The David Pakman Show - 4/26/24: Toxic politics expands, evangelical leader crushes MAGA

Episode Date: April 26, 2024

-- On the Show: -- Evangelical Christian pastor Loran Livingston absolutely destroys the brand of fake Christianity being espoused by people like Donald Trump and Lee Greenwood through their Bible sales -- A Trumpist wearing a Trump flag is interviewed by Fox News' Lawrence Jones, and she breaks down in tears when talking about Trump facing criminal charges, reminding us about the cultish nature of MAGA -- Caller wonders if the Israel/Gaza war will affect the election outcome -- Caller discusses the concept of America being the enemy of the Middle East -- Caller talks about the difficulties of dealing with Trump supporters at work -- Caller doesn't like the toxic nature of American politics -- Caller explores the merits of DEI -- The Friday Feedback segment -- On the Bonus Show: Highlights from Supreme Court presidential immunity case, ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown than sale following ban, and much more... 💪 Athletic Greens is offering FREE year-supply of Vitamin D at https://athleticgreens.com/pakman 🥦 Lumen: Get $50 OFF with code PAKMAN at https://go.lumen.me/pakman 💪 Athletic Greens is offering FREE year-supply of Vitamin D at https://athleticgreens.com/pakman 🧻 Reel Paper: Code PAKMAN for 30% OFF + free shipping at https://reelpaper.com/pakman -- 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

. I have something really special for you today. You don't often see stuff like this from evangelical leaders in these mega churches. I'm going to play a video for you of Pastor Lauren Livingston. And this is the perfect evangelical indictment off of the grift that is the coming together of Maga and evangelical Christianity. Here is Pastor Lauren Livingston calling out this totally perverted version of Christianity that is promoted by Trump through things like the Bible that he's selling with Lee Greenwood. This is worth seeing. Take a listen. Take a look at this.

Some of you bring politics into the church. You think that politics is spiritual stuff. Politics is of this world. You think it's your duty to be political about this, that and the other. No, your duty is to serve the Lord, your God, with all your heart, mind, soul, body and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Don't be talking to me about my spiritual responsibility to vote. I don't have a spiritual responsibility, responsibility to vote. Now, I disagree with just about everything you hear in evangelical churches in the sense that I'm not Christian and I don't believe the stories that come from their sacred texts or any of it. But this is separation of church and state. Why? Spiritual duty to vote, talking about politics in church?

And then he gets right into the Bible stuff. I have a civic privilege. Don't be telling me that voting is spiritual. See, that's what happens when you don't read and pray, you say, wow, there's a Bible out now that includes the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Isn't that wonderful? No. No, it's disgusting. It's blasphemous. It's a ploy.

Are you kidding me? Some of you are so encouraged by that. Let me tell you something. The gospel is not an American gospel. It is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But pastor, I bought the Bible. Really? You're telling me

that you're encouraged because someone took a government, U.S. Constitution, a document that says we are of the people, by the people and for the people. Right. The people, the people, the people. And you have put it right beside the word of God, which is eternal, unchanging, which says of him, by him, through him, to him, from him are all things.

And you're going to put those together and be happy about it? God forbid. Now, you can get mad if you want to. Right. But I'm going to tell you something. If you glory in that kind of thing, you don't have a prayer life. If you glory in that kind of mess, political mess, you do not know what the word of God says.

I absolutely love this. I do not identify with Christianity. I do not identify with the framing that it's just the Constitution doesn't deserve to be up there with something as sacred as the word that came right from God. I don't believe any of that stuff. But I am really glad to hear I am really, really, really glad to hear Pastor Lauren Livingston saying to the people in his audience, in his church, this is not something to be happy about. This Trump Bible with the Constitution. These are not things that should go together. And we are not political in the sense of our voting connecting here. It is, I'm sure, the case that I would have

disagreements with this guy on many things. But he is absolutely striking the right tone. This is a perversion of Christianity. Good for him. Speaking of cults, a Trump is wearing a Trump flag as a blanket, started sobbing on live television over the trial of Donald Trump. Fox News is Lawrence Jones did the routine where he goes to some cafe at 6 a.m. and speaks to voters. Here's a woman who broke down in tears while wrapped in a flag about how unfair it all is, what they're doing to Trump. It's not about me. This is about targeting a political opponent. I was talking to this young

lady right here. Hey, how you doing? Good morning. We're talking about the former president being under prosecution right now. And again, if you're only listening, she's wrapped in a Trump flag. Now, what do you make of it? Do you think that is fair? No, I don't think it's fair. It's ridiculous. They're just trying to keep him busy so he can't run. You were telling me yesterday that as you thought about the case and you were watching about what was going on in New York, it brought you to tears. Why is that? Tears because- Could you cry again for us? Cuz it'd be great for ratings. We need Trump back or else we're going to lose our country.

