MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 8/26/25

26:02Use the links. Use the codes. If there's an exit survey, please let them know we sent you. It helps a lot. Those are some fabulous sponsors. Benji, where to next? Governor Pritzker then calls out the press and says to the members of the press who are assembled here today, here's my message for you. Let's play this clip.

26:49will be helped politically by the president's actions. Donald Trump wants to use the military to occupy a US city, punish his dissidents and score political points. If this were happening in any other country, we would have no trouble calling it what it is, a dangerous power grab. AKA fascism, authoritarianism, dictatorship here. Let me remind you quickly too, because just based off that comment, I want to remind everybody here what publications, what kind of articles publications were running during the 2024 campaign very quickly. So this was The Hill. They ran this op-ed. This is from October 18th, 2024.

27:27They posted, Kamala's newest lie. Trump will send the army after you. This was in The Hill. It was an op-ed. It was an opinion piece. They pick like a terrible photo of her to like make her look like hysterical, right? Awful. Yeah. They pick a bad photo of her. Like it's just like the photo they pick is clearly, you know, chosen for a reason. And by the way, that's up to their editorial patrol. So like, you know, I know they would probably defend themselves by saying like, oh, but it was an op-ed and we give op-eds to all sides. Well, don't, first of all, don't, how about you, no one's requiring you to, to pump out lies like that.

27:58Like you have a responsibility, I think, not to just run everything you get. And then you also have an editorial decision about what photo you use, what headline you use and all sorts of things like that. And this is what you went with. And the road to fascism, the road to autocracy is paved by legacy media networks and websites who do stuff exactly like this. And that's why I'm happy to see people like Governor Pritzker calling him out. Here, Governor Pritzker gives the data about red states versus blue states when it comes to crime. Here, play this next one. Crime is a reality we all face in this country.

28:31Public safety has been among our highest priorities since taking office. We have hired more police and given them more funding. We banned assault weapons, ghost guns, bump stocks, and high-capacity magazines. We invested historic amounts into community violence intervention programs. We listened to our local communities, to the people who live and work in the places that are most affected by crime, and asked them what they needed to help make their neighborhoods safer. Those strategies have been working. Crime is dropping in Chicago. Murders are down 32 percent compared to last year and nearly cut in half since 2021.

29:18Shootings are down 37 percent since last year and 57 percent from four years ago. Robberies are down 34 % year over year. Burglaries down 21%. Motor vehicle thefts down 26%. So in case there was any doubt as to the motivation behind Trump's military occupations, take note. 13 of the top 20 cities in homicide rate have Republican governors. None of these cities is Chicago. Eight of the top ten states with the highest homicide rates are led by Republicans. None of those states is Illinois. Memphis, Tennessee, Hattiesburg, Mississippi have higher crime rates than Chicago. And yet Donald Trump is sending troops here and not there.

30:12Ask yourself why. If Donald Trump was actually serious about fighting crime in cities like Chicago, he, along with his congressional Republicans, would not be cutting over$800 million in public safety and crime prevention grants nationally, including cutting$158 million in funding to Illinois for violence prevention programs that deploy trained outreach workers to de-escalate conflict on our streets. cutting$71 million in law enforcement grants to Illinois, direct money for police departments through programs like Project Safe Neighborhoods, the state and local anti-terrorism training program, and the Rural Violent Crime Reduction Initiative, cutting$137 million in child protection measures in Illinois that protect our kids against abuse and neglect.

31:11Trump is defunding the police.

31:41of crime and then actually exacerbating the root causes of crime by removing the grants and funding for cities and educational opportunities that exist to put people on a better path and a better direction. It's whether you're looking at Chicago or Philadelphia. I recently interviewed Larry Krasner. I'm going to drop that interview in the morning on Tuesday. Same thing. I mean, you look at Philadelphia, all of this funding that Biden provided to improve the life of the city, to help people get out and do things, right, which is a way to have people avoid crime. Trump is gutting all of those things, instead spending hundreds of billions of dollars on ice to send people into concentration camps and then putting the military on the streets.

32:31Governor Walz also took aim at the coverage of what's taking place. Governor Walz speaking in Minnesota at a Democratic National Committee summer summit says, stop taking the freaking bait media. Stop taking it and focus on what's really happening here. Here, play this clip. But what we have to be clear about is don't take the bait. It boggles my damn mind that in the midst of a military takeover our cities and the attempt to go into others, the flaunting of the rule of law, the cruelness and the unconstitutional nature of the way they're attacking our neighbors, that the press finds the need to talk about, oh, there's a division in the Democratic Party.

