The MeidasTouch Podcast - DESPICABLE Trump HITS NEW LOW as GOP Totally IMPLODES

Episode Date: September 22, 2023

Trump demands the GOP shut down the government, and the House Republicans are happy to comply. Kevin McCarthy faces a total revolt in his caucus. Trump’s Iowa rally was a sparsely-attended disaster. Republicans attack union workers over and over. Congressional hearings backfire on the GOP once again. Dems score major victories in special elections. Biden shows leadership on the international stage with a speech at the UN and a meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. All this and more on the MeidasTouch Podcast! DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS: Henson Shaving: Visit HensonShaving.com/MEIDAS to pick the razor for you and use code MEIDAS for 2 years worth of free blades! Manukora Honey: Head to manukora.com/meidas or use code MEIDAS to automatically get a free pack of honey sticks with your order — a $15 value! Tushy: Go to Hellotushy.com/meidas and use promo code MEIDAS for 10% off plus free shipping on your first bidet order. Remember to subscribe to ALL the Meidas Media Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://pod.link/1510240831 Legal AF: https://pod.link/1580828595 The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://pod.link/1595408601 The Influence Continuum: https://pod.link/1603773245 Kremlin File: https://pod.link/1575837599 Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://pod.link/1530639447 The Weekend Show: https://pod.link/1612691018 The Tony Michaels Podcast: https://pod.link/1561049560 American Psyop: https://pod.link/1652143101 Burn the Boats: https://pod.link/1485464343 Majority 54: https://pod.link/1309354521 Political Beatdown: https://pod.link/1669634407 Lights On with Jessica Denson: https://pod.link/1676844320 Uncovered: https://pod.link/1690214260 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do fintechs like Float choose Visa? As a more trusted, more secure payments network, Visa provides scale, expertise, and innovative payment solutions. Learn more at visa.ca slash fintech. When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most? When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard. When the barbecue's lit, but there's nothing to grill. When the in-laws decide that, actually, they will stay for dinner. This is the end of BetMGM Casino, where the excitement is always on deck.

Pull up a seat and check out a wide variety of table games with a live dealer. From roulette to blackjack, watch as a dealer hosts your table game and live chat with them throughout your experience to feel like you're actually at the casino. The excitement doesn't stop there. With over 3,000 games to choose from,

including fan favorites like Cash Eruption, UFC Gold Blitz, and more, make deposits instantly to jump in on the fun and make same-day withdrawals if you win. Download the BetMGM Ontario app today. You don't want to miss out. Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. 19 plus to wager, Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Donald Trump demands that House Republicans defund and shut down our government.

And guess what? Republicans comply, throwing Congress and our country into chaos. MAGA Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy feigns shock that his party, made up of insurrectionists and now fully controlled by the insurrectionist-in-chief Donald Trump, would want to burn down the government. Really, Kevin? All this while MAGA Republicans like Matt Gaetz continue to mock Kevin McCarthy as having low testosterone and calling him pathetic. Kevin McCarthy was caught telling the press, you know what? It's just so hard to pass bills these days. I don't think so. I just think the MAGA Republicans aren't interested in governing. That would be putting it politely.

Donald Trump held a low energy event before a pretty empty auditorium in Iowa. Trump focused his speech on, I don't know, how he doesn't like President Biden wearing a bathing suit or how he believes Megyn Kelly is a nasty woman and how Trump believes it is an honor to be indicted among other topics that nobody but MAGA Republicans care about. Trump said to the crowd that there must be something wrong in his head because he just loves being indicted so much. That's a direct quote from him. President Biden, meanwhile, spent the week actually leading on the international stage. You wouldn't know that if you watched legacy media, giving a powerful speech defending Ukraine and democracy here and abroad and calling out Russia's unlawful invasion before the United Nations. He gave some other

great speeches with international leaders. Also, as MAGA Republicans refused to fund the government, you know what they spent time doing this week? Well, they held one committee hearing attacking Attorney General Merrick Garland for the fact that the Department of Justice has been prosecuting insurrectionists, and they attacked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in completely unhinged congressional hearings. And Democrats scored big victories in a series of special elections this week in New Hampshire and in Pennsylvania. We will cover why we think those wins are also symbolic of a broader trend taking place across the country in previous special elections and in other referendums that we've been covering here. This and more on the

Midas Touch podcast. I'm Ben Micellis, joined by Brett and Jordy. Want to say from the outset, happy birthday, Salty. Yes, the world famous Salty, our producer who you all know and love, who basically sees the future. He can predict the graphics before I even call them up. Salty, it is his birthday. Happy, happy birthday, Salty. He truly is the best. Throw those salt shakers in the chat for Salty. Jody, how are you doing? International man of mystery, Salty. Very exciting. High in demand salty. I know everybody's clamoring. Who is the identity of this salty? Who is this salty? Well, that's for us to know and for you to maybe find out. We'll let you know. But for now, we're going to dig into the news of the day, the news of the weekend. Man, there's really been a lot of it. I take a little bit of solace in waking up every day knowing that Kevin McCarthy wakes up every day completely miserable and hating his entire life. He's worked literally his whole life to be Speaker of the House. He has just done everything possible to reach this moment.

I just cannot imagine that this is how he thought it would look back in the day when he entered Congress, when he was with, who was he with? Paul Ryan. And he called himself one of the young guns, right? He called himself something like that in Congress. Kevin McCarthy is in a prison of his own making. Every single day, the guy wakes up. And this is why we cannot elect clowns to Congress. This is the actual real world damage that comes when we elect these unserious, dangerous people. And when one of our major political parties becomes a dangerous cult with Donald Trump as their cult leader, we will get into it all. Jordy, how are you doing today? I always love the flag background behind you. I'm like, let's go. We got to love that back. Got to take that back. All these MAGA Republicans do with all of their podcasts that they have out there is they

pimp out the American flag. They're the most anti-American people among us. It's infuriating. So it's good to have some pro-democracy loving folks like you brothers and the Midas Mighty out here supporting the flag. I love it. I'm doing well. Brett, it reminded me when you were talking about, you know, at what cost, you know, Kevin McCarthy, did you really need this speakership because you wake up every day, literally miserable. It was that, it was that, that Marvel scene with Thanos and his daughter. I know I'm being very specific here in our audience, the huge Marvel overlap, but it's when he's talking to his daughter and his daughter's like what what did it cost what did it cost thanos to get this and he replies everything and so that i was gonna

go shakespeare or sophocles i was gonna go oedipus you went marvel that's why that's why people don't like you that's why that's listen listen listen brothers listen listen brothers easy easy easy because this is how this is why, though, Geordi gets his little niche audience there, and Ben gets his little niche audience there. And then you combine them, and wow, that's a whole lot of people who you're connecting with on these references, guys. Look, right out of the pages of a Greek tragedy, here you have someone in Kevin McCarthy who wanted his entire life to have this power. But now that he's reached the position, he actually has no power at all, right? He is fully controlled by

MAGA Republicans like Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene, people who he actually truly despises. They are the ones with the real power. Donald Trump is the one with the real power. And every day, Kevin McCarthy wakes up in this nightmare of his own making. The only problem is, is that his nightmare is making our country and our world a nightmare. This has disastrous consequences, this conduct by the MAGA Republicans in not only not funding the government, they are refusing to even vote to have the debate on whether to vote. When they were unable to secure that, they were unable to get a vote to adjourn.

So Kevin McCarthy said everybody needs to leave for the weekend. McCarthy basically gave up, but he didn't have the votes for an adjournment. So he's going to have to have somebody basically show up and just hit the gavel and pretend that Congress is in session because he's being held hostage by the MAGA Republicans who want to mock him, who want to put him on public display for being someone who they call pathetic and cowardly as they make an example of them. But look, this started with Donald Trump making the demand. Donald Trump put out the proverbial mafia hit on our country, and that's how MAGA Republicans view things. So I'll use that as the lens how they view it. The MAGA Republicans call themselves,

and I'm not making this up, the five mafia families of the Republican Party, the five orange mafia families. They call themselves the orange mafia as well. The leader of the MAGA Republican Party in Arizona, Kelly Ward, says that we are the orange mafia. But here's what Donald, I won't play that that video don't worry um as much as i love playing it over and over again let me show you what donald i got it if you want it that's all i'm saying do you really have it you really have it handy yeah i i i mean as if you're gonna talk about it i'm gonna pull it out wow hey stand up if you're ultra mega ultra mega mega! Ultra mega! Hey, I'm a proud member of the Orange Mafia! Wow. And by the way, she was the leader of the Republican Party in the great state of Arizona.