We're going to lose our country. And it just and what's happening with these protesters is heartbreaking. It's history happening all over again. And they don't understand how bad it could get or will get if we don't get Trump back in. Thank you so much. But she and the clip, of course, from our friend decoding Fox News, sobbing, sobbing over the fact that full due process is being provided to Donald Trump, sobbing over the fact that

had Trump not done any of the things that he allegedly did, which led to 91 felony counts, had he not done any of that stuff, none of this would be going on and he'd be out on the campaign trail, sobbing despite the fact that there is no evidence that there is any concerted or coordinated effort to take Trump off the campaign trail with multiple jurisdiction indictments and conflicting criminal cases and the whole thing. This is what it's like to be in a cult. You end up sobbing in this way because the cult leader may have to face justice. Jim Jones followers would sob when it looked like law enforcement was getting close. The Branch Davidians and David Koresh,

it's all they start to sob. Why? Why are they targeting the cult leader? Wild and wacky stuff and Fox News loving absolutely every second of it. Remember to make sure you are subscribed on YouTube as we approach two point five million subscribers YouTube dot com slash the David Pakman show. And remember that you can grab any or all of my three children's books at David Pakman dot com slash book. Let's open the phone lines in a moment. That's David Pakman dot com slash book. Let's open the phone lines in a moment. That's David Pakman dot com slash discord. Looking forward to hearing from some of you folks. And what a Friday. What a Friday here at the studio. If you're looking for the perfect gift

to celebrate the moms in your life, an aura frame is a beautiful Wi-Fi connected digital picture frame that lets you share and display unlimited photos. I just got one for my mom. Super easy to upload and share photos via the aura app. If you're giving an aura as a gift, you can personalize the frame with preloaded photos and memories. I did this for my mom. I actually have now given both of my parents these as a gift, loaded it with pictures of the baby, which they loved. And now either both of my parents these as a gift, loaded it with pictures of the baby, which they loved. And now either I or my parents can add or remove photos from the frame with the app

from grandmothers to new moms, aunts, even friends in your life. Everybody loves an aura frame. It is the best digital photo frame, according to Wirecutter. It was one of Oprah's favorite things...... . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . ..... and free shipping on their bestselling frame. That's a you are a frames dot com slash Pacman. Then use the code Pacman at checkout for thirty dollars off and free shipping.

The info is in the podcast notes. Terms and conditions apply. One of our sponsors today is Lumen. Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach. It's a device that measures your metabolism through your breath. And on the app, it lets you know if you're burning carbs or fat, gives you tailored guidance designed to help improve your nutrition, workout, sleep, even stress management. Since your metabolism is at the center of everything your body does, optimizing metabolic health can improve everything from sleep, immune system, energy, blood, glucose, your weight. The list goes on. Lumen gives you real time feedback so you can make adjustments to your lifestyle based

on the context of your breath measurement, whether it's first thing in the morning, before or after meals and workouts. It's super easy to use. I've been trying it myself. Really impressed with how easy it is. It just doesn't disrupt your day at all. And the app is super intuitive with more than fifty four million metabolic measurements. Lumen is the world leader in metabolic data with a huge community of users that you can

connect with. Go to Lumen dot M.E. and use code Pacman to get one hundred dollars off your Lumen. That's L.U.M.E.N. dot M.E. Use code Pacman for one hundred dollars off. The info is in the podcast notes. The David Pacman show remains an audience funded program. And the most the largest bulk or piece of that funding comes from members who sign up at join Pacman dot com. You can get yourself a membership in mere seconds with average computer and technology skills.

You can also use the coupon code Save Democracy 24 to save about 50 percent off of the cost of a membership. Let's hear from the most important people in the audience. That is the audience. OK, that sounded a little awkward, but I think it does make sense. Let's go first. And by the way, we do calls via discord on The Friday Show. You can find the discord at David Pakman dot com slash discord. We're going to start with. Oh, I don't know. How about Mark from Michigan? Mark from Michigan. Welcome to the program. What's on your mind today? Oh, hello. Can you hear me? Yes, I can. OK, great. So I want to ask you, do you think that the war that's happening in Gaza right now is going to have a genuine impact on whether Biden wins or loses the 2024 election?

Because at the same time, there's Project 2025, and I've been watching your videos and reading about what could happen if Trump wins. And there was also an article by AP News that talked about the new Trump administration is at devaluing the dollar, which it's some pretty terrifying stuff and just like. Oh, wait, Mark, is your question about those policies or about the Gaza thing affecting the election? Oh, like about the Gaza thing affecting the election, because because I look at just like what could happen if Biden loses and oh, I got you. And not only would it be worse for the country, but it would be worse could happen if Biden loses. And oh, I got you. And not only would it be worse for the country, but it would be worse for Gaza if Biden was to lose.

Listen, here's my view on this. And some people will disagree with me. I think that come November, the Gaza situation is not going to have a real impact on the results. When you poll people about what issues are most important to them, foreign policy is ranking very, very, very low. We also are faced with a reality that if you care about Gaza and the Palestinians and you think Biden hasn't been tough enough on Israel, RFK Jr. would be less tough on Israel. Trump would be less tough on Israel. So if your concern is who will be the toughest on Israel of the people who could be president, it's also Biden. So I hope and believe that it is not going to affect the outcome of November's election. OK, OK, thank you. Can I also ask you a question about Project 2025? Yeah, go ahead.

Um, what like what what do you think would what do you think we would do if Trump was to win and he was to implement Project 2025? Like what's the what's even the game plan for if that was to come to fruition? I'm working on a proposal for what to do. So I want to let me it's I don't know the full answer right now. So let me finish up my proposal and then I'll bring it to you and we can discuss it, because that's a critical question and I just don't have the answer right now. It's scary. OK. OK. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Mark from Michigan. Great to hear from you. Why don't we go next to Scruffy from Phoenix?

Scruffy from Phoenix. Welcome to the program. Hey, thank you, David. First off, happy Passover. Thank you. Second off, I wanted to know what your thoughts are and how we can further the normalization of non-binary and genderqueer um identities and pronouns and um especially i present very masculine, but I identify as non-binary. I live in Arizona.

