Some More News - Even More News: Donald Trump's Cabinet of Embarrassing Reprobates

Episode Date: November 15, 2024

Hi. On today's episode, Katy, Cody and Jonathan discuss the many unqualified and frightening people Donald Trump is nominating to be on his cabinet. Plus, they talk about the potential merits, drawbacks, and pitfalls of cutting Trump voters out of your life. Get the world's news at https://ground.news/SMN to compare coverage and see through biased coverage this election season. Subscribe for 50% off unlimited access – their biggest discount – through our link.  Every week of November, AG1 will be running a special Black Friday offer for a free gift with your first subscription, in addition to the Welcome Kit with Vitamin D3+K2. So make sure to check out DrinkAG1.com/morenews to see what gift you can get this week! That’s DrinkAG1.com/morenews to start your holiday season off on a healthier note, while supplies last. SimpliSafe is offering our viewers exclusive early access to their Black Friday sale. This week only, you can take 60% off any new system with a select professional monitoring plan at https://simplisafe.com/MORENEWS Check out our MERCH STORE: https://shop.somemorenews.com   SUBSCRIBE to SOME MORE NEWS: https://tinyurl.com/ybfx89rh   Subscribe to the Even More News and SMN audio podcasts here: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/some-more-news/id1364825229   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ebqegozpFt9hY2WJ7TDiA   Follow us on social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/SomeMoreNews Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SomeMoreNews/  

Hello and welcome back to Even More News, the first, the only news podcast. My name is Katie Stoll. Hey there, Katie Stoll. My name is different. It's Cody Johnston, but I'm happy to be here with you and Jonathan, who is also here. Hi, I made it. Jonathan and his cold are also here. It's been a rough one.

I sound like, I wanted to say I sound like Tom Waits, but I do not sound like Tom Waits. You sound like Tom Waits. We can run with that. It has not improved my voice at all, but I'm gonna take advantage of the fact that I sound like Tom Waits, but I do not sound like Tom Waits. You sound like Tom Waits, we can run with that. It has not improved my voice at all, but I'm gonna take advantage of the fact that I sound different today. I didn't mean to put your cold on blast

and just highlight it, but it is a part of it. It's unavoidable. You've got a cold, it's unavoidable. I put my cold on blast. I would like, maybe it will respond to harsh language as it has not to anything else. Speaking of putting things on blast, I feel called out by this first holiday. I do. I feel called out by it. I feel targeted.

Friday, November 15th is National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day. Have you cleaned out your refrigerator? Did you? Yeah, well, I didn't. But my household has a clean fridge now. Like more organization and drawers and things. Good for you. I mean, well, yeah, good for me because it happened. Yeah. Yeah, it's great.

It helps my brain so much to have things in its right place. Totally. I find- She did a great job. I've been better about cleaning out my fridge. There's not like a whole ecosystem in the back anymore, but I have to be on top of it in general I need to get organized. We've we're probably gonna get our first snow this week. So maybe that'll be a day for me to Clean out the cupboards. Well, you got to go outside for the first snow. How you guys doing other than being sick? Oh

Emotionally speaking I'm transitioning to talking about the news here. You're both coughing. You know, you're good. I got no, I mean, I've got a lot of mixed, not even mixed, you know, it's, it's not good. We'll get to it. It's really not good. I've got a lot of thoughts about how we are talking about everything and how people are Being treated and how those people are being treated Well, do you want to get you want to talk about it? I want to talk get to it sure is this has to do the things that we were talking about yesterday

At the show I mean ever since ever all the time I know I mean we've got, ever since all the time. Not necessarily that. I know. I mean, we've got lots of news to cover, but I think that talking about what's happening in people's reactions and how we're treating each other is an important conversation, and I'm definitely open to having it. I do sympathize with the position of, you know, don't cut everybody out of your life just because they voted for Donald Trump. And don't like abuse these people necessarily. It's hard to navigate because all the people talking about it are just names on a screen, just saying these words. I don't know that relationship. I don't know who they are. I don't know why they were cut off. I don't know.

And I, you know, there are reasons people voted for him that aren't, that they love what a shitty fucking evil, monstrous, rapist and fascist he is. But he is those things. And so I am still really grappling with this sort of sympathy of like, oh, you know, you don't want to demonize everybody, but he is those things. And he's been very clearly those things for many, many, many years.

