The MeidasTouch Podcast - Democratic Rising Superstars with Beto O'Rourke & Tim Ryan | Meidas GOLD Minds Part 2/4

Episode Date: October 8, 2021

On today’s special edition of The MeidasTouch Podcast, the brothers are continuing to mix things up! With the rapid growth of our audience it’s become clear that many of our listeners have missed out on some INCREDIBLE guests that we’ve had the pleasure of speaking with early on in our development. Today we’re going to listen to two interviews from early January/March of 2021 with Beto O'Rourke & Tim Ryan! Along the way the brothers are going to provide some insights into MeidasTouch, their personal lives and new commentary around these interviews. We hope you enjoy! [PART 2 of 4] Support our sponsors: Feals -- Become a member today by going to Feals.com/MEIDAS and you'll get 50% off your first order with free shipping. BetterHelp -- Visit betterhelp.com/meidas and join the over 2,000,000 people who have taken charge of their mental health with the help of an experienced professional and get 10% off your first month when using our link! Remember to subscribe to ALL the Meidas Media Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://pod.link/1510240831 Legal AF: https://pod.link/1580828595 Kremlin File: https://pod.link/1575837599 Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://pod.link/1530639447 Zoomed In: https://pod.link/1580828633 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Ben Micellis joined by Brett and jordy my cell is with you today we've got an incredible show for you today and it all began with an idea i don't know what i was doing i thought you're going into a trump impression there i thought you're going to your world famous trump impression from a couple weeks ago the problem is a couple of weeks ago, I did the most incredible Trump impression. About the Arizona audit. Stop, stop, stop.

Stop, stop. That video has like hundreds of thousands of views. Majority. So we have Beto O'Rourke and Tim Ryan. Let me just put that out there first to our guests on the special edition so I don't lose interest. Democratic rising stars, if not already Democratic stars. I'm excited for this one. So the theme of this episode is the future, the future leadership of the Democratic Party. Now, these are individuals who have been leaders. So it's not that they are not in the public spotlight supporting the Democratic platform.

But I think when you look ahead, whether it's running for Senate, whether it could be running for governor, whether it could be future presidential ambitions, these are individuals who you need to watch. And I am proud to be a Democrat when we have leadership like Beto O'Rourke and Tim Ryan. Beto O'Rourke came on the Midas Touch podcast on January 22nd. Tim Ryan came on on March 12th of 2021. pause before we talk about that. With my Trump impression, I had the funniest call, Brett, with Jordy, who called me up specifically to talk to me about my impression. This is true. You remember that? For tips? He just wanted to let me know how he felt about my Trump impression after you posted it on Twitter. Jordy, what'd you call me and say? I said, Ben, your Trump impression is incredibly hilarious. The clip that Brett put together.

First off, I said, your impression is amazing. And then when I watched it back the next day on YouTube, I didn't realize just how good it was. And then Brett put the clip together. I'm like, this is the greatest thing ever. I think Ben has like a standup comedian career on his hands here. And Jordy said to me, Brett, he goes, look, I want to tell you about your impressions generally. And I said, okay, Jordy, this is a real, this is a real conversation

because I want to talk to you about your impressions. And I'm walking my dogs outside and I'm like, I'm with Sochi, my girlfriend, and we're talking about just, you know, life. And Jordy calls me and goes, I want to talk to you about your impressions. I go, okay, Jordy, what's my impression? He goes, I think when you really commit to the impressions, you know, life. And Jordy calls me and goes, I want to talk to you about your impressions. I go, okay, Jordy, what's my impression? He goes, I think when you really commit to the impressions, you do really good impressions. And when you're too much in your head though, Ben, with your other impressions. And I think that's why they don't, they're not always as successful. And he said, I think if you stick with this routine, it'll be more appreciated by, this is a real conversation, be more appreciated by the audience.

I'm a little upset I wasn't on the call. It felt formal. I should have sent like a Google calendar. I know, there was no invite, no calendar. I didn't realize how deep I was going to go, but at the heart of it, I was really complimenting him. And all I was saying was, man, just, I feel like he's got like this weight on his back because he works so hard.

He doesn't let loose, man. Wear a funny scarf. For those watching, Jordy's got quite the outfit on he's wearing his Midas touch dog appears to be wearing it as a handkerchief or a bib I'm not sure it's a dog scarf around his neck dog scarf around his neck you can get your dog or to copy Jordy's look at store.midastouch.com we have those for sale for dogs but I guess they also look good on Geordie. And the fact that we joke about talking about my impressions of people in the context of a podcast, which is still hard to believe and unfathomable that we have such an incredible audience. The Midas Mighty are the most

supportive, loyal, and kind of fierce community of pro-democracy activists who are out there. But I think ultimately, when Brett, Jordi, and I were starting Midas Touch, we never really had any, I wouldn't say never really, we never had political ambitions. I'll give you a personal Ben story. Maybe Brett and Jordi can think about a personal story that they want to share. I always thought I wanted to go into politics. When I went to Georgetown Law, I thought one of the reasons I wanted to go there was to have a political career. I interned for Congressman Steve Israel. I love that experience. I interned for Senator Clinton. She had an incredible office on the Senate side and learned so much from her. Then I became a lawyer. I got

involved in police brutality cases, representing victims and victims' families of police brutality, which was a way that I felt I could really give back and represent people against entities, whether it's corporations, governments, local, state, and national, where they weren't having their rights protected and kind of forgot about my political dreams and political ambitions at the time and thought I would never be involved in politics. Then Donald Trump came into president. And honestly, for the first two years, I'm disappointed looking back at it. And I think I didn't do enough those first two years. And I think I was just so busy with the work that I was doing that you just kind of get through it and you just kind of ignore it.

And you kind of just cover your ears and hear no evil, see no evil. And I was so against his policies, but I was so busy with what I was doing that I couldn't stop. And then, you know, COVID hit, we were all in our various homes during quarantine and we decided we had to do something. And one conversation led to multiple conversations, which led to videos, which led to one follower to close to millions of followers on various different platforms. And it's just shows that there's really no secret sauce other than kind of just doing it and getting involved. And we can't be complacent out there. We can't be looking back on it. We can't be the way I was. And a lot of people were in 2018. There's

too much at stake. So just wanted to share that story. Absolutely. And in 2018, Ben, there was no outlet for you to get your frustration out though. Same with millions and millions of Americans. Before Midas Touch was formed, not to pat us on the back here like too much, but there was no community like the Midas Mighty that was just so unapologetically pro democracy in every fiber of their being. And they now have a community to rally around. And it's been so just amazing to watch everything unfold that I couldn't be more grateful to everybody in the Midas Mighty community who really does put in that effort day in and day out as making real change in this world

for the better. One of the things I love are just the people who just start making videos and just start making art and all the various things and putting them online. And what's true about the internet, what's true about Twitter, what's true about TikTok, what's true about all these apps is the cream really does rise to the top. And through that, you develop relationships with people and people reach out and say, hey, that was a great video you did. Hey, that was a great drawing you did. And then you allow those relationships to flourish. And then you get more relationships. And then all of a sudden, you have a network of like-minded people who are then sharing

your content. And that's how it builds. And that's how it grows. And like some of the more recent ones is, and we recently partnered with this guy, Debunction Junction. Debunk Junction on Twitter and Debunk Junction on TikTok. And this is the guy who saw a lot of disinformation being spread out there in the world and decided, hey, I'm going to refute it.

