The David Pakman Show - 121525 A Dark Weekend As Reality Collides With Denial

Episode Date: January 11, 2026

-- On the Show -- A weekend of mass violence spans a Brown University shooting, an antisemitic terror attack in Sydney, and the killing of Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner -- Sloppy circulation of misleading Jeffrey Epstein related images weakens real accountability by allowing Donald Trump and allies to dismiss verified evidence -- The Federal Reserve unanimously reappoints regional bank presidents early to protect institutional independence and blunt Donald Trump's influence over interest rates -- New NBC News polling shows Republican identification with MAGA slipping as economic frustration drives quiet disengagement ahead of the 2026 midterms -- Kevin Hassett reveals Donald Trump is shielded from bad economic data, leaving him detached from voter reality and worsening Republican electoral losses -- Donald Trump delivers a rambling Christmas event speech filled with delusions, distractions, and broken promises that leaves the audience visibly uncomfortable -- Donald Trump repeatedly falling asleep during official meetings raises unavoidable questions about stamina and fitness for future office -- Erika Kirk refuses to condemn Donald Trump's violent rhetoric during a heavily promoted town hall that collapses into incoherence and low viewership -- On the Bonus Show: Australia moves to strengthen gun laws after the Bondi Beach shooting, The Washington Post launches an AI-personalized podcast, a JetBlue flight narrowly avoids a collision with a US military aircraft near Venezuela, and much more... 🖼️ Aura Frames: Use code PAKMAN for $35 off Carver Mat frames at https://auraframes.com/pakman 🥐 Wildgrain: Use code DAVID for $30 off & free croissants FOR LIFE at https://wildgrain.com/david -- Become a Member: https://davidpakman.com/membership -- Subscribe to our (FREE) Substack newsletter: https://davidpakman.substack.com -- Get David's Books: https://davidpakman.com/echo -- TDPS Subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/thedavidpakmanshow -- David on Bluesky: https://davidpakman.com/bluesky -- David on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/davidpakmanshow (00:00) Start (02:02) Weekend of mass violence (09:03) Misleading Epstein images circulate (17:56) Fed protects independence (23:28) GOP support slipping (29:56) Trump shielded from economic reality (37:21) Trump's rambling Christmas speech (46:40) Trump falling asleep in meetings (52:27) Erika Kirk avoids condemning rhetoric  

It was a genuinely disturbing weekend on planet Earth. And today's show does reflect that. We are going to talk about mass violence in the United States, anti-Semitic terrorism abroad, and really what it all says about where humanity is right now. We are also going to talk about moments that can cut through that darkness. And you'll see what I mean very quickly on today's program. And then we do have to talk about the Epstein photos that are now circulating after another dump of pictures last week because I think that some are playing their hand in a way that

is not going to go well, including misleading images, very sloppy claims and a lot of lack of verification. And this may hand MAGA and Trump an easy escape hatch, which I don't think we want to give them. And I'll talk about that. We're also going to get into an interesting move from the Federal Reserve, which has quietly Trump proofed itself, even as we know Donald Trump is seeking the replacement for Fed chairman Jerome Powell. And it is a really interesting move. And we also learned that the people around President Trump are regularly hiding bad economic news from him.

We'll talk about how that happens. And then soon I will speak to Sarah Matthews about it. He used to work in the first Trump White House. Plus, a holiday party at the White House during which Trump rambles incoherently. And the Erica Kirk Town Hall that CBS hyped for a week, barely anyone watched and is really an atrocity of journalism. All of that and more on today's show. Sign up at join packman.com. Make sure you're getting my substack newsletter.

What a program today. All right, it is hard to know where to start today. So bear with me. You know, this is not primarily a show about, for example, celebrity gossip or crimes involving celebrities. This is not primarily a show about mass shootings, although we talk about them. This is not primarily a show about anti-Semitism or domestic terrorism or Australia. But it is a show about how can we get.

To a point where homo sapiens, humans on this planet can live the fullest, freest, most rewarding and healthy lives based on everything we know, based on how wealthy we've gotten as a species, and based on the technology and government and sociocultural aspects of being a human on planet Earth. Right. That's like the super big picture of what the show is about. This weekend was really a rough one, showing the worst and arguably some of the best of humanity as well, but a lot of the worst. And so in no particular order, we saw a mass shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island, two students killed, nine wounded. And as of this moment that I'm recording, the shooter is still at large.

As usual, Trump's FBI director, Cash Patel, publishing statements that end up not being true about suspect, person of interest, custody, this, that, the other thing. As of this moment, the shooter is still at large. Listen to this disgusting detail, which tells you so much about the state of the United States right now. At least two current Brown University students, Mia Tretta and Zoe Weissman, who were in their dorms during this particular shooting, had experienced other school shootings before. In other words, this shooting at Brown is not the first one that an institution which they attend

is plagued with. So that is one incident over the weekend. We also had an incident of anti-Semitic terrorism in Australia at a park near a beach in Sydney. And this was during a Hanukkah celebration last night. As some of you know, we celebrated the first night of Hanukkah and two shooters believed to be a father son duo, one in one in his 50s, one in his 20s, have as of this moment killed 15 people, including a child. One of the shooters is dead. 42 people were also injured. Police later found and removed a suspected homemade bomb from a car belonging to one of the two shooters. This was a

deliberate attack on Jewish people. The deadliest mass shooting in Australia since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, almost 30 years ago, and the deadliest incident of terror in Australian history. Now, are there some glimmers here? Are there silver linings in the midst of terrible tragedy? Well, I can give you two because we're desperate for something. First of all, a civilian who happens to be Muslim himself, Ahmed al-Ahmed, courageously disarmed one of the shooters and prevented who knows how many additional deaths. He is believed to be a 43 year old man, father of two girls, tackled one of the shooters, seized

the gun, was later shot himself. We have the video. The video is not graphic. You are going to see Ahmed al Ahmed in the white shirt going up behind the shooter and disarming the shooter. Look at this. Oh. Oh.