33:14There's a division in my damn house and we're still married and things are good. That's why. That's why.

33:27We are strong. We are strong because we challenge each other. We are strong because we're held accountable. We're strong because we believe that there's a place for everyone here. Think of how easy it would be to be a damn Republican. Oh, what should I wear today? This stupid freaking red hat. What should I say today? I don't know. Just make sure it's cruel. Who do we listen to? That guy. Oh, the felon in the White House? Yeah, listen to him and that will be fine. You know, it feels like these are some Midas Touch speeches, huh, Brett and Jordy? You're on mute, B. I know you want to say something, but I just want to say also, like, you notice that we don't take the bait here at the Midas Touch podcast, right?

34:09Like, there's a reason why the stories we focus on are the stories we focus on. And without belaboring it too much and actually taking the bait, there's a reason we don't spend an hour speaking about Sidney Sweeney or Cracker Barrel or whatever real distractions they're trying to throw at us. And we stay focused on the actual existential threats that are right in front of us, Jordy. Absolutely. Those clips get me fired up. This is it. That's the energy. And I don't know about y 'all. I'm just sick of Dems taking toothpicks to knife fights. Because you know what happens when you take a toothpick to a knife fight?

34:39You get cut. And I'm just sick and tired of watching the Dems get cut. I'm sick and tired of watching the American people get cut. So don't let yourself get bullied. You have to stick up for yourself. And in many cases now in 2025, be the bully because there's no reasoning with the Trump regime. There's no reasoning with these mega fascists. These are bad, bad people. And I'm not afraid to say it or call it out. They want to make your life hell. They want to make your loved ones' lives hell. Every single day, what they're trying to do is they're trying to make the world more unattainable for the average American while the rich get richer in the top 1%.

35:18Well, the government seems to be working really well for them. Kudos to Pritzker, man. Kudos to Walls, Newsom, Jasmine Crockett, who's been doing it, Westmore. I mean, we need leaders who are going to get up there and fight for us because that's what people need in this moment are fighters. And with each passing day, it becomes more and more clear who those folks are, in my opinion, Ben. Like, how is this normalized? This was from the end of last week. Donald Trump's in the Oval Office randomly with the head of FIFA again. Like, again, like this guy's going to show up like every week now. And I think the whole purpose of Trump inviting the head of FIFA was so Trump could steal the FIFA World Cup trophy.

36:00Trump already stole the FIFA Club World Cup trophy where he was booed in New Jersey, that's already in his office. He literally stole it. He took it. So FIFA had to give the winners a new trophy, like a fake trophy. Trump has the real trophy. So anyway, Trump calls in the new head of FIFA who wasn't even going to give Trump the trophy. Trump's like, that's mine now. I'd like it. So it's now in the Oval Office. And then Trump goes, I was just sent a picture from somebody who wants to be here very badly. Can you guess who it is, everybody. And Trump is saying this right before Ukrainian independence day.

36:40And this is what gets Donald Trump off. And again, could you imagine Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama, by you name it, holding up a photo with Putin, a genocidal dictator, like like as though you're in the honeymoon phase with your girlfriend hey you see you see vladdy right here vladdy sent me this photo look at me and vladdy watch trump do it here play this clip and i just sent a picture from somebody that wants to be there very badly uh he's been very respectful of me and of our country but not so respectful of others but he'll uh i'm going to sign this for him but uh i was sent one and i thought you'd all like to see That's a man named Vladimir Putin, who I believe will be coming depending on what happens.

37:36He may be coming and he may not, depending on what happens. We have a lot of things happening over the next couple of weeks, but I thought it was a nice picture of him. Okay. That should be instantly game over, right? I mean, if this was a normal functioning democracy in the United States, that right there should be game over. You know how Donald Trump, But by game over, I mean he should be removed from office. He should be impeached, the 25th Amendment, whatever. You know how Donald Trump's like, Russia, Russia, Russia. In 2016, they said, Russia, Russia, Russia. Like their way to distract from the Epstein files right now is saying, Obama and everybody, they made up that I had this connection with Russia.