My turning point is here. CPAC all that stuff. So what do you think we can be doing as a society to further this normalization? You know, I would really defer to folks in that community, first and foremost, in terms of what what can or should be done. One thing I will say is, in my experience, crowbarring pronoun declarations into everything doesn't seem to really be helping. And by this, I mean, I was recently on a call with a few people about issues that have nothing to do, obviously, with with gender identity or anything like that. And at right up front, everybody declared pronouns.

And I just didn't feel the need to declare mine. I'm just sort of like, you know, make your best guess. And if you're wrong, I'll correct you. But that sort of thing I heard from from my sister about this happening. It's in some classes she was in at the beginning, but then they the school got away from it because that doesn't seem to be helping. I don't know if you would agree. Just like the pronoun declarations everywhere. What do you think? So I work at I'm a music teacher and an instrument instructor and the school that I work at. My pronouns are very visible. I have my pronouns and my name tag.

So I think pronouns are very important. And I do understand how it can be tiresome. But for myself, for those who take pride in the you know, ourselves. I think it is important to. To to share your pronouns and to that, I totally get. So I think, as you said, you said you present very masculine, but you identify as non-binary. So it makes 100 percent sense to me that you would want to communicate that to other folks. I think where there's been some resistance is the idea of everyone must declare pronouns rather than

like, for example, I would want to hear from you. Let's say I was a teacher, right? Like when I taught class, if you were in the class, I would definitely want you to tell me here's how I want to be referred to. I don't know on a percentage basis that if there's 30 people in the class and there's one non-binary individual, I don't know that I need to make the other 29 students declare pronouns. Do you understand what I'm saying? I think that's where sometimes. Speaker 4 Oh, you understand what you're saying? Speaker 1 That's all I mean. But beyond that, in terms of acceptance, I mean, listen, this is sort of like society moves over time. And for a while, this was the question that gay men were asking about. How are we going to have acceptance for the fact that

we were just it's two dudes and we're on a date. And right now it doesn't seem to be visibly accepted by society. What what can we do? I don't know what we can do, except I have a sort of like live and let live attitude. You know what I mean? I'm not judging people and I'm not making people feel uncomfortable. And my my hope is that over time we will stop seeing the trans community scapegoated in the way that at one point it was gay men. And, you know, at different times in society, it's been different groups. Yeah, I appreciate that. And just an aside, someone I work with thought that they and them were nicknames for me as well. So I thought that was a little funny.

Hmm. Yeah, that's I don't know what to make of that. But listen, Scruffy, I appreciate the call and let's keep on keeping on. OK. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Scruffy from Phoenix.

Great to hear from you. Let's go next to Zach from Florida. Zach from Florida, who wants to talk about abortion. Go ahead, Zach. What's going on? Yes, absolutely. Hi, David. Can you hear me?

Yes, I can. All right. Yeah, I this is kind of one of those situations where you kind of don't really want to give any advice to Republicans, but seems sort of like one way that they could maybe thread the needle that they find themselves in at the moment is to, you know, try to have their limitations, which I'm not saying that I agree with, but then also work to propose legislation to actually help mothers who maybe would have wanted an abortion, but because it would have been hard for them to raise the child. But maybe they could just, you know, try to better the situation for child care and help from others after the child's actually born. Yeah, lots of I mean, you hear this a lot, particularly from anti-choice Christian groups where they say, you know, we need churches and other community groups to provide the help that these mothers would need because then they would feel more equipped

to handle having a baby and be less likely to pursue an abortion. The problem is that it's great for church groups to provide whatever they want to provide. That's totally fine. As a matter of policy, the very same Republican Party that opposes abortion being legal in many cases also votes against increasing the child tax credit, providing more paid leave to do mother and father, you know, all of the things that would make that easier. So for me, it's not a substitute.

You can't use that as a reason to justify taking bodily and medical autonomy away from women, number one. And number two, they don't put their money where their mouths are because they say that and then they vote against all of those sorts of proposals. So I think that they're empty promises, too. Yes, yes, exactly. It seems like it could be something that they could adopt, which is, as we know, is popular, but quite resistant to it on both ends.

Hundred percent. Yes, that's all. All right. Interesting. Zach from Florida. A very good point and great to hear from you. Why don't we go next to. How about a mirror from Jordan? Am I getting the name right this time? Is it is it's pronounced Amir. Amir, please unmute yourself. You have self muted so no one can hear you. Well, it's close enough.

I mean, it works. All right. Well, welcome to the program. Well, my question is, like, you know, I live in the Middle East and it's becoming harder and harder to make an argument that America is not the enemy. Well, recently. You US voted the vetoed the Palestinian statehood and gave billions of dollars to Israel as a foreign aid. Like what is what?

At what point is it fair to for us to say, well, no, we are the enemy. I can't answer that question for you. You know, if in Jordan you would have to tell me what makes America the enemy in your mind. But it's certainly not an answer that that I could give you as someone who is in the United States. I mean, you tell me what what makes what would you like the United States to do and what would make the United States the enemy to you? I just be consistent, like the treat as you treating Russia right now.