And notice, by the way, notice that after taking the long gun from the shooter, Ahmed could have, could have killed the shooter and did not. And he is now in custody. Now this gentleman happens to be Muslim. And at a time of such anti-Semitism, the significance of this act is not law. on me. What an incredible piece of video. Another glimmer, despite this being a disgusting and terrible, terrible tragedy, these incidents are really rare in Australia. And it's a reminder that you actually can achieve things through legislation that relates to gun safety.

If you look at the list of such events in Australia, they are so uncommon that the last mass violence event in Australia was in 2024. It was a stabbing where no one was killed. Before that, it was 2018, a stabbing where there was one killed and two injured. Before that was 2017, one killed three injured. All tragedies. But compare this to the United States. Yesterday, we had three mass shootings in the United States. Yesterday Sunday. On Saturday, there was just one, which is rare in this country that there's only one mass shooting. It was the Brown University event that I already talked about. But this month, we have had 12 mass shootings in the United States. So the silver lining is as humans, as homo sapiens, gun safety laws don't prevent everything,

but Australia is proof that they do reduce it dramatically. Another story of note over the weekend early this morning, late last night, Rob Reiner, the actor, director, producer, political activist and his wife, Michelle, were found dead in their home in Los Angeles. Now, the details are still sparse, both found dead from apparent stab wounds. It is being investigated as a homicide. A lot of incorrect things put out that I won't repeat because we don't yet know all of the details. Regardless, you might say, well, why does that get attention and not someone killed in random

gun violence elsewhere? That's how our media ecosystem works. But regardless, the point here is just a reminder of the pointless, senseless violence. You know, we have all of these things that we can't stop, death from natural disasters, death from disease that we haven't yet conquered, all of these causes of death. Given how fragile life is, these pointless, optional acts of violence are just a reminder of the sickness that we have in society. So this was a rough weekend.

This was a very, very rough weekend touching so many different elements of the worst of humanity. with some glimmers there that remind us that there are still good people out there. And really, it's it's most of the people will keep covering all of these stories as more information is available. I want to talk about the new dump of this story is not about Trump. So I might just that introduction might have confused people. I want to talk to people about the massive dump of Epstein photos that were released a few days ago. Because this is one of those moments where how something is handled matters almost as much as the underlying facts. Now, my core point that I want to make to you here is very simple. We've got to be very careful with these images, and I encourage others to be

careful with the images in terms of what we deduce and infer from the images. There is no doubt that Jeffrey Epstein was a monster. There is no doubt that accountability matters, and we need to continue going through all of the pictures that are released and assessing who may have been additional perpetrators here. But the important message that I have for you is that sloppy or misleading material ends up giving the right wing, the MAGA people, the Trump people, exactly what they want. A lot of the reaction online has treated every new image that was released Friday as a smoking gun. And some of these images are not smoking guns. Let me explain. There was this condom picture that's been circulating everywhere.

And you've probably seen people explaining, oh, it was designed by Epstein for Trump or it was approved. They displayed it at Epstein's estate. It's custom made for Trump by Jeffrey Epstein. It's not what it is. The photo is from a novelty store in New York, Fish is Eddie. You can still buy the exact same thing. The price tags match.

the branding is visible in the image itself. This is a gag item. It's meant to mock Trump. It's not evidence of anything tied to Jeffrey Epstein. That is an important distinction. Okay. When something like this gets amplified without basic verification, the right no longer has to argue nuance. They can go. It's fake. It's fake. No big deal. This is all fake. This has nothing to do with Trump and Epstein. There are other examples. There's one image being shared. It's a cropped Getty photo. from a public event. Now, Epstein isn't even in this picture. The cropped out figure is the man who is now King Charles. Bill Gates was at a public event. This image, which was circulated as evidence of wrongdoing, it's a public photograph. That's all it is. It was in with the so-called Epstein

files, but it is simply a public photograph. There's another image which shows Donald Trump with several women whose faces are redacted. And people immediately jumped to, here's the picture of Trump with underage girls at the Epstein estate. But this photo appears to be from the Hawaiian Tropic contest. Now, could these women later have been victims? Possibly. This picture doesn't establish that. Pretending that this picture establishes wrongdoing invites dismissal of all of it.

This is uncomfortable, okay? But it is necessary to understand this. And among the uncomfortable but necessary points, as I have said for a very very, very, long time. It is entirely possible that there are no photos of Trump committing illegal acts, not because Epstein wasn't running a criminal operation, not because we don't have serious questions about Trump's association with Epstein. We do. But it's possible that if Trump did something illegal, if that it's not evidenced in any photograph. That is not a defense of Trump. It's a recognition of how evidence works. We have plenty of documented material that ties Trump socially and politically

to Jeffrey Epstein. Flights, quotes, relationships, video of them, all of that stuff is real. But assuming that there must be a hidden trove of incriminating photos and then promoting weak or unrelated images, it makes it too easy for the defenders of Trump to wave it all away. And once they do that, they won't just dismiss one bad photo or one photo that doesn't show what it purports to show. They will dismiss the entire story. And that is the danger here. If the material being released is novelty store items, photos from public events, or images that only through heavy unsubstantiated speculation, can you make any kind of disturbing allegation, all of a sudden, the right no longer needs to engage with this stuff seriously. They can laugh it off and say it's overblown. They put

a picture up of a novel novelty store item and tried to tie it to Epstein and Trump. If something truly explosive does exist, this approach will undermine it because real bombshells don't need imagination. You don't have to speculate with a real bombshell. You don't need a Twitter thread explaining why this might be a bombshell. The real bombshells really speak for themselves. Now, the earlier email releases landed because they were concrete. You didn't have to squint or connect the dots and look at.

for things that weren't there. Every easily debunked image is going to make it harder for the real evidence to come through. And that is why I believe caution matters. We don't want to protect Trump. We don't want to help Trump. But every photo that we make an allegation about that turns out to be untrue gives his allies the ability to pull out the fake news, nothing burger script. And so we've got to scrutinize Epstein.