And to this day, there are leaders of great states in the United States of America led by people who are very similar to what you just watched. Anyway, here's the order that was made by Donald Trump. A very important deadline is approaching at the end of the month. Republicans in Congress can and must defund all aspects of crooked Joe Biden's weaponized government that refuses to close the border and treats half the country as enemies of the state. This is also the last chance to defund these political prosecutions against me and other patriots. By the way, he's referring there to terrorists like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. He goes on to say, they failed on the debt limit,

but they must not fail now. Use the power of the purse and defend the country. Of course, Donald Trump tried to prevent Congress from raising the debt ceiling. But when the debt ceiling was raised and a compromise was reached, there was a deal made on spending limits so that we would not be in a position again where our country would be held hostage. MAGA Republicans are not honoring a deal that was made that doesn't surprise anybody. But Donald Trump wants to create chaos and destruction and destroy the country because, as he said, he is running on retribution, retribution against our democracy. And MAGA Republicans took notice. MAGA Republican Matt Gaetz responded and posted this on his ex or Twitter account, whatever you call it, and says, Trump opposes the continuing

resolution. Hold the line. Hold the line is what he says, Brett. Perhaps Trump should have talked to somebody, anybody, but I guess nobody in his camp wanted to deliver him the bad news that even in the event of a government shutdown, the prosecutions against him continue everywhere. And so there is nothing that these MAGA Republicans can do to stop these prosecutions against him. And once again, using the language of an authoritarian here, I cannot even imagine what the history books are going to say about this evil, despicable, vile, vile person when they show these mafioso-style messages that he is sending, threatening the country, making demands of the Republican Party to do his bidding. And when Donald Trump says jump, the Republican Party says, how high can I jump, Mr. Donald Trump?

How high can I jump, Mr. President? It is so freaking embarrassing. And as we're looking at this message once again, it's such utter and complete projection from Trump where he says this administration treats half the countries as enemy of the state. In every speech, Donald Trump treats more than half the country as enemies of the state, calling the part of the country that doesn't like him, most of the country who doesn't like him, calling him fascists, communists, traitors, every single name under the book. This Republican Party has had the nerve, and we'll see this when we get to the Merrick Garland hearings as well, to become the party of domestic terrorists. Now, just because you've decided that you are going to be the party of domestic terrorists doesn't mean that we have to accept

that you are now domestic terrorists. And it's like, oh, we got the Democratic Party and we got the terrorist party. So like, you know, it's like we got to treat them equally, right? There are two major parties in this country. No, we don't have to do that. There are plenty of normal Republicans still out there. And I would say more in the Republican voters, many of those former Republican voters who now watch the Midas Touch Network, who actually believe in actual conservative principles at their core and believe in our democracy. And then there are these MAGA Republicans, which are a completely different breed who have embraced terrorism at every step of the way decide to protect the terrorists who try to attack our country.

It is absolutely insane that we are being threatened by this absolute lunatic who belongs in prison. And Brett, you raise an excellent point, you know, in the midst of all that too, is how is history going to write, you know, the textbooks on this guy? The scariest part, that guy being Donald Trump, the scariest part about where we stand right now as a country is history isn't written yet. So the importance of this next election cycle is of the utmost importance to every American out there, every just democracy-loving person in the world. If Donald Trump gets to rewrite

those history books and paint himself as this godlike figure that he has over this MAGA cult, history will not be reflective over what actually is happening and what has happened. So it's a very scary thought once you start to go down that and we just can't get complacent, you know, as a whole, as a might as mighty, as a group of people who love this country and love democracy. Well, we see in MAGA Republican states, of course, books being burned, history being destroyed. Those are the tactics of fascists historically. You go to states that are run by Democratic governors, and we had the honor of speaking, for example, with the governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, and it's about

getting shit done. That's what he said. He said, I am a getting shit done governor. And I think we have a clip of him saying that I'm a getting shit done governor. And it's always giving people more freedoms, giving people more rights, making government work more efficiently for the people, figuring out ways to reach across the aisle and come up with difficult solutions that are ultimately beneficial for the people, focusing on things like infrastructure, focusing on things like jobs, not burning the books of kids at school, but giving kids at school free lunch. Here, I'll show you the question that I asked Governor Shapiro, and I want you to watch his answer because to me, his answer right here doesn't matter if you're a Democrat, Republican, Independent. This should be how governors act.

It shouldn't be like Ron DeSantis or Greg Abbott, who talk about putting alligators in water to kill migrants? I mean, what's going on there? Here, watch Governor Shapiro in action. I think it's illustrative of a broader effort by some Republican governors across this country to talk a good game about freedom, but then put forth policies that actually restrict freedom, the freedom for women to be able to make decisions over their own bodies, the freedom for people to be able to vote, the freedom for you as a parent to determine what books are best for your children to read. We're seeing effort upon effort in these states led by some extreme Republicans to limit freedom. Here in Pennsylvania, we value freedom,

we cherish freedom, and we fight for real freedom every day, expanding opportunity and expanding that freedom to make decisions over your own body, to be able to elect the leaders you want, to be able to raise your children in the manner that you think is best. I don't think politicians should be interfering with that. Yet too often times, these Republican leaders in these other states who talk a good game about freedom work overtime to limit it. Not here in Pennsylvania. We value real freedom here. So that was Governor Shapiro of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Democrat. And you look at the Democratic governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. You look at the Democratic governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, you look at the

Democratic governor of California, you look at the Democratic governor of, you basically name the state. That's the type of language that they are using. And to me, that reaches across the aisle, whether you're a Democrat, independent, or a real Republican, not this MAGA mutation, because the MAGA mutation, I'll give you some examples of that. It's a perfect time to show you what Donald Trump was saying at this Iowa rally, relatively empty auditorium, pretty low energy speech that he gave in Iowa. So you just saw what Governor Shapiro, Democrat, was saying from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Here's what Donald Trump is saying at this event that took place this week. He says, there's something strange that must be going on in my head because I love indictments. I love being indicted. Here, play this clip. Every time the radical left Democrats, Marxists, communists, fascists, every time they indict me, I consider it a great badge of honor. There must be something a little strange up here because most people crawl into a corner and they die. I'm being indicted for you. Thanks a lot. I appreciate it. I'm being indicted for you. I mean, could you imagine for a second if, I mean, I'm being indicted for you. You know, could you imagine for a second if – I mean, I'm dying again.

Could you imagine for a second if – It might be my favorite Trump impression ever, Ben. No. Because it's just – it's idiotic. He's a fascist, treasonous traitor. But also you look at that and you go, what? They want to give this guy the nuclear codes? They want to put this – this is their fear? This guy?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like it is asinine to me that that – could you imagine for one moment if President Biden did anything just like that? I'll give you another clip. Here's Donald Trump. This is, again, he's at a rally to talk to voters about issues ostensibly that should matter to them, right? So you've got Governor Shapiro, President Biden, Democrats talking about, okay, here's how we want to make sure that you get better paying jobs and better working conditions. And here's how we want to make sure you have access to healthcare. Here's how we want to make sure that you get better paying jobs and better working conditions. And here's how we want to make sure you have access to health care.

Here's how we want to protect your Social Security and Medicare. Here's how we're going to do it. Here's our detailed plan. Then you go to Donald Trump and it's like, Megan Kelly, what a nasty woman. She's nasty. She's a nasty woman. Here, play this clip. I sat down for an hour and then I did a Megyn Kelly one and she

had, you know, just, boy, she became nastier all of a sudden. She was pretty nasty. Didn't you think? Anybody there watch? Who are you talking about? Why is that even a thing? Could you imagine if President Biden was talking about, I don know uh laura ingraham or a fox host and he just sat down he goes laura ingraham she's a pretty nasty pretty nasty woman that laura ingraham don't you think if imagine president biden saying that you'd be like i'd be like you know there's something wrong with you right like like i like i and then the other and then the other thing here i want to show you this other one where in like a matter of like one stream of consciousness, you have Donald Trump talking about President Biden wearing a bathing suit and Donald Trump saying he invented the word caravan and saying like, hell, I didn't get Mexico to pay for a wall. I don't even know what he, I'm not even sure the sentence isn't even a sentence.