Treat Israel well, the United States doesn't see Israel as they see Russia. So so I think this is where you're going to very quickly get into issues on on the one hand. That's not the way the United States sees the two countries. On the other hand, that's a standard that maybe in Jordan they have for whether the U.S. is the enemy. But I don't think that's the predominant standard in many other countries. I mean, let me put it this way, the traditional Western liberal democracies that are allied with Israel and see Putin invading Ukraine don't believe that the two countries should be treated the same way. Israel is a democracy and Russia is maybe barely one.

And, you know, as we know, when Putin wins with 90 percent of the vote, nobody really believes that they don't have free and fair elections, freedom of the press, all these other different things. So there's I don't think that Western liberal democracies see the two countries the same way. If in Jordan, that's the way you would like to see things be, then, yes, you're going to be disappointed with the American foreign policy position on that. Well, like I'm just saying, like, there is no like I've seen the Palestinian like authority. Like, like there is two sides of the Palestinian Hamas and the BLA below and like the below

done everything peaceful. Like if Israel was looking for peace, they would have made a deal a long time ago. Yeah, the the the PLO has not been completely peaceful, but I agree with you that they are a far better negotiating partner than Hamas, obviously. You know, here's the thing. I'm just not sure what kind of feedback you want from me necessarily, because I think the view in your country is very different than in most Western liberal democracies. And so you're certainly going to come to different conclusions and you have different things

you'd like to see. No, it's not. All I'm saying is like. Maybe like it is just fair for us to see them as the enemy. The U.S. just made this choice. I can't answer that question for you. You have to tell me, is the U.S. your enemy? Well, I'm just certainly you guys picked aside from this conflict.

At least you cannot be a mediator anymore. I would be perfectly happy to see the US not be the mediator in the Israeli Palestinian conflict that I would be totally fine with that. Amir, maybe we can agree on that. Thank you for the time. I think that all right. There is a mirror from Jordan. Great to hear from you.

Why don't we go next to. Oh, I don't know. How about T.J. from Cincinnati, Ohio? T.J., please unmute yourself and then we'll be able to hear you. Speaker 5 Hey, David, thanks for taking my call. I have a probably short question for you today. Coming from, you know, with it being an election year, we've had on the low end, at the very least,

people like ex-vice president Mike Pence, not, at least he comes out and he says he won't vote. I believe he said he won't vote for Trump. Ships on an endorsement for Biden. Right. But there are quite a bit of ex-Trump staffers, ex-White House staffers that have endorsed Biden. And the woman right now who's currently in the news, her name's escaping my mind right now. But she is endorsing Biden after working under Trump. Well, there's Sarah Matthews. Yes, that's her. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. And so and this is obviously not people working under Trump, but just speaking about endorsing Biden, do you think that ex former president George Bush should come out and say, I'm not voting for Trump or even going further and say, I am endorsing Biden? Do you think that would swing some voters left or right? Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 3

00 00 00 Speaker 4 00 00 00 Speaker 5 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 1

00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 1

00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1

00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1

00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1

00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1

00 00 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 Speaker 1 voting Biden, it won't make a difference to them. But I think that there is, you know, that 40% that voted for someone other than Trump in the primary, a slice of that group would be affected by George W. Bush saying for democracy, we've got to vote Biden. And so I don't think he's willing to do that. But I would love to see George W. Bush do that. I would welcome that. Great. Yeah, that's really all I have for you today. Thanks for taking my call. All right. TJ from Cincinnati. Great to hear from you. Let's just take a very

quick break. We're going to continue taking more calls in a moment. So just hang on if you're waiting to talk to me. We'll take a super quick break and be right back. It's important to me that any supplement I take is of the highest quality and freshness. And that's why I've been The David Pakman Show David Pakman dot com. AG one is NSF certified for sport, one of the most rigorous, independent quality and safety certifications out there. And the whole reason I drink AG one is it just is simple. It simplifies everything. It's a scoop a day. I get my vitamins and my minerals and that's all I need.

And the probiotics in AG one are something I'm particularly glad is there. So AG one just replaces the vitamin bottles, the digestive aids, all of the things that you might otherwise be taking individually. It's quicker. It's more cost effective than buying everything individually. You can go to drink AG one dot com slash Pacman to get a free year supply of vitamin D and K plus five free age one travel packs. That's drink age the number one dot com slash Pacman.

The link is in the podcast notes. All right. Let's go back to discord and hear from a few more folks in the audience and see what is on the minds of the many. Why don't we go to Simon from Montana? Simon from Montana. Welcome to the program. What's on your mind today?

Hey, David, can you hear me? Yes, I can. Hey, I just had two things. They're very different. But yeah, we'll see if we get through the first one. I basically work at a gas station in Montana, locally owned. It's really nice. And the people there are, I would say, mostly conservative. Me and one other liberal, I guess I would say. But no one talks about it. And there's one guy that does, and he's the most conservative. He's pretty bad. and no one likes him no one likes him at all um which is sort of funny um because of that but the people that i like there are i recently found

out i haven't worked on that long much more conservative than i thought um but they just don't talk about it and now I'm just having a hard time sort of reconciling that because I like these people. But do you have any similar situations in your life like that? Speaker 1 00 00 00 Speaker 3 00 00 Speaker 4 00 00 Speaker 5 You say where there's right wingers in my life. Speaker 4

00 00 00 Speaker 5 That you like that, that yeah, that you enjoy them. But nobody. Listen, I'm not hanging out with neo Nazis. I'm not hanging out with overt racists or anti-Semites. I have plenty of people in my social circles who are center right. It's not the majority, but I have people in my social circles who are center right when it comes to economics and taxation. I have people who are center right when it comes to, for example, you know, law enforcement. I have friends in different areas of law enforcement. These are all people with whom we have a shared moral basis on 85 percent of stuff. But then we have differences of opinion in terms of certain policy ideas.

