The MeidasTouch Podcast - Trump FASCIST RALLY in Ohio, MAGA Kidnapping & Gaslighting, Herschel makes STUNNING ADMISSION + More (Rep. Shontel Brown)

Episode Date: September 20, 2022

On today’s show, we have an amazing interview with Congresswoman Shontel Brown, the Democrat representing Ohio’s 11th district. During the interview, we discuss Rep. Brown’s focus on getting straight to work to deliver for the American people, the stakes of the midterm elections, and much more. The remainder of the show, we bring you the latest news of the week. We break down Trump’s fascist circus cosplay rally in Ohio, the MAGA media gas lighting response to the rally, Herschel Walker’s very candid comments about his upcoming debate against his opponent, Democrat Raphael Warnock, GOP gaslighting and Russian disinformation tactics and more. New episodes of The MeidasTouch Podcast release every Tuesday and Friday at 5am ET. If you enjoyed today’s show please be sure to rate, review and subscribe. As always, thank YOU for listening. DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS: Join Aspiration: https://aspiration.com/touchdebit Become a member of our new Patreon: https://patreon.com/meidastouch Shop Meidas Merch at: https://store.meidastouch.com Remember to subscribe to ALL the Meidas Media Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://pod.link/1510240831 Legal AF: https://pod.link/1580828595 The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://pod.link/1595408601 The Influence Continuum: https://pod.link/1603773245 Kremlin File: https://pod.link/1575837599 Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://pod.link/1530639447 The Weekend Show: https://pod.link/1612691018 The Tony Michaels Podcast: https://pod.link/1561049560 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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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. the rally and let's just explore the maga media gaslighting in response to that rally matter of fact let's explore maga media literally creating various crises and then trying to like make up the outcome even if that's not actually what the outcome is specifically as it relates to the desantis kidnapping asylum seekers from venezuela situation that's going on. Herschel Walker, not sure if you heard this, he's agreed to debate, but he just gave a press conference saying he's not that smart. Raphael Warnock is going to show up and embarrass him,

but that people should take it easy on him. That was what he just said in Savannah. There really is no such thing as a mainstream or normal moderate Republican anymore. Can we just say that? Like, it doesn't really exist anymore. And I think Donald Trump's MAGA circus fascist cosplay rally kind of highlights that. I mean, he literally drew a distinction. Republicans are losing, whereas MAGA, is doing you know better for in that sect

this has been my cellist joined by brett and jordy it's the Midas touch podcast let's go what's up brothers i'm jumping in first brett i have an update for you brothers that i haven't told you yet i was in the emergency room until 4 a.m 4 a.m this morning crazy right everyone's okay you can't just drop that like you're right a friend of ours was at the house and they had to get stitches was it was a long story short of that but everyone's okay doing much better but uh yeah let's go just uh wild times yeah i mean maybe i'd work on those storytelling skills a little bit. Well, here's the issue. If I tell a long story, Ben makes us stop the podcast. We have to redo everything.

Jordy, a story needs a three-act structure. You need a beginning, a middle, and an end. I'm the Tarantino of storytelling. Apparently not, because I don't know what that was. But Ben, we got a great guest today. I'm not sure if you mentioned our guest. Who's our guest on the Mighty Such podcast? Our guest is Representative Chantel Brown from Ohio's

11th Congressional District. One of the things I want to talk to Chantel Brown about, too. So she won the special election in 2021. But since she's been in office as a member of Congress, if you go through the list of things that Democrats passed in that short period of time, right, from the Infrastructure to Inflation Reduction Act to the PACT Act to the CHIPS Act, any one of those things would be a historic piece of legislation that a president would look back to and go, that was a term-defining piece of legislation. All of that's happened since then. And she's sponsored over 15 major bills since she's been there. So I'm excited to have a chat with her.

It's nice to get a breath of fresh air from Ohio after whatever the fuck that was that we saw over the weekend in Ohio. And we have to compare also, I mean, Jim Jordan, another Ohio congressman, dude's been in Congress for 14 years. He's passed zero pieces of legislation, zip, zero, nada. Chantel Brown, representative for what, a little over a year, has already co-sponsored more than 50 bills and voted on past some of the most consequential legislation in American history. I mean, it just goes to show you the difference between these performative MAGA Republicans who just do nothing, who try to cause problems, who try to make things worse for the people and Democrats who, you know, get in there and actually try to help people like that. I definitely don't always get things right, but at

least they're trying to do the right thing and are trying to help Americans. I mean, yeah. And I think that was on full display this weekend at that fascist rally. Let's talk about that rally. You know, I did a more fulsome update. Everyone can watch the video under Ohio rally on our YouTube if you want to see the full recap. But basically, it starts with you go outside before the speech and you have like the January 6th defendants are all like they're like, that's who makes up, you know, lots of the people who show up in the audience. So they so the radical right networks interview the people like, yeah, I'm a January 6th defendant. Can I say that here? Just play that clip super quickly. I served the Air Force for 21 years. I'm a January 6th defendant. Can we say that? And I wrote a poem called We're Ready to Fight. I have a copy I'll give to you. Oh, that sounds great. You look fantastic. Okay. And then after that, you have like the opening act is always like one of their new radical MAGA candidates they want to highlight. And this guy is a guy named J.R. Majewski or Majewski is their radical right. Who's a QAnon, like literally a QAnon believer.

He would participate in January 6th. He's the person that the Republicans have running for Ohio's new ninth congressional district. He starts off and goes, my pronouns are patriot. It is kicker here it's not joking you're up man you can't make it up here just play that part so for those of you that don't know me my name is jr majewski and my pronouns are patriot and ass kicker okay and then after you go to go to the Ted Cruz School of Comedy or something? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So then after doing that, his other main applause line is, we're going to turn the Green New Deal into a brown turd. Here, play that clip. And I'm going to turn that Green New Deal brown like the turd it is.

Okay. So that's the person who they're highlighting as their main candidate. That's who they want to shed. I know you're going to get here, but can I just say this also? I'm probably getting ahead of my skis here, but you forget that this event was for J.D. Vance. I don't think I saw one single clip of J.D. Vance from the entire rally. The guy was kind of M M.I.A. Trump makes it all about him. It's all just crazy. I'm quick on my feet, Brett, even though you you change the direction of that. Let's play the clip, though, of the one time where Trump did call up J.D. Vance after and that was comparing J.D. Vance to Kim Jong Un. And he

was saying, you know, J.D. Vance said mean things about me, but so did Kim Jong-un. And now they both kiss my ass. So here, play that clip. Yikes. Yeah, he said some bad things about me, but that was before he knew me. And then he fell in love. Remember, I said that about Kim Jong-un. He fell in love.