It's just freaking words. Here, just watch this fascist word salad. Play the clip. Would have come into this country under this lunatic regime of fascists and communists and everything else. So I think it's a terrible, terrible thing. But when we get in, we'll be able to stop it. We have Tom Holman. We have all of the greatest people. We have such great people. You know, if Biden went to the beach, you know, he goes to the beach all the time, right? You ever notice somebody's working him. He's got these consultants and I think they think he looks good in a bathing suit. And he doesn't look good in a bathing suit. And somebody's giving him very bad,

very, very bad advice. And when you look at it and all he had to do is if he went to the beach and didn't do anything, you would have the strongest border you've ever had right now. But they decided to get rid of stay in Mexico. We had a policy remain in Mexico, remain in Mexico. How good is that? And we had to do that with Mexico. You had a policy, remain in Mexico. Remain in Mexico. How good is that? And we had to do that with Mexico. You think that was easy? We had, I went to the Mexican government. I said, we need a lot of people coming over in these caravans.

I came up with that name, I think. Thousands and thousands of people heading up. But they knew, yeah, sit down, everybody. You have a couple of minutes, right? Sit down. Sit down. Whoever has a seat, whoever's lucky enough. Otherwise, I'm sorry.

That's a little bigger crowd than we anticipated by about triple. But we had all of these people coming up. And I said to the Mexican government, remember, you know, the enemy, they say, he didn't get Mexico to pay for the wall like hell I didn't. What are we talking about? You didn't get Mexico to pay for a wall. None of what you say is true. That's what the rally actually looks like. And by the way, this is, I just want to be clear for a second. This is while Trump is speaking. If you look very closely in the background, this is while Donald Trump is on stage. And for the audio listeners, it is a very sparse crowd. There is not many people there. And there were reporters on the ground who reported that the auditorium was about half

full. It was about half full. If I'm being optimistic, I guess you'd call it half full. So that's why Trump in his speech has to go, we actually got a bigger crowd than we even ever thought we were going to, because he's looking out here at a half empty arena in Iowa. And people were leaving after the first hour. He ended up rambling for like 80 to 90 minutes. And most of the people were gone by the last 20 to 30 minutes of his speech. The whole thing is a rambling mess and it is one of the most bizarre things ever. Sorry, Ben. You're just watching it. When the media then gaslights us

and what we just watched, they come up with a headline like, Trump tries to bring the country together on the issue of abortion. I'm like, that's what you got out of that event? Or they'll, and that's, I think one of the headlines, or they'll write these stories and the crowd chanted, we want Trump. And Trump said, I'm going to get you fired, Joe Biden. And like, okay, you have to report objectively that what we just watched is absolutely insane and dangerous and not normal because when the media fails to do its job, you are perpetuating a very uninformed electorate. And when I watch these events, yes, I'm focused on what he's saying, but I'm also a student of who are the people who are there? What do they think that he is doing for them? And so here, I could show you countless examples of this, but I want to make a broader point because first I'll show you a guy at this speech who complains about socialism and Democrats' socialist policies.

And then he says he thanks God that his medical expenses are covered by the government and his VA benefits, both things that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans actively want to take away from him. So first, let's watch him play this clip. I just had to purchase a new car because a deer totaled my other one. And it just, everything, the cost of everything is way too high. And insurance, medical insurance as well. Well, fortunately I'm on Medicare, so that helps out a lot right there. And I'm a veteran, so I've got, I've got my VA benefits. So that's exhibit a, let's show you exhibit B right here. This is a woman at the Trump speech in Iowa. And she's asked, how did Trump's policies

benefit your life? And what do you hear? What do you think he is going to do for you? And she's saying that she needs a back surgery, that she was removed from the roles of Medicare. Just so you know, the reason she was probably removed from the roles of Medicare is because her Republican controlled state did not engage in the type of things to allow for Medicare expansion. They did not provide the services to connect people to them. She's probably eligible for it, but in the state, they're not working with the federal government to get those benefits, and they're not assisting people to sign up the same way they are doing that in democratic states. But watch what she says. She doesn't

understand, obviously, that the MAGA Republicans are the reason that she's complaining about these things. Watch this clip. What is Trump under his policies? How did it benefit your life? Are you working retired? I mean, I'm disabled. I have a broken plate in my back and, uh, it really bummed me because during COVID I was supposed to get my third surgery and have it fixed. And when the doctor, a very big specialist went to fix it, he said, where's your Medicaid? I said, what do you mean, where's my Medicaid? Well, they took my Medicaid. So I'm coming up here hoping I can get my surgery done. Yeah, Medicaid.

I apologize. I said Medicare before. It's the red state that did not engage in the type of things necessary for her to stay on the rolls of Medicaid. And the Republicans want to take away, they're actively seeking to take away her Medicaid and Medicaid for everybody. That's their policies. They talk about it. And here's the thing. You know, it's very easy to kind of stereotype MAGA Republicans and say, you know what, MAGA Republicans, they look this way, they talk this way. And don't get me wrong, I think that there are some lost causes who are so far down the rabbit hole, and they do the cosplay fascism, and they do the

Halloween dress up thing. There's no way of getting through to them. I think there's pain that people feel. I think there is confusion. I think there is hurt. I think there is complexity. When those things take place, what it allows to happen is for predators to prey on people's vulnerabilities. And the MAGA Republicans look at people like that and they go, you know what? Their concerns, their fears can actually be weaponized in this community that we can create, this community of hate and division, and we can manipulate those people for our own power. It's very complicated. I mean, if you were to have the real conversation with her about Medicaid expansion, what the situation is, how the interplay between state and federal government is, how this works, what the

Affordable Care Act is, what the Infrastructure Act does, what the Inflation Reduction Act does, that's a lot of words. It's easy if Donald Trump just says, you know what? These fascists, Marxists, communists, rhinos, they're taking it from you. Go after them. And I alone can fix it. I can fix all of your problems. I'm going to make you rich. And that's what he said recently also to the you know to the union workers to the auto workers i will make you rich it will be me who will does it well well and that's his con his entire life now interplayed at the national level which which ben is it's him taking the entire kind of Republican right wing strategy to its end level,

basically. I think the whole concept that Republicans have is let's just completely starve the beast. Let's remove all the social programs. Let's make people suffer. I think it's by design. I think the more upset people are, the more they distrust government, the more they distrust government. Ironically, they go, oh, this party seems to also say the government doesn't work, not realizing, oh, they're the ones who broke it. They're the ones who are actively breaking it. But look, they're the ones who are saying government doesn't work. And look, I just lost my Medicaid. I just lost my Medicare. Look, I have to pay this amount in taxes, whatever it is. And they look at this Republican party who is the one trashing the

government, who is not delivering for them. And they go, maybe they can help me out. And when I look at those two people, I'm honestly, I'm incredibly saddened by it. And I really feel bad for these people. But it's really decades and decades and decades of brainwashing by right-wing media networks and talk radio and Fox News and the Republican Party, just completely poisoning the system. And then, like you said, Benny, Donald Trump comes in and he goes, I am your savior. I am the one who can fix it. They go, oh my God, finally, my savior is here. I was going to die, but now my savior is here. He says he's going to solve all my problems and he's going to protect me from the socialist,

fascist, communist, whatever. Then you get that same woman who is saying that these government programs that she needs are not there for her right now, and she needs them very desperately. You get that same woman saying, Donald Trump is a god. This person is a, he's a god. I view him, he's working with god, in fact. This is the same lady right after she made those comments. Trump, chances are he could be watching us right now from his plane. What message do you have to President Trump right now as he comes to this? I want a picture with you, sir.

You are just you know what? God sent him down here. I promise you he's he's working for God. And it's just an abusive relationship it's an abusive relationship and a lot of the people i think they don't want to admit they are in one of these abusive relationships and they just continue to dig their heels deeper in it it's so incredibly sad and i honestly think i think many of the problems we have in the country with the disinformation that we have in the country, with the way that everybody is constantly at each other's throats, with the way the Republican Party is able to bring our entire government to a standstill. very strong social safety nets so that people couldn't fall into bankruptcy if they had high medical bills. I think if we had strong safety nets that did not let people be preyed upon by

all these various insurance companies, if the wealth gap was not the wealth gap that it is today, I actually think that the country would be a lot healthier mentally. And I think a lot of these tactics that these Republicans use, these manipulation tactics, these abuser tactics would not work. And that is one of the reasons also psychologically why the Republican Party fights so hard against any of that progress. Jordy, sorry, I interrupted you. No, that was fantastic. But look, it's so incredibly heartbreaking watching those two videos and just seeing how deep down the rabbit hole those two supporters are. I mean, she's literally calling him God. It's terrible.

