The David Pakman Show - Trump is running away from his high gas prices

Episode Date: April 7, 2026

-- On the Show -- Donald Trump speaks at an Easter event, praising himself, threatening Iran, and insulting the Iranian people -- Donald Trump delivers an erratic press conference, threatens Iran again, and receives praise from Pete Hegseth -- Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins downplays farmer bankruptcies while Trump avoids questions about rising gas prices -- A three-time Trump voter reacts with anger to Trump's press conference, signaling frustration among longtime supporters -- Ainsley Earhardt and Sean Hannity receive emotional praise from supporters during an Easter gathering -- Donald Trump targets the family of Liam Ramos for deportation while thousands of children remain in ICE detention facilities -- Rep. Jason Crow criticizes Donald Trump's policies on Iran and calls for legal accountability over his dangerous rhetoric -- Chris Christie attacks Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, and Lindsey Graham while sharing allegations about family conflicts -- On the Bonus Show: Trump threatens to end the Iranian civilization, Megyn Kelly says she would still vote Republican if Trump dropped a nuke, and much more... 🧠 Try Brain.fm totally free for a month at https://brain.fm/pakman 🤖 Sponsored by Venice: Use code PAKMAN for 20% off a Pro Account at https://venice.ai/pakman ✉️ StartMail: Get 50% OFF for a year subscription at https://startmail.com/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 (00:00) Trump uses Easter event to warn Iran(08:58) Trump reiterates Iran deadline in press briefing(19:28) Trump faces questions on gas prices(25:35) Trump voter expresses frustration after press conference(33:18) Fox News hosts praised by supporters at Easter event(41:20) Trump pursues deportation case involving Liam Ramos family(47:05) Lawmaker calls out Trump's Iran rhetoric(52:30) Chris Christie criticizes Trump's inner circle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the David Packman Show. My name is Brittany Page, and I host The Page Perspective right here on YouTube. But today, I am the guest host for David while he is away. And we have to start with Donald Trump's proof of life. We talked yesterday about the rumors circulating online that Trump was in the hospital. Those turned out to be false. And he made a public appearance at the White House Easter Egg role event

to prove that he is alive. He's walking. He's talking. bruised and bloated hands and all. And at this event, he spoke incoherently for a period of time with Melania on one side and the Easter bunny on the other. And I wonder, if you had to guess,

how long did it take for Donald Trump to go from introducing the event and talking about celebrating Jesus to revisiting his threats to annihilate Iran? How long from this is a holiday celebration to we should be. do a World War III, you guys. What do you think? Well, if you guessed about 60 seconds, you would be correct. So today is a very special day. It's a day where we celebrate Jesus. It's a day where

we celebrate religion. And it's an honor to be the president of the United States. Our country is doing so well like it has never done before. You'll see that very shortly. And things that we've done have not been done before. We've broken every record on the stock market. We broke in every record in our military. And what about the rescue that took place yesterday? What about that? That's something that you rarely say, you know, they were giving me a briefing about that. And they said, normally when you're in very hostile territory, and I don't think it gets much more hostile than Iran.

They're capable fighters. They're very tough people. And there are others like that. You don't mind when the enemy is weak, but that enemy is strong. not so strong like they were about a month ago. I can tell you, in fact, right now they're not too strong at all, in my opinion, but we're soon going to find out, aren't we? I have to say, I think the Easter Bunny has the perfect face for we'll find out shortly

whether Iran still has capable fighters, whether they are strong enough to fight. The big eyes, I don't know, maybe I'm just seeing the horror that I feel reflected back to me in the bunny's eyes. It's possible. So many things about this video. So many elements competing for our attention, the unwell president, Melania, working as hard as possible to maintain a neutral face while her husband veers off into territory that doesn't fit so well with a children's event at the White House. And of course, the bunny. With Donald Trump, it's always, you'll see how well things are going very shortly.

Of course, implicit in that is that things are not at all going well. We already know that. We can feel that. But Donald Trump doubled down in his joyous message for the kids when he said that our country was dead, a dead country before he stepped in to, I guess, the way I would characterize it, is ruin all of our lives. One year ago, a little bit more, a country was dead. We had a dead country.

We had an administration that didn't know what the hell they were doing. Today we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. We're respected by everybody, and that's the way we're going to keep it. That's the way we're going to keep it. So again, I want to thank all of the associations and the egg farmers and all of the people that are here that we think we could have 50,000 people coming all day long. It's open, and they expect between 30,000 and 50,000 people, so that's great. Then most importantly, I want to just say, how to be you?

Happy Easter and God bless America. We have the greatest country on earth. God bless you all. You are very, very special people. Thank you, everybody. Have a good time. God, I would love to know what that Easter Bunny is thinking when he really hit the dead there. Our country is dead.

Maybe it's Stephen Miller in there. And he's thrilled by how the speech is going, really hitting all the notes for Stephen. So then Trump walks down the stairs off the balcony. and he starts taking questions from reporters. And this is when things start to get really dark. And these clips are particularly jarring because while Donald Trump is casually threatening to commit war crimes, we hear the dulcet tones in the background.

We hear some smooth jazz as the soundtrack to accompany Trump floating his fantasy horrors. We killed Soleimani without Salomey. If they had Salomey, it would be a whole different thing. Maybe. Would still be winning, but it would have been harder. because we are obliterating that country. And I hate to do it, but we're oblitering,

and they just don't want to say uncle. They don't want to cry as the expression goes, uncle, but they will. And if they don't, they'll have no bridges, they'll have no power plants, they'll have no anything. I won't go further because there are other things that are worse than those two. And we might have, well, the thing, if I had my choice, what would I like to do? take the oil because it's there for the taking. There's not a thing they can do about it.

Unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home. If we're up to me, I'd take the oil, I'd keep the oil, and would make plenty of money. And I'd also take care of the people of Iran, much better than they've been taken care of. It's been horrible. They've killed 45,000 people as of a month and a half ago, 45,000 protesters. We don't do that. Wait, wait, wait, wait, several things. So he says he's going to, to help the people of Iran, like they've never been helped before, just seconds after saying he's prepared to annihilate Iran, no bridges, he says, no power plants, he says, no anything.

And he even stops himself saying there are other things that he could take out that are worse than that, which begs the question, especially with new AP reporting I saw today about Israel, now targeting hospitals in Lebanon, like they did in Gaza, claiming again that Hezbollah is using hospitals and ambulances for military purposes, just like they said about Hamas in Gaza, is Trump floating taking a similar action here, targeting hospitals?

He's already carelessly overseen the bombing of a girl's school. What else is he floating here? What is worse than decimating the power structure and bombing all of the bridges? He also cites the number of protesters that Iran has killed, which is horrible. And true, tens of thousands of protesters dead. But Trump says, we don't do that. And as someone who was in Minneapolis in the days after Renee Nicole Good was murdered by ICE,

protesting in front of Whipple, choking on pepper gas, it is particularly striking to hear this lie from Trump's mouth. I was there in Minneapolis. I saw how ICE behaved. ICE, CBP, they shot Alex Preti in the back on the ground. We don't kill. protesters here? These are lies. But these reporters were out there doing their jobs as Trump was

stumbling around the White House event. One reporter stopped him and specifically asked, how is targeting civilians not a war crime as he continues to float hitting more civilians? Mr. President, how would it not be a war crime to strike Iran's bridges and power plants? Because they killed 45,000 people in the last month, more than that. They could be as much as 60. They kill protesters, they're animals. It's not a war crime because they're animals, he says. At an event celebrating Jesus, the figure called the Prince of Peace.

Remember just a few minutes ago you heard him say that he wanted to protect Iranians. More lies. And I know there is this tendency because we are no longer surprised by how low this man goes, goes, the depths of his depravity, but we can't let go of how jarring it is to hear the president of the United States speak with such dehumanizing language about human beings as he becomes more unhinged, puts more people at risk here, here at home, and abroad. It's more important than ever for those in positions of power to say it loud and say it continuously, remove this man from office. Donald Trump was so threatened.

by rumors spreading online that he was dead and his White House was covering it, false rumors, of course, that he is doubling down on his public appearances and spending as much time as possible in front of the cameras and in front of a microphone. And even though that extended period of time means that we get a closer glimpse of how unwell this man is,

it's important to witness just how unwell he is and just how complicit every single person in his administration is in prime, dropping this fascist up with every word of praise, every pledge of fealty. Let's start with his press conference about his war in Iran. And let's start with how Trump casually floats taking out Iran in one night. The entire country can be taken out in one night and that night might be tomorrow night. I mean, truly, a villain.

Does he think that he sounds tough? Does he think that he sounds like a strategic player, that he sounds like he sounds like he has the upper hand, simply because he threatens to eliminate a country in a single night. The same country he keeps claiming, by the way, is filled with Iranians that he wants to protect. In one breath, he says, this is about protecting Iranians. And then the next, he says he is taking out the country probably tomorrow night, speaking so flippantly that he could be talking about making a dinner reservation. This man is unwell. He later even said during this press conference, that Iranians who live where bombs are being dropped are saying, please keep the bombs

coming. Yes, please. Thank you, Mr. President. You've said Iranians would be mad if you stopped in these attacks. But why would they want you to blow up their infrastructure, to cut off their power? Wouldn't that be punishing Iranians for the actions of the regime? They would be willing, and it's suffering. They would be willing to suffer that in order to have freedom.

The Iranians have, and we've had numerous intercepts. Please keep bombing. Bombs that are dropping near their homes. Please keep bombing. Do it. And these are people that are living where the bombs are exploding. And when we leave and we're not hitting those areas, they're saying, please come back, come back, come back.

These are the people. I mean, this is truly sick stuff. Next, he's going to be telling us that Iranians are begging him to take the oil and keep the oil and that they really want him to be successful in life. I mean, what are we doing here? Oftentimes, when I watch these press conferences these days, I can't help but notice how many Trump supporters from right-wing media outlets that they put in that room,

the number of softballs that get put up for Caroline Levitt, but occasionally we get the people who still know they have a job to do and do it well. And in this room, Trump was pressed again on his vacillating between how the war is ending, soon to we're bombing them and ending their country. Our messaging on the war has moved from the war is coming to an end to we're going to be bombing Iran to the Stone Ages. And we've heard a range of those sort of messages. So are you, so which is it?

Are you winding this down? Are you escalating? I can't tell you. I don't know. I can't tell. Depends what they do. This is a critical period. They have a period of, well, till tomorrow at eight o'clock.

So he doesn't know. It depends on what. what they do because we don't need the straight open, but also he needs it open immediately. And they're tough negotiators, but also they're weak. And he's winding down the war, but we're also escalating it. And he's doing this to protect the Iranian people, but also he wants the oil and wants to eliminate the country. This is the master dealmaker in action, you guys. Now, of course, press conferences about the war in Iran would not be complete without Pete Hegseff offering lengthy praise for Donald Trump because after everything you've just seen,

naturally, it's what he deserves, right? But make no mistake about it. None of this would have been possible without the courageous leadership and ironclad determination of President Donald J. Trump. From the moment our airmen went down, President Trump made it clear we will leave no one behind. The first mission, the first of two, was an audacious daylight thunder run right up the middle. It was authorized in less than two hours

from that pilot going down when we knew where he was. And it was authorized in the middle of the night because anybody that's worked from this man knows he's up in the middle of the night, authorized immediately without hesitation audaciously. In other words, all I heard is, I'm a good boy, please don't fire me, I'm loyal, please keep me in my position of power,

while my broker shops around for defense funds for investments, allegedly, right, per reporting from the Financial Times, which he denies, of course. But this whole thing, it's the cruelty first and foremost, the lack of regard for human beings. And it's also the ignorance, the insecurity, the incompetence, the embarrassment. This is all so dangerous.