And and that's fine and welcome and it's no big deal. But I don't have like hardcore extremists that I'm hanging out with. Yeah. Yeah. I wouldn't do that either. But yeah. Yeah. I was just sort of wondering.

That's helpful. Thank you. I mean, how how extreme are the folks you're talking about? Sorry. How extreme are the folks you're talking about? Sorry, how extreme are the folks you're talking about? The one guy that everyone doesn't like is he's he's a neo-Nazi for sure. He's a Holocaust denier. Yes. That's not going to be in that. That's not that's a no for me, dog. Yeah. Same. Same here. The other people, I just feel them support Trump and. They I don't think some of them are pretty Christian and they don't support abortion

or something, but gay marriage, I think they're all fine. And, you know, we have trans people that come in and stuff, but. But yeah, I don't know. I'll probably remain friends with some of the not that one guy. But what else are you going to ask about? I just recently found out and this is something that I think could be hit hard on if it's not fixed, in my opinion, by Republicans. And maybe it's just a small, stupid thing. But purchasing a child for for it, for sex in California is a misdemeanor, not a felony. And I felt like that is something that could be a pretty big talking point if it were to be

blown up at all. Purchasing a child for sex is a misdemeanor under California law, carrying a maximal penalty of up to a year in jail, minimum of two days in jail and a ten thousand dollar fine. It seems that what you're saying checks out. I would like to learn more about it because it sounds crazy. Also, now here's the thing. Purchasing or soliciting a child for sex. Yeah, listen, this is the first time hearing of it, at least in some sense, what you're saying seems to be true. It sounds nuts, but I'd really need to know more to weigh in substantively.

Yeah, definitely. I know there's there's discourse going on in the state right now about it. So hopefully it just gets nipped in the bud and whatever. But yeah, I'm also going to learn about it more. So. Yeah. All right. Well, I appreciate the phone call. Yeah. Thanks, David. All right. Simon from Montana. Off he goes. Great to hear from him. Why don't we go next to Aaron from Kyoto? Aaron from Kyoto. Welcome to the program originally from Minnesota.

Can you hear me? Yes, I can. Yes. It's great to be on a long time listener. First time caller. Thank you. Yes. So I grew up in rural Minnesota and it is like kind of uh trump country um it's uh we had a democrat as the representative for

a couple decades um but then he was replaced by a republican in i think 2020 um and uh and so like my sort of uh question for you is uh so uh so like like in my experience, I've I met a lot of people that are like I live in Kyoto. I met a lot of people in Japan and Korea that have like a very positive view of Donald Trump. They think he's a great businessman. And I've heard of that. I've heard that there is a movement in Japan that is that loves Trump. Yeah, there's like a lot of people out there like when they meet me, they're like, oh,

yeah, like you're an American. So like, yeah, Trump is this great guy and such and great businessman. And I'm like, no, he's he's a horrible. Yeah. And anyway, so so my question for you, like about that is like you've you traveled the world quite a bit, too. And like, do you run into these people often or like when you go to Europe and such? Never, never, never.

It is never happening. Listen, I there there have been people in Argentina who don't really follow anything. And what I think it's one time someone said to me, yeah, Trump doesn't seem so bad. Why do so many people dislike him? And it was someone who really doesn't follow politics. But universally, I run into people out now. I have to tell you, this is the people that are coming up to me. So obviously they're more likely to be fans of the show.

But when I was in the UK recently, seven or eight people came up to me, all not Trump supporters when I was in France and I met people when I was in Italy. I'm not experiencing this at all. But at the same time, I'm not traveling to countries where there seem to be prominent pro-Trump movements. I mean, I guess in the UK, there is a right wing movement. It's just they're not coming up to me, you know? Yeah. Like one thing, too, is that I've done a bunch of volunteer work in, in Korea with North Korean refugees, and quite a few of them were like really caught up with the culture personality back when he was the president because like they saw him doing things they didn't really understand that like he's kind of doing it for show and then he starts talking very positively about um the uh about uh johnny kim right i mean uh john noon kim sorry uh yeah so uh uh very interesting like uh seeing their responses uh and like uh as like the as the time went on. But yeah, thank you for having me in. I'll take my call.

Speaker 1 All right. Aaron from Kyoto. Great to hear from you. Let's go next to Tristan from Massachusetts, who is also a website member. Tristan, thank you for that support. I really do appreciate it. Welcome to the show. What's on your mind today? Tristan, you're

on the air. Please unmute yourself. Can you hear me now? Yes, I can. Excellent. So great interviews this week. Love them. Thank you. So my question, not that I don't want to encourage tuning out and being uninformed, but I understand for a lot of people, the amount of overload and of politics in the news can be very tiring. And I think it's healthy to occasionally take a break from watching at least mainstream news and social media. How do you. How do you avoid or deal with that kind of fatigue, especially as someone who kind of does it for a living? Speaker 1 So when I'm done with the Friday show, I tune out all news and politics until I'm prepping the Monday show. It's a weekly you might call it a Sabbath or sabbatical from news unless there's something completely extenuating that happens over the weekend

that I'm planning to cover or something like that. I'm basically consuming no news at all. I don't watch cable news. Everything I watch is just stuff that's been flagged for me for possible discussion on the show. But I never it's been years since I turned on my TV and put on cable news of any kind. I just don't do it when I take vacations. I don't follow the news at all. And I restrict my reading to history, economics, science and other things to get, you know, deliberate breaks from it. I think all of those things are very much worth doing. Speaker 3 I have tried a similar strategy as a kind of New Year's resolution to take one day off a week. Yep. To just from all news, tune it all out. Yeah. I think I'm taking off about two and a half full days a week from all news.

