The MeidasTouch Podcast - The GQP attack on America at home and abroad with impressionist Matt Friend

Episode Date: February 22, 2022

On today’s episode of ‘The MeidasTouch Podcast,’ we have an action-packed show! Today’s guest is the unbelievably talented & hilarious comedian, actor, & impressionist Matt Friend! Matt has appeared on the Today Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, NBC’s New York Live TV, Good Day LA & many more while infusing much needed comedic relief during these trying times. The remainder of the episode the brothers cover Trump’s latest social media company (Truth Social) FAIL, the absolutely DISGUSTING “Don’t Say Gay Bill”, the latest developments on Russia and much more! If you enjoyed today's episode please be sure to rate, review and subscribe! As always, thank YOU for listening! The Trevor Project provides information & support to LGBTQ young people 24/7, all year round. If you or someone you know needs help, reach out on their website, here: https://thetrevorproject.org DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS: ATHLETIC GREENS: https://athleticgreens.com/meidas MASTERWORKS: https://masterworks.art/meidas BETTER HELP: https://betterhelp.com/meidas THESIS: https://takethesis.com/meidas Remember to subscribe to ALL the Meidas Media Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://pod.link/1510240831 Legal AF: https://pod.link/1580828595 The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://pod.link/1595408601 The Influence Continuum: https://pod.link/1603773245 Kremlin File: https://pod.link/1575837599 Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://pod.link/1530639447 Zoomed In: https://pod.link/1580828633 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meet Tim's new Oreo Mocha Ice Caps with Oreo in every sip. Perfect for listening to the A-side, or B-side, or Bull-side. Order yours on the Tim's app today at participating restaurants in Canada for a limited time. When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most? When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard. When the barbecue's lit, but there's nothing to grill. When the in-laws decide that, actually, they will stay for dinner. Instacart has all your groceries covered this summer.

So download the app and get delivery in as fast as 60 minutes. Plus, enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart. Groceries that over-deliver. Discover the magic of Bed MGM Casino, where the excitement is always on deck. Pull up a seat and check out a wide variety of table games with a live dealer. From roulette to blackjack, watch as a dealer hosts your table game and live chat with them throughout your experience to feel like you're actually at the casino. The excitement doesn't stop there.

With over 3,000 games to choose from, including fan favorites like Cash Eruption, UFC Gold Blitz, and more, make deposits instantly to jump in on the fun and make same-day withdrawals if you win. Download the BetMGM Ontario app today. You don't want to miss out. Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions.

19 plus to wager Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. That's not America. Welcome to the Midas Touch podcast, Ben, Brett, and Jordy fighting for democracy with you each and every day. Happy President's Day to all those in the United States of America and for all those watching from abroad wondering what President's Day is. Used to be a very dignified day where we respected our presidents, where we appreciated the accomplishments of our presidents.

We still do that as the pro-democracy party. But for the radical right extremist GQ peers, they are using it for politicization. And I'll discuss with you in a short while the consistent with their low character post that the GOP made today. But first, I want to tell everyone about our incredible guest who will be on the podcast today. You probably know him for his incredible impressions. Matt Friend will be joining. Matt Friend describes himself as an old soul living inside a 23-year-old comedian, actor, impressionist body. I got to ask him. That's his own bio, I presume. Matt Friend is hilarious.

So if you've been on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, if you've been on any of these social platforms, or even if you've turned on your TV, there's no way that you've missed Matt Friend. Matt Friend is everywhere at this point. And he does really like the top notch, like maybe the best impressions out there. He does an incredible Trump. He does Ted Cruz. He does Barack Obama. He does celebrities like Rami Malek and Jeff Goldblum. He does Mitch McConnell. Did I

say Mitch McConnell already? He does Howard Stern, John Oliver, Dr. Fauci. Unbelievable. Mitch McConnell is so good. You know what I love about the impressions? What? He transforms his entire face into the character when he does it, right? When he does Mitch, all of a sudden, like you said, he's a 23-year-old. All of a sudden, he looks like Mitch McConnell somehow. We got to talk to him about that. He's been also doing all these videos where it appears like he just runs into celebrities on the street in New York City. He'll just run into

Jeff Goldblum, run into John Oliver. I'm curious to see if those were staged. How is he just running into all these famous people? But I've seen him like on today's show. You know what he was on? We Fox LA did a special on Midas touch a few months back about everything that we were doing. And he was actually on the same episode as us. I wonder if he remembers that with Alex Michelson, who's an incredible journalist out here in LA. So excited to dig into everything with Matt friend. And here's some, here's some of his great impressions and bring them to you. Or maybe we're actually having Mitch McConnell and Howard Stern and Dr. Fauci on the podcast the middle wearing a mask. And it says, not you. One of the things, of course, that they hate about President Biden is that President Biden was trying to figure out ways and continues to try to figure out ways to stop a pandemic that just drives the current GOP crazy. How dare you try to stop a global pandemic that is killing millions of people across the world. Shame,

shame, shame. And so you look at this list of presidents and they have Lincoln. Lincoln, I'm going to say this definitively under the current Republican Party, Lincoln would not be this Republican. Let's be very clear. There's literally no view that this Republican Party has that in any way aligns with the values of Lincoln. They literally fly Confederate flags. This Republican Party, Lincoln went to war with. Yeah, it drives me crazy that the Republicans, the modern day Republicans try to claim Lincoln as their own. Here's my Confederate flag. Let's go, Lincoln. Well, I don't know. I don't even know. What would let's go, Lincoln mean? I guess

let's go, Lincoln might mean F Lincoln in their mind. So I don't know. But if we're really thinking about it, you know, Republicans like to call everybody rhinos. It's like their word du jour. They like to go, you're a rhino, you're a rhino, you're a Republican in name only is what it stands for. But what you realize when you see past Republican presidents, whether it be Lincoln or somebody who has noticeably left off this list, like a Teddy Roosevelt, who like, why would you leave Teddy Roosevelt off this list that they put and put Richard Nixon on? Like, who made this? Like a five-year-old? They got confused with Teddy and FDR. They weren't sure it was too confusing. Goodness, that might actually be true. Was Teddy the New Deal guy? I don't know.

But here's the thing. Republicans like to call everybody Republicans in name only. The Republican Party at this point is really just the Republican Party in name only. All these people are frauds. As we've said on this show countless times, countless times, we say it to the point where people are probably like, oh my God, they're saying it again. Republicans are not conservatives anymore. We've said this time and time again, but I think the most shocking development this week was that they admitted that they're no longer conservatives anymore. Did you see Matt Schlapp on, I think it was, I hope it's the lunatics, I think it was on Steve Bannon. It's one of these ludicrous, these lunatic networks that have like the green screens. They all look the same at this point, like behind them.

It's the same studio. I think they just go to the same building and just have a farm of just OAN, Newsmax, whatever Bannon's pod, war, whatever he calls it. They're all literally right there. They're all literally right there. They're in little pods where they basically go one to the next and talk about overthrowing America. But I saw it match that. For those who don't know, he is the chairman of the American Conservative Union. Words right there in the organization he runs. What did you say? I said the word conservative is right there in the organization he runs, which he now says is not a conservative. We got a the organization he runs, which he now says he's not a conservative. He's a Fox News contributor, and he was a political director for Trump and the Trump administration.