38:17What do you have to make up? You were in the Oval Office yesterday holding up a photo of you and Vladimir Putin. What you just did right there is frankly far worse than the worst things that could possibly have been in Russia, Russia, Russia, okay? Which was real because we heard you then say, Russia, if you're listening, hack into my opponent's emails. But I just saw it. It's like the same thing. Whatever the hell is in those Epstein files, and it must be horrific for Donald Trump, what just happened in front of our eyes, the Department of Justice giving Ghislaine Maxwell a convicted sex trafficker, queen for the day, immunity from future prosecutions, speak with her for two days, Donald Trump's former criminal defense attorney.

39:00And then after she says, I could barely remember, I miss, she was like Miss Poppins. I'm Miss Poppins. I could barely remember him. He was the perfect gentleman. I'm not even sure how I knew him. One of the parts that stood out to me, Ben, was this whole act that she put on with her little Mary Poppins bit when she was like, excuse me, do you know, sorry, I want to quote that for you, but it's a bad word. Am I allowed to say a bad word in this room with you? It's a dirty word. I'm sorry. And they're like, oh yeah, you could say whatever you want, Ms. Maxwell. She's like, he said, fuck you. I was like, you're talking to a convicted sex trafficker.

39:41And I would say she's not playing you. Like you're all in on this ridiculous scheme. She's trying to act like Miss Goody Two-Shoes, and she's saying all these good things about Trump. That in and of itself is worse. It's worse than the Alex Acosta sweetheart deal from back in the day when Trump awarded the US attorney back then and gave him a position in his administration during the first term for helping out Jeffrey Epstein with the sweetheart deal. We're witnessing a sweetheart deal right now with Ghislaine Maxwell, covering it up, saying F you to the victims as they elevate this Ghislaine Maxwell as like a source of truth, as like this all-knowing human who wouldn't dare say a lie about Donald Trump, wouldn't dare say a lie.

40:23Meanwhile, everything that she says is obviously in direct contradiction to the actual court case, to even think she said during that court case, to what the victim said, to everything that we know, because this has actually been in front of a jury and she was convicted on these charges. And that's why she is in prison in the first place like how despicable is all this she goes she goes to epstein he did nothing wrong he didn't even like young this is like almost verbatim the transcript yeah i don't i don't he didn't like young girls what he wanted to know is these were these were women on the younger age and he wanted to know what music they were into so he could have his own musical selections that's what this was about music.

41:05They just want to help a kid stay young. And my point about why, how I'm weaving and connecting all of this though, is that these things are happening in front of us right now, right? Trump is doing the Putin thing in front of us. Donald Trump gave Elaine Maxwell a deal, moving her from Tallahassee to a minimum security facility in Bryan, Texas, near Texas A &M's college campus. She gets a reward. Why are you, what did she do to get a reward? Oh, She said that Donald Trump didn't do anything. And then Donald Trump releases fake Epstein files. You know, it was in many ways what he did over the weekend was just as bad, probably worse than when they held up the fake Epstein binder back in February.

41:48They just turned over 98 percent of documents, 33000 documents that were already turned over. And like the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee led by Congressmember Garcia, like they hired a group of people to compare them and go, wait a minute. These were exactly everything that was released before. So they continue to do that. Again, these cover-ups in plain view right here. Oh, and by the way, at that camp, Bryan, Texas, they moved a woman who was there legitimately to a facility where the sex traffics are because she spoke out about Delane Maxwell being there because the lady who was there had a family member who was the victim of sex trafficking.

42:28So she thought it was her obligation to call out that a sex trafficker was moved there. And then she got moved to the bad facility. Ghislaine got moved into the good facility. But you take a look at just even what Trump is saying today. This was Trump on Putin and saying, the reporter was asking, well, look, Putin has not agreed to a ceasefire. Putin has not agreed to security guarantees and Putin has not agreed to a bilateral or trilateral meeting with Zelensky. So all of the things you said he was going to do, not only is he not doing, he's basically saying he's never going to do. And if anything, the attacks on innocent Ukrainians have only escalated.

43:11So what are you going to do about it? And then Trump's like, well, the main concession that he made is that he went to Alaska. By the way, in Alaska, right now, Trump's approval rating is at like 41%. And that was a Trump state. So people in Alaska are like, you're bringing Putin over here? Like what the hell, what the hell are you doing? Here's what Trump said this morning on Putin. Here, let's play it. Mr. President, when you met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, how soon did he say that he wanted to sit down with Ukrainian President Zelensky? Russia as of now says there's no meeting on the books and no agenda is set.

