The MeidasTouch Podcast - The State of the Midterms with Majority 54's Ravi Gupta

Episode Date: October 24, 2022

On today's episode of The Mighty, we sit down with friend of the show Ravi Gupta to discuss the state of the midterm elections as we rapidly approach Election Day 2022. Gupta is the co-founder of Arena, an organization dedicated to convening, training, and supporting the next generation of candidates and campaign staff and previously worked on Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. He is also the host of two of our favorite podcasts, Majority 54 and The Lost Debate. On this show, we dive into the messaging impacting voters the most, how to combat the Republican Party's efforts to control the media narrative, the role of January 6 on Americans' voting decisions, how to talk to (and persuade) MAGA family members and friends, and so much more. This is such an important conversation and we hope you enjoy =. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

and welcome to this edition of the mighty ben my cell is here joined by brett my cellist jordy my cellist and a friend of the pod robbie gupta the managing partner of arena an organization dedicated to convening training and supporting the next generation of candidates and campaign staff. Ravi Gupta also worked on Barack Obama's campaign back in 2008 and is the host of Majority 54 podcast. Ravi Gupta, welcome to the mighty. Well, thank you for having me back here. Love you guys. Avid listener. Ravi, what's going on? We're heading into the midterms.

January 6th committee just held its last hearing, likely will be its last hearing. Incredibly compelling. Voters paying attention. Yeah, I wish that January 6th was resonating more as an issue. I think certain candidates are better at messaging it than others. Earlier this week, Tim Ryan was in his debate with Vance, and all these Republican candidates now are pushing the crime message. The messages come from on high that they're trying to kick up hysteria over a so-called crime wave that doesn't exist. And instead of playing defense, I thought Ryan was really smart and he pushed Vance to be like, hey, you can't claim to be

pro-cop and then raise money for the insurrectionists. So I think certain candidates are smarter than others about injecting it into their races. I think, unfortunately, it hasn't quite broken through in a lot of the races that I'm watching, with the exception of certain really talented candidates. But nonetheless, whether it breaks through or not, it's a really important step for us holding accountable people who don't believe in democracy and who broke the law. And I think it just adds to Trump's legal woes. This was not a good week for him, with the Supreme Court rejecting his appeal on the Mar-a-Lago search. There's a lot going on here in New York around that case. So I think this is just one step forward. We got to continue to be patient

and do everything we can to hold him and his people accountable for breaking the law. Yeah. Also, I mean, with Tim Bryan, Tim Bryan, you know, you know, didn't say, though, but which which he could have. And I think what a lot of Democrats can say at these debates is, well, last time I checked, Ohio has a Republican governor. The last time I checked, there's a Republican legislator, a legislative branch. And in all of the, you know, by and large, crime is actually the highest in Republican states. Poverty rates are the highest in Republican states. Shooting deaths are the highest in Republican led states. Like it's not even a close call.

Yet Democrats often don't use that messaging as well. It's obviously an effective messaging. I mean, there's a reason, but the scare tactic that they're using, it's, dude, Ohio's run by Republican. What are you talking about? This state is run by, so yeah, maybe what that means, we should change the governor also. Yeah. And who was president? You know, one was the largest increase in our lifetime in crime. It was in 2020, you know, like who is president during that year? You know, it's like you also what are people using to kill each other with? You know, they're using guns. And I think, you know, we've got to put these people on the defensive because, you know, I think Democrats feel like they have to constantly explain themselves on crime. You know, they say like, if you're explaining you're losing

and, and I, I love so much about the messaging that we're putting out this cycle, but if there were one, if there's one thing I would love to change, there was this message that the DCCC sent out this memo about like using validators to push back against the crime hits, and validators meaning a sheriff who gets on your ad and says, John Fetterman is actually really good on crime. That's fine. And sometimes that's really necessary. But if you're explaining you're losing, we don't want to be on their terrain. So we have to be careful not to just end this election talking about crime only. And if we are going to be talking about crime, we should be making them explain themselves. Why it is that you support insurrectionists,

why it is that you don't want to do anything about gun reform, why it is you want to dismantle the FBI because it has inconvenient things to say about you. That's you know, if we're going to be talking crime, let's make them explain themselves. And, you know, the issue and tell me if you think it's resonating, though, that these MAGA Republicans want to take away freedom and they have taken away freedom. I mean, you know, are people focused still on the fact that the Supreme Court has literally now treats women as second class citizens and has taken away the right to choose? Or is an American's consciousness that decision somehow in the goldfish mind, like we've moved on to the next thing? Or are people focused?