A big, one of the biggest kind of Trump voices out there. And let's hear what Schlapp said on whatever indistinct show that wants to overthrow America that put him on TV. So if you ever think, if you ever get somebody lecturing you on CNN or someone else about how the conservative movement, which I don't use, I call it the American movement because that's all it is. We're no longer conservatives. We're Americans who love our founding. When they lecture you that we've lost the kids and lost people of color and lost women, please, for the love of God, go to CPAC. Look at that audience. It's the most diverse thing you'll ever see. Yeah, economically diverse everything. CPAC has a diverse audience. Let's start most diverse thing you'll ever see. Yeah, economically diverse everything. CPAC has a diverse audience. Let's start there.

What is he talking about? He goes, it's economically diverse. And that's it. And that's the only thing he could say about it. We got the poorest. We got the rich. We're so diverse. We got the billionaires on the stage.

We got the poors in the crowd. Look how diverse we are at CPAC. That's basically what he's saying there. And then when he goes, we're no longer conservatives. We are Americans who love. He doesn't even say we are Americans who love our country. Right. He goes, we are Americans who love our founding. Like literally the implication and the dog whistle there, though, is our founding of slavery, our founding of whiteness, our founding of killing Native Americans. That's what that's what he means by we love our founding. He could say we're no longer, we love our country.

It doesn't matter what party we are. Who uses we love our founding? Yeah. It's a very strange verbiage, but that's what he means. Yeah. It's like when they say things like, it's very intentional. And it's like when they say things like, you know, we need to respect our heritage. We need to respect our heritage. It's like they're talking about a specific time in history that they want to go back

to when they say, you know, make America great. Exactly. When was a great and for whom and for whom was a great for? Yeah. And that's why, you know, that's why we always say this is a party that purely exists on white grievance. They just hate the diversity of America. They hate the melting pot of America. They hate that all of a sudden these people who are marginalized in the past are now gaining power in America and they're freaking out, which is why they're throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks at this point. Yeah, they want to turn the United States. I say this over and over again. They want to turn America formally into apartheid South Africa because they don't believe anymore that playing by the rules and having a system where every American can vote, where there's freedom of speech.

They no longer believe that they can manipulate that system the way they did in the past. So they're literally trying to overthrow democracy. They're trying to burn books. And I hear, think about this story, Brett, we talk about the book burning. We talk about all of these laws that are being passed in the radical right extremist states. And let me make that point, too. We don't call the right wing conservative the same way Schlapp doesn't call them conservative. Schlapp, Schlapp, Schlapp. Do not call them conservative. And you may forget a few times and go, oh, well, you know, the conservative judges think about that language, oh, well, you know, the conservative judges.

Think about that language, though, mightiest, mightiest, and everyone listening to this. Stop yourself when you say that. Pause and say, I didn't mean to call them conservative. These are radical right extremists. These are QAnon worshipers. These are GQ peers. I go with radical right extremists, but do not call them conservatives. They don't have that title. I say it over and over again. If you line up all of my views, I'm progressive, I'm liberal, but we call ourselves pro-democracy at this point because it's an all-encompassing term that I think more aptly fits. We care about our country and the survival of our country. And I go, I'm more conservative than these people. I want to I want to stop a pandemic. I want to conserve our judicial institutions and conserve our democracy and our constitution. I'm more

conservative than these people running an insurrection. So, again, do not call him conservative. I digress for a second. But in terms of all this book burning, we hear about, Brett, this don't say gay bill is what the bill is being referred to in Florida. And it's a bill advancing rapidly through Florida's legislature, which prohibits the state's teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in the class. And the bill prohibits any discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity through the third grade, but also any discussion, quote, that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in other grades. And these terms are not defined age appropriate, developmentally appropriate.

And there would be serious civil ramifications, serious punishments for teachers. They're trying to just destroy teachers, the GQP. And Brett, tell us a little bit more about this bill though. And there was an amendment that was introduced, which would force schools to out individuals who are part of the LGBTQ community as if the bill couldn't get more sick. They keep adding amendments like this isn't I'm not making this stuff up like this is what they're focused on

right now in Florida. Yeah, I mean, it's I have no other way to say it other than this is just extremely cruel. It's cruel. It's evil. It's just unimaginably so. Just think about this situation because I think one of the issues, one of the reasons why there is such high levels of mental illness in a lot of marginalized communities, it's because they're otherized. And so say you have a scenario where a student comes into school. Maybe they have two dads. They bring up their two dads. What did you do?

Casual conversation. What did you do this weekend, right? Oh, my dad did this. My dad did that. That right there could be actionable conduct in this bill. Say a teacher. Say you have a female teacher with a female spouse. What did you do this weekend? Oh, my wife and i did x y and z illegal under this don't say gay bill that's how fucked up this is that's how disturbing this is and then you know not only that but if a

teacher gets wind that a kid is gay is speaking about being gay, is speaking about his sexuality. They have to out the kid to their parents. That's a big moment as an LGBTQ youth to take that away from them, to out them, to try to shame them for who they are. I just cannot think of anything more despicable than this. So these are the kind of laws that we're just going to continue to see. I know there are, I think, somewhat like 15 other bills going through other legislatures that are very similar to this. And they're all couched in this language, which is also an extreme dog whistle to the far right, which is they say, oh, this is not about a personal expression. This is not about sexual orientation. Really, it's about grooming kids. Once again, the implication there being that gay people are trying

to convert other people to be gay, which is a fundamental misunderstanding of how sexuality works. Essentially saying that being gay is a choice. Exactly, Jordy. Essentially saying being gay is a choice and that gay teachers are going to make your kids gay. That's what schools are doing because they want to undermine the very notion of education also. And that what's going on in schools, according to the radical right extremists in their fake world that they try to create when they spread hate, is that schools are grooming children to become gay. And schools are grooming children to hate the United States of America, wherein schools are teaching us to be smarter. They're teaching us to read diverse books. They're actually teaching us to love and expand our horizons and to learn and to be our best selves. It is an assault on education. It is an assault on the LGBTQ plus community. And yeah, look, one more thing I saw

in this bill that really stood out to me is that the bill actually goes one step further in stigmatizing LGBTQ students. According to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, 33% of LGBTQ students ages 13 to 21 actually missed a day of school over the course of a month because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable. More than 77% said they avoided school functions altogether because they felt unsafe. And there are so many great organizations out there that are doing great work, such as the Trevor Project. I think their mission statement is that they provide information and support for LGBTQ young people 24-7 all year round. So if you are someone in this community who has been

struggling with coming out, does not know who to speak to about this, please visit their website. It's www.thetrevorproject.org. And they do such amazing work and they help combat exactly what we're trying to fight against here with this. Don't say gay bill. I love that, Jordy. Yeah. And if you know anybody also like, you know, send them to the Trevor Project. I think they do phenomenal work. And it's a time where we really all, everybody out there, we need to be allies. We need to support communities. The attacks that we're seeing right now from the right are really just unconscionable. And we need to fight back. And we need to also just provide support and provide a safe space for people to be themselves. And so Jordy, thank you so much for bringing that up. I appreciate that. At the same time, you have the radical right extremists passing

bills like this that are finding its way through the legislature, attacking the LGBTQ plus community, attacking black and brown communities by preventing education on, quote, diverse topics and bills like that that are working its way around. You also have these bills that are going around that are banning abortions and that are copying the current abortion ban after 15 weeks. That's in place in Mississippi. We know the Dobbs v. Mississippi cases was heard a few months back before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court seems that it's going to uphold the 15-week ban on abortions in Mississippi. So a lot of these radical right extremist states saw and heard the oral arguments that were taking place at the Supreme Court. And they're immediately their