43:44Well, that's going to be up to them. It takes two to tangle. I always say it and they should meet I think before I have a meeting and probably close the deal. But I think it's appropriate they meet. They do not exactly get along well, as you can understand. And I'm sure it's a meeting that perhaps he didn't like, but he wasn't happy about coming to the United States either. That was a big concession and I appreciate the fact that he did. That was a big concession. That was giving the game away. Putin on American soil, Russia claims Alaska may still be part of Russia. You have the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, wearing a USSR shirt, mocking the United States.

44:27This was Russia after all of their history, which they view as being utterly humiliated and outmaneuvered by the United States, having their moment. This was their moment of Mr. Gorbachev tear down the wall. It was Putin and Lavrov coming into the United States for the ultimate Russian propaganda moment, giving absolutely nothing and having the United States troops go down on their knees and roll out the red carpet for Putin. It could not have been a bigger victory. But again, corporate news, too afraid to report on that, too afraid to call Donald Trump a treasonous traitor for his behavior, too afraid to call him a felon, too afraid to call him a sexual abuser, too afraid to call him a loser and a bankruptor.

45:20How could anybody be with this? Like, that's the craziest part, even with the Alaska stat. What 41 % of people in Alaska look at Putin going, or the remaining group of people look at Putin and say, you know, you know what? I like that. Let's have more people coming in, mocking our country and potentially seizing like, like who? Yeah, I like covering up for a convicted sex trafficker, making prices higher. I'm not going to believe my own eyes. I'm just going to believe what Donald Trump tells me. I want to talk about that and more. We've got to take our last quick break of the show. A reminder, become a member of our YouTube channel.

46:02It's one of the best ways to help us grow. You can gift memberships to as many people as you want. It's hugely helpful. Lots of people can't afford it. So if you can gift people memberships, that's really, really helpful. We've got bonus features and extra content as well. Also check out MidasPlus.com while you're at it. Let's take our last quick break of the show. So you ever wake up and feel like your body just hit the snooze button on life? Yeah, same. Honestly, aging sneaks up on you in some wild ways. Whether it's a night out or a good workout, I just don't bounce back the way that I used to.

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51:08Let's go. Shout out to our sponsors. There's links in description, both the YouTube and the audio. Use the links, use the codes. If there's an exit survey, let them know we sent you that grasa. Can't speak more highly of it, Brett. Amazing stuff. Benji, where to next? So Trump is sitting there today in the Oval Office with the trophies that he's stolen, with the gold offerings that were given to him as essentially, in my opinion, bribes by corporations. And he's there with the president of South Korea. So naturally, Donald Trump talks about how much he loves the dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong-un.

51:44Here, play this clip. Kim Jong-un wants to meet. When do you want to meet with him? With who? The Supreme Leader wants to meet. How soon would you? You know, we want to have a meeting. I like to have a meeting. I get along great with him. You know, you were there. We even had a press conference. He had his first press conference. Kim Jong-un had a press conference. This was a little different press conference. It's one of the things to note as well that since that press conference, North Korea has accelerated its nuclear program, has more nuclear capabilities than ever before. Donald Trump's meeting with Kim Jong-un, a total failure.

52:19Again, you look at what Donald Trump did by striking Iran, other than potentially trying to benefit Donald Trump personally so he can feel tough about himself, helping Netanyahu try to delay the criminal proceedings against him, didn't hurt Iran. Trump basically removed the sanctions against Iran, encouraged them to do more oil deals with China. Iran's been able to get way more money. The enriched uranium wasn't destroyed by the United States. The facilities are mostly fine, and they're able to rebuild. They're giving more Shahid drones to Russia to attack innocent Ukrainians and kill innocent Ukrainians.

53:01And you go back to right before Donald Trump, the attack of Iran. Remember what Donald Trump said? He was speaking with Vladimir Putin, who wanted to help mediate. Think about who was the winner in the strikes against Iran. Iran, Putin, China, Netanyahu personally, and not Israel as a country, and not the Middle East at all. But those were who actually benefited from that. Donald Trump then claims that Westmore, the governor of Maryland, the one time they met, praised Trump and said how great Trump is and that you're the greatest president? You'll play this clip. Baltimore is a horrible, horrible deathbed.

