Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Trump Skewered by Fed Up Judge as Own Words Backfire

Episode Date: November 7, 2025

The Trump Admin. has doubled down on tormenting the hungry and poor in America and holding them as political hostages, immediately appealing a new emergency ruling issued this afternoon by Federal Chief Judge McConnell in Rhode Island to force Trump to pay 42 million hungry Americans their November SNAP payments to live. Michael Popok reports on the efforts by Democratic Attorneys General —including NYAG Tish James—and Democracy Forward to force Trump to care about Americans in emergency court filings. Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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How's this? Oh, yeah, way better. Save on insurance by switching to Bel Air Direct and use the money to fix your car. Bel Air Direct, insurance, simplified. Conditions apply. We've got double breaking news and a fast-moving story coming out of Rhode Island that affects 42 million Americans. Judge McConnell has issued his second temporary restraining order just this afternoon after finding that Donald Trump and the Trump administration have been playing political

football with the lives of the poor, that he's been playing political football and holding hostage people who are hungry in America and who are waiting on their November snap payments and anti-hunger program that is directed at the most fragile in our population, the below the poverty line disabled and elderly and children and babies and veterans. And what does Donald Trump do after the judge announces for the second time in five days that they must make $8 billion worth of full payments by this Friday? Does he relent? Does he say his crush of the soul

and of the humanity of Americans must stop even though there's a shutdown? No. He immediately filed a notice of appeal. He's seeking a stay ultimately of Judge McConnell's order. Donald Trump has flip-flopped so many times, including trolling the poll. on election day.

And how did that turn out for him? I mean, he's picture this for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving time. He's at Christmas time. He's like Ebenezer Scrooge stealing the turkey out of Tiny Tim's little hands. Denying 42 million people that which they count on

not for a boondoggle, not to build a golden ballroom or marble blinking bathroom or to hold a great Gatsby party. or to sell his cryptocurrency, but to live, to survive basic dignity. Judge McConnell said, it's obvious you're playing political football because he pointed to a couple of statements made by Donald Trump on social media. First, he said, all I'm doing is I'm waiting for a judge to give us clear direction.

And then I'll happily, gladly, proudly make the payments. And the judge says, good in his order on Friday. He said, good, I'm glad the president is acknowledging that he's got to make those payments. And then we fast forward to Monday when the judge ordered this week that the Trump administration make payments, at least partial payments, and or show why they can't make full $8 billion with the payments or make the full payments by Wednesday. And they ran into court on Monday with a filing that said, we'd love to make payments, but we're only going to make $4.65 billion of the $8 billion that's owed. So 56% of the amount people count on. So when they show up at the supermarket, 44% short, I guess they're going to make $4.6 billion. they think the owner of the grocery store or the supermarket or the convenience store

or the bodega is going to let them walk out the door, 56 cents on the dollar. And they said, we can't make full payment because even though there are other funds for other child nutrition programs, we can't give it to you from there. They don't explain why. We could use Section 32 funds from customs receipts that come in once a year. We have the money, but we don't have the money. We don't have the account, but we do have the account. And we're only going to make $4.65 billion.

And we're not going to do it on Monday. We're going to do it over the next weeks or months. That led Democracy Forward, who I'm interviewing tomorrow on Legal AF YouTube channel. By the way, I'm Michael Popock. Hit the free subscribe button here on Midas Touch and on Legal AF YouTube. Democracy Forward, Sky Perryman,

runs back into court with her group of lawyers and says, they are already in violation of your order judge. And the judge agreed and said, I'm going to hold a hearing. And that hearing was today. at 3.30 in the afternoon with full briefing because they said they violated the Trump administration violated your order because they don't give a proper reason. It's arbitrary and capricious why they can't top up the payments to $8 billion, why they can only make $4.65 billion, and why they're going to

do it over weeks and months and not within days. Judge agreed. And today the judge says you're holding things political hostage. You're playing political football with people's lives. Because now Donald Trump, just two days before the hearing on election night, said, I'm not going to make the payments. I'd love to make the payments, but I'm not going to make the payments at all. I'm going to be defiant because the Democrats won't open the government. Here's what Sky Perryman had to say. And again, she's going to be on with me on an interview tomorrow about the case. Today is a major victory. This is on the victory part. Today is a major victory for 42 million people in America, the court could not be more clear.

