The David Pakman Show - 12/27/23: Biden orders airstrikes, Trump targets Obamacare again

Episode Date: December 27, 2023

-- On the Show: -- Brittany Page, host of Page Perspective and co-host of the I Doubt It podcast, fills in for David -- After US troops are wounded in an attack, Joe Biden directs airstrikes against Iranian-backed groups -- Donald Trump promises to replace Obamacare with his own healthcare "alternative" but Republicans say it's not a priority -- Ted Cruz goes on Fox News to rant about "biased media" like CNN and promote his podcast -- Minimum-wage workers in 22 states will be getting raises on January 1st -- Vivek Ramaswamy stops spending money on TV ads two weeks before the Iowa Caucuses, but denies he wants a Trump administration position -- Donald Trump posts a toxic word cloud featuring his revenge and dictatorship hopes to Truth Social -- Jessica Tarlov takes on the Fox News B-team with facts about the successes of the Biden economy -- Donald Trump posts a late-night video on Truth Social with funny Iowa Caucus commentary -- On the Bonus Show: Abortion rights activists planning for 2024, Georgia Medicaid work requirements failing people, and much more… 🔊 Babbel: Get 55% off your subscription at https://babbel.com/pakman 💰 Oxygen: Sign up for a personal or business account at https://davidpakman.com/oxygen 📰 Straight Arrow News: Download the FREE app at https://straightarrownews.com/pakman 💻 Get Private Internet Access for 83% OFF + 4 months free at https://www.piavpn.com/David 🧻 Reel Paper: Code PAKMAN for 30% OFF + free shipping at https://reelpaper.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

Welcome to the David Pakman show. My name is Brittany Page from the Page Perspective, which you can find here on YouTube. I'm back for another day of guest hosting for David while he is on a holiday break. Yesterday was a ton of fun, a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. And I'm very much looking forward to getting through all of this big news with you all today. So getting right into it, starting with some heavy news, specifically the recent news that President Joe Biden directed airstrikes against Iranian-backed groups after three United States troops were wounded in an early attack Monday morning on an airbase in northern Iraq. One service member was critically injured in this attack. Reading from CBS News, quote, Mr. Biden, after being briefed and holding a call with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his national security team,

ordered retaliatory strikes on three locations utilized by Khatib Hezbollah and affiliated groups focused specifically on unmanned aerial drone activities, National Security Council spokesperson Adrian Watson said in a statement. According to U.S. Central Command, the retaliatory strikes on the three sites, all located in Iraq, were conducted at 8.45 p.m. Eastern time and, quote, likely killed a number of Khatib Hezbollah militants. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also released a statement in the aftermath of the response to this attack, quote, and let me be clear, the president and I will not hesitate to take necessary action to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests. There is no higher priority. While we do not seek to escalate conflict in the region, we are committed

and fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities, end quote. So taking a step back just a moment to try to put this all into perspective, since the October 7th attack by Hamas on Israel, the Pentagon has taken several actions to contain the war in Gaza in order to prevent escalating conflict in the region. And according to reporting from USA Today, quote, a key concern has been militant groups backed by Iran that operate in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Houthi rebels it backs in Yemen. Militants in Syria and Iraq have intensified their rocket attacks on bases with U.S. troops. Since October 7th, there have been about 80 such attacks, and the Pentagon has launched airstrikes on sites that store and fire rockets. In one case,

an Air Force AC-130 gunship responded to an ongoing attack by firing on militants. In addition, the Pentagon has assembled a coalition to defense shipping in the Red Sea after several drone attacks on commercial vessels by Houthi rebels. And so again, you know all roads lead to Iran when it comes to sponsoring these attacks, said Air Force One Star General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary. So Iran has continued to deny involvements in various attacks here, including numerous attacks on those commercial vessels you just heard mentioned in the Red Sea. On November 15th, the Iranian foreign minister gave an interview to CBS News and said, quote, We really didn't want this crisis to expand, talking about the Israel-Hamas war. But the Iranian foreign minister continued,

quote, but the U.S. has been intensifying the war in Gaza by throwing its support behind Israel, end quote. Of course, it's important to note here that we've seen Iran lie before, so it's not surprising that they would be lying again. They see a moment of destabilization, both regionally and globally, and they're contributing to the chaos. And listen, I'm not going to sit here and pretend to have the answers. I do not know how to solve this conflict. But any person can see that this continues to be a dangerous and deadly mess. We know that the October 7th attack by Hamas was horrific and disgusting, that Hamas is a vile terrorist group. We also know that estimates show that more than 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza in 10 weeks, roughly 1% of the population.

