Thursday Afternoon Breaking News Updates with Ben — 3/5/26

31:22Those who lost their lives were a reserve unit that was deployed to Kuwait. When I heard that missiles had been launched at Al-Adid Air Base in Qatar, I couldn't stop thinking about what it felt like when I was at that base getting ready to go into Afghanistan, then later getting ready to come home after the deployment because that is a, or was a stopover base for so many of the troops who came and went. So really troops across that entire region, not to mention civilians, like the American civilians who have been told by the state department to get out of the countries that they're in, but with what is clearly a very after the fact attempt to help them do it with no real plan having been put in place.

32:05They're the ones who are most at risk. And then all of us are paying in some way. We just learned this week through investigative journalism in the New York Times, we just learned that the VA has cut thousands of doctor and nurse jobs. And this is after assuring the public last year that the medical care was not going to be impacted. How is it that this country, this government, this administration is cutting doctors and nurses who take care of our service members when they are veterans, says we don't have the money to take care of them, but can find the money to take out of our communities, out of our taxpayer funds, and send it into this war with no clear mission all the way over in Iran.

32:48You know, and there's this split screen, of course, while this war is raging on, while there are these massive cuts to VA and healthcare being ripped away, you have this Mar-a-Lago class or Epstein class, I mean, quite literally partying away at Mar-a-Lago. I mean, with the images of like people dancing in martini glasses and, you know, just so disconnected and feel like they're rubbing it in the faces of all the other, of all the other Americans. But quite literally when this war began, rather than address the people, Donald Trump was holding like a million dollar fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago. He couldn't even get to Washington, D.C.

33:28He stayed at his fundraiser instead of addressing the American people. And I just, you know, look, there's definitely outrage among the people, but it's just so fascinating that that's not even like talked about, like such a betrayal. I just, when I saw that, I was like, what's he doing? If you're going to send our troops to war, get your ass to D.C., address the American people, talk about what are you doing? Yeah, the symbolism could not be more extreme, right? The commander in chief as a side hustle literally owns a club for rich people that costs a million dollars just to get into. And he's on the sidelines of the golf course at that club, launching American troops who, of course, aren't the kinds of people who can buy memberships to Mar-a-Lago or invest in his crypto fund.

34:16They're the ones who are going to be paying the price. I mean, think about this. It's you've got money from the Middle East going into the Trump family crypto fund while you have Americans going to the Middle East for Donald Trump's war. It could not be more upside down, more wrong in terms of the priorities and the interest that this president has at heart. But it's because he knows that this isn't going to impact him or his buddies. The richer you are, the less you are likely to feel either the deployments themselves or the tax dollars that all of us are sending abroad at the moment when there are tax cuts going to the riches.

34:58This is another thing, right? America doesn't usually cut taxes, especially for the wealthy, in the middle of a war effort. George W. Bush changed that. We had a tax cut at the same time as the Iraq war. Most of us believe, most of us Americans, not just Democrats, believe that that was wrong on both counts, that the war was wrong and that the enormous deficit, the debt we're going to be paying for the rest of our lives created by that tax cut for the rich was wrong. All of these things are connected and we've got to demand better. Now, here's the important thing. The American people already understand what's going on, right?

35:31Most Americans reject having a war of choice in Iran. Most Americans reject the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy. Most Americans reject the idea that it's okay to cut healthcare, cut meals on wheels for seniors, cut doctors and nurses at the VA while all of this is going on. The important thing now is to make sure that the American people have our voice heard, whether that's town halls taken to the streets, but most importantly of all, of course, at the ballot box. Yeah, when you mention all these things are interconnected also, I mean, the doge cuts to the State Department gutting it and now probably would be nice to have diplomats and people in the Middle East who can start interfacing with American citizens who are terrified right there.

36:18There was apparently no plan to evacuate Americans in the Middle East. People would call the phone number and it would basically say, good luck. Try to find a commercial airport. While commercial airports are under attack, you have that. Then you have the attack on our allies. And when you're going to go to a war, you need the help of your allies. And, you know, Donald Trump's out there tariffing everybody, you know, attacking Ukraine when Ukraine actually holds unique knowledge about how to deal with Shahid drones and ballistic missiles, then rushing to Zelensky and saying, hey, actually, you know what?