He's going to continue to threaten war crimes while Republicans maintain their silence, while his cabinet members praise his words and actions, and people around the world and in this country suffer. And Pete, well, he's going to proclaim that God is good right after threatening more war crimes. And that continues today, by the way. Per the president's direction, today will be the largest volume of strikes

since day one of this operation. Tomorrow, even more than today. And then Iran has a choice. Choose wisely because this president does not play around. You can ask Soleimani, you can ask Maduro, you can ask Kamani. To those heroes who planned and executed these rescues, your nation stands in awe. I stand in awe. The chairman stands in all. We all stand in awe of your professionalism and bravery.

We serve for you. You embody the very best of America. To the rescued airmen and their families, welcome home. Your courage and endurance, the quiet declaration of faith amid the storm inspires us all. God is good every day. God is good, he says. These people are truly sick, the same man who lied about bombing an Iranian girl's school, who stood beside Trump silently as Trump lied and tried to blame Iran.

I love, by the way, one of the themes of this press conference was Trump attacking Iran for not alone, full freedom for women while standing next to Pete Hegeseth. I mean, Pete goes to a church where his pastor is Douglas Wilson, a man who does not believe that women should have the right to vote. He opened a branch of his church in Washington, D.C., to be closer to the halls of power to agitate for this change, to agitate for policy changes that will take women backward. He's part of this growing white Christian nationalist movement

that wants to restrict rights for women. So nice try acting like you care about that. You're surrounded by Christian fundamentalists. They don't like freedom, okay? Now, there is so much more that I could say about this press conference, but you get it. How things will look Tuesday evening at 8 p.m. Eastern time, the deadline that Trump has given to Iran, that is the big question we're all facing now. Some people assume focus is just about willpower, but if you've sat down to work and

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20% off a pro plan at venus.aI slash pass. Pacman with the code Pacman, the link is in the description. Welcome back to the David Packman Show. David is out. I'm guest hosting. My name is Brittany Page from the page perspective right here on YouTube. If you've enjoyed my guest hosting yesterday and today, I would love to have you subscribe to my channel, which is a small independent channel.

You can do that by searching my name or clicking the link in the description below. Now, we've started to see an increase in the number of Trump supporters giving interviews, talking about the high gas prices, their frustration with Trump's lack of action on lowering prices, the stated reason that many of them claim as their primary reason for voting for him. And if you remember, this was part of the pitch. I mean, here is J.D. Vance, a little flashback here for you, back in 2024, making the case for why Donald Trump should be the guy people vote for. If you want to get back to low inflation and affordable groceries,

vote for Donald Trump. If you want to return the world to peace and stability, vote for Donald Trump. That's my pitch to voters. I really do believe that we can have a golden age of prosperity in the United States of America, but voters are going to ultimately make that choice. Oh boy, peace and stability in the world. Affordable groceries. JD, you have got some explaining to do. And generally, you know, most of these cabinet officials lie. They just go on Fox News. They just lie. They say, prices are down. Trump is winning, everything's great. We had a rare moment of honesty

from the Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rawlins, who said the administration is taking action to prevent farmers from going bankrupt after Trump's war in Iran has sent fertilizer prices surging just before planting season begins. Madam Secretary, can you just tell us how concern the administration is that fertilizer prices are increasing right now as we're going into planting

season and would the administration consider another package for farmers? Well, everything is on the table right now. Clearly this, I think we're 36 days for the conflict, has elevated the issue of fertilizer and how important it is for American farmers and frankly for our food supply. Food security is national security. Now, the good news is that about 80% of our farmers actually last fall locked in their fertilizer, so as we're moving into planting season, it's only about 20 to 25% of our farmers that didn't lock that in, we are working directly to ensure that we can get them what they need

and it won't bankrupt them. The president waived the Jones Act. We opened up a line. I believe from Venezuela. We have more announcements coming soon. The short term is really important that that sort of 20% of farmers that were keeping the fertilizer prices in the realm of the possible for them, especially in a tough farm economy. Now, even though that was a rare moment of somewhat honesty, She's still trying to paint a rosy picture saying, you know, it's only 20 to 25% of farmers who are at risk of bankruptcy. I'm sure the 20 to 25% of farmers are thrilled to hear that. Brooke had another moment where she tried to say, listen, this isn't all due to Trump's war in Iran. It's also, I mean, it's also Biden.

What are you doing to make sure farmers can get what they need without breaking the bank? Well, it's great to be on with you and thanks so much for having me. So we are acutely aware and very, very, very focused on the cost of inputs. And it isn't just in the last 30 days since the conflict began, but really since we inherited a year and a half ago, increase in inputs from the Biden administration was between 30 and 40 percent all in, fertilizer, fuel, labor, et cetera. So we've been really focused on that.

The good news is a lot of that has already come down. Now, I don't think this is going to work in part because of the number of videos we've seen of Trump voters describing their struggles publicly to the press, publicly expressing regrets over their vote. It's also because the pain is just difficult to ignore. Groceries are expensive. Gas is expensive. And the media is actually taking the time to ensure that these issues get coverage like we saw this morning on today. With the ongoing war in Iran, Iran. This morning, Americans are facing the ripple effects of rising fuel costs.