Estimates show about 70% of those deaths are women and children. Estimates are that 50,000 people have been wounded. Though people might hear those numbers and say that they can't be trusted because they come from the Gaza's Ministry of Health. It's important to note on that that international aid groups don't doubt those numbers and generally agree with them. We're also seeing this for ourselves with our own eyes. The death and destruction. I've watched, I don't know, countless news packages from reporters on the ground

that have left me in tears. Babies being fished from rubble, sometimes alive, sometimes not. Sometimes missing limbs, sometimes not. We see the latest headline that Israeli forces bombarded refugee camps on Tuesday in central Gaza, telling residents to evacuate their areas for refuge, growing smaller. Stories noting that nine out of 10 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are still operational, only nine of 36. Not well stocked with necessary supplies or equipment, they're crowded, they're overcrowded. This has all led to international pressure for a ceasefire,

pressure to reduce civilian casualties, all while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the fight isn't close to finished. It feels heavy. And I know this is a heavy topic to talk about, but it's important to stay connected to the stories that I think feel overwhelming and painful. It's important not to check out on this stuff, even if it leads to an uncomfortable place because we don't have certainty or we don't feel like we have the answers or we don't feel like we have solutions. Anywhere there is human suffering, we should care

about it, and we should join with those who are trying to stop it. With each headline, we see about the very serious, very scary things happening in this country and around the world. It's a reminder of how important it is to have effective leadership, stable leadership, how important it is to elect people who have a strong moral compass, who are the best of us, who can listen to experts and create positive change. We know how quickly things can go south when the wrong person is elected, and thankfully, Donald Trump is here to provide daily reminders of how unhinged he is and just how dangerous it would be

to allow him to have a position of power again. We've already seen how Donald Trump, I guess, spent his Christmas posting on Truth Social about how people he dislikes should rot in hell and posting clips of his appearance in Home Alone 2. I guess, I don't know, is he reminiscing about the good old days when he was young and people wanted to be around him on the set of a movie? But also he gave us this banger on Christmas, reading directly from his banger of a truth social post here, quote, Obamacare is too expensive and otherwise not good health care.

I will come up with a much better and less expensive alternative. People will be happy, not sad. Right. People will be happy, not sad. Sounds legit. Sounds super easy. Fox News thought this was such an important announcement, such an important statement, that it got its very own write-up. The title, Trump Promises to Replace Obamacare

with His Own Healthcare Alternative. And what's great about this, I really enjoyed reading it, is it's filled with quotes from Trump and his various truth social posts about this miraculous health plan that he's going to create, while also featuring various quotes from Republicans saying that it's unlikely to happen and not a priority. So here are a few highlights reading from this Fox News reporting, starting with a Truth Social post from Trump they're referencing from last month. Quote, last month, Trump wrote on Truth Social that getting better

health care than Obamacare for the American people will be a priority of the Trump administration. Obamacare was enacted in March 2010. Quote, it's not a matter of cost. It is a matter of health, he wrote. America will have one of the best health care plans anywhere in the world. Right now, it has one of the worst, end quote. However, GOP lawmakers have signaled re-upping the fight against Obamacare is not a priority. At the time of Trump's post last month, Senator Majority Whip John Thune, Republican from South Dakota, said that he was an advocate for lowering health care costs and making our health care system more efficient. Quote, but I'm not sure, he said of Trump's post.

I'd want to know what the proposal is. Republican on the Senate Health Committee, Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican from Louisiana, also said such a health care replacement is, quote, unlikely to happen. So it's looking like another wall situation, I guess. I love that their Fox News is promoting his promises to deliver this health care. And then the article is just filled with his fellow Republicans like, yeah, that's not going to happen. And truly, think about what a Trump care health care plan would look like. I don't even want to think about that possibility. I can't imagine what that would be. Also, I guess, I don't know what got into Bill Cassidy and John Thune,

but I really appreciate the honesty. Let's hope that we have more of this spirit as we roll into 2024. Our sponsor oxygen is really the online banking app that you didn't know you needed. Oxygen has both personal and small business accounts. And what I find super compelling is they're geared towards entrepreneurs who want to turn some kind of side business into a full time business because Oxygen will incorporate your small business for you while separating your personal and business banking to make things like invoicing, payroll and taxes easier. You can get up to five percent cash back on business expenses Thank you so much for joining us. and family using peer to peer payments, easy to split a bill, share expenses, send holiday gifts

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download their free app at S.A.N. Dotcom slash Pacman or go directly to Apple or the Google Play app stores and type in straight arrow news in the app. You will get access to daily news, investigative reports, exclusive interviews. Their free media mistool is great. It helps me find stories that are either underreported, sometimes being totally ignored by different sides of corporate media. This gives essay and app users the most complete picture of the news. Also in the app, there's a cool feature to set up personalized notifications about topics and contributors like me.

I do an essay and exclusive where I am doing weekly commentary on Mondays. Make sure to set up your straight arrow news app to watch it. to the David Pakman show. to learn more and get their free app. That's san.com slash Pacman. The link is in the podcast notes. Welcome back to the David Pacman show. My name is Brittany page from the page perspective here on YouTube. And I would love it if you subscribe to my channel over there. And if you're interested, you can also connect with me on social media, threads, Instagram, Tik TOK, or Twitter E. Page. I don't know how much longer I will continue to use Twitter with how broken that it now is because of Elon and when he took over and ruined it. But I don't know. Where are people going these days? What is the app? Seriously, can you tell me in the comments? Because I need to know what to do. So Ted Cruz made an appearance on Fox News recently to discuss his new book.

And I wonder if you had to guess a few prospective titles of his book. And I gave you like five chances. I gave you like five guesses. I really believe that you would be able to guess the title in five guesses. Okay, you can think about what your guesses would be right now, but I'm going to tell you what it is. So get ready. Unwoke, how to defeat cultural Marxism in America.