36:55Forget all the stuff I said. We need your help right now in shooting down these Shahid drones. But then Trump sends out Caroline Levitt, who then blames Zelensky for other issues in the United States on the same day. It's just like, what are you doing? They don't know what's happening. It's so bizarre. Then they have Steve Whitcoff, a guy who did real estate stuff with Trump, a Trumpy real estate guy out there doing these negotiations with the foreign minister of Ahmad and Ahmad. What are you doing? And the thing about this is, again, it's not just that it's a bad look. It's that there are life and death consequences for troops and ultimately for our whole country to this being done the way it's being done.

37:35Think about this. Many of those Middle East embassies, even deep into the second year of the Trump administration, still aren't properly staffed. They don't even have confirmed ambassadors. And they've been removing or firing a lot of career foreign service ambassadors just because they happen to serve, because again, they're not political appointees. So of course they did, under Democratic as well as Republican administrations. When you do that, that weakens this country, let alone the putting a thumb in the eye of our allies. You know, I remember serving alongside troops from Denmark, to take one example.

38:07They gave more lives per capita than any other ally in the Afghanistan operation. Obviously, pissing them off through the Greenland rhetoric is not something that strengthens the alliance. And NATO matters. NATO was involved in missiles that had to be shot down on their way to Turkey from Iran. So we continue to see just the utter chaos. And I think that's the biggest thing to be concerned about here, that when you go in, we've learned this the hard way. When you go in to the Middle East without a plan, the result tends to be chaos. And chaos eventually can lead to harm to Americans, even sometimes on American soil.

38:46The administration needs to give us answers. Congress needs to demand those answers, but they're doing the opposite. Senate Republicans had a vote, and now virtually every Republican senator is on the record endorsing this war of choice that most Americans are against. It's one more reason why we have to remember that the ultimate backstop here is the American people. In this country, the people are still in charge. The people need to tell Congress that we expect them to hold the administration to a higher standard when troops, lives, and American treasure are on the line. We talked before about who pays the price for war.

39:20I remember a story that you shared before about the letter on your life before you went to war and writing, you know, if anything were to happen to you. And that was a significant experience for you, you know, having to write that and reflect on your life in general. before we go, I mean, for people who haven't heard that story, if you could talk about that, especially in light of the fact that as we hear the American service members who have been killed, you know, in this war, and you just see their photos, and you see their people, and you see, you know, regardless of their age, but particularly when I see a young person, it hits particularly hard.

40:02They all hit hard, but it's, talk to us. Yeah, you see the faces of the fallen and they remind you maybe of somebody you know, somebody you grew up with. They remind me of people that I served with. And this terrible news of their sacrifice certainly reminds me of what it was like to sit down and write that letter. I still have it around here in my desk drawer. It says, just in case on the outside. They tell you to write a letter like that, just in case, in case you don't come back. And there are some things that you want the people you love most to know. And it's a reminder for me, I keep it around as a reminder of what was on the line and a reminder of how thankful I am that I did come back okay.

40:46But also what it felt like not being sure, which is something that so many people, hundreds of thousands, millions of Americans over the years who have been deployed have gone through. And by the way, many answer the call to serve and are deployed many times. There was a period where I know some of the people I served with were on their fifth or sixth deployment. And we made a decision, an increasingly cross-partisan decision among the American people that we weren't going to go into another generation's worth of forever wars like that. And that was something that this president promised his base, promised the American people.

41:23It was part of his appeal. It felt for a minute like you didn't just have to be a Democrat to want us out of the forever wars, but the Democrats and a whole lot of independents and a whole lot of Republicans had come to see this. And now the reverse is the case. And this isn't going to matter just because a line's on a map or words on a page. This is going to matter because as the president has assured us, more families are going to get that knock on the door, are going to have to open that letter from someone they loved whose life was put on the line by this president without a clear plan. And Pete, before we go, any other message you want to send to our 7 million subscribers out there who are certainly glad to be hearing your voice right now during these difficult times?

42:08I think the most important thing to remember now is it doesn't have to be this way. The administration does a good job of creating this sense of powerlessness. Like there's this steamroller that's just rolling over all of us and there's nothing you can do about it. And yet we have seen how they can be stopped. We saw them stopped on the tariffs. We saw them stopped in their attempt to completely cover up the Epstein files. We saw them stopped in some of what they were trying to do on healthcare. And what that tells me is you don't even have to wait till election day for people rising up in this country to matter.

