The Young Turks - Gaetz Keepers

Episode Date: November 14, 2024

Trump picks Matt Gaetz, who was investigated for sex trafficking by the DOJ, to be his Attorney General. Tulsi Gabbard will be his Director of National Intelligence. Trump selects Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead efforts in downsizing government. Meanwhile, 52 Democrats backed a bill allowing the Trump administration to strip nonprofit status from any charitable organization that the Treasury deems a terrorist group. FEMA has dismissed an employee who advised workers to avoid homes with Trump signs after a hurricane." HOST: Ana Kasparian (@anakasparian) SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE ☞  https://www.youtube.com/@TheYoungTurks FOLLOW US ON: FACEBOOK  ☞   https://www.facebook.com/theyoungturks TWITTER  ☞       https://twitter.com/TheYoungTurks INSTAGRAM  ☞  https://www.instagram.com/theyoungturks TIKTOK  ☞          https://www.tiktok.com/@theyoungturks 👕MERCH  ☞      https:/www.shoptyt.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome, thank you. Live from the Polymarket Studio in L.A. It's the Young Turks. I'm going to need Trump to calm down a little bit, okay? Just for my sake. I'm sure he cares deeply about my sake, but he needs to calm down.

We've got a fat stack of stories to get to. today. And I'm hoping I'm going to be able to share all of them with you. I'm Anna Casparian, you're watching The Young Turks. And I'm very happy to see you all here. Very happy to share the news with you, although it's not great news. Not a lot of great news, a lot of mixed news. But I promise that you will be entertained. As always, just want to encourage you all to like and share the stream. If you're watching us live, you can also help support TYT by hitting that join button and becoming a member. Or you can go to tyt.com slash join to become a member that way. Members get all sorts of extra exclusive members-only content,

including our daily bonus episode, after our main show, of course, and our members help to support the show and keep us afloat, regardless of how tumultuous the digital media landscape may be. Now, without further ado, let's get to our first story. Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke with President-elect Donald Trump for 20 minutes tonight, according to the Israeli leader's office, discussing this country's security. And in a statement, Netanyahu congratulated Trump in the warmest of terms, calling the, quote, huge victory, history's greatest comeback. Remember also that Trump was a staunch supporter of Israel during his first term.

But Trump has repeatedly said that Israel should finish the war. We don't know what that will mean in concrete terms, but Netanyahu seems determined to keep fighting. And of course, the question is which war? Israel is currently fighting a multi-front war, and to be fair to Trump, he is on the record saying that he would like to see an end to all of them. But he also tends to speak from both sides of his mouth, and we'll get to that in just a moment. But there is a giant story today, an exclusive in the Washington Post, in regard to Israel now planning to give income coming President Donald Trump, a gift in the form of a ceasefire deal in Lebanon. So the real question that we should all be asking ourselves is, what is this really about

and what does Netanyahu expect in return? So we'll muse that question a little more later. But first, the war in Lebanon has been absolutely disastrous. Nearly 900,000 people have been internally displaced by Israel's expanding military campaign. in Lebanon and more than 3,300 have been killed, according to the country's health ministry, many of whom, of course, are women, children, and the elderly. Now, 40 Israeli soldiers have been killed while fighting in Lebanon as well. And remember, this is the Lebanon part of the war. There's still an ongoing rampage in Gaza, where dozens of Palestinians get killed

literally every single day, and no one bats an eye. Now, Trump usually speaks out of both sides of his mouth, as I mentioned earlier, while he has told Netanyahu that he wants to bring an end to the wars in the Middle East, meaning plural. He has also told Beebe to do what you have to do against Hezbollah and Hamas. Now, right after Trump was elected, Netanyahu's Minister of Strategic Affairs, a gentleman by the name of Ron Dürmer, visited Mar-Lago to speak to. with Trump about Israel's terms for a ceasefire in Lebanon. And guys, this seems different from the engagement we've seen from the Israelis in regard to a ceasefire in Gaza.

I don't think that they've ever engaged in good faith. Their terms were always meant to be just impossible to meet. And so I think that there is a secret agenda here, which I'll get to in just a minute. But in regard to a ceasefire in Lebanon, I do think that Israel is engaging in good faith. And I think that they do want to provide some sort of gift to Donald Trump. So on Sunday, an Israeli official said that the conversations at Trump's Florida residents, that's at Marlago, focused on an Israeli ceasefire proposal for Lebanon involving Western and Russian cooperation.

