The David Pakman Show - 11/15/23: Vivek Ramaswamy back for round 2, Republican Senator tries to fight Senator

Episode Date: November 15, 2023

-- On the Show: -- Vivek Ramaswamy, 2024 Republican presidential candidate, joins David to discuss his campaign, his recent attacks on Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, his private meetings with Donald Tr...ump, recent polling and much more -- Republican Congressman James Comer melts down during a Congressional hearing when Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz brings up his own intra-family loan -- Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin attempts to fight Senate witness and Teamsters President Sean O'Brien during a hearing, and Senator Bernie Sanders has to prevent the fight -- Jenna Ellis, former Donald Trump lawyer, says in leaked video that she was informed by a top Trump adviser that Trump was "not going to leave" the White House -- Fox News host Brian Kilmeade floats the baseless conspiracy theory that Donald Trump's cognitive gaffes are deliberate -- Failed former President Donald Trump shares a sick fantasy about a citizen's arrest of Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James -- Truth Social. Donald Trump's right wing media platform, has lost $73 million since its launch -- Facebook has shut down all David Pakman Show monetization for a supposed "hate speech" violation determined by some kind of machine learning algorithm -- The Eggman leaves a voicemail pointing out how odd and bizarre it was when Kari Lake touched Tim Miller during the viral confrontation played on yesterday's show -- On the Bonus Show: Congress on track to avoid shutdown, Biden and Xi to announce deal crackling down on fentanyl export, Kevin McCarthy accused of elbowing fellow congressman, much more... 🔊 Babbel: Get 55% off your subscription at https://babbel.com/pakman 📈 Subscribe to Richard Vague’s free video series Tychos at https://tychosgroup.org/join ☕ Beam melatonin hot cocoa: Get up to 50% OFF at https://shopbeam.com/pakman 💪 Athletic Greens is offering FREE year-supply of Vitamin D at https://athleticgreens.com/pakman 🧻 Reel Paper: Code PAKMAN for 30% OFF + free shipping at https://reelpaper.com/pakman 👍 Use code PAKMAN for 10% off the Füm Journey Pack at https://tryfum.com/PAKMAN -- Become a Supporter: http://www.davidpakman.com/membership -- Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/thedavidpakmanshow -- Subscribe to Pakman Live: https://www.youtube.com/pakmanlive -- Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/davidpakmanshow -- Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/davidpakmanshow -- Leave us a message at The David Pakman Show Voicemail Line (219)-2DAVIDP

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Speaker 1 We start today with what was a truly bizarre day in Washington, D.C. First, a confrontation. James Comer and Congressman Jared Moskowitz. As some of you know, Republican James Comer has seemed determined to find evidence against Joe Biden, whether it exists or not, for supposed criminal bribery, mob like behavior. There's no evidence Joe Biden was engaged in any of this. But one of the data points that James Comer and others have pointed to is the movement of a few hundred thousand dollars between Biden family members, Joe Biden giving and then being repaid a loan. And this is the smoking gun, according to James
Starting point is 00:00:58 Comer. Of course, that doesn't prove any kind of wrongdoing. It's a loan between family members. It was then reported, as I told you on Monday, that James Comer was involved in a very similar intrafamily loan. And the argument that many have been making is whether or not this in general is evidence of criminality. If it's evidence that Joe Biden should be investigated, then by that very same standard, James Comer should also be investigated. Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz confronted James Comer about this during a hearing yesterday. Comer completely loses it. Take a look at this.
Starting point is 00:01:36 They went around and investigated all this bull that Ian Sims is trying to tell people that only dumb, financially illiterate people pick up on and said that it was a shell company because it was an LLC. They're so financially illiterate that you think because something says LLC, it's a shell company. This company, which I financially disclose, has properties. Okay. which I financially disclose, has properties, okay? It manages over 1,000 acres of land for hunting purposes. It owns different properties.
Starting point is 00:02:17 I'm one of the largest landowners in my home area, okay? I went to the bank, and I borrowed money, and I bought that land. I didn't get wires from Romania, China. My family doesn't get wires. Okay? Never loaned my brother money. Don't have an LLC. But you and Goldman, who is Mr. Trust Fund, continue to try to... Reclaiming my time.
Starting point is 00:02:40 No, I'm not going to give you your time back. We can stop the clock. You all continue to... You look like a smurf here, just going around and all this stuff. Mr. Chairman, you have, hold on. If we're not on time, you have gone on TV and said the president did something illegal. You're doing stuff with your brother. The American people have the same questions. Why should they believe you? Why should they believe you? Why should they believe you? Why should they believe you? There's a different rule for the president.
Starting point is 00:03:08 There's a different rule for you. Why should they believe what you're saying, Mr. Chairman? Why? You go on Fox News and say loans and deals are a way to evade taxes. We don't know that's what you're doing or not. We don't know. We have no idea. We're supposed to take your word for it.
Starting point is 00:03:23 But when the president says something, he's not the only one. Well, you've already been proven a liar, Mr. Moskowitz it but when the president you've already been proven a liar mr moskowitz what's that you've already been proven a liar who's proven me a liar you yes your word means nothing go to my hometown there's a camera crew there today an opposition research crew there today mr chairman this seems to have gotten under your skin i'll pay for your ticket i think the american people have lots of questions, Mr. Chairman, and perhaps you should sit maybe for a deposition. I would be happy. I will sit with Hunter Biden and Jim Biden and we can go over our. So the point here is less about whether James Comer did or didn't commit a crime. It's about exposing the absurd hypocrisy and double standard in which it is abundantly clear
Starting point is 00:04:05 that they are holding different people to different standards. When it's Joe Biden involved in an intrafamily loan, it's part of the Biden crime family bribery. Impeach this guy, investigate this guy, whatever. When it's James Comer accused of the same thing, he says, oh, what are you talking about? This is opposition research. This is nonsense. This doesn't make any sense. Here's one more little clip from this exchange. All I'm saying, Mr. Chairman, is you may have done nothing wrong. No, but you tweeted that. I'm claiming my time, Mr. Chairman. All there is a story out there, right? Because we believe everything in the media, like when you go on Fox News and say things and everyone says that they're true with innuendos
Starting point is 00:04:48 and ifs and maybe the Biden family, the crime family, all this nonsense. But when it happens to you, it's fake news. And what I'm saying is there should be the same. I'm reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman. There should be the same standard. You said at the beginning of this hearing, the Biden administration can't have it both ways. Neither can you, Mr. Chairman. I yield my time back. Thank you.
Starting point is 00:05:07 Just treat everybody the same way. And after flipping out and getting called out for spreading falsehoods on on Fox News, which is where he's been doing it about Joe Biden's family, James Comer goes back to Fox News, a safe space for him where Jared Moskowitz isn't there arguing. And um, he says, everybody's just lying about him. He's the victim all of a sudden. I don't know. This might be fight day in Washington by the looks of it.
