214. Did Trump Just Have His Worst Night In Politics?

0:00Trump just had the most disastrous night in politics. I mean, he's got more losses in 2026 than all of the other election years combined. Even more Trump-back contenders just lost their primaries, and his record at picking winning candidates this year is at his personal worst. So, are the Republicans finally done with Trump? And is Pete Hex's wife really running the Department of War? After another chaotic revelation, we discuss how worried we should be about rampant cronyism at the top of the U.S. military. This episode is brought to you by eToro.

0:45Ben Meiselas:A tariff, a spending plan, a regulatory change. It can all start just as the first line of a speech. but it sets in motion things that can reach far beyond Washington and unfold for years to come. That's right, Katty. Markets move on expectations, not just events. Investors are constantly weighing what a decision could mean for company sectors and the wider economy. So eToro is an investing platform where you can access a wide range of markets and explore how political and economic developments could affect them. You could also learn from the global community of investors and see how people around the world are interpreting the same news.

1:28Ben Meiselas:As with all investing, your capital is at risk. See etoro.com forward slash trip US for full terms.

1:41Welcome to The Rest is Politics, US with Anthony Scaramucci. Caddy is up in Scotland having a great vacation. And today I am joined by a dear friend, Ben Macellis, fellow Long Islander, now living out in L.A. He's the co-founder and host of the news network Midas Touch, which I have been a guest on your show, by the way. And I absolutely love your show. But you're out with a new book, Ben. And the title of the book is WTF America. Love that title. The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. And you've written it. with your brother Johnny, who are the hosts of a number one podcast in the US, Midas Tuss.

2:21Welcome to the show. What's going on with Trump right now? Is it cracking? Is the vessel cracking finally? He's at a 33 % approval rating. He's the greatest president in the world. He's running a hot economy. Some people say, Ben, that he's better than George Washington and he's better He's better than Abraham Lincoln. You know, see my t-shirt today, Ben Drankin, okay? I mean, is Trump drunk on his own self-image, Ben?

2:49Ben Meiselas:I think that the American people are all saying WTF right now. And the American people are looking at their lives and they're asking very basic questions, which is, did Donald Trump do the things he said he was going to do? He made a lot of promises, which we should all have known that this guy is a liar. The past was prelude to what he was going to do. We tried to warn not just of his business failings, but of his moral character failings, and that he's both from a pathological, from a historical, from every perspective, a loser, and he is showing those characteristics. What he's able to do is, in elections, often one-on-one situations, use a combination of the media, his lies, the outrageousness to kind of distract from the day-to-day.

3:58Ben Meiselas:And we are where we are. We're not going to relitigate that aspect of it. But I think the American people are looking. And the example I give in the book is the algae always comes back. I talk about how Trump wants to paint the reflecting pool blue. He says it's all going to be great. That's all you got to do. It's the perfect metaphor. You can say you're going to paint it blue and it's going to look beautiful, but the algae comes back and the American people are not just seeing the algae. They're seeing toxic algae here and abroad, never ending wars. They're seeing Trump not deliver on everything.

4:35Ben Meiselas:And people are just pissed, man. And then when he and the people around him are telling most Americans who are struggling that their life is great, that this is the golden age and they're doing amazing, people don't like being gaslit. So I think we're in a moment right now that transcends even the day-to-day gamified politics that Trump wants to be in. And people are just saying, my family's really hurting right now, man, and this ain't good. You know, Ben, you talk about the trying to warn people and you and I did a lot of shows in 2020 to discuss it. And by the way, you got me in trouble with Kevin McCarthy, right?

5:14Because I said, look at Kevin McCarthy. He's aging like Grandpa Munster.