The average gallon of gas, now $4.12, the highest in four years. And crude oil now surpassing 110 bucks a barrel as the critical straight of Hormuz remains closed. It's just kind of outrageous how much this jumps recently. And it just seems to be going up every other day. Now, this administration knows this is a problem. It's why they keep lying or trying to blame the Biden administration, because as you just heard from J.D. Vance, this is what they ran on. Does the president care? Does Donald Trump care? Well, here's how he responded when a reporter

asked about gas prices as his recent press conference ended. He doesn't care. Of course, we know this, but many people were fooled into believing that he did care. some of those people, thankfully, are starting to realize the truth only, apparently, after personal tragedy has allowed them to find their compassion and empathy. And you always hope that it's the other way around, right? That people could find their empathy before their tragedy, put themselves in other people's shoes, and imagine the plight of others before personally experiencing hardship and having that hardship be the thing that then opens your eyes.

I'd be curious to know in David's audience here how many people are personally connected to people who voted for Trump and whether you know anyone who has changed their minds or is starting to understand the truth. I'd be curious, you let me know in the comments, or you can go over to my channel and leave a comment there. Now, we know Trump's war in Iran started with deep unpopularity. Pew Research Center recently surveyed U.S. adults

and found about 6 in 10 disapprove of Trump's handling of his war in Iran, with 59% saying the use of force in Iran was wrong, and three in 10 Americans expect the war to go on for more than a year. And remember, Trump ran on no more forever wars, no more regime change wars, and then he got into office and immediately started taking out leaders and threatening various countries and going to war and committing war crimes. So what are his supporters?

What are his voters saying about this issue specifically? We know, we just talked about it, that they're angry about prices. But what about Trump's war in Iran specifically? Well, a reporter with MS now was stationed in South Miami, Florida to speak with veterans who voted for Trump. And in some cases, these people voted for Trump three times. This reporter wanted to see how they responded to Trump's press conference, threatening to blow the entire country of Iran,

on up if they failed to meet his deadline Tuesday night and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. And we're going to hear from two different Trump voters here. First, let's hear from that three-time Trump voter, an Air Force veteran. You're an Air Force vet. You told me you voted for President Trump three times. I did. What do you make of the press conference that we just watched and the details that we learned about this rescue mission? I really didn't learn a whole lot more than I already know. They threw out some numbers, which I didn't know about. But other than real details as to how this came about, I didn't really learn a whole lot. And had you told me that if you were a reporter in that press conference, you would want to know what the goal of this war

is. Did you get any light on that question? No. No, I did not. Again, three-time Trump voter there, and he seems not impressed. He says he didn't learn anything, he didn't hear any details about the goal of the war, what the point is with all of this. Now, this Trump voter articulating that Trump didn't describe a goal and that he learned nothing new doesn't necessarily convey that he won't vote for him again, Unless I explicitly hear that phrase from a Trump voter, I'm not immediately jumping to that. But you can tell that this man isn't pleased.

And he's not the only one. The reporter here spoke to another Trump voter who also watched the press conference. To Rick Schemach, Rick is an Air Force vet as well. He's also the commander here. Rick, we heard President Trump being asked about blowing up civilian infrastructure, the bridges, and the power plants. And he argued that's not a war crime. I mean, what do you make of President Trump's rhetoric on that issue?

Do you think that is the way the commander-in-chief should be conducting himself in this war? I'm totally against it. It's not an, it's a war crime. I mean, how do you win a war by destroying the country? He even said it. It would take years to rebuild the infrastructure that he wants to blow up tomorrow. So let's hope they negotiate in this. happens. And Rick, I also heard when Secretary Heggseth was praising President Donald Trump about

this rescue mission saying that this rescue mission couldn't have been done without him. I heard you grumble. Here we go again. What do you make of Secretary Hegseth and his leadership right now? It's the same as before. He's a cheerleader. Totally against destroying Iran, he says. He says Trump is threatening war crimes. A Trump supporter is saying Trump is threatening war crimes. And how about that message for Pete at the end? He's a cheerleader. I'm sure Pete loves to hear that while he's spending his days filming himself unsuccessfully doing pull-ups or other types of weightlifting, trying to reassure us that he is, in fact, a real man, while others, including this Trump voter, recognize that he is simply a sycophant. What's wild is

the veterans who voted for Trump in the first place, really, after all the suckers and the losers, talk and the he likes people who weren't captured. But Trump showed a new contempt for veterans today when he was asked for a comment regarding a lawsuit that has been filed by Vietnam veterans to prevent more of his remodeling and beautification, quote unquote, of DC, particularly what he's calling his independence arch, a 250-foot structure

that he's proposing for Memorial Circle. Watch how he responds here. A significant legal challenge to your arch? Do you think that you can get that built or at least start building it before you can It's a group of veterans, sir. Group of veterans? Because it instructs the view shed between Arlington National Cemetery and- I mean, so many legal challenges who has the time to keep track, right?

He says, you've got to be kidding me instead of, oh, really? Veterans, a group of people that I respect so much. So tell me, what is their issue? I'd love to hear, I'd love to hear them out and make sure I'm doing the right thing by the veterans, no, of course not. There are a few reasons for this lawsuit, by the way. I want to read briefly from NPR on this. Quote, the plaintiffs represented by a public citizen litigation group called the proposed plan a vanity project that would disrupt one of Washington's most symbolically charged sight lines between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House, a view

designed to evoke national unity after the Civil War. The arch could also pose a hazard to air travel at nearby Reagan National Airport, the plaintiffs argue. At 250 feet, the proposed arch would stand more than twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial and sit directly on the ceremonial axis that anchors the Capitol's monumental core. So things to consider, but not for Trump, especially that part about national unity after the Civil War. We know that Trump won't go for that. As Trump continues to display just how out of depth he is in his way.

war in Iran. I think we'll start to see more people, veteran or not, rethinking their support for this man. When we talk about privacy online, your email account may contain more detailed information about your life than anything else. Your purchases, work conversations, account logins, medical updates. Most big tech email providers do scan your inbox. They build advertising profiles around your activity. And then they target you using that data. I recommend start mail. Sponsor StartMail is a platform that functions just like the email services you're used to. No learning curve, but unlike the big tech email providers, start mail does not scan your email. It doesn't track you.

