The MeidasTouch Podcast - Taking a Doocy with Rep. Eric Swalwell

Episode Date: July 20, 2021

On today's episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast, the brothers sit down with Congressman Eric Swalwell of California’s 15th Congressional District. During the interview, the team takes a deep dive into the new and expanded edition of Congressman Swalwell’s book, #Endgame: Inside the Impeachment of Donald Trump, which takes you behind the scenes of the January 6th Insurrection. Congressman Swalwell dishes on what it’s like associating with his “performative” GQP colleagues, the response around the upcoming January 6th commission from the radical right & the status of his lawsuit against Mo Brooks, Rudy Giuliani and the Trump family. The conversation is rounded out with the brothers talking about their latest viral moment involving Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, which was assisted by the comedic genius of Walter Masterson. Finally the brothers talk about what the heck a “Fox Clear Pass” is and the overall hypocrisy of Fox “News.” If you enjoyed today’s episode please be sure to rate, review and subscribe to The MeidasTouch Podcast. Thank YOU for listening! Pre-order the expanded edition Rep. Swalwell's book Endgame here. Buy Meidas Merch here. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/meidastouch/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/meidastouch/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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what's up Midas mighty welcome to the Midas Podcast. Ben Micellis, joined by my brothers, Brett Micellis and Jordy Micellis. We have an incredible show. You know it's an incredible show when we have Congressman Eric Swalwell from California's 18th Congressional District. And Congressman Swalwell has recently released his expanded edition of the book End Game inside the impeachment of Donald Trump. And in the expanded edition, we go from the prior instances of sedition leading to the second impeachment to the new forms of sedition in the January 6th. It's really the problem of the Trump and post-Trump era, right? It's like you can't write something, release it, and then have it not be kind of dated by the time

it comes out. Isn't that really just the biggest metaphor for the entire Trump presidency as it was? It was one thing after another. Absolutely. And I had a chance to read this expanded edition of Congressman Suarez book. It's incredible. He's got obviously and tragically eyes on the ground of the January 6th insurrection. All that stuff is he was a target. They were trying to kill him.

Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy. And so if you want to read about what the insurrection was like from a person who was targeted by the domestic terrorists on January 6th, you got to get this book. And everybody loves Congressman Swalwell. Absolutely. By the way, did you guys see the photo with him in his shirt off? I don't know if they got to him, man. I think Swalwell would have like, you know, I think he would have handled his own. Should I ask him about that when he got it? You won't. You won't out you won't you won't you won't you won't think i will ask you don't think i'll ask it as the first question

all right can that is the first question if the bet's on i will ask congressman congressman swalwell is coming on the show for the second and last time I think that's what we just learned. He won't know it's a dare from the brothers, but I never back down from a challenge. Speaking of someone who doesn't back down from a challenge, how about our buddy Walter Masterson? Walter did a masterful job this weekend trolling Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Green as they were basically

booed and kicked out of every venue here in Orange County where they were trying to do their America Last tour, which they're just completely unwelcomed here in California. They got the opposite of a hero's welcome. So they moved their event to the beach where we had Walter Masterson, who does these incredible videos for Midas Touch, confront them and let them know. I think very reasonably so. I think he told he was dressed in the American flag. By the way, that's how everybody was dressed there. He was doing the joke how all these MAGAs disgraced the flag by engaging in insurrections by desecrating the flag on flag clothing. Well, Ben, I remember on an episode a while ago, shortly after the insurrection,

I remember somebody was talking about blending in with the insurrectionists on January 6th. One of your comments was like, well, to blend in, you'd have to wear like a headpiece and camo. And like, you'd have to be dressed up in this insurrectionist cosplay. You can't just be there wearing like a uniform or a suit or a normal t-shirt. And that's what Walter does when he trolls these people. And he blends in by looking as outrageous as possible. And so just to set it up with some context, we'll play the clip for if you haven't seen this, but at this point, just about 3 million people have seen it on Twitter alone. It's everywhere. I don't know how you could have missed this clip. It's the best clip on the planet. But Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene came to California. They were rejected by three separate

venues, had booked them and then told them, you know what? No, thanks. We don't want accused pedophiles and conspiracy theorists and anti-Semites in our building. We don't want your stank in our building. I'll read the exact quote from Riverside Mayor Pro Tem Gabby Placencia. She said, and I apologize, Gabby, if I got your last name wrong. It's Riverside is a diverse and inclusive community. So it is heartening to hear that the event will not move forward. nothing. And so then they thought they were going to do this whole heroic show on the beach. And they were going to get this gigantic crowd around them and show them that they cannot be canceled. Long story short, they get there. And I would say there were under 100 people there to see them.

And they were greeted with far more of a, I'm just going to say, not so positive reception than I believe they hoped. And let's play the video that we got. This video combines Walter's interaction with Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz. And for those who can't see the video, for those who are just listening, he gets right up to them, has his arms around them while this is going on. And then we'll show you what a crowd of protesters were doing outside the event they held. Oh my God, I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I mean, everyone thinks you're crazy. I don't think you're crazy. People think you're a pedophile. I don't think you're a pedophile at all. I don't think he's a pedophile at all.

The charges against him are totally false. They're totally false. Oh, my God. Pedophile! Pedophile! Pedophile! Pedophile! That's a crowd chanting pedophile outside of Matt Gaetz's impromptu rally in Riverside, California. Man, what an embarrassment. What an utter embarrassment. And the funny thing about Walter there is Walter was acting like he was a supporter of Matt Gates and Marjorie Taylor Greene. And he goes, just in case he couldn't hear it through the thing, he turns to Marjorie Taylor Greene. He goes, everyone says you're crazy. I don't think you're crazy at all. Turns to Matt Gates. Everyone says you're a pedophile. I don't think you're a pedophile at all. The

charges are false. The charges are false. And him saying to matt gates that matt gates is not a pedophile upset him and you see in real time matt gates's face drop and security usher him out of the area meanwhile the entire time marjorie has no clue what just happened she has zero idea thumbs up the whole time everything's great he loves us right this is one of our supporters because her supporters are as crazy as Walter was pretending to be or much crazier, in fact. And so what a great moment. It's great to be able to speak truth to power on a level that few others get to do. We are honored to take that mantle and we're thankful to have Walter on the team to do some amazing stuff like that. That was incredible. Do you think someone had to explain to Marjorie Taylor Greene afterwards that that wasn't a supporter?

Like, I still don't think she fully understood. No, I think rumor has it she's still standing there on Huntington Beach with her thumbs up and hasn't moved since. So I don't know. Has anyone been to Huntington Beach? I would check, see if there is Marjorie Taylor Greene hanging out on the beach, thumbs up,

just froze there in time. Hey, brothers, do you remember when we sued Marjorie Taylor Greene in federal court in California for blocking us and we compelled her to settle the case? And then we took the settlement money and donated it to groups that support common sense gun reform such that Caitlyn Jenner mocked Marjorie Taylor Greene when Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked Caitlyn Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner mocked Marjorie Taylor Greene for settling with us so that we could give the money to.