Right? I mean, you'd at least be able to guess some of those words, right? So in this appearance on Fox News, Ted is promoting his book. He's sitting for an interview with Howard Kurtz on the show Tight Shot on Fox. And in his book, he apparently has a chapter on the media where I assume we have a lot to learn from Ted. So in this clip I'm about to play for you, you're going to hear a nice little lecture from Ted about how CNN has declined over time, that Donald Trump broke them, and that they don't even attempt to appear fair and balanced. Yes, fair and balanced. And he's saying this on Fox News.

When I was first elected to the Senate, it was 2012, 11 years ago. At the time, look, journalists, journalism has always been biased. But let's take CNN. And I focus a lot on CNN in this book. Try to give the appearance of fairness. And in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, CNN reporters envisioned what they were doing as trying to be fair and even-handed. You have arguments.

And now? And now, Trump broke them. They hate Trump so much. I don't believe they view their mission as let's be even-handed, let's have both sides on, let's be fair and objective. I think they view their mission is as propagandists. When they say we're here to save democracy, and by that they mean elect Democrats, they're no longer interested. You know, CNN now will have a panel of five, all of whom are there to discuss how horrible

Donald Trump is. How remarkable is that? Truly, the audacity to go on Fox News and talk about CNN being biased, refusing to be even handed, refusing to have both sides on viewing their mission as propagandists. If you were here yesterday, you being the lovely folks watching or listening to this right now, you know that I talked at length about a CNN segment from Michael Smirconish on his show Smirconish over the weekend, where he talked to an author of a New York Times op-ed for almost 10 minutes about how Trump is actually a moderate. They even had a chyron up there. Is Trump actually a moderate? So you won't hear me right now defending CNN from Ted Cruz because I'm actually critical of how CNN, I think, does too much of the both sides

nonsense. They go too far in attempting to even appear as though they're being even handed to the point where they end up misinforming their viewers, I think, pretending like there is a possibility that Trump is a moderate, for example. I mean, that's the most recent one, and it's a pretty good one. The thing is, with this Ted Cruz segment, the people listening to this, they don't actually watch CNN. They watch Fox News. So they don't know whether it's true that CNN has, as Ted Cruz said,

a panel of five people, all of whom he said that are there to discuss how horrible Trump is. They don't know about Scott Jennings. They don't know about David Urban. They don't know about Alyssa Farah Griffin. Those are Republicans, by the way. They don't know that CNN really does balance their panels by inviting Trump supporters to defend Trump on CNN. But the main point here is that Ted Cruz is on Fox News ranting about biased media outlets. This is the most ridiculous thing. I mean, you have the serious, quote unquote, serious news people on Fox who have made it very clear that they are just dropping the facade, you know, because Fox has always claimed that they have their opinion side

and they have their news side. These serious news people, they don't even try anymore. They're not even attempting this anymore. Just last month, one of those people who is supposed to be a serious news person, his name is John Roberts, he had to walk back claims that he made in the face of that car crash at Niagara Falls. I think it was last month. Fox was reporting this as terrorism when it turned out to just be a car crash, not terrorism. But the, you know, quote unquote, straight news person, definitely not an opinion person, John Roberts, said on air that it was unclear how long the people who perpetrated the attack, is what he said, had been in the U.S.

He called it an attack. Had to walk it back. Then you also have Brett Baer. Brett Baer is another anchor who is supposed to be on the news side, not the opinion side. He's been photographed attending events at Mar-a-Lago. You also have Martha McCallum, another anchor who is supposed to be on the news side. But now when they're short on opinion shows, she'll head over there and reinforce whatever conservative talking points they have for the day. And if you aren't a person who follows the news closely, you wouldn happily exchange all of my knowledge of these various media personalities for the ability to, I don't know, calculate a tip without crying.

But an appearance from Ted Cruz would not be complete without him promoting his podcast. I do a podcast every week, Verdict with Ted Cruz. Today's podcast does a deep dive as to why this bill is completely dead right now. And the reason is... You know what? I hear you, buddy. It really is tough. It is tough out here trying to grow an audience.

You've got to take that promotion anywhere you can. And we know that Ted Cruz is not going to stop talking about his podcast. By the way, I think he said he's been a senator for 11 years. Oof. It's too long. That's too long. Colin Allred, hopefully he can take care of that. And then he will really need subscribers for his podcast.

What do you think? I'd love to know. Let me know in the comments below. We've got some good news in that the year 2024 will bring a minimum wage increase for workers in 22 states starting January 1st. I saw this reporting from NPR and thought, oh good, something to celebrate. We don't get that all the time. Of course, the federal minimum wage is still $7.25 and has been since 2009, which is wild and disgusting. Think about your recent trip to the grocery store and how quickly $7.25 for one hour of work would disappear in the grocery store. I think at my first job, I remember making $5 and something, maybe $5.45

an hour making pizzas and scrubbing kitchen drains. I would say good times, but it wasn't. And I know that people will be thinking, okay, but states can set their own minimum wage, and that is often above the federal minimum. And yes, it is true that states can set their own minimum wage, but, and I was surprised to learn this today, according to the Department of Labor, 20 states maintain the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Did you know that? 20 states. I figured it wouldn't be that many that insist on paying such a tiny minimum wage. So what is involved in this new year minimum wage increase? Turning to the Economic Policy Institute. On January 1st, 22 states will increase their minimum wages, raising pay for an estimated 9.9 million workers. In total, workers will receive $6.95 billion in additional wages from state minimum wage increases. In addition, 38 cities and counties will increase their minimum wages on January 1st above their state's wage floors, adding to the number of workers likely to see increased earnings.