42:43When members of Congress started to be afraid to see their own constituents at town halls and then started changing their votes. And I'm talking about some Republicans here. When some places like my home state of Indiana, which is, of course, a very Republican state, stood up and rejected the president's gerrymandering plan to grab power. All of these things are pieces of evidence that we can turn what is happening in this country. Of course, the best moment we'll have for that this year will come with those November elections. We don't have to sit around waiting. It is a big deal that millions of Americans will be marching toward the end of this month in the next No Kings set of marches around the country.

43:22It matters to speak up and get the attention of your elected representative, especially if they're one of these Republicans running cover for this president while they know deep down that that is wrong. You know, they are beginning to realize that this president will not be in charge forever. We in the opposition need to realize the same thing and start planning accordingly. Pete Buttigieg, thanks as always for joining us and thanks for your voice right now. We need it more than ever. Appreciate you. Thanks for having me on. Great surprise right there to have Pete Buttigieg on our live right there.

43:57Interesting development in the continuing coverage of the war in Iran. So the United States regime is posting that it is absolute false that a U.S. jet was shot down over Iraq. But then they deleted the post and then says it's absolutely false. What are they saying right now? Yeah, it's absolutely false that the plane was shot down, they said before, was absolutely false that it crashed. So they changed the language from it's absolutely false that it crashed to now it's absolutely false. I know it's confusing. That was absolutely false that it was shot down. So it seems to be, based on what they're saying in Basra, there seems to be a crash, but it does seem that the US is saying it wasn't shot down, it crashed.

44:47But the Trump regime lies about everything. I mean, before Donald Trump was holding a press conference today where the markets tanked. And right now, the Dow is at 47 ,000. And Trump's like, it's 50 ,000. It's 50 ,000 right now. Here, let me just play, not that clip, but let me just show you the one. I want to show you that this is breaking right now as I'm recording this. Donald Trump says, things are going so well in Iran that now it's time we go and invade Cuba. here's what he says

45:27he's doing some job and your next one is going to be we want to do that special

45:35where's the clip where'd the clip go we try it one more time to play the clip where's there was stream yard is stream yard glitching and watching me wipe my nose during the uh well instead of instead of playing the clip can we try it one more time I don't see it. He's doing some job and your next one is going to be, we want to do that special Cuba. We want to do the special Cuba. You can't even speak in sentences. Yeah, it's a little stream yard glitch right there. The special Cuba, by the way, if you're wondering who's standing behind him right there, who are his props? It's the Miami football club is behind him.

46:17And this is what Trump does a lot too. He lines up athletes because he thinks they're good looking and strong. And then he talks about invading countries. He's done this a ton of times. So, I mean, and here's the thing though, like if you are, if you're in those football clubs and you're like, you know, or you're the baseball team or the hockey team or whatever, and you're like, look, man, it's not political. It's just, it's just a great time to be in the white, look, the White House, this isn't a political thing. Okay. Great that you say that, but Trump views it as a political thing. I agree with you that regardless of who the administration is, even if I despise the administration, in normal times, when a team shows up to the White House after winning something, they should get applauded, cool, great work, that's it, photos.

47:14Okay. If that's really what it was, okay, I get it. The moment you go in there, he's going to use you for all of his propaganda. He's going to put AI words in your voice. He's going to AI your name, image, and likeness. He's going to use you in the background to talk about invading nations and killing people. So when you're in the background there, you should know that your name, image, and likeness is going to be used as propaganda to kill people. And by the way, I mean, don't say, oh, it's not political. It's not political. Come on, man. You can't be talking. That's, you know, this is soccer, man.

47:51This is hockey. Okay, I love soccer. I played soccer in high school. I like hockey. I sit on the board of something called the Hockey Diversity Alliance with lots of professional hockey players. My best friend's a former professional NHL player. Okay, I like hockey. I like watching hockey. But Trump's the one politicizing it. not me, you know, when I'm politicizing it, he then uses these people for his own propaganda. All right, let's take our first and only quick break of the show. We will be right back. Got a lot more to discuss. Let's take our first and only quick break. What's your weekday breakfast actually like?