priorities. This is what they're rushing to do. They're rushing to do the exact same law that's in place in Mississippi and also banning abortions, even in cases of incest and rape as well in their bills. And they try to kind of one up each other's bills to make it even more extreme than the next states. And so we see that- Ben, did you see Michigan? Tell me about it. So each of the radical Republicans running for Michigan AG right now, not only want to ban abortion, they want to ban- Contraception, yeah, J.D.V.F. Crazy. They want to ban the right for married couples to use contraception without being prosecuted. They want to arrest married couples for using contraception without being prosecuted. They want to arrest married couples

for using contraception. That's some real handmaid's tale, scary stuff that is so out of whack with just the norm, with regular American people. I mean, that's truly radical, radical thinking. But Merrick Garland is taking a little long in his investigation. So I'm not going to vote. It's taking him an extra month to try to investigate the most serious criminal conspiracy in the history of the United States of America. So I'm going to sit this one out on the sideline, folks, while they try to ban contraception in Mississippi, while they try to ban abortions, while they ban not signing up for this fight for what America is all about. That's what you sounded like in 2016 when you allowed Donald Trump to become the president of the United States and allowed all of this to take place with the radical right composition of our Supreme Court. So just if that's your mentality or if that's someone who's in your family or your friends, just just tell them, stop it. Here's what's going on. These are

the types of radical extremist laws that are trying to be passed. And we're trying to wake you up to it. And look, your view, Merrick Garland, I hear you. I hear you. Would I like him to go faster? I'd like Donald Trump to have been arrested yesterday. I promise you that. But when you listen to Legal AF, you know how the wheels of justice turn. You know you have to build cases in certain ways. And there's been so much news that's been very positive from holding Trump accountable over the past five, six days.

We covered a ton of it on Legal AF. But even this result in the civil case that's before Amit Mehta in the district court in Washington, D.C. Amit Mehta, you former public defender, current district court judge, United States District Court of Washington, D.C., in the lawsuit brought by members of Congress and others against Trump for his role in the conspiracy relating to January 6th. Granted, it's a civil case. In a 112-page opinion, Amit Mehta said the plaintiffs, the members of Congress, pled enough facts. It was sufficient

for this to move forward. He analyzed Trump's conduct, said it was a classic conspiracy. He analyzed Trump's words. Those were fight words. That's fight language right there. And that case is proceeding. The investigation in Georgia is proceeding in earnest with the special grand jury being held there. Trump and his family members were ordered to attend a deposition out of the civil case that's going on from Tish James. The Manhattan DA has a grand jury that's out right now in the criminal investigation of the Trump organization. The Washington DC case against the presidential inaugural committee of Trump. That's set to go to trial September 20th of this year. I could go on and on.

There's about 19 cases that have been taking place, but those are some of the highlights there in addition to the DOJ's investigation of January 6th. So accountability is coming, folks, but you have to not let that distract you from what's going on in this country and the serious issues that are going on with this radical right extremist agenda. Have an incredible guest for you that we're going to bring in.

I know, Ben, you were you were just doing the impressions. Do we even have to bring out Matt right now? I just had a pretty good impression right there. I'm not sure who my impression was. It was just a non-descriptive individual. I'm not sure which person I'm not sure who my impression was. It was just a non-descriptive individual. I'm not sure which person that was. But in any event, let's bring in Matt Friend. But before doing so, this podcast is brought to you by Athletic Greens.

Oh, I love my Athletic Greens. And for all those who just need to, the proof is in the pudding, they say. The proof is in the tape right here. Go back, watch tape of me about four months ago before I started drinking my athletic greens and watch the tape of me now. Look at the energy I have. I mean, it's just facts.

I've lost a ton of weight. I have more energy to go about my day. And I credit that to athletic greens. And before athletic greens, I would mix and match my gummies and my vitamins. I wouldn't know what the heck I was doing. But with athletic greens, I take my one scoop of this incredible green power, put it in my cup, I put some water, I shake it up and I'm absorbing 75 high quality vitamins, minerals, whole foods, source superfoods, probiotics, and adaptogens

that help me and will help you start your day right. The special blend of ingredients supports your gut health, your nervous system, your immune system, your energy, recovery, focus, aging, and all things. It's lifestyle friendly, whether you eat keto, paleo, vegan, dairy-free, or gluten-free, this is for you. It costs less than $3 a day. You're investing in your health and it's cheaper than your cold brew habit. And it was founded by someone like me who experienced a ton of gut health issues and ended up on a complicated supplement routine to recover and cost him $100 a day. Right now, reclaim your health and arm your immune system with convenient daily nutrition, especially heading into flu and cold seasons. It's just

one scoop in a cup of water every day. That's it. No need for a million different pills and supplements to look out for your health and to make it easy. Athletic Greens is going to give you a free one year supply of immune supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com slash Midas. Again, that is athleticgreens.com slash Midas and take ownership of your health and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance. That's Athletic Greens. And I want to also talk about while I'm at it, I'm on a roll right now.

Can I talk to you briefly about Masterworks for a second? Bring it on. Bring it on. I want to take a break from all this news talk for a nanosecond because, believe it or not, breaking news doesn't have to be all about the latest court decisions or drama that's going on in the world. Here's some tech news you might have missed out, and it has to do with this. Get this. Fine art. A Picasso painting sold for over $100 million at auction last year, marking a 1,400% increase from its original price, a 1,400% increase, which is shocking. But when you learn

that blue-trip art price appreciation has outpaced the S&P 500 for over two decades, and that the Wall Street Journal deemed that the art market was one of the hottest on earth, you can see why it doesn't take a computer scientist or lawyer to see that blue chip artwork might be one of the smartest investments you can make in 2022. And thanks to Masterworks, you can invest in blue chip artwork without having a Bezos-sized bank account. They're a fintech unicorn democratizing the art market, enabling you to add fine art to your portfolio without being a millionaire. I'm talking about paintings by Banksy and Picasso. Don't get nipped in the bud by Bitcoin when you could be investing in works by iconic artists like these. Midas Touch listeners can receive priority access to their newest offerings. This is what you do. Go to masterworks.art slash Midas. It's not.com. Go to masterworks.art

slash Midas. See important disclaimers at masterworks.io slash disclaimer. Brett Jordy, we have Matthew Friend, an old soul trapped in a 23-year-old's body. How did this come to be? It's not often we interview guests younger than me. I know, right? 23 year old, old soul impressionist. Before we bring Matt Friend on though, can I just talk about one just funny quick story really quickly, which is, did you see that Fox owned New York Post, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, they literally ripped us off and they are actually selling vaxxed AF masks. First off, Rupert Murdoch selling vaccine, promoting vaccine merch is really freaking weird. And then they literally just stole our merch. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know

what to be more upset about, to be honest. The fact that Fox, the fact that Rupert Murdoch's company is selling pro-vaccination merch while they push anti-vax articles, anti-vax media. I don't know if I should be more mad about that or more mad about the fact that they stole our phrase that we've been using over the year now, Vax AF, which we still are selling. Maybe this is our way to get a little Rupert Murdoch lawsuit going because I'm tired of these fools stealing our shit and hurting the public i would tell you it would be a very funny lawsuit um i love funny lawsuits those are hilarious i mean it would be a very it would be a valid lawsuit because we did