And they said, oh, Trump is saying he fell in love. Actually, he did, if you want to know that. J.D., please come up and say a few words. J.D. Vance. Yeah. So at the main rally for J.D. Vance, which was supposed to be the rally. And so the part of the grift, too, is is that Trump, even though he's, you know, raised or grifted or stole hundreds of millions of dollars from donors just lying to them, he doesn't spend any money in the elections themselves. So he gives the rallies, which furthers his grift because he raises money off of them. And then he goes and says, look what I've done. So he doesn't actually have to use any of his money. And then he uses the Save America PAC money to pay his legal fees. And specifically, he's just used the money to hire his new lawyer, who happens to be a

foreign agent of Venezuela. You can't make this up. So the money from Save America PAC, Trump used to pay a new lawyer, Christopher Kice, three million dollars. And then it turns out from FARA filings, the Foreign Agent Registration Act, that Chris Kice is a foreign a foreign agent registered to serve the Venezuelan authoritarian Maduro regime. And you can't make this. I also want to say so. Jordi, what did you say last time? Jordy, I'm thinking of the last episode. You're like, are we just playing insurrectionist Mad Libs right now?

It literally sounds like insurrectionist Mad Libs. But get this, it gets worse, Ben, because it's just so Trumpian. So Trump paid Kaiser a $3 million retainer. I don't know if you saw this. Maduro's people paid him like $1 million at a retainer. So Trump also got the world's worst deal on the planet. He's paying three X what Maduro's people paid for the same attorney, Mr. Art of the Deal. By the way, while we're on this subject of attorneys and Trump, major hat tip to politics girl, Lee McGowan. Her video about where are the lawyers, which was just basically where are all

the good, normal lawyers? This should be a case where the Harvard and Yale lawyers and all these top-notch law firms want to represent someone like a Donald Trump if he was, in fact, being falsely accused. But the fact that not a single, normal, competent lawyer can come forward and raise their hand and actually want to represent the guy speaks volumes. Well, here's the thing. I don't know. I mean, you know, Chris Keiss was the former solicitor general in Florida and by all accounts did a decent job at that. But you have to call into question the judgment where save, well, one just representing Trump in general, but number two, where Save America PAC is either a target or is being actively investigated by the Department of Justice for its

criminal conduct. And so a lot of the subpoenas that are coming out from Washington, D.C. relate to potential criminality by the Save America PAC organization, which is who paid Christopher Keis. So basically taking money from an organization that's under Department of Justice investigation while he's a foreign agent of the Maduro regime. But that's a theme that we're going to talk about later in this podcast as well, which is that there when you get morphed in that MAGA world, your judgment goes out the window. People like Elise Stefanik, who are supposed to be like who bill themselves as, you know, originally as, oh, this is a moderate person. And by all accounts, her background, Elise Stefanik before running was of someone who was a moderate, but for that callous gain of personal aggrandizement and power to go full MAGA is what you have to do. You have to pass the MAGA purity test, which means you have

to do these absurd, weirdo, fascist cosplay rituals and QAnonism, and you got to sell your soul literally to one of the most foul and despicable people in human history and certainly in American history in Donald Trump. So back to my recount, though. So you had J.R. Majowski saying that you have, you know, Jim Jordan couldn't reach the microphone and so he couldn't barely speak. Marjorie Taylor Greene then goes and she says the future of the Republican Party is pledging loyalty to one man. And you know who that is. Here, play that clip. The future under Republicans is America first, protects freedoms for all, reigns in the federal government and loyally follows the one true leader of the Republican Party, and you know who that is.

He's the one we elected in 2016, the one we re-elected in 2020, who won the election, by the way. Oh yeah, he won. He did. Then before Trump takes the stage, they play the Undertaker music. Play that clip. And then Trump takes the stage and, you know, and does his normal song and dance. Literally, he does the weird song and dance that he does. And then he proceeds to spread the big lie over and over and over again. But here's one of the parts that I thought was actually, you know, interesting by where he says Republicans are getting crushed.

Republicans are getting, you know, destroyed. Play that clip. We're leading also all Republicans by record numbers. The Republicans are not doing too well. And just they are saying the Republicans are not doing well. He's drawing a distinction between people who who are the new faces of the Republican Party, the new MAGA Republican like J.R. Majewski, who talks about green turds and J.R. Brown turds and green New Deals. And J.R. Majewski previously said, if you're MAGA, you get eagle bums. We don't get goose bums. We get eagle. You can't make this stuff. So I would go to the doctor and get those checked out. And then after you go through after you go through all of that, I'm not going to play all the ridiculous things that Trump

said. But at the very end, at the very end, he concluded you hear this music in the background, which people who were observers of radicalization online and social media pointed out, that's the QAnon, where we go one, where we go all theme music that's been used by QAnon and has been appropriated by QAnon. They play the music, and then they all put up one finger for where we go one we go all in which is symbolic of what it is um it does look like a nazi salute style thing and then trump finishes speaking for about you know it's about two or three more minutes as that q anon music plays in the background and he gives the parade of horribles like he talks about all of the he lies and in flames about how america's not a great nation is basically what the ending is

and the dystopian vision the american carnage that he describes and then kind of and then leaves them with that basically and he's the only man who can fix it. And with that music, it's really like a sort of hypnosis almost that he's doing with the people at the rally. Like he is conditioning them very much so to act, to be violent. And when you see those images of the people with their arms raised, I mean, it sent chills down my spine watching that. It was one of the most horrific things. And a lot of people think, oh, you added that music in after the fact, you know, when they see those clips. No, that's what it was like at the rally itself. And what we're seeing after that is, you know, it's funny, we always see this with Republicans, you know, you see the initial sort of, not with them, they wait for their talking

points. You see the initial outrage from normal Americans who go, never again. That's not the America that I want to see. I do not want to see people holding their arms out like that to their leader with that kind of music while a fascist rhetoric is being just played into their ears nonstop. That's not the America that I want to see. We've seen this throughout history. We've seen where it ends. And then you see pretty quickly kind of the talking points start to come into play and the gaslighting and the lies and the lies are just so incessant. And with this one, the comments would be like, you know, somebody posted, I saw a picture of a Bon Jovi concert with people with their arms up, you know, rocking out to Bon Jovi. I guess a lot of Nazis at the Bon Jovi concert. I saw another post of like from a movie where a bunch of people in class raise their hands to answer a question in a school.