Is this even real world? And when we talk about this even real life and then when we're off and ask like why just what's your motivation why would you send walter you know there what why do you why do you do that the answer is very simple because it's fucking hilarious that's the answer number one like let's like sometime occam's razor sometimes the simplest answer is the is the true answer. But two, if you're Marjorie Taylor Greene, you're Matt Gaetz, you're engaged in this fascist cosplay and you're part of the clown show. We are going to expose what a clown you are. If you think you're going to get some easy ride riding in your little clown car? Not in our state,

not in our country. We are going to confront you every minute, every hour and every day and let the world know not just that you're insurrectionist traitors, but that you are clowns. In fact, you give clowns a bad name. And the clown community is even ashamed of... The clown community is ashamed of that. No, don't laugh, Brett. I agree. Comparing them to clowns is really an insult to clowns. There is a community out there,

Brett, of clowns who go to conventions. I'm sure there's probably different tiers of clowns. There's probably a panel of clowns who talk about their clown antics and how to make big parties and big events. And there's probably clowns that do aerobics, clowns that do water tricks. And they. Yes. What? You know, with the little flower lapel pins and they go, OK, water. And so the point of what I'm saying is those clowns look at Marjorie Taylor Greene and

go, uh-uh, we don't accept you. Yes, yes, yes. It's absolutely true. Speaking about clowns, let's talk about a clown who reality has caught up with. This is one of the capital insurrectionists who was sentenced to eight months in prison, probably should have been sentenced to more for breaching the Senate. This is Paul Hodgkins, the 38 year old Floridian, is now the first Capitol insurrectionist charged with a felony to be sentenced. He pled guilty last month to obstructing congressional proceedings. And this is what the judge, U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss of Washington said. participated in a larger event that threatened the Capitol and democracy itself. The judge went on to say that this would be a stain on our democracy, not just for a day, but for decades to come. I'm glad that there was an outcome of these individuals being sentenced now, but also at the same time, I think that eight months is a bit light. But what that's

signaling to other insurrectionists is plead guilty now, say what you did, tell us who inspired you to do this, or that time's going to go up and up and up. I'm happy to get your legal analysis on this, Ben, because as you know, the legal AF fans, for those who listen to Legal AF every Sunday, are ravenous for your and Popak's legal analysis. Can we talk about that, Popak? We expect to be back on next Sunday. Apparently, we have a very lax vacation policy here at Midas Touch. He just gets to go on vacation for weeks and weeks and weeks. Popox has been on vacation now for about two and a half

weeks. Can't be bothered with Midas Touch Legal AF. I mean, I was out of state the other day. You know what I did? I packed up my podcast equipment in my toiletry bag. I mean, I probably

should just get a podcast bag, but I literally came with the case. They gave us a case where you have the case. You have a case. Well, I put it in my toothpaste in my toiletry bag and I brought that cross country to do the podcast. I think it is completely unacceptable that Popak just thinks that he does. You shouldn't have to do legal AFs every weekend, but we will be talking about this more on legal AF. And I want to make one other observation, brothers, which is, can we talk about this new live format? I love the live format. I'm really digging it.

I want to thank everybody right now who is tuning in live to watch us on YouTube. And everybody who's listening, make sure live to watch us on YouTube and everybody who's listening, make sure that you subscribe to our YouTube channel. It's youtube.com slash Midas touch. That's M E I D A S T O U C H subscribe. If you're watching right now, live and you're not subscribed, hit the subscribe button and hit the thumbs up button because we're going to be doing this a lot more. If not for every single episode, we think this is a great way to bring you content with our amazing guests and hopefully we'll be able to do it every single time. This is a lot of fun. It's

a great new format. So please come join us. I'm pointing to the subscribe button right now for everybody. I just don't know where I'm going to be positioned in the screen, so I'm pointing everywhere down. Good work, Jordy. Thanks for pointing. High quality broadcasting right there, Jordy and myself. Now, I want to switch gears to serious topic, which is we are seeing COVID spikes across the country. 21 days ago, 11,871 cases. 14 days ago, 13,164 cases. Seven days ago, 19,455 cases. Right now, 32,287 cases a day. These cases largely stem from the highly contagious Delta variant and generally stem from to an extent of about 99 plus percent from the unvaccinated population. Dr. Rob Davidson, a emergency room physician, stated every single COVID-19 patient in the past week has been unvaccinated.

Play the clip. But explain to us why you said what you did, that you don't blame your patients, you blame Fox. Listen, I've seen several COVID patients now every shift for the past week, and every single one of them has been unvaccinated. When I see other patients, you know, I offer them the vaccine. I try to talk to them about the vaccine. And so many of them are just shutting down the conversation. I had one patient tell me they're afraid of the ingredients in the vaccine. And I asked, well, which ingredients? And they said, well, I don't really know what's in it. And, you know, we're in a highly Republican area, about 40% vaccination rate, about 70% voted for the former president. And when you see what's

being put out there on the airwaves with Fox and other organizations, and then that is, you know, shared on Facebook, and it just hits that echo chamber. It is undeniable that these messages are getting through to patients and they're avoiding something that can prevent them from getting extremely sick or potentially dying. We see that echo chamber at work. The former guy put out a statement this weekend. I don't want to read it and give it any additional airtime. Suffice to say that it was fueling anti-vax sentiment and fueling people to question and doubt the efficacies of the vaccine. And just this morning, we're talking about the echo chamber here on Fox News, Papa Deucey on Fox.

Papa Deuce, Papa Deucey. Wait, wait, wait. Is it Papa Deuce? Pop Deuce or is it Papa Deuce? Just so I'm really clear on that. Art is up for the audience to interpret, Jord that. Art is up for the audience to interpret, Jordy. Art is up for the audience to interpret. Can we do live real-time votes, like put up a vote there? Should he be called Papa Deuce and his son is taking a little Deucey because he's the younger? Well, we've already established, and I hope everybody starts to use this, that if ever a journalist, and Peter De, Peter Doocy just happens to be the

journalist who this happens to every single day. But if a journalist asks a really stupid, bad faith question to Jen Psaki and gets Psaki bummed, it is hereby known as taking a Doocy. And so this I use in a sentence. It's like, man, he really took a Doocy today in that press briefing, guys. You know, he's taking some big do sees today. That means, you know, if I take if I do a deposition as a lawyer and I've asked really bad questions, I hope that my associates would say, you know, you took some you took a do see during that deposition. It's going to become as famous as a cock spot from last week, guys, which is taking off, by the way. Taking a do see is the cock spot of journalism. Congressman Swalwell will hate us

if I do ask that question first. And if we name this episode, taking a Ducey with Congressman Swalwell, we will never get good congressional guests on this podcast ever again, which is kind of our goal is to do that. So you think that's got to be the name, Jordy? I think it has to be, to be honest. Yeah, I think it might have to be. But on a serious note,