start using our vaxxed af merch and that mark significantly before fox did i don't know masks had it on a lot of different merch items. Are they selling any of those though? Because they're spreading the anti-vax merch. So I guess the question is- Who's the audience? Who's their audience? Considering that their whole fucking business model is, I see how I cursed there because we're talking about AF out of nowhere, just threw in a curse. Because their whole business model is selling lies and disinfo about COVID. And then they sell a COVID and vaxxed AF. Well, here's the thing. A lot of people don't understand that the New York post

is owned by Rupert Murdoch. A lot of articles that I get that get sent to me, misinformation articles stem from New York post tweets. Hey, at J underscore my 21, why the hell is this happening? Well, account XYZ, it's a New York Post article. Well, account first name, a bunch of numbers. Well, also, here's the thing about New York Post also. New York Post is not a newspaper. New York Post is not a source for news. New York Post is a tabloid. It's more akin to the National Enquirer. And so when you pick up the New York Post, you have to realize that you're reading a tabloid. You're not reading a real legitimate newspaper. And the thing is they masquerade as a real legitimate newspaper that people pick out articles and whatever. And it's a rag. I mean,

it's a rag. It's very popular in New York, which is unfortunate, but it's a tabloid rag. That's all it is. So I read the Rupert Murdoch biography, the man who owns the news, just wanting to get insight into, you know, you know, just try to learn a masochist. No, not a masochist is written by Matthew, Michael Wolff. And Michael Wolff wrote some of those really strong Trump exposes. And so I wanted to I wanted to understand what was going on, the motivations, the man, like, and learn where these things were. One of the interesting facts was at least then New York post was losing a lot of money, a lot of money, never makes any money. And it's kind of solely there as a tool to kind of feed like the broader ecosystem of Murdoch world. It was also used then to try to Murdoch to put his thumb on New York

politicians and to kind of endorse politicians, but knowingly losing a ton of money at that time. You know, and now if you watch what happens, the New York Post will run a story, which will be like totally inaccurate. And then Fox News will take that story and say, new sources have said that. And then they'll will take that story and say, news sources have said, da, da, da, da, da. And then they'll quote New York Post as though they're like separate entities. It's like a news laundering operation. It's a great way of saying that. I digress. Let's bring in this old soul living in a 23 year old's body. Matthew Friend. We are here with Matthew Friend. Matt,

an old soul living inside a 23-year-old comedian, actor, impressionist body. What does that feel like? You know, it feels good. I've never been asked, actually, what it does feel like to be an old soul. We ask you

those questions that no one asks you. And that's why I'm thrilled to be's why i was telling the brothers before you get on it's very rare that we interview someone younger than me how old are you guys you guys look young how old are you guys well we're older than we look okay i'm 28 ben's 30 something and uh brett's 32 wow okay so you guys are old. I'm 30. I'm 31. In fact, keep trying to age me up. All right. And so Matt, you went to NYU, graduated in 2020. Yes, that's right. And then so when did you discover that you've got this? I mean, NYU is known for its arts and entertainment and movie production. Yes. I applied to NYU. I was too good for it. So they rejected me. Yeah, of course. It was too good. So when did you when did you discover that you have these

these talents of doing these impressions? Yeah, no, I so I was four years old and I discovered Austin Powers, which was the film that got me into comedy and entertainment in the first place. And I became very obsessed at a young age with just comedy in general. I grew up in Chicago right near Second City. So that was always kind of on my mind growing up. And yeah, it started with Austin Powers for me. And then I started doing an impression of him and Dr. Evil and Fat Bastard and Goldmember, all the characters from that movie. And then I

just started to do impressions of my parents, friends, my teachers, grandparents, and then kind of became a hugely obsessive thing where I now do over 250 impressions. And it's just, it's crazy what it's developed into. 250? Yeah, it's wild.

So whenever I see you on TV though, and you say something like I did those impressions and then the interviewer doesn't say right away. All right. Can you do those ones? I'm like, you just missed an opportunity right there. Like you got to ask for it. So let's start off with just Austin powers, Dr. Evil and fat bastard. I do a little. I haven't. You know what's weird?

I haven't done Austin and Fat Bastard in a long time. But Dr. Evil is just like, I didn't spend six years in evil medical school to be called Mr. Thank you very much. Yeah. Oh, my God. Dr. Evil. Evil's the name. Yeah. My voice is a little hoarse today, unfortunately, too.

I'm making excuses on the Midas podcast. Crushed it. Crushed it. Thank you. And now we see it. So when was the transition made from doing those impressions into politics and really kind of weighing into everything that was going on in the 2020 election yeah yeah i mean i think in high school i started posting stuff onto youtube and then in college and then throughout the pandemic is when things really started to take off in terms of utilizing tiktok this new form of social media and having these videos kind of blow up and that's what's led to all these other opportunities uh such as being on here with with you fine people uh but uh i've always been interested interested in politics and political satire.

Like my I went to a program at NYU called Gallatin, where you kind of make your own major effectively. And the bulk of what I wrote about in my thesis was the role of satire in society, like historically and what I think it will be in the future. And I was always just loving SNL and SNL sketches, Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, and their political impressions. And I guess that's kind of what got me into it. But I think I really started doing Obama. That was my big first one. Yeah. All right.

Let's hear Obama. Well, you know, it's a funny thing because I actually memorized his entire speech in 2012 when he beat Mitt Romney. So he started it off and he goes, tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward. It moves forward because of you. It moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over our nation

through war and depression, the belief that while each of us has our own individual dreams, I am my brother's keeper. Thank you so much. And it goes on. But I love Barack. I love him.

Unbelievable. Unbelievable. I appreciate that. The Midas Touch is a great platform, and I really appreciate you guys being here. So thank you so much. For those listening and for those, you know, watching who can confirm he memorized every aspect of that,

of that speech, which is I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Yeah. You know what it is? It's the little things you do, right? It's like you have the gravel kind of in the back of your voice.

I really do. And then like the little interstitials where you go, well, I do, I do different modes to, to the Obama voice. So I do like the little interstitials where you go, well, I do. I do different modes to to the Obama voice. I do like the high pitched. I do Obama when he's with children, Obama when he's making a speech and Obama when he's with an NBA team kind of being dad jokey. Like Obama with a speech, his voice gets higher.

He's like, how are you? It is good to see you. What are you dressed as for Halloween? Oh, that is so cute. Come on. That is good. Lucia, what are you dressed as for Halloween? Oh, that is so cute. Come on now. That is good. And then with an NBA team, it'd be like, nah, LeBron James is here.

That is good. I don't know. It fluctuates. And then the Trump is when things really started to get crazy. And I was really motivated to master his voice. And there are so many, the premise I use in comedy clubs, that there are so many comedians who do Trump impressions, and I kind of break them down. So I do Trump talking about how bad impressions of him are.

So he'll be like, well, I'll tell you what, folks, this is unbelievable. There's a lot of people that try to do impressions of me, and it's so disgusting. You see Alec Baldwin. Alec Baldwin on SNL. This is what he does. He sounds like this. He goes like this. We've got a great show.

