The MeidasTouch Podcast - MeidasTouch RESPONDS to Breaking New…Ben & Brett EVACUATED

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

In this episode of the MeidasTouch Podcast, we discuss updates about the California wildfires and the MAGA disinformation campaign to disrupt the efforts on the ground. Ben and Brett have been evacuated and we will keep you all updated on their situations. Our hearts are with the families impacted and are immensely grateful for the first responders. Subscribe to Meidas+ at https://meidasplus.com Watch Ben’s interview with President Biden: https://youtu.be/TJfOAjUleTc Deals from our sponsors! BetterHelp: This is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://BetterHelp.com/MEIDAS today to get 10% off your first month and get on your way to being your best self! Miracle Made: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to https://TryMiracle.com/MEIDAS and use the code MEIDAS to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF. Netsuite: Head to https://NetSuite.com/MEIDAS to get the visibility and control you need to weather any storm Ollie Pet Food: Ollie: Head to https://Ollie.com/meidas and use promo code: MEIDAS to receive 60% OFF your FIRST BOX of meals when you subscribe today! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After all these years of brewing Coors Original, we've learned one undeniable truth. Any legacy is possible. You just have to start. Coors Original. How will you start your legacy? Celebrate responsibly. Must be legal drinking age. At Starbucks, we serve cold coffee just the way you like it. That refreshing chill of ice. That rich, smooth taste you crave. That handcrafted care every time. Your summer ritual is ready at Starbucks.

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. What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the

Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart. Groceries that over-deliver. Whether you own a bustling hair salon or a hot new bakery, you need business insurance that can keep up with your evolving needs. With flexible coverage options from TD Insurance, you only pay for what you need. TD, ready for you. So I was forced to be evacuated as a result of the LA fires. I'm not sure the status of my home right now, but I'm reporting from you from a safe location. My family is safe.

My dogs are safe. That's really all that matters. And what matters to me is that as many people are safe as possible, that everybody is safe. My heart goes out to a fire had broken out by Brett's home. Brett's home had not been the subject of any prior fires, but a fire broke out right near where his direct exit is. And so he had to flee and he had to escape. And so our hearts are with Brett right now during this chaotic moment as well. And we'll do our best to keep you updated on Brett's status. But he had to go immediately when he learned about the most recent fire. I want to talk about Donald Trump's despicable, dastardly, and divisive conduct as it relates to these fires. Constant lies

about the fires, constant lies about Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass and how it's the responsibility or the fault of DEI or ESG or wokeness and how that has been amplified on right-wing media, on ex-formerly Twitter. And I want to just talk about how never before really in American history would natural disasters like this be used as wedge issues to divide we the people. And we see that over and over again with MAGA, not just as it relates to these fires and the devastation, but if there's a hurricane, if there's a terrorist attack, they'll blame Democrats, they'll blame migrants right away.

I just want to talk about that because I'm not okay with that. And I can imagine the fear that my brother's going through, the fear of other people as they were escaping. I know the fear that me and my family went through as we got an alert on our phones, escape now, your lives are on the line, whatever the thing said, get out of your house right now. And we, and we got out, you know, just in time. And then to immediately like immediately see Donald Trump and MAGA say, this is all Newsom's fault. This is all Democrats fault, Democrats, this Democrats that, and then they do these lies about, um, Oh, it's because Karen Bass cut this from the budget.

I mean, that's false. She didn't. That's not what happened. Actually, $50 million was added for firefighting. But we'll talk about all of that and more here. I'll talk about some other topics. Elon Musk, for example, said that Doge, that made up agency or cabinet position that doesn't really exist, that claims it was going to cut $2 trillion from the budget. to do half of that amount. So yet another lie. And when we talk about these lies, and also I've been talking about with you this concept of WMD, weapon of mass distraction, I think it's important that we take it very seriously because he does have the power and means with the United States military to attack and threaten. But I also think it's important that we not lose focus ever on the fact that Donald Trump

wants us to just pay attention to these shiny objects every day and his personal immorality and his personal putrid behavior while he fails to deliver on promise after promise. Always ask yourself, okay, cool, but how does this lower our prices? Okay, cool, but how does this lower our prices? Okay, cool. How does this help me get affordable housing? Okay, cool. How does this improve my health or get me access to healthcare? Okay, cool. How does this help my family empower themselves better than how does it help me get jobs? What about all of those promises? And so how does this, how does this relate to you promised in 24 hours, you were going to end Russia's war on Ukraine, but now instead you're talking about invading Canada or Greenland. Weren't you supposed to solve that one first, like you said?

