The David Pakman Show - 8/7/25: Trump unleashes racist rant as his approval rating plummets

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

-- On the Show: -- Dan Koh, host of The People's Cabinet, fills in for David. Subscribe to Dan's YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/@ThePeoplesCabinet -- Kevin Hassett, Trump's Director of the National Economic Council, falsely claims the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) "rigged" jobs numbers for Obama -- Trump launched a racist tirade during a CNBC interview, using coded language like “inner cities” to refer to Black communities -- A new UMass Amherst poll shows Trump’s approval ratings are plummeting, with 58% of Americans disapproving of his job performance -- A bombshell Washington Post report reveals FEMA staff are being redirected to help with ICE deportation efforts -- Trump claims he had no idea about Ghislaine Maxwell being moved to a different prison -- New progressive messaging from voices like Zohran Mamdani and Elizabeth Warren is finally breaking through -- FEMA staffers are being reassigned to help the Trump administration with immigration enforcement -- On the Bonus Show: Trump's erratic Truth Social posts, Alina Habba's nonsense exposed, RFK Jr. goes after vaccines, and much more... ☕ Trade Coffee: Code PAKMAN10 saves you $10 at https://drinktrade.com/pakman 🌞 Sponsored by BetterHelp: Get 10% off your 1st month at https://betterhelp.com/pakmanshow 🤖 Sponsored by Venice: Use code PAKMAN for 20% off a Pro Account at https://venice.ai/pakman 💻 Sponsored by Aura: Try it free for 2 weeks! See if your data is safe at https://aura.com/pakman ⚠️ Ground News: Get 40% OFF their unlimited access Vantage plan at https://ground.news/pakman -- Become a Member: https://davidpakman.com/membership -- Subscribe to our (FREE) Substack newsletter: https://davidpakman.substack.com/ -- Get David's Books: https://davidpakman.com/echo -- TDPS Subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/thedavidpakmanshow -- David on Bluesky: https://davidpakman.com/bluesky -- David on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/davidpakmanshow

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the David Packman Show. My name is Dan Co. I am not David Packman. David is with his family. First and foremost, let us all congratulate David and his family on their second addition to this world. I am the host of the People's Cabinet podcast. We interview leaders who are guiding our country's future and doing explainers and

analysis on the news that you're reading every day. So a little bit about me. I used to work in the White House first as the deputy director of intergovernmental affairs for President Biden, and then before that deputy cabinet secretary. What the heck do both of those mean? Well, first and foremost, I was in charge of helping to oversee coordination between the president's cabinet and the president. So anything related to messaging, et cetera, we would coordinate. Intergovernmental affairs was about making sure that our governors and mayors have what they needed on any given day. Sometimes that was something as, you know, mundane as a White House tour. Other days, it was disaster response.

Before that, I was Chief of Staff at the Department of Labor, working under Secretary Marty Walsh. One of the things we did there was the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We oversaw that as part of the agency, and I'll get to that in just a little bit. And before that, I was Chief of Staff to Ariana Huffington at the Huffington Post, and then was in City Hall in Boston as Mayor Walsh's chief of staff. So been able to see government a little bit from both the local level and the federal level. And it's given me some interesting insights that I hope to be able to share with you all today. So please subscribe to David Packman's channel right here. Also subscribe to my channel, the People's Cabinet. You can see it in the links below. And let's get

started. Okay, the Bureau of Labor Statistics probably for the first time in your lives has been in the news a lot lately. And I want to break it down a little bit. So every month, there is a report that is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that sits under the Department of Labor. I used to be the chief of staff of the Department of Labor, so I work closely with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That report puts out how many jobs were added or subtracted to the economy every month. How is that put together? It's put together through a survey, much like a poll, that I will get to. In the first Friday of the new month, those numbers are released at 8.30 a.m. President Trump tweeted the following on August 1st, I should say more specifically truth. I was just informed that our country's

jobs numbers are being produced by a Biden appointee, Dr. Erica McIntyre, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the jobs numbers before the election to try to boost Kamala's chances of victory. This is the same Bureau of Labor Statistics that overstated the jobs growth in March 24 by approximately 818,000. And then again, right before the 2024 presidential election in August since September by 112,000. These were records. No one can be that wrong. We need accurate jobs numbers. I have directed my team to fire this Biden political appointee immediately. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate. They can't be manipulated for political purposes. McIntyre said there were only 73,000 jobs

added, a shock, but more importantly that a major mistake was made by them 258,000 jobs downward in the prior two months. Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative. The economy is booming under Trump, despite a Fed that always plays games, this time with interest rates, where they lowered them twice and substantially just before the presidential election, I assume with the hopes of getting Kamala elected. How did that work out? Jerome, too late Powell should also be put out to pasture. Thank you for your attention on this matter. The second later, he tweeted, in my opinion, today's jobs numbers were rigged in order to make the Republicans and me look bad. Just like when they had three great days around the 2024 presidential

election, and then those numbers were taken away on November 15, 2024, right after the election when the jobs numbers were massively revised downward, making a correction of over 18,800, excuse me, 818,000 jobs, a total scam. Jerome Too Late Powell is no better, but the good news is our country is doing great. Okay, a lot to unpack there. Pretty much the only thing I agree with with Trump is that these numbers should not be manipulated for political purposes. So let me tell you how it works. There are two different surveys, okay, the establishment survey and the household survey. The establishment survey surveys businesses and other organizations.

The household survey surveys households. These are hundreds of thousands of data points, okay? They go into much like a poll, they put it out for questionnaires for people to answer. Every month, those questionnaires come back, and then those questionnaires are used to calculate and extrapolate based on that sample what the number is. Okay. So think of it much like a poll. You get the numbers back and you extrapolate based on that survey data. Now, the other thing that's interesting about this is that those surveys, because you're surveying literally hundreds of thousands of households and businesses, are incomplete because not all of it comes back in time, right?

So the number that you are seeing every month is an estimate based on the survey responses. Again, this is not some kind of a manipulation by Erica McIntyre for this is just how the statistics statistical science works right so those numbers come back here's the timeline on how that works the numbers come back you have over 2,000 people at the Bureau of Labor Statistics that are called nonpartisan employee career employees okay they they regardless of who is in power in terms of Democrats or Republican stay there as career officials there are 40 or 50 or so who focused solely on this job's report. Two days before the release, as I mentioned, it comes out the first of every month. That data is presented by those career employees to the

commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is the first time the commissioner sees that data. Okay. So the notion that somehow they could manipulate it, something was wrong, just doesn't hold water that it would be the commissioner's fault, because in this case, she does not see that data until two days before. Then the next day, that information is presented to the president and his senior team. Then at 8 a.m. on Friday morning, the Secretary of Labor and his senior team, I was one of those people, are briefed on what the numbers are telling us. Then at 8.30, it's released to the public. Typically, what happens with the White House and the administration is there's a Zoom after that to talk about communications around it. That was as political as we got.