I know the facts are out there. Let me make these short one to two minute TikTok videos and expose the truth of what is actually going on because this fake information, these lies are going viral. How could we stop it? Let's stop it with the truth. And because he's so good at it, these lies are going viral. How could we stop it? Let's stop it with the truth. And because he's so good at it, those videos went super viral. And I see countless accounts now popping up every single day. And I love when I see people just crushing it out there in this space.

That's what we need because we are combating so much disinformation like never before. And where in the past it came from foreign sources now it's coming from the Republican Party now It's coming from their leaders of their party And so we need to fight back harder than ever in that respect and get the truth out there and continue to stay motivated And continue to keep everything going and that's why I'm really excited to talk about the future leaders of the future present leaders, I guess I would say of the Democratic Party and Let's start this episode off with one of my favorites. And maybe, let me say, with your efforts, the future governor of

Texas, perhaps. We got Beto O'Rourke on the show today. Really excited to show you this interview is from January 2021. Hope you enjoy Beto O'Rourke. I'm so honored to be joined by Beto O'Rourke, former congressman, Senate and presidential candidate, founder of Powered by People, truly needs no introduction. Welcome to the show, Beto. Thank you for having me. Thanks for what you all are doing. Looking forward to the conversation. Is it cool, first off, that I call you Beto? Am I getting too comfortable with you already? I just want to make sure that's all right. It's great. That's what everybody calls me. Some variant of that. Beto, Beto, Beto, Beto. But yes, that's great. Awesome. Beto, just starting off with your thoughts about yesterday, both in terms of just the inauguration

and what was accomplished yesterday with those 17 executive orders that Biden issued. It's interesting, you know, probably like you, I have been looking forward to January 20th, 2021 for more than four years since the November 2016 election. And I've been working very hard, doing everything that I know how to do within my power to bring about the end of the Trump presidency and the beginning of something better, which happens to be the administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. But having done all that work and all that effort and time and worked with so many extraordinary people in campaigns and through organizations like Powered by People, I was surprised by how good I felt yesterday,

so much better than I expected to be feeling. Because by, you know, certainly the 19th, we knew the 20th was going to happen. We knew Biden was going to be inaugurated. And yet, that knowledge did nothing to dampen the relief that I felt, my hope and excitement for the future. And just watching from home with our kids, our kids are 14, 12, and 10, watching that inauguration with them and with my wife, Amy, it was so beautiful and powerful and moving and made us emotional. And I looked over at Amy and she was crying and I can't remember at what point, but I certainly felt like crying as well. And then Amanda Gorman, I'd never heard of her before. I didn't know she existed. And she was perhaps the most powerful

presence yesterday and was able to say so many things that so many of us have been feeling and hoping. I don't know that it could have been any better. Lastly, I was like, why are you having Garth Brooks? Why are you having him out here to sing? I don't know Garth Brooks. I knew who he was, and I probably heard his songs in passing. He was amazing. I actually, my wife had stepped out of the room to take a call when he had sung, and I made her watch it last night. He was awesome. Everything was so good, and this is corny as shit,

but it made me feel so good about our country and so proud to be an American and so grateful to live here and so impressed that we still pull this thing off, that we can peacefully transfer power from one president to another 245 years into this deal. Pretty amazing. And Amanda Gorman's poem, to me, was such a perfect contrast to Trump's American carnage, apocalyptic vision that he delivered in his 2016 inauguration. Now, that wasn't what life was actually like in 2016. But what he talked about was ultimately the

America that he created, you know, with the insurrection that he led. And early on in that, in his administration, you know, one of the things I was personally involved with as someone who represented, I was Colin Kaepernick's lawyer, him attacking private citizens, you know, and saying, get that son of a bee off the field. You know, when Colin Kaepernick was peacefully protesting, you know, and taking a knee. And now we see Trump's vision of attacking peaceful protesters while supporting terrorist insurrectionists, along with people like enablers like Ted Cruz. And so you gave an incredible defense of peaceful protesters like Colin Kaepernick. What do you think the enduring legacy of Kaepernick's peaceful protest is in light of the violent insurrections that we now have seen

led by the president and led by enablers like Ted Cruz? I think Kaepernick is in this long tradition of extraordinary Americans who have not necessarily held public office and maybe nominally were not involved in politics, and yet profoundly changed and strengthened our democracy, unlike anybody who has held public office. I think about, you know, my fellow Texan, Lyndon Baines Johnson, signing into law that the Civil Rights Act of 64, the Voting Rights Act of 65, and many have recently made the case that we've really only been a democracy in the United States since 1965. Because, you know, until that point, practically, functionally, in real day-to-day life, so many of our fellow Americans, Black

and in communities of color, especially in the former Confederacy, could not vote. Now, LBJ, to his credit, used the immediate goodwill that he had following his assumption of the presidency after the assassination of JFK, his limited political capital to push those bills through. But really, it was at that time, the unelected John Lewis, and Fannie Lou Hamer, and Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X, and so many others who frankly forced him to do that by engaging the conscience of this country. And how else does a population that will never amount to a majority compel the majority of white Americans to do the right thing in that case in 64 and 65? And in much the same way, I think Colin Kaepernick shocked the conscience of this country and did so not through violence,

not through breaking or destroying anything, but by taking a knee. And it is it's overwhelming to me to think about what his peaceful protest did to change the conversation and really the trajectory of this country for the better and how ultimately it will be Colin Kaepernick, not Donald Trump, who did everything he could to vilify and demean him, who will be victorious in the end. The idea is that he stands for, that he kneeled for, that he represents in the best traditions of this country. And the fight is still on though, right? Donald Trump might be gone, and Joe Biden might have been sworn in yesterday. But this thing still hangs in the balance. And Colin Kaepernick, willing to forego his career and some not insignificant fortune for having the courage of his convictions, I think is a reminder to all of us that you've got to put this shit on the line now. If we are really in the fight of our that you've got to put this shit on the line now.