So I don't want us to ever lose sight about that. I want to also talk about some updates in the various Trump court cases. We'll talk about Donald Trump's emergency appeal to the United States Supreme Court after Donald Trump lost at the trial court, intermediate division, the appellate division, and New York's top court, which happens to confusingly be called their court of appeals. You would think New York's top court is called their Supreme Court. Actually, their trial court's called the Supreme Court, the highest courts, the court of appeals. They just want to throw us off there a little bit. But Trump lost

at all levels. So of course, he goes to his buddies at the Supreme Court. And then Donald Trump called Justice Alito, one of the right-wing extremist judges who flew an American flag upside down, showing what, guilty to the insurrection or showing sympathy towards the insurrection. So he calls Alito under the pretext of they're talking about one of Alito's law clerks who's looking for a job in the Trump administration, right? As Donald Trump's filing his brief to the Supreme Court before Justice Alito? Can we talk about a conflict of interest there? How is that being normalized? We'll talk about the international solidarity that's growing against Donald Trump, how the EU is now talking

about its defense pact to protect its own members, that if America is actually threatening to invade, that Europe is ready to use its military to defend against the United States. So now not only is Donald Trump not solving Russia's unlawful invasion like he claimed he would do 24 hours after his election. But now we have our allies talking about using their military to stop us from invading them. I mean, seriously, this is where we're at. Also worth noting, we talked about Trump's disastrous press conference earlier in the week. I don't want to give him more attention or time there. But we also learned that Fox, and I put this in quotes, Fox News gave Donald Trump all of their questions in advance. So everything that Donald Trump accuses, what, President Biden or Kamala Harris or Democrats are doing, which they don't.

Trump's like just getting the questions and corporate media is like, okly-dokly, we're cool with that. Anyway, that's what we're going to talk about today. Again, my heart goes out to everybody suffering from these devastating fires, everybody who suffers from natural disasters, whatever you're going through. My heart is with you. I wish there were ways I could help more than just having a show and having this network. But I think it is an important function that we get out truthful and accurate news.

And, you know, as I'm doing this intro, my mind's wandering a little bit more than normal because I'm literally thinking about moments ago, learning that Brett has to escape for his life. So I'm, I'm thinking about Brett right now, um, as well. So you'll have to pardon me perhaps during the show as, as my mind wanders in that direction. But thank you, everybody, for all of the wishes that you've sent my way. I have so many emotions right now. And I'm thinking about Brett. I'm thinking about everybody who lost their homes, people who are still in the line of danger. And then I'm thinking about Trump's statements.

Anyway, Jordy, let me bring you in. It's not the episode I wanted to be doing at the beginning of the year, but I want to be here with the Midas people. Oh, Benji, great intro, man. And I hear you. My heart goes out to everybody being affected by these fires. And it was wild right before we did the show, but we just thought, go. Like, he's got to go.

And man, I mean, it's just, my heart goes out to everybody impacted by these fires. What's happening right now. It's interesting perspective being out of state, Ben, and having you and Brett there and getting the minute by minute updates on how you guys are doing and what's going on and your families are safe and things like that. And, you know, try and find a place of safety. And it's just, it's such a feeling of helplessness.

I don't know how much I'd be able to help even if I were there, but just being here and, you know, in Pennsylvania right now, right now, my heart just breaks for you guys and seeing what you've been through and just the bravery that you and your families have shown over these last 24, 48 hours. It's amazing. And then to see the devastation on such a large scale, it's brutal. It's brutal. And I know we have a lot of Midas Mighty out there and I hope y'all are safe. Genuinely, my heart aches for you guys right now. I can't imagine what you're going through and just know it's times like these is why we have this great community of these pro democracy warriors out there that I've always said it's the investment in this community, which sets us apart

from everything and everything. We're not just a stagnant network, like the Midas Mighty. It's a real thing of people who are just truly like a family. And so to just know that there are so many being impacted who are a part of this community too, my heart breaks and just know that we are all here for you right now. And we're going to be here for you tomorrow and next week and next month. And so please, you know, keep us posted on your wellbeing and how you're doing. I'm excited to get into the show. We're going to update you guys on, on Brett, the second we know more, um, and just keep everyone as up to date as possible on that. But Benji, great, great introduction, man. And I think you're excused if your brain wanders a little bit during this

episode. Well, look, I don't feel brave. There's nothing brave that I did. Let me be very clear. I'll tell you what bravery is, are the first responders who are on the front lines risking their lives. That's who's brave. I mean, I got a message on my phone, like it kind of looks like when you get an Amber Alert, and it said, evacuate now. So all I did was pack my stuff up, make sure my family was good, make sure my three-month-old was good, make sure my wife was good, make sure I had my dogs, took my laptop, a few other things, some clothes, and left. So I don't view that as bravery at all. I view it as trying to survive. I view what the first responders are doing as as brave and i i wish i could do more i mean i mean my my this is my job i think there is a

usefulness to getting out accurate information debunking falsehoods with the platform that we have. I was weighing, honestly, should I be going to some of the fire shelters and centers? And is it a helpful use of my time to do that? Or is it a helpful use of my time to do the show because I have to get out accurate info because corporate media is not getting out the accurate info or they're both sides in the issue. So I feel a lot of emotions. I feel as a human. So I'm not trying to act like I'm a tough guy or I'm brave. I feel guilty. I feel sad. I feel a bit nervous. I'm thinking about Brett. I'm wondering, should should i be doing i'm just being open with you should i even be doing this show uh in the first place my house i i don't i don't know what's last time i checked and i'm not getting a lot of updates but my house is still you know you'll hear

dogs i'm in a place that's small so we'll deal with it. My house, as far as I know, has not been burned down, but I've had friends whose homes have been devastated. And so there's a new set of winds that are coming tonight. I'm hearing the news about Brett. So there's so much going on in my mind right now. I'll show you this. This is Gavin Newsom. Let me play you this clip of Newsom though, because he was trying to marshal resources. He's marshalling the resources. He's on the front lines. He's doing what you expect of a governor while Donald Trump's attacking him. I want to share with you what Governor Newsom was asked by Anderson Cooper. And you'll see the fires right behind Newsom and Newsom trying to govern from the front lines.