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description. Welcome back to the David Pacman show. As you can see, I am not David Packman. My name is Brittany Page. And I am lucky enough to return as guest host today. If you have enjoyed my run as guest host so far, I would love for you to join me over on my. own YouTube channel where I host the page perspective. You can find me by searching my name or checking out the description below with all of the links to my socials. So I know David's audience is here for David, but I appreciate the warm welcome that I've received from so many of you and truly appreciate his very active and engaged audience. We need people who care to survive this to protect our democracy. So thank you for being here. I know it's become a running joke

on the David Pacman show to talk about big strong men and tears in the eyes, given the number of times that Donald Trump has described hot strong men, apparently, coming up to him with tears in their eyes to thank him for something or tell him how good he is or how smart he is. The big strong men are conjured from his imagination to soothe the gaping hole left behind without anyone to give Trump praise and affection. That's what I assume. That's what I assume to be true. Whether it is politicians like Trump claiming that men are coming up to him, thanking him for his work all the time, or conservative

activists leaning into the, I just left a hipster coffee shop meme. I think that one started when a conservative activist years ago claimed that he had just left a hipster coffee shop where liberals were like whispering to each other in praise of Donald Trump or something. These claims seemed to be happening more frequently. And Fox News host, Ainsley Earhart, recently went the way of big, strong men with tears and hipster coffee shops when she said on Fox and friends

that she and Sean Hannity, who is her romantic partner, were having lunch. When suddenly a parade of people lined up to praise Fox News, to praise them, and to praise Trump for his spectacular war in Iran,

The president of the United States working over the weekend while people were attacking him online saying, where is the president? He was working. While people were going after our Secretary of War, he was working making sure that we had a contingency plan, Aisley, if something was to go wrong. Well, and yesterday at Easter Services, this is what people were talking about. And we went to lunch as a family afterwards. And everyone at the restaurant was coming up to Sean and to me saying, thank you to Fox News for all the support on Iran. We had one guy who was an Assyrian, who is a Christian that left Iran and said, please tell Donald Trump to keep going, keep fighting.

We are all so proud of our military, the special ops, the forces, the men and women that went down that surrounded that area, the crevices, the caves. They found our man. And Dakota Meyer over the weekend, Medal of Honor recipient, he said it best and reminded all of us how loyal our military is to their brothers. They don't leave anybody behind. You know, I just noticed that not only is she claiming everyone was coming up to her and Sean Hannity, thanking them and to pass messages to Trump, seemingly because everyone knows how close the two of them are to Donald Trump, but she also said that on Easter services that they attended, the church services that they attended, all anyone was talking about was the war in Iran, presumably how well it's going and how favorably everyone views the war and Trump's unhaping.

hinged behavior. And this is, of course, hard to believe, not just because it's coming from Ainsley-Airheart or because it is the classic tears in the eyes situation, but because we've covered the polling on this unpopular war. We've heard from three-time Trump voting veterans who are not happy about the war in Iran. And we've also got other Fox News hosts who are attempting to represent the views of some Trump supporters who are angry because they voted for Trump they say under the assumption that he was against wars like this. So here is one of these hosts attempting to get her colleagues to see that there are some Trump voters who disapprove of Trump's war in Iran and that this isn't just a

democratic hoax. And for context, this clip is specifically about his unhinged post from Easter Sunday. Pems to oil. Right. Yes. I mean, with a very strongly worded. I mean, if I posted something like that, I do feel like people at this table would hold an intervention for me.

Like I feel... I'll come find you. And I don't have a problem with the F word. Personally, seeing so many people on the right say they're okay with the F word now opens up a lot of opportunities for me personally. So I actually love to see that. But I don't think it was just the F word

that people were upset about. Some people think it doesn't sound like strength so much as escalation, right? And Donald Trump did win the election from support, a lot of people who were non-interventionists, so they were sick of these forever wars. They didn't want to evolve in Iran.

So if they hear about bridges and they hear about power plants, whether there's the F word there or not, then they're gonna think that that sounds a little bit like escalation, which doesn't necessarily make them soft or liberals. It is different, Kellyanne, from I think that there are people, certainly, who they are wrapped up and they don't like Donald Trump, and it can feel like they're rooting against the United States, which is wrong, but it does not apply

to everyone. And I think that's an important part of this conversation to distinguish. It doesn't make you anything other than what you've always been, which is a non-interventionist, if you are one of those people. People can believe any collection of things they want to believe. They can be liberal. They can be conservative. They can be independent like I am and absolutely detest the Iranian regime and still be concerned when rhetoric starts sounding like escalation when what you want to see is the opposite of that. And you imagine. So because this wasn't Jessica Tarlov representing this view,

she was treated very politely, as you may have noticed. But this is another potential point of fracture for Trump's base. You will always have that cult element that stays lockstep with Trump. Maybe they did claim before the war in Iran that they were non-interventionists, but now they see what he's doing. And because they are fully in the maga cult, they support it. They change their purported values and principles with Trump. He is the guiding value and principle for a certain number of these people.