And they go, oh, I guess there's a lot of Nazis here. It's these false equivalencies and the gaslighting, which is, you know, just so akin to Russian disinformation. And these are the tactics that they use to muddy the waters, to draw these false parallels between all these things. And this is how they also further indoctrinate their cult. This is how they further get their cult deeper and deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole. And I think it's important though, that we speak about these rallies, that we do cover them and that we cover

them in a very precise, specific way of calling it out for what it is of calling these out for being fascist rallies, because you know what the cult is hearing the message loud and clear. They're on truth social, they're in the message boards, they're getting this, but you know, who needs to see what is actually going on in this country, who needs to understand what it means to vote for a Republican? The American people need to see this. Honestly, the average American going to the supermarket, going about their day, taking care of their family, they need to see what is brewing in America because they are not seeing this. And it is dangerous. And they need to know what it means to even elect. If you're thinking of electing your local congressman who's Republican, you think he's

a good guy. You got to know what that means, no matter how much, you know, even if that guy seems like he might be a moderate, understand the power that you are then giving to these fascist maniacs to take over this country because it's dangerous. No, no doubt. And so one of the things that might as touch posted on our Twitter account was we pointed out tonight's Trump rally. Do you not see what I see? Because the parallels were there. The context is there. Trump gave a Nazi type speech. You can't watch that speech and not go. That is a speech reminiscent of an Adolf Hitler speech or a Nazi fascist speech. And then you play QAnon music where one of the tenants of QAnon is that Donald Trump will overthrow the democratic government, hold military tribunals and kill everybody on public TV. That's what the storm is coming

actually means when they say, and when Donald Trump reposts all of that. And so we pointed out accurately now, Greg Gutfeld with his freaking shit eating grin on his Twitter account, you know, who's one of the Fox hosts who always interrupts everyone, especially if it's a woman who's actually making great points, you know, that support democracy.reg gutfeld is the one he just makes freaking noises because he's a great guy that's a great film it's it's my greg got you know i'm not even kidding it sounds just greg

gutfeld is the least and he thinks he's funny he's the least funny idiot he's another one of these failed comedians right like he can never make a failure of a comedian that would scream out a joke and no one laughing like what the fuck is this guy doing yeah i mean even his twitter picture is just like you know it sums him up actually frankly nicely and so his response to us is on Twitter. This is not hate speech because it's coming from a direction that they find acceptable. Well, Greg Gutfield calling out hate is not hate speech, criticizing and condemning Nazis is not hate speech. And that is one of the things that people like Greg Gutfield, one of their gaslighting tactics of the right, is to say, oh, I thought you were the party of being open and being inclusive. You need to be inclusive of my ability to say hateful things and to spread

Russian propaganda and to spread disinfo. You're misunderstanding. Inclusivity is us being welcoming to everybody and criticizing you for being a hateful maniac is part of supporting inclusivity. And that's what they do over and over and over again. In fact, Texas passed a law, I think it was called AB20, where they said people can sue social media companies if they don't allow all viewpoints. And so the viewpoints of we love we need to hate certain communities are equal viewpoints, in other words. And so they sued Twitter. And I mean, they passed the law. Twitter then filed a lawsuit to stop Texas's law. And the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, just at the end of the week upheld the Texas law preventing Twitter or social media companies from moderating hate speech. And it was that same gaslighting in

there that is like kind of what Greg Gutfeld said, like what the Fifth Circuit basically said is that with Twitter's large platform, what if Twitter is not supportive of marginalized communities and they just shut down the free speech of marginalized communities like LGBTQ plus communities, you know, and other marginalized communities? And it's like that's what they're trying to protect with their moderation policies. All these right wing radical extremists want to just throw in the hate and all those horrible, disgusting things you see, you know, which you see on Truth Social all the time. And so anyway, that's one of their gaslighting tactics. But one of the other gaslighting tactics, and it's more than gaslighting, is actually creating and fabricating a whole story. And the more we learn about what took place in Florida or actually took place in Texas, but with Ron DeSantis

literally kidnapping Venezuelan asylum seekers and herding them onto airplanes and shipping them to Martha's Vineyard is that this was a Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, DeSantis, kind of collusive generated thing to distract from the fact that Republicans are getting destroyed for taking away women's right to choose. It was very strategically done at this exact point in time leading up to the election to create fabricated discussions regarding migrants in the United States because they know that's their go-to election issue. It's so wild. I got to highlight Brian Tyler Cohen's comment on this issue because I thought it was just so spot on and brilliant. Brian said said the GOP's stance on reproductive rights is so depraved and unpopular that they decided shipping human beings off to a remote island under false pretenses actually seemed

like the preferable choice as a closing message to voters ahead of the midterms. So that's exactly what they did. And so, of course, the moment the asylum seekers arrived at Martha's Vineyard, Fox had the exclusive ready to go. and shelter and then made sure that there was a place where that they could have their papers processed in an expedited way, which just happened not to be on Martha's Vineyard, but in another location in Massachusetts, by the way, which is run by a state that has a Republican governor. I mean, the right wing keeps forgetting that that that Massachusetts has a Republican governor and they keep going after. And by the way, we pointed this out to Ted Cruz, who tried to use this to try to weaponize. This is look at what those radical far left

libs are doing. And they're Democrats who are sending the we called him out on it. Dude actually deleted his tweet in shame. We made Ted Cruz, which was actually shocking. That even deleted it. It's unbelievable. This whole thing was what? Using people as a gotcha moment for Democrats because they thought the folks in Martha's Vineyard would have freaked out about this and been mad that these migrants were in there wherever. That was the point of this stunt? That was the point of it. And then the headline that they ran, even though the outcome wasn't that they they were going with their story to begin with. Right. Which is that that they that these border towns are being overrun by illegal immigrants, even though these are lawful asylum seekers. But that's the narrative. So we shipped them to sanctuary cities who then rejected them. That was the idea to create that controversy. So even though Massachusetts rallied around lawful asylum seekers who are here

and helped process them, the New York Post run by Murdoch and part of the whole right wing echo chamber was liberal city deported, deports, you know, deports illegal immigrants. So they deported themselves. And that was the headline that they had actually they wrote the script weeks ago. Right. Yeah. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what actually happened. You know, at the end of the Yeah. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what actually happened. You know, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how the people of Martha's Vineyard reacted to this plot. Nothing, nothing mattered. Reality doesn't matter. They had their story set. They were running with it and they did. And then they have the memes and you see this whole kind

of ecosystem that feeds into one another. You have the daily wire, the, you know, pumping out the memes. You have Fox news, retweeting them. You have the New York post running the story, which then the Fox news picks up all these properties kind of owned by the same people or, or friends of each other. And then they post man, the New York post is a pill pocket for those who have dogs or animals out there and they have to give the dogs medicine, right? You, you, you put it in something called a pill pocket, which is like a little treat and the dog doesn't know what he's taking. The New York Post growing up to me as someone who grew up in New York was actually like kind of a legitimate paper. And I didn't understand, but that's the rights ecosystem.

That's their pill pocket where they pretend that this is a real paper, but it's just another Murdoch shell. Yeah. I don't think it's ever actually earned any money. Like it's not profitable. I think, you know, I read a book about Murdoch just to try to understand his tactics. Um, and I think it's broken and I think it's lost. I think it's consistently lost, you know, money, you know, a year because the goal of it actually isn't to be profitable. It is to generate sources of disinfo to kind of spread them. So then the Post can write a story and then Fox can say it has been reported that and uses it by that and then kind of feed off of. Yeah, that's exactly the site. It's just so sad because the New York Post was founded by Alexander Hamilton and for it to have been purchased

by Rupert Murdoch and be transformed into what it is today is just really... It's why independent media is so important. I keep telling everyone, support independent media.