By the way, something Trump would never do. Watch this interaction. Let's play it. Even asked this question, but the president elect chose to attack you, blame you for this. One can't even respond to it. I mean, it's, you know, people are literally fleeing. People have lost their lives. Kids lost their schools. Families completely torn asunder. Churches burned down. This guy wanted to politicize it. I have a lot of thoughts and I know what I want to say. I won't. I stood next to a president of the United States of America today, and I was proud to be with Joe Biden.

And he had the backs of every single person in this community. He didn't play politics, didn't try to divide any of us. Finally, your message. Didn't play politics, didn't try to divide us, referring to President Biden. And when I interviewed President Biden in the Roosevelt room of the West Wing of the White House, President Biden said, I don't care if you're red state, blue state, I represent you. I'm going to get you the resources you need, whether that's infrastructure, healthcare, whatever. I'm the president of all Americans, even if you hate me, even if you don't like me,

whatever, I'm going to deliver for all Americans. And the fact that during a crisis, while Newsom or Karen Bass and others are trying to govern, they're trying to be operators and deal with things, get this resource here, there, their goal isn't like, oh, I'm going to be an online troll and I need to start saying, ooh, you're calling me new scum? Dumpy dump, the liar, dumpy, you are, whatever. That's not what leaders do. But by not doing that, there's an information vacuum, right? Because the disinfo is coming in one direction. The governing is coming from one direction, but there's really no one pushing back on the disinformation. But then even when you're pushing back, pushing back inherently

means you're on the defense. There's already a narrative that you need to push back on. And so when you're pushing back, you're like, no, that's not true. That's a lie. That's not happening. It already sounds like, well, so you're just saying they're making all of this up to undermine you? Yeah. Who does that? Who would make up such vile facts? They do. MAGA does on all of these things. No matter what it is, MAGA makes up this stuff. When it came to the hurricanes recently, MAGA said FEMA's not giving you resources. FEMA was. The migrants are taking all of your resources. They weren't. They blamed the Democratic governor at the time from North Carolina. The whole thing was politicized during the recent terrorist attack in New Orleans. MAGA immediately said migrants, it was Eagle Pass. When there was the thing on the Canadian border where there was someone who crashed their car in Buffalo, they said, oh, this is a terrorist attack. This is like, you know, like Muslim terrorists who are coming in through the borders.

And they would just, they'd make up things that are 100% false. So now you have to like disprove a 100% falsehood. And then you have to do things like, actually, let me explain to you the budgetary process and why it isn't true that Karen Bass cut $17 million. She actually increased. You're just looking at a budget item that shows one form of the appropriations, but actually she added $50 million to the budget. That's the truth, right? Karen Bass actually did not cut the budget. It was a complicated budgetary thing you have to look at. The budget increased. But I was getting comments even from my own wife saying, while we were escaping, how do I defend this? And it was

all of the lies that MAGA was spewing and people in LA and people who she knew were reaching out to her saying, wait a minute, are Democrats causing this? Is this happening? And she's asking me, how do I defend? Like, you don't have to defend anything. Like there's nothing to defend. Like, like let's be safe. Like I'm sure these are all lies. I don't even want to think about it right now. But then again, those lies are spreading while the fire is spreading. And people are trying to put out the fire and they're using it as a wedge issue to divide. I mean, take a look at Trump. I don't want to read all the Trump posts because it's like, why even give it that much? Let me just say this really quickly though. That video of Newsom,

it breaks my heart every time I look at that and watch that video. I actually also get angry and angrier every time I see Newsom having to defend himself as he's trying to govern, as his area is burning, is literally on fire. He's got to be asked questions about Trump and Trump's statements. And that's the thing too, Ben. It's not even just pushing back on the lies and then getting out the new information, right? All these leaders are doing this as they're trying to do that, lead, right? They're trying to get their people safe. They're trying to get the resources there. And now there's an onslaught of just misinformation and lies that they have to

react to in live time where that couldn't be the furthest thing from his mind at the moment. All he wants to do is get the truth out there and make sure his people are safe. And so just seeing all this information, Ben, and it breaks my heart too, what you just said about Soj, about your wife, that she's getting all these texts, how am I supposed to defend myself here? It's like, you guys are literally on the move for your life. It's got to be the furthest thing from the point. But again, there's just so much bad information out there that it's so intentional that it's actually deadly. It is making the situation a hundred million times worse off than... Dude, it is just so frustrating to see play out.