It's going to be fantastic. Boopity boopity boopity bop. It doesn't sound like me. It's disgusting. A lot of people fail. Jimmy Fallon does this. He's like Okay. And Stephen Colbert, he's so terrible, too. He goes like this. I know that that that that that that that I don't say that that that that's fake news. Thank you very much. Thank you. That's very meta. When you started doing

all these impressions, especially of the folks in politics, did you use this as some sort of outlet just based on the craziness that has been going on in the country? Yeah, I think so. Like, it's definitely an outlet. I'm sure yours is kind of analyzing the news, this podcast. I think comedy definitely might be my outlet. Like, whenever Mitch McConnell says something crazy, I just I put on the glasses and I just go, I make the face. It is great to be here. My chins are causing extreme amounts of diarrhea. Whenever I do the Mitch McConnell, you have to start speaking

like this, contorting your face and your body, and go scooby-doo-doo-doo. Which is a weird noise I invented for Mitch. And I'm probably hogging the bulk of this podcast. No, you're far more interesting than we could ever be. Matt, I was saying this to the brothers earlier. I was saying so. I said the one thing that Matt does, which I wonder how much it actually plays into the

voice itself, is you contort your entire appearance. Like you look like, like you look like 23 year old Matt friend. And all of a sudden you look like Mitch McConnell. How much does that play? Like you have to do that to get into the character. Well, listen,

in order to successfully get into the Mitch, you really do have to create about 40 more chips on your body and sort of raise your shoulder. And it's very disturbing. It's like I'm holding in diarrhea. Mitch McConnell always looks like he just got to his own surprise birthday party. He's just like. Mitch McConnell. Mitch, what do you think about Midas Touch?

Well, what do you think about my? I should get my. Well, what do I think about my? Well, my does is a horrendous, horrendous, radical liberal leftist platform that espouses. Ridiculous theory about our climate, our government. There are a bunch of liberal cocks. The idea of McConnell calling somebody a liberal cuck. Do you prefer doing politicians? Do you prefer doing celebrities?

Is it just all the same to you? You know, it can honestly depend. Doing the Mitch McConnell is a real joy. The face is so ridiculous. I did a show last week in the West Village, and there were 24-year-old women, blonde women, and 25-year-old ripped guys all laughing at Mitch McConnell. I'm like, if they're laughing at it, then I'm good anywhere doing this one.

But, you know, it depends on the show, honestly. I love doing all types of people, comedians, actors, politicians. And so, Matt, you also do a Ted Cruz. You know, I just have to say, whenever I do the Texas Senator Ted Cruz, you have to know your voice has to reach the most nasally part of the throat. You have to look into the camera and say, I'm going to Cancun. And I have on my list here too, that you also do Dr. Fauci, which. Well, what you need to understand

is that whenever you do the Dr. Fauci impersonation, you sort of need to make sure that you work up all of the phlegm in your throat because the Fauci is sort of a, it sort of has like a rugged Al Pacino quality to it, but more and more people should be wearing a mask. I don't know. It's a horrible thing.

Really, it is. Bernie Sanders? Bernie Sanders as well. It is clear that the brothers of the Midas Touch are creating a show not just for the top 10th of 1% of listeners of podcasts, but for all of America. Yeah, that's great. I'm self-conscious.

I think my voice is a bit hoarse. No, this is so good. When you approach it, like, first off, how do you target who you're going to do the impressions of? And then how do you, like, what's the first thing you do? Do you just start making noises? You know, noises are a part of it, for sure. I'm not even being myself at all on this podcast because I have Howard Stern here. Oh, we got Howard Stern on the Midas Touch.

Hi, Howard. Great to see you. The bottom line is this. I got to tell you. I mean, the Midas Touch, they're on Sirius XM. That's correct. Sirius? No, this is our independent podcast.

Well, hang on. They should be. They should. Because the reality is this. I have a $500 million deal with Sirius XM. It's a horrible thing that the Midas Touch doesn't have the same deal. They are hilarious. But you're asking about noises. I do this thing. I go like this.

Which Howard doesn't really do. But it's still fun for me to do that. It is. So it does start with noises. Sometimes it does happen. Howard, a lot of controversy with with Joe Rogan recently. Even a lot of people were accusing Midas Touch of trying to take down Joe Rogan, which couldn't be further than the truth. What's your take, Howard, on the Joe Rogan situation? Here's the thing about Joe Rogan. If he took the vaccine, maybe he'd grow a little bit of this. You know what I'm saying? He's bald as hell. He really talks a lot of big game, but he's a crazy guy. So Howard, the vaccine grows hair?

It does. And pubes. I have a bigger bush than ever. It's fantastic. Right. It's amazing. Robin, are you seeing this bush? It's unbelievable. Crazy. So I want to go back, though, and your thesis yes on on the role of satire you know what we've always told people out there is whatever your skill is yes do something you know and your skill could be cooking your skill could be knitting your skill could be writing your drawing it could be making edits like brett It could be doing satire like you. But I think satire plays an important role, especially when you have an encroachment of authoritarianism. For sure. It really plays a bigger role now more than ever.

Right. And comedy and media is so critical right now. Absolutely. Do you think that's been a lot of the appeal of a lot of these impressions this particular time? In terms of politically, well, in this sphere with Biden, or rather with Trump, absolutely. I mean, I don't know if you noticed,

like on late night shows, Stephen Colbert, even Saturday Night Live, you know, all these shows, there's less of a focus now on what the president is doing. And I think we were living in such a unique time of, well, politics, but also comedy, you know, having this guy as the president is like the perfect comedic, like foil or like game for a comedian to play off of.

There was just so much. And I think, yeah, I think when faced with a person who holds power that is appealing to the worst elements of our society and effectively tried to be like an authoritarian leader, I think, you know, stand up comedians historically are trying to poke fun at that person who who holds that power. Yeah.

And I think that Trump, you know, that administration, there was just so much to work with. I saw you recently run into John Oliver and Jeff Goldblum. Now, are you really running into them just sporadically? Are these somewhat set up or? First of all, good evening and welcome, welcome, welcome to the Midas Touch podcast. I mean, what the fuck?

You really think you can create some show to rival mine? Who the fuck do you think you are? John Oliver's show is much better. Thank you very much. The answer is, the answer is, I'm getting a lot of questions about this. By the way, don't you love how every time you ask a question, I have to answer it as like some impression and then go back to myself? Yeah, you know, it's funny.

I have been meeting a lot of the celebrities I do impressions of recently. Some of them are planned and then some of them are total run-ins uh like it's crazy i met uh andy cohen the host of watch what happens live on the street uh and that was a total run-in and when i ran into him uh we kind of looked at each other and he goes wait a minute oh my god you're the guy who does me like in Howard Stern. Right. And I was like, Oh my God, I am the guy who does you. And then he's like, let's fire off the video. So then I did a little video with him and then I saw Rami Malek on the street who I do. And that was totally random.

And I did make the Rami face in front of him where I, I need to see the Rami face because oftentimes the brother. Yes, there it is. There it is. Okay. Oliver, I'm just going to say all of our audio listeners right now, check out the YouTube version of this podcast on our YouTube channel because the faces are absolutely incredible. I just wanted to say the Modest Touch podcast is so incredible.

These are the most delectable brothers. And I just want to like smother myself in them. They're fabulous. Amazing. But, you know, it's crazy. The Goldblum one was very, very surreal. Oh, my golly. Very sensual.

Yeah. Hi. Yeah, it's very, very fun. Yeah. Very, very, very, very, very, very, very goofy, man. I enjoyed doing him enormously. Yes. Yeah.