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I think we can maybe hit it during this show. We have 928 patrons right now. Let's hit it by the end of the show. Patreon.com slash MidasTouch. It's just extra. It's additive. So for those listening, I saw some comments last week saying, oh, you guys are only behind a paywall. No, this show is not going anywhere. It's additive and it's awesome. And it's a way you can help the brothers. And right now I'm also

wearing my Rovember shirt came in the mail brothers. This is awesome. I'm so stoked about this. Obviously you can pick this one up at store.midastouch.com. That's store.midastouch.com. Grab your Rovember gear. There's only a handful left. And honestly, it's more important than ever that we get out there in both these midterms. Brett, I want to talk about Herschel Walker in Savannah. And Herschel Walker gave a press conference today. He's been avoiding and ducking these debates for some time. And I guess they've pulled it because there's no other reason that he said it. I guess they said, if you don't do a debate, you're going to lose.

Like, you have to do at least one debate. By the way, I'll believe it when I see it, but go on. Well, at least here, I think there was a moment of honesty, I suppose. That's the most honest thing he's ever said. Where in Savannah, he goes, I'm not that smart. And Warnock is going to embarrass me at the debate, but I will do the best that I can, you know, which is, you know, it's an interesting thing. That's not our interpretation. Yeah, play the clip, play the clip.

So I'm preparing. I'm this country boy, you know, I'm not that smart. And he's that preacher. He's a smart man, wear these nice suits. So he's going to show up and embarrass me at the debate, October the 14th. And I'm just waiting. You know you all show up and I'm going to do my best. Yeah. I mean, he literally, he literally said that, but here's the thing. I appreciate that, that he may not be that smart. I appreciate him saying that. And I don't think one of the most relatable things that he said, I think. And I don't think, yeah. And I don't think I agree with you. And I don't think that that how smart you are doesn't matter. But what really does matter,

though, for certain types of positions, though, I don't want my surgeon who's about to operate on me to say, you know what? I got to be honest with you. I'm not that smart. In fact, I didn't really even go to, in fact, I didn't even really go to medical school. I got, I got to be honest with you. I'm wearing this white coat, but I bought it at a garage sale and I'm going to do my best on this surgery for you. But I got to be honest with you. I don't even know. I don't even know the difference between a bone and an organ. I bought the shirt at a spirit Halloween. You know, you know, you know, similarly, if I'm in a court, if I got a big court case and I'm, I'm a client before the person who's supposed to be my lawyer gives an opening statement on my behalf,

which could impact my life and liberty. I wouldn't want them to say, got to be honest with you, client. I'm not that good. I'm really scared right now. I'm really nervous. And I think they're going to embarrass me. Okay. I know you see that jury over there. They may find you against you and that may impact you for the rest. I'm going to try. The point I'm making here, which should be abundantly clear by now, is there are certain professions, though, where we need smart leadership and being a Senator where your decisions are not that far off from the examples that I just gave. They are life or death decisions that you are making. You don't have to run for political office. If the MAGA world wanted just to stay and become WWE wrestlers and have a whole league and a whole subculture with their weirdo memes and their weirdo rallies, I would never watch it. But at the very least, they wouldn't be seeking power over me and my family and my colleagues

and my community and my country. They have decided with their weirdo, fascist, cosplay, unintelligent world that they want to make decisions that will impact your life and my life. And that's the problem that I have. That could be a relatable statement if you're doing anything other than a position where I need smart leadership. I need people to navigate geopolitical crises. Ostensibly, you're going to be on committees, if you were to win, that could deal with nuclear proliferation, that could deal with stopping wars, that could deal with all this information. And that's where it's like, if you have fun going to Renaissance fairs, go to the Renaissance fairs. I once went to a Renaissance fair. I didn't really like the Renaissance fair, but I understood that it could be a fun. But if the people at the Renaissance fair would really go, here, Guy, here, Guy, I hereby declare that I am running for the real Senate.

And I'd be like, no, don't do that. Just keep it here in the Renaissance fair, please. Right. Right. Don't bring that. Yeah. I wish that Herschel Walker's comments were, listen, everybody, not very smart i'm gonna get humiliated out there which is why i am suspending my campaign to run for the u.s senate so that we could have rafael warnock who

clearly knows what he's doing run the ship again can i tell you while i'm on the renaissance fairs let me tell you why i didn't like the renaissance fair oh ben's going off on the renaissance fair no no no no i like you have understand. I like medieval times things. And I like the Renaissance period in general. I mean, one of the first books I read was by Barbara Tuchman, the calamitous 14th century. This is one of the most inspirational books.

But here's the issue that, here's the issue that I didn't like about the Renaissance fair. And I appreciate people like Renaissance fairs. The dragons. You don't like dragons? I don't like- Did you just watch Game of Thrones and you don't like thrones? Is that what's happening here? I like when the Renaissance fair, I'd prefer to be tethered to the actual period of,

there's dragons aren't real. What are you saying? Dragons aren't real. You don't know that. If we're really being authentic, I just thought that it should not have- I see. So it's an authenticity issue with you. It's funny because last night, oh man, we just took a big turn on this podcast. Last night, a conversation I was having with my wife was, because we were watching House of Dragons, is what do you think is the one mythological creature that you think would be really cool to actually be real, actually exist? And I said, clearly a dragon. Dragons are by far and away the coolest. And my wife said unicorn. And I said, clearly a drag, like dragons are by far and away the coolest. And my wife said, unicorn. And I said, absolutely not. It's funny that we think we're going to bring

in Chantal Brown in a second, assuming that she still wants to have a conversation with us, but it's, but you and I are so funny because as I'm watching, I'm having the same weird, I would assume most people just watch game of thrones and don't have the i could be wrong but like so i'm so the conversation that i had with my fiance i was like you had the same conversation no no i had a similarly weird one i was like i understand like this is a whole different world but like they still have fish that look like our fish and they still have rain that looks like art like why isn't there rain okay if you're listening to this podcast, this is what I have to deal with on a daily basis with my two brothers.

Like they just fish that look like, why doesn't the fish in their world? Why do they speak with like English accents? They're not from. Let's bring it. Without further ado, let's bring in Congresswoman Chantel Brown. I'm excited to take this conversation back to politics.

Jordy derailed it there for a second. Renaissance fairs and all these dragons. Let's bring in Congresswoman Chantel Brown. Welcome back to the Midas Touch podcast. We are joined by Congresswoman Chantel Brown, representing Ohio's 11th Congress congressional district. Congresswoman Brown, welcome to the Midas Touch podcast. Thank you for having me. I'm super stoked to be on the program today. So let's get into it. That's and so first, let's just talk about your background. You won the special election in 2021. Can you talk about running in that special election? What made you decide, I'm going to run for Congress? Well, timing is everything, right? I actually started out in

local government. I like to tell people that, you know, climate change, a climate change issue actually led me to my very first city council meeting because I wanted to know where we would go in the event of a natural disaster. And what I learned at that meeting was there was some room for improvement. So rather than complain, I'm a person that believes in being the change that you want to see. So I decided I was going to run for city council and that I did. And I kept going to the meetings for people who are watching. If you never go to your city council meetings or your school board meetings, go there. They aren't well attended. When you show up, people will be super interested. They're like, who are you? What do you want? How can we help you?