If we are really in the fight of our lives and in the life of this country as to whether or not we will proceed as a democracy or descend into tyranny or fascism or autocracy, it's going to take everything from all of us, including a willingness to sacrifice those things that may come easy to you, that you may have earned, that you may have fought for before, but that you should be willing to sacrifice now for the common good of this country. That's where I think Colin Kaepernick stands right now in this tradition and why his example is more relevant than ever. There was something that Amanda Gorman said yesterday. She said something to the effect of in her poem at the inauguration, democracy, you know, it may be delayed, but it can never be permanently denied. She said that as fact. It heartened me and encouraged me. I don't know for a fact that it's true. And yet, I think she said that in part to remind us that it is up to us. We are the government. The government is is all of us.

And if we lose it, it won't be because of Russia. It won't be because of Trump. It won't be because of the GOP. It'll be because of all of us. And if we win it by that same token, it will be because of of all of us. So, look, these are if you love democracy, these can be some tough, dark times. But if you love democracy, there's no better time to be alive and be on planet Earth and to live in the United States of America, because it's on. And this is the fight of your life. And you were here in America at this moment to distinguish yourself and to account for yourself down the road when the history books and our kids and grandkids and those who succeed us will look back and wonder, you know, how we

accounted for ourselves and what we did at this moment of truth. So I think that that has something to do with the victories that we've seen recently. Biden is president, Ossoff and Warnock winning these incredibly important, hard fought, close runoff Senate races in Georgia, the level of voter participation that you're seeing across the country. And then what we're doing in Texas, powered by people, you know, I'm not a candidate, don't have a campaign. And yet we were able to bring in 20,000 people, 20,000 unique individual Americans who pulled at least one shift with us to call or knock on the doors of complete strangers and compel them to register to vote or to participate in these elections this year.

So this is a time to be alive. I love the work you're doing with Powered by People. And I think it was Stacey Abrams, but I'm not 100% sure. But I heard somebody say in regards to Georgia that Georgia is not a red state and was never a red state. It was a voter suppressed state. Do you feel the same way about Texas? Is Texas a red state?

Is it a purple state? What can we expect from the future? I know we were all itching for Texas to go blue this time and we didn't quite pull it through. And the future from powered by people. Stacey, as always, is absolutely right on this one. Texas is not so much a red state as it is a non-voting state. Despite the fact that we turned out, Texans did in 2020 in record numbers, never before seen in the history of

Texas, we still rank 46th in voter turnout. And it's not for a lack of love of democracy. It's not because we're less civically minded than the folks in Massachusetts or Idaho or California. It is because we were designed this way. And you look back at our history from reconstruction forward to 2021. This state has done everything within its power to keep black Texans, Mexican-American Texans, Texans in communities of color from registering to vote, from exists in the United States, despite 750 polling place closures in Texas, despite the fact that this state is growing like gangbusters and that those 750 polling place closures more than in any other state were concentrated in the fastest growing black and brown neighborhoods. The fact that people still find a way to transcend and overcome and bust through that shit and make their voice heard and ensure that their vote is counted is amazing. Imagine what we could do if everyone could freely register in a state that still does not have online voter registration in the year of our Lord 2021, for Christ's sake. Imagine what we

could do if we didn't have a racial gerrymander that sought to diminish the impact that Black voters can have on elections so that far too many Black voters make the rational, logical decision that, you know what, my vote does not count as much as this other person's vote, so I may stay home during this election. We would be leading this country, and not as Democrats, although Democrats would be winning statewide elections, but we would be leading on the issues that come to a head here, unlike any other state. Energy policy, climate, racial justice, education, health care in the least insured state in the United States of America, you name it, it's here in Texas. And we should, and I think we can, produce the leadership that can help not just

this state, but all 50 of them. So you asked, Ben, about what Powered by People is doing around this. We are registering voters. Last year, we registered just under 200,000 voters in Texas. We made a little over 75 million voter contact attempts at the doors, by text, by phone. We helped to produce one of the greatest turnouts in Texas history, much like we did in 2018 in the Cruz race, where we produced the largest turnout in a midterm since 1970. So we're trying to help make this democracy work in Texas to contribute to the fight for democracy in this country. Speaking of Cruz, three newspapers in Texas have now called for the resignation of Ted Cruz for enabling the insurrection that took place, which seems pretty obvious. What do you think should happen? It's really something when the

Houston Chronicle, the paper of record for a county, Harris County, that has more people in it than I think 25 other states. More people live in Harris County than live in the state of Nevada, for example. Harris County, San Antonio, which is in Bexar County, El Paso County, my hometown, newspaper of records in those three of the biggest cities in the country and certainly in Texas. Soon, I hope to be followed by other papers, make very clear that this is not an issue of partisanship. Because in fact, think about it this way, Ben. If Cruz were to resign or if he would be expelled by his colleagues in the Senate, Greg Abbott, the very Republican governor of Texas, would appoint his successor, who would likely be far more competitive in the 2024 Senate race in Texas. I mean, I think

Ted Cruz politically is wounded, perhaps mortally, should he stand for any election at all. And the fact that this fucker can hold public office or can attempt to hold office again or to seek a higher office like the presidency after his participation in the sedition that we saw on the 6th of January, and that he stoked and incited for weeks preceding the 6th of January, trying to overturn a lawfully, legitimately, democratically decided election for president, there should be no grounds for him to hold the position of public trust that he currently has. And some, and you're an attorney, I'm not, but some would read the 14th Amendment to say that Ted Cruz, having participated in insurrection, this failed coup on the 6th,

should no longer be able to hold his seat in the Senate. But the fact that you have not just, you know, Sherrod Brown, who is courageous and stepping out there as his colleague saying Cruz should resign or be expelled, but you have Joe Manchin, the most conservative member of the Democratic caucus, the new Democratic majority in the Senate, saying almost the exact same thing, shows you that this is a consensus position across the ideological spectrum. And I'm not so sure that you wouldn't have some Republican members of the Senate voting to expel him as well if that were brought to the floor. So he should be expelled or he should resign. If there are no consequences, if there's no justice for what happened, you will have set the precedent that this is going to happen again, that they did this before and there was no real

punishment. So it's okay to do this again. And the metaphor I liken it to is Cruz and Hawley and Trump blew a hole through our democracy that one of them is hoping to walk through in 2024. And mark my words, if there are no consequences, something like that will happen, if not in 24, then in some future presidential cycle. So there have to be consequences. We need to patch that hole and we need to kick them back and not let them through it. Absolutely. And what you said, Beto, is completely spot on to me. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue.