And again, just so helpless being on the other side of the country watching you guys have to deal with all of this. It's nuts, man. This is not what the norm was in our country. When there were disasters, we used to unite together, whether it was a terrorist attack, whether it was a natural disaster. It was kind of an unspoken rule because it was basic human morality that we didn't have to speak at who we are as Americans. We would try to rally around each other in disasters, no matter what it was, pull through together. And we were all one America. That's what we were. And part of my frustration would be putting it lightly for this whole MAGA movement is that it's taken away

that kind of fundamental fact of who we are even as a country, that everything, the moment it happens, it's used as a political wedge to divide. And then it becomes a political football, every single thing. And I remember when you had John McCain during the campaign campaign when lies would be spread about former President Obama, that time candidate Obama, Senator Obama's background. McCain would take away the mic and say, that's not true. weakness when it happens from someone like the late great Senator John McCain, who risked his life in Vietnam fighting for our country. And it's being directed at him by someone like Trump who claimed bone spurs to get out of Vietnam to divide us. And I think we have to think through this though, because during disasters, people are at their most vulnerable. If you think about scammers,

who do scammers go after most? Two types of people, elderly and people who are going through disasters. That's the two groups that are the most vulnerable to scammers. And why? Because they tend to be vulnerable. And so when you're going through a tragedy, when you're feeling all of these emotions, to be polluted by lies. And every event, everything MAGA turns into a political thing. Every aspect of it. Democrats, Democrats, Democrats. And you don't have to think about disasters. You don't have to think about, I mean, think about international boxing and the boxer from Algeria, who was a woman, who MAGA was like,

oh, that's secretly a man and somehow Democrats, like Democrats and Bidens were somehow involved in the Algerian boxer. And you're getting mad at the Algerian boxer in the Olympics where there's an Olympic, no matter what it is, you can't go anywhere without MAGA doing these things. I want to check on Brett. We'll take our first quick break. We'll come back, talk about more things. Remind everybody to hit subscribe. Let's get to 4 million subscribers. Check out MidasPlus.com, M-E-I-D-A-S-P-L-U-S, MidasPlus.com. Our editor-in-chief, Ron Filipkowski, does a great job curating that. So check that out. Patreon.com slash MidasTouch as well. We held a Zoom meeting earlier in the week. It was so great seeing everybody and

meeting everybody. It was really one of my favorite things to do. Check that out. We'll be right back after our first quick break. Today's episode is brought to you by Ollie, clean, fresh nutrition your dog needs in five incredible flavors. They'll absolutely flip over. Finger Pup Real Whole Foods with minimal with minimal processing is one of the best choices you can make for their health. In fact, studies show that a perfectly portioned fresh food diet can extend your dog's life by two and a half years. Who doesn't want more time with their best friend? Let me tell you about my pup Mochi. She's a bundle of energy and love, but finding the right food has always been a challenge. Either it's filled with all these questionable fillers or, let's face it, she's a very stubborn

shih tzu who is very picky about what she eats and has very high standards. But with Ali, that's all changed. Their meals are made in US kitchens with fresh, carefully sourced ingredients and absolutely no harmful fillers or preservatives. Because Ali gently cooks their food and delivers it fresh, there's no need for shelf life extending preservatives, just clean, wholesome nutrition. Ollie offers five protein-first recipes like fresh beef with sweet potatoes, fresh turkey with blueberries, and fresh lamb with cranberries. Honestly, every time I open an Ollie pack, I think, wow, is my dog eating better than I am? And let's be real, she probably is.

Here's how it works. You take Ollie's 30-second quiz to tell them about your dog, their weight, activity level, and health needs. Ollie then uses that info to create a personalized meal plan with expert recommendations. First-timers will get a starter box with two weeks worth of meals and a guide transitioning your pup to their new diet. Plus, you can customize your plan with options like a full fresh plan, a topper plan, and even freshly baked recipes. Hey, they've got treats and supplements too, by the way. Give your pup a fresh start this new year with Ollie. Head to ollie.com slash Midas. Tell them all about your dog and use that code Midas to get 60% off your first box of meals when you subscribe today. And don't worry, Oli offers a clean bowl guarantee on the first box. If you're not completely satisfied, you'll get your money back.

That's O-L-L-I-E dot com slash Midas, M-E-I-D-A-S. And use that code Midas for 60% off your first box. Start your dog's new year off right with Oli. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Every January brings you 365 blank pages waiting to be filled. In 2025, maybe you're ready for a plot twist, or maybe there's a part of your story you've been wanting to revise. Life isn't about resolutions that fade by February. It's about picking up the pen and becoming the author of your own life. Think of therapy as your editorial partner, helping you write new chapters and create the meaningful story you deserve to live.