You know, time will tell. I think, obviously, if I could have held the election in the middle of the summer, I would have because, you know, by all accounts, our numbers were better over the summer, right? If you look at any poll, pretty much, I was just doing with chasing a majority 54, we were doing a tour around the country of the polling numbers. And pretty much, there's almost to a race, We were doing better in the middle of summer. There's some exceptions like Herschel Walker, where there are certain major problems with candidates that came out recently that are in part because the Republicans do what they do. They change the message. Like when it gets close to election day, they want to talk about crime and they want to talk up. They want to, you know, I used to say blow the dog whistle, but it's, you know,

dog whistle, I think is a metaphor that's meant to, that you can't really hear it. Right. But like, I think we're, whatever the more explicit thing is now. Yeah. They're just straight up doing it now

and you know they do these rallies like in Arizona where you know Marjorie Taylor Greene and these folks are explicitly being racist now like it's not like it's not like they're coding their messages

anymore and you know you had Tommy Tuberville in one of these rallies talking about now like it's not like it's not like they're they're coding their messages anymore uh and you know you had tommy tuberville in one of these rallies talking about you know like we want you know he's bringing in reparations saying we want reparations for the people doing the crime like i mean it's not they're not even hiding it anymore like how they truly feel and this is as this is i know every election's high stakes, man. But like some of these people like Carrie Lake in Arizona, like we have we've got to do everything possible to stop these people from getting into office. You know, I've thought that Democrats have done a great job, though, at the debates that have taken place so far. I mean, Mandela Barnes, I mean, was just incredible. I mean, crushing Ron Johnson. And I give you my view on these debates. I think if you're running for political office, even if you're running against a MAGA extremist who will spread conspiracy, you have to do the debate. You have to show it.

You have to stand up to it. And so I disagree with the decision by Katie Hobbs. I think it was a really wrong decision not to debate Carrie Lake. And I think regardless of all of the things Carrie Lake will say, that's false. Going and standing on a debate next to a MAGA person is not they're still going to be able to spread their message with how horrible our media is. So you got to look that MAGA person in the face the same way Tim Ryan's done, the same way Mandela Barnes done, the same way Gretchen Whitmer did. And basically say you are a dangerous person like Gretchen Whitmer did and basically say, you are a dangerous person. Like Gretchen Whitmer is the example. I just I think it was a real missed opportunity and a

scary concept. Hundred percent. Yeah. And, you know, Fetterman is going to show up to a debate on October 25th after suffering a stroke. Yes. You have to read off of a prompt or text a speech, you know, and he knows that you've got to show up. Like, I mean, he's got to show people. I mean, I was telling Jason, like, I think that's so much of the future of the Senate and our control will be decided on October 25th, because if Fetterman shows up, as I know he will, and is humanizing and shows that he can do the job and exposes Oz for who he is, like a fraudulent medical practitioner, then I think that goes a long way in helping us seal the deal. Because I think if we're trending in the right way in Georgia, if Fetterman could hold on

in Pennsylvania, it makes the map really difficult for Republicans. But so much, I mean, voters, I think, have questions about Fetterman that he's going to answer on October 25th. But if he could show up, you know, Katie Hobbs, I mean, it's mind blowing. I don't want to be negative about it because there's nothing we could do. But I hope we don't look back and say that was what cost us that one because that one is a nail bender. You're so right though about Fetterman and the tightening of this race. I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and I've seen it firsthand. There are members of my extended family here who are definitely creeping into that MAGA Republican territory. And when the campaign first launched, they were genuinely pro-Fetterman. And I was surprised by

that. But when you actually dig into the politics here, when Fetterman was the mayor of Braddock, there wasn't a single homicide there for five and a half years. I mean, he was really tough on crime. People liked his story. He was working with kids. There was a tragedy. He got into politics. He wanted to do his civic duty. But somehow in some way, again, not to get too negative, though, Oz's message over the last few weeks has really started to resonate with those ultra-MAGA Republicans. And maybe it's just the election is coming back up. You can't really pinpoint it, but I think you're right. I think the debate on the 25th is going to be such a monumental day. Can you speak more to how you think this race is going to play out?