How should we talk about this to the public? How should we communicate it? What Trump is alleging is that somehow the numbers were fudged to benefit Kamala Harris and to hurt President Trump. Again, that just doesn't stand any water. I should also note this notion that there's a Biden appointee that he was just informed about. The reality is the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics is appointed every four years by law. So it traverses presidential administrations often. So we had a commissioner. His name was William Beach. He was incredibly competent. He actually came from the Heritage Foundation. He was an economist, and he and the political appointees within the Labor Department got along very well because we trusted his data.

Now, as I mentioned, survey data comes back. Sometimes that survey data is incomplete, actually all the time it is because not all the surveys come back. So after a month or two, as well as annually, you revise the jobs numbers based on more information. Again, this is scientific, right? It's not about manipulation, it's more data comes back, so we're going to make that number for that month more precise. So in the case of month to month, it's because survey data comes back from more businesses or households. In the case of a year, there are things like unemployment insurance goes back. The data that the state's process for unemployment insurance comes back, which gives an more accurate reading of businesses, which allows you to then extrapolate the data, more precise.

So here's the reality. The reality is these numbers are very, very hard to calculate, especially in uneven times. In COVID, you saw revisions in the hundreds of thousands, if not more. And after the Great Recession, 2008, you saw that. This is just the reality of how it works. President Trump would make it lead you to believe there's some kind of political conspiracy. There is nothing of that sort here. I would also, and I would also mention that this downward revision that everyone's panicking about, it's important to point out that this may be a tumultuous economic time that the data hasn't fully presented, right? We're seeing signs of that, and I'll get to that later in the episode. So this may be a sign that we are in a warning sign, candidly, that we are in more tumultuous times, and that is more to come. So that's a little bit about how that works and how Trump is doing it. So what is next? Okay?

What is next is Trump's playbook on how he proceeds. Because bottom line is these, so basically what happened was these numbers on August 1st were lower than what he expected. And because it's a proxy for the economy, it looks bad for Trump that it was lower than what he expected. So what he is going to try to do now is to install a loyalist, not just a loyalist, but also someone who believes in new methodology or questions the methodology to be able to goose these numbers. So there's five steps that he's going to do, and I want to take you through

them right now. First is to trash the BLS methodology. Second is to nominate someone who says it needs updating. Third is to funnel cash to outside help that could enrich his allies. Fourth is the numbers going up. And then five is to compare apples to oranges and brag about record growth. So first, methodology. So as I mentioned, the BLS has a scientific methodology that they use to calculate the jobs numbers every month. But a new commissioner could decide that the methodology is outdated or wants to update it. There's nothing wrong with that in theory if it's someone who's doing that based on statistical science. But if they have an agenda to please the president and they already know that they're going to be fired unless the numbers are good, that presents a huge problem for the

United States. So I think we need to really focus on that and look at what's coming next because that's a concern. One thing I would point out about that is that there are things that you could do with the data already. For example, Uber and Lyft drivers. Right now, they're not considered potentially in the full-time payroll category because some of them are part-time, et cetera. You could have a new commissioner who says that you need to count those and all of a sudden the numbers for jobs added that month could go way up. That's the first thing. The second thing is, questioning the methodology would allow for an opening to totally revise the methodology to boost the numbers. So you're already seeing that. Yesterday, first of all, you're already

seeing that, and you're seeing that in a way that is concerning because it does not seem to be based on anything legitimate. So yesterday, Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, went on CNBC to talk about stage one, essentially, of what I'm saying about the playbook, to talk about the BLS. Here's the clip. I mean, I remember talking with you years ago about the BLS putting numbers out that could help, you know, Democrats put questions ahead of Republicans. So how hard is it or easy is it to manipulate this data? Well, the problem is that if you want to have like statistical certainty, right, then you need to have a large number of observations that are suspicious. And so there are certainly anecdotes that are very concerning.

One of the famous ones in the literature is that right before Mitt Romney and Barack Obama were running for office for president, there was a GDP release that was really surprisingly positive right before the election. I thought I had previously briefed Mitt Romney's campaign that I thought that they were probably going to have a number that looked like a recession. And then, in fact, they got a really big, beautiful number right before the election, probably had a big effect on the election. And then that number ultimately was revised away, and it was revised away because, it turned out that the number happened because of the biggest ever, all the way back to World War II, increase in defense spending. No kidding. That is exactly what we've spoken about. That's right. Yes. And when you see something like that, then you've got to say, no, this is not the kind of thing that should happen. Our data agencies need to make sure that the data are trustworthy and not being manipulated politically. And I'm 100% sure that President Trump has made that one of a size priorities that we put together a team that produces data.

that people can 100% trust and that people know where the data came from and can open source it as much as possible. Unbelievable. So there's actually one main problem with what he said. The host asked him about BLS numbers being rigged in 2012 under Obama. And he said, he cited a GDP number as something suspicious. GDP is not measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The commissioner of the Bureau of Statistics does not measure. GDP. That is the Department of Commerce. I can't imagine that someone like Kevin Hassett, who actually

used to be in the Council of Economic Advisors, which is the Economic Advisory Office in the White House, doesn't know that. I think he's blatantly lying to try to create more of an opening for Trump. That should concern all of us. So that's already happening, right? The lies are already happening. The propaganda is already out there. Next, you're going to see him announce a nominee. that's coming soon. The nominee will likely be somebody who says that these numbers are outdated, that they need updating, and because of the Republican-controlled Senate, that person will likely be confirmed. The reason why I say step three, funnel cash to outside help, is because what's another line that they will probably use is, in order to update this data, we need new vendors to help us.