Now, I've personally benefited from therapy. It's helpful for learning positive coping skills and how to set boundaries. It empowers you to be the best version of yourself, and it isn't just for those who've experienced major trauma. BetterHelp is fully online, making therapy affordable and convenient and serving over 5 million people worldwide. Access a diverse network of more than 30,000 credentialed therapists with a wide range of specialists. Easily switch therapists anytime at no extra cost. Write your story with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash Midas today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash Midas. Shout out to our pro-democracy sponsors. Use the links in the description of the YouTube and the audio. Thank you all for sponsoring this.

This is some great stuff right there. And let me just say this too, Ben. Shout out to the first responders. I think we mentioned at the top of the podcast, but let's just say it again. What's going on out there in LA is wild.

Unlike anything I've, I don't think I've ever seen, quite frankly. And just shout out to the super brave and incredible first responders just helping out. Unbelievable. Here's the thing, too. We've got first responders from all over Canada.

First off, all over California. Then in Canada, they're helping out as well. In Mexico, they are sending support as well. And then neighboring states. So I just want you to think about that because while Donald Trump tries to divide and he fires was he called into action firefighters from Northern California who also came to help and were prepared with their truck. a fire, the likes of which, you know, it's no longer once in a lifetime because of global warming and climate change. I wish it was once in a lifetime. But this, you know, given the winds, given the dryness, given all of the conditions, it aligned to create this cataclysmic natural disaster. It didn't matter if you had a bajillion gallons of water at that time. I mean, if you've seen those fires, it would be practically impossible to contain despite all of the best efforts. And so there are ways to try to deal with it and mitigate it, but to somehow blame that on, oh, there's not enough water when there are literally

millions of barrels of water. And then one of the things you have to be careful with as well is that if you keep the electricity on and you don't shut down electricity, you then become susceptible to additional fire starting based on the electric grid that's in place. And then it could spread even more rapidly and quicker. And that grid can serve as kind of a conduit to then force that fire to rapidly spread into additional residential neighborhoods that it might not otherwise do. So there are complex considerations of how you deal with it, but those need to be actively considered, discussed in a bipartisan way and dealt with. But the moment a tragedy strikes, boom, MAGA Republicans are there to blame it on Democrats, to blame it on transgender people, to blame it on migrants, to blame it on

whatever group they're getting. But there's always a blame right away. And again, I don't want to read all of Trump's posts. By the way, I appreciate that our audience likes that I no longer play Trump videos or audios. It's a great, it's like a great policy that we don't share. It's a really good policy. Because here's the thing. I hope by now I've established enough trust over the last four years that you know he says, when I say he says something, he says it. But also if you want to go, you can watch the clips. It's still on our social media. It's just not on our YouTube videos. You can always verify, wait a minute, let me check the Midas Blue Sky account or the Midas Blue whatever the account is and ultimately check it out.

But here's one post where he goes, Governor Gavin Newsom refused to sign a water restoration declaration because he cares more about a fish called smelt. All of that's false. There's nothing true about it. There's no such thing as a water restoration declaration. So if you try to, what is this water restoration declaration that he refused to sign? That's not a true thing. He didn't prioritize smelt over the people in California. That's false. And he's not to blame for this, but that was one of their angles of attack. They also say that it was because of Ukraine. I mean, Don Jr. goes, oh, look, of course, the L.A. Fire Department donated a bunch of their supplies to Ukraine.

They then go on to blame it on DEI. Elon Musk reposts libs of TikTok. And then this stuff gets millions and millions of views because Elon Musk amplifies on the algorithm himself and all this right-wing nonsense. They prioritize DEI over saving lives and homes. And they show this thing, which was like, oh, Karen Bass cut $17 million from the fire department. She didn't. There was actually $50 million added. They're looking at one budget item that was removed, but they didn't look at the full context of the budget that actually there was not a reduction. There was actually an increase that was made. And by the way, even if there was a reduction, I would still want to know, you'd have to explain to me in terms,

well, then how would that have impacted a cataclysmic fire? I mean, Republicans are the ones who cut fire departments, everyone. They're the first essential services. So even if you accepted their argument, which was false and accepted their premise, you have to then articulate to me how a cataclysmic fire would have been stopped with an additional $17 million. And the answer is it wouldn't, but it's BS anyway, and just not accurate and not true. You have additional posts by Elon Musk, who is amplifying Alex Jones posts. Alex Jones goes, destroyed by Biden, Los Angeles fires are part of a larger globalist plot to wage economic warfare and de-industrialize the United States before triggering total collapse. Alex Jones is the guy found liable

for defaming the parents who lost their kids in school shootings by saying that the kids who died didn't really die and that they and their parents were crisis actors who made up the school shooting and are faking their kids' death. This is who Trump and MAGA and Elon Musk pal around with. And by the way, if you go and look at the post from Gavin Newsom's team that tries to correct the disinfo and you look at the bottom, you'll see like how many views that gets on X. And it's like it gets like 30,000 views, 25,000 views. Oh, this one from Brandon Richards, 6,000 views where he actually lays out the facts that all of this is a lie. Here's the fact, here's the budget item. Here's the amount of local government fire engines.