5:18Ben Meiselas:Yeah, dude. Kevin McCarthy's in trouble with Kevin McCarthy though. I mean, he was complaining to Aleister Campbell at Davos, Switzerland that I was picking on him on the podcast, a poor guy, right? I mean, he's like a politician. You got to be able to take it, right? Exactly. I've been rolled in broken glass. I don't care. I mean, what a big baby. But these guys, I want to start with Kevin. And I want to go to Ted Cruz, Grandpa Munster. And I want to go to all of these characters that still stay tight with Trump. And what about the 33 % of the people that are still supporting him? Give me in your mind's eye why.

5:54Why are they still doing that? And I could read the economic record. I'm going to go through these races, okay? Trump had some big losses on Tuesday. This is totally different from 2018, 2024. I want to go over these with you. Trump-backed candidates in Wyoming and Florida lost. The Republican primary voters have now rejected 10 Trump-endorsed candidates. Listen, I think this is the beginning of the end for him. I'd like to get your take on it as well. But this is very different, Ben. It just feels very different. 2026, I feel like this whole thing is crumbling. And of course, I want to talk about Darlene Graham as well, who I don't think she could find Taiwan.

6:37If a globe was spinning, she couldn't point her finger at Taiwan.

6:42Ben Meiselas:Well, that's what Hannity said to her in the cleanup interview too, saying that that was, no one knows where Taiwan actually is on a map. It's like, Yeah, what are you talking about? That's the cleanup on Fox. Look, if you look at the type of candidates Donald Trump was endorsing in Florida, too. I mean, you had the Lauf, right, the carpetbagger from Illinois, and she lost. You had Corey Mills, whose background and personal issues are very similar to Trump, may know a thing or two about that. But it's loyalty and weirdness to the MAGA cult. And I think people right now are sick and tired of people running the 2024 playbook, which I was sick and tired of way before then.

7:34Ben Meiselas:But people are sick and tired of, all right, you're doing the culture war thing. We're talking about Sophie Cunningham on WNBA. Okay, look, look, look. You told me you were going to make my life better and that things were going to be more affordable. And I'm here in Florida and my property taxes are through the roof. Sure, there's no state income tax here, but I'm getting taxed every other possible way here in this very regressive system I have in Florida and it's crushing me and I can't get insurance and utilities are incredibly expensive and I can't survive right now. And I'm struggling out here.

8:12Ben Meiselas:And y 'all are talking about some Sophie Cunningham being fouled and somehow this is why I should vote for you. And then take what's happening in Florida and then also take a data point from Pennsylvania's state house district 12, where a Democrat overperformed in the special there in a plus 18 Trump district. And that swung 19 points in favor of the Democrat. And that's what we're seeing nationwide. Frankly, for the past 12 months to maybe even a little bit longer in these special elections that have been held, we're seeing Democratic candidates overperform plus 12 to plus 18. And so if that lines up, if that special election result and what we're seeing then in Florida with this rejection, Because what the rejection shows you is that the MAGA base isn't turning out.

9:07Ben Meiselas:The Trump endorsement isn't really there. So if you have the enthusiasm that we see in Pennsylvania House District 12 with the lack of enthusiasm we see in Florida, to me, I'm a simple guy, Anthony. So I look at those kind of data points and say more than even what these polls are telling me. Those two factors tell me that this can be a type of wave coming in this midterm that we really haven't seen before. Then, of course, there's historical precedent when you have an unpopular president or anybody in power. The other party has usually a strong midterm. But this is, I mean, in terms of Trump with independence, Trump with his own base on a lot of issues now as well, you know i i think that this is a sign of things to come and and and it goes with my thesis though that the american people are looking at these things actually even not so much through a political lens it's why the trump mega attacks in florida and elsewhere on other people by labeling them isn't really having the same sting it used to people are just saying okay look i need health care like i need health care i can't see a doctor right now like i i need to see a doctor and my decision can't be, am I going to get a bologna and cheese sandwich for my kid, or am I going to be able to see my physician?