Starting point is 00:05:38 Um, but in fairness to you, either you did loan money or you didn't and you're saying you didn't. And if you did, in fact, there would be a record of that, wouldn't there, sir? Absolutely. I can prove whether I loan money or whether I received a loan in about two seconds. Right. And I wasn't going to sit there and let Moskowitz lie about me and my family. Now, it is true. Either you gave a loan or you didn't or either you received the loan or you didn't. Proving a negative can be difficult, of course. And that's it. It's so funny for him to say it's so easy to prove if I did or didn't receive a loan. Well, it's not that easy to
Starting point is 00:06:15 prove that you didn't. And this is actually the standard that is often applied to people like Joe Biden will prove that you didn't do this completely ridiculous thing we're accusing you of. Well, can be kind of fine. It's hard to find negative evidence. It's sort of like prove you don't have a Jeep Wrangler somewhere. Well, you can look up in the state of New York and find I don't have any Jeep Wrangler registered under my name. Well, that's not really proof because it might be under a business name or it might be registered under a different state. Or you might have registered it as a Buick, even though it's a Jeep Wrangler. You know, the proof of negatives is often used as a foil when convenient by people like James Comer. So we just want everybody treated the same
Starting point is 00:07:00 way. If there isn't actually evidence that Joe Biden committed crimes, which at this point there isn't, maybe ease up a little bit on the Biden crime family investigation stuff. And the truth is, when James Comer is pushed, he will actually say, well, we have our suspicions. We are looking for the evidence we expect to find. But he does sometimes stop short when pressed of saying we've actually got it. He'll go 99 percent of the way there and create this entire theater of guilt when none actually exists. If there is evidence against Biden, it's been 40 years.
Starting point is 00:07:35 Let somebody find it and then we can move forward. Bernie Sanders had to prevent a fistfight from breaking out yesterday during a Senate hearing a completely insane day in Washington, D.C., as I told you, these are two individuals who have butted heads before. On the one hand, it's Republican Senator Mark Wayne Mullen. Mark Wayne is all one name for people interested in that sort of thing. Mark Wayne Mullen and Teamsters President Sean O'Brien. These two guys have had conflict before. This almost escalated into a fight with Mark Wayne Mullen
Starting point is 00:08:13 actually standing up saying, let's do it right now. You will then hear Bernie Sanders. This is not a playground. This is the Senate. You will then hear Senator Bernie Sanders try to stop this insanity. He knows this here in the last time when I kind of had a back and forth. I appreciate your demeanor today. It's quite different. But after you left here, you got pretty excited about the keyboard. In fact, you tweeted at me one, two, three, four, five times. And let me read what the last one said. It said, greedy CEO who pretends like he's self-made. Sir, I wish you was in the truck with me when I was building my plumbing company myself
Starting point is 00:08:55 and my wife was running the office because I sure remember working pretty hard in long hours. Pretends like he's self-made. What a clown. Fraud. Always has been. Always will be. Quit the tough guy act and these Senate hearings.
Starting point is 00:09:14 You know where to find me. Any place, any time, cowboy. Sir, this is a time, this is a place. If you want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here. Okay, that's fine. Perfect. You want to do it now?
Starting point is 00:09:28 I'd love to do it right now. Well, stand your butt up then. You stand your butt up. Oh, hold on. Oh, stop it. Is that your solution or your problem? No, no, sit down. Sit down.
Starting point is 00:09:36 You're a United States senator. Active. Okay. Sit down, please. All right. Can I respond? Hold it. Hold it.
Starting point is 00:09:44 If we can't. No, I have the mic. I'm sorry. This is what he said. You'll have your time. Okay. Can I respond? Oh, no, you can't. This is a hearing. And God knows the American people have enough contempt for Congress. Let's not make it worse. I don't like you because you just described yourself. Hold it. You have the mic. Yeah, I'm fine. All right. Just say. OK, this this is a senator and a witness getting involved in this nonsense. And here is Sean O'Brien attempting to get a word in. I mean, just struggle to answer the questions. All right. You're one. If I he he made a lot of statements, right. And his statements of fiction at best fiction.
Starting point is 00:10:26 I read them. Could you hear where what? Speaker 4 I'll answer the question, please. I can't understand them, to be honest with you. Speaker 1 OK, so this is the you know, we we have a situation where it is we always hear about, oh, approval rating is so low for Congress. Approval rating is so low for elected officials, but not for mine. There's this generic dissatisfaction with what is happening in the House and Senate and and the priorities. And then we actually make
Starting point is 00:10:57 some progress. And Joe Biden spent several years actually making things happen and doing long laundry list of things that we talked about last week. And there are actually people starting to recognize, hey, you know what? Maybe government can do some things that make sense and behave in a way that's a little bit more adult. And then in comes Mark Wayne Mullen and starts challenging witnesses to physical fights. It's just a complete and total humiliation. I'm not going to say this is the only country where it happens, because there are some other countries where sometimes there are physical fights in the legislative bodies. We've seen it. We've played video. Here's Bernie Sanders appearing after this all happened on CNN, asked by Anderson Cooper about the fact that he essentially had to break up a fight during a Senate here. I'm like this before. I mean, what's going through your mind when this is happening in front
Starting point is 00:11:43 of you? Well, it's pretty pathetic. I mean, we have a United States senator challenging a, you know, a member of the panel who is the head of one of the larger unions in America, which has just negotiated a very good contract for their workers, Teamsters. You know, I think the point that I try to make there is, you know, this country, Anderson, faces so many crises. We have massive income and wealth inequality. We have a housing crisis. Our health care system is almost collapsing. It's broken. It's dysfunctional. We pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Climate change is threatening the entire existence of the planet. And drugs. Climate change is threatening the entire existence of the planet. And this is what goes on in a Senate hearing. And that's why, you know, the American people are getting sick and tired of what goes on here in Congress.