We need to follow the real evidence. We need to demand accountability. But we must verify first. be honest about what an image is, be honest about what the image does and doesn't prove. Otherwise, we aren't going to be forcing accountability. We are going to hand them a reason to say, this is crap and it's time to walk away. Now, one other element to this. Some of you wrote to me sympathetic to the view I just espoused, which is I think there are people making claims about some of these pictures that go way beyond what can be proven. And the question that some of you

raised in the email over the weekend is why would these images be released right now if these images are not particularly incriminating in reality. And there are a lot of possible answers to that. One possible answer is that they're running out of incriminating stuff and the well is starting to run dry. That is that's a possibility. Another possible explanation is they released a huge amount of pictures and they're doing it in waves with no regard. to how any particular picture can be used or politicized or whatever. That's a problem. We don't have the answer.

And it's conceivable that this is part of some broader strategy from oversight Democrats. Or it's possible that it's not. We just don't know the answer to that. But we have to make sure that we don't go beyond what the evidence tells us. And some of the stuff that was released is merely public images, not indicative of any wrongdoing whatsoever. Let me know what you think. Leave a comment.

Let me know what you think about the strategy. the strategy of how these are being released. A lot of people hit this point in December and realize I still need to find a thoughtful, genuine gift for someone on my list. And quickly, if that is you, Aura frames can really help you out. Our sponsor, Aura, makes premium digital frames that beautifully display photos and videos. I've been using one myself for years. I've given aura frames to my mom. I've given them to my dad. So many people, I preloaded them with baby photos and they love it because they turn it on the first time and the pictures are there. ORA makes it really easy, not only with the preloading of photos, but you can keep adding

them throughout the year with the app. There is plenty of time to get an aura frame shipped before Christmas and you'll get $35 off their best selling Carver mat frames. When you go to oraframs.com and use the code Pacman at checkout, the link is in the description. This is an audience supported independent media program. Welcome to all of the new folks who found us over the weekend. Some thanks to a couple of viral videos we had on TikTok and Instagram. Others, thanks to Corey Booker, the senator, posting one of our clips to his Instagram. Everybody knew is more than welcome here.

I also want to say thank you to our two newest members, Kenneth Higgins and Doug Brown, who signed up at joinpacman.com. Really appreciate you. You can join the ranks of membership at join packman.com. And remember that you can keep up with us for free simply by subscribing to my substack. You can find it at substack. com. Something huge just happened at the Federal Reserve.

it undercuts one of Donald Trump's biggest pressure points. And the Fed has brilliantly trump proofed itself for the inevitable departure of Fed chairman Jerome Powell. Let me explain what happened and why it's so brilliant. It was done quietly. It was done unanimously. And it happened way earlier than anybody expected. In the last few days, the Federal Reserve reappointed 11 of its 12 regional bank presidents all at once.

All right. So who cares? Why? Why does that matter? Well, they did it months before their terms were set to expire. Usually that's not the way it works. Normally, these reappointments will happen right near the deadline. It's routine.

It's boring. Nobody pays attention. This time the Fed rushed it. They used a completely different timeline. Why does this matter? Trump is furious at the Fed. In particular, he's furious with Fed chairman Jerome Powell because Trump wants interest rates, cut, cut, cut, faster.

and faster. Trump's been attacking Jerome Powell for years now. Trump's allies have been floating ways to reshape the Fed from the inside. This includes new requirements that would give Donald Trump even more control over the Federal Reserve, even though the Federal Reserve is not supposed to be under political control. As an example, Trump's Treasury Secretary floated a new rule saying Fed presidents should have to live in their districts for three years. Sounds like a mere technicality, but it's a way to kick a bunch of people out and replace them with the people you want. Trump's top economic advisor, the guy expected to replace Powell, back the idea. So markets were starting to worry, Trump is really going to take over the Fed and make it a political tool. What happens if Trump gets rid of Powell?

What happens if Trump stacks the Fed with loyalists or what happens to Fed independence? That is the context. So now we get to the key part of this move. Those regional Fed presidents sit on the committee that sets interest rates. And one of the things I've told you, and I hope others have been telling you as well, is that just replacing Powell alone won't give Trump the control that he wants because when the Fed meets to decide, what are we doing with rates? Are they going up, down, or staying the same? All of those regional Fed presidents get a vote. And in recent meetings, they, meaning these other Fed presidents, have been more resistant to rate cuts than the Trump appointed governors. In other words, they are a problem for Trump, even if he gets rid of Jerome Powell. So the Fed board stepped in and said

not so fast. And by reappointing these folks earlier than normal, the Fed has locked them in for another five years. Now, Trump can yell, Trump can threaten. Trump can get rid of Jerome Powell. But, but if the courts let him, by the way, but it won't matter nearly as much because now the structure underneath the Fed chairman has gotten way stronger. And one Fed official said this takes a huge risk off the table going into 2026. The good news about this is it portends greater economic stability next year. The bad news about this is if you want Trump to do whatever he wants in an authoritarian style, it's going to be harder for him to do it.