53:43It's a deathbed. I know Governor Moore said, oh, he wants to take a walk with me. He meant it in a derogatory tone. I said, no, no, I'm the president of the United States. Clean up your crime and I'll walk with you. But it's tremendous crime. But he was trying to be derogatory. He doesn't have what it takes. But he's trying to be derogatory. And I met him at the Army Navy game. They said, oh, there's Governor Moore. He'd love to see you. he came over to me, hugged me, shook my hand. You were there. He said, sir, you're the greatest president of my lifetime. I said, it's really nice that you say that.

54:16I'd love you to say it publicly, but I don't think you can do that. So it's okay. But no, sir, you're doing a fantastic job. I want to just shake your hand. Thank you very much, governor. That was it. There's actually footage of that entire interaction. Interestingly, Fox published that footage, but then they told their audience. So who are you going to believe the footage or Wes Moore when the footage literally confirms that that's not what happened? We have the footage here, play it. Knocking the hell out of him. Wes Moore is posting on social media saying that President Trump can't walk, but maybe he should walk the streets of Baltimore.

54:52It didn't take him long to respond to the president there in the Oval Office. He said, LOL, keep telling yourself that, Mr. President. It'd be wild though. If only we had the footage that President Trump had referenced about them meeting at the Army-Navy game. And thanks to the art of the surge on Fox Nation, we have the footage. The president. Welcome back to Maryland, sir. Welcome back to Maryland. It's good to see you. It's a good person, too. Thank you, sir. Great to see you. Great to have you back here. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Well, we are very, very anxious to be able to work closely with you.

55:31when, you know, I know the key bridge is something that we're specifically... It's going well. I mean, we spoke with Speaker Johnson yesterday, and Speaker Johnson says he believes that we're close to the 100 % cost share. And the thing is, I told him, when we get that 100 % cost share done, we are going to be able to open the key bridge under your watch, because I will have it done in 28. On time, on budget. We'll help you out. Thank you, sir. We didn't hear their greatest presidents ever, but we did hear a lot of enthusiasm and so excited to meet you, Mr. President. Who's telling the truth? We'll let you decide.

56:03We'll let you decide. We actually have the footage. Now, you could argue that was early on in the Trump regime that Governor Westmore was at least trying to strike a conciliatory tone and wasn't like F you. whereas right now governor moore is ready to fight and he's out there um clearly um being you know way more aggressive than that but we we have the footage right like like like we literally have the tape but i guess as donald trump said he could shoot someone on fifth avenue and his people would be like oh you didn't do it you didn't do it yeah there was a there was a i think a lot of people thought that social media and the internet would be used for good when it was getting started that, you know, and then there were at the beginning, you know, there was a lot of these kind of democratic uprisings and authoritarian places.

56:55And it seemed like, oh, social media could actually be used for democracy and for good. Fortunately, the bad guys got a hold of all of it and they took over all the platforms and you have all this propaganda media out there right now that is just feeding this bullshit to people every single day. And so there's no concept of truth at all with these people. They don't, they're not viewing anything through any sort of objective lens. Their view is how do we help Donald Trump here? And they could tell you just like a 1984, what you're seeing is not actually what is happening. Don't believe your lying eyes.

57:27And that's basically the entirety of Fox at this point, maybe except for like Jessica Tarlov. It's the entirety of these influencers online. And it doesn't matter if they held one position one day and a different position the next day. Like you saw Charlie Kirk a few weeks ago was, you know, posting about how dare we have all these Chinese students in our universities. This is an invasion of our schools and da, da, da, da, da. And what did Donald Trump say today that he was going to allow 600 ,000 Chinese students to come into the United States? And Charlie Kirk, without showing any sense of hypocrisy, not acting like he's being hypocritical at all, will change his mindset like immediately and go, this is a genius idea by Donald Trump.

58:07The same way that he did with the Epstein files when at first he was like, I don't know about this guy's, I'm going to talk. Then he got his little phone call from Donald Trump and suddenly he's now, okay, I got my message. I got my marching orders. I know what to do here. We're under not only an authoritarian regime of governance, but an authoritarian media. And we are being propagandized every single day. And these people, for whatever reason, the MAGA people, and at the end of the day, I don't know who's worse? Like who's worse in this situation? Is it Donald Trump or is it these people like the Foxes, like the Charlie Kirks, like the Megyn Kellys, like all these various kind of MAGA propagandists who are willingly and knowingly spreading these lies every day and telling people that they shouldn't be concerned about the Epstein files, telling people the complete opposite of what is actually going on.