An Israeli military official said plans were also being created to ramp up ground. ground operations in Lebanon if talks were to ultimately fall apart. So let's talk a little bit about the Russia component of this, right? Because hilariously enough, the Washington Post reached out to the Biden administration officials, they're like, yo, what's up? Like is there any talk of Russia being involved in a ceasefire deal with Lebanon and a U.S. officials like, no. And that's because the Biden administration sees it, of course, as a red line in regard

to ever working with Russia, especially. since right now the United States is arming Ukraine in order to fight Russia's invasion of their sovereign country. But obviously things are different with Donald Trump. And so according to this Israeli official, the proposal calls for Moscow to prevent Hezbollah from re-arming via Syrian land routes, which for years have been the main conduit for arms from Iran to Hezbollah. Now, the U.S. official, again, under Biden, says, no, no, we're not having any conversations with Russia, but that doesn't, that doesn't mean that Trump wouldn't be willing to have conversations with Russia or be willing to accept Russia's role in a possible ceasefire deal

with Lebanon. And guys, I want to be clear about something. I mean, if that's what it would take to secure a ceasefire, I mean, we should be open-minded to that. Anything to stop the bloodshed, I think, is a good thing. But obviously we need to know what the final terms of the ceasefire deal would be. Now, the terms of the evolving deal, according to Israeli officials, would require Hezbollah fighters to retreat beyond the Latani River, the northern edge of a U.N. monitored buffer area

established after the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. And to be clear, Hezbollah was already supposed to be pushed back, you know, at that specific border, the Latani River, but they have encroached into the territory in recent years. What is very likely a deal breaker, though, when it comes to the terms of Israel's proposal, is the essentially the effort to ensure that the IDF will be able to continue operating across the border with Lebanon. Should they feel that any of the terms of the ceasefire deal have been violated? And that appears to be a non-starter. Members of the Lebanese government have already made clear that they would not accept that. And I don't blame them

for doing so. They see that as a violation of their country's sovereignty. And I would agree with them on that. So that might be the only deal breaker here. But according to the Washington Post's exclusive on the story, a person close to Hezbollah said that the group would be willing to withdraw its fighters north of the Latani as part of a temporary ceasefire. So already there's good news there. You have someone close to Hezbollah telling the press that Hezbollah would be willing to agree to at least that provision in the ceasefire proposal. The Israeli official said that the Lebanese military would take control of the border zone for an initial 60-day period overseen by the United States and Britain. Now, the Israeli official also told the Washington

Post the following. There is an understanding that Israel would gift something to Trump that in January, there will be an understanding about Lebanon. That's fascinating. So look, do I think Netanyahu just has an affinity for Trump, sees him as his bro, and is just like doing something nice for him out of the kindness of his own heart? No, I would never in a million years think that everything here is transactional. And so the real question is, what is Netanyahu buttering Trump up for? And we know that Trump, you know, it loves, loves gifts, loves to have his ego stroked.

And so that's clearly what's happening here with Netanyahu. It's pretty clear. What is Netanyahu wanting in exchange? Is he hoping that the U.S. has a hands-off approach as, you know, the IDF and the Israeli government rain terror on Palestinians in the West Bank, which they are now going to annex and continue to rain terror on Palestinians in Gaza? or do they want something more than that? And what I'm worried about is that Netanyahu is buttering Trump up to ensure U.S. engagement

in a war with Iran. That is my biggest fear, and I'm worried that that's the direction that we're headed in. And that's really the main, like the root issue that Netanyahu has been hyper-focused on for years. I mean, I remember this being a big issue back during the Obama administration when Netanyahu who did not want the Iran nuclear deal to go through because he wanted to escalate to get to a point where we're in a war with Iran. And so I'm worried that that's where we're headed and maintaining IDF troops or avoiding stretching

IDF troops too thin with a multi-front war would make sense if you're getting ready to ramp up war with Iran. And finally, I just want to give you this excerpt to show you. you how pathetic Joe Biden is. Okay, outgoing president, good riddance. This is his legacy because he gave Netanyahu and the Israeli government everything they wanted. Okay, the strongly worded letters, I honestly questioned if that even existed. Biden is pathetic, weak, and he has done nothing but enable the Israeli government. And get a load of this. Frank Lowenstein, who's a former special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under Obama, told the Washington

post this, Netanyahu has no loyalty to Biden and will be focused entirely on currying favor with Trump. Trump won't hesitate to act like he's already president when he sees an opportunity. Of course, Nanyahu has no loyalty to Trump. He has humiliate, I'm sorry, he has no loyalty to Biden. He has taken every opportunity to dogwalk Biden, humiliate Biden on the international stage. And Biden should feel humiliated. I don't know if he has the mental capacity to at this point, but he is an embarrassment. And he is the person who very likely cost the Democrats this election out of ego, out of selfishness, just unbelievable. But we'll see how this plays out. Obviously, Netanyahu has a very different approach now that Donald Trump is president-elect.