So this is great if you like the Fed's independence. This is great if you like the Fed not bowing to pressure from the president. But if you want Trump to have all the power, you're not going to like this. Now, the translation here is that Wallstans, street understands what just happened and they like it because you look at bond yields they went up and economists are realizing trump has just been or the fed has been trump proof is a better way to say it now trump can still do damage the fed is still not invincible it definitely doesn't mean trump won't keep attacking powell but it does mean that if trump gets rid of powell the fed has ensured

Trump doesn't end up with full control. And this is how institutions defend themselves quietly, procedurally before the fire even starts. It's being done professionally. It's being done with tact. And it may be one of the most effective moves we have seen against Donald Trump in months. It's not going to get headlines. It's not hot in the way that Trump likes to say, but it is meaningful. Now, let me remind you, why is Trump obsessed with rate cuts to begin with? It's not about careful monetary policy. Rate cuts pump the stock market. Stock market highs make headlines. Headlines let Trump say, look at how everything is booming, at least the stock market in my economy. Trump wants the sugar high. Rate cuts give the

stock market a sugar high. And he wants it to happen on his timeline. The Fed's job is to balance many different factors and decide where should rates be. So this move really hits Trump where it hurts, which is his ability to spin narrative. And it is a truly brilliant move. I mean, just an excellent, excellent move from the Fed. And the funniest part about it is all of these people angry that the Fed is trying to do this, that or the other thing with these early reappointments. The economy will probably be better because of this next year. The stock market will probably perform at least with more stability next year because of this move. But they're angry because they want their traffic cone colored president to control everything, decide everything, and have

everything be at his pleasure. Really good move by the Fed. We have something real happening on the right right now. And you can see it in some new numbers that are coming out. There's a new NBC News poll. And it does show that Trump is still underwater overall with 42% approving and 58% disapproving. terrible numbers for Donald Trump. But there is a more important story. Sometimes you look at the paint job of the car and you go, looks okay or doesn't look so good, but you've got to look under the hood to see what's really going on. Strong support for Trump within the Republican Party isn't collapsing, but it is slipping.

And that slippage is going to matter going into 2026. And even more telling fewer Republicans than in a long time are now identifying as math. I was thinking back as I was reading this poll to Marjorie Taylor Green's 60 Minutes interview last Sunday where she was asked by Leslie Stahl, are you MAGA? And she said, I'm America first. And we sort of wondered aloud. Is that a distinction without a difference? It's just Marjorie Taylor Green trying to separate from Trump, but not necessarily a lot of

the ideas. Okay. One of the interesting things is that a lot of Republicans are saying, I am not MAGA. In April, a majority of Republicans said they identify with the MAGA movement. Republicans are now split 50-50. Half of Republicans do not identify with the MAGA movement. Now, Trump's power, as is the case with a lot of authoritarian's comes from a hardcore base of supporters so intense and feverish and fervent in their support for Trump that they essentially

scare the rest of the Republican Party into at least going along with what Donald Trump is doing. That grip, which has kept most of the Republican Party in line behind Donald Trump, is starting to weaken. You can see it in behavior as much as you can see it in polling. The big example is the one I mentioned Marjorie Taylor Green. She broke with Trump publicly, dropped the MAGA label, leaving Congress early. Trump's calling her Marjorie Trader Brown. It's all gone wrong.

When even Marjorie Taylor Green decides the MAGA label is a brand liability. something has shifted. The main reason this is happening is not woke propaganda against Donald Trump or it is the reality of the economy. And it's exactly what I've been saying. And I've been saying to to the MAGA people come join us. Simply acknowledge that he's not doing what he promised and come join us. Trump promised to lower costs, but inflation is still more than zero, meaning costs are still going up. Um, groceries remain expensive. Many Americans are cutting back just to afford basics. Many Americans are choosing not to go to the doctor or not to fill prescriptions because they can't afford them. 40% of Americans would have to borrow if they were hit today with an

unexpected $400 expense. And so even Trump voters are now more likely to say countries on the wrong track compared to earlier this year. More of them say their personal finances are worse today than they were a year ago. That includes older voters. That includes lower income voters. It includes voters with less formal education. These are groups that Trump and the Republican Party cannot afford to lose if they are going to retain control of the House at least in the 2026 midterm election. And the part that should really worry them is that when voters were asked, who do you trust more on cost of living? They now say Democrats. That holds true if you ask independent voters. If you ask young voters, if you ask Latino voters, women voters, and overwhelmingly if you ask black voters.

So this is not an overnight MAGA collapse. It's not a sudden rebellion against Trump. It's happening slowly and arguably because it's happening slowly. It is not happening for reasons that the people turning on Trump don't understand. It's happening because they do understand what's going on. Do you see the disengagement? You see the quiet rebranding. I'm a conservative at the end of the day. I'm not one of these MAGA people. I'm a Republican and I'm a conservative in. the style of fill in the blanks, right? Backing away more slowly than we've seen before. And this is how political movements actually die. It's less frequently an overnight abandonment. It's the realization over time that they don't really have anything to offer you. And what we now have to see is what can

this be snowballed into as 2026 approaches because Republican elected are realizing we don't want to be caught holding the back. And the position that's, you know, And they will be in and we're almost at the end of the year and I think this is going to start quickly in January, Republican elected are going to have to make a call. Do I need to ally myself with Trump to get reelected in November or do I need to distance myself from Trump? We both want away. What's more likely to get him elected, but what's also more likely to make Trump the ultimate