Here's all of the things we did, right? So that gets 6,838 views. Look at the bottom right there. You can see that. But this Alex Jones post about a globalist plot to de-industrialize, take a look at that. 3.8 million views qualified by Musk. So the question is, when you have that thing taking place, you see how dangerous it could be. And by the way, there was once a time where the algorithm was neutral and actually truthful

facts would do better. You can complain what you want. Was Twitter run perfectly before Elon Musk? No, there were lots of issues with it, but it was a pretty, the best content rose to the top. Right. Now it's, you know, everything they accuse Twitter of being. Exactly. Now it's, you know, artifice. Everything they accuse Twitter of doing is what Elon Musk's ex

is now actually doing for the right wing mob. I mean, it is absolutely bonkers. I have to read, it is vile to be spreading so much, any at all, but all of this misinformation right now, when people on the ground there are literally looking for resources and facts and just trying to survive. And what are you going to do? You're going to shitpost on X? Oh, the Dems. Oh, the Libs. Oh, Ukraine. What are you doing? It is absolutely bonkers. And other countries must be looking at us like, y'all are politicizing fires? Y'all are politicizing natural disasters? And it's not even going to come as such a shock to them because, well, the right-wing mob did it for the hurricanes not too long ago. This is what they do. They don't care about the citizens of this country. They really

don't. What they care about is shitposting and spreading disinformation as long as it puts forward their agenda, whatever agenda, hate-filled agenda that is. It is bonkers. It is sad. It is disgusting. And frankly, it has to stop. And that's why I'm so glad that we get to do this show, Ben, and get people the facts and get the information out there. So now the Midas Mighty in this community could take the information that you've shared, Ben, and thank you for sharing all of that stuff to their circles, because I'm sure they're getting asked, oh, did they really donate all of that to Ukraine? Why are we even talking about this right now? People's lives are on the line, first of all. And just thank goodness that there, again, is this community that exists.

Because again, my head's a little bit all over the place thinking about Brett and thinking about you for this episode and everybody out there. And it's just, I just love and appreciate this community so damn much and just so grateful that we have this, the collective we. And so Ben, what say you? There's just this brain rot, if you will, that has really caused so many people who have perpetually lived in digital spaces and have not connected with kind of the outside world and outside communities that their minds have been so wired into these conspiracy portals that move them deeper and deeper and deeper into this madness and hate and divisiveness. And one of the crazy things that I was just experiencing too is even when I would type in the name of my town to try to get accurate information about what was going on, and it's

not like a well-known town that's out there that lots of people talk about. I would see people ostensibly who live in my town or near my town, and I would look at their profiles because this is where I would have to go on X to look at it. And I would see where we go one, we go all stuff. And all of this just wild stuff. And I'm thinking to myself, I'm like, I don't know, is this my name? These people live near me? What is even going on? I mean, you're QAnon? I mean, how are you functioning? You're buying this QAnon stuff while the leader of your party was found liable for sexual assault but you find that not believable i mean he hung out with jeffrey epstein but like

that doesn't that doesn't like bother you like women who were trafficked by epstein were at mar-a-lago like they worked at mar-a-lago donald trump whiskey lane maxwell like that like that doesn't bother you like there's the matt gates uh report the ethics report which talks about how uh they found substantial evidence of statutory rape of a 17 year old while he was on all these drugs and trump appointed him to be the attorney general and then he backed out of attorney general but like he's like a hero of the MAGA movement I'm like thinking to myself you know are you reading these messages like you're oh you know all of the MAGA republicans other than those in the ethics committee pretty much tried to cover up for Gates I mean they're the party that was going to try to cover up statutory

rape you know and and like it's like you're like you're okay with this? I just think about the double standards. If Democrats, put it this way, Democrats are getting attacked for things that are made up and don't exist, that aren't even happening. And that's disqualifying. Yet alone, if Democrats actually did any of these, I mean, could you imagine if President Biden was out there posting about going to war with Denmark to use the military against Panama? Put it this way. If President Biden said it, no one would be like, oh, he's trolling. People would be like, oh, he's trolling. People would be like, oh, he's ready to go. Because when a leader speaks, you should speak with clarity when you say things like that.

It's incomprehensible to me that you would do that just to troll. It has real ramifications. When we talk about what's going on in the international community, think about from the perspective of Russia and China, where Russia's territorial ambitions, not just of Ukraine, but of other neighbors, whether it's Finland, Poland, whatever neighbor. Donald Trump, by saying he thinks it's acceptable to annex Canada and take over Greenland and Panama, gives by itself justification for what you do. It's no longer the law of international law. It's the law of the strong. And I'm telling you in a law of the strong international geopolitical realm, you need allies, idiot. You need allies. If you're going to go that way, you need allies. And in the law of the strong, the guy who claimed bone spurs to avoid fighting in Vietnam ain't going to win the law of strong versus a former KGB agent in Vladimir Putin. Let's be very clear there. Donald Trump invited President Xi Jinping