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And real-time insights so you know what's working. What's not and what's next? Because when you're doing big things, your tools should too. Visit square.ca to get started. Donald Trump's wild ride of cabinet nominations has continued today with both Congressman Matt Gates and former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard landing spots within his administration. So let's start with Gates who will serve as Trump's attorney general. Let me just say that again, Matt Gates was tapped to serve as Donald Trump's attorney general.

Okay, and Gabbard will serve as the director of national intelligence. So when it comes to Gates, Trump issued a pretty long statement on what he hopes Gates will accomplish in his new position. Matt will end weaponized government, protect our borders, dismantle criminal organizations, and restore Americans badly shattered faith and confidence in the Justice Department. Matt will root out systemic corruption at the DOJ and return the department to its true mission. of fighting crime and upholding our democracy and constitution. Now, hours before the announcement, Matt Gates posted something on X that's worth bringing up here. He said, we ought to have full court press against this weaponized government that has been turned against our people. I don't know if the former president amounts to

the people, but that's what he's referring to here. And if that means abolishing every one of the three letter agencies from the FBI to the ATF, I'm ready to get going. Okay, look, I don't know what Gates is really going to do. Should he get confirmed? Should he actually be this country's future attorney general? I would just warn him. I would just warn him about the fact that, you know, as he's targeting the spy agencies, which I, for the most part, have no real love for.

We've also made a lot of enemies on the international stage, thanks to the fact that we're aiding and abetting the slaughter of countless Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanese individuals in Lebanon, Beirut. I mean, we might want to be careful in cutting down our, you know, spy agencies entirely out of the fact that you have a gripe with them because they went after your daddy. I'm just saying, I'm just saying. Now, you probably know by now that Gates is being investigated, or at least was being investigated by the very same department that he will now be the head of, should he be confirmed. The Department of Justice investigated the congressman for sex trafficking and obstruction of justice allegations, but ultimately they decided against charging him. We don't really have any clarity as to why that happened.

And Gates, by the way, is still under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Gates's position as Attorney General now gives him the authority to investigate and prosecute Donald Trump's enemies, including his own, if he choose to do so. On the campaign trail, by the way, Trump has threatened to investigate Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and the prosecutors of his four criminal cases. And so time will tell whether, you know, Gates is going to carry out, you know, Donald Trump's dirty deeds, like if he's going to spend his time, you know, focusing on the wrong things. things or if he might tap into some of his intuitions and maybe do some of the good things

that he's wanted to do in Congress. So I wanna be fair because Matt Gates, while I'm urged to freak out about this, has done a few good things. And so I wanna give you an excerpt from a piece written by Lee Fong and I'm very happy he wrote this because I had forgotten about some of the things that Matt Gates had done during his time, or has been doing during his time in the House. His record speaks for itself from his perch on the House Judiciary Committee. Gates has promoted a surprisingly consumer-friendly agenda,

routinely breaking with his GOP colleagues on crucial votes. He previously supported legislative measures to break up Silicon Valley monopolies, sharply regulate the online data broker industry, something that I'm very in favor of, ban non-compete employment contracts, and an end to the practice of, arbitration among other corporate accountability votes. So let's be fair to Gates. I mean, I know that we're all bracing for impact and we're all expecting the worst. And I think generally speaking, that's probably the best mindset to have.

But we should also be fair and acknowledge that there were good things that were pursued by Gates during his time in the house. And if he decides to tap into that side of him as AG, should he get confirmed, he might make history in a good way. So let's see what he ends up doing. And more importantly, let's see if he actually ends up getting confirmed. Already, Susan Collins, Republican Senator, became the first Republican Senator to oppose Gates's nomination for the position. And we'll see if others join her. But what we do know, without a shadow of a doubt, is that this would be a critical role in Trump's administration, in any administration.

So J.D. Vance, in fact, said just last month, the most important person in government, I think, after the president for this cycle, is going to be the attorney general. Yeah, I think he's right about that. So we'll see how this plays out. But let's move over to Tulsi Gabbard, who has also been gifted with an appointment. We'll see if she also gets confirmed here. So as we mentioned earlier, Donald Trump made another big announcement today. He has selected Tulsi Gabbard, former Democratic Congresswoman, as his director of national intelligence. Now, in that role, she would have quite a responsibility.

She would oversee 18, 18 separate spy agencies. I think we might have too many spy agencies. We might, just saying. She would also assemble the president's daily brief, which is an intelligence summary given to the president every morning. Now look, there were all sorts of reports in his first administration about how uninterested he was in these daily briefings. I'll give you a little taste from the New York Times. In his first administration, Trump did not often read the written summary, but he held in-person intelligence briefings, often twice a week or more, engaging his briefers on world affairs, at least on topics that interested him. Okay, that's good. I mean, at least he did that. So we'll see how things play out in his second term.