We need the private sector. Now, here's another thing to point out. The private sector has numbers that they publish. ADP and other organizations publish what they believe are jobs added to the economy every month. And oftentimes they don't sync with what the government puts out. That tension is real. And oftentimes the government number is used as the default to compare against the private sector. But what Trump may do is say, we need to partner with outside vendors. And we don't, you know, we will give millions of dollars to someone to help us. You bet that the people who will get those contracts will be people who Trump would want to enrich. Fourth, after that is in place, you'll see numbers go up. And even though it's apples to oranges, I do not believe that Trump

will recognize that distinction. That's another concern that we all should have. So that's what's coming up next. Again, we are at stage one. We see the questioning of the data already happening. But stay tuned for much more to come on this because it is going to be critical for our economy. The last point is that trillions of dollars are decided based on these numbers every month. I remember at 8 a.m. when we're being briefed and the numbers were below expectations, I knew that when the number were to come out, it was going to affect the markets negative if it was below expectations, and it almost always did. Trillions of dollars are based on this. This is not something to put in the hands of politicians. Donald Trump has done that,

and it is going to have serious repercussions for not only our country, but the global economy at large. What does that mean, in essence? It means that there will be less trust in our economy. It means that the cost for us to buy goods as a country will go up because of that. And it means higher prices for you as individuals. The last thing I would say is that there is precedent for this. Argentina and Turkey both manipulated their numbers. The global economy didn't trust them as much. We saw massive global calamity as a result. We can't let that happen in the United States. I'm very particular about my coffee and our sponsor, trade coffee helps you do more in 2024.

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Trump floods the zone and how he gets away with abhorrent language that reveal his true self because of so much information being flown everywhere on behalf of this president. So Donald Trump went on CNBC. He gave a 40-minute interview. There was a lot. in there, but I want to focus on the tropes that he used to define what an American is. And I want to preview it by what other members of the MAGA right has said. So Zora Mamdani won the Democratic nomination for mayor in New York City. This caused an utter panic on the right, okay, especially on MAGA. The response was not criticizing just his policies, though. It was criticizing his ethnicity and who he was as an American. Let me read this tweet from

Matt Walsh, who's a vocal MAGA influencer. 40% of New York City's population is foreign-born. Not just second- and third-generation immigrants. Foreign-born. Almost half of the city wasn't born in this country. NYC isn't an American city anymore by any reasonable definition of the term. It's a tragedy and a disgrace. Okay, so this implication is clear.

If you are foreign-born and come to this country, even if you become a citizen in someone like Matt Walsh's eyes, you're not an American. That is an influencer on the right. He has a following, sure, but that is what he is saying, and he is saying it with a straight face, so to speak. Charlie Kirk, as well, after Mamdani's nomination, says this, quote, 24 years ago, a group of Muslims killed 2,753 people on 9-11. Now, a Muslim socialist is on pace to run New York City. Okay, a couple of things to unpack here. One, Zora Mamdani is a Muslim. That is true. But that is about as much as you could put in common with him and some of the terrorists during 9-11. Right. He is, first and foremost,

there are two billion Muslims in this world. Okay. The notion that somehow Zoramamdani owns that is xenophobia and Islamophobia at best, blatant racism as well. And so this is a this shouldn't compute to a normal human being. Now, you could chalk this up just to influencers, right? They are part of the algorithm. They're part of the whole ecosystem of trying to get clicks. I get it. Whatever. You shouldn't write it off, but that's one area, right? That's one group of people. But you're also seeing it from elected officials. Okay. So this is from Congressman Brandon Gill. Civilized people in America. Okay, this is, I should note that Congressman Brendan Gill is retweeting a video of Zormumdani eating rice with his hands. He says, civilized people in America don't eat like this. If you refuse to adopt Western customs, go back to the third world.

Okay. So because he eats rice in the video with his hands, somehow he's not adopting any Western customs and that he should go back to the third world. Again, it's this, it's this notion that America. aren't Americans unless you adapt to a certain culture within America, which is candidly bullshit. But it doesn't stop there, okay? We are seeing another representative, Andy Ogles, who is calling Zora Mamdani little Mohammed, quote unquote. Zohan, quote, little Muhammad Mamdani is an anti-Semitic socialist communist who will destroy the great city of New York. He needs to be deported, which is why I'm calling for him to be subject to denaturalization proceedings.

Again, this is all a trope and campaign to other Zora Mamdani and anyone who supported him and to reinforce this notion that you're only American if you have multi-generational blood in America. Immigration is a lifeblood of this country. Virtually everyone who came here came from other countries, with the exception of Native Americans. The notion that we are going to throw that away because some people are but her. hurt over the fact that Zora Mamdani won the nomination is insane. But it is showing the true colors of not only these influencers, but these elected officials who represent Muslims. But it doesn't just stop there, okay? Donald Trump on his CNBC interview said this.

But if you look at the Jobs Report last week, it did show a 1.7 million drop off of foreign-born workers from March to July. That's a great number, by the way. That's a great number. Because it means we're putting Americans to work. Well, the problem is immigrants have accounted for more than half of the U.S. workforce growth over the last three years. And so you wonder if that gets into an issue. And I know you've spoken with farmers who have had concerns about being able to find temporary workers there. I think they're pleased have kind of hit you in a way where you looked at that a little differently. Well, I think this, we're getting the criminals out of our country because they had an open border policy because they were fools.

and they allowed people from prisons and gang members and drug dealers into our country. We're getting the criminals out of our country by the thousands, by the thousands. We're sending them back, and then they're schooling, they're learning, they're coming in, they're coming in legally. We have a lot of that going on, but we're taking care of our farmers. We can't let our farmers not have anybody, you know, these people, you can't replace them very easily. You know, people that live in the inner city are not doing that work. They're just not doing that work.

And they've tried, we've tried, everybody tried. They don't do it. These people do it naturally, naturally. I said, what happens if they get it to a farmer the other day? What happens if they get a bad back? He said, they don't get a bad back, sir, because if they get a bad back, they die. I said, that's interesting, isn't it? So 1.7 million drop off in foreign-born workers.

He says that's a great number. That's a great number. It means we're putting more Americans to work. So it's important to point out that the number that is tracked there includes naturalized U.S. citizens. So there are naturalized U.S. citizens in that 1.7 million number, Americans who lost their job, that he is claiming is good news. Why? Because Donald Trump is revealing what he truly believes, which is if you're not born in this country, which by the way, is insane given his family situation. Okay. He is suggesting that if you're not born in this country, if you're foreign born, that that's

great news if you lose your job. What kind of country are we living in with a president who's saying that? So he then goes on about farmers. He says that farmers need help, that we can't deport people working on farms who are undocumented because they need help. He then says this, you can't replace them very easily, people who live in the inner city, are just not doing the work. That is a racist trope, and let's call it like it is.