Yeah, it just occurred to me, we should potentially think about doing something that night because I feel like there's so much around that debate that we'll probably have to say. That's almost like an opportunity, I think, to do something live. But I think if I were... This is the danger on that debate night, is if I were advising Oz, what I would do is I would say, all right, you know, people have short memories. It's like Dory, you know, and Finding Nemo, like voters will forget certain things. And I think we as practitioners, media personalities, we remember so much. We're so steeped in this, but we forget that the average person is just going about their day and they make their decision really late,

right? So if they may tune in or they get a clip of a debate and Oz is Oprah Oz, he's on that stage. He's super humanizing and warm and generous towards Fetterman, who, by all accounts, is still recovering. Then that will help us overcome what has been pretty low favorabilities in the state of Pennsylvania. So the stakes couldn't be higher. And man, I know there's a lot of good people on that Fetterman campaign. And I know that this is the Super Bowl for them. And I am just so anxious, man. I'm just anxious about it all.

Like, I really just want to get to election night. You know, it's just one of those things. Like, I felt this way about 2020. I just wanted it to be election night so bad. I just it's like it is we get closer. The stakes are just so freaking high. What did you make, Ravi? I'm not sure if you saw any of this, but it seemed like the media coverage of Fetterman's

interview the other night was just blown very out of proportion. And personally, I even found it pretty offensive to disability people, people with disabilities, disability activists, because they really tried to make it seem like somebody who needs to use an assistive device or needs to use a teleprompter is unfit for the job. Meanwhile, they, these media personalities themselves, as they are making these criticisms are doing them off a teleprompter themselves. So, I mean, what did you think of that kind of reaction? Do you think that's just the media side of me which like you know when i when we're when you and i are in conversation and and yada yada versus the practitioner in me whereas if i were in that campaign the media side of me is like let's work the refs let's pressure the media

to be more responsible on this at least the ones who are up for grabs right like obviously we're not going to get like the daily wire or something to like have like even-handed coverage but the people the morning joe the yada yada like whatever is going on there let's pressure them let's work the refs get them uh to have a more humane frame when it comes to federman the practitioner side of me is like, all right, like, you know, to use the sports metaphor, like you just got to play the game and just like, let somebody else worry about the refereeing. Right. And to me, the playing the game on the Fetterman side of things is preparing, showing up on October 25th, the best you can, because if he shows up on the 25th and he kills it, then it will go a long way

in erasing that narrative. In many ways, it could be turned into an advantage. Now it's our job as people who support him to make sure that the frame is correct as we head towards that election, which means that we got to do everything possible in all of our appearances and communications with members of the media and anybody who's listening to the extent you're in the media or you live in Pennsylvania and have local media, we've got to push the people covering this to have a fair standard, which is it's not that it's weird or different that he's reading texts. It's like, does he understand the questions that are being asked of him. And is he communicating answers that make sense? That's the standard, right? Like it, and if he, if he requires text to speech, if he requires things to be repeated, et cetera, that's fine. You know, like FDR needed assistance

to just get from A to B physically, right? Like we, like, this is, you know, this is not the first time we've had to deal with politicians who've had a disability. And in his case, if it were a permanent disability, it still should be fine. But this is recovery, right? Like in anybody who's had family members who go through strokes knows that it's not a point on a, like a single static point, but it's actually a process that he's going through that unfortunately is playing out in the middle of a campaign. One of the interesting things that I've felt lately is that a lot of the campaigns that are really crushing it are not the ones that are of the focus of the media as much. And I'm thinking of just off the top of my head, I think Mark Kelly is running an incredible campaign. I think on the governor's side, you see Gretchen Whitmer running an incredible campaign, Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania running an incredible campaign. And we've touched on this a little bit, but with your organization, Arena, you specialize in training and supporting the next generation of