Now, since the 2020 primaries, Gabbard has made a full 180 to the right. She started off on the left as a Democrat. Then she transitioned to an independent. And now she is a Republican and Trump loyalists. She served in the military. So she does have some military experience, although she has minimal intelligence experience. Now, in the aftermath of the election, Gabbard stated that Trump's victory signals a rebuke of neoconservative warhawks, which is hilarious because that is not the case based on some of the Defense Department appointments he has already made. I mean, Marco Rubio is definitely a neocon, and he will be serving in the Trump administration in the state department.

And, you know, let's learn a little bit more about what we can expect with Trump's new cabinet. When the results of this election, we saw, of course, a vast majority of Americans placing their trust and confidence in President Trump, delivering a mandate, and rejecting Kamala Harris's agenda of open borders, of censorship of free speech, of freedom of religion, of crime in our communities, her agenda of continuing to wage stupid, costly, and unnecessary wars that are counterterrorism productive to the interests of the American people and instead embraced President Trump's vision and promise, rejecting the neocons and warmongers of Washington, promising to end wars and prevent World War III and nuclear war.

Interesting. Okay, what I love about Tulsi Gabbard, one of my favorite things about her is even with that monotone delivery, she somehow manages to convince people that she actually believes what she's saying and that she's presenting herself authentically. Anyone, it doesn't matter what side of the aisle you fall on. You should never take anything, any public figure says at face value, that's for sure. But especially Tulsi Gabbard, because she tends to present herself one way, and then you do a little bit of digging and you find out, oh wait, who she really is is actually completely

different from what she's presenting. And so she presents herself as, you know, a peace loving individual, someone who doesn't want to engage in forever wars, although she was definitely supportive of the war on terror. Not too long ago even said that she is against regime change wars, but was supportive of the war on terror. Okay. And I remember doing a deep dive on Tulsi Gabbard. After the deep dive, she refused to allow me to interview her, even though she was scheduled for an interview with me and Jank involved. So here's a little taste of the segment that she didn't like.

It would be misleading and unfair to my audience if I pretended there weren't some concerns for progressives. Most of the worries I personally have center on Tulsi's foreign policy views. While she's clear in her disdain for military intervention in the name of regime change, she is supportive of the war against terror. Think about how many interventions the U.S. has found itself in since the book, administration, all in the name of fighting terrorism, right? So I'm not just talking about Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm talking about major military operations in Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen, right?

These were all done in the name of fighting terror. There have also been U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in Mali, Syria, Libya, and West African air strikes in Nigeria. Have those military actions ended global terrorism? Of course not. Tulsi's hawkishness toward terror has led her to support military actions. I, along with many other progressives, disagree with. Torture tactics like waterboarding, which were given the euphemism of enhanced interrogations, was something that Tulsi was supportive of. So look, I don't know how Tulsi plans to carry out her job. I don't know if she even has a say in regard to Donald Trump's foreign policy or she can convince him to engage or

disengage with a potential conflict. What I do know is that I don't trust her. And what I also know is that, you know, you look at Donald Trump's coalition of voters and it's mixed. You know, there's certainly some Republican voters who probably agree with the hawkishness represented by the neocons and to some extent someone like Tulsi Gabbard. But what gives me a little bit of hope for this country's future and its foreign policy is that much like a faction on the left, there is a faction on the right that is serious about no longer engaging in these endless wars, no longer wasting our resources in being the international police. And I hope that their voices are loud enough to drown out the neocons within their ranks

because we can't keep going on with all these interventions, spending hundreds of billions of dollars, making more and more enemies on the international stage. It would be a complete and utter disaster. And more importantly, there are two potential hot wars that we should keep an eye out for. One, having to do with an invasion in Iran. That's the one I'm most concerned about. That's the one that I think is the most likely to happen. The other has to do with China.

And Donald Trump's rhetoric is certainly hawkish when it comes to China. And I don't think it's any mistake that while on one hand, you have Donald Trump and his pals talking about, you know, cutting government waste and doing away with the administrative state, he immediately made the appointments for the state department. So state department appointments, good to go. Haven't heard anything about the Department of Education or any other government agency. Those aren't his priorities. I think it's concerning that his top priorities have to do with government agencies

tasked with dealing with questions of war and peace. So we'll see how this all plays out. But I wanted to give you just a broad view of how his administration is shaping up. We got to take a break when we come back. More news. Don't miss it. Welcome back to the show, everyone, Anna Kasparian with you. Let's get right to our next story. Talk a little bit about, well, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramoswamy and the role they will

be playing in Trump's administration. Former campaign rival Vivek Ramaswami and Elon Musk to head a new government department. Reading from his statement, I'm pleased to announce that the great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of government efficiency, Doge. President-elect Donald Trump has tapped business executives, Elon Musk and Vithec Ramoswamy, to lead a new advisory commission with the goal of slashing government spending and regulations. Musk had the idea to form the Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, for short.