In the absence of federal action, states and localities continue to take the lead in advancing fairer wage floors via legislation, ballot measures, and automatic inflation adjustments. That last line is very important. In the absence of federal action, states have had to take the lead. And you know, Senate Democrats have actually introduced legislation on this in July. They introduced the Raise the Wage Act of 2023. And if this were to pass, it would increase the federal minimum wage to $17 an hour gradually by the year 2028. This is overdue and we absolutely need this. This is so important for fairer wages, for creating an equitable economy. In fact, let's look to the Economic Policy Institute again and look at the impact of this increase. Women make up more than half of workers

getting an increase on January 1st. This minimum wage increase will disproportionately benefit Black and Hispanic workers. Specifically, Black workers make up 9% of the wage-earning workforce in the states with increases, but are 11.1% of the affected workers. Similarly, Hispanic workers are 19.6% of the workforce in these states, but 37.9% of the workers receiving wage increases. This is also going to benefit working families. More than a quarter of affected workers are parents, more than 2.5 million people. 5.6 million children live in households where an individual will benefit from wage increases. And almost one in five workers getting a raise have incomes below the poverty line, and nearly half have incomes below twice the poverty line. And finally, more

than half of workers getting a minimum wage increase are in high cost of living states, that is California, Hawaii, and New York. But we need federal action. This is progress. Of course, this is progress, but we need federal intervention to really seal the deal here. We still have 17.6 million workers earning less than $15 an hour, and half of those workers live in one of the 20 states that are still using the federal minimum wage, which again, as a reminder, is only $7.25 an hour. We're living in the midst of a housing affordability crisis, among other things, where wages are just not keeping up with the costs, with the cost of living. And as a consequence, we're seeing increases in homelessness, people

dipping into their savings, going into debt just to cover necessities of life. The lies that conservatives always tell us about people who are wanting to cheat and scam on welfare, even though welfare fraud levels are so small and they are nearing non-existence, or conservatives love to talk about people just being lazy and not wanting to work. No, people want to work. It's just that they want to be paid fairly. They want to be compensated fairly for the time and energy and life that they dedicate to their work. So this is a very important step.

There's a step in the right direction. We can certainly go further, and I hope that we do. blocking Canadians from accessing news content. That's something else a VPN lets you circumvent. The VPN I trust is our sponsor, private internet access, because they are the only VPN that have proven in court that they do not log your activity. Private internet access is also super fast. If you're doing streaming or downloads, you can watch content on platforms like Netflix and Hulu, not normally available in your country. It's one account. You can protect content on platforms like Netflix and Hulu not normally available in your country. It's one account. You can protect unlimited devices, computer, phone, tablet, even your TV. Just take control of your online privacy and the paper trails that document your online activity. These records of your online activity can be monitored, hacked, sold. It's happening all

the time. You just don't want your personal data floating around out there. Private Internet access is giving my audience a huge 83 percent discount so you can subscribe for just two or three a month and get four extra months for free. Go to PIA VPN dot com slash David. The link is in the podcast notes. Welcome back to The David Pakman show. My name is Brittany Page from the page perspective right here on YouTube. I am guest hosting for David while he's out on holiday break. So we've got some big dates approaching January 15th. We have the Iowa caucuses January 23rd. We have the New Hampshire primary. So the Republican presidential candidates are really down to the wire. And the big question now, I think, and I want you all to be thinking

about your own answer to this question, is who is the next Republican presidential candidate that's going to drop out? Who is it going to be? We still have Donald Trump, obviously. We have Chris Christie. We have Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Asa Hutchinson. Am I forgetting anyone? I think that might be it. I almost forgot Asa Hutchinson. I can't believe he's still running. But we may have some early signs here about what is in store for one of the candidates, and that is specifically Ramaswamy. So Ramaswamy's campaign has evidently stopped spending money on TV ads and doesn't even have any upcoming TV ads booked.

And this is according to reporting from NBC News, which cites both the Ramaswamy campaign and an ad tracking firm called Ad Impact. Reading from NBC News now, quote, as recently as the first full week of December, the GOP entrepreneurs campaign spent more than $200,000 on TV ads. Last week, it spent just $6,000 on ads, all of it on TV, figures from the firm Ad Impact Show. Ramaswamy's campaign says it is still spending money on ads, just not on TV. In early November, Ramaswamy's campaign announced that it planned to spend over $10 million on ads, broadcast, cable, radio, digital, and direct mail in Iowa and New Hampshire. Since that announcement, the campaign has spent