But for Trump voters, this has the potential to break the spell for some of them, someone who can't afford to drive Uber now because of the gas prices, because of the war in Iran. Sometimes this is all it takes, really, to make someone vote for another party. And I know that sounds strange, especially for David's very politically active and committed an educated audience, but it's true. Many people are voting on vibes, going back and forth. And so it's important that this view is represented on Fox News. Maybe it gives some people who are thinking about stepping out and criticizing Trump on this

issue, the reassurance that they need to do it. And I always worry that I'm sounding too sympathetic when I talk about some of these voters. I just want to say that I realize racism was not a deal breaker for a deal breaker for any Trump voter. I realize that many of these people were eager and thrilled to hold mass deportation signs, that they cheered the boots on necks because it wasn't their neck that had a boot. And I am disgusted and horrified by it. I also want to figure out how to get out of this mess. And I hope some of these people do begin to abandon Trump and see a pathway forward and start to think about how to never let this happen again. As we've been going through the headlines,

today, we've spent a lot of time on Donald Trump's war in Iran, the suffering in America and backlash in response to higher prices from groceries to gas to fertilizer for farmers and Trump voters and their disapproval of his handling of the war. And if you think back a few weeks ago, maybe before this war started, how many of the headlines were dominated by the atrocities committed by ICE? I mean, ICE is still active, infiltrating our communities, kidnapping families and community members. And I think this is important to remember. I spoke briefly about my time in Minneapolis protesting in front of the federal Whipple Building. I wrote about it in my substandak, which I'll flash up there if you're interested and reading it. But one of the most memorable

images that came out of Minneapolis was that of little Liam Ramos with his blue bunny hat. His parents are now giving their first in-person interview to tell us more about. about how they're doing, how Liam is doing. And he's not doing great. He is traumatized by his experience of being separated from his family, being incarcerated. And the Trump administration is continuing

to target this family still trying to deport them. And while many of these stories have faded from the headlines, I think it's really important that we pay attention. So we're gonna hear from Liam's parents in this clip and then we'll talk about some new reporting on ICE's conduct across the country. Do you believe ICE was using Liam as bait? Yes, you do. Ice transferred Liam and his father to a family detention facility in Texas, accusing them of being in the U.S. illegally. The family from Ecuador says they entered the country

legally at a port of entry in 2030 under a Biden administration program. You can do anything. You were powerless. After two weeks, a federal judge ordered them release, but the government is still pushing for their deportation, recently terminating the family's asylum case and asking a court to allow ICE to detain them once again. Now back home, Liam is seeing a psychologist, and his parents say he seems to be a different boy. What are you scared about the most? Immigration, ICE. It's just horrible to hear this from Liam and to know that Donald Trump is still going after this family. And, you know, one thing I think about is how many Liams are in these concentration camps right now across the country.

And we actually have new numbers on this from the Marshall Project. I'm going to read from their reporting. Quote, immigration and customs enforcement has detained over 6,000 to children during President Donald Trump's second term. According to recently released numbers analyzed by the Marshall Project, people under the age of 18 have often been held with their families in what detained families and their advocates have called harmful conditions, including poor medical care, inadequate access to education, and in edible food. U.S. immigration authorities have long held children in detention, but to varying degrees across administrations.

President Joe Biden ended family detention in 2021, and by the final year of his presidency, ICE was holding a daily average of 24 children in custody. But after Trump revived the policy last year, that number jumped tenfold to 226 children incarcerated on the average day since he came back into office. Now, what you heard in the news package there about Liam's trauma, the Marshall Project has important reporting specifically on the traumatic experiences that these children are subjected to in these camps. Quote, parents reported finding worms and mold in food and foul smelling water. In one court filing, a parent said, babies are getting thin because they can only really eat pieces

of bread. Families at Dilley, one of the facilities where children are being held, have raised more than 700 complaints over medical care with lawyers, according to court filings. In one instance, a baby received poor care before being sent to the hospital with dangerously low oxygen levels. Families have reported children in mental distress, a two-year-old who hit himself, potty-trained children who began wedding themselves, and a 13-year-old who was put into isolation after attempting suicide. I mean, what do you even say about this? This is part of why we can, Let these stories get buried while Trump spreads his chaos and terror. And it's the problem of having someone like him in office because he's doing so many horrific

things that it's hard to keep up with it. But kids like Liam are counting on us to keep the pressure on and not tune it out. I would really, really love to hear from David's audience on this. So please be sure to leave your comments below. The David Packman Show is an audience-supported program. And the best, most direct way to support the show is by becoming a member at join packman.com. You'll get the daily bonus show, the daily commercial free show, and plenty of other great membership perks. Get the full experience by signing up at join packman.com.

Welcome back to the David Packman show. My name is Brittany Page. And I have been your guest host for today. I really appreciate you joining me. And as I prepare to wrap here, approach. the end of the show today. I ask you to please join me and subscribe to my much smaller YouTube channel

where I talk about many of these same issues. You can search my name or click the link in the description for my channel and social media links. We have been talking a lot about media framing, ways to message things so that people understand the realities of what is happening right now and how those who are in positions of power can and should be using their voices

to do the work of convincing the American people, and people that what we are seeing from the Trump administration is wrong and dangerous. And I think it's important to give credit where credit is due when we see examples of elected officials doing things right. And this is particularly important, by the way, in calls that you may make to your elected officials. Do you like a vote that your senator made? Do you like something that your representative did? You should tell them. But don't be afraid to get on the line and tell them what you want from them or what they're doing to disappoint you either, because if they are failing you, they need to hear that too.

Now, one example of messaging done right is Representative Jason Crowe, who recently made an appearance on MS Now. He's from Colorado, and he's an Iraq war vet. And here he lays out the stakes of exactly what Americans are tired of when it comes to failed international intervention, war, and chaos. Here is the bottom line for me. The bottom line is we have spent over 20 years, $5 to $8 trillion, 7,000 American lives in what is now an endless cycle of conflict in the Middle East. And Americans are over it. I'm over it. We have to find a way to extract ourselves in the cycle of endless conflict.

Now, let's not be confused here. That doesn't mean that we don't keep ourselves safe, that we aren't strong and willing to use force when our adversaries threaten America. Americans or American interests, but that was not the case here, right? This president and the administration completely failed the show an imminent threat. In fact, they have actually come out recently in the last couple of weeks and admitted that there is no imminent threat, that this was a long-term play by the president. And it's got to end, right? Americans are over this perpetual state of conflict when they can't afford rent, they can't afford their mortgage, they can't afford groceries, we have to end this cycle.

