#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Co-presidents Elon Musk, Donald Trump lying about savings from spending cuts

Episode Date: February 22, 2025

DOGE touted an $8 billion cost-saving measure on its website earlier this week, citing the cancellation of a technical support contract for ICE’s Office of Diversity and Civil Rights dating back to 2022, according to The New York Times. However, the contract’s value was later corrected to $8 million on Jan. 22, 2025. With only $2.5 million spent, the actual savings amount to $5.5 million. DOGE has since updated its site, now listing the savings at $8 million.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Folks, it's always important for you to read the fine print when you start talking about what is happening with Doge, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and all the stuff that they're doing. I mean, to be real honest, they're lying. They're lying. They're just making moves, willy-nilly firing people left and right without any regard for their families, for their health care, their jobs, you name it. And, you know, we really have been trying to walk y'all through what's going on here, because a lot of people out here are excited and happy and they're like, oh, the great things are happening. They're moving. They're taking action. But it's so like

people who are moving chairs around the Titanic. Oh, you're like, hey, you know, there's action. Things are happening. But are things really happening or are they just breaking stuff just for the hell of it? That gives you the impression that things are actually going well. So I came across this video of a poster of Frank Lunt Biden and other voters made the claim that they, quote, love the pace of what's happening. They love how fast things are moving. But but you got to ask the question, are things actually moving? What's actually happening? Or are people claiming things are happening, but things are not really happening? So I want you to listen to this conversation between Frank Lutz and Breonna Keillor on CNN to get an understanding of what they're saying. So we will break it down. Listen.

I want to have you on because you do a lot of focus groups. You really get behind the numbers, the poll numbers, to the sentiments of voters. And it's so interesting. You've been speaking with a number of voters who were Hillary Clinton 2016, Joe Biden 2020, and then went for Trump in 2024. How are these folks seeing the early days of Trump's second term? Pretty well. Really? And they're reacting to it because they love the pace of change.

They were very fed up over the last four years. They wanted action. They wanted results. They looked at prices. They looked at affordability, looked at immigration, and they didn't see anything happening. They still don't like what he says, but they like what he does. These are Democrats now who felt that they were not securing the border.

They were doing nothing to prevent illegal immigration, that nothing was actually happening. They wanted to see a reduction in wasteful Washington spending, and they're seeing that. So what they tell me is, I wish he would be a little bit less rude. But at the same time, they like what he's doing. They believe he's serious about it.

And for the first time, they have confidence in the future, which is why you now see some significant shifts in the polling about the expectations for the direction in the coming years. It's a big wake up call for Democrats. I'm waiting for them to get a message. I'm waiting for them to unify and to understand that to oppose and to be the resistance, which is what some of them use that phrase. That's not what Democrats in grassroots areas want from them. They may not want the approach that Trump is doing, President Trump, by the way, I now know to say President Trump, but they do want action and they don't see action from the Democrats. Okay, so they want action.

They want to see stuff done. Here's a fact. Trump and his co-president Elon Musk and Tom Holman, they are deporting fewer people per day than happened under Biden. But this is the difference. The difference is Trump has turned deportations into a reality show. Trump has invited Dr. Phil to be embedded with the folks doing the deporting. He's out there following them around and he's on the ground with them. Then you've got Kristi Noem. She is the head of Homeland Security. Oh, she's really doing this thing up, y'all.

She's showing up dressed all up in the uniform. She's got the Homeland Security uniform on. And she got the cowboy hat on. And you think I'm lying? Go to my iPad, Henry. Oh, look at this here. Oh, man. We got the green on.

And we got the flat jacket on. And we got the cowboy hat on. And oh, I'm showing y'all what I'm doing. See, you saw Biden Harris's hit of Homeland Security. You saw her. You saw her out there. And I mean, you saw Mayorkas in a suit leading the agency. But no, this is what you got right here. You got known. This looks like Yellowstone.