$2.2 million on TV, digital, and radio ads, according to Ad Impact. Ramaswamy's rivals, former President Donald Trump, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, are still buying up ads on the U.S. airwaves. In the same week that Ramaswamy spent just $6,000 on TV ads, Trump's campaign spent $1.1 million, followed by Haley's $1 million and DeSantis' $270,000 and Chris Christie's $88,000. That's in addition to the ad money being spent by the super PACs backing Ramaswamy's opponents. And the article notes that there is a PAC that is backing Ramaswamy, but they haven't spent money on ads of any kind since October. So what does this mean for Ramaswamy as we approach that important January 15th date in Iowa? Iowa, by the way, where Ramaswamy is pulling fourth behind Trump, DeSantis, and Haley. Is he planning on being Donald Trump's

vice president? Is that the goal? I'm certainly not the first one to float this possibility. And Ramaswamy was actually asked about this, asked about his future plans during an appearance he made on Sunday with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News. Are you willing to take a job in a Trump administration, should he ask? Should it go that way? Do you think these legal issues will stop Trump? So I'll answer all those questions frankly. I think that I'm not a plan B person, Maria. I didn't get to where I am.

I'm 38 years old. I founded multiple multi-billion dollar companies. We're blessed with the American dream to be able to self-finance and lift this presidential campaign up. I didn't get where I am. Apoorva didn't get where she is by being plan B people. And so I'm actually confident we're going to over-deliver massively at the Iowa caucus. Many of the people supporting us are first-time caucus goers, some of them young people, some of them America first patriots or libertarians who haven't thought of themselves as traditional Republicans who are coming out in droves. And so you mark my words on this. I think we're going to have a major surprise on January 15th. I respect Trump and his accomplishments

for this country. Unlike a lot of the other candidates, I'm not sitting here Monday morning quarterbacking some decision he made. But I believe we are the right people to take our America first agenda to the next level. I think it's going to take somebody with fresh legs, somebody from the next generation, if I may say it, to lead the next generation. And I believe we will be successful in this. So you heard it there, guys. He's not a plan B person. And then immediately he goes to one of my least favorite things about Ramaswami, his inability to acknowledge the fact that is the myth of meritocracy. He's always feeding into these myths about being self-made, myths that he then uses to advocate for policies that keep people down, keep them

believing that it is their own failure that keeps them down rather than a broken system. He says, I've founded multiple multi-billion dollar companies. We're blessed with the American dream. The American dream? Look around. But I guess it sells. It works for him. So he continues. And just before he was asked about being Donald Trump's VP, he was going on and on about his decision to announce that he would remove himself from the Colorado primary ballot in solidarity with Donald Trump after the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling that Trump is disqualified on the grounds of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution. Listen to Ramaswamy here and tell me that this isn't a guy who is begging to be Trump's VP. Now, the reason I made the statement I did, Maria, is very practical. If every Republican in the Colorado GOP primary also says we're not participating, Now, the reason I made the statement I did, Maria, is very practical. If every Republican in the Colorado GOP primary also says we're not participating, then this blatant act of election interference has no impact.

So I wanted to lead by example to say that if they are going to forcibly remove Trump's name from that ballot, then I would voluntarily remove myself, too, and called on Chris Christie and Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis to do the same thing. I have to say I was disappointed to hear radio silence or worse from those other candidates who said they wanted to still collect their delegates. I think there's no point in actually collecting a small number of delegates if we're tolerating this level of blatant election interference. But I am a problem solver. I think that that is one way the Republican Party can solve this problem. And, you know, within minutes of my hearing this, that's exactly what I felt was the right move to make. And so I announced that. And I say this is somebody, Maria, I am running to win this election. It would be a lot easier for me, for us, if Donald Trump weren't in the race to win. But what are we winning for? It's to protect a constitutional republic. And that's the first principle we have to stand for above all.

So that's why I made the decision that I did. So that certainly seems like someone who is desperate to prove fealty to Trump. No, he sees Trump being held accountable for his behavior and screams about election interference because he wants Trump's attention. I mean, does Ramaswamy really believe he has a chance here? Does he really believe he's going to be president? He's pulling back the ads. The PAC isn't running ads anymore. He's pulling behind the other candidates. He's like barely ahead of Christie in Iowa. I mean, come on. The only attention that he gets is from

MAGA after he's the, you know, the loudest person on stage during the debates. We all know that Donald Trump loves to be complimented. He loves to be supported. He wants to see dedication in the people that he surrounds himself with. Ramaswamy seems to be showing that here. But I guess it's only time that we'll tell as we continue to approach January 15th. So I think that's the big question here. Who will be the next to drop out? Is it Ramaswamy?

Is he headed to vice president for Donald Trump? With Donald Trump polling, by the way, at 52% in Iowa, it seems like the candidates are starting to see the writing on the wall. So this was kind of strange. One moment you're just scrolling on social media and suddenly one of Donald Trump's posts appears. Even though you're definitely not on Truth Social, they still find their way

into your feed. They're all over the internet. And this one was a word cloud. And I've seen things like this before, years ago, when you could generate a word cloud of popular words or phrases that you tweeted. And I'm hoping this isn't a false memory. Does anyone else remember being able to generate a word cloud? I'm hoping so. Donald Trump put up this word cloud, and if you're not watching this and you're just listening to this, I don't know how else to describe it other than a word cloud. We have a white background and numerous words with bigger ones in the center and then smaller ones out toward the outer edges. And the biggest word in the middle is revenge. And then as you move out, you see other words like power, dictatorship, America, economy, nothing. Like literally the word nothing.