I want to ask you guys, how do you think we reverse this trend right now? We're obviously seeing COVID spike and we've seen so many different attempts to get these people who refuse to be vaccinated, vaccinated. I mean, California is doing like lotteries. They're giving away money to people who get vaccinated. People are offering free beers and free food and free whatever. Like there are all these various incentive programs around the country and it's not doing anything. But I think the only thing that realistically would actually compel people to actually get vaccinated who refuse at this point is kind of what France is doing. And I don't think it could necessarily work in the United States, but France is basically

saying, okay, you want to go into a cafe? You want to go to a movie theater? You want to go to a conference? You have to show proof that you were vaccinated. If you weren't fully vaccinated, you can't, you can't, you could do whatever you want, but you can't go into, you can't go to a concert. You can't go to a party. I think what they're doing in France, it's great in theory, but obviously we've all seen the footage has been crazy rioting and revolts. And there's no doubt that we would get that here. And look, honestly, there's 31% of this country that we talk about that will not get vaccinated. They're a full on GQP.

We're going to be living with this for a while. That's why it's so important that everyone, even if you are vaccinated, you continue to wear your mask indoors until we start to understand this Delta variant and all these variants and how they align with the vaccines or not. It's really dangerous and it's so frustrating. I know everyone feels very similarly to this, that the people who are putting us at risk now, the vaccinated folks, is everyone who's unvaccinated creating these mutations. And it's just ridiculous and just disheartening. And then they're the first people to complain when mask mandates come back and when other restrictions come back. And I just want to be like, it's your fault, man. It's your fault.

The data that I thought was interesting from France was right after they made that announcement, 2.2 million people signed up for vaccinations within 48 hours after that. Everyone was like, oh shit, I got to get vaccinated to do to do things. Then I guess I guess I got to do it then. I want to point something out here, though. The France system is actually not too different than get this what Fox News is doing with their own employees. So while Fox News, for example, this morning, back to the Papa Deuce example, where Deucey, to his credit, was saying 99 percent of people who are dying are unvaccinated, to which his co-host Brian Kilmeade said that's their choice. Let's play that clip.

But listen, if you didn't get a vaccination, that's your choice. And if you did like I did and and they did and maybe you did, then you should not wear a mask. And if you didn't, if you want to go cliff diving this weekend, you don't have to check with me. It seems a little dangerous, but I'm not going to judge you. And if you go ahead and put yourself in danger, if you feel as though this is not something for you, don't do it. But don't affect my life. Ninety ninety nine percent of the people who are dying from covid are unvaccinated. That's their choice. They don't want to die.

So they are the administration and the government is saying we need the mask mandate to protect the unvaccinated. That is not that's not their job. It's not their job to protect anybody. Let's pause there. That's the idea that the government's job is not to protect anybody. I think it's like quite the grim view of government in general. I think it's like the job. Like what else is government for? I think it literally is like the one thing government is responsible for. It's protecting the people. That's why we have government. That's why it makes sense why

Kilmeade is such an idiot and doesn't know what he's talking about, because I guess fundamentally, he doesn't understand what the government's supposed to be doing. Here's where I'll say, though, and I'll never say this probably about a Fox News host ever again. I kind of partially agree with both of these Fox News hosts, and I'll tell you how. Papadus is saying that 99.5 plus percent of people are dying

because they don't have the vaccine. I think that's an incredible message that needs to get out to the Fox News audience, and I'm very happy that he is. As much as I hate Papadus. I'm very happy that he's saying that on their very popular morning show. Now to kill me, kill me saying if they don't want to get it, they don't want to get it. And part of me, as I've said on this podcast before, kind of feels a little similar that if they don't want to get it at this point, you know, I want to make sure all the immunocompromised are

okay. I want to make sure all the kids are okay. But at this point, if you're a Fox News viewer, and you are willfully ignoring the science here, then if you don't get it and you die, it's on you. It's your fault. Like, go for it. Have fun. I agree. I agree with you. You're right. But they're the reasons for the mutations. Like, yes, yes, fucking go get it. If you like, go get COVID if you don't want the vaccine. But now you're going to put everyone else back at risk. And we see with the mask mandates now back in California, where, breaking news, I'll be visiting you guys in a few weeks.

I wanted to break it on the pod. Hey! When are you coming? August, early August. Early August. That's as much detail as I think you should probably get into. We know your fans, Jordy, are quite intense. Can we play the scoop, though, Brett?

Can we play Ryan Grimm's scoop about the vaccine passport system that's being implemented at Fox News? Just so at the same time, the Laura Ingrams, the Sean Hannity's, the Tucker Carlson's are spreading the lies. I mean, look, 20% of Americans believe in the conspiracy theory, according to a recent study by YouGov and The Economist conducted last week. 20% of Americans believe that microchips may have been planted inside of COVID-19 vaccines. And 100% of those people are carrying around literal microchips in their pocket every day with their cell phones, with their watches, with their computers, their iPads, whatever they have. Literally, I'm sure they all use navigation systems. It's just a ridiculous thing to be like, oh, the COVID vaccine is going to give me a tracker, which is a crazy thing to

say. You know what gets people all the time, too, that they don't realize? Credit cards. Credit card. Big time. Yeah. Well, look, at the end of the day, it's a crazy theory. It's part of the disinformation echo chamber of Fox News that Dr. Rob Davidson was talking about in the earlier clip.

But let's just hear a little bit about Fox's vaccine passport system, which seems that the exact thing that they rail against publicly. Yet Fox itself has a very different attitude. A Fox worker sent me a note they got recently from their H.R. department, and it reads, Thank you for providing Fox with your vaccination information. You no longer are required to complete your daily screening through work care. Work matters. However, please continue to monitor your health and stay home if you experience any of the symptoms. Please keep this email and image stored in a safe place where you will be able to access

it easily. You will be asked to provide it upon entering Fox Work locations. Coming up on the next episode of Tucker Carlson, a dystopian 1984 communist Marxist philosophy network is instituting vaccine passports. Could you guess who it is? We'll be and it's fucking Fox News. OK, I think Jordy does the Tucker impression. That was a fine impression. That was a fine impression. And on the on the bottom of this, if you don't want to call it a vaccine passport, it has a stamp like a passport that says clear to work. It could not be more of a vaccine pass. And by the way, it is.