Donald Trump is calling black people lazy. That is what he is doing here. This is a trope that existed during the Civil War in the South, accusing black people of being lazy, and that's why a lot of these slave owners use that as justification for enslavement. This is the reality of Donald Trump's America and how he views it, right?

he views it as you've got to bring in people from other countries because black people and others will not do the work in the fields. And then he has this bizarre thing about the people who work in those fields don't get a bad back. And if they get a bad back, they die. What does that even mean? I don't even know. So these are the things that Trump espouses his entire MAGA infrastructure does. these are the things that should be getting front page attention, these blatantly racist comments by our president, but for some reason are not, and we need to continue to bring attention to them. The next thing I want to do is talk about Donald Trump's poll numbers. So anyone who's been tracking this knows that the numbers have not looked good for Donald Trump. Let me read

an article that was from a UMass poll. Six months into his second term as president, Donald Trump looks to be on the ropes with the American people. Trump's approval ratings already historically low for a newly elected president continue to sink with close to six and ten Americans, 58% expressing disapproval of the job Trump is doing in office. While Trump remains a popular figure among Republicans and conservatives, Trump's time in office is viewed more negatively across genders, generations, classes, and races. But the majority of each of these groups disapproving of Trump's performance. With over three years left in the Trump administration, there is still time for him to write the ship and fulfill the promises that catapult him to the presidency, but the president

is not off to a start that his supporters envisioned. Okay, so also we have an overview of some of the areas that he's most underwater on. 31.63 on inflation, 41.54 on immigration, 37-55 on jobs, 32-58 on civil rights, 31-63 on tariffs, 37-53 on natural disasters. Okay. So none of these obviously is good. But let's talk about inflation. And to be honest with you, as someone who comes from the Biden administration, I am no stranger to bad poll numbers around inflation. It is something that is very, very hard to control normally, and it's very, very hard when inflation is up for Americans to feel good about those numbers. Here is the key difference, though.

This is a self-created problem for Donald Trump. He has created this tariff policy with virtually no certainty for anyone. There is the whole taco meme. Trump always chickens out. and we're seeing over and over again him setting deadlines and extending them, setting deadlines and extending them, tweeting something about high tariffs, taking a blow-torch strategy to tariffs versus what you should do specifically. Let me give a little example of a good tariff policy, okay? So in the Biden administration, we use tariffs to protect American industries and allow

American industries to be more competitive when they otherwise wouldn't be. What's a good example of that? Solar panels. Solar panels is an example. of an industry in the United States that's much younger in the U.S. than it is internationally. So we put a tariff on solar panels to help Americans be more competitive. That is a scalpel strategy. Trump has taken a blowtorch strategy to say tariffs across the board without really having any seeming strategy about it. We all remember his liberation day where he got up there with his chart and seemingly bizarre numbers that he was coming up with, including an island that has no human population

and instead has penguins. That is Donald Trump's approach to this tariff strategy. And for a long time, he was claiming that it wasn't being reflected in the numbers anything bad and that he could continue to do this and that people would pay up. Now we are seeing some of the cracks on that. So I want to bring your attention to this chart

that CNN put out this morning, just basically showing how inflation is starting to be a problem. There's also reporting from others that show that inflation continues to rise above the 2% target. So what does this mean? So it makes sense that we had a once in a lifetime COVID situation where people were home. They had a fundamentally different set of needs. They were ordering from overseas. And that would mess up supply chains. The only reason why you're seeing such uncertainty in the market right now is because Trump is approaching tariffs with his strategy that's all across the board. And if you're going to start charging more to import and

export goods, the private sector is going to respond by raising prices. It's just natural. Jeff Bezos talked about this, right? Even a Trump ally like Jeff Bezos said that he's going to have to hike prices. Walmart, the same thing. And so for a while, Trump bragged that you weren't seeing it in the economy. Now you're starting to see the cracks. And so here's the reality, though. This is the underlying point on inflation is that Trump's strategy, isn't working. That's why you're seeing his numbers on the economy so low. But instead of trying to tackle it surgically, he is lashing out, right? He fires the Commissioner of Labor Statistics. As I mentioned, he is threatening to fire the chair of the Fed, Jerome Powell, because Jerome

Fowell won't lower interest rates. And he's making these threats to India. The problem is when you cry wolf too much, the negotiations and leverage that you have disappear. So Trump could, so he just announced, for example, that he's going to try to be more aggressive with India on tariffs. If the job's numbers were good and the economy was really good for the United States, I think that he could flex his muscles and say, listen, my numbers are good. You need to play ball. But seeing that these numbers aren't good means that India and other countries could say, well, we're calling you on your bluff because we believe that your economy is weakened. You need us. We're not going to play ball. Trump knows that, which is why you are seeing him lash out.

So that's inflation. Secondly, I talked about. immigration, 41-54 in immigration, okay? This was Trump's strength back during the election. So if you, but if you look at the numbers, it shows how perilous this is going to be for Trump. First of all, year-over-year changes, okay? And this is from Gallup. So allowing immigrants who are brought to the U.S. illegally as children, the chance to become U.S. citizens. This is a universally popular thing, right? In 2024, it was 81, now it's 85. Okay. Allowing immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, this is actually a really interesting point, the chance to become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements over a period of time. That has gone from 70 to up 10% to 78%. This is actually a good

point because Trump is trying to claim that the United States is universally against any undocumented immigrant staying here. The numbers overwhelmingly dispel that. The reality is Americans believe that people who have not committed felonies who are nonviolent undocumented immigrant should have some pathway to citizenship. So this is really telling the numbers. Here's what's really interesting. Over from 2024 to 2025, we saw 17 point drop in hiring significantly more border patrol agents. Give you two guesses as to why. All of us are seeing masked men, the video of masked men with no IDs going into communities ripping families apart. And it's harrowing. And it's not what we stand for as a Americans. Donald Trump is oblivious to this. He thinks it's cool. Okay. And so as a result,

you're seeing the support for ICE and this kind of work really hurt the notion that we need more border patrol agents. I think everyone can universally agree. Here's where I think everyone should universally agree. That we need more people at the border for border security, that we need to have more judges for when people claim asylum, that they can have those cases adjudicated quickly. and that we need to take care of dreamers, i.e. the children who came here through no fault of their own. This notion that we're now hiring 10,000 more ICE agents is only going to tank this number more, and that's a huge problem for Donald Trump. So that's immigration. I want to say one other thing about immigration. There's been an assault on asylum in this country. We have a law in this country

that if you are escaping political persecution and you come to the United States, that you should be part of the system have your hearing adjudicated. That is part of who we are as a country. It's our lifeblood. My grandfather was a diplomat from South Korea. When the government was overthrown, he sought asylum in this country, and that's the only reason why I'm talking to you today. We abandoned those principles. We abandoned who we are as Americans. And we need to remember that. All right. So we all know Alexa listens to us, recommends products based on our conversations, meta retargets