This is the way. And this repetition with this point matters, pairing the unpopular war with direct consequences on Americans' lives and their ability to survive, pay their bills, put gas in their cars, bringing it back to the things Americans want to improve their lives, to improve material conditions, and directly tying Trump's failure to these struggles is important.

But Jason Crow didn't stop there. He also criticized Trump's complete disregard for the law and the threats that he's made against Iran, which make everyone less safe. Oh, I am, I am gravely concerned by this president's comments about bombing electrical infrastructure desalienization plants. I mean, that would be on its face,

a violation of the laws of war and would be a war crime. He is continuously threatening to commit war crimes, whether it's shooting, you know, protesters in Lafayette Square, which would actually be a, crime against U.S. federal law, sending troops to polling stations, which also would be a violation of U.S. federal law. He has said he's going to kill the families of terrorists, which would be a violation of the laws of war, and of course now with Iran. This is a president that has shown a

complete disdain for the rule of law, for the Constitution, for the laws of war, and we have to stand up with unbelievable voices, Republicans, Democrats, Americans of all stripes, and condemn what the president is saying and say, we will not tolerate it and we will seek accountability if he moves forward with it. And at the same time, I stand by that video that we filmed last year and telling our service members they have an obligation to the rule of law and to the Constitution, and that must always be their North Star. So the only thing that I would have liked to hear more on is the accountability piece there. I think this could be really beneficial for generating support for Democrats. If Democrats were to come out and say, Donald Trump will be held accountable

and describe how this would be a winning message that would make people excited. And I don't think I'm speaking for myself, you guys. You can tell me in the comments, but I think this is also a crucial piece of the messaging. One criticism that I've had for Democrats during this time is the weakness that we've seen, the kind of sitting back and throwing up their hands and waiting for the American public to get so sick of Trump that they turn on him without Democrats really needing to offer much. But that's not going to work. And messages like these from Jason Crow are a great example, messages that we heard yesterday from Rokana, West Moore, great examples. We need more leadership here so that Republicans are dealt a very strong defeat, come the midterms

and beyond. We're still waiting, desperately waiting for any Republican, any elected Republican to come forward and criticize Donald Trump. We've seen, you know, a few here and there, like Thomas Massey working with Rokana on the Epstein files, but most of the time, Republicans wait until they're, you know, not running for another term to start the criticism, or they wait until they're fully out of power to start the criticism. And I guess former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is in the latter camp because he is definitely out here doing the criticism and it's good and necessary and also makes you wonder why is he doing it?

He sees an opening with zero Republicans stepping forward to do the right thing on Trump right now. Remember, Chris Christie led the Trump transition team. He helped Trump prepare for his debates, including with Hillary Clinton, by actually role-playing as Hillary Clinton during mock debates. So this is someone who helped elevate Trump to his position of power. So he sees the writing on the wall, and whether it's for politically expedient reasons, his own personal ambitions, or because he is genuinely morally outraged by what is happening, he's going after some big targets here, most notably Senator Lindsey Graham and Trump's son-in-law,

Jared Kushner, who is currently doing any number of things in the government, all related to self-dealing and stuffing his pockets. But let's start with a broad criticism for the party, with Christie expressing disbelief that there is not even a single Republican right now, willing to step forward and criticize Donald Trump, particularly related to his post on Easter Sunday. The real lack of principles on display every day in the House of Representatives in the United States Senate, these people have become lemmings.

They only do what he does. what he tells them to do. And not only that, they don't even criticize them when he deserves to be criticized. He put out a post yesterday, which I'm sure many of you saw. And I was going to say exactly what he said. So you better open up the fucking straight, you crazy bastards. Now look, I'm from New Jersey. So you can tell that language flowed pretty easily for me.

But come on, man. Like this is... Democrat knows, he coached in Seton Hall. He understands. Like, but come on. There's not one Republican, not one, who I've seen the last 24 hours, he says, okay, come on now. That's enough. He sounds like me during the show today. Yes, where are they? But we're really waiting for the names. So let's start with Lindsey Graham, a man that Chris Christie calls vapid, vacant as a human being. Even something as simple as that, Mr. President, those words on Easter Sunday were ill-advised. They can't even do that.

They're scared to do that. Because here's why, and this is where the principles come in, they care more about the title than they do about doing the job they have. The best example of this right now in the 535 members of the United States Congress is Lindsay Graham. this is a man who only cares about his title nothing else absolutely nothing else he is a vapid

vacant human being and for him to say the things that he has said about Donald Trump in the past and all he wants to do is suck up and play another round of golf and pray that he gets the endorsement

for the United States Senate You know, lots of people in my party will say, oh, you know, this isn't the way it used to be and people lack principles. You got to say the names. Now, to briefly interrupt him going all in on Lindsey Graham there, I have to say this is a point that I completely agree with. I can't tell you how many times I've heard Democrats tell us during their interviews with various media outlets. Oh, you know, behind the scenes, all these Republicans are so disgusted with Donald Trump. They're so anti-Trump. And my response to that is always name names.

Who are they? Who are the people who are publicly signaling that they support everything Trump does, while behind the scenes they hate themselves and hate Donald Trump. Name them. This politeness thing is over. We're in a fight for survival here. If naming a name makes your job difficult or makes things uncomfortable, good. Thousands of children are eating moldy food in concentration camps.

I think you'll survive having some spineless weasel upset at you in the hallways at work, senators. So let's hear Chris Christie continue naming names with his commentary on Lindsay Graham here, specifically his betrayal of John McCain in particular. If you really want to be credible on this, and there's a bunch of other ones that I'll probably say during this hour tonight, but Graham is the first one. And the reason is because a guy who is a hard-edged, politician, but had some principles was John McCain. And John McCain mentored Lindsay Graham.