10:32Ben Meiselas:So you can talk about all this stuff you want to talk about. You told me you were going to fix that, and this is why I'm on it. Yeah, it's anti-Trump and it's anti-incumbency. And I think this is also a sign that when it falls, Ben, like everyone says, oh, he's impervious and this, that, and the other thing. But when it falls, it's terrible. And someone's not going to tell them this, but they should tell them this is that, hey, your combined losses already match all the previous years put together. No one's going to tell them that then, but somebody should tell them that because the gig is up.

11:15I mean, that's really my opinion of it. We'll have to see. You know, Cady and I are going to be traveling into five or six cities in October, right before the midterms, doing some live shows. And I predict he's going to be in a hailstorm of negativity by the time that we get there.

11:34Ben Meiselas:But if you look at it historically, I mean, you saw the Pew poll. Trump is the least popular since 1953. And, you know, basically Nixon at Nixon's resignation and Trump right now are the same. But to our UK audience, to our international audience, they'll still say, but how the hell is 33 % still support? I'm saying it. I'm an American citizen living in New York. I'm saying it. I think Trump's support comes from economic anxiety. I think Trump's support comes from you elites didn't care about me. And now I've got this angry man acting as my avatar. He's the avatar of my anger. And so even though he's a flawed guy, I'm going to stay with him.

12:22And by the way, I probably shouldn't be admitting this on our podcast, but I have family members living out in blue collar Long Island. You grew up on Long Island. Some of my cousins are clamming. Some of them are cutting deli meat, making pizzas. They still like Trump. You saw the Bruce Blakeman rally on Long Island at the police academy. I was revolted by it, but that's the group of people that are still with him. I want to switch gears to Alex Vindman for a second because Alex Vindman ran and he lost by 12. And of course, just to remind everybody who was Alex Vindman, he was a whistleblower and Trump won.

13:02He is the one that filed the whistleblower complaint about Trump. He was on the call and he heard Trump saying to President Zelensky from Ukraine, hey, what do you got corruption wise on Joe Biden? Which was interesting and good political instincts by Trump because he knew Biden was going to be the one that was going to knock him off and that's why he hates Biden so much. But this is a guy who I read his book. I had him on my podcast. He's an honorable guy. The anti-Trump identity in that district, however, had no purchasing power bent. So what's your reaction to that?

13:37Ben Meiselas:Being anti-Trump is not enough. And I think that was and is a misconception. That was also true for George Conway. It's going to be true for everybody because the American people are saying, what are you doing for me? How are you fighting for me? Yeah, it's got to be more than anti-Trump right now. You have to be for the people and you have to be speaking to the people. Yeah, you have to be in their communities. You have to be listening to what the people are saying. I think listening is a very important thing that is often overlooked by politicians. because people are telling you, as you've said before, what their economic angst is.

14:26Ben Meiselas:They're explaining to you very clearly the things that are going on. And I don't look at it as, well, this type of candidate identifies as this group of liberal or this group of whatever. I just think the common denominator that we're going to see, because I don't think people on the ground and say, oh, are you this type of liberal? Are you this type of progressive? Or are you this type of conservative? They're just saying, what are you doing to fight for me and deliver for me? And are you actually listening to me? And do you come off as authentic and fighting for me? And that's the type of candidate that is winning.

15:10Ben Meiselas:And in these elections, in these primaries, who's with the communities. I think what Trump is able to do in a bad way, because he's a con artist, is he can see people's economic fears and their fears. And he says, I'm going to fix it. Yet he is the person creating and driving those very - That's the irony. It's how he knows about it. He's making it worse. He's making it worse. You're bringing up such a good point. And I've got to take you back a little. I was with Jeb Bush in 2016. Jeb is in New Hampshire. We have 10 people in the room. I think five of them are family members and three of them are staffers.