The Trump-Vance administration must stop playing politics with people's lives by delaying SNAP payments that they're obligated to issue. It is this immoral and unlawful decision by the administration has shamefully delayed snap payments, taking food off the table of hungry Americans. We shouldn't have to force the president to care for his citizens. And then if Donald Trump thought that his made-up cockamamy, illegitimate, bad-faith prosecution of Letitia James, the New York Attorney General, was going to chill her First Amendment expression,

chill her, take her out of the running from going after the Trump administration and holding them liable. She's part of 22 other attorneys general that brought a companion case in Massachusetts on the same issue. And she's now heard from. She already had her arraignment. Yeah. She already said she's not guilty. She's already. filing motions to dismiss her indictment. And here's what she had to say. This is now Letitia James. A judge in Rhode Island just stopped the federal government

from starving millions of Americans. I'm relieved that people will get the food they need, but it is outrageous that it took a lawsuit to make the federal government feed its own people. And think of this on Election Day, a huge wipeout for the Republican administration and a renouncement of Trumpism and Trumponomics. Donald Trump himself. He actually trolled the poor that day and said he's not going to make

snap payments. He's not going to pay them in order to have food on their table on election day. Think of that split screen that's now showing up not only in the polling but in the polls, not only in the polls, but at the polls. Donald Trump partying it up like it's 1999 with a great Gatsby Party at Mara Lago during the shutdown, building a golden ballroom with $300 million of corrupted money during the shutdown, remodeling the Lincoln bathroom of all things. Our poorest president now has a marble and gold-fixured bathroom in his name and his honor. While America burns, Nero Fiddles. While America goes hungry, Donald Trump tells us them to eat cake.

And he doesn't think this is now showing up in the electorate that he wasn't paying close attention to Tuesday night and the announcement by the independents, the Hispanic voters, the women voters, and all those counties that went from red to blue and the governor mansions that went from red to blue and the delegates in Mississippi that went from red to blue

and the delegates in Pennsylvania that went from red to blue and the Supreme Court justices in Pennsylvania red to blue and the new map adding five more seats in California led by his arch enemy arch rival Gavin Newsom and all he has to

think about is how to screw the poor and screw the hungry so McConnell's order I'm sure they're going to ask him for a stay overnight and he's going to reject it I'm sure they're going to run to the First Circuit Court of Appeals where they've already taken their appeal they're not even abiding

on it now. Scott Besson, who said on television that they were going to make the payments as the Treasury Secretary now ran to court with a notice of appeal and says, we're not going to make it. The First Circuit is not going to grant that appeal. I'd be, I mean, that a stay, I'd be shocked that they're going to have to run to the United States Supreme Court. Let's talk about that for a minute. There is a body of law on emergency applications on the shadow docket that are not great related to funding. and the Trump administration knows it, and they're trying to get to the Supreme Court

as quickly as possible. Just as bad as the Supreme Court was for the Trump administration in the last day at oral argument about tariffs, just as, sorry, just as bad as they were in oral argument about tariffs, they have issued a number of orders that have allowed Donald Trump to cut funding to programs.

That's not quite what's happening here, but it is a bad body of law. And you could just see the Kavanaugh's and the Gorsuches and the Alito's and the Thomas's and the Roberts with full bellies and Amy Coney Barrett. Never missing a meal. Looking at you, Clarence Thomas. Looking at you, the rest of you sitting on your brains. I bet you've never missed a meal intentionally. And making rulings about poor, hungry Americans, many of whom vote.

And we're going to continue to follow what happens on that appellate track as it makes its way through. Connell's done his job. There's one more case to keep an eye on. 22 attorneys general led by Lettician James and Rob Bonta ran to court in Massachusetts, also in our front of Judge Talwani. We're waiting for her to issue. Now, I think she tried to avoid the funding issue when she issued her order that didn't require funding but agency action to happen. on Monday. But I don't think the, right now, the attorneys general are sort of waiting to see how to counterpunch and how to move, stick and move off of what's happened in Rhode Island

to try to get the benefit of Rhode Island, but also bring in a different angle of attack. We'll follow that as well on Midas Touch Network and on Legal A.F. So until my next report, I'm Michael Popak. Can't get your fill of Legal A.F. Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal A.F. Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court filing or an oral argument, come over to the substack. You'll find the court filing in the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do call, wait for it, morning a. F. What else? All the other contributors from LegalAF are there as well. We got some new reporting. We got interviews. We got ad-free versions of the podcast and hot takes

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