Democratic candidates and campaign staff. So who do you see out there? And it doesn't have to be somebody who is like a major player who's all over the media, but who do you see out there? And it doesn't have to be somebody who is like a major player who's all over the media, but who do you see out there who is like the epitome of this is a well-run campaign. They are absolutely kicking ass. And you know what, on the flip side of that, is there anybody who you think, you know, they are- You want me to throw it under the bus? Yeah, you don't have to if you don't want to, but we could be doing a little better maybe. Yeah, and shout out to Lauren Bearer, who's taken over now as leader. I'm now on the board now, and she actually was a candidate herself in Florida,

career congressman, a law school classmate of mine who's been running our campaign work this cycle. She's amazing. I would think of some candidates who I love at the more local level, or at least the congressional level. Alyssa Slotkin of Michigan has so much to say. She's such an incredible leader. Max Rosen, Staten Island, continues to fight. That's where I grew up. And he's close in that race. I mean, this was a redistricted seat that was made harder for him. And there's only one poll that's been done done and it had him down six in a race that people think is is impossible for democrats to win so i think it's like solidly are or very likely are in the cook political report and you know being down six is excellent in that race especially

since he's got a lot of money to to to push the abortion message and Yeah, and Max Rose is going against Nicole Malliotakis. Malliotakis, yeah, a completely fraudulent individual, very much of the least Stephanic mold of somebody who appeared to be moderate and tried to present herself as moderate, and then when the wind shifted, became totally MAGA, right? In a district that has traditionally been moderate, right? A district that has swung back and forth in my lifetime, like six or seven times between Democrats and Republicans. I love Lauren Underwood in Illinois, 14. You know, these are just candidates who are really tuned into their districts. Right. my district need? How am I going to communicate with people locally? And how do I drown out the

noise about what the national party and sort of grass tops movement, the blue check marks on Twitter, what do they want? They ignore that stuff and they just get right into constituent work and hitting the doors. And I don't know. I mean, we could go over for three in those races. We go three for three. I really don't know, but i know that they're doing everything possible to win i would say races that are bad um i don't know i would yeah well i mean hobbs is an example i mean i don't want to pile on it's probably not helpful at this point but that was like we should never repeat that mistake uh of of not debating like and i also think that it misunderstands this above the fray nature of that campaign, that she's not going to engage because Carrie Lake is in bad faith,

is just such a bad strategy, like an absolutely terrible strategy that we should never, ever repeat again. But I would say in general, the big thing I'm seeing out there that we should learn from this cycle is when it comes to the Hispanic community and when it comes to the Black community, they're not monoliths. And I think the Hispanic community, and we're seeing this in Nevada a little bit, immigration is not their only issue. And I think we've got to dig in. I took a trip, speaking of Pennsylvania, I took a trip down to Lehigh Valley, Lehigh County like a month and a half ago. And there are a lot of Hispanic voters in and around that area. And what I was hearing from people is they care about taxes, they care about crime,

they care about inflation. And I was sensing a frustration and sometimes explicitly stated to me that, hey, there's a diversity of opinions on immigration within the Hispanic community. And they're very up for grabs and the Republicans are very tuned into that. And there's a frustration that Democrats think that these voters are single issue and we got to avoid that. Right. And Robbie, one of the things that I want to get your opinion on, you know, we've had the pleasure of working with Dr. Stephen Hassan. He's a cult deep programmer and he very much speaks openly about how MAGA is its own cult. And, you know, you look at these QAnon rallies and things like that. And it's very unfortunate. Dr. Stephen Hassan was also a former Mooney. So

he's got a bit of expertise on this subject and he dedicated his whole life to culty programming coming out of the Moonies in the 80s. Oh, I've spoken to this guy before. I don't remember for what. He might've come on majority. I can see him being a guest on one of your pods. Absolutely. Yeah, Yeah. One of the great things that he says to us when we speak with him is like, when you're trying to pull someone out of the MAGA cult, you know, you really got to do it with understanding, you know, love care. You can't just outright mock, you know, folks who are so deeply enthralled in that universe because all that's going to do is push them further and further apart. You know, I spoke openly here about how, you know, I have some extended family

who are pretty close to MAGA adjacent. And so when I meet with these folks, you know, I really try and understand just where they're coming from with, you know, their perspectives, what news sources they're reading. Do you have any advice out there to folks sort of about that and how you've handled conversations with people who are in that sort of Magiverse? Discover the magic of Bad 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.