Starting point is 00:12:36 What that hearing was about, as a matter of fact, and by the way, you know, might be nice for the media to pay attention to really what the hearing was about, is that workers all over this country are standing up and fighting back against corporate greed. Unions like the U.A.W., the Teamsters, others are winning good contracts. Speaker 1 And Bernie is completely right, particularly in the context where we are seeing some of the biggest advances of organized labor that we have seen in decades under Joe Biden, a guy who has decades of track record of supporting labor, who became the first president ever several weeks ago to join striking workers on a picket line. That's really the story. And
Starting point is 00:13:21 it is an important story to tell about the Biden president presidency, major successes for labor and a Republican senator and one of the and I'm not just blaming the Republican senator. Right. They're both playing into this. This happens every single time these two guys get together. It's pathetic. It's embarrassing. And it actually reinforces what is an unfortunate reality, which is that so many Americans just hear about things like this because they are humiliating behavior and they don't hear about the underlying successes that are taking place during the Biden administration. So good for Bernie breaking up the fight and also refocusing Anderson Cooper on the successes of labor under the Biden administration. Let's see if they can prevent fisticuffs from breaking out in the future. today. Richard Vague is an economic expert, former secretary of banking and securities for
Starting point is 00:14:25 Pennsylvania. I've always thought that Vague was a great voice on macroeconomics, the U.S. economy, government, individual debt, income inequality. Every week, Richard Vague covers economic topics to keep you up to date with the key economic issues of our time. U.S. debt forecasts for the U.S. economy, economic challenges facing Europe and China, innovative policy ideas. Richard's the author of the economic bestsellers, A Brief History of Doom, The Case for a Debt Jubilee and his latest book, which I've talked about before, The Paradox of Debt. Really fascinating book about how government deficit spending in the U.S. during the pandemic mostly benefited the top 10 percent. Richard Vague is excellent at taking really complicated economic issues, making them
Starting point is 00:15:17 accessible to anyone. He does a really great job of this with his five minute video series. It's called Tycos, which you can subscribe to for free at Tycos group dot org slash join. The link is down below. Thank you so much for joining us. with melatonin to help you get to sleep. Melatonin can also help correct circadian rhythm disturbances to get your schedule back on track. Like, for example, if you have jet lag, beams dream hot cocoa with melatonin comes in great tasting flavors like mint chocolate chip, chocolate peanut butter, sea salt, caramel or caramel. Come on. No sugar added, sweetened with monk fruit, only 15 calories per serving. My favorite is cinnamon cocoa. I'll just be up front. It's great to have before bed. Sometimes it's hot, very flavorful, but not overly sweet. It's just a soothing way to wind down
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Starting point is 00:17:09 Georgia video of her saying a top Trump adviser told me Trump's not going to leave the White House, period. This is extraordinary video. It is video that has leaked in such a way that now they are looking to impose a seal on all evidence related to the Georgia criminal case in order to prevent further video from leaking. This is ABC News that has obtained this video. It's an interview between Georgia prosecutors and ex-Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis. I'm going to play this for you. This is building up our picture and our understanding that Trump really believed that he had some kind of way to stay in power even after
Starting point is 00:17:54 losing. We looked at one example on Monday. Let's look at the video and then discuss. OK. And at the time period where they were going to start to discuss what was Dan Scavino's role? At the time, I believe his title was social media director for the White House. It became deputy chief of staff at the time that the conversation and question took place. OK, and when was that? The conversation was around December 19th of 2020 at the White House Christmas party. And I emphasized to him, I thought that the claims and the ability to challenge the election results was essentially over because he said to me in a kind of excited tone, well, we don't care and we're not going to
Starting point is 00:18:39 leave. And I said, what do you mean? And he said, well, the boss, meaning President Trump and everyone understood the boss. That's what we all called him. He said the boss is not going to leave under any circumstances. We are just going to stay in power. And I said to him, well, it doesn't quite work that way, you realize. And he said, we don't care. So, you know, there's two sides to this, right? On the one hand, the idea that you would lose, just not leave the White House and say, I'm the president and be able to do that. It's so ridiculous that it is the reasonable reaction of many to say that couldn't possibly be true. Who could possibly have believed that at the time. On the other hand, it's Trump. And on the other hand, he believes all sorts of things that don't
Starting point is 00:19:33 make any sense. So it's useful to get damning testimonies like these to have. And as we build up an understanding of what was happening at this time. You had Trump who had convinced himself, I'm simply not going to leave. If I leave, I'll be somehow reinstated. We learned about that earlier this week from the recordings of conversations with ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl, where Jonathan Karl said, what did you mean when you said I'll be back 2024 or sooner? And Trump said, I'm not even going to explain it to you because you wouldn't understand it. Trump genuinely thought there would be some mechanism to be reinstated. And as he's sort of trying to stay, but also, I guess, recognizing he's going to have to leave taking any documents
Starting point is 00:20:16 that he can in boxes with classified information that he stacked around his toilet like a fort of some kind, maybe to pretend he's still president, holding meetings at Mar-a-Lago and holding and shuffling papers in the entire thing. Now, I want to go to there's so many directions we could take this discussion. And the video is damning. This is going to be evidence in the forthcoming criminal trial against Donald Trump that Georgia trial is going to be insane. Let's focus in on one aspect of this that we haven't talked about much that I think is relevant. A bunch of right wingers seem to be of the mindset that if you didn't succeed at a crime you attempted. That it's sort of like, oh, you know, all bets are off. It's fine. No big deal that if you failed to do a thing that is illegal or unconstitutional, but you tried to do it
Starting point is 00:21:05 as long as you failed, that that's it. He left ultimately the fact that he thought he would stay and tried to stay and had fake slates of electors and attempted to disenfranchise voters and sees voting machines. It doesn't matter because ultimately he left. And obviously this is sort of like, you know, I tried to kill someone, but I failed. So it's fine. You know, we just say it was a boo boo and we walk away. That's not the way that the justice system works. Just because you failed at a crime you tried to do doesn't mean you're not guilty. And by the way, imagine for a second if it was revealed that at the end of the Obama presidency or that
Starting point is 00:21:46 right now, Joe Biden and thinking about his 2024 campaign, if Obama or Biden ever said, hey, you know what? Even if I lose, supposedly it's for the good of the country that I remain in the Oval Office. So I plan to do that. Imagine if Obama or Biden had ever even alluded to that, never mind orchestrated a multi-year plan to make that effective. You would have the right wingers with guns all over the streets. And the reaction to Trump doing it just doesn't even pass the sniff test. So stunning video here from Jenna Ellis. And this is this is the sort of evidence that there's going to
Starting point is 00:22:28 be in that Georgia criminal trial, which we will be watching very, very closely. Fox News host Brian Kilmeade has come up with a cute way of defending Donald Trump's gaffes and these which I'll ask Vivek Ramaswamy about what he thinks is Trump is Trump cognitively glitching. These are happening really regularly. And Brian Kilmeade says, oh, he's doing it on purpose. Let me give you an example of what I mean. Here is Donald Trump gushing about Hungarian authoritarian Viktor Orban again, got confused over the weekend and said that Obama is president of the United States. This is what Brian Kilmeade is going to weigh in on in a moment.
Starting point is 00:23:11 So much more. But the head of Hungary, a very tough, strong guy, Victor Orban, did anybody ever hear of him? Probably considered very powerful, very powerful within his country and outside of his country. Not exactly loved by some of the European nations because he does his thing. He didn't allow millions of people to invade his country. He allowed nobody to invade. Zero.
Starting point is 00:23:36 Zero. He had nobody. So he doesn't have crime and he doesn't have the problems that they're having in other countries where millions of people are allowed to go in. But they were interviewing him two weeks ago and they said, what would you advise President Obama? The whole world seems to be exploding and imploding. Right. And he said, it's very simple. He should immediately resign.
Starting point is 00:23:59 So there it is. President Obama, President Obama, President Obama. Here is Brian Kilmeade essentially arguing Trump's not in cognitive decline. He's crazy. He actually believes Obama is the president, which is a really interesting way to defend this guy. Take a look yourself. The Joe Biden, there's no way.
Starting point is 00:24:17 And Donald Trump keeps saying that because he believes Obama's pulling the strings. I talked to him off camera about that. I talked to him on radio about that. I said, why? And I corrected him on the radio interview. Please go back and listen. I said, you mean Joe Biden? He goes, no, Joe Biden. He's convinced Barack Obama's running the country. That's why he says it. He wants you to think. Oh, Brian, come on. And he thinks that's good. That's good. You should be. You should be his managers. Can't pay. That's a really good spin on that. No, that's a good spin on.