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And for me, it's worth it for the peace of mind for my family and for myself. You can try ORA for free for 14 days at ORA.com slash Pacman. The link is in the description. There's another part of the polling that I want to talk about, which is the drop in support from men from Donald Trump. So this is from a Newsweek article, but it's based on the same UMass poll. President Trump's approval rating is falling most substantially among men, a pollster has said. According to a survey by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Trump's approval rating

among this demographic demographic has dropped from 48% in April to 39% in July. The results, said Jesse Rhodes, co-director of the poll show that Trump's support has deteriorated most substantially among men. So the question is why? I think first and foremost, men, women, anyone care most about the economy and being able to provide for their families. Because of Trump's tariffs, because of his behavior, we are seeing support for him free. People don't think that this economy is working for them. People are still seeing these prices go up. People are seeing a lack of clearly. leadership from this president. That is hurting everyone, including men. But I think there's something

else at play here. Trump has created this image that all men want to return to traditional gender roles, so to speak, the trad wife thing, right? And that somehow, if you are not on board with that, then you're somehow a lefty lib or something like that. I just don't think that is the case. and I think that men have sniffed out Trump's playbook on this. So let me give you an example. Again, I'd like to start with some of the influencers on MAGA and then to the administration itself. Charlie Kirk recently tweeted this.

My message to young women, it is unspeakably attractive to brag about how many men you've slept with. Be a godly woman who is willing to submit to your husband, who is likewise willing to submit to almighty God. Dress modestly, stop plastering your body all over social media. this is an influencer with millions and millions of followers. I do not believe men in this day and age believe that their wives should submit to them. I don't believe this is a society that is supportive of that kind of infrastructure.

But it's something that Charlie Kirk believes. And it's something that so many MAGA believe that women should just defer to men, right? And Trump is trying to exploit that angle as if all men believe. leave that. And that's just candidly not true. We're also seeing this in the way he is handling immigration. He's trying to appeal to this alpha male macho bullshit that we shouldn't buy. So, for example, he just announced that he is expanding the age window for people to join ICE. Ice is doing a lot of recruitment on this. So they just tweeted out this picture that has 3.6 million followers. It says no age cap join ICE now.

It portrays a young boy and it portrays an older man. Homeland Security retweet from ICE's account. We're taking father and son bonding to a whole new level with the American flag behind them. Now, this is clearly a reference to the ice raids you're seeing all over the news. This is the notion that father and son can bond and defend America by doing what they're doing. Again, I think most men don't believe that showing up in masks without identification is the right way to be a man. Okay? More on that in a second. Another retweet from Homeland Security. Think about how many criminal illegal aliens you could fit in this bad boy. And for people listening,

this is a old school van. And the subtitle says, want to deport illegals with your absolute boys. Okay. Again, clearly being catered to men in this. So again, the notion that men's dream is to vilify people, to horrify and divide families, and that somehow this is how we should proceed as a country should concern all of us, because that's not what most men feel. And this is the point. Donald Trump is trying to claim that if you are a man, you want to rambo yourself and go out there and separate people and and do your patriotic duty and that people don't care about due process. That's what he is betting on. But the reality is these numbers reflect that men don't believe that. That men being a man and men means setting an

example for your family, setting an example for your daughter or son about the America that you want. And so, yes, deporting violent criminals, of course we should be doing that. But breaking up families, taking pride in people crying, being devastated is not what men want. Men want to be a role model. Men want to provide. And because the reality is, right now the economy is struggling, so a lot of men can't provide, and women, by the way, and that we're seeing such barbaric acts from this administration means that people are turned off, especially men. Look, the Democratic Party has a lot of work to do with men. The polls clearly show that. But the other thing that this data shows is that men aren't stupid and that men aren't a monolith.

And the idea that you're just going to go roll out with the boys with a bunch of guns, and horrify Americans and not Americans and like is not going to hold water. And it's really interesting, you know, the Guardian published an article, said, people are scared to go out. Fear of ICE agents forces cancellation of U.S. summer festivals. ICE replied to this. This is fear mongering at its finest from the Guardian. ICE is targeting illegal aliens, not law-abiding citizens.

This just objectively isn't true. we are seeing this everywhere, right? We are seeing examples of people being rounded up without even seeing warrants. We are seeing people, taco vendors being tackled in the middle of the day. We are seeing American citizens being deported. There was a story of a American citizen

who was deported to Honduras, four-year-old kid, who had cancer, who was not given his medication. and was not given due process. Now, the administration is claiming that that person had permission from his mother. The reality is the courts and lawyers highly objected to what happened. This is what Donald Trump has created in this world and in this country, this culture

that if you are a man, you are universally for these kind of actions, and that no one's afraid if you're an American. There are millions of people out there, American or not. who are petrified of what this administration is doing, men and women, and any man who cares about this country and what it stands for, and any man who cares about his family are concerned gravely about this. So we need to keep on this. And I think the reality is nobody is fooled by these actions. Okay, Jeffrey Epstein. This saga won't go away. And what I would say at the top of this is there is nothing coming out of this administration that you would do if you

are completely innocent. And I think people on the right and people on the left alike agree with that. There was a bizarre statement by President Trump that happened recently that I want to read to you. And this was written by The Daily Beast. A curious answer by Donald Trump about Jolaine Maxwell's unusual jail move has singled out for questioning by both experts and political foes. On Tuesday, CNN host Caitlin Collins directly asked President Trump if he was aware of Maxwell's prison transfer to a lower security facility and if he personally approved it. Quote, I didn't know about it at all, no, Trump claimed. I read about it just like you did. He added of the jail switch, it's not a very uncommon thing. So first of all, that's wild. I don't think that there is any way

that Trump didn't know that. But let's take a step back. Jelaine Maxwell was Jeffrey Epstein's number one accomplice. Everyone knows that. And she was in prison and she is and she continues to be but was transferred. And let me read the description here from the article. After years in a federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, Maxwell was moved to a minimum security federal prison in Brian, Texas, days after meeting with Blanche. The prison camp dubbed Club Fed includes a full gym, yoga classes, and a puppy program. It should be noted that apparently she's not eligible for the puppy program because she's a convicted sex trafficker. Let's go figure. Let's go back to Trump saying this is not a very uncommon thing.