Let's be clear. It is the smart, common sense thing to do there and other companies. It's what should be happening. But at the same time, don't be spewing your WWE style bullshit, your lies, your disinfo wars to all of your followers who are who you are literally killing. At the end of the day, that's the problem for them. It's all performative. It's all an act. But people really believe them. People believe these crazy Matt Gaetz's of the world and these politicians, a small group, a core group. But people believe them and die from the disinfo

they receive from Fox News. At the same time, Fox News is doing this. So, Brett, what can we do? We need to expose this story more. We need to say it loud and clear that Fox News is doing this and we need to hold them to account publicly. And it can't just fall on the shoulders of Midas Touch. I mean, we have a great reach, but it's on your shoulders, too, to go out there and tell everybody what's going on, to tell the people you know, to get the word out there. Now, someone who's getting the word out there, a congressman who I so deeply admire from my home state of California, Congressman Eric Swalwell will be on the Midas Touch podcast when we get back after these messages. What's up, Midas Mighty?

Ben, Brett, and Jordy here. I see Brett wearing his Midas Touch gear. I see Jordy wearing his Midas Touch gear. What's up, Ben? Do I need to go to the Midas merch store? I think you do, B. That's why it's always projection with these people, right? And Ben included. I mean, he always complains about the suits. And he's the one guy in the button up shirt today, looking good, trying to act like he's a real attorney out there in an office, all fancy and

stuff. But no, we wear a Midas touch gear anywhere. It doesn't matter if you're at the office, if you're at the supermarket, if you're recording the pod. Jordy and I are rocking it right now. Jordy's got his shout out to the Midas Mighty shirt. I got my original Midas Touch logo gear and I got my GQP repellent, a.k.a. my Vax. Oh, there you go. Which is just my favorite. People love GQP repellent.

Well, you need to now, especially, you know, especially as the variants are on the rise. I think it's important to spread pro-vaccine messages to all your friends and to let everybody around you know, hey, you could be comfortable around me. I am vaccinated. And it kind of doubles at this point, because as we were as we talk about, it says, hey, you know what? I'm not a Fox News watcher and I'm definitely not a member of the GQP. That's my favorite part about that is that it definitely shows everyone that you do not watch Fox News, which is very important, but equally as important, maybe more important, definitely more important.

Let's everyone know around you that you're vaccinated. It's a safe environment for everyone around you. And let me just say this, guys. Ever since we started doing merch, I haven't worn any clothes that aren't Midas merch. I'm dead serious. My clothes that aren't Midas merch. I'm dead serious. So my whole wardrobe is the Midas merch as well. I do agree. And make sure to check out everything else we got in the store because we've got new products coming basically every few days now at

this point. And one of the most recent things I'm excited about is our dog products and our cat products. Be a proud demo cat or be a dog for democracy at the Midas Touch store and get your pets the items that they need to be pro-democracy pets. So watch the Congressman Swalwell interview that's coming up right now. But then go to store.midastouch.com. That's store.midastouch.com. Post your photos of Midas Touch gear and we'll retweet it. Let's bring in the congressman. Welcome back to the Midas Touch podcast. We are joined by Congressman Eric Swalwell from

California's 15th congressional district, also one of the impeachment managers in impeachment part two. And of course, the of Trump and of course, author of a new expanded edition of the book Endgame inside the impeachment of Donald Trump, which takes you behind the scenes of the January 6th insurrection. Welcome to the podcast, Congressman Eric Swalwell. Hey, Ben. Thanks for having me back. Thanks, fellas. So, Congressman, I got to ask you from the jump.

Here at Midas Touch, we ask the difficult, hard-hitting questions. So, these photographs with your shirt off, okay, do you take them to intentionally – we'll get into the serious stuff, but do you take them to drive the GQP or the GOP and Fox News crazy? Or is it just is it just hot outside? Probably hot outside. I'm sorry that anyone has a sad dad bod. I went to Qatar to meet with the emir. I did meet with the emir, their leader. I met with our ambassador. And yes, for three minutes, I got on a camel with my wife and another colleague because I was on a beach.

I mean, on the contrary, Congressman, what a concept. A lot of Midas touch fans have been calling for a Midas touch calendar. And I saw quite a few Midas touch followers asking for Congressman Swalwell to be included in this future Midas Touch calendar. So I would take that. If you just called that a dad bod, I will sign up for that dad bod 10 out of 10 times, Congressman. You know what they say? You know, Washington is like Hollywood for ugly people. You not included, Congressman.

You excluded. All right. Let's get into the serious stuff. We need the Congressman to come back as a guest again in the future. So I want to know about the expanded edition of the end game, because the fact that you had to write an expanded edition, I suppose that kind of what took place before January 6th in retrospect was I thought was the worst of the worst. But it turns out that was like sedition light. It was almost diet sedition. And now we have kind of full fledged, full blown hatred for democracy by Trump and his lackeys.

I assume that's some of the reason for writing this new edition. Yeah, no shit. Sedition light is a good way to describe it and i don't think writing a second book was not in the works especially when i had to add four chapters on an insurrection an inauguration and an impeachment but also as you pointed out an s and the title right now it's end game inside the impeachments of donald trump and you know ernest hemingway wrote a book called The Sun Also Rises. And there's an exchange in that book that I think is pretty relevant here,

where one of the characters has gone bankrupt and his friend is asking him, you know, hey, what happened? How did you lose all your money? And the bankrupt character said, two ways, gradually and suddenly. And in many ways, that feels like, you know, the Trump presidency, you know, how did the country get to this point? How was he impeached twice? How did we have an insurrection? Well, gradually, and suddenly, you know, it built up from the second he, I mean, as a candidate taking help from a foreign country, to the, you know, second, he was in office, taking foreign emoluments,

governing corruptly, cruelly. And then, of course, the inflection points of asking Ukraine to put dirt on his opponent and then asking a mob to descend on the Capitol to fight like hell on his behalf. There was the decision made in the second impeachment not to call people like Kevin McCarthy and, you know, others who were having conversations with Trump and potentially aiding and abetting the insurrection. As we look to the January 6th select committee and what's going on there and you look back on that decision not to call, you know, some of those members of Congress and other potential witnesses. Do you look back and think that, hey, at that time, that's the right decision? We focused on building infrastructure and building the country, and now we're going to focus on that? Or do you look back on that moment as a potential miss? Yeah, no, I wish we could have heard from them. And if you recall, the first witness that we invited was Donald Trump. Before the trial started, we said we wanted to hear from him. And of course, he turned us down. And we were hearing, as we were pursuing other relevant witnesses, every door we were knocking on, we were being told by lawyers that if you subpoena my clients, we will fight you all the way to the Supreme Court. And in our mind, you know, because you have to have some perspective here, we were

thinking about Don McGahn. And in the summer of 2019, we issued a subpoena for Don McGahn on the Judiciary Committee as it related to the Mueller report. And it was just about a month and a half ago that he actually finally worked out an arrangement to come in in a closed door deposition. I mean, it took way too long to do that. And so you're right, with the Senate having to confirm Joe Biden's nominees, wanting to get COVID relief and infrastructure done, the pressure of the Senate was bearing down on us. And I don't think the Select Committee has the same pressure. And I hope, as Chairman Thompson has said, no witness is off limits, which would include Trump, McCarthy at all. And we now have the January 6th Select Committee has been assembled.