15:58There's maybe two people that walked into the room. It was a rough day. Jeb says, I'm going to raise your taxes. I'm going to tell you the truth. I'm going to tell you what we need to do to solve this fiscal cliff. Then fast forward, I'm on the Trump campaign. We have 10 ,000 people, an overflow room. And Trump says, I'm going to balance the budget in four years. We want the lie, Ben, is the point. And Bush was telling people the truth. He couldn't get the people in the room. Trump was telling them the lie and they were bringing the red MAGA hats. I want to talk about Darlene Graham. She's appointed Senator.

16:33She's Lindsey Graham's sister. She's in a debate in a runoff against Ralph Northam, they ask her a question about Taiwan. And she says, it's not my thing. You think a Democrat could get away with that? You think Fox News would have allowed for that?

16:51Ben Meiselas:I mean, it'd be like me getting on and you said, hey, Ben, we're going to talk a little bit. And I go, you know, Anthony, talking's not really my thing. I'm not really doing podcasting co-hosting. I'm more of a solo guy today, okay? You're like, well, you're co-hosting with me. Your job as a United States senator is to do these things. And if you don't want to do these things, that's okay. There's a lot of Americans who don't understand why we should support Taiwan, the threat that China may be posing, the broader geopolitical ramifications, why Donald Trump removing the USS George Washington is a incredibly dangerous thing not to have a supercarrier in the Pacific, why actually South Korea helped us with joint drills, why the security umbrella in the Middle East relates to the security umbrella in South Asia.

17:44Ben Meiselas:That's fine. But you're running for the United States Senate. And my broader point with all of these positions is you don't need to become a public servant if you don't want to do this job. It's fine. There's lots of other things, And that's perfectly OK. But don't become a United States senator if you don't know or you're not going to educate yourself in the most basic facts. But I'll tell you, Ralph Norman or whatever, his answer, he confidently answered the question. Let's just say he answered it after her with a degree of confidence. But truly, was his answer better than her? I know she gets a lot of attention because she has no clue what she's talking about.

18:31Ben Meiselas:But in many ways, his answer was more dangerous. Think about who's better. He goes, this is Donald Trump's peace through strength. And we are deterring China right now more than ever by what we're doing in Iran. That was Ralph's response. And I'm like, what the heck? I get that you've delivered it with a confidence. But your takeaway from Iran right now is that China's afraid of us, and that's why they're not invading Taiwan. How could you possibly evaluate the world of what's actually gone on in Iran, what's happening with the Mecca Pact, how a security umbrella is forming with China running the Middle East now, with Kim Jong-un and China and Russia emboldened with the BRICS block on the ascendancy and then go, in response to Darlene, Donald Trump's made us much stronger in Asia.

19:28Ben Meiselas:Really? Like when Donald Trump threatened the trade war and China in two seconds said, yeah, we'll deprive you of rare earths. And Donald Trump was like, please, please let me, can I visit you? What can I do for you? He did the same thing with Canada this week. He blinked on that too. He needs the aluminum. He needs the electricity. Before we go to the break, is this a blip for Trump, this disintegration of his influence, or is this the beginning of a downward spiral? Look, the nation's in a downward spiral because of him. And the question is - What I'm talking about is political influence. We both agree on the downward spiral of the country that we have to fix.

20:06Ben Meiselas:Yes. The short answer is yes. Yes. But how do we get out of this? Because the next step is blame. That's where this goes. So yes, it is in the gutter. It is in the gutter. But when we have to be prepared for step two, which is now in the fallout, he blames everybody. And how do we make sure that we don't fall for this crap again of, oh, it's this person's fault. I was so close to fixing it. I was going to do it. I was going to, there's a trillion dollar infrastructure that's been built media wise. And I say that because it's in the compounding aggregate of what's been built since the 60s. That's going to pump in not just in America.

20:49Ben Meiselas:We talk about in the book internationally that these forces of authoritarianism are back on the rise and there's going to be a view to try to keep propping them up. Because let's be honest, while there are people who are doing well, there's a small group of people who are close to him who have made a lot of money and who are in those inner circles who are there when Trump's creating the dips that he's buying. There are people with a lot of money who have made more money while most people suffer. Yeah, no question. He's calling out crypto tokens and stocks from the Roosevelt Room or the White House.