You and Ben hit on it so perfectly. You know, it's abusive. It's predatorial in nature. And just to see someone, you know, outwardly just show so much love and support behind a person, Donald Trump, that wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire. I mean, in the speech itself, that first clip we played of Trump, Trump was talking to the audience. He was belittling them at every step of the way. He goes, oh, if you're so lucky to sit down in front of me, because I'm this great figure. You know what I mean? It's so infuriating to watch that. Yeah, go ahead, Brett. I would like to do a study on these people. As you're saying this, I'm sorry. I'm thinking

about it. And I honestly, I truly, truly believe that many of these people in the audience at these Trump events are about a half step removed from actually being like full-blown socialists. I actually, truly, in my heart, do believe that, but they don't even quite realize that. I think many of them and a lot of people around the country rely on these essential government programs and services. I think they know that they work. I think they want more of them. I think they wish they weren't burdened with these medical bills and the like. And I think they see in Trump somebody who could just kind of take control and be this, I alone can fix it sort of despot. And that fills that vacuum for them. When I really think, honestly, I think they could be pulled in the other direction very quickly and like far in the other direction very quickly and like far in the

other direction very quickly because i think there's a thin line that's even dividing it i guess that's the horseshoe theory uh that that that people speak about you know with the far right and the far left of the political spectrum i think you should get more into this theory bread in the in the in the midas touch after show this feels like a deep dive because i think there's a lot there that i know we as brothers talk about behind the scenes, but I think it would be interesting to sort of explore that some more. I have to fully explore it and just figure out the best way to articulate it, but I certainly think that there is a lot there and a lot of overlap. I think when you see these interviews with those Trump supporters there who are begging for, you know, talking about how

important their VA benefits are, talking how important Medicaid and Medicare are to them. I think you kind of, it breaks through the veneer a little bit of what they purport to be for and shows what they actually want at the end of the day. I want to talk about what went down on Capitol Hill, both in terms of these disgraceful congressional hearings where MAGA Republicans made fools of themselves, questioning witnesses like Merrick Garland and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. I also want to show you more of the utter humiliation faced by the weakest speaker of the House in American history, MAGA Republican Kevin McCarthy. We will talk about all of that and want to remind

everybody as well, check out our Patreon, P-A-T-R-E-O-N.com slash Midas Touch. You spell Midas Touch, M-E-I-D-A-S-T-O-U-C-H. We don't have outside investors at the Midas Touch Network. The way we maintain our independence and continue to grow this network, like MidasTouch.com that we rolled out with some of the best editors and writers in the game, is building it through things like the emojis and memberships on our YouTube, which I absolutely love, as well as our Patreon membership. And after the show, we do the after show known as Midas More. On this after show, we may flesh out Brett's theory, maybe not. Definitely tell some of our favorite stories as growing up as brothers when we were kids, and some of the memorable stories. And I'll give you a hint. We called our baseball stadium in the backyard, Three Brothers Stadium. We called our baseball stadium in the backyard, Three Brothers Stadium. We'll get into some personal details of that. Again, go to p-a-t-r-e-o-n dot com slash m-e-i-d-a-s-t-o-u-c-h. We've got a lot more show after this quick break. Cleaning with baby wipes gets nasty chemicals all up in those sensitive areas,

but washing with a Hello Tushy bidet saves your butt. With over 100,000 five-star reviews, see why millions of real pooping humans already love the Hello Tushy bidet. Now, every Hello Tushy bidet attachment comes with a 30-day risk-free guarantee and a 12-month warranty. Now, I love my Hello Tushy bidet

because it keeps my butt feeling cleaner and fresher than TP. Look, I'm urging you, get yourself a Tushy bidet because it keeps my butt feeling cleaner and fresher than TP. Look, I'm urging you, get yourself a Tushy 2. You can't even begin to comprehend just how amazing this device is until you use it for yourself. The Hello Tushy bidet that their team sent me was super easy to attach. And the Hello Tushy bidet cleans your bum with a fresh stream of water that's twice as better than wiping and prevents poop particles from spreading to your hands and then everything you touch. It attaches to your existing toilet, which requires no electricity or additional plumbing. Cuts toilet paper use by 80%. Now a

Hello Tushy bidet pays for itself in under a year. Stop wiping and start washing. Go to hellotushy.com forward slash Midas and use promo code Midas for 10% off your first order. That's hellotushy.com slash Midas for 10% off. This episode of the Midas Touch podcast is brought to you by Manicora Honey. Now, when I say the word honey, you might be thinking of that stuff that comes in a plastic bear shaped bottle at the supermarket. Well, this is nothing like that. Manicora makes Manuka honey, a super honey that comes from New Zealand where the bees only feed on the nectar of the Manuka tea tree, making something that's rich and with a creamier texture that's unlike anything you've ever had before. You can use it just like honey you're used to, but Manuka honey is super because it also contains unique antioxidants and prebiotics,

as well as a natural antibacterial compound called MGO that only comes from the nectar of this tea tree. These nutrients support optimal immune and digestive health, so it's a win-win. You can continue to use honey in all the ways that you know and love, and you can enjoy all of the health benefits of the MGO as well. Manacor sent me a jar and a squeeze bottle of their 850 Plus MGO Manuka Honey, their best-selling product, and it's phenomenal. The 850 Plus Honey has the creamy caramel texture that melts in your mouth, and it's unlike anything I've ever had. I can grab a spoonful out of the jar and put it in my favorite beverage or squeeze some honey out on some toast or oatmeal.

It's delicious. Each morning, I start my day with a spoonful of Manuka honey and it is a game changer. Now, if you head to Manucora.com slash Midas or use code Midas, you'll automatically get an extra free pack of the 850 plus honey sticks with your order. That's a $15 value. Now, I love the jar. I love the squeeze bottle. But the extra pack of compostable honey sticks is a perfect game-changing move for whenever you're on the go. You can bring them with you when you're traveling or when you need a quick snack or running quick errands

or if you need an energy boost if you're on a run or at the gym. That's M-A-N-U-K-O-R-A dot com slash Midas, or use code Midas to get free pack of compostable honey sticks with your order. You haven't tasted or seen honey like this before. So indulge and try some honey with superpowers from Manicora. Quite some ad reads there, Jordy. Thank you. By the way, just so you know, audience and everyone listening and watching, you could actually click the description on the podcast episode and you could click right to those links right there if you're interested in those products. Did we decide on the Patreon after show?

Did you and Brett talk about it? And then when I said that we're going to talk about the other example for the Patreon after show for Midas More. Yeah. It sounded like Brett wanted to flesh out the theory a little more. And so since the theory seems like it's a work in progress. You guys were doing some talking around my back about what we're going to do. Just rolling with the punches here, Jake.

Rolling with the flow. Who's not rolling with the flow is the MAGA Republican speaker of the house, Kevin McCarthy. The GOP is in utter chaos, which is turning the entire House of Representatives, which they control, into utter chaos. And since the House of Representatives has the power of the purse, it becomes a big problem when you have unserious people in power who want to try to destroy our government and defund the government. And in the day, the House GOP voted down a procedural rule for defense spending, for Pentagon funding for the second time this week. The fact that Kevin McCarthy even put it to a vote like that, it's so rare that you put something to a vote

and get rejected even once, yet alone to get rejected twice, yet alone for it to be a defense spending bill. Because look, MAGA Republicans want to remove any and all funding to Ukraine in service of their friend and Donald Trump's friend, Vladimir Putin. And it's so embarrassing that Kevin McCarthy couldn't even allow and invite President Zelensky to speak in front of both chambers when President Zelensky visited Washington, D.C. He had to hide in secret President Zelensky showing up, which in addition to the disgrace of Kevin McCarthy here for failing to fund our government, the disgrace internationally as Vladimir Putin was using Kevin McCarthy's statements and talking points about why he wouldn't allow President Zelensky

to show up in front of Congress. This was all over Russian TV, which basically looks the same as Fox News. It's hard to really tell the difference between the two, but Russian TV, Russian propaganda TV, using Kevin McCarthy as their best pal. After the first time this defense bill was voted down, you had Mike McCaul, Republican, by the way, who said in his 20 years in Congress that he had never seen the rule brought down on a defense appropriations bill like this. And so it happened twice. And then Kevin McCarthy, I mean, he looks utterly frazzled. He looks like a defeated person. There is zero confidence oozing from this person. After this show, we have an episode at 7.30 Pacific of Alien Super Show. I know everybody loves Alien Super Show cracking up over and over again. But watch Kevin McCarthy here who says that this is a surprise, that they want to burn this down. They want to