But which ones are you working on now matt uh mario lopez is one i'm working on which is i know it's crazy uh working on uh uh ron desantis actually your audience might be interested uh so ron desantis whenever i do him his voice sort of is in the back of the throat talking about how angry Floridians must be because President Biden is trying to enforce all these ridiculous policies, talking about President Trump as a dictator. Joe Biden is the throat. And I'm really working on DeSantis because, I don't know, I have a bad feeling he's going to rise to a higher office. It's funny how you got to pinpoint, like, who should I be investing my time in now? It has to be like a lot of your thought process. Exactly. I guess you think that the next Republican slate is going to be DeSantis and Mario Lopez. It's highly possible. Mario Lopez, DeSantis, 20. Exactly.

What a lineup. And so Matt, your name on TikTok for those who want to find you is matterday.night.live. Matterday Night Live. Is SNL the end goal? Is what do you think is like, where do you want to take this skill? Yeah, you know, yeah,

my social handles are matternightlive. I might be actually changing them in the coming days. Lawsuit. Yeah, no lawsuit. The radical mad friend is aligning his brand with Saturday Night Live. It's so disgusting. No, but I mean, look, SNL, yeah, for sure. It's, you know, it's always kind of been the dream and the goal.

Like if I were ever lucky enough to have a chance to audition, that would be amazing. But now you've got a cease and desist letter from them. But hopefully, no, but, you know, it's just I just kind of kind of keep grinding and doing stand up and performing and writing and doing as much as I can. But we'll see. I don't know. But as for now, it's just kind of, yeah, again, just about doing as much as I can, but we'll see. I don't know. But as for now, it's just kind of, yeah, again, just about doing as much as I can. Well, Matt, you are an absolute superstar.

It's such an honor to have you on the show. I'm so amazed that your impressions, I think our audience is probably freaking out right now, especially those listening. I think we're going to get some emails tomorrow. I can't believe you allowed Mitch McConnell to come on your podcast. Are you guys nuts? I have one more question for Donald Trump before we let you go. You know, today you launched Truth Social. You know, it was supposed to be a

whole big thing, but the app doesn't work. People can log on. Now your partner, Devin Nunes, is saying that they might not even get the bugs worked out until the end of March or more than a month from now. So what's going on with Truth Social? Well, what I can tell you is the truth. Look at my hair. It's so disgusting. Truth Social is one of the great things that we've been working on. And what I can tell you is that it's not true when you look at what's not working, because we are working at a rate that has never been seen before.

And the Midas Church, the Midas touch is doing some disgusting things. They're lying. They're lying so big. And truth social is one of those. It's just a great thing. And you're going to join it. And we love seeing you. And,

but a lot of people are asking me about that. And it's just one of those, a lot of people are talking about the weather is so gorgeous and we see the weather and people are talking about that. And politically it's just one of those, a lot of people are talking about, the weather is so gorgeous and we see the weather and people are talking about that. And politically, it's not funny. But when you look at China and what's happening there, it's horrible. We see the Chinese, the Olympics is happening in Mexico.

And thank you very much. That's good. Unbelievable. Everybody, give it up for Matt Friend. I'm going to say the best impressionist Beth. Definitely I've ever met maybe the best impressionist ever out there. SNL give Matt a phone call, you know, as members of the Hollywood elite, that's what our people, that is what you are.

As members of the Hollywood elite, we'll put the word out. Everybody hire Matt friend, Matt, where should our audience go to support you to share your work work? Just let them know. We know Matter Tonight Live. Yeah. Yeah. On Instagram right now, at Matter Tonight Live. On Twitter, at MFriend1998. But I think soon to be Matt.Friend on all platforms. But for now, Matter Tonight Live. And again, thank you all so much for having me. This has been amazing. It's been a long time coming. Hopefully first of many collabs. Maybe bring out the inhaler for the

first time in a while. Our audience is going to love that. Yeah. Well, listen, whenever you got to bring that out, absolutely. For sure. Thank you. We will be right back after these messages. Thanks, Matt. Matt Friend, everybody.

That was one of my favorite interviews I think we've done since we've had the podcast. I knew we were having Matt Friend on the show. I didn't realize that we were having Howard Stern on the show. I didn't realize we were having Donald Trump on the show. I already see the hate mail coming my way. Why did you have Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell

on the show and Ted Cruz? And guys, it was an impression. I'm telling you, it was an impression. Just to reemphasize Brett's point before, if you are strictly an audio listener for this episode in particular, please gravitate over to our Midas Touch YouTube channel and watch this episode because it wasn't even so much the impressions that he was doing that, which were hilarious. It was his whole body movement, how he was contorting his face, the wigs that he was putting on. I mean, that shit was hilarious. too. Like this is the beginning for Matt, like, like Matt is a superstar,

like Matt's going to be a superstar. So I think it's really awesome that we had him on the show and had him now. And I think he also like does live shows and things like that. So, you know, go to his website, just look at all this stuff. I'm, you know, you see him live. He's so fantastic. There's two things that I love a great impression and some pranks either keep me. That's, that's my sense of, that's my sense of here, but he's no, he's incredible. And, uh, we thank him for being on the pod, a lot more news to discuss, but first this podcast is brought to you by better help online therapy relationships take work. A lot of us will drop anything to go help someone

we care about, but will we go out of our way to treat ourselves the way we treat and try to help other people? That's what we need to be focused on. And this month, BetterHelp Online Therapy wants to remind you to take care of the most important relationship you have. And that is the one you have with yourself. I've been a member of BetterHelp now for about the past six months. And once a week, I go on BetterHelp. This is professional therapy. This is not like a life coach. This is not like a motivational speaker. This is professional therapy online for me in my busy day. It's hard for me to like drive somewhere, especially during COVID to find a therapist, to sit in a waiting room and to just go through that whole process. So after I do some of the pods and I have about

an hour in my day, I meet with my therapist. They made a great match for me at BetterHelp with someone who I trust. And the same way I try to work out, the same way I try to eat healthy, the same way I try to go through all of that process, I like to take a break to focus on my mental health. And I think it's important that we all do that. And BetterHelp makes it easy. BetterHelp makes it secure. BetterHelp makes it professional. BetterHelp makes it secure. Better help makes it professional. Better help makes this experience seamless. So it's online therapy that offers video, phone, and even live chat sessions with your therapist. So you don't have to see anyone on camera if you don't want that and you're not into that. It's much more affordable even than in-person therapy. And you

could be matched with a therapist in under 48 hours. Give it a try and see why over 2 million people, including yours truly, have used Better Help Online Therapy and this podcast because we're sponsored by Better Help. You, the Midas Mighty, Midas Touch listeners will get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com slash Midas. So this is what you got to do. Go to betterhelp.com slash Midas. That's B-E-T-T-E-R-H-E-L-P.com slash Midas and start your online therapy today the same way I did. Go to betterhelp.com slash Midas. And Brett, I know I got to give you the thesis. Read. Brett loves thesis. I love thesis. And I love anything that's there to help your mental health and to help you just perform better and go through your day better. And so to anybody

that's struggling with focus, energy, or motivation, listen, it's not you, it's your brain. And thesis helps you take control of your mind to create habits that last and get a little help if you need a boost. See, Thesis makes personalized supplement formulas that are designed to boost cognitive function. It's based in the science of nootropics, which are natural and powerful ingredients like caffeine, ginseng, and B12 that increase productivity, focus, energy, and mental clarity. So you feel energized without that crash.