This looks like a television show. So, oh my goodness, we got, that's the difference, y'all. Trump is a showman. He is a circus act. So what he has done, he is creating the illusion, the illusion of action. So what then happens? Oh, Elon is coming in and he's he's tearing these things up and he's just he's firing people and he they're sitting here. They are slashing waste. And they're claiming that. Oh, my God, we're doing these things and and we're saving billions of dollars. And it's eight billion dollars a day. Hmm. Did y'all see today's announcement? This is the John O'Keefe Presidential Library.

Oh, did you see the sound on the door? Due to the executive order, the JFK library will be closed until further notice. You can't actually go to the library because what they've done with federal workers. And you may say, oh, my goodness. See, it's action. It is action. Huh, check this out. Trump signs an executive order claiming the only people who can say what the law is, him and the Attorney General. Listen to this here. In the office of management.

Lastly, we have another executive order that President Trump signed relating to independent agencies. This executive order would establish important oversight functions in the Office of Management and Budget and its subsidiary office, OIRA, supervising independent agencies and many of their actions, and also reestablishes the longstanding norm that only the president or the attorney general can speak for the United States when stating an opinion as to what the law is.

Thank you very much, Will. That was the... I'm sorry. Only the President and the Attorney General can speak on what the law is. Really? Are you serious? Is that what we're doing?

See, it's the illusion of things happening. And see, there are people out there who they thought that, oh, yeah, yeah, this is Trump is going to come in. He's going to make these changes. What did Frank Lunt say? Oh, those voters, those voters, you know, those Biden, Hillary voters. What did the first thing he say? Prices come down. I'm sorry. Have prices come down? I don't recall seeing prices come down.

I don't. Last I checked in a second. I'm going to ask my panel. Have they seen housing prices go down? Have they seen? Oh, I'm sorry. Inflation is up. Did y'all know inflation's up? We've had more airplane crashes in the past three weeks than we had in the previous 23 years. Um, hmm. I'm just confused here. This is Congressman Jim McGovern on the House floor. Listen. Mr. Speaker, the party who proclaims to be America first is screwing over our farmers and making it harder for people in rural communities to survive. This unified Republican government hasn't done one damn thing to support regular people or help them put food on the table. The House Agriculture Committee is holding a hearing this morning about the economic crisis in farm country. Newsflash, it's declining by the minute because Donald Trump and Elon Musk work for the billionaires and not for regular people. This self-proclaimed America first crowd is threatening

tariffs against our closest trading partners and upending food aid that is shipped by American farmers. The last trade war started by this president cost American farmers $27 billion in exports. And here's the sick part. Republicans are cheering him on because they want to use the money they steal from the American people, from farmers, and from SNAP recipients to give billionaires a tax break. That's not America first. That's not supporting our rural economy. It's a sham deal for working people. You're back. See, I want y'all just, you gotta pay attention. You can't get distracted

by the mirage. You don't believe me? Listen to this fool when he was asked about prices. Ex-prices have reached an all-time high. What's your message? What? Ex-p prices have reached an all-time high. What's your definition? Egg prices have reached an all-time high.

Well, there's a clue. If it was a low before I ever got here, it was at an all-time... Remember, I've been here for three weeks. I've been here for three weeks! But you said on day one you were going to cause these things to go down. Egg prices are up 53 percent compared to last year.

Oh, oh, oh, it's it's it's because of that bird flu. But who got rid of the people who tracked those things in the CDC? Trump and Musk. Who's getting rid of who fired the inspector general over the food supply, Trump and Musk. I need y'all to understand you're being played. These fools are being played. They don't even know it.

They don't even realize it. Control room, get our FAFO video ready. We were supposed to do yesterday, but get that video ready. They don't understand it. Control room, get our FAFO video ready. We were supposed to do yesterday, but get that video ready. They don't understand it. I'm going to show y'all something right now that's going to trip y'all out. Again, Trump, I love the military. I love our veterans. I love the veterans.

Hmm. How about this veteran? Luke Graziani. The man has disabled army veteran, four kids, did three tours. Guess what? He got fired from his Bronx VA hospital. You see this right here? He got fired.