Starting point is 00:24:45 I'm going to jump in, guys. And Brian Kilmeade says, no, it's not. So he's arguing that that Trump is just a conspiracy theorist. He's not actually in cognitive decline. Now, that's not what's happening at all. We have the tapes. We have dozens of examples. Here is yet another example.
Starting point is 00:25:00 This is not about Obama pulling the strings here. He talks about how the Obama administration has the facts about the wall that Trump built. Now, of course, Obama wasn't president after Trump. So it's yet another example of this exact same thing. And then I build a 40 foot wall, a 50 foot wall or a 30 foot wall on top. They say that was a renovation that doesn't count. These people, I'll tell you what they have. I'll tell you, they have a great line of bullshit.
Starting point is 00:25:30 That's one thing I can tell you. That was a renovation. Like sloppy Chris Christie. Oh, he only built 56 miles of wall because there was some wood laying on the ground. So they call that a renovation. We built almost 500 miles of wall. Even the Obama administration says it in their stats. The Obama administration in their stats tells you how many walls, how many miles of wall
Starting point is 00:25:57 Trump built. He means the Biden administration. He's not saying that because he thinks Obama's in control. He's genuinely confused. Now, we're not diagnosing anything here. A common feature of various types of cognitive decline is your mind focuses on earlier things, things that were important, things that dominated your thoughts at an earlier point in your life. We know Trump was furiously obsessed with Barack Obama to a degree, to a degree that it almost seems like Biden and Hillary don't really rile them up that much. The birtherism, the stuff like that. So, in fact, the focus on Obama is yet another concerning sign. We're not diagnosing anything, but the spin that he's doing this on purpose to explain his belief that it's actually Obama who's in charge. It simply doesn't pass the
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Starting point is 00:30:24 You're now between four and five. What's happening? Are you considering the campaign a success at this time? I think we're on track to achieve the goal. The goal is to be the Republican nominee and then to become the president and then more importantly, to revive our national identity and lead our nation forward. And I think that I'm on track to do it. And I know that that would not necessarily be exactly what you see through the static polling today. It's not obvious, I guess, is what you're saying. Yeah, I think that's a fair thing to say. That would not be obvious from looking for any of the candidates other than Trump in this race. That would be far from obvious. I think the other candidates are playing a political strategy that involves being, you know, 11%
Starting point is 00:31:06 instead of 8%. I've bounced around anywhere between 4% and 12% over the course of the last number of months. That's irrelevant. It doesn't matter. I think that nobody is going to win this primary without the America First base that is going to determine the outcome of the Republican primary. I mean, that's what matters. And the tinkering around the edges of the rest of the, you know, some combination of independent, anti-Trump audiences that are old school Republicans, classical Republicans that wished America first never happened, sloshing around the other candidates, that's a sideshow compared to who is the America first base going to choose as the leader to advance the interests of this country. And I think that's the future of the Republican Party. I think it's also the future of a base that goes beyond the Republican Party.
Starting point is 00:31:55 I think that there's a lot of independents and even some stranded or orphaned Democrats who, you know, I think will be on board for the America first movement as well. But anyway, that's what I think actually matters, not the slashing around. So what do you think is going on? I mean, as far as your strategy goes, you know, Tim Scott has dropped out. Pence has dropped out. I was looking at your polling specifically in New Hampshire and some of these other states, and it's essentially we're talking single digits.
Starting point is 00:32:19 Do you think you need to win even a single primary to justify staying in this thing? Or what's the strategy? Well, I think that in the early primaries, I need to beat expectations, be in the top three in Iowa and New Hampshire. I've said that since day one of this race. And history would suggest that there's many people who are able to place in the top three in one or both of those states that go on to win the primary. Keep in mind, I came into this as somebody who most people didn't know who I was six months ago.
Starting point is 00:32:46 And so for me to be in the top three in Iowa and New Hampshire puts me in exactly the trajectory we need to be to get to the ultimate goal. I will say, David, you know, I may be the wrong person, even relative to people who have been professional politicians, to talk to about horse race analytics in a campaign. My approach is a little bit different. I'm sharing my convictions. I'm sharing my convictions. I'm sharing them openly.
Starting point is 00:33:08 My job is to make sure that everybody in this country knows who we are. I say we because we're doing this as a family, but who we are and what we stand for. That's challenging enough. I think that there's a lot of barriers, the media included, that would create distortions for making that a difficult thing to do.
Starting point is 00:33:24 But I want everybody in this country to know who we are and what we stand for, starting with the Republican primary voter base. If after knowing that fully, they want to go for somebody else, I'm totally at peace with that. But I'm focused on doing my job, and we have a long way to go before people in this country do know who I am and what I stand for. And with that being said, that's where my focus is, and I'll leave the horse race analysis to others. But I my heart says we're going to be successful in this journey. That's why we're in this and we're going to continue to the very end. So let's talk a little bit about what's happening maybe in the party more broadly. You were critical at last week's debate of Ronna McDaniel and the role that she played in what was not a good night last Tuesday night for Republicans.
Starting point is 00:34:04 You know, I'm open to the idea that maybe Ronda McDaniel has has some blame here, but isn't part of what's going on that Americans are really rejecting a lot of these policies, the anti-abortion stuff since the repeal of Roe v. Wade. Every time a state has voted on abortion, they've said, no, we actually want to preserve this right. And yet you still have candidates in different parts of the country running against that. Is it possible, I guess, is what I'm asking, that voters are just rejecting some of what's being offered by the candidates? Yeah, of course, it's possible. It's possible. David, I enjoyed our last conversation because you're so familiar to me. You remind me of a lot of my friends who
Starting point is 00:34:38 I've grown up with. And so I'm going to take that as an insult. Yeah, you know, maybe you could you could take it. It's elective how you choose to take it. But I mean it. I mean it, you know, almost an endearing way. Almost. All right. Fair, fair. But but what I would say is let's start with the critique of Ronald McDaniel.
Starting point is 00:34:55 OK, I'm a guy who preaches meritocracy 360 degrees. I like to practice what I preach. I'd like to think that that's the way I've lived my life and the organizations that I've built. And I talk about, for example, policies you and I may have discussed last time. I'm against affirmative action. I'm against race or gender-based quotas. Why? Because I stand for meritocracy. I think the best person should get the job regardless of skin color or any other gender or other attribute. Best person for the job. How can I preach about the virtues of meritocracy in the rest of America, preach this message to the left, talk about accountability in government,
Starting point is 00:35:31 if we're not applying those same principles in the party whose nomination I'm running for, for U.S. president? So if you just look at the hard facts, I mean, this is somebody who, after she took over in 17, in 2018, and I don't think that those values of Americans were that different in 2016 than they were in 2018, but in 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2023, consistently, I would say, blow disasters is what we've seen for Republican results relative to expectations in those elections.
