The MeidasTouch Podcast - Democratic Governors are Leading the Fight Against Trump

Episode Date: March 24, 2025

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on the Democratic Governors who are fighting back hard against Trump and Meiselas speaks with Ofirah Yheskel from the Democratic Governors Association. Visit https://meidasplus.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democratic governors have been on the front lines of defending our democracy from Donald Trump and Doge. They've been laying the smack down to Donald Trump. We've been highlighting some of their efforts here, but they've been speaking direct. They've been speaking to the American people, and I think they have been meeting the moment. Let me highlight a few. Governor Pritzker of Illinois, when he's asked a question by Joe Galena of Call to Activism, if you could speak directly to Donald Trump, what would you tell him about what he's doing with Putin? Here, play this clip. If you could speak directly to Donald Trump, what would you tell him? What does Vladimir Putin have on you?

He's not mincing words. I think that's what the American people want to hear right now. Here's Pritzker again in the recent speech he gave for the Center for American Progress. Let's play it. Americans are experiencing the cruelty that comes with authoritarian rule. Donald Trump has handed over the reins of power to Elon Musk and his fellow Doge bags so that they can find trillions of dollars that they need to give themselves a massive tax break. Think about that.

What Musk and Trump are doing isn't about efficiencies or about cost savings. It is about cruelty. They're intentionally breaking the system and giving themselves the authority to rebuild it in their own interest. Powerful words. Look, I had the opportunity to interview Governor Andy Beshear, for example, of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Here's what he told me. Well, bullying is always wrong and standing up for people is always right. Hate's always wrong and love's always right. Judging people is always wrong and accepting them is always right. But I think what many Democrats are doing is misreading the last election. They're seeing that last ad that was played and thinking that the last movable voters voted on that anti-trans issue. I don't think that they did. I think what Donald Trump convinced them is that his opponent was distracted

by other issues while he was focused on prices and the economy. And so this isn't an either or. As a Democrat, stand up for what you believe in. Stand up for protecting people. But at the same time, the next day, be out there opening that new factory. Be in your community, cutting the ribbon on the new clinic where people are going to be able to see a doctor that are right there. Be out there making sure that public safety is improving for everybody. You know, we've got to show people that you can stand up for your principles

while at the same time being there every single day for every working family, regardless of their politics. We have to do both and understand that this is not an- And here's Governor Shapiro of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on the Midas Touch Network. When Donald Trump took the oath of office, he took the oath of office to be president of the United States and be the leader of the free world. As presidents have been for many generations, stretching back even before Ronald Reagan and the changes that came there. He went from being

the leader of the free world to now in just one month wanting to be a leader of a single hemisphere and leaving China and Russia in charge of the other hemispheres. That is deeply, deeply dangerous for America's national security interests. It is deeply troubling to see a president retreat in the face of Vladimir Putin and President Xi. We need a president who's going to stand up for America's interests, who wants to be the leader of the free world. He has demonstrated nothing but weakness when it comes to national security over the course of his first month in office. Ben, we need to talk about this more. America's national security is at risk as a result of these

decisions the president has made. I could keep showing you more of these. I'll do one more. Governor Gretchen Whitmer, incredible governor from Michigan. Today we're really proud to announce that enrollment in Michigan's free pre-k program has reached 47,500, which is the highest we've been in over a decade. So that's 56 percent of Michigan's four-year-olds who are now enrolled in Great Start Readiness Program or GSRP. At facilities just like this one, these young Michiganders learn invaluable skills and get on track to start kindergarten better prepared to learn. Because of our work, thousands more kids are getting the education that they deserve and their parents have peace of mind to know that they are supported and in safe places and they're also saving money too, a lot of money.

Because we know that free pre-K saves parents an average of $10,000 a year for a combined, when you think of all the parents whose kids are now enrolled, $475 million of savings. Think about that. Think about what it means for a middle-class family. A year of rent or bills or a down payment, savings for college or a rainy day. I'm joined by Ophiria Heskel. Ophira from the Democratic Governors Association. Welcome to the Midas Touch podcast. So I showed that incredible group of Democratic governors. Frankly, I kept on going on. I feel bad. I wanted to keep going on, but I want to get your take on it. Tell us about the governors right now standing up in the face of the threats by Donald Trump

and Doge and Musk. Well, I could have watched that for a longer time too, Ben. I think they're really just showing where we should go forward as a party. I think they're some of the best messengers because they really speak their values very clearly. And it's why we have Democratic governors in places like Kentucky. I think Andy Beshear has been a great governor for the Commonwealth because he's willing to stand up for his values, but he also makes it clear that he's going to deliver for the people of Kentucky. And Josh Shapiro, Gretchen Whitmer, Governor Pritzker all feel the same. And I think this is a moment right now where your governor really hasn't mattered more than it does right now. They show that, I think, every day. And

that's why I'm so motivated by the work we're doing at DGA to keep electing them. We have 38 races over the next two years that are going to require a lot of time, energy, and attention. And they're a great example of why these races matter. 38 races in the next, what, year and a half, two years? I mean, what, there are two this year, right? And then next year, there's going to be 36. So most of the states right there are going to have these elections. And what do you think the main issues are that these governors are going to be talking about? I mean, I know people are terrified their Medicaid is going to be taken away. Musk is talking about Social Security's a Ponzi scheme. And I mean, I think these governors are on the front lines of protecting people. What are you hearing? Well, for us, it's been these kitchen table issues. We heard people loud and clear when they said the economy was on their minds.