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You know, we've been wondering why is it that Trump only? seems to repeat what he perceives to be positive data about the economy. Is he just lying? Is he confused? Well, one of the things that has now surfaced is that Donald Trump is actually only given little bits and pieces of economic data that in a complete vacuum abstracted from the totality of what's going on in this economy make things seem not that bad. I'm going to give you an example of this. One of Donald Trump's top economic advisors, Kevin Hassett, was on Face the Nation. And he was asked very simple question, which is Trump keeps saying prices are down. It's not true. What data is he looking at? Now, you remember, and anybody who can read numbers understands, that inflation has not

dropped below zero since Trump took over. By definition, that means prices have continued to go up. They've bounced between two and a half and three percent annual inflation since June of 23 under Biden. Inflation has remained roughly there under Donald Trump, which means prices keep going up relatively slowly, but continuing to go up. So Hacett explains Trump is basically just looking at the good stuff. And if you read between the lines and listen to what Hassett says here, he is explaining Trump is focusing in really closely on, well, groceries are up. Just, you know, arabica coffee beans from the this part of Columbia are down. That's an example. It's not literally what he says, but Trump gets cherry-picked little bits and pieces that can be used to their advantage.

Take a listen. So people are holiday shopping. They're aware of prices. The president said this week, prices are coming down tremendously. The latest data, though, from the Consumer Price Index, up 3% year-over-year, personal consumption index is up 2.8% year-over-year. What data is he looking at? What's your benchmark?

Right. Well, one of the things that if you saw his presentation in Pennsylvania, as he put up a bunch of charts, which he loves to do, where he went through the individual items that we've already sort of made a bunch of progress on. And so, for example, under Joe Biden, prescription drugs were up 9%. So far this year, they're down 6 tenths of a percent.

Gasoline is way down. It was like the highest ever under Biden. Eggs, people's talking about eggs. Yeah, you were talking about eggs. And so I think the way to think about inflation, of course, is that there are like micro effects, like the time that we had the avian flu effecting drug prices, and then macro effects, which is runaway spending big deficits and then an accommodative Fed policy. And I think that tariffs adding to some price increases according to the future.

Well, I think that the tariff evidence is mixed. So listen, you know, forget about the big picture of the economy. Prescription drugs are down 0.6%. Gas isn't at its peak and eggs are down, right? So this is what Donald Trump is being shown. Everybody around him seems to know it. It's not an accident. It's not confusion.

This is how they protect themselves. They keep Trump in a bubble because they're afraid to tell them the truth. Now, we saw versions of this during Trump's first term. Remember, we found out that what's called the PDB, the presidential daily briefing, which normally is quite extensive under Trump because he couldn't pay attention. attention would sometimes wander to a TV on in the back of the room or he would get visibly bored or say that's enough. They shortened it, shortened, it shortened it. And there was reporting during Trump's first term that that PDB was down to one page. Half of the page was some kind

of visual aid like a chart. And then there were two or three bullet points. Okay. Another version of this is Trump was getting printed out tweets from other people praising him. All right. So what's the story? here. Trump punishes bad news. So people around Trump learn you don't bring them bad news. You just bring flattery. Stop testing if you don't want to find COVID cases. Only bring Trump good news if bad news is potentially going to get you fired. And the result is what we have. It's a president who might genuinely believe that the economy is booming. And yet voters are saying, this is very bad. You're not doing any of the things you promise to do. And I'm worse off economically today. than I was a year ago. This is a disconnect, which might placate Trump, but it is proving to be disastrous

for Republicans at the ballot box. And you look at Republican underperformance everywhere for the last year. Democrats flipped the mayor's office in Miami. Republicans had that lockdown for nearly 30 years. Democrats took huge victories for the gubernatorial races in Virginia and in New Jersey. We saw Georgia state seat. I mean, it's everywhere. We could spend. then now we're just talking about that. And so once you recognize this and you see, wow, Trump's approval is in the mid 30s in a lot of these polls, Latino support is collapsing, suburban voters are bailing. Cities are completely hostile to Trump. What is Trump doing about it? He goes, oh, affordability is a hoax and it's a scam and it's a con job and it's all Biden's fault.

Sometimes all in the same speech. It is both a scam and a real problem, but that it's Joe Biden's fault, not Donald Trump's fault. And then when he asked, was asked by Dasha Burns in that interview for Politico, how do you rate your economy? He goes a plus plus plus plus plus and everybody laughs. And meanwhile, Republicans are thinking about retiring, thinking about not running for reelection, just figuring out how can I hide from Donald Trump? Because they seem to know what's coming. A president who only sees good news can't possibly course correct. Unless you believe there is something to fix, you're not going to fix. anything. Now, I also don't only, I'm kind of excusing Trump's dishonesty with this analysis. If the

analysis is Trump has no idea people are struggling because he's only given good economic data, you can't really blame the guy. I think that that's not the whole story. I think in addition to Trump being given positive economic data by the people around him, Trump is aware of the people who are struggling, but he doesn't really give a shit. And he assumes it's not that much not that many people or he doesn't really even understand what it means to struggle. But at the bottom line at the end of the day, if you keep Trump clueless, he will drag you to defeat in 2026. And the most remarkable part of all of this is that they're kind of doing it to themselves. It is not mandatory that this be the approach. Republicans together in a way that it's not

some staff or Trump can fire. Republicans together could go to the White House and they could could say, listen, we don't know what you're being told. We don't know what you're seeing on a daily basis. But our constituents are getting crushed and we are going to lose and you will accomplish nothing for the last two years of your presidency. You've got to recognize what's going on here. They could do that. But even elected Republicans seem afraid to do that. And so it will continue and it will continue with incoherent rambling, the likes of which we saw at the White House Christmas party. All right, you've got to see this video. Donald Trump stunned a room into silence. This was a friendly crowd. This was the White House Christmas party or holiday party. They all have different names.