There is a difference between having a disagreement on, say, tax policy or even the minimum wage and inciting an armed insurrection against the United States of America. I mean, that is taking it to a step further and we need to have repercussions. But I think one of the points you're also hitting on is that democratic policies are policies for the people and Democrats win based on their policies. It's why there's so much voter suppression out there. I mean, we have Democrats fighting to raise the minimum wage for affordable education, health care for all. I mean, what do we need to do to get these policies in front of people and let people know that Democrats are the party of the working people? I saw in one of his dumb

Twitter arguments with Seth Rogen today, all of a sudden Ted Cruz tried to act like he was some man of the people saying that, oh, you don't know how union folk work to Seth Rogan. And Seth Rogan's like, yeah, you fascist. I'm in for unions. Like, what are you doing? So like, how could he claim this mantle of union guy? And how do we make it clear Democrats are for the people? And how do we deliver on these promises as well going forward in the Biden administration? What you just said at the end, I think, is the most important part of this. If you don't deliver, then it's only so much talk and only so many policy proposals and only so much vision. And Democrats have this extraordinary window of opportunity over the next two years made possible only through what Reverend Warnock and John Ossoff and Stacey Abrams and

everyone in Georgia, especially the voters, made possible. And if we as Democrats, if we as government do not deliver in terms of jobs that pay so you don't have to work a second or a third, health care, again, from a state where you have the least number of insured people, one of the highest levels of maternal mortality, three times worse for women of color. If you don't deliver on stimulus checks, if you don't demonstrably make people's lives better and do it as simply and directly as you possibly can, you will lose in 2022. And so will America. And to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, so will the rest of this planet, because we still remain the last best hope of earth. So, you know, no pressure Democrats and

no pressure Biden administration, no pressure those in the Senate and the House, but you really have to make this happen. And Brett, I think critical to answering your question and getting this done is ending the filibuster. The fact that it will take 60 votes to get any of this done, and already Mitt Romney, who some of us think is being perhaps one of those most amenable to looking at least at what Democrats are proposing. He's already said that the stimulus plan proposed by the Biden, the timing is all off. I mean, what the hell better timing could you have than still stuck in the worst recession since the

Great Depression? 400,000 Americans having lost their lives, hundreds of thousands, unfortunately, most likely to come. If you're not going to act now, then when? And this vestige of the Confederacy and the planter class, one of the most undemocratic institutions in our democracy, the filibuster, has to end. And so as you all rise in the podcast charts and your legion of faithful followers take political action, whatever you can do to convince Joe Manchin, who seems to be the holdout on this issue, and anyone else. And again, for Senator Manchin, not for Democratic Party advantage, but so that we can help people who otherwise will die without it, and so that we can deliver victories that will allow him to remain in the majority

for the rest of his Senate career. That's what we have to do in order for this administration to be successful. And Beto, this is the point of the interview where we make front of our younger brother, Jordy, for not asking any questions with an incredible guest. Lots of people think that Jordy's like the sound engineer. Jordy, you have Beto O'Rourke talking about saving our democracy you want to ask your final question or should we just wrap up the interview no man I've been waiting for this they usually kick it to me in the lobby like a

fun question towards the end but you've been saying so many sharp things I'd really be kicking myself if I didn't ask you this you want to ask Beto who the dumbest Trump kid is you want to ask him that that was Jordan's question to marry Trump twice it's Don Can I ask better who the dumbest Trump kid is? You want to ask him that? Come on. That was Jordan's question to Mary Trump. Twice.

It's Don Jr. Okay, so the question is, you're right. Trump is gone, but the battle still continues. It still rages on. Trumpism is here. We see it in OAN. We see it in Newsmax. And they're literally just a news network or news networks that just provide this disinformation.

We're in such a disinformation age. How do we combat these news networks that really are just brainwashing so many people? I don't have a good answer for this one, but it troubles me as it sounds like it troubles you. We've been talking a lot about democracy today and fundamental to any hope we have of success is an ability to traffic in the truth and to draw different conclusions, because that's part of a democracy, for sure, to have fierce, peaceful political debates. we just don't right now, made worse by the extraordinary hollowing out of local news and trusted sources of information written and distributed by people you knew in your community, now owned by these mega corporations that are providing really a hollow shell of what had previously existed in local news, exacerbated by Fox News and corporate media consolidation. And then and then really just to completely light a match to this and see it burn Donald Trump, who just lied at a rate that not only no president has has lied

at that, I don't know that any human being not in, you know. I think the final count was 34,000. Yeah. So, you know, I almost feel like we don't have, almost didn't have the institutions to deal with this kind of attack and threat and complete, you know, debasement of the truth. We almost don't have the vocabulary to describe what is happening right now. But, you know, I think to some degree, we just have to take matters into our own hands. And so, you know,

present company excluded, getting out there and connecting with your fellow Americans with your point of view, as you should, and not pretend otherwise, but to do it in a truthful, honest, factual manner. I think that is the most powerful response to this threat that I can think of right now. I hope down the road that there are rules of the road established for social media and accountability on those platforms that really do serve to distribute so much of this disinformation and so many of these lies. But until that happens, and we can't hold our breath, you know, you all, I, others, we just got to step up, get out there and share the truth. And last thing, I think trying to do so, and maybe this is taking a page out of Biden's book, in the most empathetic,

compassionate way that we can, not judging or condemning those who come to different conclusions or writing people off because of where they live or, you know, who they voted for. I think that's key to bringing people into the conversation and ensuring that you are not just preaching to the converted. I think that's also necessary. And it doesn't mean that you pull your punches and it doesn't mean that you don't call out Ted Cruz and it doesn't mean that you don't lay it all out as it should be clear as day. But it does mean that you recognize these are our fellow Americans and they're just as fundamentally a part of our future success as any of us who happens to agree with you. So those are some thoughts on how you meet this challenge. For those listening out there, listen to Beto. You can do it. We were three brothers without any political background in March

who created this organization to mobilize voters. And here we are a day after inauguration, speaking with the incredible Beto O'Rourke. Pretty cool. If we could do it, you can do it. And get out there and don't take democracy for granted. I think that's the key takeaway

from this interview. Beto, it's been incredible to have you on the show. I can tell you don't have to tell them. I know I'm your favorite brother. And we would love to have you back on the show in the future. And just thanks so much for your time today.