just burn everything down here and play this clip. Frustrating in the sense that I don't understand why anybody votes against bringing the idea and having the debate. And then you've got all the amendments that you don't like to do. This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down. It doesn't work. It doesn't work. I don't understand. I put the arsonists in charge of the house and now they want to burn everything down. I just don't understand. How is this happening to me? He looks miserable. He is miserable. He made a devil's bargain when he got the speakership and he had another option. He had another option. When Kevin McCarthy was going through those 15 humiliating rounds of trying to become speaker, he could have reached across the aisle knowing that the government was divided. He could have reached across the aisle and instead of making a deal with the batshit

crazy lunatics in his party, he could have reached across the aisle to the Democrats and said, you know what? Government is divided. I agree to a deal to run the government like an actual human being, like an actual person who loves this country. If you give me some of your votes, I promise you that. And he would have had the MAGA extremists absolutely hate him, but guess what? The MAGA extremists absolutely hate him now anyway, but at least the government would have been working then. He has another option right now, which would be to once again, go to the Democrats and say, let's work out a deal. Let's work out a deal to keep the government open. Let's figure something out. We'll get the moderate members of that party. We'll get the moderate members of our party, whatever the hell

that means. We'll put them together and we'll be able to pass at least the continuing resolution, if not the bill to prevent the shutdown of the government entirely. Instead, he has resigned himself now to trying to pass these stop gap continuing resolution bills, which by the way, even if he had agreement within all these crazy people, even if he were able to get out one of these bills and get them passed in the Congress, it will never pass the Senate. It will never pass. So all this chaos isn't even for anything. It's not for anything because they're putting poison pills in all the bills that say, okay, if we want to fund the government and we have to ban abortion, okay, if we want to fund the government, we have to remove all the funding to Ukraine. Okay, if we want to fund the

government, we have to cut social security and Medicare. It's all their wishlist poison pill. You have to make sure special counsel Jack Smith is defunded, which he's already permanently funded, the independent counsel's office. So they want a separate bill to be passed that overrun, which would be impossible to do because it has to pass in both chambers, that would override the permanent funding to special counsel Jack Smith because Donald Trump told them to do it. And you saw earlier in the show, Matt Gaetz saying, hold the line. But as I always say, and President Biden says, don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative. And I always like to show, okay, here's their leader. You just saw cowardly Kevin McCarthy. Now let me show you Hakeem Jeffries,

the democratic minority leader. This is what he says about the tactics and conduct of MAGA Republicans. Play this clip. 2018 into 19, same thing. They shut the government down for 35 days. By the way, when the government shutdown began, Donald Trump was president. Republicans controlled the House and the Senate in December of 2018. They shut themselves down. That's how much it's in their DNA. That time, what was the extreme ransom note?

We want you to waste billions of dollars of taxpayer money to fund Trump's ineffective medieval border wall. Once again, we held firm, refused to pay their ransom note, and we were able to get the government reopened. Why are we going down this road again? We know how it's going to end. We're not paying a ransom note so you can jam your extreme ideology down the throats of the American people and hurt everyday Americans. We never have and we never will. Powerful, powerful stuff right there.

And by the way, what do the MAGA Republicans do? Well, they don't even have the votes to formally adjourn. So they just leave. They just go home for the long weekend and say, all right, see you later. And here is President Biden's response. He goes, last time there was a government shutdown, 800,000 Americans were furloughed or worked without pay. But go on and enjoy your weekend, MAGA Republicans. And I thought that response was appropriate, solemn, and as direct as you can be. And while that is going on, what many said, it's effing crazy is what some Republicans were to reporters, what were MAGA Republicans focused on? Well, there were congressional hearings that were held. One was, I guess, the pro-insurrectionist hearing. It would almost be like after 9-11, Al-Qaeda holding the hearing and then cross-examining

the administration. I mean, when you watch these MAGA Republicans at the hearing of Merrick Garland, let me be very clear. I don't think the FBI the areas that I think the FBI and the DOJ has actually done a pretty good job doing. That is why MAGA Republicans want to defund the FBI. Not because there's racial disparities in prosecutions, not because of the overall conditions that black and brown Americans are often put into in the face of law enforcement. No, no, no. Where MAGA Republicans really want to attack the FBI is that the FBI is investigating terrorists and insurrection groups that were involved in the insurrection and who want to overthrow the democracy. MAGA Republicans like to come up with these fake scenarios where they go, the Department of Justice is going after parents who want to just speak to their school board. That's completely,

utterly false. If that parent threatens to bomb the school, then the Department of Justice gets involved and doing that is not a First Amendment issue. The Magna Republicans go, oh, it was a First Amendment right for me to threaten the go, oh, it was a First Amendment right for me to threaten the lives of the school board. Okay, that's what's called a crime, not a First Amendment freedom of speech issue. If the parents want to go in front of the school board and say, hey, I think your funding of this is inappropriate. I think you're funding that. DOJ ain't give a crap about that. So let's be clear what these issues are. And then as you go through what the MAGA Republicans are saying, the first one I want to

show is MAGA Republican Victoria Sparks. They're all like this that I'm going to show you. So first I'm going to show you MAGA Republican Victoria Sparks. Then I'm going to show you MAGA Republican Tom McClintock. And then I'm going to show you MAGA Republican Troy Nels. We'll go through each one by one. First, MAGA Republican Victoria Sparks questioning Attorney General Merrick Garland. And you'll see her support of insurrectionists here. Play this clip. Example. I don't know. We talk about January 6th. I'm sorry? Some people came on January 6th. There probably was some people that came on January 6th here, you know, that had bad intent. But a lot of good Americans from my district came here because they are sick and tired of this government not serving them. They came with strollers and the

kids, and there was chaotic situation because the proper security wasn't provided. That's a question that was answered really why. Why we debated for 45 minutes on the floor and didn't stop the debate after the people broke in into the Capitol. But these people came, they were throwing the smoke bombs

into the crowd with strollers with kids. People were showed up, you know, FBI agents. You had in my district, in my town, FBI phone numbers all over the district. Please call, call that. People are truly afraid. I just want to make sure. Please call if there's a terrorist in the district. How dare the FBI do that? This is MAGA Republican Tom McClintock asking whether David Weiss and Jack Smith- They just get in there, representatives, like straight from the USSR now. I'm sorry. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm not going to go too deep on that.

MAGA Republican Tom McClintock, please. I'm not going to go too deep on that. Mr. Attorney General, looking again at the appointment of Jack Smith and David Weiss, this double standard of justice couldn't be more glaring. Jack Smith was deeply involved in the IRS scandal that targeted conservative political groups to harass. His malicious prosecution of former Governor McDonnell was unanimously overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Chief Justice Roberts rebuked Smith directly for attempting to criminalize political activity. You appointed him to prosecute Joe Biden's chief rival for the presidency. And then we have the appointment of David Weiss.

Weiss deliberately allowed the statute of limitations to run out on any charges that could have implicated Joe Biden in influence peddling. He originally offered Hunter Biden a sweetheart deal that was ultimately upended by the court. And he's the one you appointed to pursue the charges that could implicate Joe Biden. That leaves me with only two explanations, either corruption or incompetence. Which is it? Those are the kind of questions that judges would rule out of order. I'm sure you would.

Which is it? Look, I said before, and I will say again, Mr. Weiss was the Republican-app appointed United States attorney appointed by President Trump. Do you at least do you at least see the obvious double standard applied in these two appointments? Mr. Weiss was a Republican appointee. Mr. Mr. Smith is not registered to either party. His entire career was as a career prosecutor. I'm not asking what their party registrations are. I'm asking about their records and how those records would commend them. Yeah, Merrick Garland's looking at this guy like, this guy ain't an idiot. David Weiss, who you are saying is corrupt, is the person

who you wanted to be the special counsel. David Weiss is a Republican who Donald Trump appointed. Merrick Garland's like, you're telling me, I don't understand what's the double standard, that the prosecutor you wanted to prosecute and you told to prosecute Hunter Biden, the president's by Donald Trump to investigate his son. And you demanded these Republicans, they signed a letter, okay? It's in writing. They signed a letter demanding that Merrick Garland make him the special counsel in the Hunter case. And then Merrick Garland went ahead and made David Weiss the special counsel in the Hunter case. And then they have the nerve to go, how dare you, Merrick Garland, make the guy who we wanted to be special counsel, special counsel. How dare you do it?

