfires. And I think we need to, as messengers, harness those big numbers and say, okay, well, then if that's the case, this is the biggest Ponzi scheme in world history. Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme was$64 billion.

1:03:22Ben Meiselas:This is a$22 trillion Ponzi scheme. And the mark is the American people. And the people who are making the money, the rug pullers are the billionaires. So just before we go, here's Caroline Levitt once again, over the weekend saying that billions of dollars, no, trillions of dollars were brought in on trade deals in Asia. When in fact, what we know took place is that with China, even though there was no signed deal, if you have the understanding that Donald Trump brags about, America will be able to export 2 trillion or rather 2 million soybeans, metric tons of soybeans less than under former President Biden, 2 million metric tons less.

1:04:05Ben Meiselas:Yes, it was 27 million metric tons under Biden that China accepted. Now they're going to accept 25 next year. This year, 12 million metric tons of soybeans. And then every year, China will conduct an annual evaluation of its rare earth element controls about whether or not it should restrict its exports to the United States. That didn't exist under former President Biden. So the deal was a total surrender. It was a total capitulation. and Xi Jinping's never looked stronger. But here's what Caroline Levitt says. Let's play it.

1:04:38Jordy Meiselas:Look at what President Trump has been able to do by leveraging tariffs and leveraging the might of the United States economy. We are the number one consumer country in the world, and every country around the world knows it.

1:04:52Brett Meiselas:It's because of tariffs that President Trump has been effectively able to cut so many tailor-made trade deals with so many countries around the country. Look at what around the world. I mean, look at what he just did in Asia. You had Malaysia, you had Japan, you had South Korea, trade deals all over the place, trillions of dollars of investments pouring into our country because of his effective use of tariffs.

1:05:17Ben Meiselas:Trillions of dollars, really? Where is it then? Where's the trillions of dollars? The tariffs have caused inflation. And it just reminds me, this is how the Jerusalem Post described the fact that now Turkey is holding an emergency meeting because the Gaza ceasefire has totally blown up. Just take a look at every word here. And this is, I want to end on this because one of the things we called out as well was when the corporate media was like, historic peace deal between Israel and Hamas. We were like, what's the deal? Israel and Hamas didn't sign it. Israel hasn't agreed to a two-state solution.

1:05:52Ben Meiselas:Hamas didn't agree to disarm. Israel has not allowed the humanitarian aid to flow as it was required to. Over 100 Palestinians have been killed. What's the deal? Explain to me the historic deal. I'm glad the hostages were returned. Biden got 83 % of the hostages. But what's the historic deal? It's a ceasefire, but then people keep dying. Palestinians keep dying. So that's not really a ceasefire. But here's how it's described in the Jerusalem Post about this meeting that Turkey's now holding, which Netanyahu, by the way, doesn't want to have Turkey leading this because those issues were never addressed.

1:06:28Ben Meiselas:The U.S. brokered Gaza truce, which left thorny issues like the disarmament of Palestinian militant group Hamas and a timeline of Israeli withdrawal from Gaza unresolved, has been tested by periodic violence since coming into force. Like quite literally, I want you to think about every single word there. Thorny issues like, I don't know, the main issue, right? Should Hamas be disarmed? Yes. And should there be a two-state solution? Yes. And should the humanitarian aid flow into Gaza? Yes. And then it says, periodic violence. You mean not the ceasefire because there's been over 100 Palestinians?

1:07:11Ben Meiselas:It just goes to show you everything with this regime is an utter lie. So I wanted to leave on that. Brett and Jordi, I'll give you the final words on this episode.

1:07:18Jordy Meiselas:Well, here's how I'll wrap it up, right? So we see the propaganda, right? It looks obvious to us, but apparently it's not obvious to everybody. We see Caroline Levitt going out there talking about trade deals that simply don't exist. You see the media and Trump touting ceasefires that there's no ceasing of firing. So I don't know how you call what is happening a ceasefire by any means. You see this push by these various platforms, by people like Elon Musk, by people like Mark Zuckerberg, these various platforms that are constantly pushing and platforming all these lies, building them up, putting them to the top of your feed to make it appear that the things that Donald Trump is doing is more popular than they are.

1:07:56Jordy Meiselas:Then you start getting the actual hard data in and you actually start seeing what Americans think. And you see, oh, wow, Americans effing hate this crap. Like, not even like a little bit, I'm on the side, I don't really know exactly. They freaking hate what is going on. And that is being shown in the data. And so if there's anything I want to leave you with as you're listening to this on election day, Tuesday, or the day before Monday. It's that this is a way as, as governor Gavin Newsom said the other day during his prop 50 event to show the pundits that they have it all wrong. This is a way to flip all of these BS narratives that they've been spreading on their head because there is no arguing with the actual hard results of these elections.

1:08:39Jordy Meiselas:And just think, just think for one second, how the narrative out there shifts, how this cloak of invincibility that Donald Trump and these Republicans try to wrap themselves with, think about how that goes away in an instant if they get swept in these elections, if they lose most of these elections even. It could be actually a seismic shift in at least the kind of optics of what is going on because they're trying to project all of the strength. They're trying to project like nothing can stop them. Well, as we've seen in the No Kings protests And as I hope we see Tuesday, we could show them the power of the people.

1:09:16Jordy Meiselas:We can show them that all of that is complete and total BS. So do not get complacent. Go to the polls. Check if you have elections near you. There are elections throughout a lot of the country, small elections, big elections. I don't care what the elections are by you. Participate in our democracy. You see how fragile our democracy is. Go out, vote, get to the polls, do your civic duty. I'm going to put that on you, not the duty that Donald Trump is spraying all over our heads in AI videos, but do your civic duty and actually get to work, okay? This is the part where you rise up and prove the pundits wrong.

1:09:52Jordy Meiselas:This is where you prove MAGA wrong and show them that they are living in this fantasy land. Listen, I don't make predictions about elections. I'm certainly not going to make predictions about this. You see the polls. I don't totally care about the polls ultimately because this is where it matters. It matters that you show up and you get the work done. So let's do it. And share your stories with us. I'm always excited to hear about your stories, going to the polls, how the experience was, what inspired you to vote, and encourage other people, right? The same way we tell you, you know, go out there, spread the word to the Midas Touch podcast, share it with a friend, share it with a family member, that that's what helps.

1:10:28Jordy Meiselas:Well, guess what? Your friends and family are going to listen to your opinions on the elections far more than they're going to listen to us or anybody else they see on TV or on the internet or whatever. You are the best advocate. So get out there, inspire people, encourage people to vote. I believe in y 'all. I really, really believe in the power of this community. So let's show that power Tuesday during these elections. All right. That's enough from me, folks. I'm just going to have to toss it over to Jordy. Let's go. I'm energized, B.

1:10:56Brett Meiselas:Shout out to the Midas Mighty.

1:11:06Jordy Meiselas:Against the fascists we sing our song We will get it right whenever...

1:11:16Brett Meiselas:Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our sub stack at MidasPlus.com You'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski Add free episodes of our podcast And more exclusive content only available at MidasPlus.com

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