You cut through brain fog to think clearly or get a little help with motivation to find your flow. Take the three-minute quiz and thesis will recommend high quality nootropic formulas that are unique to you and your goals. I love taking the quiz because I know that they're like listening to you personally as to what your needs are, and they're not just going to throw random things at you. So you could say, yeah, I have trouble with brain fog. I have trouble getting up in the morning, whatever it is, you tell them exactly your needs and they will hook you up with the products that are going to throw random things at you. So you could say, yeah, I have trouble with brain fog. I have trouble getting up in the morning, whatever it is, you tell them exactly your needs and they will hook you up with the products that are going to help you. And it's not just you over 60,000 entrepreneurs, lawyers, engineers, busy professionals, and parents have used thesis

to get better results at work and at home. So imagine what you could do with thesis. And right now, wait for this thesis is offering our listeners 10% off your first starter kit when you visit takethesis.com slash Midas. So go to takethesis.com slash Midas. That's M-E-I-D-A-S to take this quiz and discover your unique nootropic combination and save 10% on your first starter kit. That's takethesis.com slash Midas. Make sure to use our URL to let them know that we sent you. And I love thesis also, Brett, and I'm a big fan of their product. And I've noticed even, I know when you've tried a thesis, I could tell if it's been a thesis day or not a thesis day. Ben and Jordy will go, Brett, did you take a thesis today?

And I'll be like, yeah. Not only that, we'll have that conversation sidebar without you. Ben, Brett definitely thesis it up today, right? And Ben's like, yeah. It's usually when I'm getting a ton done, right? It's usually like, wow, Brett edited two videos, did the podcast, made three different memes, the X, Y,

and Z. It's a thesis day, all right? That's for sure. Before we get it back into the politics of it all and the seriousness of it, did you guys see Josh, Attorney General Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania is silently calling me out for our big one-on-one basketball game? Yeah, you're completely being subtweeting. He's posting photos of him just draining- Can you bring it up? Yeah, I'll play it right now. So in the video that you're watching right now, Josh Shapiro effortlessly sinking like a three-pointer, like just no problem at all.

And for those who don't know on the Midas Touch podcast, yes, this very show a couple months ago, the attorney general, Josh Shapiro and Jordy agreed to a challenge where they're playing a one-on-one basketball game for charity. And it looks like it is going to be going down live streamed on March 1st. So be there, get ready to watch along live. This is going to be the event of the year. And Jordy, I am very scared for you. I got to say, I mean, after, after that subtweet that he put out when he hit that 19 footer, I'm terrified. I was scared before. Plus you guys don't have my back. It's very clearly that you two are rooting for him. No, I'm rooting for you. 110%. I'm just acknowledging that he's a baller. He's a baller. I got to be real because if I said, you know why? Because

if you do win, it will be because you practice that much harder because you took the challenge seriously. And I don't want you to go in there. You know, I don't want you to go in there blind. I want you to go in there just understanding what is ahead of you guys. I'm like, I'm losing sleep over this. Like I'm very nervous, but anyway, let's get back into it. Let's get back into the news. So Trump's truth social, another botched launch of the Truth Social app that was supposed to launch on the App Store today. It's glitchy. It has all of these errors. People are trying to subscribe. They're being told they can't subscribe. Devin Nunes, former Trump lackey, current Trump lackey, former GQP. Has anybody been missed less? He left Congress, which is no one gave a shit. So here's the deal. We have a glitchy, non-working application that basically is an entire rip-off

of Twitter. Instead of tweets, they call them truths. Instead of retweets, they call them re-truths. They couldn't make a stupider thing. It's basically something like that. It doesn't work. It doesn't work. And this company has no history of financials. You know what it is? Sorry. You know what it is? It's McDonald's. Remember coming to America? That scene from coming to America? Yeah. But McDonald's was real. That's a good point. McDonald's actually had a product. They actually had a product that worked. You don't even have a product that works. Ben gets very upset when I interrupt his points. Go for it, Ben. All you.

The main point I'm trying to make though, when you look, yeah, when you think about this 30% of the population who supports Donald Trump, these are the same people who are literally investing in truth social, a non-existent entity. Like they're actually entities that exist and function and do what they're supposed to do. And they hate those. The one they like is the glitchy non-working, like fucked up device that can't even function like that. Isn't that just such a perfect parallel of, of, of what they they do and they prop that up this non-working application i mean because it's still doing i looked at the stock the stock's doing well

right now like it is eventually going to crash at some point because everything he does crashes and burns and the thing isn't going to work but the fact that his people are investing in this thing that doesn't even exist and is broken and malfunction tells you that they just like things that don't work. Yeah. And it's never going to work because first of all, Twitter doesn't exist because of politics. Also Twitter, like people have a multitude of interest politics, just being one of them. So having a platform that is focused not only on just politics, but focused on MAGA politics, it's a very small niche of people, and it's going to be the biggest echo chamber on the planet. Honestly, they're all just going to be super bored. There's going to be very little movement

on the app. They're all just going to be saying the same things. It's just going to devolve into racist, hateful, crazy stuff. Here's what's going to happen also. They're going to start having to take down the racist and hateful posts, and then there's going to be outcry of, oh, I thought this was free speech, and they deleted my post saying this word and that word and the other. Right now, all these users are being hit. We're saying it's broken. I'll tell you exactly how it's broken. Anyone who tried to sign up today was met with a message that said something went wrong. Please try again. After people started getting upset about that, they post something that says your account has been created successfully, but you're on a wait list. And the whole irony of it is they said, due to massive demand. Okay. Okay. Due to massive demand,

we have placed you on our wait list. We love you. What's with all this weird love language? Because it's always sexual. We love you, but you're not just another number to us. Anyway, your wait list number is below, number 1,000. You're not just a number to us. You bring up a really, really good point there too, with true social and just being a political echo chamber. What actually interests me in Twitter at first, and I think a lot of our listeners knowing that we are political outsiders,

I came to Twitter for sports. The subcultures and sub communities that Twitter allows is what really draws people in. And then you figure out what other things you're interested in and how you could use the platform and sort of navigate it, whether it be comics or anime or Marvel movies, or I think I just named the same things like three times. But you guys know what I'm talking about. K-pop. You love K-pop.

K-pop. Love K-pop. Politics. And that's the cool thing, because now you're bringing all of these other communities together. And it's just an interesting dynamic and conversation that you could have with all these different subcultures, which is what the beauty of Twitter to me is. We would be remiss if we didn't, though, talk about on this pod what's going on in Russia. Yep. As Russia encroaches on Ukraine as an invasion appears to be imminent, if not already underway, as Biden's literally exhausting every possible stick and carrot he can do. You know, I think Biden's strategy has been brilliant of broadcasting every one of Putin's moves and where the troops have been moving as a means of deterrence, as Biden has moved towards working with NATO allies to make sure that there is a united front.

You have all of the Trumpers, the GQ peers, the radical right extremists, the people who at the beginning of the podcast we talked about who are the book banners, the individuals trying to ban contraception amongst married adults, same people who are talking about how the United States should be banning LGBTQ discussions, that whole same group of people now talking about how the United States should be invading Canada, how we should stop talking about Russia. I mean, these are really kind of Putin's talking points all coming together. I mean, you have Candace Owen saying, stop talking about Russia, send American troops to Canada to deal with the tyrannical reign of Justice Trudeau. Castro is calling him Castro. He has fundamentally declared himself a dictator and is waging a war on innocent Canadian protesters and those who have supported them financially. I mean, just what a sick statement. It's sick

from all aspects of it. It's sick. Stop talking about Russia. The moment Russia is about to invade Ukraine in one of the most furtive threats to international security since World War II of a country violating all of the norms, totally disrupting the balance of power and trying to provoke World War III. We should stop talking about that, according to Candace Owens. And instead, we should talk about the United States invading Canada because Justin Trudeau, their prime minister, is what? Is trying to stop COVID spreading in his state? And trying to stop like an economic insurrection from happening there. Economic insurrection. So the Americans not content, the radical right extremist Americans, not content with the failed insurrection here, want to invade Canada with a

fake, phony protest of, not a protest, insurrectionists who are trying to literally destroy the border and declare war on our neighbor and overthrow the Canadian government. That's what Candace Owens is talking about. And you have all, it's not just Candace Owens. I mean, she's just one of a number of kind of right-wing extremists. Their whole view is stop talking about Canada. I mean, sorry, sorry. Their view is stop talking about Russia. Let Russia do it.