The first hearing is coming up from what I hear. Next week, it'll be focused on the law enforcement officers, metropolitan police officers from D.C., United States Capitol police officers. Any updates? Are the Republicans that you're aware of, are they going to join that or are they not joining it? What's the status of that? Yeah, I mean, you're right. It's a great question because every opportunity that they've had to honor the police, they have seen it as either honoring the police or honoring Donald Trump. And so they've chosen Trump and they've dishonored the police. But those witnesses will be so relevant to really animating the ground truth of that day, a ground truth that

Kevin McCarthy and so many others have tried to rewrite or erase. And I think that's a good starting point. So people understand, I mean, this was not just, you know, a short burst event, that this was an hours long, hand to hand, armed conflict where we left the House floor, we stopped counting the votes, went to a secret location, those Tiro's stayed at the Capitol, one officer lost an eye. Another officer lost a couple of fingers. One officer lost his life. Two others, you know, would die by suicide days later. And I think it's so important to really just stamp that, you know, to, you know, etch that into the history of America so that it cannot be ever erased. What do you think is going on right now with Pence? We hear all about these stories about how fearful he was also of the coup effort, that

he was obviously a target of assassination by the insurrectionists. And the fact that he still kind of comes out supportive, at least publicly, of this insurrectionists and the fact that he still kind of comes out supportive, at least publicly, of this insurrectionist agenda when he was the target. Can we square this away at all? Is he just completely lost his mind? Like, what do you make of that? I mean, at this point, I actually don't think there's a gray area. I look at it as a very binary position we're in, which is either as democracy is on life support right now. And I mean that it is on life support right now. Yes, we survived this coup attempt. We inaugurated Joe Biden with, you know, 50,000, you know, armed National Guardsmen. We're on life support. And you're either trying to resurrect democracy,

or you are working to pull the plug. And I don't think anything Mike Pence has done so far puts him in the camp with Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, the only two Republicans I know who are really truly out there trying to resurrect democracy. And with this January 6th committee, you mentioned it earlier in this interview, and you also tweeted about it that, you know, no one is off limits. Do you believe that Trump, McCarthy, people like that who were involved in the insurrection, Giuliani are going to be subpoenaed and either forced to invoke or testify when i say that's a you know that's a chairman yeah that's a call for the chairman and the speaker but

they all sound uh you know like relevant witnesses i'll leave it to them to decide but of course you can expect that um because of their collective consciousness of guilt, that they will fight it, you know, and that they will take this up to the courts. And so, again, it just becomes a matter of, you know, how patient are you to find the truth with other pressures of our job coming down on us, which is why I think a Speaker Pelosi always had preferred, you know, an independent bipartisan outside of Congress without the other day-to-day pressures that we have to deal with, a commission like that would have, you know, been much more, you know, beneficial, but that doesn't mean that we do nothing if we can't achieve that. You know,

this is the next best way to get to the truth, but we are going to have to, you know, be honest about who these people are. And honest and courageous and wanting to help their country is at the bottom of the list for them. And for these people who helping the country or supporting the country are at the bottom of the list, I think no one personifies that more than the clown show that rolled into California this weekend with Gates and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who were basically banned from all of the facilities in Anaheim. They met our friend from Midas Touch, Walter Masterson, who met him on the page. So we just wanted to give him a California's welcome. You know, that strain, though, of not just kind of a hatred for our country, but also this stupidity and idiocracy within the GOP, which is why we call them the GQP, because the QAnon side seems to have fully enraptured what that party is about. Hating the country and stupidity seem to be enmeshed. When you see these figures come into California, into our state,

like what goes through your mind? It's pro wrestling, to be honest. Many of my colleagues are better suited to work at the WWE. And I say that about Gates because I've worked with him on marijuana issues. I've worked with him on other issues, especially really before Trumpism took off and he turned into a character. And there were times where he would laugh at himself about how stupid he had to act, you know, to keep, you know, the act going. And that's what's so frustrating is that, and this may sound crazy, but if you ran into Matt Gaetz or Ted Cruz or Jim Jordan, you know, on the Santa Monica Pier, you would say these are nice guys. Boy,

there's nothing like, you know, what I see them do on Twitter or TV. And I write about this in the book. During the impeachment trial in the Senate, Ted Cruz came up to me like we bumped into each other in the Senate bathroom and he said, hey, I think you're doing a great job out there i just want you to know that i'm like what the fuck is this guy talking about he just scorched me on fox news like the night before he tweets at me like every other week but to him if you're a pro wrestler like it doesn't matter that you hit me over the head in the ring with a steel chair it's all all fake, right? You're just doing what the fans want. So I should just be cool with it because he projects onto me what he does.

He thinks that I'm just performing as well. And that's what's most sickening is that I don't even know what these guys believe. Like, I really don't because I think they just are giving what they think the fans want what they think the fans want. what they think the fans want. That's great. Really is crazy. I'm not kidding you. Like I will walk by there is a,

there's a colleague of mine who is a ranking member of one of their committees. And he and I had gone out before it gone to dinner before I tried to work on some issues together, like in the healthcare space. And again, he, he started all of a sudden when it was popular to like tee off on me,

I'd see him on Fox news and I'd see him tweeting at me. And then like a day later we'd pass each other on the congressional steps going up to the Capitol and he'd be like, Hey, I've got a great restaurant that we need to go to. Like let's try and find time to do it. I'm like, what is this? But like to these guys, it's not even real. Like it's not real. What do you say? Are you like, what the hell man? You were bashing me last night. Like, like you think we're friends now?

I just ignore it. I don't even like engage. Like there's just, there's no changing that. But that to me is worse. That's worse than, so I will give credit to Marjorie Taylor Greene. Because when she walks by me, she's not trying to bro out. She's not trying to go to dinner. She wants to kill me. Because she believes in her crazy. Yeah.

And I actually respect that more than Gates and Cruz and others. Because I know they don't... I don't know what they believe in, but I know that just you know trying to manifest whatever they think the fans want them you know to do right they should know better and just like in pro wrestling like if it was popular for like you know the undertaker to go from a bad guy to a good guy like they would be willing to do it tomorrow right like they would be willing if if they thought the fans wanted them to, you know, be a Democrat, like they would do it tomorrow. Like there, there's no core set of principles that these guys are working from at all.