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My brother is too. And I grew up in Staten Island. And I would say more of my friends I grew up with are Trump supporters than not. And I also spent a big part of my career down south running schools in Mississippi and Tennessee where I was collaborating with Republicans often to just pass sensible education policies and to support my schools. So I have a ton of Trump people in my life. And it makes it doubly hard because I have often been, I host a podcast that's very critical of Trump. I work in politics to support candidates that are critical of Trump. And so it's harder for me than the average listener because it's not like I can escape the label, right? I think our listeners

have an added benefit because you don't have to lead with your label, right? When people ask you, like often when I'm on vacation, somebody will ask me what I do for a living. And I just say, I'm a lawyer because I don't like to lead with what my politics are, right? Because it just divides you, right? Like I was just up in Buffalo for the Bills game and a lot of Trump supporters up there. And I want to get along with people for the game. I don't want them asking me about my politics. And then you can get to the politics over time.

Now, my advice is, first of all, don't let people know you're getting to them. I think this is the number one thing. So much of the megaverse right now is about trolling. And so do not appear that you're agitated, even though we're all agitated. I'm agitated every day. But do everything you possibly can to, no matter how crazy things are, people say, to let people know that it bothers you. The more that you're a cheerful warrior, the more, first of all,

like it diffuses the bad faith elements out there, but it also, it, it allows you to bring a little bit of finesse to the conversation. It's like almost like, yeah, like. It's such a good point, Robbie. And sorry to interrupt, but like, it just, it brings me back to like, you know, when the let's go Brandon stuff was first happening. And I saw everybody like freaking out. And I'm like, why are you freaking out?

I'm like, it's really not that. But like, let's just have their little stupid joke. Just laugh and brush it off. But everybody was like, I want to disgrace. How do you say that to our president? I'm like, calm down. Like, as if we have you to the president all the fucking time. It's a rite of passage.

They don't code it. Like who cares at the end of the day? Let's just take it. That's why it might as touch. We're like, yeah, let's go Brandon. Let's flip the script on him. Who cares? Yeah, we have to have a sense of humor.

So I think that's number one. I think number two is I think this is a wider point about the Democratic Party right now is we have to be a big tent. And what it means to be a big tent is we have to be welcoming to the imperfect. We're all imperfect. And I had a conversation at the Texas Tribune Fest a couple of weeks ago with Tim Miller and Liz Smith for the festival. And, you know, one former Republican strategist, one Democratic strategist. And what we all agreed on is that there's this UFC, Barstool sports, Rogan element of the Republican Party that has been relatively new. And I know you guys have a relationship with Barstool.

And my sense is like these used to be Clinton voters. They used to be the anti-pc types uh who are pro choice you know they they're like kind of more libertarian speech issues and things like that and the republicans used to be the bowtie wearing stodgy we're going to tell you how to live your life type of people and i think it's really important for us both at the micro level all the way up to the macro level to not be the finger wagging i'm gonna like try to like be a heat seeking missile for people's imperfections right and so i think of that on the local level to be like look like just be patient with people and don't don't wait for

every moment to be a gotcha to be like oh you said something offensive or you said this thing i need to call you out. You're not performing for anybody, right? You're there to win the long game with people and you can get around to helping change people's mindsets if you consistently show up, right? Spend the time with people, don't stiff arm them. And you could let some pitches go by in the service of building trust. And I know this is hard for people because like if I, you know, what I said, I tweeted that out tomorrow, I'd get piled on by people saying that's, you know, that's like using your privilege to let people say X, Y, and Z. And I'm like, look, everybody knows anybody who's got family members who are Republican

or Trump or whatever knows that for every hundred things they say, you may correct one of them. Right. It's just the nature of the game. And so those are two things. I think the third is don't fact check in real time. One thing I do is like if somebody makes claims that I think are crazy, I literally will pull out my phone and won't show any judgment. I'll be like, oh, you're saying Bill Gates is like injecting robots into our body. Let me just write that down. Tell me more about where you heard that. I'd love to just like try to find out, you know, it's nearly impossible to just be like, oh, hey, no, it's not robots. It's this chemical compound. And it was tested on this day. I mean, it's ridiculous. It's like you can't do that in real time, you know? No, absolutely. And even if you do fact check, like if you fact check them in real time, it's not going to process with them in that moment because they're so hyped up that they

think Bill Gates is injecting whatever into what was the beyond was the beyond meat i mean it's so it's so who has that memory like i when i talked to my brother who's a very smart guy he has a pretty good memory the stuff he comes out with i'm like i i wouldn't need three hours to fact check this right so it's like you know it's always so intricate right all the theories are so intricate that it does take so long to come back with like all the data to say this is completely wrong. But that's where it gets so dangerous as we live in this current media landscape where folks are getting their news from the Newsmax's or the Fox News's or the One America, whatever it is.