And that's something that I think Democratic governors have taken a lot of action to deliver on. Governor Moore, I know you had on your podcast the other day and he was talking about how in just two years he delivered more jobs to Maryland than the previous Republican governor. I like to call Josh Shapiro Jobs Shapiro because I feel like every other day he's got an economic development announcement that he's sharing about what they're doing in Pennsylvania and could go right on down the list. But I think also to your point, Ben, and what we've been discussing people being concerned, governor's really a backstop against a lot of the chaos that we're seeing from Republicans on the federal level. And they're really a protection against any attacks that we're seeing on fundamental freedoms. And I think they use their voices to really stand up for their

values and the people of their states and to fight for what's right. So I think, again, who your governor is really hasn't mattered more than it does right now. And that's been how we've been able to elect Democratic governors in five of the seven presidential battleground states. It's why we've been able to protect so many incumbents, I think 26 out of 27 in the past few years, and looking to continue that winning record in the next two years over the 38 races I mentioned. You know, one of the races that I'm very focused on is Abigail Spanberger's race in Virginia. Former congresswoman from Virginia worked in the intelligence agencies, worked her way up through that. Incredible congresswoman now running for governor of Virginia. I had her on the Midas Touch Network a few weeks back. Here's what she had to

say when Glenn Youngkin, who's basically a trumper there, but he wears a vest versus a long red tie, says that he's good with all of these federal job cuts. He's fine with Virginians losing jobs. Here's what Congresswoman Spanberger told me. I think the governor of Virginia has a primary job, and that is to stand up for Virginians and to stand up for Virginia. And what is just unbelievable at this moment is that our governor and our lieutenant governor, who's my opponent in our November 2025 race, are doing neither, excusing the fact that Virginians who work hard,

Virginians who serve our country, that they are losing their jobs, have already lost them, and are fearful that tomorrow might be the day they get that that fateful email. It's just outrageous. Can you talk to that race in Virginia and just in general? It does seem like all of these Republican governor candidates are fully embracing the most extreme elements of MAGA, cheering on cuts to Medicaid, cuts to education, cuts to all of the programs in their state

that rely on state-federal partnerships. Well, even today, you know, a bunch of Republican governors are supposed to join Trump at the White House where he's gonna celebrate cutting the Department of Education. And that's gonna mean a lot of kids and parents in this country seek funding to their public school go down.

And that's a real shame. I think we should all be raising our voices against that. But to bring it back to Virginia, that's a big governor's race for us this year. Looking forward to flipping that state back blue after you mentioned Glenn Youngkin and Winston Sears have just not been standing up for Virginians. They are uniquely impacted by these federal layoffs. So it's not just the human impact, but also it really impacts Virginia's economy. And if Virginia is going to stay a competitive state, it needs good leaders who

are driving the state forward and willing to raise their voice again against the chaos that we're seeing in Washington when it makes sense to do so. But also, I want to point out that Winston Sears, the lieutenant governor, his lieutenant governor, has done things like voted against protecting access to contraception in the Commonwealth of Virginia. And I think that's really out of step with where a lot of Virginians are and want to see the Commonwealth go. So we're looking forward to going on offense and putting that that state back in our blue column over here where can people find out more about the uh various races if they wanted to be helpful to your organization where do they go

well they can text dem gov to 30201 and you'll get a lot of information about how you can support our races and like i said 38 races over the next two two years means a lot of time and energy and support for them. And thank you, Ben, for having so many of our governors on your show already. I think it's really driven home that a lot of our bench is here in the states. And a lot of them will be up for re-election next year. So I want to make sure that we're able to make sure that they're running through the tape and continuing to deliver for the people in their states. Well, we'll keep having the governors on because, you know, I want to highlight people who are fighting for the people. I mean, from my perspective, really, regardless of what political

party you're from, I want to see people leading the state who aren't cheering on people losing jobs and losing health care in the state. I don't know. It feels common sense to me in this moment. And you're right. I mean, that image of the Republican governors cheering on the gutting of the Department of Education, where kids in their states are going to suffer. Then I go back to what I showed at the beginning of this video with Governor Whitmer and others talking about delivering services to people and giving lunches and helping people. It's such a contrast. Thank you for joining us. We want you to come back. You should come back every, you know, every few months or even less to give us updates.

This is really awesome. So thank you so much. We appreciate everybody. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 5 million subscribers. Can't get enough Midas? Check out the Midas Plus sub stack for ad free articles, reports, podcasts, daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski and more. Sign up for free now at MidasPlus.com.