So what do they call it in the wrestling world? They call those heels, right? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Sorry, go ahead. Well, I just, what do you think they're afraid of? Are they afraid of Fox news? Are they afraid of Donald Trump? What is keeping them in that kind of world of WWE? And what is making them think that this is the best path forward for them? They're just afraid that they wouldn't have a ring to perform inside.

So if you have such low self-confidence and a lack of an imagination, and you can't see yourself outside of Congress, then you feel like that's the only option you have. And so you'll do anything to keep the job, which is crazy because you would hope that in the United States Congress, you'd be serving with people who are otherwise employable, right? Like I hope everyone I'm working with like turn down better paying jobs than this one because I thought this is the good of the country. But I've come to find that a lot of them are like they couldn't imagine having to breathe the air outside of Congress. Like it would just be like being on another planet without an office. You said something so great there, Congressman. These

people are unemployable. like if they engaged in this they could not work anywhere else in the world other than as a republican in congress because everyone would look at him and go the fuck are you doing it's so it's it's so insane um well on that note i want to talk to you about accountability because i think one of the one of the frustrations that I transition. There you go. You got to get out of it somehow. Right. I know a lot of the Democratic activists online and elsewhere. They're looking at January 6th. They're going, you know, that's six months ago right now.

Like, where are the prosecutions? Why is Donald Trump still a free man able to cause all this disinformation? Why is Rudy Giuliani still out there? Why is Mo Brooks still out there? And you're one of the few people who's actually taken matters into his own hands by actually filing a lawsuit against Mo Brooks, Don Jr., Donald Trump. First, I'd love to hear what's the status of that lawsuit? What could you tell us about it? So we're in court up against Trump, Trump Jr., Giuliani and Brooks purely for accountability that they sought to prevent me from doing my official act of counting everyone's vote and that they terrorized and traumatized me and my colleagues by aiming the mob that they incited at the Capitol. turtle in a suit like this is what's called the motion to dismiss. And you're seeing that Brooks and Trump especially are saying that you can't even sue me. I was acting in my official capacity. And so if we can show that crazy idea, it's not in your official capacity to fire up a mob and send

it to the Capitol, then we would proceed to what's called depositions, interviews, and then discovery, the process of getting evidence from the other side. And so the holdup, believe it or not, is Mo Brooks, who has spent his entire career wanting to dismantle government and any government service, is asking the court for a government lawyer. Can't make it up. And it also took him a while to get served because he thought this was the three stooges. And that if he's like, just ducked or, you know, they're watching that saga. That was exactly like if,

if they tried to serve them and they were like an inch short that the case goes away, it turns out it's not like that. The court doesn't like that. And typically you'll be ordered to pay for the other person having to go through that. By the way, Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, total pros about getting served, right? Like that wasn't even an issue, which leads me to believe like these guys have done this before. Oh, another lawsuit. All right. Got a full-time employee who receives those um but yeah mo brooks has

delayed this by avoiding service and then now wanting the government lawyer i know you can't speak for necessarily all your colleagues but how could you kind of assuage the doubts of those people out there that are saying the democrats aren't doing enough to hold these people accountable you know yeah and i'm in the camp of like, we can't do enough to hold them accountable. The history will look at us and the judgment that'll be harsh will not be that we did too much, but that we did too little against somebody like Donald Trump and, you know, his gang of the corrupt. So, look, I would say certainly we did enough to win the White House just barely, win the Senate just barely, keep the House just barely. six on voting rights, on background checks, like at some point, like you were allowing, you know, the lowest common denominator of our country to hold back a lot of public good.

And, you know, that's why I'm a big advocate, you know, to break the filibuster where it meets the overwhelming consensus of the American people. And I just want to say this because a defense I hear for keeping the filibuster is if we do this, the Republicans will do the same to us when they have the White House and the Senate and the House. And the truth is, they had that scenario in 2017. And you better believe that Mitch McConnell calculated whether he should have broken the filibuster to pass, for example, an abortion ban. But the reason he didn't is because he knew if he enacted that, if he threw out that procedure to enact something so unpopular, they would pay such a big political price. So I'm not suggesting we break the filibuster to enact something that is wildly unpopular, they would pay such a big political price. So I'm not suggesting we

break the filibuster to enact something that is wildly unpopular. I'm saying break the filibuster to enact background checks that have 90% support, to enact voting rights that have 70% support, you know, to get infrastructure, you know, across the goal line, if that's what it takes. And so there's not going to be a political price. But there will be a price, I think, to our democracy if we allow this relic of the Jim Crow era to hold us back. You said in your book, Biden's victory did not win the game. It was more like it knocked in as a header as the time expired, sending the game into overtime. What is the overtime fight right now? Yeah, we all thought this match between Trumpism and democracy or Biden versus Trump would be resolved in November. And instead, it feels very much like I played soccer growing up.

And so to me, yeah, it was like a goal was scored last second. And we're in extra time right now, which is very anxiety ridden, right, because we know the stakes where we can break the filibuster where needed? Do we get a big enough house that we can support that legislation to get it over to the Senate? And so we have seats to keep, obviously, in the House. But in L.A. County, where Brett and Ben are, we lost by about 300 votes in a House seat in Santa Clarita, Lancaster, Palmdale area. And so we've got to get that seat. That is crucial in this overtime battle. Where Geordie is, you know, we've got an opportunity to pick up a Senate seat, not only in Pennsylvania, but, you know, in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Kentucky, Wisconsin.

There's so many, Iowa, there's so many opportunities in states, you know, that we either won in 2020 or, you know, we're starting to grow back toward a majority. Congressman, do you think the Republican Party is a fascist movement at this point? They enable, they are enabling a fascist movement at this point? They are enabling a fascist, right? I mean, they are lined up squarely behind a fascist. I mean, today, I was just feeding my kids this morning at breakfast. I walked by the television in the living room, and Michael Bender is talking about his new book, and the CNN cryon is, Trump, new book, the CNN cry on is Trump,

new book, colon, Trump praised Hitler. It's like, okay, guys, like, is someone going to say we're not cool with the guy that praised Hitler? Like, over to you, Kevin McCarthy. Like, is this where you guys are going to go? Or are you just, again, going to rewrite it, erase it, or just call it fake news? But if you can't just stand up for the crazy proposition that Hitler is not praiseworthy, then you are lining up to be a fascist party. Now, McCarthy, speaking of him, he flew out to go see Trump, supposedly, connect. We actually debated on this show the reason behind it. Maybe there are multiple

reasons. Now, my opinion on that is, well, the January 6th commission's heating up. They got to get their story straight because McCarthy knows he can't put anything digitally out there because Trump's so incompetent when it comes to that. He wouldn't be scared to throw him under the bus. Do you think when they met that was primarily their conversation? It wouldn't surprise me, but it also wouldn't surprise me if Kevin McCarthy is so scared shitless that Donald Trump is going to figure out that he could be speaker.