to his inauguration and Xi Jinping said, no. I want to be clear. Don't you think that it justifies China's one China policy? For all this talk that Republicans, we're supporting Taiwan and we need to stop China. All their tough talk on China. Y'all realize that by Donald Trump just spouting this stupid rhetoric and this dangerous rhetoric justifies China taking over Taiwan because they go, why don't we get Taiwan? You're saying Canada and Mexico and Greenland and Panama. So we say Taiwan and we say, think about what you're doing and the way you're destabilizing the entire world. We'll talk about that. We'll talk a little bit about some of these court cases. We're going to

take our last break of the day. I'm trying to get a hold of Brett to try to give everybody an update. I haven't gotten a hold of him yet. We'll do our best to get you an update there. Make sure to hit subscribe here. Oh, by the way, make sure you subscribe to our audio podcast as well. That's important. And so just search the Midas Touch podcast. Even if you don't listen on audio, it helps us a lot if you subscribe because it helps with those audio numbers and that helps us get more sponsors. So subscribe to the audio as well. And also don't just subscribe to this YouTube channel, which by the way is free, turn your notifications on for the YouTube channel. You may subscribe, but not have your notifications on. So if you subscribe and have your notifications on,

it sends you an update every time we drop a new video. So do that also. Thank you to our mods who are working really, really hard. We appreciate you. Remember, MidasPlus.com. And then separately, you can check out Patreon.com slash MidasTouch as well. And we'll take a quick break, our last quick break, and we've got a bunch to discuss when we get back. Your nighttime bedroom temperature has a huge impact on your sleep quality if you wake up too hot or too cold i highly recommend you check out miracle maids bed sheets miracle made sheets are inspired by nasa and use silver infused fabrics that are temperature regulating so you can sleep

at the perfect temperature all night long i get so many emails from the Midas Mighty saying how great Miracle-Made sheets are and how it's changed their lives for the better. Here's why. It uses silver-infused fabrics inspired by NASA. So therefore, Miracle-Made sheets are thermoregulating and designed to keep you at the perfect temperature all night long, no matter the weather, so you get better sleep every night. Now, these sheets are also infused with silver, as I said, and that prevents up to 99.7% of bacterial growth, leaving them to stay cleaner and fresh three times longer than other sheets. So no more gross odors. Also, Miracle Sheets are luxuriously comfortable without that high price tag of other luxury brands.

And it feels as nice to me, if not nicer, than the sheets used by some five-star hotel. So upgrade your sleep this year. Go to trymiracle.com slash Midas. That's T-R-Y-M-I-R-A-C-L-E dot com slash M-E-I-D-A-S to try Miracle Made sheets today. And whether you're buying them for yourself or as a gift for a loved one, if you order today, you can save over 40%. And if you use our promo code Midas at checkout, you'll get a free three piece towel set and save an extra 20%. Miracle is so confident in their product. It's backed with a

30 day money back guarantee. So if you aren't 100% satisfied, you'll get a full refund. So upgrade your sleep with Miracle-Made. Go to trymiracle.com slash Midas and use the code Midas to claim your free three-piece towel set and save over 40% off. Again, that's trymiracle.com slash Midas to treat yourself. Thank you, Miracle-Made, for sponsoring this episode. What does the future hold for business? You ask nine experts, you get 10 different answers. Bull market, bear market. Will rates rise? Will rates fall? Can someone please invent a crystal ball? Until then, over 40,000 businesses have future-proofed their business with NetSuite by Oracle, the number one cloud ERP, bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, HR into one fluid platform. With one unified business management suite, there's one

source of truth giving you the visibility and control you need to make quick decisions like we need to do at the Midas Touch Network. With real-time insights and forecasting, you're peering into the future with actionable data. You know I love data. When you're closing the books in days, not weeks, you're spending less time looking backwards and more time on what's next. That's why I use this and you should too. So whether your company is earning millions or even hundreds of millions, NetSuite helps you respond to the immediate challenges and seize your biggest opportunities. Speaking of opportunity, download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning at netsuite.com slash Midas. The guide is free to you at netsuite.com slash Midas. That's N-E-T-S-U-I-T-E.com slash Midas.

One more time, go to netsuite.com slash Midas. Thanks, NetSuite. Some really wonderful sponsors. Links in description of youtube and audio click the use the codes let them know we sent you benji where to yeah let's talk about some of donald trump's threats internationally i when i do this though i want to go back to a theme i've been talking about, which is weapon of mass distraction. WMD is we always, we need to take what Trump says seriously when he threatens foreign countries, because it has serious implications and we're seeing serious reactions from serious people in foreign countries, okay, it has a serious impact.