And yes, that's the nickname of a meme-based cryptocurrency that Musk once touted. Ramoswamy, a former pharmaceutical executive, argues that we have a fourth branch of government, the administrative state, that our founding fathers didn't envision. Removing the excess bureaucracy is going to be good for our economy and for our national spirit. A similar commission was actually founded during the Reagan White House. Trump advisors have pointed to the Grace Commission, a Reagan-era panel that recommended billions of dollars in spending cuts. Under that model, the commission identified hundreds of thousands of examples of wasteful

government programs and regulations, and called on Congress to approve the recommendations backed by the president. By the way, I should just note that that Reagan era ushered in the era of neoliberalism in America. So not a great sign. Now, funny enough, forming a new government agency would mean adding more bureaucracy to the the federal government. And there are a lot of questions about this effort, including how it'll be funded or whether its recommendations will be approved considering, you know, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are tasked with making decisions about federal spending. With the Senate filibuster in place,

which of course requires 60 votes to pass nearly any bill, it's unlikely Trump and his pals will get everything they want. Yes, Republicans control the Senate now with 53 seats, but that's still fails to meet the 60 vote threshold. Congress is also responsible for approving any new federal agencies, spending cuts and appropriations. So it's more likely that Doge won't be an official government agency, but rather a group of advisors to Donald Trump. But still, there is a possibility that some of what Musk and Ramoswami suggest will be carried out. Republicans are poised to control the House, Senate, and White House, giving the GOP the opportunity to implement. at least some of the commission's proposals, potentially triggering major repercussions for

the U.S. government and millions of federal workers. But there is plenty to be skeptical about as well. Look, Trump's statement said the commission's work must be completed by no later than July 4th, 2026, not long before the next midterm elections. I mean, Democrats could take control, I mean, if they play their cards right, which they probably won't. But nonetheless, some analysts are doubtful. Much will materialize from the effort. Congress must approve any changes to federal appropriations, and it is not clear if the must commission will produce recommendations in time for action by the new GOP majorities. Now, putting all of these obstacles aside for a second. Let's just assume that they will get their way and succeed in implementing

significant cuts to federal programs and regulations. What would that look like exactly? Well, Caitlin Collins explains. Let's watch. We've heard them talk about a trillion dollars in cuts. But when you look at how much money the federal government spent in the last fiscal year, it's close to $7 million. And over $7 trillion, over $5 trillion of that has gone to health care, to Social Security, to veterans. So if they're cutting a trillion dollars, they wouldn't really be able to do that without dipping into that. So I think there is a real question of how all this would work, because obviously spending for agencies is approved by Congress and the president, not by outside groups. And we have been told Elon Musk is not

joining the federal government per se. Well, Collins is saying there is definitely true. And Ramoswamy is on the record about reducing the government workforce by whopping 75%, which is the same percentage of staff Elon Musk fired right after overpaying for Twitter. Now, Musk called for the commission to find $2 trillion in cuts to the federal budget, a sum far larger than the budgets of the departments of defense, education, and homeland security combined, which even some conservative budget analysts have panned. including one who described it as absolutely absurd. While there certainly is some government waste, the $2 trillion number is hilariously overblown.

Now, citing estimates from the nonpartisan government accountability office, some conservative budget estimates have said there are tens of billions in savings available from cutting waste and fraud, but not much more. The government slashing brigade, the government slashing brigade, I should say, conflicts with some of the other agenda items that Donald Trump has. Like, we know that the president-elect wants to cut the corporate tax rate even further, which will, you know, deprive the federal government of revenue necessary to operate. In fact, the president-elect has pitched more than $7 trillion in additional tax cuts,

which really throws a monkey wrench into his plan to carry out mass deportations, because you know, you need money and lots of it to do that. President Trump says there's no price tag on his mass deportation plan. You estimate the cost of a one-time mass deportation operation to be at least $315 billion. We know, for example, that the average cost of a single arrest of a fugitive in the community, A so-called at-large arrest is over $6,600 per person and can take hundreds of man hours. So if they want to ramp up enforcement, they're going to have to hire thousands of new agents. They're going to have to build thousands of new detention beds and hire hundreds of new immigration judges.

And all of that is going to come up on a cost of billions of dollars. Yeah. So how exactly does Trump plan to cut taxes on corporations while spending spending, a ton of money on mass deportations. And if he's planning to cut spending on Medicare, Social Security, and other social safety net programs to make up for tax cuts for the rich and to pay for mass deportations, well, Republicans will very likely experience a political bloodbath far more severe than what the feckless Democrats just got hit with this time around. I also need to vent just for a second about Musk's disdain for the government. which I find totally fascinating, considering how much wealth he has generated with the help

of federal contracts and subsidies. Musk's rocket company, Space X, effectively dictates NASA's rocket launch schedule. The Defense Department relies on him to get most of its satellites to orbit. His companies were promised $3 billion across nearly 100 different contracts last year alone with 17 federal agencies. Now, Tesla and Space X account for at least $15.4 billion in government contracts. Look, if I, if the federal government was giving me $15.4 billion, I don't know, I just feel like I'd be pretty happy with that. But not Elon Musk.