And again, McCarthy, he doesn't know much, but he knows that he wants to be speaker. And this idea that is now creeping into the GOP mainstream, because by the way, they do not accept Kevin McCarthy. The true Trump folks, they know he's a phony. Like they know it, they can see it and they will never like him. And he's just kind of a useful idiot right now for Donald Trump. And you know, McCarthy

is scared that Trump is going to figure out, well, I could just be speaker because you don't have to be elected to the house, that you just have to be elected by the members of the house. And now that that's been floated a couple of times, I can just imagine how terrified he is about that. So I bet he asked him a hundred times, like, you're not interested in this, right? I'm just making sure, right? We're still cool. You're running for president. I'm running for speaker. I love it. I love all of it. But yeah, that's, I imagine was a part of that meeting. It's incredible. Shifting gears slightly, a subject that we didn't touch on is, I call them Fox News, need to put the news in quotation marks here. Now, what do you think, this is a loaded question, so I apologize. What do you think of the hypocrisies happening at Fox

News? Now, specifically today, it was announced that they're not mandating their staff or anchors to be vaccinated. But if you're not vaccinated, you need to be tested every day. Or if you are vaccinated, you could apply for something that they call a Fox Clear Pass, which to me sounds an awful like a vaccine passport. Now, this is coming from the company who's been spewing all the anti-vax rhetoric. Now, what does that say about them that they've now implemented their own sort of vaccination card? Again, it just it goes to the pro wrestling culture, right? Like give the fans what they want. But backstage, we're all, you know, we're vaxxed and, you know, hanging out and just kind of laughing at.

They're laughing at, as I've heard Gates and other and you heard Donald Trump in the past, you know, talk about how dumb Republican voters are. They're laughing at these fans because it's keeping them relevant. But, you know, Donald Trump was embarrassed, as we've heard in so many reports. He was embarrassed by the people who stormed the Capitol on January 6th because of how outrageous they looked. So it doesn't surprise me at all. Poor Steve Doocy this morning, right? Like he kind of sounded reasonable when he was telling Brian Kilmeade, you know, 99% of the people who are dying are not vaccinated, just get vaccinated. And like he was, it was as if he was, you know,

as if he had three heads, the way that Brian Kilmeade looked at him. That was Papa Deuce, of course, and little Deuce. Well, yeah, little Deuce is taking a deuce when sake bombs are every single day. So that's Papa Deuce is no comment from the congressman there. But Congressman Swalwell's book, End Game Inside the Impeachment of Donald Trump, the expanded edition is out now. Midas Mighty, go and get that book. And Congressman Swalwell, it is always an honor to have you on the Midas Mighty podcast. Thank you, fellas, for all you're doing. I mean, you, I think, recognize what's at stake. You fired up people to know that this is over time, but you also, I think, appreciate some of the gallows humor that keeps us, you know, and gets us through this during these trying times. Thank you so much, Congressman.

We will be right back after these messages. What's up, Midas Mighty? We've got new merch in the merch store. Brett, tell them about it. New merch line. This is in addition to the hit lines, Club Democracy, Vaxxed and Relaxed. We now have two amazing new designs in case you haven't seen them yet. We got the It Wasn't Rigged, You're Just a Loser shirt. Fan favorite. totally a fan favorite

i am loving it and it's just my favorite like graphic to see all the time it just makes me smile to see that phrase because it is so true and today we are announcing the Midas Touch for the people line we got a for the people tea we got for the people mugs we got for the people mugs. We got for the people totes. So get yours today at store.MidasTouch.com and keep sending pictures of you rocking your Midas Touch Pro Democracy I asked the question you asked the question okay I give you all the credit in the world that was that was very impressive good job I think the interview was off to a little bit of a rough start with it like he was like fuck like should I really have come on should I really have come on this podcast by the end of it though he he'll come back he'll come back as congressman Smallwell said at the end he it, though, he'll come back. He'll come back. As Congressman Swalwell said at the end, he knows that we are a fan of what he referred to as gallows humor

and other sorts of humor to get our points across. So I think he appreciated a little levity in these crazy times. How do you think CNN is asking him about his shirt off? Come on. Hey, definitely take to Twitter and let Congressman know that you love seeing him tonight. Yeah. If you're on Twitter at Congressman Swalwell, I don't know what his ad is, but you'll find it.

It's not that. Congressman Swalwell. It's probably not that. So go and find what he is. It's at Eric Swalwell. And go to at Eric Swalwell and tell him you loved him on the Midas Touch

and that he definitely needs to come back on the podcast. Let's talk about some polling numbers. CBS News poll that just came out shows 66% of Americans say that President Biden is doing a good job of handling the pandemic. Fifty one percent say the child tax credit will help their family. Fifty nine percent approve of Biden's infrastructure proposal. Fifty eight percent of Americans approve of President Biden's job in office. And one hundred percent of

Americans like my radio voice. I think you slipped in something there. I think you slipped in something there at the end. But we'll move. That was not an accurate stat. But let's talk about these statistics. These statistics, though, show that the Biden agenda, that the Biden leadership is popular. Remember, Trump never passed 50 percent, I think, of anything and hovered in the low 40s to mid 30s. In fact, Ben, I looked it up at this same time in the presidency. Trump was 20 points behind where Biden is right now. Trump was at a whopping 38 percent approval rating with the same poll at this point in time. It's still shocking that he had 38 percent.

That's why we always say 31%. I think you have 31% and then you have 7% who just hear president and don't read and don't ever give the president a bad rating because it reflects on them. But speaking of the Biden agenda, tens of millions of families have been sent their first payment of the expanded child tax credit. The beefed up credit will provide them with extra funds each month through the end of 2021, along with a tax break next year. Eligible families can receive a total up to $3,600 for each child under six and up to $3,000 for each one age six to 17 for 2021. That's an increase from the regular child tax credit of up to 2000 for each child up to age 17. And these payments

were approved as part of the Democrats. And I repeat it, the Democrats, $1.9 trillion stimulus package that Biden signed into law in March that I think essentially every Republican opposed. And so what does Fox News say about these incredible tax breaks? Because let's call it what they are. They are tax breaks for the working class. They must be ecstatic about tax cuts, right? The whole Republican notion is tax cuts are the best. So let's take a look at, let's bring up the graphic. Let's take a look at what Fox News is saying about these incredible tax cuts for the working class. Oh, they say White House moves closer to socialism with expanded child tax credit. And they refer to this as Biden's universal baby income. So the party of tax cuts, quote unquote, is now just full on admitting that

their whole idea of tax cuts is that they want billionaires and the extremely, extremely, extremely wealthy to be getting the benefit of that tax cut. And once the working class gets any of this benefit of a tax cut, then it's socialism. That's how they define socialism. So now that you have that graphic, compare that graphic, pull up the video for our viewers who are watching this live right now. And for those listening, youtube.com slash Midas Touch. Hey, subscribe right there. Pull up the graphic in 2017 of all the Republicans. And it's basically a mob of old white men basically cheering on the passage of the tax of the Trump tax cut that cut taxes and gave all the benefits for the billionaires. It's a it's a moment that sticks out in my mind because what they're celebrating is the antithesis of helping working class people.