Starting point is 00:36:00 I think there needs to be some accountability. If that were a football team's coach, they would have been fired long ago. If the Republican Party wants to be a championship team, and I do, playing in that party, want to lead it to be one, then I do think there needs to be some basic measure of accountability,
Starting point is 00:36:14 especially against the backdrop of this woman's salary has also tripled over that same course of time. So yes, on that debate stage, I called out, I think, what is the farce of accountability for Joe Biden? I think that Biden's not going to be the Democratic nominee. I called on him to step aside. We'll get to that.
Starting point is 00:36:29 I called out a lot of hypocrisies from the media. But my point here is the way I view it is accountability starts at home. And so I can't be pointing the direction at others without looking in the mirror as a Republican Party for basic accountability to say, is this the best person for that job? There's not a shred of evidence to support it. And I think that there's a lot of evidence to support that an average person off the street could randomly be placed at random in the role of running the Republican Party and the Republican National Committee. Yeah, but that's not really an answer to, you know, 61 percent want abortion legal in all or most cases. And the fact that so many Republicans are still running against that, it seems logical that that's hurting candidates. I mean, it's not
Starting point is 00:37:10 like a trick question or a gotcha. You know, it's not a gotcha. I mean, you asked me about where my criticism of Ronald McDaniel comes from. He's not the best person for the job. Sure, sure. And I agree with that. Yeah. You and I are on the same page. Now, let's go to issues with respect to substance here. I think some of this I think human beings are not animals. What does that mean? Or not, are not ordinary animals. Ordinary animals are not subject to persuasion. Okay. They're not subject to reason to debate that caused them to change their mind or believe in something bigger than themselves. I don't see human beings as just a bunch of beans to be counted and then feeding people what they want to hear and tallying up the tally. I don't believe in that.
Starting point is 00:37:48 I believe in open debate, persuasion, and discussion. I'll give you one example on the issue of abortion. I've traveled this country. I've been to states red and blue and everywhere in between. Take the actual case that Clarence Thomas brought up of a pregnant woman who's walking down the street. She's assaulted. The unborn child dies as a result. I haven't found one person. Let me know if you find one, David, who says that that criminal does not deserve liability for that death. I think everybody, wherever they are in the abortion debate, agrees on that. What does that
Starting point is 00:38:20 say? Most Americans share pro-life instincts in common. The idea that that was a life that was lost, that somebody who injured that pregnant woman deserves accountability for. So all I'm saying is this is a complex issue and it deserves and merits, I think, open debate. I don't think Republicans have been making the case nearly as persuasively as they should. I'm talking to you from the state of Ohio,
Starting point is 00:38:41 where I was born and raised and where I live today. I think it is a shame that there was no alternative proposal to the one that was on the ballot. And you're right, the one that was on the ballot did pass. It basically allows abortion now up to the time of birth without parental consent. That's the people of Ohio, which is a red state, voted for. So we have to grapple with that. But I think part of the failure is there was no affirmative alternative. And that's not just on
Starting point is 00:39:05 the abortion issue i think it goes for a lot of different issues one of my goals in this republican primary and this hopefully general election when i get there is to offer an alternative vision not just criticizing what the left puts on offer i think a lot of republicans can do that race gender sexuality climate whatever that vision is. I have a separate vision grounded in what I would call conservative principles, individual, family, nation, God. Yes, these are actual affirmative values that we can stand for that are inherently, I believe, good, that can help reunite and revive the fabric of this country. And I do see that as missing as we it's easy to criticize the other thing.
Starting point is 00:39:49 It's harder to build up a vision of our own. And I think that's part of what's been missing. And I'm not going to be afraid of just as I'm not afraid of criticizing Democrats. I'm not going to be afraid of criticizing Republicans for our failures as well. So interpreting the Vivek speak, I think you're saying, yes, there is something there to what I'm saying. And you're you're recognizing that. And I think that that's that's important.
Starting point is 00:40:11 I want to talk a little bit about your relationship, not literally your relationship, but but ideologically to what is taking place in the primary with regard to criticism or lack thereof of the presumptive front runner, Donald Trump. Increasingly, we are starting to see Republicans bring up the Trump cognitive issue. Now, there's been a lot of discussion of the Biden cognitive issue. You and I even have spoken about that. Ron DeSantis is now going after Trump's cognitive health. Nikki Haley has started to talk about his confusion. Other Republicans who aren't running are talking about it. And to be clear, I'm talking about regularly saying that Barack Obama's president, that he beat Obama in 2016, et cetera. You know, not knowing that Rudy Giuliani
Starting point is 00:40:56 is right in front of him, not knowing that Melania Trump is right next to him, talking about the wrong city that he's not actually in, saying Biden's going to get us into World War Two, saying that Hungary shares a border with Russia. I could go on. Do you think that that is worthy of discussion? What's your reaction to your fellow Republicans starting to bring that up? Is it substantive or is it an act of desperation? In this narrow case, I think it's an act of desperation. I think they're barking up the wrong tree and it doesn't make sense just because, you know, I mean, I interact with a lot of candidates, you know, backstage at events, et cetera. I would say that, you know, Trump is, say what you will about him.
Starting point is 00:41:31 He's with it. He's sharp. Okay. Now, does everybody misspeak and speak with precision at different stages of their lives, verbal flubs? Sure. And I could point out countless instances of each of those other candidates doing it too. Okay. I think the question is when you go for substance, you can disagree with a lot of his policies.