48:28Because if I'm being honest, mine is chaos. I look up at the clock and suddenly it's like 10 or 11 a.m. and I realized I've had coffee and more coffee, no breakfast, no actual food, and somehow it's already March and I'm still trying to stick to my goals of eating better this year. That's where Huel comes in. They sponsor this podcast. That's H-U-E-L. Huel has honestly been one of the easiest ways for me to stay consistent when life gets busy. On mornings when I'm rushing out the door or jumping straight into meetings, I grab a Huel Black Edition ready to drink. It's literally a complete meal you can grab and go.

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52:48Results not guaranteed. Cancel anytime. That's smartcredit.com slash Midas, smartcredit.com. Thank you to our pro-democracy sponsors right there. You know, sponsors help the show go on. They help build this network. And Jordy spends a long time picking out the right sponsors and getting the discount code. So thank you to them. Another housekeeping announcement that I think that you will all like. So after this live stream ends, I held a discussion with multiple Democratic governors. So I spoke with Governor Beshear, Governor Shapiro, Governor Hochul, Governor Sherrill, Governor Healy, Governor Grisham, seeing if I'm leaving anybody out there.

53:35but spoke with all these various governors. I spoke to them before the Iran war started, so I don't address the Iran war in it, but it's a conversation with all of these governors, and it's a really good conversation because we talk about things that they're actually doing for the American people, kind of refreshing, right? Like rather than Trump ranting and raving like a lunatic. So I think you'll enjoy that. Just some other news that we're seeing over the break. We're learning now that jet fuel has doubled in price. We know that your gas prices are going up significantly, but jet fuel has doubled.

54:16So ultimately, plane tickets, travel is going to become much more expensive. That's obviously going to impact the airline industry. Inflation was already rising. I think these next inflation reports are going to be catastrophic. and it's obviously going to impact the ability of the Fed to lower interest rates. But I think we're going to see a catastrophic report on the inflation coming up. I wonder if Donald Trump will even show the report. I think he'll probably say, we're at war. We can't show it right now. We'll see what he does right there. Should also be noted, Pem Bondi has been subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee to testify about the Epstein files.

55:02Actually, a bipartisan vote by Republicans joined with Democrats. Burchette, Boebert, Cloud, Mace Perry joined with the Democrats. And so she'll have to testify before the House Oversight Committee. That will be, I think, something important for us all to watch. Of course, the news today about Kristi Noem being fired. Governor Newsom says, new Christie just dropped the just fired meme right there after she played dress up over and over again. Donald Trump announced her termination via a social media post. He said that she would now become the, oh, first he said, I'm pleased to announce that the highly respected United States Senator from the great state of Oklahoma, Mark Wayne Mullen will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security.

55:52The current Secretary, Kristi Noem, who has served us well and has numerous and spectacular results, especially on the border, will be moving to the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas. That's just the made-up thing that doesn't exist. And then she goes, thank you, Donald, for appointing me to be the Special Envoy for the Shield of Americas. Thank you, Rubio, and thank you, Hegseth. They're incredible leaders. I look forward to being the ambassador of the shield, the ambassador of the shield, everybody. Very, very, very bizarre stuff. Now, you all know Mark Wade Mullen. He's the MAGA Republican senator from Oklahoma.

56:32He's this guy right here. He's a total train wreck. He's a Trump MAGA sycophant who literally lives on Fox every day. He was the guy the other day who said, we're at war, we're not at war, we're at war, we're not at war, over and over again. But it's a complete and utter... What did somebody say I read on social media? It's crude, but I'll say it. It was like bringing in Mark Wayne Mullen to be the director of Homeland Security is like finding out you shit your pants and going home and changing your shirt. you know something like that but you know he's an absolute disaster I hope I'm I hope that was the expression there I mean it's not an expression at all I think we've got that video fixed of Rubio of Trump talking about Rubio that he's doing Cuba next he says he's doing Cuba let me play this clip this was moments ago and anymore I don't see he's doing some job and your next one is going to be we want to do that special Cuba he's waiting but he says let's get this one finished first we could do them all at the same time, but bad things happen.

57:44If you watch countries over the years, you do them all too fast. Bad things happen. We're not going to let anything bad happen to this country. What the hell is he even talking about there? What else did he say? Here's what Trump had to say on Iran. He lied and said, they're calling to say, how do we make a deal? By the way, when he lies about this stuff, not only is it stupid, but who... don't you realize how weak that makes you look to them and to our allies who know that's not what's happening? And here's the thing. Even if Iran wanted to make a deal, let's say Iran wanted to make a deal. I've said this before.