Corruption, dictator. So I'm looking at this and I'm thinking, what in the hell is this? Like, why is he posting this? Because he posted it on Truth Social without any comment. There's no reference. He's not saying what it's from. He's not like, this is great. This perfectly describes me. He's not saying anything about it. So I'm wondering, what is this? Well, it turns out that these words were generated from a poll conducted by the Daily Mail and JL Partners. And in this poll, they asked respondents to use one word to describe each candidate's plans for a second term. So again, revenge, power, dictatorship, America, economy, nothing, corruption, dictator.

These words are the most recognizable in the photo of the word cloud. And what are we to make of Trump sharing this? He's proud that these are the words that people choose to describe him and his plans for a second term. I mean, at this point, how much proof do we need that Donald Trump is eager for a second term because he plans on radically reshaping our country through Project 2025, where, among other things, he plans to fire tens of thousands of civil servants and replace them with handpicked

cultists ready to do his bidding. I mean, when he said he would be a dictator for one day, and let's just, before we move on, let's refresh everyone's memory about what he said. Reading from Politico. It's not the first time Trump has called himself a dictator or hinted at his authoritarian desires. But it's the first time he's embraced the label via word cloud. Earlier this month, the Republican front runner told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he would not be a dictator, quote, except for day one. Trump has doubled down on those comments, telling a gathering of New York Young Republican Club in Manhattan a few days later that, quote, I said I want to be a dictator for one day,

and added, quote, you know why I wanted to be a dictator? Because I want a wall and I want to drill, drill, drill, end quote. Trump has also lavished praise on authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the Turkish president, as well as North Korean strongman Kim Jong-un. So I love, can we just pause for a second on this quote? I want to drill, drill, drill. Donald Trump is supposed to be like this titan of cognition. They always act like Joe Biden is the one who's going through cognitive decline.

And I'm not making a judgment here about any cognitive decline. I'm just saying that it's quite funny to hear the person that conservatives are putting up for reelection saying, I want to drill, drill, drill. Just making a comment about that. Okay. So when he says dictator for a day, we all assume he's referring to Project 2025, right? Hopefully we've all heard of that. The Schedule F part, the firing of the tens of thousands of federal employees and replacing them, that's just the beginning. I want to read from this PBS

reporting on Project 2025 on the stated priorities. Quote, there's a top-to-bottom overhaul of the Department of Justice, particularly curbing its independence and ending FBI efforts to combat the spread of misinformation. It calls for stepped-up prosecution of anyone providing or distributing abortion pills by mail. There are proposals to have the Pentagon, quote, abolish its recent diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, what the project calls the woke agenda, A chapter written by Trump's former acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security calls for bolstering the number of political appointees

and redeploying office personnel with law enforcement ability into the field to, quote, maximize law enforcement capacity. At the White House, the book suggests the new administration should, quote, reexamine the tradition of providing workspace for the press corps and ensure the White House counsel is deeply committed to the president's agenda. While presidents typically rely on Congress to put policies into place, the Heritage Project, leading Project 2025, leans into what legal scholars refer to as a unitary view of executive power that suggests the president has broad authority to act alone. This isn't all of it. I can't fit all of the plans into this video, but it's bad. And every single time Trump says he wants to be a dictator or posts his toxic word cloud, giving the appearance that he appreciates being recognized for his commitment to corruption and dictatorship, we should all think Project 2025 and remember

what is at risk in this next election. Thirty million trees are destroyed every year for toilet paper in the US alone. So toilet paper is a big contributor to deforestation and climate change. Our sponsor, Real Paper, makes toilet paper from bamboo. Bamboo plants keep growing, which means no deforestation. Bamboo also absorbs five times as much carbon from the atmosphere as pine trees. And bamboo toilet paper is stronger than regular toilet paper and even softer. So bamboo toilet paper is all around a win for you and for the environment. It's time to move on from that toilet paper from trees that

you're using at home when you use real paper. Doesn't feel like you're sacrificing anything. It's soft and fluffy and they'll ship it to your door in plastic free packaging on a schedule. Thank you, David. Welcome back to the David Pakman show. I am again, Brittany page from the Page Perspective here on YouTube. I would love it if you would join me on my channel and subscribe. I talk a lot about public policy, poverty, issues impacting the poor and working class, among other things. Yes, sometimes I even talk about Lauren Boebert. Okay. You can follow me on social media at Brittany E. Page. That's Twitter, Threads, Instagram, TikTok, wherever you happen to be. So Fox News is working overtime with their B team and maybe their C team, given all of the usual stars are off for the holidays. With one very important exception, and that is Jessica Tarloff, the liberal member of the five who often goes viral for going head to head with Greg Gutfeld

or Jesse Waters. Also just briefly as an aside, I love that I'm highlighting the Fox's B or C team while I'm actively part of a B team here on the David Pakman show right now. It's okay though. I'm okay with it. I know what's happening. I'm honored to be in the B team right now. I don't know how Jessica feels being a member of the A team and having to do the five with the B team for the holidays, but it didn't keep her spirit down in challenging the propaganda. Fox has been making a big fuss about an interaction that President Biden had with a reporter who asked him about the economy. And before we get to Jessica Tarloff, I want to paint a picture of Fox's approach to this story and give the full context.