And they just try to bulldoze and just try to gaslight. And Merrick Garland's like, you wanted this. Like, what are you even – don't you – doesn't it appear, though? Doesn't it appear like it's a double standard? And this was a tactic that I saw them use the entire time. They use the distrust that they have sown in the system to then justify their own attacks on the system. So they will say, you know, it's such a Fox tactic. This is what, like, you know, this is Fox's move, very like Putin-esque kind of move as well, where they go, you know,

a lot of my constituents back home, they don't have a lot of trust in you, Merrick Garland. They don't seem to think that this Department of Justice is on the up and up, Merrick Garland. Do you know why that might be? Maybe it's because you, every single day, so distressed in the Department of Justice and agree with a guy who calls the Department of Justice criminals, who says what they're doing is unlawful, instead of actually backing the rule of law. They think that because you told them to think that. And then you have the nerve to use that as your evidence? They were doing that the entire time. Oh, another strategy I'll just mention briefly that you'll notice if you watch this hearing that I picked up on the entire time, watching what Jim Jordan and the House Judiciary Committee and all them were posting on social media, they would ask Merrick Garland questions about ongoing investigations. It's DOJ policy that they do not comment on ongoing investigations.

So Merrick Garland would say, we actually are not allowed to comment on an ongoing investigation about that. And you'd have Jim Jordan write out, see, he refuses to answer the question. What is Merrick Garland hiding? Why wouldn't he answer about Hunter? Why wouldn't he answer about this or that? Because he's not allowed because he is actually following the law and you continue to break the law. That's why. And you weaponize that disparity where you don't actually have to follow any laws to try to spread your bullshit propaganda. Sorry. I'll show you. This is MAGA Republican Troy Nels. And you'll see like this MAGA Republican basically just keeps on like yelling at Merrick Garland. Like there's, there's no even questions here. Like there's no point other than they want

to get their little soundbite that goes on Fox. So Laura Ingraham or Sean Hannity can invite them on like, Oh, Mark Levin invites me. They go, great, great job here. Play MAGA Republican Troy Nels. Not fired. You're not getting the money. Oh, son of a bitch. Got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid. Mr. Attorney General, what you just saw, there was Joe Biden in his arrogance and role as

the vice president in this country saying, if you don't fire Shokin, the United States isn't given the $1 billion loan. Why would Joe Biden say that as the vice president? Why would he say such a thing? Was it policy? Was it our policy at the time? Yes or no? It wasn't.

I have documents here. Interagency Policy Committee dated October 15th. Wait a minute. Information. Is the gentleman ever going to let the gentleman use the question? I'm on my time. Pipe down. Saying Shokin had made significant reforms.

I'm the last of the gentlemen in Texas. He's madeipe down. Shokin had made significant reforms. He's made significant reforms. Shokin did. Matter of fact, John Kerry says he was impressive. And you know, within a few months after Shokin was fired, they appoint a prosecutor that said, we're not going to look into Burisma anymore. Cancel that. Forget it. Okay. Shokin wasn't investigating Burisma. Shokin was known by the European Union, by the pro-democracy international community, all took the position this was a corrupt prosecutor who was in the pocket of Vladimir Putin, and frankly, in the pocket of Burisma. So removing this prosecutor made it more likely that Burisma would actually be investigated

and prosecuted. And there is zero evidence that Shokin was ever investigating Burisma. And this has nothing to do with President Biden. And as the vice president, the policy of the United States, along with the EU, was to remove Shokin because of his corruption. Those are just the facts. Oh, Joe Boynan, Joe Boynan. You know, I mean, it's like, what? It's like, and Merrick Garland sitting there, you know, Merrick Garland, former judge in the DC Circuit Court of Appeal, it should have been a United States Supreme Court judge, like an incredibly smart individual. You know, he's, he's listening to this and he's like, what would you, would you like me to answer the question? No, they don't want him to answer the question. And look what, what I like though, about these

hearings though, I mean, Merrick Garland's very smart when you have a transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, you know, at, at, at, at this hearing, this hearing. Let me just show you what goes down. I could show you so many Buttigieg clips from this hearing, but I'll pick just my favorite right now, which is when Republican Representative Doug LaMalfa denies the existence of climate change. And then I guess he's doing the shtick that autumn, autumn is climate change. And watch Secretary Buttigieg's response. It's pitch perfect. Play this clip.

I don't know the percentage of atmospheric gases. You don't know the percent of the atmosphere. What I can tell you is that climate change is real. We got to do something about it. Yeah, this one's called autumn, sir. Sorry? This one's called autumn right now. So, yeah.

I'm sorry. I couldn't make out what you said, sir. This climate change right now is called autumn right now. So, yeah, I'm sorry. I couldn't make out what you said, sir. This climate change right now is called autumn. Yes. Yeah, that's that's the seasons changing, which respectively is not the same thing as the climate changing. And as somebody who is hoping to retire in the 2050s and who has kids who will be old enough to ask me as they're getting to their 30s, whether we did enough to deal with climate change, or whether we just did what was convenient. I take that really seriously. Reclaiming my time. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. The trillions and trillions we're going to cost our kids to chase a tiny percentage of CO2 will bankrupt all of us, unbankrupt our economy, and ship it to China for all the other reasons. So I yield back, Mr.

Gentleman's time is expired. The chair now recognizes So I yield back, Mr. Chairman. The gentleman's time has expired. The chair now recognizes the gentleman from California, Mr. Huffman. Mr. Secretary, it's good to see you. You can see that I serve here in Congress with some of the greatest minds of the 19th century. I love Secretary Buttigieg's strategy there, too. I think he heard him very well. I think Secretary Buttigieg heard exactly what he said, but I love the strategy of, could you, did he just say that? Could you repeat that? Yeah. Just, could you say that one more time? Yeah. You know, I didn't get that. Could

you just say that one more time for everybody here autumn autumn is climate autumn is climate change so you think you think the changing of seasons is the changing of climate and one of the greatest reveals that clip too is when you see what the guy looks like i don't know from for me i'm like okay this this this this clicks into focus for me. That's the level of seriousness, though, or rather unseriousness that we're dealing with here, and these are existential problems. This is also about, even if you take the most cynical approach to climate change, the most cynical approach, even if your approach is, you know what? I don't care. We're not going to be able to do anything. Why even bother? Cynically, cynically, you would think that you could at least say, you know what? You want America to own the future in this space because the future of technology, the future of energy, the future of vehicles and cars is going to be based on this technology.

It's going to be based on America being at the forefront of electronic vehicles. It's going to be all these clean energy jobs. If Republicans get their way, which is a burgeoning industry and which is growing exponentially by the day in the United States of America, thanks to these policies that President Biden has implemented, it sends all of that right to China, which is what they claim to be against. So their climate denialism also has effects on the future of the United States economy, on our national security. And it's just so stupid. This is something that I thought growing up that we litigated. We could figure out ways best to combat it without maybe not being too restrictive on businesses or whatever you want to do. But we all agreed that it was real for the most part. There was a slim, slim part of the population that was like, I'm not buying it. And now it's

the entire position of the Republican Party, climate change, not real. And when Buttigieg says there, one of the first lines he says is, first, climate change is real. You hear the guy actually laugh in the background. He goes, right before he embarrasses himself with the autumn comment. It's so disgraceful at every single level. And this guy, I didn't even know who this congressman was, but he has certainly made himself a household name after this one. He deserves all the ridicule that he gets. You could ridicule him too on his social media account. I'm fine. To your point, I'm open to having serious conversation. If he were to say, look, climate change is real. However, your approach, Ben, is way too restrictive. You're going to be harming businesses. Here's how I think we can strike a, by the way, I don't think my approach or Pete Buttigieg's like that. I think it actually helps our economy to be in the forefront of the electric revolution and electric vehicles. want to give that argument, we could at least have an intellectually honest discussion, right?