And so that was the response that I received when I attended the meetings and people wanted to help me help my neighbors. And so before I even got elected to my first office, I was getting things done. So fast forward, election day came, polls closed. I was down by six votes guys. I actually thought I lost the race, but I was cool with that because I'm like, okay, I'm down, but not out, disappointed, but not devastated. I'm like, I'm just going to keep doing what I was doing because I was getting things done. It wasn't about a title for me. It was about getting things done. Little did I know there were 23 provisional ballots in my race. And 11 days later, after they were counted, I learned that I had actually won the race by seven votes. So that was how I got into this political world. So as a child of faith,

seven represents perfection, completion, and God. So that was really my moral compass and my guiding force in this work that I purposely call public service because I know that I work for the people. So fast forward, an opportunity comes in 2014 for me to run for another office. And before I decided to go for that office, my mayor said, you should reach out to Marsha Fudge first, Congresswoman Fudge at the time. Little did I know there were five other people vying for this seat. So now I went from three people in my first race to six people in my second race. I was the least qualified, least educated, least experienced, but the hardest

working. Okay. And that paid off. We ended up getting 48% of the vote in a six person race. So we got a lot of attention of folks because they're like, who is this young person getting these things done, coming in here, shaking up things. So that caught the attention as well of Congresswoman Fudge. So now I've become her protege. She's watching me. She taps me on the shoulder in 2017. She says, I want you to consider something. And if you say no, it's OK. Now, who tells the congresswoman now? But I'm like, OK, well, what is it? So she was like, I want you to think about running for the county party chair, Democratic County Party chair.

At the time, no one had been elected that was Black or female. So, why not, Chantel? What do you have to lose, right? You can be the first. But let me tell you, I did not jump at the bottom of the apple. It actually took me about a month to call her back and say, okay, I mean, she said, girl, we were about to move on. I said, okay, I'm going to do it because I knew it was going to require a lot of work but people don't realize party chair positions at the county level don't pay they're a labor of love so now not only was I going for a position that no one had ever looked like me been elected to it's unpaid okay so that was 2017. I actually made history, became the first female and the first black person elected to lead the largest county party in the state of Ohio.

So now we've got this dynamic, me and the secretary, well now secretary Fudge, congresswoman. And when her opportunity comes up to be a member of the cabinet, it just was a natural transition. People have been saying, you know, you're going to be the next Congresswoman, you're going to be the next Congresswoman. But that was never my motivation or focus. I just wanted to serve the people. So when she got tapped to be a member of the cabinet, it just seemed like the natural path of progression for me. We got 51% of the vote in that race. And here I am serving in Congress. So that's my journey. Well, that's an incredible journey. And to everybody out there who's seeing and listening to that journey, it just starts

with wanting to help the people, wanting to do it, and then putting yourself in the arena and working really, really, really hard. It's such an incredible story. So now that you are a member of Congress, you get to address issues of national import, and you're wearing the shirt that says Democrat, big D Democrat, but small D democracy is on the line. And we see that with, you know, as recent as this weekend, with I like to call it the traveling fascist circus that Trump brings from state to state to state. And when you see that, I see some of the most kind of anti all the values that I always thought America's for democracy. One person isn't above the law. We don't pledge allegiance to one person. We support our constitution. All of that seems to be rejected

in those rallies. And so what was your reaction when you saw that come into Youngstown? The reaction is much like yours. It's for me, it's frightening also that, you know, that people are engaging in this type of activity in our country. And it just really emphasizes the fragility of our democracy. Ohio, we know, has been considered a red state, but I like to say it is more red than it is red. And we see that in candidates like my good friend, Tim Ryan. And when I say my good friend, I actually mean it. Tim Ryan has been a tremendous ally in the Congress, a strong supporter. And I am super excited that someone like him is able to demonstrate that Ohio is not a red state, that it is competitive for

Democrats. You just have to know what the people want. And Tim Ryan has been very in tune to the constituents across the state. And so his message is getting out. And what people thought wasn't going to be a competitive race when it started out, they're learning something different. So my hat's off to Tim Ryan for shaking things up, showing people that Ohio has a real chance to have two Democratic U.S. senators joining my cousin, Sherrod Brown. So it would be a fantastic opportunity for him to get into that space. And I really think if anyone is capable of replicating Cinder Sherrod Brown's winning formula, it's Tim Ryan, and he's proving that that is the case. So I'm encouraged. You learn from me that I am a person that looks for the silver lining. I am a glass half full person. I am an eternal optimist. So I'm always looking

for the best in the good of things. So to, you know, I dismiss all of that craziness and focus on the good. Yeah, because I don't know if this resonates to the people of Ohio, but I'm not sure if you heard Donald Trump compare Tim Ryan's opponent, J.D. Vance, to Kim Jong-un and said that he was very much like Kim Jong-un and that they both kissed his ass. And so that was supposed to be a good quality for people in Ohio. I kid you not, that's actually what Trump said. But setting aside that circus, fascist cosplay, whatever it is, when you got into Congress, you started really focusing on what matters to the people and not that, you know, weirdo, fascist stuff. And you rolled up your sleeves and you focused on the issue.

So which issues, you know, as part of Biden's agenda, the Democratic agenda, are you most proud about since you've been in Congress? Well, listen, there has been so many things that we've been able to do since I've become a member of Congress, and I'm going to take credit for it all. So day two. Yes, yes, yes. Psych the football. Absolutely. Day two, I voted for the bipartisan infrastructure law, which poured billions of dollars into Ohio, literally $1.2 trillion investment across the country.

And how long have we been talking about infrastructure week? For decades. I mean, decades, many administrations, infrastructure week? For decades. I mean, decades. Many administrations, infrastructure week, infrastructure week. Well, Chantel gets there day two. I voted for the bipartisan infrastructure law. And I teased the whip when I got there. I said, you know what? They tell me you've been working on this for decades.