It's how do we get tax cuts for billionaires? How do we get private jet tax cuts? How do we let you write off extra homes? How do we let billionaires become deca-millionaire, deca-billionaires? And that's what they were celebrating, like literally screwing over their base. This is an important stat for Democrats out there, though, because as the Arizona Republican Party, as the GQP further entrenches themselves in craziness and pulls itself away from what the people want. these numbers are in Arizona. The Arizona GOP should shine its UV lights on new voter registration numbers, and they aren't good. New numbers show nearly 24,000 Republican voters have walked away from the party since January when Senate President Karen Fann issued the subpoena that launched her elections. I was out there in Arizona. And sure, there are loud Trumpers who have the flags and dress up like crazy people. But Arizona, especially Maricopa County, they're very normal people out there, you know, who are centrist kind of problem solvers.

And they're embarrassed by this. And they look at this GQP in their state and they're ashamed. They think this is disgusting. And if we keep on fighting Democrats, if we keep on fighting independents, if we keep on fighting progressives, if we keep on building our coalition, we're going to win in 2022. We really have an opportunity to totally minimize the GQP. Don't listen to their bluff and their bluster. We got to go out and vote in big numbers. But people are seeing through this craziness. That's why we're seeing, you know, those sort of, quote unquote,

centrist Republicans leaving the party in droves because they see right through the chaos. They see right through the craziness is what's going on. The Republican Party is shrinking and shrinking and becoming more radical and extreme. And those things go hand in hand with one another. And so keep fighting, keep everything going, keep pushing forward on all of our messaging and everything that you're doing, all of your activism. That's why I love all these meetups that are going on now around the country. We have all these meetups. And I've noticed that these are groups that are just kind of fan accounts of Midas Touch that are starting to start up. There's one in Midas Chicago, Midas Arizona, and they're happening kind of all over the country now. And what they are is they're going to be a center for people with like-minded

views, pro-democracy people to get together to do whatever you want, really, to talk about books you liked, pro-democracy books, to go out and register voters, to speak to the issues that are important to your communities at a local level, which is essential right now. So we are so happy to be able to facilitate this and to amplify the voices of Midas Touch supporters and pro-democracy supporters around the nation. And don't leave out Midas Dallas. Midas Dallas is starting. Can't leave out Midas Dallas. I love it. If you want to start a Midas chapter, you know, just contact us. You know, we want these to be organic. You know, we don't want

to have a heavy hand in controlling what you do with them. We just want you to support democracy, to have fun and to come up with your own rules, to come up with your own vision for what these organizations can be. And let us, you know, let us know if you want to start one and we're super excited to support and help out there. And I want to close the podcast. Can we just take one quick step back? I know your phone's about to die, but let's just take one quick step back. I want to talk really quickly about this mass exodus happening in Arizona with people who had previously identified as Republicans. It's good, right? I totally agree. But not to sound like a pessimist here, right? Because this is like our whole mission here,

we want to move people over to our side of the party. Now, is there fear from you guys, though, that when the rational people, quote unquote, rational people, I don't know how you could still be rational if you've just left the Republican Party, but we'll give you that leave, that now the crazies who are making up the Republican Party in Arizona can now platform their more ludicrous and right conspiracy candidates and really give them a leg up? I think that train has left the station a long time ago. Okay. I think we're far past that. I don't think that, Jordy.

I think that, of course, you're going to have the GQP solidify around its QAnonism. That's why there's the Q between the G and the P. There's not going to be moderating forces. Yes, you have remnants like the Romneys of the world who, you know, to me, though, that's just a matter of time before they leave. And as rational people move over to the Democrat Party, because the Democrat Party is the only pro-democracy party. But I think it's an interesting point to consider, Jordy. Now, going to an issue that was kind of funny, want to end the show on some levity. There's this website out there. I think it's called, I don't know if you pronounce it like meow or mew or meow.

Oh, no, let's not talk about this. I'm not sure how you pronounce it, but it's an overseas paper who did some research on the Midas Touch, wanted to talk about how we all formed, went through my background as a civil litigator, went through Brett's background as an editor, and then said, little is

known as Jordy, although it appears he likes to podcast and use social media, which was a funny research assignment on journey. Journey would like you to know that he won, that he, he bought, he purchased a $20.

False. This is my Clio sport award choice award from Clio sports. It's a big advertising award. And I won two cans this year. I'm three time award winning marketer. That's some bullshit. Meow. Come talk to me. Reach out for a quote. I'd like to speak to your editor.

Sounds like a participation trophy, but okay. Yeah. I was going to basically Jordy conclude this by talking about how impressed I was at your humility and that you were a hum. You were the humble brother. But apparently... No, I spiked the football.

I work hard. I earned something. I spiked that football. All right, I have to step away for a sec. What were you guys talking about? You're such a dick. You're such a jerk. What were you guys talking about?

I missed it. I just stepped away. You guys all good? You're such a jerk. You're such a jerk. Oh, yeah? Oh, yeah? For those listening, I am holding my two...

Everyone in the comments right now is roasting all of us. Oh, man. Okay. I'm just trying to work out. I got to get my pump on for this Midas calendar. What you got there, Ben? What's Ben pulling up? What's Ben pulling up? Ben's got... Did Ben come empty-handed? What does he got? He's got a happy birthday card. I had a birthday card from Noah, my associate. So that trumps all of your awards. So take that. But one thing we all want to spike the football

for is pro-democracy. With incredible leadership like Congressman Swalwell and your activism, we can make that A. And we lost Ben, and this is staying in the pod. Ben does not charge his phone ever at all. It's so frustrating. He always does during the recordings, during our lives. This happens a lot to us. So I'm glad you guys get to witness it. Jordy, this is why we have the awards and Ben has the happy birthday card. But I think what Ben was trying to say is with your activism, with the work of incredible Congress people and Democrats like Congressman Swalwell, who are fighting for us, we got this.

Let's keep the movement alive. Let's keep fighting for pro-democracy. You are this movement, and we are grateful to have you on this journey with us. Thank you so much for listening to this edition of the Midas Touch podcast. Please let Congressman Swalwell know that you appreciated him appearing on the show, and we will see you next time on the Midas Touch podcast. And subscribe to the channel. Shout out to the Midas Mighty!