So we'll have the B team host from Fox introduce this clip of Biden being asked by a reporter what his view is on the economy. More and more Americans say they're living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to afford everyday items. And rather than offer solutions, President Biden is blaming the media coverage of the economy. Watch. About the economy, sir, what's your outlook on the founding up here? All good. Take a look. The report is the right way. Now, before we get to how she introduced that clip, I want to highlight the chyron. It says Biden scolds media over its coverage of economy.

Did that sound like a scolding? Biden was smiling as he walked away. I mean, come on. And the introduction there, she started, quote, more Americans are struggling and living paycheck to paycheck. As though the Republican Party is ready with resources for that. Again, if you were here yesterday, if you joined me for the show yesterday, you heard me talk about two red states, Iowa and Nebraska, with two Republican governors who are refusing to participate in a summer food program for poor kids, with the Nebraska governor making bold statements in opposition to welfare. If we look at the 10 states with the highest poverty rates, red states are overrepresented. Mississippi is always at the top with the highest poverty rate.

You have West Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama, Oklahoma, South Carolina. When we think about poverty alleviating policies and pandemic era benefits that help to alleviate some of that financial stress, who is it that fights against those policies? Yes, the first person I think of is also Joe Manchin, but Joe Manchin together with the Republicans. So when you talk about Americans who are struggling and living paycheck to paycheck on Fox News, you are talking about the Republican Party, who consistently stands in the way of funding a robust social safety net. But before I get too carried away and off track here, we need to get back, get back to Jessica Tarloff,

who defended President Biden's approach when responding to that question from the reporter and decided to inform the 5B team about the realities of the economy. Which is 60% of Americans. If you want them to vote for you, then you have to acknowledge their pain. And he used to be this empathetic guy, but he's really ignoring the parts of the economy that are weird and still not working for too many people. That's right, Joey.

This reminds me a couple of weeks ago when he says, you're looking at the wrong polls. He keeps saying that, you know, wrong polls. You know, I hope he believes it. I hope he believes it. So he kind of rests on his laurels as a campaign too hard, although he did become president from a basement. But I don't want him to take it too seriously because I don't think he can fix it. But I don't want him to start putting band-aids on that make things look a little bit better for a short period of time in order to get reelected. I don't want him to start putting band-aids on that make things look a little bit better for a short period of time in order to get re-elected. I don't want that to happen.

I think borrowing capital is how poor people find their way ahead in life. They bet on themselves by borrowing money to start a business, to buy a skid steer or a backhoe and go out and work hard, create a business with one piece of machinery. Next thing you know, they've employed five people. They have five piece of machinery. Next thing you know, they've employed five people. They have five pieces of machine. You got to be able to borrow other people's money when you don't have it. But you do have the intellect and the work ethic and you can make it work. When interest rates are what they are, you don't have that opportunity. You can't change your station in life. So that is a problem because inflation says interest rates have to stay high. So where do we go from there? Jessica, where do we go from here? 20 seconds to defend Joe Biden, the indefensible.

We go right back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue because we do have good academic news. But the media doesn't want to cover it. He is correct or that he shouldn't just say you're looking at the wrong thing. They need to communicate this better. But we got revised third quarter GDP growth up to four point nine percent. Unheard of consumer confidence went up 14 percent. Largest jump in a decade. Inflation is running at an annualized rate below Powell's target, which is why he's talking about a rate cut. Personal incomes up. Grocery and energy prices down last month. In the Quinnipiac poll, this part of it is really important. They did a forward looking question. What do you think 2024 is going to be like? Forty percent say the economy is going to be better and 62 percent think that they are going to be better off in the next year. When is the election?

November 2024. Democrats, make your case. There is a case to be made. Wow, that was a good job, Jessica. Thank you. OK, doctor, give me a medical analogy. Is the economy on life support? This may not come as a surprise, but Jessica is absolutely right. And I think a lot of the opinions we hear about the economy are informed by how people feel about their station in life, how they feel about their personal finances. And those feelings may not be based on something the president actually has control over. So let's look at gas prices, for example. And we're going to be looking at a recent article from the Washington Post here with the title Biden's Economy versus Trump's in 12 charts. And one of these charts is dedicated to gas prices, where it is clear gas prices were

lower under Trump. But the first thing that you see written about this graph is that presidents don't control the gas prices. Quote, presidents have very little control over gas prices. But this is one area where the Trump era was better for Americans and could help explain some of the gloom Americans are feeling now. Pandemic related hiccups, the war in Ukraine and spikes in demand have all sent gas prices on a dizzying roller coaster ride since 2020. Gas prices more than doubled between April 2020 and April 2022 from $1.84 a gallon to $4.11. They peaked at an all-time high of nearly $5 a gallon in June 2022, but have come down since. Analysts say gas prices could fall below $3 per gallon by the end of the year, thanks to a combination of increased production and slowing