And I said, and I was able to get it done on my second day. He just looked at me in true whip fashion and said, why do you think I worked so hard to get you here? He is so amazing. He is so amazing. He's truly like the godfather of the Congress, truly the JC, not just for Jim Clyburn, but again, the one who was able to resurrect those who look like they don't have any life left, like our president, myself, you know, he came in, maybe strong endorsements, and here we are. So bipartisan infrastructure law, number one. Number two, the Chips and Science Act, right? That is going to help us with the supply chain issues that we've been experiencing. We're going to make the semiconductor chips so we don't have to do that work overseas and worry about China and all the intelligence that they

could potentially be tapping in. And I mean, it's a whole security thing when we think about it. And so when we talk about the inflation related to cars and computers, the semiconductor, the Chips Act and Science Act, the CHIPS and Science Act is another thing that I'm incredibly proud of because that's going to create job opportunities and help us with so many issues around inflation and the Inflation Reduction Act, right, which we all celebrated not too long ago at the White House, putting money back in people's pockets by lowering prescription drug prices, the biggest investment in the climate crisis in our nation's history, the PACT Act, helping our veterans who have been suffering from the chemicals when they're over fighting these wars to protect

our freedoms. I mean, we've been able to get so many things done since I got to Congress. And so I'm pretty proud of that. And I want to just acknowledge that we still have a lot of work to do. We're going to continue to fight for women's reproductive rights. We're going to continue to fight

for voting rights. We're going to continue to fight for police reform. So we know those things are on the table, but let's not neglect the things that we have accomplished because pandemic, inflation, and Putin's war aside, these would be like, one of these things would be a big BFD. I'll just leave it there. I want to reiterate, you were sworn in November 4th, 2021, correct? So everything that you just said has been since November 4th, 2021. Is it true that you've co-sponsored more than 50 bills

already at this point? A hundred percent. Yes. My goal is to come in and get right to work, get down to business. And I was blessed, number one, having worked as the chair of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party. I really understand that we are not a monolith. We are not, you know, the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party consists of over a thousand members. We have over a thousand members in the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party. So coming here to 435 was like a dream. And when you think about the Democratic caucus, that number is 218, right? So we are, I'm in a space where I'm very comfortable. I understand the importance of collaboration. I am a proud member of the CBC, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and the New Dems Coalition. Why? Because those are where the decisions are being made.

That's where the action happens. So I want to be in the space, in the rooms where decisions are being made. So yes, I have been groomed and trained and brought up by some of the best, including my mentor, Secretary Fudge, who prepared me so I was able to hit the ground running. Now a quick word from one of our sponsors. Hey, when it comes to saving the planet, there is no neutrality. If you keep your money in most standard bank accounts, they're lending your deposits out to fund oil and coal. No, no, no, not so good. Switch to the planet side and get Aspiration. Get this. Aspiration is a climate-friendly alternative to big banks. Get an account and debit card that's built to help your wallet and the planet.

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There's so many things. I mean, when we talk about all the things that are at stake right now, a number of the bills around women's reproductive health have been incredibly important to me. On a more personal note, very, very personal, but it might not seem like a big deal to everyone. But as a person who's rocking braids right now, the Crown Act coming in to pick up the torch of my predecessor who initiated that legislation was able to come in and try to get that over the finish line. That's incredibly important and sensitive to my community and culture. So there are so many things as a member of the oversight committee,

I have the distinct honor and privilege and responsibility of overseeing how our resources are appropriated. So I came in from local government having led an initiative to declare racism as a public health crisis. So diversity, equity and inclusion is incredibly important to me. The issues around making sure that minority businesses who typically haven't had a seat at the table are getting their fair shot and their fair share. Those are the things that really, really excite me. And I also get to serve on the agriculture committee. We've got the farm bill coming up in 2023. And in a city that has carried the label as one of the poorest big cities in the country, we go back and forth with Detroit. Detroit now,

I think according to the recent data is now back at the bottom and we're at number two. But the statistical difference is so marginal that it doesn't even matter. But I want to mitigate that. I want to make sure that we are taking advantage of these once-in-a-lifetime investments in Cleveland. I mean, we got over half a billion dollars from the American Rescue Plan. I wasn't there when that passed, but half a billion dollars from the American Rescue Plan just for the city of Cleveland. I worked in county council. We got a quarter of a billion dollars because this administration prioritized communities with the greatest need. So this is going to put us on a path to be able to really change the course and change the trajectory of the city and put us on a path to prosperity. I strongly believe that.

For our listeners who may not know, the Crown Act is a law that prohibits discrimination based on hairstyle and hair texture. It's something incredibly important and something that people have to struggle with every single day across the country. Here's a question, something that I want to dig in because you were speaking about equity and you're speaking about how proud you are of the infrastructure bill and the CHIPS Act and all this stuff. Here's where I worry, but I think there are safeguards put in these bills. But this is what I want to get your take on because we're looking around right now at infrastructure across the country. And we've seen what happens in a Jackson, Mississippi, when the infrastructure is ignored. I mean, people aren't even able to get clean water.

So how do we make sure that with these great bills, with all this money being distributed, that once it gets in the hands of these Republican governors, that it's actually being put to proper use to actually help solve the problems that the money is intended to solve? Great question. So that's where our committee oversight and judiciary would come in. Oversight, we oversee the authority of the government and how these agencies are appropriating the resources. And so I struggle with the same thing in Ohio, quite candidly. We have a Republican governor who hasn't always prioritized appropriating the resources in the urban communities. Right. And we see that you use a prime example in Jackson, Mississippi. Good friend, Chairman Benny Thompson talked about how many states like ours use the population to get the resources and then they put them in the suburban communities or the rural areas. So we have to be more aggressive and more diligent in making sure that these, as you call them, safeguards and guardrails, our guardrails are actually being

implemented. And we work on this consistently in the oversight committee, as well as the CBC, very, very active with the administration and constant communication, made sure that those safeguards were put in place. But now it's time for us to do our part as the oversight committee to see how the things are being appropriated and actually holding these folks accountable. Yeah, it is. I feel like our constituents have to be informed so that they understand some of the protocols and processes. You know, you probably have no idea how many calls we get that are really state related or local government. Like we are the purse strings, like we provide the resources to get some of these things done. But the everyday constituent doesn't always understand that the execution comes from their local and state government. So we try to use those also

as teaching opportunities. But when we are, when we're made aware, it's up to us on the oversight committee to do the investigation and then put some consequences in place, maybe withhold those funds so that, you know, they can only be appropriated when the when the actual state are met. I just feel like you see time and time again, you see Democrats trying to help marginalized communities. You see Democrats trying to help workers and you see Republicans, frankly, doing the exact opposite. friend Tim Ryan is resonating so well in Ohio. Like what is the thing you think that is breaking through between the two of you in Ohio that, for example, we did not see in the last presidential election when Ohio went to Trump? Well, I appreciate that so very much because I think it's really simple. Tim Ryan and I, we listen to the people. We meet them where they are. I think fits all solution to work for your problem so it i equated to going into the doctor's office and the doctor saying okay um here's the

here's the uh aspirin for your headache and it's like no doc my knee is broken you know but you know she just the doctor just wants to prescribe what he wants to prescribe without even checking out what your problem is. And so this is this is the beauty of all of the things that we've actually been able to get done. I like to describe it as a buffet. If you just listen to what the constituents are asking for, there is something on the political buffet right now that is actually benefiting everyone's life, whether it's student debt relief, whether it's high speed internet, whether it's job opportunities, whether it's the climate crisis, whether it's infrastructure, getting rid of potholes, fixing bridges. I mean, there is something on the political buffet for everyone's palate, but you cannot

feed people unless you know what they have an appetite for. And so Tim Ryan, myself, we sit, we listen, we don't come and tell you what we think you want to hear. It takes time for us. It's time for us to do more listening and then crafting our message to meet the needs of the people we have been so blessed to serve. Representative Brown, that's actually a great segue into my next question, which comes from a Midas Touch listener, Jennifer Eileen, who asks, how are the voter registration numbers looking on the ground in the wake of overturning Roe? How's the ground game going?