He saw him as like a son. John McCain, I guarantee you, is spinning in his grave, watching Lindsey Graham suck up to Donald Trump. And so I'm disgusted by what my party looks like in Washington. But where are the other Republicans who are trying to say the same? That is what we need. So it's so important that Chris Christie is doing this because hopefully it leads to headlines and then that will prompt internal chaos and reporters will ask for comment and then that creates friction for these liars and cowards because it's the pressure. That's really the thing. And Chris Christie continues here, but this needs some context.

So Chris Christie recently went on a podcast and he shared the full story of how he built the case to prosecute Jared Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, who was currently the ambassador to France and Monaco. Back in the early 2000s, Charles was found guilty of tax evasion and making illegal campaign contributions. And at the time, Chris Christie was the U.S. attorney prosecuting the case that he called, quote, one of the most loathsome disgusting crimes that he'd ever prosecuted. And Charles set up his brother-in-law, hiring a sex worker to lure him into a hotel room where a hidden camera was placed to record them having sex.

so the video could be sent to his brother-in-law's wife, Charles Kushner's own sister. But Trump pardoned him and then gave him a job in the administration. And one Democrat voted to confirm Charles Kushner for his current position as ambassador to France and Monaco. His name is Cory Booker. So Chris Christie begins this segment talking about, well, actually, Bill Maher,

Bill Maher getting manipulated by Donald Trump, but quickly moves into this podcast appearance where he talked about this case. And then he drops a bomb about Trump, apparently trying to break up Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump before they got married. This famous dinner he had with Bill Maher and Bill Maher came out charmed. And I just laughed. Bill Maher, probably one of the most cynical people I've ever met in my life. It tells you how skilled Trump is.

He can charm you. He has the ability to do it. The problem is he doesn't have. the patience or the discipline to do it regularly and and so he gets himself in it in a lather i'll give you one example of this there's a lot of attention from that podcast about me telling us talking to byron york on the way in about the story of charlie cuchner and prosecuting charlie cuchner one of the outgrowth to that um was there there was a time when um avonka trump you know had dated jared cuchner they had broken up

And they've gotten back together again, and it became clear to Donald Trump that they were going to get married. And he has said this publicly that he would have rather had her marry Tom Brady, which might be the only popular thing he could say in New England, to say nice things about Tom Brady. But he was not thrilled, let's say, about this. And I was still the prosecutor at the time. I was still the U.S. attorney when this stuff was going on. And he asked me to go out to dinner. And he said, do you have anything more on the family?

so I can, you know, break this up. And I thought to myself, haven't I given you enough? Like, her prospective father-law hired a hooker to seduce his own sister's husband, videotape it, hold it, and then send it to her on the day of her son's engagement party. I'm like, not enough, huh? Like, to say, there might be a family I might want. to stay away from, all right? I mean, but that's Trump.

Like, when he gets himself worked into a ladder, he will say and do anything to get what he wants. So Trump wanted dirt on the Kushner family, well, above and beyond the existing extensive dirt that existed before they got married. But I guess after the deed was done, he was fully committed, handing out pardons, giving everyone access, giving everyone job,

And this is part of it, as Chris explains. Part of why those surrounding Trump are not stepping out and offering criticism because of power. They want to hold onto their power. But in this next clip, he also reveals an important pattern about how Trump operates that we need to keep in mind. He then went on to discuss how he dealt with his wife when he eventually did get upstairs,

which was to tell her it's all bullshit and there's no truth to it, even though it was on video. And he kept saying it and saying it, saying it. That's what he's telling my wife. And then he looks at my wife, he goes, remember something, Mary Pat. If you say something enough times, whether it's true or not, it becomes true. Now, that's the principle. That's how the president convinces himself.

As to the people around him, they're not trying to convince themselves. They have a title. They're in the cabinet. sit around the cabinet room. People call them Mr. and Madam Secretary. They're getting to do some good things from time to time, both for the country and for themselves. They can't. None of them.

Well, maybe a few of them because they're stupid, but none of them, none of the smart ones can rationalize what they're in the middle of. So don't give them that much credit. And the president, just remember, if you say something enough times, whether it's true or not, it becomes true. He doesn't say you can convince people.

That's different. He says it becomes true. That's what he thinks about the 2020 election. He says enough times it becomes true. That's the principle he lives on. He says they have a title. They're in the cabinet. They're, in my view, not doing important things.

Chris Christie says that sometimes they do important things for the country. Sometimes they're doing good things. Not sure where that's happening. But the last bit in there is important. This is why Trump repeats his lies. He believes that if he repeats it enough times, it eventually becomes the truth. It eventually becomes the accepted truth that we all believe.

All the more reason to keep calling out his lies every single time. So listen, I appreciate Chris Christie doing this. We need to hear these behind-the-scenes stories. We need Republicans who are close to Trump, who have been close to Trump, to Trump, to be honest. I just wish it was a Republican with more to lose, with more current power in the government.

Now, that is going to do it for me. As I wrap my time as guest host today, I want to thank David and Pat for the invitation and the work behind the scenes to make all of this go smoothly. And I want to thank David's audience for caring about things that matter and staying informed and engaged in the political process, but also for supporting the guest host. me while David takes, you know, a small break. He needs a break. I have really enjoyed taking you

all through the headlines and hope that you've heard something valuable. If you did, I would love for you to join me over on my YouTube channel where I host my show, The Page Perspective, and if you are looking for other independent progressive media to support, I am your girl. Please feel free to follow me elsewhere on social media, Instagram, Blue Sky Threads. I'm at Brittany E. Page. Hopefully, I'll see you later over on my channel. Until then take care and keep fighting.