That's right. He served 20 years in the Army, first as a supply specialist, then in public affairs, deploying for two tours in Iraq, another two in Afghanistan, for retiring in 2023. So let me explain to you what's going on. OK, so Trump's out of the military. So he's firing VA workers, veterans. So now veterans, it's going to be hard for them to get their health care because it's the federal workers who deliver the services. Oh, guess what? By firing the federal workers, you're now going to cause this veteran to

potentially get evicted or he's going to have to apply for SNAP benefits and federal benefits in order to live. Oh, but guess what? They're trying to cut stat benefits by 20%. Oh, but Elon Musk is breaking things and making them better. So they're just sitting here just, oh no, this is for the good. These things are great. It's just, I mean, it's perfect. That's what's going on. That's what they're saying to you right now. And then you got, what's the dude who's on the shark tank, Kevin O'Leary? He's sitting here like, oh, you know, Elon Musk is out here and he's just, I mean, he's making things happen and he's moving people and he's firing people. And you know what? If we just sit here and just cut and cut and cut and cut and cut, oh, things are going to be great.

Listen to this. I think the issue is they're not whacking enough. There's this concept in private equity when you get a bankrupt company and you go in there, you cut 20% more than your initial read. And then you find like a pool of mercury, the organization gels back together again. Always cut deeper, harder when there's fat and waste. The FAA, it's not the people. The code is cobalt. It's from the 60s. It needs CapEx put into it for the technology to be upgraded to make it safer. Fat like a chicken. All of these agencies are like

big fat chickens dripping over barbecues of fat. This is the best barbecue I've ever seen, but I don't think it's happening fast enough. They're not cutting enough. Keep slashing. Keep hacking while you have a 24-month mandate before the midterms. Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut. More. More cutting.

Believe me, it's going to work out just great. Even people with the nuclear codes? Cut them, too? Cut everything. Because if you don't see what they're doing and they can't show you that they're adding value, you're whack. So, here's the problem. They're not even doing that. See, when you make cuts, I own a business. If I needed to cut, I'm going to sit here and I'm going to say, okay, how much has this cost to me?

How much is this cost to me? How much is this cost to me? All right. What's the value of that? So I'm just going to just I just want you to understand just this is real basic. So here's a perfect example. So I'm sitting here right now. I'm just going to give a matter of fact, we were just literally doing this as I was driving in. I was just driving in. OK, this is very this is a very basic. I want to make it plain for all of you who are watching. OK. All right. So, Henry, go to my phone. This is the LU Smart app. This is the LU Smart app. OK, this app is on my phone. This app is tied to our Live View unit. This app is $300 a month.

We want to be able to if I'm remote, if I'm somewhere I can connect to a Live View unit and I can use it from this app. Well, guess what? We were you can knock on to me. We were we were on the app. Well, guess what? We were, you can knock on me. We were, we were on the app and this is supposed to have an IFB function, meaning I can talk, but I can hear the control at the same time. Well, it's not working. So we're like, call the company. Let's find out how does this work the way we need to work. So we're going to call LiveView. And if this app isn't working the way we need to work. So we're going to call LiveView and if this app isn't working the way we need it to work, I'm getting rid of this app. That's going to save me $300 a month. That's $3,600 a year. But I need to know if it actually works. What Elon Musk is doing and his team, they're just cutting, not even asking. You heard Sarah Sittner ask, even cut nuclear people?

He goes, yeah, cut. Y'all, here's the problem. These are the people who over our nuclear arsenal. These idiots, Elon Musk and his idiots, whacked more than 300 people who worked on covering our nuclear capability, fired them, then went, damn. They do nuclear, shit, we got to bring them back. So they started emailing and calling, trying to bring them back.

And they couldn't even reach some people. They're just doing indiscriminate cuts. And see, then MAGA's like, yeah, it's happening, it's happening. But then MAGA doesn't even realize, even in red states, how they get screwed as well. Hello, I'm Isaac Hayes III, founder and CEO of Fanbase. And right now, we're accepting investors in our $17 million round to revolutionize the future of social media. Today, for just $399, you can own 60 shares of stock in Fanbase at $6.65 a share. Go to startengine.com slash fanbase and invest today. While the big platforms have grown too massive and disconnected from their users, Fanbase is building a platform where creators and users

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