21:28I mean, never seen anything like it. All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back with Ben Macellis, we're going to talk about Pete Hegsak's wife, the general cronyism that's going on, and whether or not the The Hegseth, the family Hegseth, are they endangering the Department of Defense?

21:51Welcome back to the rest of Politics US with me, Anthony Scaramucci. Caddy's on vacation in Scotland. God bless her. And Ben Macellis is joining us, filling in for Caddy Kay. We'll have her back next week. Am I doing okay?

22:02Ben Meiselas:It's hard to replace Caddy there, Anthony. You're doing great. I'm a little surprised at the LA glam though. I mean, you're looking pretty terrific. I got to get in. Looking at you, I got to get in the gym. When the podcast is over, I'm going to do 20 push-ups just to reinvigorate myself. But good news when you're a private company, no one knows the makeup budget that goes into this in the morning. My audience would tell me, Ben, you've been wearing – these are new glasses, which took me two years to get. You wear these scratched glasses that look foggy and what are you doing, man? I hear it all.

22:35But I wear T-shirts. I want to talk to people like they're right here in my living room and I'm sitting here in my t-shirt. That was my idea. But anyway, Pete Hex's wife, Jennifer, is a former Fox News producer. So I guess that's her major qualification to have our national security secrets and to be part of the strategic planning of what's going on at the Department of Defense at the Pentagon. But the New York Times dropped the bomb. And I really have to applaud them for their reporting, Ben. We learned in in-depth and in detail how much cronyism is going on in the administration, but specifically in the Pentagon.

23:13She took a new role. She's chair of the president's military spouse commission. Okay. It's an unpaid position aimed at improving the lives of military families. And now she's been overstepping. stepping she's involved in staffing interviews sitting in on military meetings with british allies and even pushing through the pentagon's controversial barring of reporters and listen i i think people do know this because i've mentioned it on the podcast but it's worth repeating uh i was a member i'm still a member but i was on the board of the business executives for national security for a period of time uh i've traveled to afghanistan and iraq with our troops we have a swath of generals that have either resigned in protest or they've been kicked out and fired by Trump and Hexeth.

24:04And my friends that are in the military community tell me this has done existential damage to the ethos of the Department of Defense. And it would probably take 20 years to rebuild this because if you've got a 55-year-old who's got another 10 years to go, He quits because he's had enough. It's going to take 20 years to get the 35-year-old lieutenant colonel up to speed on everything that the general knows. But what do you think of this Hegseth story? And what do you think of the cronyism that's going on in the administration?

24:37Ben Meiselas:I think the Hegseth story with his wife is part of a broader story, as you allude to, with the destruction of America's ability to lead in a post-World War II architecture that the United States created, which makes the betrayal feel extra worse to our allies or former allies. Whether you like the post-World War II architecture or not, it was created by the United States. We were the leaders of it, and we were also the beneficiaries of it, and we brought all of these countries along with us in it. Again, there's a lot to critique. We can do shows and books purely on America's excursions that were awful and catastrophic, whether it was the war in Iraq or what happened in Afghanistan after its central mission was abandoned, but that was the architecture.

25:30Ben Meiselas:And so to so callously abandon America's leadership, and we've seen it now across the world and its beginning, it's emanating in DC and in the surrounding areas in the Pentagon by bringing in someone like Hegsip, who was someone who couldn't run one of the big flags in addition to all his personal failings and the very serious allegations against Hegsip. He couldn't run a nonprofit for veterans and he was pushed out. And it was a very small nonprofit for veterans, I might add. If you can't lead that leadership character, you should not be leading. Why? Because character is prelude. So it's not a shocker that somebody like that, and I think it was maybe former President Obama who said, when you're put in positions that are big, it accentuates your qualities.