I've been to such events at the White House, not under Trump, by the way. It was nothing like this. And a slowed down Joe Biden was not this bad. Trump confused, sweaty, orange, yellow. swollen, endlessly disheveled, ranting about snakes. And Trump actually noticing, damn, everybody's really quiet here. Why is that? Well, sir, it's because you're not making any sense and this was supposed to be about Christmas. Did you hear this sort? And so he's being read his rights and his this is, this is, they thought he was dead three times,

different times. They carried him out, feeding him the antivenom, and over a period of months, he was unconscious for a long time, many weeks, and he made it. I asked him, how you doing today? He said, is it perfect? Look how quiet everybody is. You know, it's funny, when you talk about snakes and things like that, that people find it interesting, would anybody like to go and go to Peru and walk around the forest with the Jesus. No, thank you. No, thank you. I'll say no thank you. But this was a real. Did they ever find this night by the way? They did. Total confusion. A holiday reception. A Christmas reception. You know, for all of his faults, Joe Biden at the holiday party I went to, Joe Biden did read his relatively short remarks off

of a teleprompter. But they made sense. At least they made sense. At another point, almost beyond belief, Donald Trump gets distracted by a woman in the crowd who says, wow, she really looks like Ivanka and that's a great thing. And of course, this really is just Trump's creepiness. Who as you know, Donald Trump for a long time has talked about how if he weren't the father of Ivanka, he would love to be dating Ivanka because he finds her just so attractive.

Trump distracted by a woman in the crowd. This is the most interesting story. What do you look like Ivanka? Has anyone ever told you that? I'm looking. I'm saying, is that you by, could you just turn around for the camera? Does she look, does she look like Ivanka? It's the most unbelievable thing.

So I wouldn't, I didn't want to take a chance. I say, is that Ivanka? You look just like Ivaka, which is a great compliment. Now, oh boy. Now you could say, oh, well, a sign of. cognitive decline is struggling to recognize even your own children. He thought it was Ivanka, but it's not. And then of course, it's a real compliment because as we know, Trump with a long history

of finding his daughter extraordinarily attractive and many people commenting online that Trump seems to have lost all ability to control urges, even if it's a disgusting urge that you find your daughter attractive and see someone who looks similar in the crowd. He just can't control it. Okay. prices were going to be coming down on day one. And remember, this is a holiday reception, okay? Holiday reception.

Prices were going to be coming down on day one. Donald Trump now promising, you know, I think in the next six to 12 months, you're really going to start seeing some results. To Europe, they went to Mexico, Japan. They went all over. They went to South, South Korea. And now it's just the opposite. They're all coming back.

We're going to, we have an age that's coming up, the likes of which I don't think this has this country has never seen and I just look so forward to the results you're going to see results in six months to a year I think you'll see results we've never had anything like it again there's never been any country China wonderful have a great relationship with president she oh yeah China's never seen it nobody's ever seen it anyway we are getting I believe very close to every being super awesome. Just it's going to be so soon you won't even, uh, you won't even know it. Now, if you've been wondering, what is Trump up to exactly? Like, other than fixing all of our problems perfectly, what is Trump up to? And Trump says he is building his arc, building his arc like

in Paris. Believable on policy. And we have a policy thing that's going to be unbelievable happening. Should I announce it or should I keep it quiet? I put Vince in charge of the triumphal arc. We're building an arc like the arc to triumph. The arc to triumph. And we're building it by the Arlington Bridge, the Arlington Cemetery. By the way, Melania seems to not give a crap about any of this. Opposite the Lincoln Memorial.

You could say Jefferson, Washington, everything, because they're all right there. and it's something that is so special. It will be like the one in Paris, but to be honest with you, it blows it away, blows it away in every way. The happy couple, you can really feel the love. And Vince came in one day and his eyes were teeming. I mean, he couldn't believe how beautiful.

He was teaming with what? And he wanted to do that. That's your primary thing. There is nothing that can compete with that. It's the only city. in the world that's of great importance that doesn't have a triumphal arc. You know what that is. Yep. And this one is going to blow them all away. The one that people know mostly is the arc to triumph. And of course, the crowd's so riveted and Melania looking pain, the crowd so riveted

that you can hear other conversations happening in the background. No proper Christmas reception is complete without mentioning that the 2020 election was rigged. There is something notable in this clip. See if you can hear it. Very good at cheating. Their professionals are cheating because we won in 2016 by a lot. The election was rigged in 2020. We have all the ammunition, all the stuff, and you'll see it come out. It's coming out in truckloads. Yeah. But it's notable that Trump is again pulling the it'll be out soon stuff. All of 2021, 2022, 2023, Trump was insisting we're putting the case together. We've got the bombshell evidence. It's incontrovertible. It's going to be out soon. And then it never came out. And Trump eased off of that a little bit. Trump is back on it now.

And if we're lucky by the year 25, we will have that evidence that the 2020 election was rigged. Nobody who was around will be alive anymore. But it's, we're going to have all the evidence by then. Trump delusionally claiming again, Christmas reception, Christmas reception that if the votes were counted fairly, he would have won California. Hispanic vote along the Texas border. I want every. every single city or town touching the Texas border, and they're 85 to 90 percent Hispanic. We won the Hispanic vote. If the vote in California was legitimate, which is not, they have 38 million ballots.

Everything is mail-in voting. They mail out 38 million ballots, and they come in, where the hell do they go and where do they come from? It's a rigged election in California. Right. Because we would win California by a lot. a lot and again they feel they have the advantage with Hispanic they don't because they don't have the advantage with Hispanic and one Hispanic one Hispanic Trump won Hispanic um Gavin Newsome

really tickled by this one tweeting simply. Okay. And then finally Donald Trump capping this beautiful event really the Christmas spirit couldn't be more Jesus like with. the often repeated untruth that prices are coming down. First time that's happened in many years, we are doing great and prices are coming down. Right. Of course, with inflation greater than zero, prices are actually going up. The bottom line with Trump's Christmas reception, Trump the Grinch has really stolen Christmas, including from all the people who can't afford gifts at this point because of this. ridiculous tariff policy while Trump claims it's all good and everything is perfect.