And the fact that it's just a troll, I don't buy that, but I do think it's part, I think he's just reckless, outrageous, but it's dangerous. And I think you have to assume if you're a foreign country that he may do the things he says he's going to do, which is why the European Union's joint defense agreement is essentially being triggered, right? They're saying, okay, they've had meetings. European leaders are basically saying, look, if Trump's doing this, we need to make clear that we will support each other in a war against the United States of America if he tries to take over the sovereignty of a nation, that we will go to war with America. I can't even believe I'm saying those words,

that our allies in Europe have to now think about using their military in a war against the United States because Donald Trump is threatening war against Europe right now while attacking just all of our allies? I mean, this reckless attack on everybody, you're just going to go it alone? Don't you think that's going to play right into the hands of Putin and China? And then you just hear these MAGA Republican Congress members and it's like, do they make this brand of idiot in a factory, like a MAGA factory? I mean, who uses language like that? I'm not going to show you the videos, but I'll just tell you what they said. The MAGA Republicans are saying things like this. This is Brandon Gill. Trust me, you don't want to hear

this guy's voice anyway. He goes, President Trump is bringing us into a golden age of America. This is the new manifest destiny, reacquiring the Panama Canal, acquiring Greenland, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. This is the light of America expanding. If you all have an opportunity, watch the interview I did with Corey Hargraves, who when he was 18 years old, he left the Native American reservation where he was living, grew up poor, single mom. And he joined the army. He became an army sniper. He served two tours in Iraq in very, very serious war zones. And he shared with me one specific moment where he took another human's life at close range. He shared what that experience was like.

This is an individual who, as a sniper, saw things in war that I don't even need to say. He came back to the home front and dealt with things that I don't even need to say, but you could imagine what he dealt with. Got in trouble with the law, but turned his life around. And I speak to him because he's the type of person, he shares with me a story, that will be going to wars that Donald Trump is starting on social media. That Trump is picking these wars with Canada, with Denmark, Mexico. And he's going to send. This wasn't the whole thing from MAGA that he's going to stop a hypothetical World War III from happening. But no, he wants to be the bad guy in World War III.

He wants to be the conquering nation in World War III. Well, that makes sense to you, MAGA, but it does for, for MAGA. They're like into this. You take a look at Ansley Earhart on Fox. And,

you know, these are just exemplars. I could show you so many more of this where she's like, it would make sense that we take Greenland for war purposes. It would make sense that we take Greenland for war purpose. What, what, what are you talking about? Here's a sense that we take Greenland for war purposes? What are you talking

about? Here's a meme that we posted. Voters, can we get lower gas prices? And it's from the pawn shop store, Pawn Stars, whatever it's called. Trump, best I can do is invade Canada. I mean, the whole thing was lower prices, egg prices, housing, all of these things, right? That's what corporate media was telling us. This is why they voted Trump. But now, if you notice too, when Democrats are going on like CNN and corporate media, maybe you're not even watching it anymore. They'll be saying, yeah, but what about lower prices? What about this?

And the corporate media is like, but people like Donald Trump because he's braggadocious. They like his bravado. They like the negotiating. It's like, what are you talking? What the hell is this? Invading Greenland? Again, imagine if Biden talked about invading Greenland. He would be impeached immediately by Democrats, may I add.

I want you to think about them. And this is somehow a normal discussion even amongst corporate media that this is something that's going to happen. And so, you know, there's all these articles about how Russian is cheering for Trump. He will dismantle the remnants of the old world order much faster and more effectively than we could. We do it from the outside. He does it from within. And for Russia, they're like, great, now we can lay claim to Estonia, Finland, Poland, and other nations. The chancellor of Germany has to warn Donald Trump about taking control of Greenland. The foreign minister of France has to warn Donald Trump about attacking European nations. You have Claudia Scheinbaum, the president of Mexico,

kind of just trolling Donald Trump with the map of Mexico from 1608 and basically saying, maybe we should rename this Mexico and Mexican American or Mexico America, basically, you know, and Claudia Scheinbaum knows, and a lot of these nations, whether it's Mexico, or if you go towards Central America, or if you go towards getting this, we'll cut the, we'll cut the show short soon, actually. You have to go. And I could go for like two or three more minutes, because I hope it's not

coming into the area where I moved to, but everybody heard that one right there. But I want you to just think about, you know, they'll lean towards China, they'll lean towards, you know, other nations and just new alliances

are going to be formed as a result of that. We'll try to get you more clarity from Brett. I know Brett's been trying to leave. We'll post something. Maybe we'll post something on MidasPlus.com or Patreon. We'll post something there to try to give people an update there. And look, we appreciate you all for watching this. I'm going to go and figure out what this is. Go for it. Keep me posted.

Anyway, everybody, we'll close the show anyway. I think we've said everything. The only updates on the court cases is that New York's highest court rejected Donald Trump's appeal, and we'll see what happens ultimately with this sentencing. So we'll figure that out. But Trump lost over and over and over again. He lost at the trial court, the appellate division, and then the top court, which is called the Court of Appeals there. So he's a triple loser there all right everybody thank you to our pro democracy sponsors the links are in the description below hit subscribe here help us get to uh four million uh subscribers we appreciate you greatly and uh thank you for watching all right right. Shout out to the Midas Mighty. The Midas Mighty standing strong. Against the fascists we sing our song.

We will get it right whenever. Hey, Midas Mighty. Love this report. Continue the conversation by following us on Instagram at Midas Mighty. Love this report? Continue the conversation by following us on Instagram, at Midas Touch, to keep up with the most important news of the day. What are you waiting for? Follow us now.