And it's become so divisive. So, you know, what are you seeing out there when you are having those conversations, at least like how, how much is, and are those like radical media establishments really piercing through to this Republican party? Oh, they absolutely are. I think that they're piercing through. And then there are other media organizations that are selling themselves as more moderate. I would think of Breaking Points as an example, if you guys are familiar with Breaking Points, who are selling themselves as more moderate, but who are actually disingenuous populists

who try to prey on the emotions and paranoia of their audiences. I think Breaking Points is a good example of people who- It's such a good example. It's such a good example because they and so many others try to portray themselves as like, we're right in the middle of things. And meanwhile, they are basically laundering these right-wing talking points to people under the guise of, we're not right-wing. Their January 6th coverage is a good example. Take January 6th and Ukraine. Now, January 6th, they're running segments implying that it's an inside job for the FBI. No evidence whatsoever. And their evidence for it is like, oh, part of their evidence is that they were unindicted conspirators. And they're talking about the different ways in which the FBI got people to cooperate and all that, like no follow-up on this, right? Like they're running these stories and it's like, they're these types of people who they'll throw 10 darts at the board. And if one of them hits the right thing, they'll be like, look how smart I am. And these are also

organizations that were saying like Ukraine invasion wasn't going to happen. It was the US hyping it up. It's the war machine and all this kind of stuff. And they had to apologize for that. But like for every one thing they actually apologize for, there's like 20 theories that they throw out there that they don't prove. And they have audiences who are like well-intentioned people. I have tons of friends of mine who listen to this kind of stuff. And there's like a sort of a cabal of these people who call themselves populists. Like these are not populists. I am an unpopulist. I am anti-populist.

I believe that populists, whether it's Bolsonaro or Modi or Trump or the breaking points of the world, these are people even who are in ways more dangerous than the Newsmax is because they will. Your reasonable friend will listen to them. And all they do is prey on the emotions of people and manipulate them and simplify every story to make it be like, oh, yeah, like it's just some conspiracy against you. Or I'm like, no, it's another example. Here's another example. Tim Pool. Tim Pool.

Yes. Who likes to call himself a liberal. And meanwhile, like he's never agreed with any liberal policy on the planet. Like he's always against whatever the Democratic position is against, you know, the war in Ukraine, pro Russia, you know, against everything Biden does anti, you know, January 6th here and all of it, like 100 percent of it. But then you go, oh, that's a right wing commentator right there. He goes, what do you mean? I'm a liberal. Yeah, I'm a liberal. You can't just say that. Yeah. I mean, it's what Crystal Ball does, too. And it's like and they do these moves. Shapiro does this, too, where they'll literally say things where if you got

their transcript, it'll be like a throwaway line and be like, oh, yeah, of course, Trump is irresponsible and blank. But if you look at it as a pie chart, it's like 1% of what they talk about. And so they literally are right that every now and then they'll say, oh yeah. And Trump, this is what they did with January 6th. Like Sagar, the breaking points, the other host is like, he's like, well, and it's not to say Trump doesn't bear some responsibility. I'm like, and those aren't his exact words, but, and then he goes into this FBI, you know, like tinfoil hat bullshit. And, and I'm like, come on, like, like,

but these are the things we got to point out. Right. And, and they have very loyal followers who may even watch this and come after me and be like, we're like, you know, who's this guy? Neo liberal shill charter school leader, whatever. And I'm like, I am who I am. You know, like, I don't know. Come at me. Like, you know, we just need to be more for it.

This is why I like our alliance, like people like us. Right. Like, I don't know what we all believe, but we believe in democracy. We probably have different views on 20 different things, but we're all here to protect our democracy and we don't manipulate our audience. You know, like I come at this honestly. That is exactly what I was about to get into, Ravi, is like we here on the Midas Touch podcast, I mean, we bank ourselves on just letting folks know the truth. Like we're not going to pretend that we lean, like we're right down the middle, we're centrist. We're not, you know, we obviously have

political leanings and we let our folks know that. But at the end of it, like we'll call a Democrat out if they aren't doing the right thing. And we ultimately just want the listeners and the viewers to know that, hey, this is the truth. And that's what I respect the hell out of what you guys do at The Lost Debate. I mean, it's a phenomenal show. And I think that's kind of the root and sort of sort of the mission of the show is just to let folks know, like, hey,, I'm a Democrat on that show. Like, and I don't have any obligation legally or whatsoever. I mean, I obviously don't want to contradict myself from one show to the other. And I, and I, and I don't, and if I do, there are definitely people who listen to both who pointed out. And I have a different show called