The David Packman Show is an audience supported program and the best most direct way to support the show is by becoming a member at join packman.com. You'll get the daily bonus show, the daily commercial free show and plenty of other great membership perks. Get the full experience by signing up at join packman.com. One of the funny little details that's often missing from this Trump 2028 talk is something that more of you are bringing up, which is imagine you could resolve the constitutional issues. Imagine that you could have, as Steve Bannon calls it, some interpretation of terms that

would allow Donald Trump to run again and be elected again and serve again. Trump falls asleep five times a week in public and is only working 12 to 5. What's missing from the Trump 2028 stuff is that the then 82 year old who already can't stay awake is not going to have what it takes to survive a third term. And I don't mean literally survive, but to get through it as president of the United States. There's a really interesting piece in the bulwark, which kind of cuts through the noise around Trump's future. And it focuses on something really basic, which is that Donald Trump keeps falling asleep on the job.

It's not a joke. We're not saying he's asleep at the week. as some kind of metaphor. He is literally falling asleep in public all the time. Now, according to the bulwark, Trump closed his eyes for roughly six full minutes during a recent cabinet meeting. That's if you put together all the moments during which he appeared to be sleeping. It wasn't late at night.

It wasn't after a bunch of travel crossing eight time zones or anything like that. It happened during a formal cabinet meeting during which everybody was praising him. And the New York Times noticed, which started covering this. is furious that the New York Times is talking about it. And we have to simply look at the numbers as we think about this 2028 stuff. Trump is 79 years old right now in six months he will be 80. And the questions about his stamina are building. Republicans said we are going to make age and energy the defining issue of the reelection. And we are going to attack Joe Biden with it. And every pause by Biden was framed as decline. Every bad moment became proof that he couldn't

do the job. Now, Biden was. declining, but there was no question that he still was able to do the job. And even today, I would trust Biden with the nuclear codes more than I would trust Donald Trump decline aside. And I was one of the people who said after the terrible debate that Biden had that he's going to have to drop out. The problem with Republicans having made that the defining discussion is that Trump is now showing a lot of the same signs. And suddenly most people on the right are very, very quiet. And when the Bullwork asked Republican lawmakers about Trump falling asleep. Most of them refused to comment.

They didn't want to say anything about it. Senator Rick Scott said, I haven't heard about it. And when they said, well, we have the video for you. He said, I'm not going to watch the video. That's not a confident person. That is an avoidant person. Senator Lisa Murkowski did comment and pointed to Trump's terrible sleep habits and said it's probably a result of that.

According to the bulwark and we have also covered Donald Trump has posted endlessly to truth social. between any hours, but including between 8 p.m. and midnight. In fact, the day before they wrote this piece, Trump had posted 158 times the truth social between 8 p.m. and midnight. So Trump is spending a lot of time, including late at night, rage posting, and he's struggling to stay awake at work. In a lot of jobs, you would be called in by HR and they would say, we've got to talk about what's going on. You don't, you don't seem to have it together at work. These are warning signs. These are not one-time things. Trump has fallen asleep in all sorts of

of different situations. He was falling asleep during his criminal trial. He's fallen asleep in the Oval office. If this were Biden, Fox would be running, you know, cryptkeeper graphics with a countdown to death 24-7. Now, let's zoom out for a moment. Let's get into the 2028 stuff. You hear jokes. You hear memes. You also hear serious talk about Trump 2028. Like Steve Bannon saying once we define the terms properly, you'll understand why Trump can have another term. Well, Stephan O'4, who's the president of the New York Young Republican Club says they are prepared to support Trump in 2028 and I guess he says something about, you know, they this the first endorsement for Trump 2028.

The first to endorse president Donald James Trump in 2024. And Mr. President, the New York Young Republican Club is prepared to endorse. All right. So set aside for a moment, just for a moment, we'll come back to it. Set aside for a moment the constitutional problem that third terms are not allowed. Set aside for a moment that this is just not legally possible. There is a much bigger problem that none of these people want to confront, which is Trump doesn't look mentally or physically capable of another term.

Trump would be 82 years old at the start of that next term. That's not spin. It's not an opinion. It's the math. And we are already watching a president. who can't stay awake through a routine meeting. So put ideology aside, put partisanship aside, on the question of whether the person can be conscious and functional, Republicans know Trump can't do it. And this is why they dodge and this is why they minimize and this is why they joke instead of addressing the issue directly. They are not confidently defending Trump's stamina anymore. They are quietly pretending that it's all going to sort of sort itself out. But the jokes about Trump 2028 ignore a reality that is playing out every single day, which is Trump is not gearing up for another term.

This is a guy who can barely stay awake during the current term. And he's only working reportedly at most five hours a day. All right. We've got to talk about the Erica Kirk town hall that sees. B.S. under the new leadership of Bari Weiss put together. I am going to say some things that I think some of you are going to maybe be a little upset by. Like, for example, Erica Kirk seems very mentally ill, including during this town hall. Oh, David, how can you attack a grieving widow? You have no idea how losing your spouse would affect you and with violence. Oh, I'm with you.