58:59I think you can make an argument that those people are even more evil because without them, Donald Trump simply does not exist, but he is built on these platforms, which sow division, sow hatred, and spread lies all day long. Yeah, but also the reality is they're all terrible. They're all just awful people, awful human beings, if you could even call them that, and they all work together. That's why to a certain degree, I'm very conflicted on how I feel about this. We're all adults, right? You should be able to know right from wrong by the time that you're an adult. At the same time, there is a trillion dollar propaganda arm that gets fed literally, and for the audio listeners, I'm holding my phone, literally directly beamed into your eyes 24-7 between Fox News, the New York Post, the algorithms on X, you name it, wherever you are, that trillion dollar propaganda arm is hitting you and it prays to your worst.

59:58You know, it just preys on you. And it's a sticky thing for people too, right? Because it's a dopamine hit. And so I'm very conflicted about the MAGA base in general, because again, at a certain point, you're an adult, you have to make the decision in your life. Hey, is this the right decision? Is it a wrong decision? Is it a morally bankrupt decision? Am I going to go out and back the guy that is truly an awful human being, that being Donald Trump? or am I going to be able to step away from that and realize, no, I know right from wrong. It's tough for me because that trillion dollar propaganda arm, these folks, folks, they're just not built to withstand it.

1:00:36So I sympathize, but I also get so angry that you can allow yourself to get sucked in by it at the same token, Brad and Ben. Let me give you these two examples to close out this episode strong, using a logical-based approach the way media should cover things. So first up, Abrego Garcia, right? He's the guy from Maryland. He had a protected status that just said, you can't move him to El Salvador. You can move him to any other country. He worked in a union there. He had an American wife, American kids. He's been here since he was basically 16 years old. He's been checking in, productive member of that society, according to all the people who worked with him.

1:01:27I'm not here to defend Abrego Garcia's character, but I am here to defend due process. There was an order that said, don't send him to El Salvador. They send him to a concentration camp in El Salvador. The Supreme Court says, bring him back here. They don't bring him back here at first, then finally, before all the Trump people are held in contempt for what they did by various federal judges, they then bring him to Tennessee and then prosecute him for a traffic stop from 2022, where he was let off, I think, without even a ticket. And they call him a human traffic smuggler. And they're accusing him of basically driving a car with other people who are going to work and they're almost acting like he's a sex trafficker.

1:02:12They use that terminology, human trafficker. They then post images of himself, of Abrego. This was from today, the White House account, MS-13. Just think about tainting the jury pool. Bottom line, if you want to prove that he's a gang member who shouldn't be here, follow the process. If you want to argue that he's a human trafficker, well then surely you will have the trial take place in Tennessee. You'll introduce evidence and you'll prove your case. But no, that's not what you want to do because as soon as he was released temporarily, earlier today when he went back with his family in this incredible moment because the judges are like, there's no evidence against him.

1:02:55We're going to release him until his criminal trial takes place in Tennessee. Let him be with his family. ICE immediately arrests him. And because he refused to plead guilty to the charges, they were trying to shake him down. They said, if you plead guilty, we'll let you go to Costa Rica and you can live your life in Costa Rica. We won't bother you. But if you don't plead guilty, we're going to send you to Uganda. Uganda. Uganda doesn't even want him. He has no connection to Uganda. So they then arrest him today so he doesn't get a trial and then ship him to Uganda. And then at the Oval Office press conference, Pam Bondi said the following about him today.

1:03:37Here, play this clip. He beat the hell out of his wife. His wife is afraid to even talk about him. She's been He's been mauled by this animal. And, you know, through a system of liberal courts, you know, he's doing things. But, no, we have that under control. And Pam has got that very much under control. Do you want to comment on it, Pam? No, no, we've got him under control. He will no longer terrorize our country. He's currently charged with human smuggling, including children. The guy needs to be in prison. He doesn't need to be on the streets like all these liberals want him to be. First off, it was a Trump immigration judge in 2019 that gave the protected status to Abrego Garcia, but said, you want to deport him to any other country other than El Salvador, do it.

1:04:26So that's what the Trump immigration judge said. And now, after the Supreme Court said, facilitate his return rather than allow him to even have his trial in Tennessee, they want to ship him to Uganda. Now, again, I don't know Abrego's background. I don't know him personally. Again, I'm not here to say Abrego is a great guy or a bad guy. But as a lawyer or just as a human being, I say Abrego, if you're going to charge him, allow him to have the process and charge him. If you're going to deport him, then deport him to some country that he has some connection to. Costa Rica says they're willing to take him.