Something tells me that those deals that he's been getting won't be on the chopping block for The Doge. We'll see. All right. Well, let's get to our next story because this one gives you a sense how much the Democratic Party is absolutely full of crap. Mr. Speaker, this bill authorizes Donald Trump to recklessly impose a death penalty on any nonprofit in America that happens to be on his enemies list. With this bill, he can destroy the very life of civil society in this country, one group after another, even though the group involved that he targets as a terrorist supporting group has not violated a single law. If he is to make his march, if he is on a march to make America fascist, we do not need to supply Donald Trump with any additional weapons to accomplish his ill purpose. Last night, lawmakers rejected a bill that would have allowed Donald Trump's administration to revoke the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit they deem a terrorist organization. Luckily, the bill failed, even with 52 Democrats voting in favor of it.

Yeah, that's right. Dozens, dozens of Democrats, including several who warned that Donald Trump is a fascist during the election, voted alongside their Republican colleagues to increase Donald Trump's power. If passed, the Stop Terror Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act would grant the Treasury Department, soon to be under the country. control of a Trump nominee, the authority to unilaterally strip nonprofits of their tax-exempt status by deeming them supporters of terrorism. Due process wouldn't even factor into this.

The law would not require the Treasury Department to provide a shred of evidence, and nonprofits would be given just 90 days to appeal the decision. And if the appeal ends up being unsuccessful, the group's 501 status would be revoked. Such a measure would likely cripple any nonprofit. And even if an appeal was successful, critics said it would leave a mark that could scare away donors to the nonprofits. Also consider that it's already, you know, illegal under U.S. law to provide material support for terrorism or any terror organization. The real objective behind the legislation is also worth getting into because there is real concern that granting the Treasury Department unilateral power to target non-profits would allow the government to

engage in politically motivated takedowns, including of pro-Palestine groups that are often slandered, yes, slandered as promoters of terrorism. Additionally, the vague language in the bill would be used to target reproductive rights and environmental advocacy groups. Robert McCaw, who's the Director of Government Affairs at the Council on American Islamic Relations, said that allowing such sweeping unchecked power would set a chilling precedent, enabling the government to selectively target and suppress voices of dissent under the guise of national security. This isn't just an attack on our communities, it's a fundamental threat to free speech and democracy.

And for anyone who might be watching this, anyone who loves Donald Trump and thinks this will be totally fine to give, you know, his treasury secretary, this type of unilateral power to squash groups they don't like. This is a law that would remain on the books when a Democrat's in charge. So be careful what you wish for. We have to protect the rights of everyone, even those we disagree with, because the same violations will absolutely impact you. Now, supporters like Republican Congressman Jason Smith insisted that only the bad guys would be affected. In the wake of Hamas's brutal attacks in Israel on October 7th, 2023, we've discovered material support for terrorist organizations like Hamas right here in the United States.

It's pretty clear. This bill gives the IRS the authority it needs to revoke tax. tax-exempt status, to revoke tax-exempt status for organizations that provide material support for terrorism. That's it. So the tax-exempt organizations that aren't providing material support for terrorism, they have nothing to fear. I don't know, man, the guy behind him looks super skeptical.

I don't know if you caught that. And also, if any nonprofit or any group is providing material support to a terrorist group or terrorists, they're already breaking the law. Now, luckily, the bill needed two-thirds of the House to pass under suspension of the rules, which is a procedure that's used to fast-track bills with bipartisan support. It narrowly failed to meet that threshold. So the final vote was 256 to 145, which is just shy. of the 270 it needed to pass. All but one Republican, the brave Thomas Massey, voted yes.

And while 144 Democrats voted no, 52 Democrats favored the bill because they're pathetic, feckless goons. Now, there were some recognizable names among the Democrats who voted yes, including Colin Allred, Henry Quayar, Cherise Davids, Debbie Dingle, Josh Gottheimer, Steny Hoyer, Lucy McBath, Jared Moskowitz, Adam Schiff, Elisa Slotkin, Richie Torres, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz. It's interesting, these Dems were totally okay with giving the Trump administration more power to suppress non-profits, considering the fact that every single one of them has been on the front lines warning us about how dangerous Trump is for free speech and democracy. In response to Trump deploying federal law enforcement to cities across the country in July of 2020 amid the George Floyd protests, Steny Hoyer said that Donald Trump is drawing from the playbook of the worst dictators of the past century. We have seen alarming examples in the past century of how this type of activity destroys democracies and brings fascists into dictatorial power.