demand. Gas prices have a direct effect on how Americans view the economy, and higher prices at the pump have translated to lingering pessimism for much of Biden's presidency, end quote. So even though Biden has little control over the gas prices, the frustration that Americans feel over higher gas prices will be taken out on him in the form of, you know, when pollsters call and ask how people feel about the economy, people are going to say, not great. But let's look, let's look at jobs. And we're going to read again from the Washington Post. Quote, the rapid job gains in recent years have blown past economists' expectations and have fueled the economy's blockbuster growth. Even more remarkable is that the labor market has remained strong. Despite the Federal Reserve's aggressive efforts to slow

the economy, as long as Americans are employed, they've been able to withstand inflation and keep spending, allowing the economy to grow. Employers have created 14 million jobs during the Biden administration, with a monthly average of more than 400,000 positions. Recently, though, the pace of job creation has slowed, with 199,000 new jobs in November. By contrast, the economy added an average of 176,000 jobs a month during Trump's first three years before coronavirus-related closures and layoffs resulted in the sudden loss of more than 20 million jobs. And let's do one more since we have all of these graphs right in front of us and it's just irresistible. We got to do it. Let's do the unemployment rate.

Quote, joblessness fell during the Trump years to a half century low of 3.5% in early 2020, just before the pandemic. During Biden's presidency, the unemployment rate has inched down even further to 3.4% earlier this year. It now stands at 3.7%. The years-long pickup in hiring has been particularly good for workers who are typically underrepresented in the labor market. Unemployment rates for Hispanic workers, Black women, and people with disabilities have all hit record lows under Biden's watch. The black unemployment rate, which Trump liked to take credit for improving during his presidency, fell during both administrations, but reached an all-time low during the Biden era earlier this year. So it isn't all doom and gloom,

even though we keep hearing from these polls that Americans feel it is all doom and gloom? Is it a failure on the part of the media? Is it a failure on the part of the Biden administration to be out there communicating and promoting these wins? I think a lot of it comes down to the expiration of pandemic era benefits combined with a lack of effective communication and maybe a little sprinkling of media blame too. But it's a good thing that we have Jessica Tarlov on Fox doing her best to spread the word of truth. Okay, guys, I'm about to see myself out. It's been so fun guest hosting, and I'm happy that this clip dropped from Donald

Trump before I wrapped because we get to enjoy it together. He posted to Truth Social late on Tuesday night, and I guess the point of it is to encourage Iowa voters to get out there and support MAGA, support Trump. This is probably on his mind because it will be here before we know it. The Iowa caucuses are on January 15th. So Trump is up late at night. At least that's how I envisioned this. He's up late at night. He's stressing and he decided to record this video. He has some ideas about how people can teach their friends to caucus. And even though listening to Donald Trump is very painful, trust me, I know, please trust me that this is peak Donald Trump. And this one really made me laugh.

Hello to our wonderful Trump caucus captains. Thank you for all that you're doing. We really appreciate it. The most important thing you can do for our campaign is to lock in your 10 for Trump and turn them out for caucuses. Teach them how to caucus. Take them in your car on caucus night. If you have to do whatever is necessary, we got to get them in. We got to make America great again. So do whatever it takes. If you do, we will win and win big. And that's what you have to do. You know, the other side does cheat and we're not going to let that happen. We cannot let that happen. But that's what we need from you. Get in your car, get a lot of people and get down

caucus. Give a great speech for me. I hope you will. And I know you will have such confidence in you as you had in me and you have in me. Remember, you're my voice on caucus night, just like I am your voice to the rest of the country for a period of a long time, hopefully four years. We're going to make America greater than ever before. We're going to put America first and caucus night will be the very beginning. This is going to be a historic win. So it's up to you. Turn out your 10 for Trump on Caucus Night, and together we will indeed make our country better than ever before. That's what we're going to do.

We're going to bring it back to a level that it's never seen before. Hard to believe, considering where we are right now, an all-time low. It's terrible what's happened, but we are going to make America better than ever before. We are going to make America great again. Thank you very much. All right. Party time on caucus night. Take them in your car, get a lot of people, teach them to caucus. Also, let us linger for a moment on the other side does cheat and we won't let it happen. This, of course, from the guy who is caught on tape pressuring election officials to find him the votes to win an election that he lost. And it seems like, I don't know, most of the headlines when we hear

about voter fraud are Republicans committing voter fraud. I mean, just last month, I saw a headline from the Washington Post that said GOP officials wife convicted in months long 2020 voter fraud scheme. I mean, voter fraud is it's very rare. It's very, very rare. But it does seem like when those headlines occasionally pop up, it's a Republican. By the way, did you hear him say, remember you are my voice on caucus night, just like I am your voice to the rest of the country for a period of a long time, hopefully four years. Did you hear that? Hopefully four years. Does he know something we don't? Is he sick? What's going on here? I,

I really don't know. So I hope this was a moment of leverage levity for us. And hopefully we can balance these moments while at the same time, recognizing the danger that is Donald Trump, but it's important to give ourselves a break and recognize the good things in life too. Like, I don't know, laughing at dumbness. So my name is Brittany Page and it has been an absolute blast guest hosting for David Pakman. Thank you again to David, to his fantastic team. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel by searching my name and feel free to connect with me on social media at Brittany E. Page. I'm excited to tune into the show tomorrow for Jesse Dollimore to guest host. And I hope you stick around for

that too.