Starting point is 00:41:46 I think that's what's actually at issue for much of the rest of the Republican Party is there's a divide between the George Bush, Dick Cheney, old wing of the Republican Party that wants to retake that over. And that's an ideological divide. And I think there's really something there. I'm running with a different value proposition
Starting point is 00:42:02 than Trump is that I have fresh legs. I'm from a different generation who can reach the next generation. So I think these are legitimate issues to talk about. But the idea of saying that this guy somehow is out of his wits, I just don't think is that persuasive because it's not true. I think that he is absolutely. even some of the brief conversations I've had with him and going into details of the deals that they were doing with, you know, different NATO countries to step up, to stand up for what they were actually supposed to actually put up. Even some of his speeches recently laying out, I got some interesting details about Iran and the discussions that we had about, even after he killed Soleimani, the subtle negotiations of Iran, pretending like they
Starting point is 00:42:42 were going to knock down actually U.S. military bases with precise missiles that happened to blow up beforehand and the way that was gestured. I mean, those are nuanced subjects that you don't hear a lot of professional politicians talking about. And so I don't think that going after Trump, you know, on the fact that he's cognitively unable to do the job, I don't think is the right tree to be barking up. Yeah. And I would say the other thing that irritates me about a lot of these other candidates trying to, you know, now people who have been licking Donald Trump's boot for years. I mean, Nikki Haley's in that category. Ron DeSantis is in that category. I mean, these people have been licking his feet, begging for money and endorsements. Ron DeSantis' old ad groveling, reading a childhood book to his kid about Donald Trump and Nikki Haley
Starting point is 00:43:26 effectively prostrating herself like Ron DeSantis has and a bunch of other politicians have now, Monday morning quarterbacking one small thing he did. I'm in the other category. I have not been licking Trump's boot for years. Absolutely not. I have no reason to. I've been building businesses and doing things in the world. But I think that the right thing to do is to honor the America First movement. That's what's going to actually determine the future of the world. But I think that the right thing to do is to honor the America First movement. That's what's going to actually determine the future of the Republican Party. I think that's a good thing. I share those values in common. And make the case for yourself. Why are you the best suited person to actually do this job to one of the other candidates? And I think the other
Starting point is 00:43:58 Republican candidates are failing to make their own case, resorting to cheap attacks in reverse. So let's get to that. I would just say one more point, David, on that. Just for consistency purposes, I think I say the same thing with respect to making the case against Biden. I think I was going to say that in this. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:44:17 The same way that you say in your private conversations with Trump, he seems with it. Democrats say the same about Biden. So would you say the cognition is off the table as an issue for both? I haven't met Biden. Right. I can't going by the Democrats. Yeah, but you don't. I mean, that's not something that you hear me making as the prime case against Biden. Speaker 2 I gotcha. My my deeper cases in this applies to both parties, but it certainly applies to the administration right now. It's that the people who we elect to run the government, they're not even the ones actually exercising power. It's an administrative state in three
Starting point is 00:44:48 letter agencies that were never politically accountable in the first place. Right. And we did talk about that last time. It's definitely a democratic issue. Yeah. So let me ask you this. Speaking of, you know, your your criticisms of Trump have been very on the edges, called him the best president of the 21st century. And America first is great. Trump has said positive things about you. Can you on this program say definitively, is there any sort of agreement that you made
Starting point is 00:45:16 with Trump that you would get in there to kind of divide up the non Trump vote and whatever and that Trump won't attack you? You won't really attack him. And ultimately you'll you'll get name recognition. Maybe he'll consider you for VP, but you're really clearing a path for him. Anything implicit or explicit like that? Definitively. No, I just give you a hard answer on that. That's easy. Right. And it's, it's that simple. I know that people, you know, like to, you know, make up excuses when they're failing. And so I think some of this has been opposition research from other candidates or otherwise. Dead false. Now, I think it's accurate that
Starting point is 00:45:48 Trump and I have a relationship of mutual respect dating from when I wrote my first book. I mean, I met a lot of people across the country. Actually, Ron DeSantis in that context. Nikki Haley reached out to me, actually, when the buzz was building around that first book. She established contact rather than the other way around. Donald Trump did as well. I ended up having dinner with him. Probably had the most chemistry of any of those people that I met, probably with Trump. Really? I think we both have business backgrounds.
Starting point is 00:46:12 Yeah. I was impressed when I met him in New Jersey because you get the impression that he's going to be some sort of high-level, not-in-the-details guy. Right. I was actually pretty impressed with a lot of the details, even mostly as it related to foreign policy and otherwise that we got into. And so, you know, I think some of the other politicians I met came across as far more flat. I mean, the Nikki Haley call to me was was hilarious. She reached out. She was clearly building allies for who she wanted to, you know, plot in her, you know, allies that she wanted to build to the presidency, thinking that I could be one of those.
Starting point is 00:46:43 It was very plastic. But anyway, putting putting that to one side, I think I've had a natural affinity, you know, I would say a mutual respect for one another. I don't agree with them on everything, but we're probably 90 percent aligned on America first policies. And so, yeah, I'm an America first conservative as well. I personally think that I'm able to reach the next generation in a way that none of these candidates can. I think that's going to be important. I think young people value candor. And even if you don't agree with everything that I say, my view is you don't have to agree with everything I say in order to still believe that there's a leader who can take our country to the next level if we're frank and honest about it. But that being said, yeah, I think that Donald Trump and I probably have more of an affinity for each other than most of the other candidates in this race.
Starting point is 00:47:26 But the idea that there's some sort of implicit or explicit agreement is ridiculous and there is not a couple quick things, hopefully in the last few minutes we have. You mentioned at the end of the debate last week that you don't think Joe Biden ultimately will be the nominee. And you mentioned Michelle Obama as someone that may be put up there by Democrats. She has said definitively she is not going to run for president. Not like maybe not. I haven't thought about it.
Starting point is 00:47:47 Just I'm not running for president. Do you not believe that? Do you know anything we don't know? I mean, I believe that she doesn't want to run for president. I think that much is clear. I'm not sure that it's her choice and I'm not sure that it's Biden's choice. I mean, really, I think that there's a managerial machine who's in sides who's going to be turned out. It's not one person. It's a system. And I think it goes back to the way the government's run. I think the people
Starting point is 00:48:08 who elect to run the government are not the ones running the government. I don't think Joe Biden is really making most of the policy decisions that come out of the executive branch of the government. I really would give an example of someone who's making the decisions. I know you it's not one person, but there must be someone group. Well, I'm resisting the premise, David. It is a machine that is the Leviathan. Who who runs this is the apparatus. It's the wrong frame. That's the whole point. Who built the machine? Well, I think it's been built over the years from decades of loss of purposeful loss of accountability. I think it was built by people who were elected into office that did not want to
Starting point is 00:48:45 actually bear the accountability for their actions. And so quietly devolved power first from Congress to three-letter agencies, from three-letter agencies to a managerial class that pervades the public and private sector alike. You don't have to take it from what you will see as a crazy Republican candidate, far right or whatever you want to label me on your show. Michael Lind has written about this in a lucid manner. I think that there's a horizontal managerial class that pervades the public, private and intermediate sectors in the United States that's wielding the decisions. I just think it would put a lot of texture to it if you were able to say, you know, Hillary's in the class or Susan Rice,
Starting point is 00:49:26 you know, I mean, you can, you can give you, you can give examples of the Nancy Pelosi's husband or Ellen DeGeneres or, you know, but, but, but that's not, that's neither. That's not my view. And I understand the way the game is played today. It's not a game. I'm just curious. It's fine. I understand it. I'm having fun with it. No, but what's it's not a game. There must be some people, David, and I don't say this in an in a in a in a ill spirited way at all. Just give me the truth of it. You are like dripping with the viscosity of sanctimony as you ask this question.
Starting point is 00:49:56 No, that's it. That's an ad hominem. That's unfair. I think you don't want to answer the question. That's no to attack me. It's an obvious question. If there's not a machine in a managerial class, someone must be involved. Some there must be some.
Starting point is 00:50:09 That's your that's your assertion, David. And I think that my whole premise is that I think it's true in both parties, but it's particularly true in the modern Democratic Party. I don't think Joe Biden has a choice in the matter of whether he's the nominee or not. You can keep repeating that and you can do ad hominems, but you're not really answering. David, and for you to for you to sort of now claim victim and claim ad hominem. No, I'm not a victim. I'm fine. I'm a big boy. I'm a big boy. I'm a big boy. Of course you are. So I'm treating you like one.