Ellie Honing, CNN's senior legal analyst, told Collins he was doubtful about Trump not knowing the details of Maxwell's prison transfer. Honig added that the transfer would have required a special waiver due to the severity of the 63-year-old's crimes. Again, I think it's important to take a step back and remind everybody that these are underage girls that he sex trafficked, one of which who was most vocal Virginia Goufrey recently committed suicide. And her family was absolutely devastated by the notion that there would be a transfer. Honan continues, it's almost impossible that Jelaine Maxwell just happened by coincidence to be moved to a better facility a week or so after she met with Todd Blanche. You need specific authorization. You need a

waiver because Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence because she is a convicted child sex offender and is suggesting that the president seemed to be making that it just happens in the normal usual course of business. No, it does not. Robert Hood, a former Bureau Prison's Chief of Internal Affairs, labeled Maxwell's transfer to NBC News a, quote, travesty of justice. Quote, to relocate a sex offender serving 20 years to a country club setting is offensive to victims and others serving similar crimes. Yeah, no shit. So, okay, let's unpack this a little bit.

When the Epstein files first were announced, there was, well, there was the unpacking of, you know, Cash Patel saying that Jeffers didn't kill himself. They were going to release a, they released a video to try to say that this is evidence that there was no malfeasance, then it was clear that the video was edited. That caused a lot of outrage at first. There were even people on the right who were calling out President Trump

and the administration for doing this. I think a part of this is because Trump has always talked about draining the swamp, that he's for the little guy, not for the big guy. And this is the ultimate cover-up, right? Jeffrey Epstein had endless elite people in his orbit, and people are feeling like Trump may be covering up for them, or more potentially that Trump is involved in ways more than he is represented. Now, we are seeing a lot of smoke.

We don't have the fire yet. Recently, the New York Times published a story about Jeffrey Epstein's home where Donald Trump is literally framed on the counter of Jeffrey Epstein's house. So there's a lot that we continue to do not know. But what we do know is what our own eyes tell us, that when you're moving a convicted sex trafficker of Jeffrey Epstein to a minimum security prison, you're doing so because you want something in return from her. I don't think there's many people in this country who believe that it is just her being

truthful without any consideration of Donald Trump. I think there's a lot of people who are very suspicious that this is part of a deal that might make Donald Trump look better. Here's the reality, though, Americans aren't being fooled. And this is actually something that's really important to point out. An economist UGov poll conducted July 25 to 28th, 61% of respondents disapproved of Trump's handling. They also found, excuse me, that 82% of Americans believe the government should release all the documents it has in this case. So that's interesting alone. Obviously, people don't feel that he's done a very good job here.

But what's also really interesting is that if you look at Republicans, only 49%, so less than 50% of Republicans are supportive of the way Trump has handled the Epstein case. Now, Trump's approval rating among Republicans continues to be 80% or high. on everything else. So this is still really virtually everything else. So this is really notable to point out. And that's why you are seeing so much frantic behind the scenes action from Trump's administration still. Here's my theory on this. We are never going to convince everyone in the MAGA base that Trump is trying to hide something. But the reality is there

is a group of Trump voters who voted for Trump who are very concerned about this. people who are incredibly influential. I talked about Charlie Kirk and how he influences Maga Base, but there are those who influence those who are somewhat in the middle or swayable. People like Andrew Schultz. Andrew Schultz has been very, and he has the Flagrin podcast, he has been very vocal and very critical of the president's handling of this. People like Joe Rogan, who is continuously criticizing the president over this. Look, at the end of the day, the smell test here doesn't pass. There's clearly something here that Trump doesn't want to come out and that we need to stay tuned about it. And his behavior of such shows that, right? He has said that he doesn't want

and he wants all, quote, credible evidence released. What does that even mean? I can't imagine he believes any accusations against him are credible. There's so much more to come here. Speaker Johnson recess the houses, remember, to avoid releasing the Epstein files. People are not going to let this go, nor should they. A pending Supreme Court case could strip our Fourth Amendment rights and allow immigration agents to come into our homes for any reason, no probable cause needed. All while Republicans try to twist things so that you think this is all great for America. This should be the biggest story in the US right now, but it's almost impossible to keep up with

the millions of moves that Trump is making every single day. That's why Ground News exists. Ground News is an app and website that exposes the blind spots and spin before it takes control of our opinions. Ground News is the smarter, more reliable way to stay informed when MAGA is banking on us getting distracted. I'm partnering up with Ground News to give you 40% off the same vantage plan that I use. So you'll pay only five bucks a month for all of their premium features.

go to ground.news slash Pacman or use the code Pacman in the app when you sign up. The link is in the description or scan the QR code. So we talked about the issues that Republicans are having, but Democrats are having a lot of issues too. Their approval rating continues to hover around 28%. Democrats are being criticized for not having a fight in them. They're also criticized for not having a message, which makes this next article in particularly interesting about Elizabeth Warren and Zora Mamdani. So this is from the New Republic by Alex Shepard. It's the title is Democrats have found their message and Trump is freaking out. Zora Mamdani and Elizabeth Warren know this is the party's best chance at taking back power in the 2026 midterm elections.

So let me read a couple of passages from this. And this is from describing Zora Mamdani. His breakout arguably came with a video about the skyrocketing cost of street food, a phenomenon he called, a phenomenon he dubbed halal flation. The success of this campaign is rooted in large part on message discipline. Baumdani portrays New York City accurately as a diverse, buzzing city that is too expensive for many of its residents to live with any degree of comfort. His solution is a host of programs aimed at lowering costs, free buses, government-run grocery stores, and a $30 minimum wage.

Many Democrats balk at these proposals, or rather at the, in most cases, modest tax heights that would pay for them. That's fine. Not all Democrats have to embrace socialist concepts like free child care. but they should embrace the central premise of Umdani's campaign. Everything is too expensive, and this is Trump's fault. There's another interesting piece that I want to read as well. On Friday, a morning consult poll found that two-thirds of surveyed voters blamed Trump for rising prices,

that nearly 8 and 10 of them, including an astounding 70% of Republicans. By the way, that's very notable, believe Trump's tariffs will increase the price of everyday goods. on Monday, an APNORC poll found that more than half of respondents were stressed about rising grocery prices, prices that are likely to continue to rise. Everywhere you look, voters are telling pollsters that they're stressed about skyrocketing costs. Okay, there's a lot to unpack here. And let me say, as I mentioned at the jump, I was chief of staff to a mayor, it's the city of Boston.