Anytime. Thank you all for doing this and for having me on. Before we let you go, where could people get involved with Powered by People? Where could they find you? Thank you so much for asking. Two quick things. One, if you are in this fight for democracy, there are two bills pending. HR1 in the House, SB1 in the Senate, the For the People Act that would address voter registration,

restore Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, do a lot of the things that John Lewis spent his life fighting for. So, you know, call your congressman or senator on those two. And then if you're interested in direct volunteer action, Powered by People is at poweredxpeople.org. So poweredxpeople.org. And you can sign up for a volunteer shift and we will put you to work registering and connecting with voters who will decide the outcomes of our future elections. I love it. Beto O'Rourke, thank you so much for being on the Midas Touch podcast. He's so good. Beto O'Rourke is great. Everybody's saying you need Beto on the show. You need Beto on the show. That is how Beto performed on the Midas Touch podcast. Classic guest. It was very nice of you, Ben, not to interrupt you here and get a yellow card,

but it was very nice of you to ask him if you could address him as as beto i mean i try to be as respectful to the guests on midas touch podcast as we can and i think that's why guests like coming on the midas touch podcast is we really give guests an opportunity to tell their stories to talk about their issues and to call ted Cruz a fucker. Oh, sorry. That was so good. Sorry. That's what I thought you were going to say, to call Ted Cruz a fucker. That's what I thought. That's where I thought you were heading. Sorry to step on you. Absolutely. And to call Ted Cruz a fucker. And we have given that platform. And look, we try to push back where there are things that are inconsistent. But ultimately, it's a platform to allow guests

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follow our sponsors, reach out to them on social media, tell them that the Midas Touch sent you and that you're a listener of Midas Touch. And that's how you heard about the product that helps the sponsors continue being our sponsors and allows us to continue bringing this great podcast to you. Tim Ryan, Tim Ryan, Ohio. Jordy went to college in Ohio. So Jordy, I want you to tell us a personal story about yourself. It could be about your Ohio State experience. It could be about starting Midas Touch. It could be about how the brothers each hid at the beginning that we were doing Midas Touch. That's a good little story right there. How about I talk about my bar mitzvah company?

I don't think anybody knows about it. I'm not going to say the exact name of it because the person who helped run it with me, we don't get along anymore. But anyway, it was a great company. When I was in Ohio State, I started a bar mitzvah wedding planning and sweet 16 company. So my buddy and I at the time, we were the emcees and we hired interns. They were freshman interns and we actually able to give them college credit. I don't know how Ohio State allowed this. I was just a sophomore at the time, but neither here nor there. And we would go around to various locations of Ohio and perform at weddings, bar mitzvahs, and sweet 16s.

And it was a wonderful experience. And it was a very entrepreneurial experience that I think has helped me with the Midas Touch world. Where'd you get the dance moves from? I didn't realize you had these dance moves. That's from the basketball days. It's all the same motion. Yeah, it's all the same.

I love, for those who don't know, I'm sure a lot of people don't know, there are like very specific bar mitzvah bat mitzvah dance moves that they do and they're not very complicated it's usually involves like throwing your hands up in the air and then down in the air and then rolling your hands and going up and going if I'm being honest though I was more I was more of the mc I like to say I did a lot of dancing because that sounds cool I was more of an mc role yeah hype man and yeah and we that's why Jordy in the beginning of the show was hyping us up. He's

just going from his MC days at the bar mitzvah circuit. I love it, Jordy. That was what happened in my Ohio days, but more on Tim Ryan. More on Tim Ryan. Maybe there's a shot that you were at a party with Tim Ryan and he doesn't even know it and you don't even know it while you're emceeing down there. Tim Ryan, an incredible congressman from Ohio. He is running for US Senate. I think he is really the best of the Democratic Party. He represents everything I love about this party, a true fighter of the working class, somebody who really understands voters, who understands people, who understands why he's in office, which is to help people, understands the importance of unions, understands the importance of a minimum

wage, of the dignity of work, and of the rights of workers. And we were so thrilled to speak with Tim Ryan. And I think another alternate theme of the show, other than stars of the Democratic Party, future leaders, is also people who shit on Ted Cruz. Because Tim Ryan also had plenty to say about Ted Cruz in this interview. So let's take a listen to our interview with the great representative, Tim Ryan. Joined by Congressman Tim Ryan from Ohio's 13th Congressional District. Congressman, how are you today? Doing great. Doing great. Awesome to be with you. I'm a huge fan. And remember when you guys started, started following you. I love your work and

great to be with you. You know, when we first started, we were particularly drawn to that speech you gave on the House floor when Republicans were pushing back on the twelve hundred dollar stimulus package. They didn't even want to give twelve hundred dollars to start. You gave that impassioned speech. We did a video on it called Working Class Heroes. We spliced yours. You actually retweeted it, which gave the early stages of Midas Touch a little bump. So we're grateful for that. But your speeches, that speech, the most recent speech on the House, has really spoke to the working class heroes in America and made it clear that the Democratic priorities are the priorities of the people.

Mr. Speaker, one of the earlier speakers said, this is the most dramatic change in labor law in 80 years. And I say, thank God. In the late 70s, a CEO made 35 times the worker. Today it's three to 400 times the worker. And our friends on the other side running around with their hair on fire. Heaven forbid we pass something that's going to help the damn workers in the United States of America. Now stop talking about Dr. Seuss and start working with us on behalf of the American workers. As you see Republicans, Republican senators, as they try to go back and take credit for the bill that was just passed for the efforts of the Democratic Party.

What goes through your head? I want to give another speech like the one you just were talking about. It's just it's just it's just maddening, you know, to hear how they're they're handling themselves, the way they're trying to play politics with people's lives, you know, and then try to try to somehow take credit. It's maddening. But I think I think they are actually helping us. You know, the Dr. Seuss, the Mr. Potato Head, all this craziness. It's allowing us, I think, to step into that economic frame that I've been screaming about now for years, that Democrats got to be the party of workers, working families, the interests that they have. And they're going to give us an opportunity to do it because they want to continue to have the culture wars.

And is that why you think particularly these speeches that you're giving are resonating the way they're resonating with the American public? I think from a bipartisan perspective, bipartisan being the bipartisan of the people, look at your speech and say, yes, yes, that is what America is. Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think we're because we're talking, we're not talking about red shirts, blue shirts. We're talking about, you know, red, white, and blue shirts, and that we're all on Team USA, and our government, and this is, I think, what we've got to continue to shape is that our government has a responsibility to be on our side. We're not talking about big government or small government. We're saying the government needs to be there for us to help us navigate the craziness of the global economy, automation, healthcare, pandemics. And we saw that. So I think there's a new view almost, leaving the old view of the government can't do anything right. I think President Biden is starting to say, no, the government can't. It certainly can't do everything right, but it can do things that are helpful for average families.