And what are people saying? What are people asking for right now? What are their needs? And I'll say this, in Cuyahoga County, we've had great voter registration. We don't have a voter registration problem. We have a voter participation problem. That has been the issue. So in a place like Cuyahoga County, when I last checked, we were over 800,000 registered voters. Our population is about fluctuates between one and one point one and one point one million. So the three hundred thousand people that probably won't vote too young.

But you know what I'm saying? So we've got good numbers. Big majority. Yeah. Big majority. But where we tend to fall off are the midterm elections and local elections because they don't always get the earned media, if you will, right? Local elections are so small sometimes that people don't even realize they are happening. And that is the problem. We have to make sure people are aware that elections happen every single year. Too many people think elections only occur every four years during the presidential or during the governor's every two years during, you know, the midterms like in Ohio. But in Ohio, elections occur every year, often twice a year,

because you have your primary, your general. So election education is critically important. But making sure people are participating in every single election is more critical to me than the voter registration in a place like Cuyahoga County. So yes, there's been a little bit of an uptick. We saw that in Kansas, right, the state of Kansas, we saw how women and men and people just showed up to make sure that women's reproductive health choices are protected. It's bigger than abortion. This is about privacy. This is about your ability to decide your health care. And so when we start dabbling with that, I think the Republicans underestimated how motivated and mobilized women can be. And so we saw we saw the power of that in Kansas. And I think that that was a good barometer for what we'll see across the country. Representative Brown, I used

to have a boss and he would say everybody wants a six pack, but nobody wants to do the crunches when he was talking about like work ethic. And I just I just love that. And you clearly do the crunches. So I thank you for that. Why is it, in your opinion, that there are so many Democrats doing the crunches that actually want to do well for the people of America, the citizens in this country? And then you have those ultra MAGA Republicans who are just continuously invoking culture wars and trying to take away people's rights. What is that? If I understood, then I would probably be of their same mindset. So sometimes you just can't make sense out of nonsense, Jordan. I mean, if I had the answer, I probably wouldn't be doing this. I might be like a billionaire. I don't know. I mean. They say no and take the dough like they are like,

no, no, no. But they are happy to show up for the photo ops with checks voted for this legislation that's benefiting people, because the amazing thing about the legislation, whether it's the bipartisan infrastructure law, whether it's the CHIPS Act, whether it's the Inflation Reduction Act, whether it's the student debt relief, it benefits Democrats, Republicans, and independents. It's helpful to everyone. So I mean, this no, no, no, and no plan, have no plan, no platform is insanity to me. And I don't understand how it has penetrated and resonated with so many people. I think that, you know, we just have to remove the partisan politics. We have to really put people over politics.

And that's what we've been doing as Democrats, putting people over partisan politics, really focusing on issues that are going to improve the quality of life. No games, you know, no hyperbolic speeches, just really focusing on how can we improve the quality of life? And if folks aren't doing that in public service, I don't know what they're doing here. That's so perfect. And that kind of answers my next question for you too, which is just how important are these midterm elections? Well, we see what would happen. We have a dose of what happens if we don't show up. You know, I hearken back to 2016. 2016, we had one of the most qualified candidates running for the presidency and one of the least qualified candidates running for the presidency and one of the least qualified candidates running for the presidency. And too many people took it for granted that the most qualified candidate

would win. They were either apathetic or they were buying into misinformation and disinformation. And so they decided to sit out the 2016 race. Now, the consequences didn't come in 17 or 18. Some of them did, let me be clear. But we got a president who was able to appoint not one, not two, but three, three radical, right-leaning Supreme Court justices that have reversed decades of precedent because of what we neglected in 2016. We are feeling the ramifications of that election right now, and it will have lasting impacts on generations to come if we do not show up for this midterm. So people who feel like my vote doesn't count, you may not always feel the impact of your vote immediately, but know that your vote counts. As a person who narrowly won my first election by seven votes, every vote does count. And it really does matter because it's going to be the difference of really life and death and

freedom at this point. The freedom to choose whether you, what you want to do with your body, that's what this election is going to be about. Democracy is clearly on the ballot. This, I fear what our country would become if folks like my Ohio delegation, Jim Jordan gets their hands on the power switch, who talked about a 10-year-old rape victim who had to leave our state to have an abortion, that would be our future. That's the potential leadership of this country. And that is alarming to me. And if that doesn't scare people and make them want to exercise their right to vote in this election, then I really don't know what will do it. There's so much at stake. There is so much at stake. And we really need to make sure that we're talking to everyone that we possibly can to make sure that they're participating in this midterm election, because it truly is a life or death situation. Congresswoman Chantel Brown, thank you for joining us on the Midas Touch podcast.

We appreciate your time in the discussion. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I wish I could have ended on a higher note. Yeah, I think that's good. Let's let's let's end on a higher note. Do you feel I mean, are you hopeful, though, heading into this midterms? I am when I again, I just circle back to my good friend, Tim Ryan, who's doing amazing things. Val Demings in Florida. I mean, I am very optimistic. The race in North Carolina, there are some opportunities for us to get the majority in the Senate. And if all goes very well, then we can hold the House. But that only happens if y'all show up and vote people. So we need you to come out and vote, vote, vote November 8th.

If you have an opportunity to vote early in your state, please take advantage of it. You don't have to wait till November 8th everywhere. So vote early and vote in every election. And thank you, Midas Touch. I appreciate it. There it is. That's what I'm talking about. Thank you. Congresswoman Chantel Brown, thank you for joining us on the Midas Touch podcast. You know, Brett and Jordi, just a breath of fresh air to hear about people who got into

politics because they wanted to help people who did it and took leadership jobs that were even unpaid. Not like, hey, how could I become a podcaster like Marjorie Taylor Greene and all these people who- Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz. There's that one great video circulating. We don't need to play it here, but where someone confronted Ted Cruz on an airport, an airplane. And he said, Ted Cruz, thank you for all the hard work you're doing with all of those podcasts of yours. There was a moment in that clip, which you guys got to watch it. Just look it up. But going back to Representative Brown, I mean, you're so right. And I feel like ever since we

watched that, the middle of telling a story. Yeah. Well, I read a comment the other day from a listener that said, I didn't talk much. I need to throw some sharper elbows and get my voice out there. Let me just tell you how it's done, Jordy. You got to wait for somebody to wrap up with their statement. Then you jump in. That was the most abrupt. Let me tell you how it's done. Somebody stops speaking.