1:05:08Why are you sending him to Uganda other than you want to be cruel and unusual in your punishment? So to me, that's just a perfect example where the issues should be crystallized very easy and objectively on what we're dealing with. It's not a confusing issue if you care about our American system of justice. Brett, and then I'll go into the next one. And if they could do this to Abrego Garcia, they could do this to anybody, right? I think that's the thing that you might think, well, how would this affect me? Well, you see the federal government in a really dystopian 1984 style fashion, just labeling this person as a gang member, calling them MS-13, putting all this stuff out there.

1:05:49But when it comes time to file an indictment, to try to actually try the case in court. They're not doing any of that. And once you have a government that could take it upon itself to say, you are a gang member, you are an evil human being, you are a terrorist. This is the language. They called him a terrorist. You are a terrorist, you're a gang member, you're MS-13, so you need to go. We're sending you to a torture chamber. Then they could do that to any of us. And all we want here at this show, and I think a lot of people who are listening to the show and watching the show want is to have due process rights because it's one of the bedrocks of our democracy.

1:06:25So you have that. Okay. To me, basic issue. Next issue, Russia bad, right? Russia bad. But it's even more than that. Like Donald Trump and the media have been saying now for all of this time that there are these deals and ceasefires and if there's no ceasefire, Donald Trump's going to be tough and that Russia's agreed to security guarantees and bilateral or trilateral meetings with Zelensky. They've agreed to none of it. Just hasn't happened. That's just not the facts. Not only has that not happened, but Russia has hit American factories in Ukraine. The Chamber of Commerce president from the United States is like, they're humiliating our businesses.

1:07:12This company called Flex that makes electronics, Russia targeted in an area in Western Ukraine that's very close to the EU border intentionally to show we don't give a shit if it's American. We're going to go and attack. It's the ultimate statement by Russia to show its dominance over America. How is this not the biggest story? Could you imagine if when Biden was there or whoever, Russia attacked an American, they attacked an American company on purpose. Now, do you think that Sergei Lavrov, I was, I was having a conversation with my wife about what happened and she's not necessarily following all the ins and outs.

1:07:49And she goes, what? So is Russia, is Russia there? They're saying they didn't do it right. Like they're saying it didn't happen and they're blaming what a mistake. I go, no, no, no. Lavrov went on American media and said, we did it. Of course we did it. What you don't understand. We do what we want to do here. Watch We'll have Rob right here. Let's play it. This week, Russia bombed an American-owned factory near the Hungarian border. I've spoken to people who frankly see that as a slap in the face to President Trump, to the entire peace process, isn't it?

1:08:25Well, I would say that those who are sincerely interested in understanding what is going on would know, should know by now, that never ever Russia deliberately targeted any sites which are not linked to military abilities of Ukraine. This is an electronics factory, though, sir. This is an electronics factory. I've spoken to people on the ground there. It builds coffee machines, among other electronics. This is not a military site. Well, I understand that some people are really naive, and when they see a coffee machine in the window, They believe that this is the place where coffee machines are produced.

1:09:15Our intelligence has very good information. Well, it's not a slap in the face to Donald Trump. It is an act of war. He wasn't denying it. He was saying, I don't think that it actually makes electronics. He wasn't saying it wasn't an American factory. He was saying that Russia deliberately targeted an American factory because they believe that American factory was helping Ukraine. So we attacked an American factory. So surely J.D. Vance, the vice president, would be enraged. How could this possibly be an issue that doesn't enrage you? Here's what J.D. Vance said. Play this clip. But was President Trump, were you enraged when you learned that Russia targeted an American company based in Ukraine?

1:10:00I don't like it, Kristen. I don't like it, Kristen, but this is a war and this is why we want to stop the killing. The Russians have done a lot of things that we don't like. Like a lot of civilians have died. We've condemned that stuff from the get go. And frankly, President Trump has done more to apply pressure and to apply economic leverage to the Russians, certainly than Joe Biden did for three and a half years when he did nothing but talk, but do nothing to bring the killing to a stop. First off, the strikes against Ukraine right now have doubled or tripled under Donald Trump. Donald Trump has removed sanctions.