58:29You can't do a deal with Donald Trump. He doesn't do deals, right? The same way he lies about everything, you know, when up is down and left is right. Like he's a deal maker is a front for he's a fraud and a con artist and a felon and a sexual predator. It's not a deal. He doesn't do deals. There was a mediation taking place between the United States and Iran. The U.S. picked the media, the foreign minister of Oman. There was a deal in principle reached on Friday. Not according to me, according to the person the U.S. picked. Not Iran. The U.S. picked the foreign minister of Oman. foreign minister of oman said on friday deal in principle on monday we're going to have some technical details we have to hammer out so again i'm just giving you who the u.s picked because that's how i can try to decipher it okay what this person say and said it before the u.s struck so if the let's just assume the foreign minister of oman was lying went on american media and then lied and said that we had reached a deal in principle, but that was not true, right?

59:39So if you were the Trump regime, and it's a regime, so they lie about everything, but if that type of disinformation was coming out there, right? If you were in the government and the foreign minister of Oman was going on your networks and saying that you had a deal in principle, right? Wouldn't you go out there, send whoever, press secretary, somebody, secretary of state, Department of Defense, and say, that's 100 % false. So you get that out there and then explain, actually, not only is it false, folks, there is an imminent threat, and we have to explain to you what's going on. Like, let me be very clear.

1:00:16The Ayatollah led a brutal regime. The new Ayatollah, Mojaba, is more extreme than the old Ayatollah. We all believe the new Ayatollah is Mojaba, the son, the one responsible for massacring the 40 ,000 protesters that Donald Trump said he was going to help. Manjaba is the new Ayatollah we all believe. Trump says Manjaba's a lightweight. Dude, you don't even know what you're talking about. Manjaba's a lightweight. You don't even know who Manjaba is, dude. What do you mean he's a lightweight? So that's what Trump was saying. And Trump said, I don't like Manjaba. Trump says that I got to be the person who picks the next Ayatollah.

1:00:52It's me and me and Bibby pick the next Ayatollah. Okay. That's what the Iranian people want. You and Bibby picking the next Ayatollah. So you got Donald Trump out there, you know, saying he picks the next Ayatollah. And by all accounts, just so we all know, like what's actually happening in Iran right now is that you have people on the streets day in, day out, who previously maybe thought the, who were not supporting the Ayatollah, but the Shiite community is pissed right there and further radicalized by Trump making the Ayatollah into a martyr when he was 85 years old and was probably going to not live for much longer anyway and was deeply unpopular.

1:01:31And that's why the experts in the intelligence community were like, just wait it out. Let him die. Because if you waited it out and were patient and the Ayatollah dies, remember, you'd be saying, well, Ben, Ben, but if you waited it out, then they can get nuclear weapons. So don't do that. Come on, Ben, be smarter about it. Well, Trump said he obliterated the nuclear weapons in June, right? He said he obliterated it. So if you obliterated the weapons, wouldn't the strategy then, we know that was a lie, but he said he obliterated it. So then wouldn't the strategy be you wait out the Ayatollah to die?

1:02:06If the clerics try to appoint a new extreme person, who's even more extreme than the Ayatollah, rather. Then you actually lend support to democracy groups in there. And then you protect the people. You rally the international community. You rally your allies as Iran is massacring the people. You now have the moral high ground because they're massacring the protesters. You're there to help the protesters install democracy you now build a coalition to protect the, like, I'm just saying, if you, by the way, would I have supported that even? I don't want regime change. I want healthcare for all of you in the United States.

1:02:52Okay. Let me be clear about that. I want you to have affordable housing. There's so many problems. I don't want regime change wars. As much as my heart goes out to the people in Iran, and it truly does as much as I think the Ayatollah is brutal, terroristic, horrific. We see where regime change wars go. But I'm just saying, if you wanted to do this with a level of sophistication, I think there's a way to do it at least. That's not this. This is the most demented, dumbest, idiotic, dangerous thing, the way to do it. And now you have the Chinese ambassador or the Chinese foreign minister is being called in by Middle Eastern countries.

1:03:37You have Wang Yi, the China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, and he's out there being called in by Arab states to mediate between the Arab states and Iran. Not Iran and the United States, but to mediate between the Arab states and Iran because these Arab states are getting crushed. because even if the ballistic missile strikes are less consistent and less significant in terms of the sheer quantity, you go in a visit Dubai anytime soon? You go into Abu Dhabi anytime soon? You go into Doha, Qatar or Riyadh? Yeah, you go in there? Is that where you go and club it over there? Right? Is that where you're going to be?