There's a three and a half billion dollar operating budget where something like over 60%, I think it's actually 80% or so of the entire budget is based on property tax. So I understand pretty intimately how money is brought into the kitty of a city and how it is spent and how businesses are important part of that equation. In fact, they're a huge part of that equation. But there's so much drama right now over Mom Donnie and everything that he stands for that we are throwing the baby out with the bathwater on the things that we're we need to focus on that Democrats can learn a lot from, which is not overly different from the

message that is one for a very long time, which is the economy. He has a very easy to understand message that it is too expensive to live in New York City, that groceries are too expensive, that transportation is too expensive, and that housing is too expensive. And by the way, it's not just that. It's also that he has concrete ideas to try to solve them. Let's also have a reality check here that a lot of the things that he is presenting would have to go through the New York State House in order to get approved. So, of course, he is going to put out policies that are very aggressive, knowing that he will probably have to negotiate with the State House in order to get any of them enacted. But instead of embracing the fact that Mamdani is fighting for the right issues and that Democrats are right now so haphazard about these issues, we're seeing dramatic. things from the left, from the Democratic Party, of not endorsing him, of being concerned about

of not endorsing him, which is not helpful to the party's image. Now, there's a lot of things that he has said that's been concerning, things about Israel that I won't get into today, that is, I believe, separate from this larger conversation about affordability, because the reality is it's too expensive to live everywhere. I just talked about how inflation is going up. And so if Democrats can't get behind the message that we are, that things are too expensive and that in order to solve that, we need to make sure that the wealthy are paying their fair share, then we're screwed as a party. But somehow we blame Mamdani or we blame Elizabeth Warren for espousing these things,

when in reality it is a winning message that we've seen time in time again, that his laser our focus on that, created an image that he was fighting for you, the working class individual, and that Andrew Cuomo was not. A guy who has, you know, 10 or more credible sexual harassment claims against him, who resigned his post as governor as a result of it, you can understand why people didn't want to get behind Andrew Cuomo and wanted to get behind Zora Mamdani. And so this notion that we, that we shouldn't get behind him. him because some of his ideas are too extreme, just defies logic when the Democratic Party has had all kinds of different ideas on how to solve problems before that never stop people.

And this is one other thing I want to point out. There is an American sociological association study. There's this notion that you raise taxes at all, all the rich people will leave. That just doesn't hold water. There's a study by Christobal Young and a number of others, millionaire migration and taxation of the elite evidence for administrative data. A growing number of U.S. states has adopted millionaires taxes on top income earners. This increases the progressivity of tax system, but it raises concern about tax flight.

Elites migrating from high tax to low tax states, draining state revenues, and undermining redistributive social policies. Are the top income earners transitory millionaires searching for lower taxes to live? Long story short, we find that millionaire tax flight is occurring but only at the margins of statistical and socioeconomic significance. So let me just translate that. There is this notion that there's a very fair assertion that taxes and people who pay taxes provide the revenue for Mamdani to be able to get some of the things that he wants to get done, right? Cheaper transport, et cetera.

But the notion that any tax conversation that we should have is somehow not one we should have because all of a sudden millionaires and billionaires are going to move out just doesn't hold water. And it's backed by studies. And it's backed by just common sense. If you have a lot of resources and you like living in New York City and you like having your nice apartment in Central Park or what have you, you're going to be annoyed by more taxes. I'm not doubting that at all. But that doesn't mean that you're going to move tomorrow. You have a lot of roots that you've built in these places.

And so I think we all need to just chill out about this notion that everyone's running away and actually focus on what Elizabeth Warren actually said in her CMB. B.C. interview about this. All the tape. You know, I wonder, though, often we see this, and this is a local election. New York does not operate in a vacuum. It competes with other cities. And so this idea of somehow raising taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers, who, by the way, I would point out, pay roughly 15% of their income right now between city and state. Raising taxes on them will simply drive them away. Shouldn't the focus of a mayor be on delivering services to the constituents of the city and doing that by raising the most revenue as possible

without chasing businesses and the high income taxpayers out of the city because they can go to Austin, they can go to Dallas, they can go to Atlanta, they can go to Nashville. This is your issue. It's a national issue, not a local issue. The issue is affordability. Do you know how many working families are chased out of New York City every day? Because they can't afford housing, they can't afford groceries, they can't afford child care. What Zauron is saying is I want people to be able to afford to live. live in New York City. That's what keeps a vibrant city. That's what makes people want to live here. Nobody disagrees with that, Senator, but raising taxes in order to do it? Why is that the answer?

Oh, dear. Are you worried that billionaires are going to go hungry? No, I'm worried that they're going to leave and spend their money elsewhere. You know, they've threatened to do that over and over and over. And they have. They've left. I mean, here's the thing. And Goldman Sachs, when they create new jobs, they do it in Dallas. And Blackstone won't build a new headquarters. You want to have a workable city. You want to have a city that's vibrant. You want to have a city where the streets are full, where there are things for sale 24 hours a day. Then you need people who can live here and work here. We've got that right now, by the way.

I would point out, New York is thriving. So right now, it's doing pretty well, actually. I'm glad you think they're doing well because a lot of people are struggling to pay for housing. A lot of people are struggling to pay for groceries. And I got to tell you, Mamas and Daddies who are facing $25,000 a year to pay for child care. Those are national issues. I mean, I know they are the local state, but you can't, you know, yes, but if you deal with them in that way, by what is always your backup, just tax them more, they will leave. No, the backup is make this city and make this country work for everyone.

I get that the Republican point of view is make this country and make every city in this country work better and better for a handful of billionaires and let everybody else eat dirt. But what Mamdami won on in a democratic primary is he said, I'm going to address affordability. And he didn't win by one vote. No, he won by a lot. It's very much unclear he has the ability to actually do it, by the way, based on the laws and what the governor has to say and what he would actually have to do. You know, I love that as the fallback position, and that is he's fighting for the right thing, but maybe, maybe the billionaires will have a way to block him. Everybody wants a more affordable city. There's no doubt about that.

I actually do have a doubt about that. You build more housing. You don't want to pay their part on this. You built more. Two things that she said was interesting. Of course, millionaires and billionaires will always talk about taxes being too high. There's no place in the country where they're not unhappy with taxes and think that government is inefficient. That's just the reality of it.