Starting point is 00:50:39 And so I think the viscosity of the questioning is basically resisting the premise of the core point that I'm sharing with you, which is that it is not one puppet master that's an individual. I agree. It is a managerial machine that in the Democratic Party, in the Democratic establishment, and I think it exists in the Republican establishment, too, is designed to crush the will of everyday citizens and to decide that this is who will be served. Up to you to digest. You're force-fed who you get. I think this is why they're, you know, the Biden documents case. Why don't you hear much about that right now? Why don't you, the open-ended investigation of Hunter Biden. I think these are levers that if Joe Biden tries to act like an agent and say, when their time of deciding that he's not the nominee, well, I think that's when you're going to see those
Starting point is 00:51:23 investigations then pick up steam to say that, well, you're not getting out of the way. All right. Get you out of the way. I think that that is the whole that is the Leviathan. It is not an individual. It's not individual action. It is. But I'm not claiming it's an individual. I mean, listen, I think ultimately the audience can evaluate when I say give me anyone. And you say my questions are when you say my questions are viscous. One of hundreds of people, the Susan Rice's of the world. Sure. OK. Machine. But it's not one puppet master. People like Susan Rice. Yes. People like Susan Rice. All right. Absolutely. That's an answer. That could have been the first thing. You know, I mean, I don't know why my questions are
Starting point is 00:51:58 viscous. But I've played this game enough to know to say that, oh, well, they think Susan Rice is the puppet master. But no, I'm not saying that person. I have no interest in saying that you said that. I just wanted to feel I just was like, what sorts of people are you thinking about? There you go. Whatever games others might play, I'm certainly not playing with you. I'm just curious who you're referring to. And people can judge it, you know? Yeah, absolutely. And I think people have an innate understanding that the people who are the politicians pretending to make those decisions, they're not really the ones making those decisions today. And I think the more clearly we see that, the more clearly we understand the work we have cut out ahead of us to reform a broken system.
Starting point is 00:52:35 I'll give you other examples too while we're at it. See, now that you sort of clarified where you are on which premise you're asking about, I think the donor class is part of this as well. I think there's a lot of people who in the Democratic Party, you're told that the Democratic Party stands for one person, one vote. Right. Well, I don't think so. Not so clearly. I think that the people who are writing multimillion dollar checks, even though they say you can only give thirty three hundred dollars to Joe Biden. Right. Why is he flying to Greenwich, Connecticut for twenty five or fifty thousand dollar a plate dinners? And this applies to Harley and the Koch brothers, too, right?
Starting point is 00:53:07 I think it's pervades both parties. OK, just making sure it's critical about this. But you're asking me you're asking me you asked a question about the Democratic Party. Yeah, I'm against the influence of mega money in politics, period. But I'm with you. This is when you get to the reality of what that machine looks like. These are inputs into that machine. People who have lived in high levels, but not politically accountable levels of the administrative state that still have, you know, the dirty secrets that they're able to use as levers for the people who actually are in power to the mega donor class that provides the mother's milk that is modern politics in both parties. Yes, I think that is all part of the machine that decides
Starting point is 00:53:42 who and who isn't part of eligible to wield power. All right. Vivek Ramaswamy, I think that is all part of the machine that decides who and who isn't part of eligible to wield power. All right. Vivek Ramaswamy, I think this is the first time ever that the word viscous has been used as an adjective to describe me. And for that, we will certainly make a note in the show archives. Listen to the big stick. It might stick, for lack of a better term.
Starting point is 00:54:04 Yeah, we're we're watching this campaign very closely and we're going to see what happens when the voting starts. And I appreciate you making time for me again in your busy schedule. You're a smart guy and I enjoy having conversation. We didn't get to a lot of policy. No. So we'll have to continue that. I'm going to mention if there is a next time, the test for 18 to 24 year olds to vote has to be where we start, but not today because I'm being respectful of your time. We'll start with that. High school And if there is a next time, the test for 18 to 24 year olds to vote has to be where we start. But not today, because I'm being respectful of your time. We'll start with that high school past the civics test that an immigrant has to pass.
Starting point is 00:54:30 That's the punch line on that one. But we can. All right. I would say apply it to all ages if you want to do that. But let's just start with let's just start with the clean slate. So you're not taking a reliance interest away from somebody else. But right. I'm all in for that.
Starting point is 00:54:42 Very conveniently with the most left leaning voting bloc. But let's not open the door. Let's not open. I would do for everybody, but let's start somewhere. We will discuss next time. Vivek Ramaswamy. Thank you. Thank you, man. Many people know how hard it is to break bad habits, and sometimes you have to replace a bad habit with a better habit. And that is exactly what our sponsor fume helps you do. Fume is not a vape. I don't advertise vape stuff. There's no nicotine. There's no electronics. Fume is a small cylindrical wooden device that just delivers plant flavored air. It comes in a variety of flavors that people love. Crisp mint, maple pepper, white cranberry. They've got new flavors, sparkling grapefruit, orange vanilla. Importantly, it just gives your hand something to do. It's a device of It's also fun to fidget with, which is important, too. It has an adjustable airflow dial, a magnetic end cap.
Starting point is 00:55:45 It gives your fingers something to do, even if it's in your pocket. Check out the reviews online. You'll see so many people have been skeptical at first about fume. They try it and they are very pleasantly surprised. Go to try fume dot com and use the code Pacman to save 10 percent when you get the journey pack, which comes with the device and several flavors to try. That's try FUM.com. Then use code Pacman for 10% off the journey pack. The info is in the podcast notes. As if things weren't already dangerous enough with the
Starting point is 00:56:20 incitements to all sorts of different violence and lies that are being spread by MAGA Trump ism. Donald Trump has now done something genuinely, genuinely dangerous. Trump posted more attacks on the individuals involved in the New York civil fraud trial and also shared a sick fantasy about the citizens arrest of Judge Arthur N. Garan and New York Attorney General Letitia James. This is arguably yet another form of stochastic terrorism. I'm going to show it to you and then tell you why this is genuinely so dangerous. Donald Trump posted to Truth Social Central, quote, I am the victim of a corrupt legal system that is being used by those surrounding Crooked Joe Biden with his full knowledge and consent to hurt, demean
Starting point is 00:57:12 and damage his political opponent. Me, a terrible precedent is being set. But so far, despite the vulgarity and the viciousness of it all, it has driven my poll numbers to record numbers. You see the American people are much smarter than Crooked Joe. They see what's going on with the corrupt and racist New York state AG and a Trump hating puppet judge willing to do her dirty work, even as it takes him and his reputation to new levels of low. They fully understand the Obama appointed radical left D.C. federal judge who refused to recuse fully gagged me and set a trial date the day before Super Tuesday, the biggest and most powerful day in the primaries. They get the fact that A.G.
Starting point is 00:57:56 Garland and his boss, Lisa Monaco, sent their top DOJ lawyer to Manhattan to run the D.A.'s case on me and much more. But we will win. And then Trump immediately resharing from another user. My fantasy. I would like to see Letitia James misspelled and Judge Engeron placed under citizen's arrest for blatant election interference and harassment. First of all, this is another obvious violation of the gag order actually calling on people to go and try to execute a citizen's arrest on these individuals.
Starting point is 00:58:34 Trump knows exactly what he's doing here and lawyers are calling it out. Now it's worth talking a little bit about a citizen's arrest because in case anybody's getting any ideas, this is a very bad idea. Citizen's arrest refers to an arrest made by someone who's not a sworn law enforcement officer. Now, when can such a thing be done? A citizen's arrest can be made if a person witnesses a felony being committed. In some states, if you witness a misdemeanor being committed, you see it. It's being committed in your presence. In many cases, if a felony has been committed and the perpetrator is fleeing, a citizen's arrest can be made if a citizen is in immediate pursuit.