1:04:23Is that where you're going to be partying?

1:04:27You in Dubai are going there? You want to buy one of those mansions on Palm Island or whatever they call it in Dubai? That's what you want to do? You want to get a spot on that beach area right there? Come on. And the Arab countries know that. That's why I read for you the Emirati billionaires post earlier as well. So here's Donald Trump, though, claiming that in Iran, they're calling up. How do we make a deal, Donald? We want to make a deal, which is not happening, but okay. Go for it, Donald. Say it. I said, what's left? But they're tough and they want to fight. And they're calling, they're saying, how do we make a deal?

1:05:10I said, you're being a little bit late and we want to fight now more than they do. I said, you're being a little late. Now we want to fight more than they, what the hell are, what words are you even saying? what what mush is even coming out of your mouth right what slop it's like blah blah because he's not even saying sentences we want to fight now more than they do what are you talking about they're begging for a deal they're too late dude what are you saying and then he says that Pam Bondi's terrific she's doing amazing here's what he says about Pam Bondi not gonna let anything bad happened to this country.

1:05:52Also with us, our Attorney General Pam Bondi is terrific person and fan.

1:06:02And she's proving how tough she is. And I think the next three years, she's going to really prove it, right? Like these people. You're going to prove it by covering up those Epstein files. Huh? Huh? And here's the thing too. Now you've got that, just so you know, all of those Miami soccer players, you're covering up or you're clapping for a coverup of a child sex trafficking ring. And by the way, as I said before, you're, you know, if I don't agree with an administration's perspective on tax policy or taxes or reducing inflation or healthcare and whatever. We have strong disagreements, but the team shows up.

1:06:53By the way, perhaps, I don't want to even speculate on this because we know that it's impossible with Trump and obviously he's never done this, so I can't even say that. But look, if ultimately in the past, if he started and the teams would show up and they would just be congratulated for being a champion of the sport. And that was the only thing that happened. And then the team was like, look, it's a visit to the White House. I'd still tell them they shouldn't show up, but whatever, right? Okay. I would still not be for it, but no, he's using you as a prop now to cheer for an unlawful war, right?

1:07:33Where also we know in Iran, a elementary school was hit, resulting in the deaths of close to 200 little girls and boys and teachers in the area. And that it seems it was potentially a double tap as well, of a strike at the hospital, then the elementary school, then nearby also. And now our regime denies it, but by all accounts, it happened. I mean, we are aware of it happening and our regime provides no justification about it. But you are all clapping for an unlawful war where service members have died and have been seriously wounded. You've now clapped for the cover-up of Epstein files back there.

1:08:19I mean, you'd be clowned yourself. Don't tell me it's not political when you've been used as a political prop. That's who you are. You are a political prop. You are a tool to cover up child sex trafficking. That's what you are. Undisputed fact. Great work. That's your legacy. Tell that to your children. For real. Tell your children. Or do you not see it? Are you too dense to recognize that? And don't be like, oh, Ben, you know what? How are you going to attract like men? That's a big problem Democratic Party has. Well, dude, if men support covering up child sex trafficking, they're not fucking, excuse my language, they're not men.

1:09:05Oh, I'm not trying to have them in the coalition. Okay. And we need to stand up and be strong and call out. You know, I like soccer. Just because I like soccer, I have to support clapping of covering up child sex trafficking. What are we talking about here? No, it's time that we actually stand up strongly for our values and not worry about, oh, how is this going to politically sound? Or how is that going to politically sound? No, we just look at something and say, that's wrong. That's right. That's leadership. That's what leaders do. That's how people should behave. I'm sick and tired of the coddling.

1:09:38Oh, Donald Trump's up there. Oh, it looks like the Dow is over 50 ,000. No, have you looked at it today? It's not over 50 ,000. It's not a benchmark of how the American people are doing, by the way, who are suffering. It may be a benchmark how your rich oligarch friends are doing, not how the American people are doing. And it's not even at 50 ,000. How do you go? It's 50 ,000. No, it's not. It's not. It's not at 50 ,000. And in the long term, the actions we're taking will dramatically increase the stability of the region and oil prices and stock markets and everything else. You know, we set the all time record in history with the Dow going to 50 ,000.