But the key is you got to be talking about those average families and their needs and their interests and the pensions and the bread and butter stuff. But I think because I was going through some of the social media feeds and the number of Republicans who were commenting, which to your point is basically because we are talking about the issues that are important to average families. You know, the pension bill, not to go on too long here, but the pension bill that was in there, the Butch Lewis Act that was in the COVID bill, those were teamsters, primarily teamsters who are going to lose their pension. And clearly, a lot of them voted for Trump. And clearly, a lot of them think

the Democratic Party doesn't have their interest at heart. Now, they know that the Democratic Party delivered for them. So 60, 70 older teamsters, if we can connect with them, we can bring anybody back into the fold if we keep delivering for them. And the speech you were giving on the House floor the other day, you were talking about the Protecting the Right to Organize Act or the PRO Act. I think that your speech was so good. I want you to be able to highlight more about the importance of the act itself. If you can tell us a little bit about that act and why it's so important to you, to Ohio and to this country. So if you go back, as I mentioned in the speech to the late 1970s, 35 to one or 35 times is what

a CEO made to the person on the factory floor, the person driving the truck. And now that's 300 plus to one or 300 times what the person on the factory floor is making or driving the truck. And now that's 300 plus to one or 300 times what the person on the factory floor is making or the workers making. And the reason that happened is because the conservatives went after collective bargaining. They went after unions, which were allowed people to join together and try to balance out the economic system. And so this gets rid of right to work. It facilitates businesses not being able to slow walk workers who want to vote for a union and then really empowers and encourages and facilitates people to be able to join unions

and start unions and tip that balance back into the favor of the worker. And so that's why it's critically important. And if you look at things like the minimum wage, the minimum wage, if you indexed it for inflation starting at 1968, it would be at $22 an hour. So that's how far we have fallen. And you think about what happened when unions were the backbone of the Democratic Party. And I'm talking about white people, black people, brown people, gay people, straight people, if that class of people, the workers can come together, you can get a lot of shit done. And that's what we did post-World War II. We got Medicare, we got Medicaid, we got, you know, Social Security

coming out of the New Deal. We had legal aid, the interstate highway, you know, all we went to the moon, like we did all these really big things, because the people were civil rights, you know, the people were governing, and they were a part of the process. And what's happened now is that they've dismantled the unions, weakened the workforce, and you saw that huge spike between the rich and the poor. And I think we're ready to move into a new phase of our democracy where workers are empowered and they realize they have to come together. You're seeing it down in Alabama now with the effort to unionize at the Amazon facility down there, primarily African-American

workers. So this is good stuff. I think we're hitting our stride. You're fighting for union rights. You're fighting for the minimum wage. You're fighting for civil rights. You're fighting for voting rights. What do you think when you see comments by Republicans like Ted Cruz, who he tweeted a few weeks ago?

He said, today's Dems are the party of the rich. GOP is and should be the party of the rich. GOP is and should be the party of the working class. What even goes through your head when they try to pretend like they're the union party? I got to tell you, I laugh. I mean, it is fucking laughable. Okay. I don't know if I could be any more clear than that. It is absolutely- I'll say you really feel congressman. Yeah. Well, it's just laughable. I mean, I've been down here, this is my 19th year, and that is laughable. And then they send out emails making fun of transgender kids. They talk about Dr. Seuss. They talk about Mr. Potato Head and SpongeBob and all of this stuff.

And while, which again, getting back to it, it's like an opportunity for us, you know, love your enemies because, you know, they're giving us a really good opportunity to reclaim the mantle of the working class. They can say it all they want, but who looks at Ted Cruz and Howley and Ben Sass and, and thinks, yeah, that's the working class right there. I mean, it really is laughable. Is it even worth it to try to push for bipartisanship in this polarized environment if it comes at the expense of diluting bills to try to appease the other side when you know that they're not going to support the bills anyway? Yeah, I think you have to try, but within reason. And I think President Biden struck the right tone. I love the article of the Republicans in the Oval Office with him and

his chief of staff, Ron Klain, who's an old friend. And it was like they were trying to negotiate down, I think it was the one-time payment. And Klain was just shaking his head like, nope, nope, we're not moving on that. And I just, I mean, I read it and I laughed out loud. I'm like, that's exactly how you got, look, we're here to work with you, but we know what needs to get done. And we were all around. This is a real benefit we have now too. We were all around in 2009. Biden was there. Klain was there. Reschetti was there. You know, Pelosi was there. Schumer was there. Klain was there. Reschetti was there. You know, Pelosi was there. Schumer was there. Everybody was there and watched them like slow walk, push back on the stimulus package, slow walk health care.

You know, we all watch that happen. And so we're not going to make that same mistake. So I think we have to reach out. The American people want us to reach out. But again, we can put something together that passes and is bipartisan in the sense that Republican voters support it, just like the COVID bill, where I saw 63% of middle income and lower income Republicans supported the bill. Now, you want to talk about being disconnected. You want to be the party of the working class and you vote against that. And even 55 percent of total Republicans support it. And you're working class and working for Republicans support it. And you don't have one person vote for. I mean, that's why it's laughable. So we just got to stay at it. And Congressman, how do we take advantage, though, as a practical matter of this opportunity? You know, me and my brothers do what we can. We've created Midas Touch to get out this message and combat the Fox News disinformation machine. But what can the Democratic Party be doing to reach out to the bipartisanship that exists

amongst the people and literally say to them, look, these fuckers over there, excuse me, these fuckers over there are lying to you. They're just making up stuff. Look what we just passed for you. You know, that bridge over there, you know, that building over there, the aid that you're receiving, that's us. Don't listen to them. How do we actually do that as a functional matter? One, it's going to take some time. You know, it's a campaign. You got to look at it almost like a campaign of rebranding the Democratic Party. I think we need to continue to reach out so they can continue to say no. And we, the people know that they look, Biden's reaching out, Biden's reaching out, Democrats are reaching out. They keep saying, they keep saying no. Then it's going to take, it's got to age. You know, this whole thing's got to age a little bit. Those projects have to hit. The checks have to go out. I mean, this thing's at 70, 75 percent popularity. No one's even gotten a dime from it yet. Right. It's only going to go up when people start getting checks that they know the president has signed and sent to them and the Democrats.