This has nothing to do with Charlie Kirk. My commentary, she was clearly very off even when Charlie Kirk was still alive. And a town hall with Erica Kirk, aside from the fact that she seems totally whacked, what is the newsworthiness of this? Oh, but David, you're covering it. Yeah, I'm covering it because it is a sign of the decline at CBS News under Barry or Barry Weiss. I actually don't know which way she pronounces it. Don't come after me. I just am not sure. Okay. Bari, Barry, Barry, I'm not sure. The entire event is an absolute joke. And CBS News spent a week

promoting this thing. Now, let me say another thing. Oh, David, how can you attack a grieving widow? She is choosing to put herself out there like this. She doesn't have to do this. She could just be a privately grieving widow. But once she comes out and starts making statements about violence, about religion, about politics, that is now fair game for analysis. We can analyze it, we can discuss it, and we can evaluate it. And it is utterly nuts. I mean, it is bananas. And I we could argue what's worse. Is what's worse the stuff that Erica Kirk says? It's what is what's worse the the affected and bizarre facial expressions that she puts on or is what's worse that Barry Weiss has to pretend like this is newsworthy and normal. Now, I'm going to give you the

the good news up front. They put this thing on at 8 p.m. on a Saturday. Very few people watch TV at 8 p.m. on a Saturday. And this thing bombed. It, but it went over like a lead balloon. All right. Here's a clip. They bring up the guy who was asking Charlie Kirk the question when Kirk was shot. They have him ask the question of Erica Kirk and she she doesn't answer it. And it's all cuckoo for cocoa Puffs. Erica, as you know, the last person that Charlie ever spoke to was a Utah Valley student named Hunter Kozak. He was asking Charlie a question that day when he was shot, and he's here tonight, and he wants to ask you a question. Hi there. Erica, I want to tell you how much I appreciate your calls for peace and unity, and I'm likewise horrified by the people in

in my so-called camp who were cheering about Charlie's murder. I believe that they stoke the flames of violence. But even worse is when powerful, influential people on either side of the aisle stoke the flames. When they do it, the flames can become an inferno. And this leads me to Donald Trump, the most powerful and influential person on earth, who has more responsibility than anyone else to put the flames out. Just last month, President Trump called on six Democratic lawmakers to be tried to. for sedition, which he clarified was punishable by death. He then reposted a simple message.

Hang them. I think that you've been making strides to bring peace to our country, and that turning point has been asking Democrats to decry the individuals who cheer for violence. I have and will continue to decry them. But any good faith effort to stop political violence must hold both parties to the same standard and expectation. So in that spirit, will you condemn the violent rhetoric of Donald Trump, the most powerful and influential person on earth. Now, just so everybody knows, I have not added any pauses to this. So I'm not saying pauses are good or bad. I just want to make sure everybody knows. I'm not like slowing this down and adding pauses. I appreciate your question. You know my heart. Why would I ever say,

yes, go murder people. This is so much deeper than just one. I understand your sentiment. I do. but this is also so much deeper than just one person. This starts at the home, okay? This starts with family. This starts with a seed that grows and grows. You can choose to have evil in your heart, or you can choose to have light. What you consume and what you absorb from the outside world will manifest itself. No, I will never agree with the world.

political violence. My husband is a victim of it. I'm a victim of it. But what I'm trying to say here is that we can blame everyone else. We have to look in the mirror when you become a father, when you become a mother. How are you raising your kids? Are you taking responsibility or are you giving them a device and saying, go down that rabbit hole? I'm trying to go to Pilates class. You can just sit in the corner and look at your iPad or look at your phone and go down that rabbit hole and see what you can learn from that instead of being a parent. So my call to action from that is parents step up. Right. So she does not condemn the violent rhetoric of Trump, but she says parents should take away devices from their kids. Now, kids on devices is a totally important and thing to talk about,

but it doesn't change whether or not the president is advocating or instigating violence. What is the newsworthiness of this? And Bari Weiss sits there like it's extraordinary with what what Erica Kirk is saying. Just really weird stuff. Here's another really just bizarre moment. But we serve a just God. And I rest easy in knowing that he's sovereign, but he's just. And so let the Lord handle that.

Yeah. Just strange, very strange. Asked about the reaction to Charlie Kirk's murder. Here's what she said. Erica, one of the most alarming things about Charlie's murder was the way that some people in this country reacted to it. Yeah. And not just online.

This was kind of, this was an idea that you encountered a lot. And the idea was this. They kind of justified it. They basically said, really no one justified it. I mean, and by the way, if it was happening, it was happening online in just like the horrible recesses. Listen, there were people who cheered at the anti-Semitic incident in Australia yesterday. There were there were some people who cheered that.

There were some people who said horrible things after the murder of Charlie Kirk, but almost nobody did. There's no serious movement on the left. There's not elected officials. There's not, you know, prominent content creators. We all, we all denounced it. The whole premise is false. That because Charlie said or believed things that they believed were controversial.

controversial or even hateful that he somehow had it coming. What do you say to people who justified his death? You're sick. He's a human being. You think he deserve that? Tell that to my three-year-old daughter. Yeah, yeah. I mean, listen, this, I am simultaneously so empathetic and sympathetic to the grief

of the situation and also as a media critic saying, what is this? Why is this being done? Why is she being served up questions with false premises? Like so many people were cheering his death. And CBS promoted this crap for almost a week, not newsworthy in any way, shape or form. And the only good news is that the ratings were in the toilet. That that's the only thing that really, really, Nobody gave a damn about hearing about this. And the broader question is, what does this suggest about CBS under Barry Weiss? It doesn't seem good. That's for sure.

We will be talking about Australian gun laws on the bonus show today in the aftermath of the massacre that took place in Sydney yesterday. We will talk about the latest with AI regulation and also a terrifying incident. involving jet blue and it relates to the American military. All of those stories and more on today's bonus show. I would love for you to get a membership. Sign up at join packman.com. The party doesn't have to stop now. It can continue over on the bonus show, but I'll be back tomorrow with a new show also.