1:10:19Dow is at 50 ,000. It was supposed to be maybe if we were lucky within, uh, by the end of my presidency in four years. And we did it in my first year. We did the S and P. We did the S and P. We did the S and P everybody. We did the Dow. This guy is an idiot. He is demented. He is a criminal adjudicated as such. He's a sexual predator adjudicated as such by a civil jury. But when the corporate news is like, well, no evidence, he's found civilly liable of sexual assault. What are you talking about? No evidence. Mar-a-Lago was used for the sex trafficking, undisputed fact, right? Is your home used as a site of sex trafficking of children?

1:11:11Trump's is. probably a red flag when your home is used for child sex trafficking by by jeffrey epstein it may be a red flag and then you say the guy's a great guy who likes women on the younger side and then you say you own beauty pageants so you can inspect girls naked and you say you grab women's genitals because you're rich they let you do it i don't remember probably some red freaking flags right there hey probably some red freaking flags right there that's that's our that's the country right now across the world cyprus israel jordan iraq bahrain oman turkey kuwait uae qatar saudi arabia have all been hit donald trump posting memes of himself i stand with this guy's just freaking demented do we have Treasury Secretary Scott Besant saying, these are fantastic.

1:12:03Okay. I despise so many people in this regime. Besant may be the worst. And I know it's hard. Like, how do you, Lutnik, Besant, Hegsitt, but there's something about Besant. He's like, I just don't like these fantastical accounts. We are prospering. I mean, it's like every time I look at this guy, he's like basically saying, F you, F you, F you, you're stupid, you're stupid, you're stupid. That's to me what he's saying all the time. Here, play this clip, this arrogant asshole. Becky, I will tell you, the region is not on fire. What is happening is that someone with an iPhone, and look, it's terrible when a hotel gets hit in Bahrain when there is a drone that hits the airport in Doha.

1:12:48But those are one-offs. The Iranian attack capabilities have been substantially degraded. The U.S. is getting stronger and stronger every day. And the most fulsome part of our campaign is just starting so that there are the people in the market willing to look through this. And that's what I think everyone should do, because President Trump has a vision here. And I think everyone should just step back and think about what he has a vision here. You should step back. Step back and listen to President Trump. He's a visionary. He's a visionary. Cut to Donald Trump. On a scale of 1 to 15, this war is a 15.

1:13:33On a scale of 1 to 10, it's a 15. A visionary. A genius. He's a genius, everybody. Here, just play the clip of Trump. On a scale of 1 to 10, 15. 15 here play this clip and we're doing very well on uh on the war front to put it mildly i would say somebody said on a scale of 10 where would you rate it i said about a 15 and uh we're going to continue to do well we have the greatest military in the world by far and uh wise words from a visionary. Wise words, Besant. There you have it, folks. I'm going to cut right now to the special that I've done with the governors. So if you want to hear all of the governors, I think you all want to hear it.

1:14:26We've got Governor Bashir. We've got Governor Shapiro. We've got Governor Mikey Sherrill. We've got Governor Maura Healy. The Governor Grisham of New Mexico. Did I say Shapiro? We've got Shapiro. So I want you to watch that. I do the show with the brothers this evening. We'll give you updates on everything that's going on. I did a good interview as well with Mark Hurtling. I'm excited to share that with you. Brett did a good hot take on Kristi Noem. Didn't he do a great hot take on Kristi Noem? So we'll share that with you. And folks, just, I want you to hang in there. We have to stick through this together, shoulder to shoulder.

1:15:20Democracy and truth is prevailing. I mean, the fact that Kristi Noem was fired today, there are so many other people that we need to keep the pressure up on. Obviously, the midterms are coming. But for me, the midterms, a broader message needs to be sent, not even a political message. It's truly a message about values and principles. I was speaking at the School of Communications in Annenberg School of Journalism at USC today, and I let them know that first and foremost, this YouTube channel and this network is a is a channel and network about values and principles. And that's the most important thing, standing behind those values and principles.

1:16:08All right. My producers are saying, my interview with Governor Beshear is happening right now. Watch Governor Beshear, then Shapiro. We do a bunch of great interviews. You're going to want to watch this. Stay on the Midas Touch YouTube channel. Hit subscribe. You don't have to do anything. We're going to take you right over right now to the governor's special. 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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