And then hopefully an infrastructure bill. And the key is going to be letting it age, pushing it out, having a campaign. And the White House is saying they're going to do this. They're going to spend the next few weeks really talking about this publicly in a variety of ways, starting with the speech tonight by the president, which I think is really smart. And then it's up to guys like you and me to call out these other Republicans, right? I'm thinking like, I'm going to call every mayor in the state that lives in a Republican congressional district and tell them that it was Sherrod Brown and Tim Ryan and Joyce Beatty that got them $20 million for Steubenville or whatever the number is for Steubenville and East Liverpool and Portsmouth. Like, don't let them

take credit for it. You guys may remember Eric Cantor was at a ribbon cutting back in the day for a bridge or road or something that got built with stimulus money in his district that he voted against. So we have to make sure that the messaging in these red districts, and I'm hoping that the DCCC and DSCC really make that point that they can't get any credit for this and really hold their feet to the fire. And Congressman, that actually leads me to my question for you. I have two. I have one more serious one, a little bit more lighthearted. I know we're running short on time here. We'll start with the serious one first. All right. Okay. So what happened to Ohio? And what I mean by that

is in 2008, Ohio voted blue. In 2012, Ohio voted blue. When I was at the school, when I was at the Ohio State University from 2011 to 2015, it felt like the state was heading towards this blue revolution, if you will. Now, I know I was at a university, tend to be more liberal, but something changed there in the last five to six years that made the Buckeye State start leaning into more of these Republican policies. What do you think that could be attributed to? And how can you convince people that the Democratic messages for the people of Ohio will actually be in their best interest? That's a great question. We as a party, I think, did not adequately address the needs of the workers. I mean, I think it's really that simple. I mean, if you look at Sherrod

Brown's message, Marcy Capner's message, who represents up in Toledo and over to Cleveland, my message, what Ted Strickland's message used to be when he was in Congress and his district went from like Cincinnati all the way up the Ohio River to Youngstown. When you look at the messages that we all have and had, it was very much the same message that Trump had, right? Globalization is killing us. China is cleaning our clock in all of these different areas. We need to deal with the hollowing out of these communities, Youngstown, Steubenville, East Liverpool, Portsmouth. I mean, all these books that people write about what happened to those towns. And Trump came in and stole that message, right? I mean, you remember in 16, what he said, I'm going to raise taxes on the rich. We're going to expand healthcare. We're going to rebuild the country. I'm going to take on China. We're

going to bring these manufacturing jobs back. Geez, oh, Pete. I mean, that's music to people's ears where I come from. And they all bought it and they saw him at least fighting for them. Now, we all know what Trump was doing. And then once you get committed, like, that's my view of that person. It's hard to change that view, whichel, Timken, Hawley, Cruz, these people cannot connect to those voters like he did. He is a once in a generation magician who was able to do that. And and so the opening is there. And that's why the floor speeches, the things I've been talking about for 20 years, all of a sudden, I think, are meeting the moment of what we need to do post-pandemic. And again, timing is everything in politics, not to go on too long, but there's a new worldview now post-pandemic because it exposed terrible public health system in the United States, terrible unemployment insurance system in the United States, problems with healthcare, digital divide.

I mean, all of these things got exposed. The fact that people couldn't withstand this kind of emergency without significant economic support from the government, all that's been exposed. So as we move past this, there's going to be a reevaluation of what we really believe in, what's really important. And maybe we do need to stick together. Maybe we do need to be a reevaluation of what we really believe in, what's really important. And maybe we do need to stick together. Maybe we do need to form a union for our grocery store workers and this and that. So if our message that was outdated, that Trump stole, and those of us were like, they used to make fun of me and Sherrod Brown for talking about trade when we were in the house together. Now it's the thing. But meet that moment. I think we can have a really exciting new political movement in the United

States. I love that. That's super exciting. Wow. Okay. And then the last one, this one's a little bit more lighthearted. So you may not know this. In fact, you definitely don't, but we have a lot of similarities, you and I. We're both good looking. That's yeah, number one, number one. Absolutely. You graduated from a John F. Kennedy High School. I, the brothers graduated from a John F. Kennedy High School. You result and live in the Buckeye State. We, I went to Ohio State, lived there for four years.

You were captain of your high school football team. I was captain of my high school basketball team. I'm getting to a point- Always find a way to slip that in, team. I'm getting to a point. Always find a way to slip that in. Okay. I'm getting to a point here. So when I was watching you deliver that super passionate speech the other day, condemning the GOP for talking about Dr. Seuss when Americans are in real pain and need real help, I could tell that wasn't scripted. That came from the heart. It was earnest and it was spoken like a true leader were you known in the locker room when you were uh when you were playing sports growing

up as that guy who would give these passionate speeches uh in pre-game or halftime or so be it uh not really i was kind of the calm guy uh you know i would get i mean i was like a i was like baker mayfield when when we scored a touchdown though mean, I'd run all over the field. I'd be jumping on. I got so excited during the game. But I was pretty calm otherwise, which is, you know, as a quarterback, unfortunately, you have to kind of have those moments where you really stay in the zone.

But, yeah, I was every now and again, I think, you know. And, Congressman, I know you have to run, but and timing is everything in politics. So tell me you're going to run for Senate without telling me you're going to run for Senate. that is that is smooth man but i've been doing this for 20 years so i am not coming anywhere close to that but you know we're super excited about it uh about the opportunity that's before us and to see that the support over the last few days is really exciting i mean we've had from from republicans to like to like Bernie people say, yes, you should do this. This is great. You know, so many of our followers, by the way, are pushing for it. I appreciate it. Well, you know, we're obviously going to need it all hands on deck. So, um, we'll keep you posted though, man. I'll definitely come back on, uh, when we pull the trigger, if we pull the trigger. And, uh, and I also want a Midas touch hat, because if I don't get a Midas touch

hat, I'm going to be really upset. I'll pay for it. I don't want to cause any ethics violations here, but I need a couple of those for the team. Dumb deal. Thank you so much, Congressman Ryan. Appreciate you coming on the show. Appreciate you fighting for the American worker. Looking forward to the next steps there as well. Welcome back to the Midas Touch podcast. Tim Bryan, such a superstar. Beto O'Rourke, such a superstar. And because Jordy went with his dance moves in college as his story, Brett, maybe you tell the story about how the brothers each tried to, at the

very beginning, hide the existence of Midas Touch and why we would want to hide the existence of Midas Touch. But before Brett tells that story and helps you understand, I want to talk to you about BetterHelp. BetterHelp, this podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. I don't get a shout out for that transition, fellas. Fantastic transition, Ben. Here's the thing. Once you nail the transition so much, it becomes expected. You would have been better off butchering the transition. We would have said something to you. This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Is there something interfering with your happiness or is preventing you from achieving your goals? I know sometimes despite how hard you work, you hit the gym, you try to take care of yourself in different ways, but sometimes we need a mental health break

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both companies that will help our listeners and our viewers. Now, Brett, I tease the story. Let's hear it. All right. So when we started Midas Touch, we started it as a blog, first of all. And I believe Jordy came up with the name. He goes, why don't we call it Midas Touch after our last name, after our mom's last name, the golden touch that could be by the way I must have thought sorry to interrupt you but I must have like banked that from like a marketing project I did like sometime in a long time ago because we were just on the phone and we riffed that like really quick and we were like that sounds great that's um that sounds great and you know you look at every other organization out there and they're like the secure alliance of protecting democracy pack.