Starting point is 00:59:19 This is to prevent someone from escaping before police arrive. It's very narrow. Use of force in citizens arrests is a very sensitive issue. Only reasonable and necessary can be used. Force can be used for a detention. Anything beyond that is legally problematic. Citizens making citizens arrests can be liable criminally and civilly if they get it wrong. Unlike police officers, private citizens don't have the same powers and immunities when making an arrest. There are all sorts of risks. And the most important thing to understand is that citizens arrests do not apply to the
Starting point is 01:00:02 types of crimes Trump is alleging that the judge and attorney general committed. Now, I'm not even conceding they've committed any crime. Even if you believe what Trump is saying, citizens arrests don't apply to those types of supposed crimes. The foundational principle of a citizen's arrest is you must directly witness a felony being committed. If it's a crime that involves legal misconduct, like weaponized charges or whatever, if it's a crime that involves political misconduct, it's not observable in the way that citizens arrest must be observable. And judgment over whether an attorney general is doing unfair prosecution for political reasons. It's completely outside the scope of when a citizen's arrest would be possible. Now,
Starting point is 01:00:51 do we think that the average MAGA is capable of that analysis? I think the answer is no. But this is a very dangerous idea to be giving people. It is incitement, according to multiple legal experts. And it very obviously, very obviously violates the gag order that Donald Trump is under. Speaking of Truth Social, by the way, an incredible new report finds that Truth Social, Donald Trump's social media platform, has lost seventy three million dollars since it launched. This was going to be a miracle of social media, a free speech platform, blah, blah, blah. The Hollywood Reporter writes since launching Trump's Truth Social and its parent company, the Trump Media and Technology Group, took in three point seven million dollars in net sales and lost tens of millions of dollars. These are the first financial details.
Starting point is 01:01:53 When putting aside the value of the derivative liability, the company has lost 60 million dollars since launching. If you include the value of the derivative liability, it's a loss of thirty one point five million dollars. This is a stunning, stunning implosion. And the takeaway for me is that a free speech platform for its own sake is very lame. They love promoting these platforms as we this is a platform for regaining your free speech. First of all, what free speech have you lost? And it turns out that those who want to use speech simply to say I have speech often want to say either really horrible or really mundane, uninteresting things that nobody cares about. And that's what's happening on truth social, where even Donald Trump's engagement
Starting point is 01:02:51 numbers are a humiliating slice of a sliver of what they were when he was on Twitter. Now, hilariously. Losing 70 million. Is kind of better than Twitter's doing in the sense that since Elon Musk bought Twitter and turned it into the cesspool that is X, it's lost over 20 billion dollars in value. At least Trump's truth social has only lost 70 million in actual money. And we can add this to the very long list of failed Trump businesses. Trump Stakes, Trump Airlines, Trump Vodka, Trump businesses, Trump steaks, Trump Airlines, Trump vodka, Trump water, Trump mortgage, Trump magazine, Trump University, Trump ice, the Trump Taj Mahal. By the way, how you can lose money with a casino actually takes some skill. So I don't know if truth social will continue to be artificially propped up, I don't know if Truth Social will ultimately close and fail, but it is really not going well.
Starting point is 01:03:49 By the way, speaking of free speech, you know how these right wingers insist all the social media platforms are for the left. We're being silenced. We're not allowed to speak. We're not allowed to do this. We're not allowed to do that. Facebook has now completely shut down the David Pakman shows monetization. And I really need your help making a contact
Starting point is 01:04:10 at Facebook. Facebook makes it impossible to contact a real person. Let me tell you, we're on the left. We don't do hate speech. We don't do misinformation. We don't do medical misinformation. We don't do any of it. We started noticing a month ago that our Facebook revenue was down 95 percent. There was no real reason for it. Just none of the videos are getting views. None of the videos are are are monetizing 95 percent. We try to reach out to Facebook. Its form responses can't find anything not clear what it is here that is going on, almost
Starting point is 01:04:49 like we were shadow banned on Facebook. And then this morning I log in and it says restricted monetization with a big red X. What on earth is going on here? And then it says the David Pakman show shared content that was removed by Facebook because our technology detected that it goes against our community standards. I looked in my email and there was an email saying that we published hate speech. We published hate speech. I went through this process of requesting a review and it's an endless loop where when you click request, it then just tells you, do you want to request another review? Clearly, some algorithm has determined that we published hate speech and even the mechanism to request
Starting point is 01:05:45 a review is an endless loop. So what I'm asking you for is we need a contact. We need some real person. If you know someone who works at Facebook or Meta, if you I don't I don't know, but this was about 17 percent of our revenue. It's now gone to zero. This is really a problem. And by the way, I'm not legally arguing Facebook is doing anything wrong. An algorithm wrongly identified what was probably me debunking hate speech as publishing hate
Starting point is 01:06:21 speech. They're going after the wrong people by their own terms of service. If they decided we don't want progressive content, it would be within their legal right to do it. I'm not making a legal argument. I'm making an argument that these algorithms are actually not hurting conservatives. They're hurting people like us on the left. So certainly if you're able to help us replace this lost revenue by getting a membership at join Pacman dot com, everybody at the show would appreciate it. Just as importantly, if you can help get us in touch with a real person at Facebook to help us out with this, we would be so grateful. Email info at David Pacman dot com. If you have a
Starting point is 01:07:03 friend, family member, father, son, mother, whatever that works at Facebook or Meta, we have a voicemail number. That number is two one nine two. David P. Here is the egg man reacting to the bizarre moment when Carrie Lake touched Tim Miller during their interview that we played yesterday. Listen to this. Hey, Dave, have you ever been in a physical interview with somebody where they physically touch you uncomfortably like Carrie Lake touched Tim Miller in that interview? Right. Dave, I just want to say how awfully creepy that was that she did that. But also imagine it's like I just touch you and you go, Eggman, that's weird. I'm like, but Dave, I'm a father. And you'd be like, yeah, OK, like what is she saying? OK, that's weird. I'm like, Dave, I'm a father.
Starting point is 01:07:45 And you'd be like, yeah, OK. What is she saying? OK, here's the deal, because she's losing the argument. She just feels let me get intimate with this stranger in an interview conversation. It was creepy and disgusting. It freaked me out. Has it ever happened to you? Shallow.
Starting point is 01:08:04 Never. Has it ever happened to you? Tell them never. I have never had a situation where a guest weirdly touched me because they did or didn't like the line of question. But, you know, Carrie didn't like the line of questioning. So she touched him. Miller. Some people might have liked my line of questioning, but they didn't touch me either. A truly bizarre moment from that interview.
Starting point is 01:08:21 I can't wait to see the whole thing. We have a fantastic bonus show for you today. Don't miss it. Sign up at join pacman dot com. We will see you then and we'll be back tomorrow with a brand new show.

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