And I'm I'm kind of surprised that you have been able to make it this long without going totally nuts, especially since you follow U.S. politics in particular. Yeah, I agree. Which is its own beast. Hundred percent. That's kind of its own beast. 100 percent. That's kind of all I got. All right. Tristan from Massachusetts.

Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Always great to hear from you. Why don't we go next to Tamisha from New York City? Tamisha, it's been a while. What's going on? Hello. Can you hear me?

Yes, I can. Hi. I just want to tell you first that I have all three of your books. Oh, thank you. I brought them into my classroom and the kids are really into it. That's amazing. They like your scientists, one the best so far. Very nice. I appreciate that. That's the scientist. One is sort of like it's a cult classic, I would say. Is it? Yeah. I don't know among which cult, but I like the voting one the best.

Cool. I appreciate that. But yeah, my my students know that I listen to you. They don't. I talk about you generally because I don't want to give them too much information about my political views. Of course. um i but they're like this so they mentioned david david's book we have to read it i that's amazing i love that but um i just wanted to ask you also quickly um sure i don't know if this is i can't remember specifically but you said that you did have some criticisms about D.I. Mm hmm.

And I just wanted to get your. What were your criticisms were, because I find that especially on Twitter, I'm on Twitter a lot that the criticisms at the right wing have on D.I. is very disgusting and racist to me. Oh, yeah. No, listen, here's my view on this, Tamisha. I think that DEI, meaning diversity, equity and inclusion programs, have a completely logical, reasonable and great reason for existing in general, which is we are perceiving inequalities. We want to correct them. We want to generate equality of opportunity. We want to right

historical wrongs. We see that there are still problems in society that we want to fix. That's all great. What I mean by criticisms is when there are examples of things gone too far, when certain groups end up silenced under the name of D.I., like, for example, the argument that or or or under wokeness or intersectionality, like, for example, the argument that Jewish women aren't intersectional and discriminated enough against enough to qualify to be in the leadership of the Women's March. That's that's a specific example of you've perverted the stated objectives of why you exist or so. So my point is not I have general criticism. It's sometimes any movement that is rooted in logical and sensible objectives gets taken too far by the extremists. And we should just be critical that we shouldn't do the thing where we are presented with some example

and we defend it when it doesn't deserve defending. We should just say when these examples are presented, we should go, oh, that sounds crazy. Yeah, no, that's not. When I say I support diversity, equity and inclusion as principles, I don't support that specific thing or that specific thing. Don't get into the game of defending the indefensible. Yes.

Yeah, I feel the same way because I'll give pushback about when people like there's this guy, I listened to Hawk Newsome. He's he kind of leads the black. He doesn't call it Black Lives Matter anymore, but he kind of leads the way in New York. And he he does a lot of he doesn't really like cops and he doesn't. He's he stands up for anti blackness, I guess you would call it. But he also goes a little too far where he's like, all white people are racist. And I don't believe in those extremes. I don't believe that. Yeah, no, I agree with you.

Discrimination to fight discrimination. I'm against that type of stuff. The police thing is an interesting one where it's like I have the police thing is interesting. It's like we need police reform. I've outlined 10 to 12 different ways in which I would reform and improve policing. If you just ask most people if you could get rid of the police in your city right now and have no police, would you do it? Almost everyone says no.

And so at its core, the blanket defund the police thing, I think, went too far. It's we need to reform. We have problems that we need to talk about qualified immunity, all these different things defund and get rid of the police. No, almost nobody actually wants that. And Democrats don't want that. Republicans don't want it. So that would be an example where I say there's a great instinct here.

Aspects of policing aren't working. There's much to fix, but let's not go too far. And we just should be clear about it. That's my view. Speaker 4 Yes, I feel the same way. You shouldn't say every cop is bad. The whole system is bad. Are there problems in the system? Does it need to be fixed? Does it need to be worked on revamped? Yes. But just to say that it's a black bad system and needs to be done away with altogether is not the answer either. Like, I agree on that term. But back to DEI for a second.

I was just basically seeing on social media, I know that's not representative of the world or the country, but they say things like DEI is hiring people that are not qualified in the name of diversity. And I don't feel like that's true. I feel like the people that they like, Katonji Brown, Brown, Jackson is qualified and she was picked to be the Supreme Court judge. But they try to downplay it and make it seem like if it's a black person or a woman in these positions, they're automatically not qualified because here's the thing with that. Yeah, I if if if you can bring me an example of someone who's not qualified, who's been hired, let

me evaluate it. And then if that's what happened, I'll criticize it. When it comes to Judge Jackson, we have a country of 330 million people. There are what, thousands, at least people in the country who would be qualified to be Supreme Court justice. So among the pool of qualified people, we can then say, hey, there's never been a black woman on the on the Supreme Court, and that would be meaningful in its own way. From those who are qualified, is there a black woman that might also be meaningful in her role on the court?