And, you know, and then we're like, my touch. What the fuck's my touch? We actually got shit on, though, for the name at first. Oh, my God. So, yeah. So as we started in the videos started getting popular, you know, like we were saying earlier, people reach out to you and you start building this community. And we had a lot of people reach out who wanted us to do videos for them. We had turned them all down because we wanted to do our own thing.

And one of the things that so many people who wanted to work with us said was like, you got to change that name. Why, why, why don't you just be the screw Trump organization? And we were like, that's so corny. It's so corny. So I think one of my pieces of advice to you, if you are doing your own thing is get a lot of advice from people and know when to throw a lot of that advice away and follow what you think is the right thing to do. Because oh boy, did we get a lot of bad advice that if we went down those pathways, we would

not be Midas Touch that you know now. There's so many instances where if we took certain advice, Midas Touch would never have been here and we would probably not be in this space. Like hundreds of people who approached us. Everybody wanted to approach us and say we were doing it wrong. Yeah. Everyone said we were doing it wrong. George Jordy would say they were shitting on us.

Right, Jordy? That's your line? Jordy's the most politically correct person, but just casually throws out being shit on as a term on the podcast. All right. All right. All right. Let me say something.

It just comes back naturally to you. But okay, let's on the podcast. All right, all right, all right. It just comes back naturally to you. But okay, let's tell the story. So the original story is that when we started Midas Touch, you know, the three of us all had jobs that we were working on. I mean, Ben Still is an attorney and has a billion other jobs. But Jordi and I specifically were also at companies

where, you know, companies really don't want you expressing your political beliefs loudly on the internet like that. It's just not something that a lot of companies really don't want you expressing your political beliefs loudly on the internet like that. It's just not something that a lot of companies really enjoy that attention on, especially people know you are associated with them as they knew Jordy and I were associated with these other entities. And so I was working at this time, I had worked at the Ellen DeGeneres Show for a while, and then I was working for a travel basketball league and film production company doing their social media and video production. Jordy was working for a marketing

company where he won a bunch of awards. And so people started seeing Midas Touch come up in the news and Midas Touch come up on their social media and all this stuff. And so they would come to us and they would obviously see me sharing the stuff and Jordy sharing the posts and everything. And at Ben's law firm, they would see him sharing the posts from Midas Touch and the videos. And so we were all asked individually by various people with whom we worked, hey, what is that Midas Touch, those anti-Trump video? What are those videos about? That's your thing? That's your thing? And every time we would pin it on one of the other brothers,

I'd go, oh, no, I'm supporting my brother. It's Jordy's project. And Jordy would go, oh, no, it's actually Ben's project. It was the Spider-Man meme realized. All of us just pointing at each other. And Ben would go, oh, actually, my younger brothers are working on that thing. It's just a silly thing they're doing. And so it was finally once we moved out of doing doing it as a blog and, you know, kind of

decided that this is a real serious thing and we need to take it extremely seriously. And we want to turn this into a pack, which we had just discovered even what that meant so that we could actually take this to the next level and be running ads and be doing voter registration campaigns and be doing billboards and all the other various work that we do. We knew at that point we had to drop the act with our coworkers and we had to be very proud to be behind this account and share with you who we are. And so that's kind of how the origins of Midas Touch came to be with us, you know, kind of getting out there and in front of the camera and just letting everybody know, hey, these are our beliefs. These are the values that we stand for.

If you like us, fantastic. Join us on this mission. If you hate us, then okay, at least we're honest about who we are. And that was really our motto of transparency from the very beginning once we decided to take this full on as a political action committee. And it was really the best decision ever. Always embrace who you are. I think that's actually an important life lesson.

But I think there was a very funny period where we would be asked all day throughout people we worked with, what are these videos that we're showing? Oh, it's Geordie. Totally Geordie. Very early on, it was also a very important decision with us as it became clear that this is something we were all going to do and possibly to great risk of our professions. I mean, we'd have to probably leave the professions, commit to this full time with jobs that we had each liked was it was important for us to get in front of the camera.

And it was important that everybody know about us. They know about our backstory. They know where we've stood on issues in the past, the type of work that we did in the past, and to put our faces out there and to let you know about us and to take you along this journey of our personal stories and our personal evolution of who we are as people and brothers and kind of grow with us through this process. And we can't say that we've always been perfect. We've done our best to reach the highest ideals at all times, and I think we've done a great job.

Was there ever a video that we thought, man, maybe that shouldn't have hit? Yeah, but I think overall we've, we've owned it and we've been out there. You know, we, one of the unfortunate parts about being out there is, you know, the questions I always get is, you know, do you and the brothers get nasty emails? And I always say nasty emails are fine, you know, because those, you get those every day. You start getting kind of really difficult, threatening emails when you enter into the space. I'll go one further. And I don't think I've actually ever told this to anybody before,

but I've gotten letters sent to my house, threatening letters sent to my home. And that is honestly one of the scariest things because an email you're like, okay, I could understand if they could get my email address or whatever. But to actually get like a letter at your house, first off, you don't know when you're opening it. So like who knows what the hell is actually inside of this envelope. And then they're always more kind of creepy than the next. Like there are a lot of like all those bizarre memes that you see online like about joe biden and just very just weird offensive stuff printed out on sheets of paper like black and white sheets this is like one that i get a lot with just threats written on the letters it's a cra it's a crazy crazy crazy

thing but um that's drowned out by the love though i mean the pa yeah the passion's drowned out by the love right jordy uh yeah i was just say, mom and dad listened to this podcast and they are very concerned right now. You guys have both scared them very much. So I hope you're happy. I know we have an audience beyond just our parents here, but you guys have totally freaked them out. So you should be thankful. But we got to tell the truth here. And I will say, like Ben was saying before, the love far outweighs the hate. We get so much love and it makes it all worth it. And I would not even hesitate to say that I would take all the risk. I would do everything the same exact way that we did it had we started today, even knowing

the threats that we get and knowing all that pushback, because this means the world to me to be doing this. And when you know what you're doing is something that's right, I think you're able to really stand there and take those punches and understand that you've really built something special and you're working with incredibly special people. I couldn't agree more, Brett. And it's incredibly special to get to work with my brothers and anyone else behind the scenes who helps Midas Touch, including and especially the Midas Mighty, one of the most incredible movements and pro-democracy forces

in America today. Special thanks to our guest Beto O'Rourke from his January 22nd, 2021 interview and Tim Ryan from his March 12th, 2021 interview. We appreciate you. We look forward to seeing what comes next. And what a great episode. What a great format, Brett. I'm so glad that this was a format proposed by the Midas Mighty. We're trying to deliver here for the Midas Mighty with the best of and another great episode.

Jordy, take it away. Shout out to the Midas Mighty!