It's the same thing with COVID. You have to recognize that this is a dangerous and deadly virus and it still exists and that it kills people. And MAGA Republicans don't even want to have that threshold. If you agree with me on that threshold, I'm actually open to having a conversation about, does it make sense if a small business has to be closed when the target next to it is open? We can have that conversation. What type of support should government give small business? How do we deal with the insurance industry if they're going to put riders that prevent coverage for pandemics? We should have those discussions, but we have to be intellectually honest. In all of these discussions, the MAGA Republicans are

not intellectually honest. Then they do things too like, I would almost appreciate it if they were against the infrastructure bill. Then when the new bridge goes up or the roads get paved or the new fire department is built, if they said, you know what? I was against that. This is a waste. I don't like these things. Or if their position, when they were opposed to the Affordable Care Act and their constituents

are getting medical services, they want to say, you know what? I don't think you should be getting those medical services. When the cost of insulin goes down, they look their constituent in the face, these MAGA Republicans, and say, you know what? You don't deserve that. That's socialism. You shouldn't get that. By the way, at least they would be having an intellectually honest conversation about

their positions, but they're so intellectually dishonest that then they just pretend also when it doesn't go their way that they were for the things that they opposed. And so they go, oh, that was the bridge that I did. Look what I did. Or we're for these services. No, you're not. You're against those things. And so when you're in that world, you can't have honest, serious conversations. It's the same thing when it comes to immigration. These MAGA Republicans can't to that same judge in the Northern District of Texas and get President Biden's executive orders and actions blocked each and every time to actually accomplish things at the border. And then MAGA Republicans don't want to have a serious discussion on immigration. alligators eating migrants and putting barbed wire on buoys and saying, close the border and not engage in a serious discussion about how we can have a comprehensive policy. And then people don't know the way government works and the levers of government. So they create the problem,

the MAGA Republicans. Then they do the performative tough guy shtick. Hey, we're going to go and take a selfie by the border. Look how strong we are. You're the cause of that. You're the reason that that's taking place. We need to have these people eaten by alligators. We're going to have them eaten by alligators. It's like, what are you even – that's not a serious dialogue and discussion. One of the most important things here at the Midas Touch Network and one of the most important things that I want to confront, Brett, it's that point.

It is the unseriousness of these MAGA Republican parties. And I will tell everybody we are committed to having serious discussions, tough discussion. And we still got a lot more show to go as well. And we're going to have some more tough and serious discussions. I want to remind everybody, check out patreon.com slash Midas Touch. Make sure you subscribe if you can. No worries if you can't, but we don't have outside investors. That's how we grow and expand this platform. And we've got great exclusive after show content. You can only get there. Remember you spell it P A T R E O N.com slash M E I D A S T O U C H. And then we're actually doing a meetup, a zoom meeting where you can meet me, Brett and Jordy. That's coming up very shortly.

We've made that announcement. So be there for the next meetup. I'd love to meet you on zoom. So go to patrion.com slash Midas touch. We'll be right back after this quick break. Oh, Hey, when did you get here? Let's take a quick break to talk about our next partner. Henson shaving. Look, everyone knows how annoying cheap razors are the cuts, the irritation, the frustration, and don't get me started with subscription razor services, the headaches that those can cause. That's why you got to meet Henson Shaving. Henson Shaving is a family-owned aerospace parts manufacturer that has made parts for the ISS. That's the International Space Station and Mars Rover. And now they're bringing precision engineering to your shaving experience. Razor blades, they're like diving boards. The longer the board, the more wobble, the more wobble, the more nicks, cuts, and scrapes. A bad shave, it isn't a blade problem.

It's an extension problem. By using aerospace-grade CNC machines, Henson makes metal razors that extend just 0.0013 inches, which is less than the thickness of human hair. That means a secure and stable blade with a vibration-free shave. It gets better. The razor has built-in channels to evacuate hair and cream, which makes clogging virtually impossible. Seriously, Henson Shaving wants the best razor, not the best razor business. That means no plastic, no subscriptions, no proprietary blades, and no obsolescence. The Henson razor, it works with standard dual edge blades to give you that old school shave with the benefit of new school tech. Once you own the Henson razor, it's only about $3 to $5 per year to replace the blades. My first shave with the Henson razor was incredibly refreshing.

The design is sleek and the durability is top notch. The Henson razor is truly much better than your run-of-the-mill quote unquote traditional razor brand. And the affordability factor is absolutely game-changing. No more wasting your money on expensive blades. With Henson shaving, you get a year of blades for just $5. Okay, so here's what you have to do.

It's time to say no to subscriptions and yes to a razor that'll last you a lifetime. Visit hensonshaving.com slash Midas to pick the razor for you and use code Midas and you'll get two years worth of blades free with your razor. Just make sure to add them to your cart. That's 100 free blades when you head to h-e-n-s-o-n-s-h-a-v-i-n-g.com slash Midas and use, Midas Touch podcast, Jordy, the best ad reader in the game. Brett, as MAGA Republicans are taking things so not seriously, you see President Biden in stark contrast at the United Nations, showing leadership at the international level. Tell us what went down. Yeah, it's such a stark contrast and it really goes to show you, and I think it's so underappreciated because we are kind of in

this moment right now when it's often hard to imagine what if things went the other way. But I think it's important for us to reflect and realize how devastating of a situation the entire world would be in right now if Joe Biden was not present during this time in which Putin invaded Ukraine. Thankfully, while these Republicans are all subservient to Putin and suck up to Putin, every opportunity, I mean, even Ronald Reagan would be rolling in his grave looking at what these Republicans are doing and what they're saying every single day. You had President Biden actually showing real leadership at the UN, actually pointing the finger at Russia, making it clear that it's Russia and Russia alone who

bears responsibility for this war. I'm just going to play a little bit here of Biden's speech at the UN, which I found quite powerful. For the second year in a row, this gathering dedicated to peaceful resolution of conflicts is darkened by the shadow of war. An illegal war of conquest brought without provocation by Russia against its neighbor, Ukraine. Like every nation in the world, the United States wants this war to end. No nation wants this war to end more than Ukraine. And we strongly support Ukraine in its efforts to bring about a diplomatic resolution that delivers just and lasting peace. But Russia alone, Russia alone bears responsibility for this war.

Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately. And it's Russia alone that stands in the way of peace, because Russia's price for peace is Ukraine's capitulation, Ukraine's territory, and Ukraine's children. Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence. But I ask you this. If we abandon the core principles of the United States to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected? If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? I'd respectfully suggest the answer is no. We have to stand up to this negative aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow. That's why the United States,

together with our allies and partners around the world, will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity and their freedom. You had President Zelensky of Ukraine watching on, and then President Zelensky ended up going to D.C. and he met with lawmakers in D.C. Before I hit a little bit of that, I want to remind you, remember when Donald Trump spoke at the U.N. and he got laughed at? I think people often forget when Donald Trump spoke in front of that same crowd, he literally got laughed at by the entire world. In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. America's so true. Didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay.

Like just how absolutely embarrassing. But anyway, Zelensky today, Ben, you covered it a little bit, but Zelensky went to Congress like McCarthy wouldn't even walk in the entrance with him because he was embarrassed to like even have that visual. But he ended up getting like this weird photo with him later on where like he couldn't look too happy in it. He kind of had a sourpuss on his face, McCarthy. The whole thing is so weird. McCarthy has been making really negative comments toward Ukraine all week in anticipation of this meeting. He was saying the other day, was Zelensky elected to Congress as your president? I don't think so. I don't think so. Why should we give him anything? It's just absolutely disgraceful. I mean, thankfully, there are enough people currently to still help support Ukraine in this time of need. And Zelensky had a chance to meet with the GOP conference, and he spoke directly

to the members about the war effort. He met with Majority Leader Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Senate. They held a joint meeting with their members. And today, they held a meeting at the Oval Office with President Biden. So it's a weird situation that Zelensky's in where he really has to now lobby American politicians who are pro-Russia to support him. I mean, the whole kind of calculus has really shifted since the last time Zelensky came to DC, where now you have a majority of this Republican Party fully in Putin's pocket, entirely. And so he has quite the monumental task fighting for his life, fighting for the life of his people, and fighting for democracy in Europe around the world against a fascist authoritarian Republican party who does not give a shit and in fact wants to see him destroyed.

So that's what he was walking into. And as Ben mentioned earlier, Zelensky asked if he could address a joint house of Congress. And Kevin McCarthy said, absolutely not. You cannot. Just absolutely vile, vile, anti-American, anti-democratic behavior, just completely unthinkable. And Kevin McCarthy's excuse is, we don't have the time. You're taking a four-day weekend right now. You don't have the time. What the hell are you talking about? You don't have the time. Anyway, I do want to get to some good news. By the way, when Donald Trump at the debate, he's going to be asked if a reporter can do half their job, do you support NATO or would you disband NATO? Donald Trump will say that he wants to disband NATO and MAGA Republicans won't care. He'll literally say the thing that is the most harmful thing

to American far-reaching. Could you imagine a world where the leader of the Republican Party says that he wants to destroy NATO? That's the MAGA Republican Party. Sorry, Brett, go into the special elections. No, I mean, it's so anti-American. The whole thing is so anti-American because they're an anti-American and anti-democracy party. It's so dangerous and it's so sad. But anyway, even in the midst of all this, even with the chaotic GOP Congress, President Biden has been doing a lot at the federal level.