You're not picking unqualified people. You're saying we have so many qualified people in a country this big that we have the richness where we can do that. Yes, and I feel like that the right portrays it as in hiring people based on diversity, they're automatically hiring unqualified people right now. It may be taking place and if it is, I'll criticize it. But the case with Judge Jackson certainly is not an example to me. I got to run. I appreciate the call.

Thank you. All right. To Misha from New York City. Always great to hear from her. Let's take a break. We'll take more calls again. Just not today. Paper towels are one of the biggest contributors

to deforestation in the United States. That's why I use bamboo paper towels from our sponsor, Real Paper. Just like all of real products, their paper towels are free of inks, dyes and BPAs and are 100 percent free. Free. All the packaging is plastic free, even down to the tape on the box. Before I discovered real paper, I tried a few different sustainable paper towel options over the years. They were either flimsy, had no absorption power. They felt cheap like something in airport bathrooms. Yet somehow they were still outrageously expensive. Reels paper towels are 50 percent thicker, more absorbent than the leading sustainable brand.

The sheets are to apply for extra absorbency. And thanks to the strength of bamboo, they can hold the toughest messes. Real partners with the organization One Tree Planted with every box of real you buy. They are funding reforestation efforts all across the country. So unlike the other paper towels that cut down the trees, real is actively helping to plant them. Go to real paper dot com slash Pacman and use the code Pacman for 30 percent off and free shipping.

That's our EEL paper dot com slash Pacman coupon code. Pacman gets you 30 percent off plus free shipping. The info is in the podcast notes. All right, let's get to the Friday Feedback segment, also known as the Friday Feedback. I don't know why. I think I just once misspoke or something like that. Emails to info at David Pakman dot com will be considered. We'll also sometimes feature subreddit posts or YouTube comments, tick tock replies.

Anything could end up on Friday feedback. And we start today with a subreddit post from subreddit user four three two Olim who said I saw Trump supporters in Massachusetts today. I live in Massachusetts and I was pretty shocked to see Trump voters standing on the bridge over the highway today, hanging up banners that say things like Trump won in 2020. It's shocking enough that anyone believes that. But even in blue Massachusetts, there are people like that. I guess they're scared he's going to get convicted in Manhattan. Can't wait for it to happen.

Then the question comes, will he get jail time? My understanding is most legal commentators think it's not the case, but possible. Anyone else seeing the Trumpers out to support their favorite criminal defendant this weekend? You know, this this relates to something that I've said before. Even in blue states, there's lots of Republicans and even in red states, there's lots of Democrats. Massachusetts has a population of about seven million people. Last presidential election, 32 percent of the electorate voted for Trump. Now, obviously, in the seven million, there are kids and there are nonvoters.

So this isn't perfect math. But even in Massachusetts, you probably still have a million Trump supporters, a million Trump supporters in blue liberal left wing Massachusetts. So first of all, we have to remember that even the bluest states still have many Trump supporters. We have a country of three hundred and thirty million people, three hundred and forty million people. But also when Trump says I can't get a fair trial in Manhattan because there's so many Democrats, you need 12 jurors and six alternates. And the idea that a venue change is necessary merely because in Manhattan people tend to vote for Democratic

presidential candidates very much not based, not based in reality. Also from the sub Reddit Web Brewers says, why hasn't David mentioned that the Fed not lowering interest rates is a sure sign of a good economy? For that matter, I haven't seen any pundits make this obvious point. Even my limited economic knowledge tells me the Fed uses interest rates to accelerate or slow economic growth. When things are good, they're not going to lower rates. Yeah, this it's a fair point, but it's a bit abstracted from some of the arguments on the ground.

And what I mean by that is even though the Trump is will deny any argument you make that the economy is doing pretty well, saying to them unemployment's low, inflation is down, GDP is up, stock market doing well, even though they will deny it and say, no, you're wrong or whatever. It's clearer than saying if the Fed believed the economy was declining, they would start cutting in order to try to push it up. You're absolutely correct. It's not an argument that's going to land with a lot of the people who don't even want to acknowledge the unemployment numbers, if what I'm saying is clear. So I think that this is absolutely right.

If indeed the Fed was starting to see a need to help the economy because of slowing metrics, they would start lowering interest rates in most cases, assuming there are not some other extenuating circumstances. So it's a it's a fair point. And I think we'll we'll keep talking about it. Tony Powder said on YouTube, nobody likes Trump, but I have to admit, admit his economy was better. It has me seriously considering voting for him this election.

I don't know if this person is lying or ignorant. Now some people love to say stuff like this and they're just lying to get a rise out of people. But I would very specifically respond by saying, tell me which metrics were better under Trump job creations, better under Biden. GDP numbers look good. Unemployment's never been this low for this long a period of time dating back 50, 60, 70 years. I mean, just tell me which

data were better and then we can talk about it. But the economy was I have to admit the economy was better. You would think that if it were so obvious to you that the Trump economy was better, you would have at least some metrics to cite and then we could talk about them. Slim Shady says, is it just me? But every time David tells a lie, he blinks rapidly twice. I think I just did it. It's his tell anybody out there notice that, David, you're welcome to sit in on our weekend poker games anytime. I'm not really going to address this directly because it's so dumb, but I've told the story