Lost Debate and a company that we're building that we're about to, you know, announce a lot more that we're doing. We have a Spanish language show and we have India's number one podcast, which is a true crime show that we use to expose gender-based and political violence. And our whole mission in Lost Debate is almost like global anti-populism and fighting misinformation and polarization. And it has much more of a coming together ethos to it. So my co-host on The Lost Debate Show is this woman named Rikki Schlott. She's 22. She's a Gen Z New York Post columnist who is way more conservative and libertarian than I am. But we come at it in good faith, right? And I think both of us have major critiques of of like the worlds that we come from. But we come together and are like, hey, let's talk about issues like crime.

Let's talk about issues like education and et cetera. And and part of our theory is we want to we want to we want to do a non populist version of what like these other people are pretending to do. Right. And they do it very successfully. But for us, we want to bring nuance. We want to bring a sense of kindness and humility, admitting when we're wrong, persuading each other, et cetera. And, you know, she's a star. Like she's libertarian, you know, different politics in many ways.

She was just on Bill Maher. She was the youngest person ever to appear on Bill Maher. And our audience there is very different than majority 54. Majority 54 is like majority women, majority progressive, very hinterland US. Lost Debate is more Rogan-esque sort of audience, more male audience, way more libertarian, conservative. And I'm like, that's great. I get to communicate with those people.

Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to persuade anybody. Yeah, well, it's good that you're having those, you know, kind of tough conversations, but in a way that isn't just full of noise and bluster like we hear on all these other, you know, on just all these other shows, which honestly, most of them are just such such a disaster. Have you learned anything or has anything enlightened you about working with Ricky that you were like, oh, you know, I never thought of it that way. Well, she constantly I have more of a I'm more of a Jared Polis Democrat. So I have a little bit more of a libertarian streak than a lot of people. Like my sort of theory on government is I probably wanted to do fewer things, but do them extremely well and ambitiously and add on as time goes on. Right. I live in New York where I'm like very frustrated by this sort of disease of more that happens here where people just promise a lot of things. And there are a lot of my candidates, by the way, who do this and they just run and they're like, let's do this,

let's do that. And then they don't follow through. And then it kind of actually sets us back as Democrats. So I'm a little bit like in that direction anyway. I was a charter school leader. So I'm like a little bit more of a libertarian streak. So she really pushes me to think of things from that more Reason magazine style, like libertarianism. And she also like she knows what the right is talking about. So often, like whether it's the Hunter Biden laptop theory or whatever, it's such a good companion for me to Majority 54 because I can't serve our Majority 54 audience in terms of debunking conspiracy theories if I don't even know what's circulating. She's like the right wing whisperer. Yeah. But she does bring things to my table that I call it right for the wrong reasons sometimes, or often just like the liberal media does miss things. A good example is what happened with PayPal this past week, where PayPal was announcing very restrictive policies to basically kick people off of the platform. And I thought it was poorly rolled out.

The right-wing media went crazy about it. The left-wing media didn't talk about it a lot. And so we talk about it on Lost Debate Show. And it's good because then if you're a person who's a little bit right-leaning and you're listening to that show and you're hearing somebody like me, a Democrat, validating your concerns about something that is real, maybe I can get you to listen to me when I talk about January 6th. That's the theory of that show, right? And vice versa. For Ricky, it's like, maybe if you're coming to hear me on January 6th, maybe you'll hear her out on PayPal, right? That's the hope of that show. It's such a great show. And we've spoken about both your shows, both Majority 54 and The Lost Debate here on the Midas Touch podcast. Plenty. We are all huge fans. Ravi, just want to thank you for coming on this episode of The

Mighty. And I'd like to encourage all of our listeners to go right now and make sure you are subscribed to Majority 54. Make sure you are subscribed to Majority 54. Make sure you're subscribed to The Lost Debate. Ravi Gupta, thanks so much. Always a pleasure. Peace out, guys.