There's a period at the end of the sentence. Then boom. Then you go in. He doesn't know how conversations work. That's your moment of strike, okay? So I was saying there was a funny moment in the video where the guy asks Ted Cruz, he goes, oh, your tie's on wrong.

And Ted Cruz like sheepishly looks down at his tie, which is a mess. And you actually see the pure embarrassment on Ted Cruz's face. And it's just such like a moment, a small moment of humiliation from Ted Cruz, from this random passenger on an airplane. That's very funny. Now, Jordy, that's a period at the end of the sentence. You're up, buddy. Okay. All I wanted to say was it's so great having someone like representative Brown on

this podcast. I feel like ever since we went. All right. That's great. So let me tell you about ever since we went to D.C. I met all these folks who are in the administration representing the interests of the American people. Like Ben said, it's a breath of fresh air to see people who are good people that want to do good work for the American people and still know there's a lot to do and a lot to accomplish. Like we're not here doing this podcast to hold water for the Democratic establishment. If all of a sudden Biden was like, yo, y'all should inject bleach in your veins. We'd be like, whoa, slow your roll, Joey, slow down. But seriously, what it comes down to is these are good people doing good things that know they could do even better things. And we just have to continue to fight for these pro-democracy causes.

Trey Lockerbie I couldn't agree more with you. And one of the issues that we have to just end with is that there really is no moderates in the MAGA Republican Party anymore. I mean, as defined as the MAGA Republican Party, inherently, there could be no room for any type of moderates. You know, I saw. Let me hit that, Ben, because you brought this up in a YouTube video and sorry to interrupt. But what I think Republicans need to realize. How is what you did any different than what I did to you? What you just did to Ben? And you guys did a whole thing about it. I'm yes. And OK, I'm yes. And I mean, Brett did also say sorry to interrupt going into it. It wasn't a. But but I want to harp on this point because it is something that Ben brought up

on another YouTube video. But I think it's important. And if you have any Republican relatives, if you may be a Republican, I think it's important that you all know this. The very first thing that a fascist movement does, and it's something that we are witnessing right now, is purge anybody who does not support the fascists from their own ranks. And that is what we are seeing right now. And that's what we have seen at this Trump rally with him calling out Republicans and saying Republicans are doing really bad. We're crushing all the Republicans. They are purging you. They are coming for you first before they come for the Democrats, before they come for the independent. They are coming for you first. And so in that process, I'll toss it back to Ben, we are seeing these people kind of take their stands now. Are they going to become further radicalized? And are they going to pledge allegiance not to the flag, but pledge allegiance to Donald Trump? Or are they going to be ostracized from the party, shamed, humiliated by the party, and have to be on an island by themselves after all this time of bowing down to MAGA and Donald Trump. And that's kind of the the crossroads that a lot

of these Republicans are currently in. Yeah, that makes no sense to me when you mean you really break it down. I mean, you know, Mitch McConnell at his age, you know, anyway, it's like, what are you like? He's what are you running for at this point? Like you were literally Trump is mocking you every single day. The writing's on the wall and you can't stand up to that. And by not standing up, you allow MAGA to metastasize. What is that? You know, they're just cowards that they've always been.

I mean, they've just the most kind of cowardly. They hide while they try to pass their secret tax cuts for billion show. I mean, Bannon was criminally convicted of contempt of Congress for not showing up. You want to invoke Hillary Clinton's name, someone who sat before Congress and at all times answered everybody's questions. And she sat before Congress for 12 hours. Steve Bannon, who hides in his podcast but can't show up in Congress, is convicted of contempt of Congress, says, I'm going to give them hell at trial and invokes the fifth. Are you kidding me? That's who you so that that's the person who who is there, who is their philosophical and moral architecture setting person is Steve Bannon. grifting and literally stealing money from the We Build the Wall scam has now been criminally charged with New York for a number of felonies, like seven felonies. That's who like Elise Stefanik goes on his podcast and shows up. And that's what you have to be now. Glenn Youngkin is doing rallies with Carrie Lake, an election denier, someone who talks about BDE and big dick energy and give speeches to parents saying, ask your children about the big dick energy of

Donald Trump. I mean, it's a cult. It is a cult people, but we are fighting back collectively against the cult by spreading ideas of pro-democracy, of peace, of love, of decency, of stability over this radicalization of really just being unapologetically pro-democracy. There's no other path. The media is not doing it. The media is not doing the job they should. So we've created a media platform bigger than the media. It's kind of like, okay, we could keep whining about the media, or we could create a platform that's bigger than the media. We decided to do the latter collectively with all of you, because none of this is possible without the Midas Mighty. And this is not some top-down network. This is a true movement

fueled and inspired by you. And to help keep it growing, to help keep it thriving, hit the subscribe button right now. Make sure wherever you get this podcast, you subscribe, leave a five-star review. If you're watching on YouTube, make sure you subscribe on the actual audio podcast as well. Check out the new Patreon account.

No pressure, but it is a way to help support, grow this independent media so we don't have outside investors at patreon.com slash Midas Touch. And of course, check out the new great merch at store.midastouch.com, store.midastouch.com. It is an honor that we get to do this each day, each week, fight for you. And we look forward to more great episodes. And right now is when we got to roll up our sleeves now more than ever. And in the interest of rolling up our sleeves, I also want to let everybody know there are so many people who often ask, you know, how do I get involved?

How could I help? And we have all these incredible volunteer opportunities. Most of them are completely free. You could go to fieldteam6.org slash volunteer dash ops, or just go to fieldteam6.org, hit actions, and you'll see our Midas picks of the week. Guys, this is so important. And it's a way that you could actually, like Ben said, roll up your sleeves, get to work, help register Democrats, help elect Democrats. I'll just give you like a little bit of a sampling platter of what you could expect when you go to the website. I mean, so on Tuesday, we're doing a text arcade to text unregistered likely Democrats in swing states.

We're also doing on Friday, a Florida in-person voter drive where you could actually be registering Democrats on the ground in Tampa, Florida. We're doing an Arizona text bank. We're doing a Texas voter drive training in Nevada phone bank and on and on and on. Some of these are in person. Some of these are digital, but one thing is for sure, you got to sign up and put in the work. If you ever thought like, how do I get involved? I feel like I'm on the sidelines. I don't know if tweeting's enough. I don't know if listening to the podcast and. Check out our Midas Picks of the Week at fieldteam6.org. Help us save democracy. And Jordy, why don't you sign us off, all right? Shout out to the Midas Mighty.

Midas Touch is unapologetically pro-democracy. And look, we know you are too. So please, make sure you check out our best-selling shirt and our best-selling gear, the unapologetically pro-democracy gear. And hey, while you're at it, make sure you check out my favorite shirt and one of our most famous designs. It wasn't rigged. You're just a loser. At store.midastouch.com. That's store.midastouch.com.