1:10:36Donald Trump and his regime, led by people like Colby Elbridge and the Defense Department, have limited and rejected the ability of Ukraine to launch various strikes against Russia. America at various points in time have withheld weapons from Ukraine. And so it's a blame Biden. When Biden brought two new members into NATO, what could be a more powerful counterpunch to Russia's aggression than bringing in Finland and Sweden into NATO? What could be a more powerful move than expanding NATO and imposing strong sanctions. And then he, this is war. I mean, have we lost the moral compass that we can't even acknowledge that this isn't even like a big story, right?

1:11:35Russia attacked America and America just took it right on Ukrainian, right around Ukrainian Independence Day after rolling out the red carpet for Putin? How is it not being said the way I'm saying it? Like, how is that just something normal? And so contrast that finally to Prime Minister Carney so we can see what leadership actually looks like as the Prime Minister of Canada shows up in Ukraine on Ukrainian Independence Day and behaves like an adult leader. Like this is what actual leader, we should have someone here who's like smart and intelligent, who speaks in full sentences, who's not decomposing before our eyes.

1:12:20This is Prime Minister Carney. Let's play. When peace comes, we must fortify Ukraine by rebuilding your cities, expanding your industries, developing your resources and creating the foundations for true prosperity. and when that peace comes and it will come that day will come Canada will be there to close Mr. President in the last of those paintings I referred to those Kuralik paintings the one with the Ukrainian farmer amidst a Canadian field of plenty a keen eye can see in the distance a mushroom cloud, a bomb. It's a reminder that peace, when it comes, can never be taken for granted. And it's a reminder to Canadians that we are connected, that your fight is our fight, that your struggle is our cause, and that your independence will be our victory.

1:13:26Slava Ukraine, and vive Canada. That's what should be happening here. That's what a leader should be doing. That's why I wanted to close this episode with this. Brett, anything before we go? No, I'll say, you know, if we're able to get out from under the weight of everything that we are currently experiencing, the next, you know, democratic leader is going to have a whole lot ahead of them to clean up. And there's a lot of destruction, a lot of time bombs that Trump and this administration have set, a lot of illegal activity that they have conducted and continue to conduct. So I hope whoever a future administration, if and when we get there, is able to fight back and combat it and make sure that these people are held accountable.

1:14:13We've been talking about a lot of heavy stuff. I think I maybe should make a positive announcement here on the Midas Touch podcast for everybody. So brothers, well, you guys know this. Imagine if I told you this for the first time on the show. So I'm having a kid. I'm really excited, anxious, all the feelings, all the feelings, all the emotions. So I truly don't know when it's going to happen. It's I'm in that crazy waiting period. So it's a boy for those wondering. And that's all I'm going to tell you for now. But they say this too about Brett. Brett is the secretive brother. I share every time I have like a toothache and root canals and back pains and herniated discs.

1:14:55I just spew it all out. Brett, this could happen at any day now. And you've kept it close to the second, any minute. I have quite literally. Yeah. So not only am I telling the might is mighty and telling everybody because I do view this community as as family uh but it's literally it could happen in any moment so uh so you know i i will likely be here thursday but like i went to the doctor the other day and he's you know he said that it could happen at basically any time at this point um so if i'm not here uh you know why and i want to thank everybody i see all the you know nice wishes uh coming on in through the live chat so thank you guys i i really appreciate it um but yeah so big news i'm super excited um and you know It gives me all the more reason to continue to fight, continue to push forward.

1:15:41But I thought, speaking about a lot of not so great news, so I thought I'd share some good news with you. And I know if I suddenly vanish one day and you wonder, where's Brett? I haven't seen Brett on Instagram today or I haven't seen him on YouTube. Could be mid-episode. Could just be mid-stream. Legitimately, that's how close we are. So it legitimately could be like that if you see me just run off the screen. So yeah, so thanks everybody for the kind wishes and we'll keep you posted. but very exciting. And I'm super psyched for us, the cousins, man. We're going to have some cousins. We're going to be close and best buds.

1:16:14And so I'm looking forward to that. So secrets out. Love it. Secrets out. Let's go. What a way to end the show. Please, if you haven't yet, add the Midas Touch podcast on audio, Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts. Please add the Midas Touch podcast. Give us a five-star review. Leave a comment. Let us know. Congratulate Brett on the exciting news. let's go super I love this community y 'all are the best shout out to the Midas Mighty the Midas Mighty standing strong against the fascists we sing our song we will get it right whenever want to stay plugged in? become a subscriber to our sub stack at MidasPlus.com you'll get daily recaps from I'm Ron Philip Kowski.

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