Okay. That's the first point. The second point is she is right that we talk about what happens if rich people leave cities, but we never talk about how often working-class individuals are being priced out. And in New York, it's just the shiny example of how expensive it is to live there. As a party, those are the people that we should be worried about. Those are the people we need to be talking to. Those are the people that we need to have them understand that we care about them

and that we're going to prioritize them over millionaires and billionaires. because at the end of the day, the policy that you need to decide on might influence one of those groups more than the other. And so when you see Donald Trump disproportionately giving tax breaks to the wealthy and cutting Medicaid, you're seeing clearly where his priorities are. Very few working class people right now see where the Democrats' priorities are. We need to show them clearly, like Zormom Dani is doing, like Elizabeth Warren is doing, that we take their side. that we don't care about this whole system of money and politics, therefore catering to the rich, that we care about them.

That's what people are missing. That's what people want to hear. That's what Zora Mamdani is talking about. And that's what all Democratic elected officials should be talking about. And I think everyone should be getting behind that. A new article by The Washington Post I wanted to highlight that just emphasizes how precarious the situation is in terms of our preparation for a disaster in the coming months during hurricane season. The Washington Post reports dozens of FEMA staffers involuntarily assigned to support deportations. The Department of Homeland Security has reassigned dozens of federal emergency management agency employees

to immigration and customs enforcement to help vet and process new hires from the government's mass deportation initiative. DHS maintained that the moves are temporary and won't hinder disaster readiness, but six current and former FEMA officials said losing that many people, even for a few months will greatly slow operations while the already much-reduced agency is juggling multiple ongoing disaster declarations, including the historic Texas floods. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed the reassignments to the Washington Post saying that, quote, through the one big beautiful bill, DHS is adopting an all-hands-on-deck strategy to recruit 10,000 new ICE agents. So let me just give a little background on this. It is not without precedent

that different agencies try to recruit supplements from other agencies when there's all hands-on-deck situation. I highlighted in the previous segment that the support for additional agents has precipitously fallen. And by the way, if you think that it's bad now out there, imagine with 10,000 more of those agents out there with this kind of like rambo mentality that ISIS tried to espouse. But I think a lot of people don't realize how important FEMA is to our country. And so I just want to explain a little bit about why it's so important and why moving people is such a problem. So here's how it typically works. If there is a disaster that is about to happen, this is the optimistic scenario when you know it's about to happen. A state can file an emergency

declaration. What that basically says is we know that something is coming and that we need resources to help prepare. So that money can be used for evacuations, temporary shelters, police fire overtime, et cetera. So oftentimes in the White House when we knew a hurricane was coming, we were prepared to receive that emergency declaration. There are things that are then done to quickly approve it and then sent back out so that the money can flow that people can get ready to do that. There's a second thing that happens after a disaster. It's called a major disaster declaration. It allows to pay for those things that we talked about, plus things like housing help, grants, et cetera. So we saw this in North Carolina when we did work there in Florida, et cetera.

All of this stuff requires an incredibly nimble and collaborative approach with local officials. We did that in the Biden administration. We had great relationships with Republicans or Democrats. The president worked closely with Ron DeSantis, for example, in Florida. But what we we have seen so far in this administration is that not holding water. For example, Axios published a story. Governors accused Trump of stalling disaster recovery. Multiple governors said they're being increasingly pushed to scrounge for disaster recovery money without the support they traditionally rely on from the federal government. The president has sole power to issue disaster declarations, but states are finding emergencies that would usually qualify for federal assistance are being

slow walked or denied. President Trump announced Sunday that he had signed a major disaster again, that's the latter bucket, to help free up federal resource for Kerr County, Texas after devastating floods. Yet other state leaders say they were denied or still waiting for help. For example, the Trump administration denied a request by Jay Inslee, denied North Carolina Josh Stein's request for an extension of federal assistance for Hurricane Helene. Remember, this is the hurricane that Trump criticized the Biden administration for. They just denied an extension for further assistance. The administration even initially denied an April request for Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Westwood Virginia Governor Patrick Morrissey said Tuesday that he is pushing for the Trump administration to grant a disaster declaration for two counties in a state after flash flooding. By the numbers, since February, Trump denied six out of ten major disaster requests from Democrat-run states while approving 14 out of 15 requests from Republican governors. Again, let me just put this in perspective. Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana caused in that region over $100 billion worth of damage. The entire budget of Louisiana that year was $18 billion. So funding from the federal government is critical to allowing states to both be prepared

and to recover from this. Trump has called for the complete abolition of FEMA. Now, he's backtracked that a little bit after what happened in Texas. the notion still stands that he doesn't believe FEMA has a role. And it's important to point out that FEMA is a support rule for the states as it is. So the notion that, like, we need to let the states take over is silly, but they provide invaluable expertise and support. We saw what happened in, we've seen what's happened with some of these weather-related incidents, for example, and what has happened with the staff as a result. Like there's another article that says,

since February, the weather service has lost about 600 staff through a combination of firing early retirements and deferred resignations at the National Weather Service. These career officials have such institutional memory. But again, these career officials are nonpartisan. They traverse administrations. They have such institutional memory of how to address crises. I remember going to North Carolina at a center that was set up. And there was a woman there whose job it was to go to different disaster centers and help advise states and organizations on how best to recover. These are the people that Donald Trump is vilified and has tried to get them to quit or fired outright.

We are in the middle of hurricane season right now. We are not even remotely prepared for what is to come with further hurricanes. And with this kind of discord, I think we should all be concerned. There's another thing that is flying under the radar with FEMA as well, which is hazard mitigation. So typically what happens is there's programs available that if some incident happens, the federal government is also giving a certain amount of money to a state to help make sure it doesn't happen again. But President Trump has denied that universally so far. This is critical money for states to make sure that they are putting in the kind of safeguards

to prevent disaster. This is the mentality of this administration, right? In the name of Doge, efficiency, whatever you want to call it. We are putting all of our country, all of our cities, and our states at risk. I don't know how this ends, but what I fear is that when the next hurricane hits, not only will there not be that collaborative support set up between the federal government and states, but that people will die as a result of not being prepared and in the name of efficiency, a lack of funding to be prepared for it. We need to be. We need to to take this incredibly seriously. We will see, unfortunately, more hurricanes and more disaster come in the months ahead. And this is a president who seems to fundamentally not understand

the critical role FEMA plays in keeping people safe. That's it for the David Packman Show today. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave comments below and subscribe to the channel and subscribe to the People's Cabinet, which is also linked below. And follow me on Twitter at D-A-N-K. See you tomorrow.