Why should we even care about the border between Russia and Ukraine? Everybody from Marjorie Taylor Greene, every radical right extremist is basically parroting this point. It's just who's parroting it more extreme than the next. You have, Brett, who was it? One of these right-wing preacher folks who's basically- Franklin Graham. Yeah, I think it was Franklin Graham basically saying that Russia's right here,

we should be rooting for Russia and supporting Russia. He said, I'm praying for Putin. Praying for Putin. Praying for Putin. Do you guys remember the movie Miracle about the U.S. Olympic hockey team? They would be rooting for the Soviet Union.

They would be rooting for the Soviet Union if that movie came out today. But here's the thing. Here's what we're seeing. Let's actually break down what's happening on the ground and not what's happening in this right wing echo chamber, crazy psycho bubble, where they look at the sky and they think it's, I don't know, green and they look at the grass and they think it's blue because literally they have like opposite, everything is opposite land with them. But here's what's happening. America has stepped up. America leadership, the federal government, not these psycho right wingers, has stepped up as a real leader during this crisis. I think that is undeniable if you are

a straight shooter. You have President Biden trying every outlet of diplomacy possible. President Biden and America trying to avoid war at all costs. Let's be clear. America is not the aggressor here. Ukraine is not the aggressor here. Russia, who is stacking 200,000 troops around the Ukrainian border, is the aggressor here. And then you have these crazy people on the right being like, oh, they're doing that to protect Ukraine. They're putting the troops on the border to protect them. They're just trying to be nice to them. Shut up. No, they are not. And President Biden yesterday accepted in principle a meeting with President Putin to say, hey, if an invasion hasn't happened yet, guess what? Diplomacy is still on the table.

But as even National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned, a Russian attack could begin within hours or days. And he totally downplayed the likelihood of a Biden-Putin meeting, saying every indication we see on the ground right now in terms of the disposition of Russian forces is that they are getting prepared for a major attack on Ukraine, adding that Russia is planning an extremely violent invasion of Ukraine. U.S. has intelligence to suggest that there will be an even greater form of brutality against Ukrainians to repress them, to crush them, to harm them. And that is a hit list that Putin that they have made a hit list of which Ukrainian leaders they are going to execute and kill within the first opening salvo of the invasion. That's what the intelligence shows as well, because what they want to do is they want to oust anybody in the Ukrainian government or anybody who is pro Ukraine.

They want to oust anybody in the Ukrainian government or anybody who is pro-Ukraine. They want to oust them from government. They want to oust them from position of powers. And they want to put in a pro-Russia media, pro-Russian government. And that's part of their plan when they take over. So this is all the intelligence. And Ben, like you said, I think one of the genius strategies that the United States has done here is that they broadcasted Putin's every move. They've said, oh, Putin, you're going to try to do this? Okay, well, we're going to tell everybody that you're about to try to do this. You're going to plan a false flag attack, or we're going to tell everybody where that's about to happen and the details of it. I think they need to keep doing that and keep being extra transparent. Give all the information, give all the data. Because I

understand if people are not trusting of intelligence services. I truly do. But this is not like a weapons of mass destruction situation. This is something that we could all see with our own eyes. And so I think it's important here that the government just stay incredibly transparent and stay one step ahead of Russia every step of the way. And then we have Putin earlier saying, basically throwing in the towel on the idea that there would be more diplomacy, more discussion, saying, we've been negotiating for eight years. We have reached a dead end, which sent a chill through Europe and through the world. One thing I've noticed too is

Russian propaganda has ramped up to new heights. And now you see on Russian TV, Russian state TV, of course, they are fabricating stories about Ukraine as a pretext to invade Russia. So they are coming out with stories saying Ukraine is firing on Russian troops. They're blaming Biden for being a warmonger. And I think the interesting thing about seeing these clips from Russian state TV is how little air there is between what they're saying on Russian state TV and what you're seeing on stations like Fox News, what you're seeing on stations like Newsmax, Right Side Broadcasting Network, this whole right wing echo chamber here in America. They're very much like sister networks

of each other at this point with RT and other Russian state run media. This is a developing situation. It's a highly volatile situation. It's literally changing by the minute. By the time that you are even listening to this, the situation on the ground could be even much different in any direction. No one knows where it's going to go at this point. But I just want to say that these next few moves that happen internationally could change the course of the world forever. So it's important that we all stay tuned in. It's important that we're all watching. And I think it's important that we all just show solidarity at the bare minimum with the Ukrainian people right now. Just imagine how they're feeling

as we're going through our days, as we're going to the supermarket, as we're going to work, as we're going about our business, they are facing the threat of mass annihilation. They're facing the threat of invasion, of murder, of harm, of injury, just unfathomable, unfathomable levels. So I just want to do the bare minimum that I can and send my thoughts and my prayers to the Ukrainian people. And I'm so thankful, genuinely very thankful that right now at this moment in time that we have somebody like President Biden in power, leading this coalition of nations, truly bringing together all of our allies in Europe to fight this. And I think that's one thing that Vladimir Putin really

did not prepare for. He did not prepare for this united front led by the United States to protect Ukraine and to call him on his bullshit. And I think it's incredibly important to acknowledge that. Well said, Brett. No, perfectly said. And one thing, too, that I think we should all keep in mind is in the Midas Media Network, we have a show dedicated very specifically to Putin and how just dangerous of a person he is. The show is called the Kremlin File. And what they do each week is they dig into the totalitarian aspects of Putin. They dig into the situation

going on with Ukraine, and they do it in such a nuanced and well-researched way. We're able to do our research the best that we can, but the two folks who are the hosts of Kremlin File, Oga and Mol, they are the preeminent experts on all things Russia, Ukraine. So please tune into their podcast every Wednesday. It's called Kremlin File, and it's a must listen if you're interested in this topic.

Special thanks to all of our sponsors, Thesis, Masterworks, Athletic Greens, and BetterHelp. And a big special thanks to our guest, Matt Friend. Incredible impressions, incredible person. Thank you, everybody, for joining us on this edition of the Midas Touch podcast. Ben Brett and Jordy fighting for democracy with you each and every podcast and each and every day. Oh, give us a five-star review, will you? I mean, please. Will you already? Right-wing trolls trying to attack us. More of your five-star reviews help the better,

help us out. So please just give us a five-star review. We know you love the pod. Just spend a few minutes giving us a five-star review wherever you get your podcast and write a little description about what you like about it. And here's the thing, your description won't be available right away. You won't see it immediately, but it will be available two or three what you like about it. And here's the thing. Your description won't be available right away. Like you won't see it immediately, but it will be available like two or three days after you post it. So that description about how much you like the podcast, it does really go a long way.

Leave that five-star review. We love you all so much. Thank you to everybody. Shout out to the Midas Mighty.