As a nation, we must reject such tactics emphatically. Why would you vote in favor of giving him more power then? Colin Allred, another Democrat, once tweeted the following. Fascism and political violence are contagious. Like Trump, Jair Bolsonaro has refused to accept Brazil's election results and has placed himself above his country with disastrous effects. We must stamp out this anti-democratic movement in the United States and around the world. He would later go on to support a bill that would give Donald Trump even more power in the White House.

Interesting, okay. And then here's Jared Moskowitz, another Democrat back in 2023. It's not fair to say all conservatives are Nazis. That's preposterous. That's not true. But your Lord and Savior Donald Trump is having tea and dinner with them at Marilago. Nick Fuentes right here, who is a picture that is tweeted at me all the time saying Jews, are a virus in response to my tweets.

Donald Trump's having dinner with him. Nazis at Merrill Argo. Why are you empowering so-called Nazis, Moskowitz? And Debbie Dingle. Oh, Debbie, Debbie, Debbie, one of my faves. She literally said that she was concerned that Donald Trump was going to lock her up. The Arab American community needs to be reminded and cannot forget. He wants to ban Muslims.

He wants to deport Muslims. And he wants to start internment camps. And that's what we are busy talking to every voter. He's telling you what he's going to do, believe him. Internment camps? Yes, he has talked to internment camps. You know what, Jake, you may have to visit me in one. I get worried enough when he talks about what he's going to do to his political enemies.

Well, guess she's not so worried about that anymore. Or she's okay with it as long as pro-Palestinian protesters are put in their place. The bill failed for now, but could be revived in the next Congress when Republicans hold trifecta control. We'll see what happens. That's going to be the conclusion of pretty much every story today because things look grim, things look dire, but I am happy that at least that bill failed. Hopefully it's not revived.

But it is amazing how quickly there's bipartisan support for doing away with Americans' rights on behalf of a foreign government, Israel. Oh, you know, there was like looting and rioting in the summer of 2020. And they didn't pass laws about it, which I'm glad about, okay? But at the same time, when they didn't do anything about that, oh, they jump into action the second they see a few college protesters on college campuses who want peace in the Middle East. God forbid, we can't hurt Israel's feelings.

It's pathetic, it's sick. I can't stand the Democrats who voted in front. favor of this garbage. Anyway, we gotta take a break when we come back. I'll figure out what we'll cover next. We've got a lot, okay? So I'll choose wisely. Come right back. Our good friend John Iderola joins us. I wanna welcome our new members. That includes Kate MC, Jaden Sissom, and John Campbell. Also special thanks to everyone who is generously providing some gifted memberships here.

We have a woman AF who gifted 10 TYT memberships, box gifted one. Thank you so much. And Gabby, Math is gifted 20. Thank you, Gabby. Thank you for the support. We love you guys. And thank you to everyone who is watching, liking and sharing the stream. You guys are the best.

Your support helps keep TYT afloat. All right, well, let's get to our next story. Senior leadership will lie to you and tell you that they do not know. But if you ask the DSA crew leads and specialists what they are experiencing in the field, they will tell you demand for FEMA to give you those incident reports. They will substantiate what is happening to us in the field. Well, it turns out that the federal emergency management agency, also known as FEMA, has fired one of their supervisors for telling relief workers to bypass homes that have signage indicating support for Donald Trump in the wake of some devastating hurricanes. So this is a disastrous story, especially at a time when you have individuals on the right saying that FEMA is purposely avoiding.

providing relief services to conservative households or Trump supporting households. And that has also led to some hostility toward relief workers who do end up knocking on people's doors with the intention of helping them after a tragic natural disaster event. And so let's get into the details about this woman and what she is now claiming after her firing. So the former FEMA supervisor is Marnie Washington. and she argues that the policy is actually commonplace for the federal agency. Now, there are caveats to what she's saying. But before we get to that, let's rewind a little bit and talk about what led to her firing in the first place.

So according to Mediite, FEMA administrator Deanne Chriswell announced on Saturday that Washington had been let go after she told relief workers to avoid homes advertising Trump in Florida. Chriswell claimed Washington did not uphold the core values of FEMA. But as we know, Republicans never pass up an opportunity to do politically motivated investigations. And to be fair, I mean, you have an incident that I do think spurs the need for an investigation to see if this is a widespread practice. Because, guys, you can't support that kind of behavior in any government agency. That type of political discrimination. This is a government agency that is tasked with providing relief to people who have suffered a traumatic, disastrous, damaging natural disaster. And the idea that, you know,