And I think these are two very important initiatives that he announced this week. He announced the creation of the American Climate Corps. It's a new initiative that will actually be training young people in high demand skills for jobs in the clean energy economy. I think really when you look back at Biden here, you are going to see that he really future-proofed the country with his manufacturing, with the CHIPS Act, with the Inflation Reduction Act. All of these things are really preparing America to be resilient in the future with the future economy that will be driven by things like clean energy and be driven by things like the semiconductor chips and the like. He is putting us on good footing here and also to do good things for the

environment. I know the Republicans hate the earth and hate the environment, but this initiative will also put a new generation of Americans to work conserving our lands and waters. That's something that Republicans back in the day used to be into, some of them, bolstering community resilience, advancing environmental justice, deploying clean energy, implementing energy-efficient technologies, and tackling climate change. It's also to give these young people the necessary skills so that they could go out and get good paying jobs in the future. So a very important initiative here. Tomorrow, also, look out for this. The White House is expected to announce the first ever Federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention for the audio and listeners. This is happening Friday. So today, if you're listening on audio, this office is going to coordinate efforts across the federal government.

It's going to help and guide states struggling with increasing gun violence to try to solve this horrific gun violence epidemic that we are seeing throughout the country. It's looking like Vice President Kamala Harris is going to spearhead this effort. So look out there. And a lot of people, Ben, Jordy, are constantly saying, do you see these polls? Do you see these polls? Oh my God, the New York Times said this, the Washington Post said that. I don't know what to think. They're saying that he should drop out, that this, that that. And we keep saying, stop all that nonsense. The Democrats here have been outperforming by upwards of 10 plus points, all the polls in all of these special elections that have occurred since the midterms. The Democrats also strongly

outperformed any and all expectations that people had for the midterms themselves. Unless you were listening here on the Midas Touch Network, we never bought in to this whole red wave narrative. We had people like Simon Rosenberg and Tom Bonior come on the show and give the data of the actual voting metrics and use actual hard data to guide our opinions here. And now we continue over and over and over again to see Democratic overperformance around the country. I can't honestly even think really to the last time that Republicans have won one of these special elections. And this past Tuesday, Democrats scored two major victories in special elections. And the first one in New Hampshire, Democrat Hal Rafter won his special election for the New Hampshire State House in an absolute landslide victory, 56 to 44. And I want to put this in perspective, why that landslide is even

more impressive, because Trump won this district in both elections. Trump won this district in 2020 and 2016. But this Democrat flipped the district by a 56 to 44 march. And he ran against one of these kind of prototypical Republicans, right? He ran against this guy, a pastor, James Gusofsky. The seat became vacant in April. And this Gusofsky guy, he's everything that you would think when I say he's running against the MAGA Republican and them some. He's an election denier. He's a conspiracy theorist. He has said, and this is a quote, vaccines, literally infected people with the virus. He has said, quote, being gay is against nature. He has said abortions are democratic, quote, blood sacrifices to Malik. This is what the guy was running on. And he doesn't honestly sound too

dissimilar than any of these MAGA Republicans across the country. So it's nice when you see the voters actually come out and so strongly repudiate this MAGA extremism. And the GOP now holds like the slimmest of slim edges in the New Hampshire State House. It's 198 to 197. And that's despite all the Republican gerrymandering that has pushed these districts in the GOP's favor. Yet, there's another special election that we should keep an eye out for, November 7th. And this special election strongly favors the Democrats. It's in a deep blue, a very safe blue district. And if the Democrats, or should I say, if and when the Democrats win this election, the edge will narrow even further. It won't even be narrow. It will be tied. It will be a tie in the chamber there, 198 to 198. Then we can look at Pennsylvania, Jordy. Your state of Pennsylvania. We can look at Allegheny County. Let's go Allegheny County. There we go. Democrat Lindsey Powell won her special election also in an absolute blowout.

This was a pretty safe blue seat, so it was to be expected there, but it wasn't even close. The person she ran against, this Republican Erin Connolly Ottenreit. Moloch? Not Moloch, but she was at the January 6th insurrection. We should play a game on this podcast. Sorry to interrupt you. Who said it? QAnon or a Republican congressman?

Or a Republican candidate. Or a Republican candidate. Yeah. She's a local GOP chairperson. She attended the January 6th rally, reportedly supposedly left before the actual attack happened, but she was there. And this Lindsay Powell, a Pittsburgh nonprofit leader, just completely trounced her, which is a big, big deal. And why is it a big deal despite it being in a safe blue seat? Because Powell's win puts Democrats back in control of the Pennsylvania House with

a narrow majority. Once again, every election matters. Always show up and always vote. That's why it is so important. And I think when you take, in its entirety, when you take all of these elections that we have seen, all of the special elections, the ballot initiative in Ohio, when Republicans tried to get abortion out of the Kansas Constitution. You look at all of these various elections now going back to the midterms, and you see the Democrats time and time again destroying the Republicans everywhere, in Wisconsin with the Supreme Court race. And then after, the whole narrative is, should Democrats be worried about 2024? I think the narrative should be the opposite, quite frankly. I mean, if you're a Republican right now and you're looking at every single election that has happened and you've lost big,

even in places where you thought you were supposed to win, to me, that would be a red flag. When you look in your Congress and you can't even keep the damn government open, when you can't even govern, when you can't even literally, you're there to work in government and you don't know how to do it. I think you should view that as, oh, we're in trouble. I think when you look down the pipeline and see the guy we're about to nominate is currently indicted like five times and is facing 91 criminal counts and all of his trials are going to be occurring while he is running for president. I think you got to be looking at as a Republican and going, we're in some deep shit here. But that's never the narrative of the media. The narrative of the media is not Republicans are headed for absolute disaster. It's always just democratic bedwetting. And I'm sick of it. I'm absolutely sick of it.

It's just not where any of this data is guiding me. Maybe that will change. As of now, though, it doesn't seem to be the case. And I think it's important that we reflect and we look on all these victories across the country and realize that there is a strong pro-democracy coalition that is sick and tired of these right-wing extremists trouncing on our freedoms. I think it's so important. So, so important. Best time to have gotten involved is yesterday. The next best day is today. Make sure that you're registered to vote. Make sure friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, people in your life who will be voting for democracy are registered to vote. Biggest way you can help out the Midas Touch Network is share this YouTube channel. Share the video. Share the podcast. Share the Midas Touch social media

memes, the Instagram account, all the Midas Touch media. Go to MidasTouch.com, those stories that our incredible editorial team creates. Share those with friends, family, co-workers, colleagues, people that you know. Make it your homepage. Do people just do their homepages these days? Bookmarks on their homepage? Make it your homepage, MidasTouch.com. And for real though, thank you all for also helping us out on the Patreon side. That's how we were able to grow and build MidasTouch.com out.

We didn't have to go to outside investors because when you do that, the outside investors always want some level of control and things like that. And so to have this community fund that and the way we build it through these exclusive bonus features on Patreon really goes a long way to help. Again, no worries if you can't do it. If you can't become a member of the YouTube or separately the Patreon, really, really don't sweat it at all. If you are able to join, go to patreon.com slash Midas Touch. Go there right now and you spell Midas Touch, M-E-I-D-A-S-T-O-U-C-H. Patreon.com slash MidasTouch. Right now, we're going to do the after show

where we're going to talk about one of a few topics, either the topic of Brett's theory that he talked about earlier, or more likely, we'll probably talk about some stories that were important for us growing up. And a lot of people have questions about our family. So maybe we'll share some stories as well. I always get that comment over and over and over again. Hey, can you share some stories about the fam?

We can do that as well. So go to patreon.com slash MidasTouch. Also go to store.midastouch.com for the best pro-democracy gear, 100% union made, 100% made in the USA. That's, 7.30 Pacific. I love the Alien Super Show. You can get it right here on our YouTube channel. Audio listeners, go check out the YouTube channel and check that out and make sure you watch the Alien Super Show. This is probably my favorite episode yet. Midas Mighty, thank you so much for all of your support. We are so honored to be a part of this community that you all created. It's an honor to be a part of this intelligent, compassionate, unapologetically pro-democracy community.

One more time, it's patreon.com slash Midas Touch. Jordy, take it away. Shout out to the Midas Mighty! The Midas Mighty standing strong Against the fascists we sing our song We will get it right whenever At Midas Touch, we are unapologetically pro-democracy and we demand justice and accountability. That's why we're spreading our message to convict45.

That's right. Gear up right now with your convict45 tees and pins at store.midastouch.com. That's store.midastouch.com.