before. There are a couple really sad examples of mental illness that we saw head on when a couple different viewers over the years. Came to believe that I was communicating with them specifically by blinking Morse code messages just to them. Like in other words, I might be talking about GDP, but I'd be blinking in Morse code a message about something else, like a warning to them or something like that. It's really, really, really sad that there is that type of untreated mental illness in the country. And it would be great if we could increase resources and do more for for folks. But I blink when I blink twice when I tell lies is not one that I was expecting to hear. OK, back to the subreddit. Tired of rat racing made a list of the best brain locking policy paradoxes that Maga people

can't figure out and pointed out that Jordan Klepper does a really good job of pointing out the inconsistencies and give some examples. For example, they want Trump to be president, but they insist he was actually president the last four years. Thus, he would be ineligible after being president from what, from their perspective, is eight years. Sure. They say the last four years everything has been terrible, but they insist Trump was in

charge the last four years. They say COVID wasn't real or dangerous, but the vaccine was made and pushed out as an emergency order during the Trump presidency. The pro-lifers are also usually Second Amendment nuts and are apparently OK with allowing for more school shootings. The uber conservatives want government to not interfere with their gun sales sales or daily life, yet find it acceptable for the government to meddle in people's reproductive rights. Please share any other gotcha gems. Here's the thing about these gotcha gems, and they are all accurate expositions of hypocrisy and double standards from right wingers.

The problem with every single one of these is that double standards no longer matter. These might be effective at something. If the people who perpetuate these double standards cared about consistency, they don't care about consistency anymore. And a lot of that is why pointing out double standards alone really doesn't do anything at all. Anything at all. Let's go now over to Facebook, where Tammy says nothing. And I mean,. You tell me in connection with Donald J. Trump will surprise or shock me. On top of that, I do not believe he will spend a split second behind bars, even though a large number of individuals have done so for him. And a number

have sung like songbirds, pleaded guilty of doing things Trump's asked them to do and have lost their bar licenses, career, family, self-respect, all things Trump touches dies. The Magas is a cult. There's some shaky grammar here, but I get the point. Full stop. The Republican Party no longer exists. It is now the party of Trump. He has already been fitted for his crown as their king. The Republican Party itself is eating their own. They are self-destructive because no one would stand up against Trump. Go figure. What I'll say, Tammy, is the following. I hope you are correct that they are self-destructing because the alternative is that Trump wins four more years in November. And then we have a real problem on our hands, a real problem on our hands. Jem says on YouTube, hmm, any Jew voting for Biden needs to be talked to. Somehow that sounds

a little tamer to me than anyone who votes for Trump needs to be deprogrammed. Actually, I've wondered why any Jew would support the Democratic Party when the Republicans, including Trump, has demonstrated significantly greater support for Jews in Israel. It's a mystery I will never understand. Well, what you you you don't understand reality, sir or ma'am. The reality is that Trump and Republicans are, quote, supportive of Jews and Israel in ways that are primarily self-serving insofar as evangelical Christians believe that support of Israel will bring about the second coming of Christ, at which all or most of the Jews die and the rapture and all this stuff.

They don't care about actually being in a situation where you're improving the lives of those living in Israel and in the Palestinian territories. They care about it in a self-serving way. And in addition to that, the sort of support that is coming from the Democratic Party, I find to be much more balanced, which is, of course, we have to do something about growing anti-Semitism in a real and substantive way. And of course, we want to maintain relationships with democratic countries in the Middle East, many of which are few and far between.

And also, we need to put some sort of brakes on what would otherwise be a completely unrestricted campaign of who the hell knows what from Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. So for for me and for the vast majority of American Jews who are liberal and left leaning, we see the Democratic Party as far more supportive of our values and of American Jews and of a vision of the Middle East that is much more in line with our values as well. Now, are there outrageous anti-Israeli, anti-Semitic, far, far, far left extremists? Of course. And I disagree with them.

So I this is this one is based in a lot of ignorance, a lot, a lot of ignorance. Bob wrote in about my recent commentary about Jesus's tomb being found empty and is very upset. Bob says, David, I am a supporter of your show, liberal and a Christian. Just stop it. I respect your right to be an atheist. So respect the faith of your Christian supporters. Why do you pick on the Christians but don't go after the Jews or Muslims? Don't they believe in the same God? This was so insulting. I'm thinking about canceling my subscription over this. And a couple of people did listen. If your faith. Is such. That me saying, hey, I don't know how much non biblical evidence there is for Jesus coming back to life.

If you see that as picking on Christians, then we just have a fundamental disagreement about what it means to not have any sacred cows and be able to critically analyze anything. Now, I don't go after Jews or Muslims. The Noah's Ark story is from the Old Testament. We've, quote, gone after it in a sense that we've examined the scientific implausibility of it when it comes to Islam. Many times we have gone after beliefs from Islam that I believe are completely not based in fact. There's nothing special about any one religion. There's nothing special about religion or non-religion over the other.

This is a show where we will discuss any number of things. And if it's considered insulting to say, hey, for me, the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is shaky if you don't include so-called sacred text, if that's an insult, that's an attack on religion. We just have a fundamental disagreement of what is worthy of discussion at the end of the day. And some people have canceled. That's right.

They have canceled. Speaking of canceling, make sure to get a membership at join Pacman dot com. We estimate one half of one percent of our audience supports us directly in this way. If we could go from half of one percent to one percent, we become financially sustainable indefinitely, no matter what YouTube does, no matter what Facebook does to our monetization, no matter what anybody does. So consider getting yourself a membership at join Pacman dot com. The new website is working working beautifully. And I hope to see you on today's bonus show.