taxpaying American citizens should be excluded based on their political beliefs is cruel and immoral. So I want to be clear about that. But, you know, you have Ron DeSantis, you know, making a really big deal about this. He says that the blatant weaponization of government, bipartisan activists, and the federal bureaucracy is yet another reason why the Biden-Harris administration is in its final days. At my direction, the division of emergency management is launching an investigation into the federal government's targeted discrimination of Floridians who support Donald Trump. But to be fair, that investigation, again, might be worthwhile given what happened with Marnie Washington, what she told the FEMA workers, and more importantly, what she's now saying in an interview

with Roland Martin. So she spoke to Roland Martin for an exclusive interview, and she says that avoiding certain homes based on political signage is actually a widespread practice. And that is concerning. Let's watch. They told me verbally I was fired, but they never provided me anything in writing stating that I was fired. They all alleged that these actions were made on my own recognises and that it was for my own political advances. However, if you look at the record, there is what we call a community trend. And unfortunately, it just so happened that the political hostility that was encountered by my team, and I was on two different teams during this employment, they just so happened to have the Trump campaign signage. FEMA always preaches

avoidance first and then de-escalation. So this is not isolated. This is a colossal event of avoidance, not just in the state of Florida, but you will find avoidance in the Carolinas. Senior leadership will lie to you and tell you that they do not know. But if you ask the DSA crew leads and specialists what they are experiencing in the field, they will tell you, demand for FEMA to give you those incident reports. They will substantiate what is happening to us in the field. So you catch on to what she said in the very end when she references what is happening to us on the field. So I think the way that she communicated what's been going on during her interview with Roland Martin wasn't the best way of articulating what the concerns are here, right? So look, in my opinion, what the, if what she's saying is true and the protocol is to avoid households that you just suspect might be hostile, that's wrong, you shouldn't do that.

I don't think that's a good policy. But what she's trying to get at is, look, female workers, relief workers are met with violence. They're met with hostility and they're fearful for their safety. And so there are certain households that depending on the signage or the support for a specific candidate, they'll avoid those homes out of fear that that household might have some hostile members who will, you know, treat the relief workers poorly or maybe even meet them with violence. But you can't just make that assumption. That's not okay. Okay, you can't just assume that because someone has a Trump sign on their lawn or any indication that they're supportive of one

candidate or the other, that they're definitely going to meet you with violence. And so you should avoid providing relief services to them, that's insane. That is not a good policy. So that's why I think an investigation might actually be legitimate here. Because if there is a widespread problem of relief workers putting themselves in danger in order to do their jobs, well, okay, what can we do to keep them safe while also ensuring that political discrimination isn't playing a role in whose doors they knock on? Now with that in mind, she goes further to explain that if a few homes, On a specific street have proven to have some hostile residents, well, then the entire street ends up getting punished for it. So if we are noticing, for example, on Mary Street, you'll find three or four homes that we tried to canvas and we were greeted with unwelcomed arms or people are coming out with guns blaze and are he screaming at us, then that's the street we need to avoid altogether.

This was a text message that you sent us where one of the folks out there said, good morning, LaGro Road is politically hostile. We were not canvassing this street any further, moved on to North Lakeview Road. Great decision. Thanks for the update. Exactly. So my senior leadership was aware of the amount of encounters that was going on in the field. Again, this was my second time, a second crew in Florida, and experience. unwhelcomed behavior from the resident. Now, not all Floridians have been unpleasant, but for the most part, the ones that are very passionate about their disdain for FEMA, they have no problem expressing it. So look, I understand both sides of this argument, right? Like, I can understand female workers fearing for their safety, especially if they've been met with hostility. But I can also understand how unbelievably unjust it is for certain households to not be contacted by FEMA officials or relief workers when they might desperately need help simply based on some indication that they are supportive of Donald Trump or that they have other neighbors on the street who met the relief workers with some hostility. There needs to be a better solution to this. That's the point that I'm trying to get at.

It is unfortunate that there is an issue in this country of distrust toward government agencies like FEMA. And certainly some of the claims that were made by Republicans in the aftermath of these devastating hurricanes did not help the situation. But you want to know it also doesn't help the situation? Passing up homes or bypassing homes specifically based on that household's political affiliation. That's only going to make the situation worse. And so if safety is a real concern here, there needs to be a solution. Maybe local law enforcement escort some of the relief workers to ensure that they stay safe. I don't know what the answer is, but there needs to be a better answer than passing up certain homes out of fear.

These are people who might desperately need help, and it is FEMA's job to provide that assistance. Any excuse having to do with political leanings and the possibility of political violence as a result, it just doesn't cut it from me personally. So I do think an investigation makes sense. But more importantly, I hope they find a solution to ensure everyone who needs help gets the help they deserve. All right, we got to take a break. And when we come back, John Iderola will join me for the second hour. Bernie Sanders doesn't care that it's a lame duck session.

He's still trying to get things done. We'll tell you what and more don't miss it.