And we've talked many times about all the things that he will be doing. And even now we're seeing some people be like, oh, wait, I didn't think he would do that. Well, he said he would. And we knew that he would at least try to do those things. And so there's this element of, we don't want to demonize all these people and cut everybody out of your life, you have your family and stuff.

But there is this sort of like, this, I don't want to describe it just as like this sort of abusive relationship, but there is this sort of undertone, at least like in the broader arena and discourse of like Republicans being like, oh, they're disinviting me from Thanksgiving, this, this, this. Okay. You might be like kind of abusive in this relationship. support the abuser and the abusive party. And they won. And now they're like, but you gotta listen to me. You gotta understand me. And that is kind of an abuse tactic.

And I'm not saying it's true for everybody or every relationship, but there is sort of that going on. And I just like, I want to like listen to these people and understand more, but at a certain point there is like, yeah, but this is also the reality of it. This is a choice that was made. And sometimes there are ramifications for choices that you make.

I don't know these individual people. Maybe this person has tried to say over and over and over and over again, you're voting against me. You're voting against my existence. And they don't care. I just don't know what those are. I totally get, you're voting against me. You're voting against my existence. And they don't care, or they were, you know, I just don't know what those are. I totally get what you're saying. First off, I appreciate you saying all of that,

and I agree with you for context. And first, and maybe I'll do another first off before that first off. And say, we're not gonna spend the whole episode talking about this, and that's not gonna be the dominating factor of it, but of all of our conversations moving forward.

He's referencing a continuation of conversations we have had, stuff that I've seen online, stuff that's been directed at me, because I am in this camp of, I don't think that the best path forward for us is to immediately say and make the assumption that every single person that voted for Donald Trump is inherently evil for some reason. There's been a lot of unfollow me now if you voted for Trump. There's been a lot of stuff which I also acknowledge and agree with everything you said. This isn't a blanket philosophy of mine. If there is somebody that is unreasonable, if there's somebody that's abusive, if you are a marginalized person and you're literally threatened,

there is absolutely no reason for you to put yourself in a situation that you're causing mental, emotional, physical damage at all, full stop. And there are a lot of us that are able to have conversations with certain types of people. There are a lot of us that don't want to lose family members, that don't want to lose relationships. I've lost relationships.

I regret that. People that I've missed that I grew up with as a child in 2016, I cut out. And now I'm kind of too far past. They don't even want to talk to me. And also specifically the person I'm thinking about, I don't feel would be a productive conversation so I'm not reaching out. And there's other people that I have had really productive conversations. I've heard a lot of like, we've tried that already, it didn't work. I'm voting against my rights and I hold space for that. And I mean, I have a whole plethora of thoughts

about this. You can make movement on certain issues, but maybe they aren't changing their ultimate mind at this election, but you're making progress on trans issues with somebody, which is something specifically that I have can say that I have made progress with individuals on certain issues. But, and I could be naive, I could be misguided, I am not looking forward to, but I know that I'm in a position to continue having conversations with some of these people as we see the effects of Donald Trump in office.

And already, yeah, I am having conversations that were like, I didn't realize this. And instead of being spiteful to them, I'm coming back with like, thank you for admitting that. Let's keep talking about this. And I understand that I am in a position to do that, and not everybody is. But it's hard to see other people getting really piled.

I know that I put myself out there. I am a public figure, and there's a certain amount that is understandable directed at me, but I've also seen it directed at just random people on the internet and seeing them piled on, thousands of people piling on. You are a racist. You're privileged and this is a person saying, I am a person of color. I just don't think that I need to cut out everybody in my life. There are people that I feel are good people and I want to work through this with them. And I keep thinking about like, you know, so Donald Trump is going to be dead in 15 years,

most likely, and 20 years, God willing, sooner than that. But your family is still going to be there. And I see lots of people saying, like, I desperately miss my best friend. I think about her every day. And I'm like, well, maybe you don't need to. Maybe if you extended an olive branch when you're ready, maybe you could make more progress this time. I don't know.

That is an individual conversation for you guys to have. And I respect't know. That is an individual conversation for you guys to have, and I respect your decisions. And if you are capable of having it, I don't think that that makes you a bad person. I don't think I'm a bad person for wanting to try to continue to understand. And that is the other part of it. I want to understand because I don't want to be surprised. And maybe if we understood each other more, maybe we could actually come up with policies that did appeal to other people. And maybe not, maybe that's naive, but that's what's getting me through right now.

And I really don't want to be called a racist because that's like a thing that I'm attempting. But anyway. First of all, I have two firsts off, first offs. My first first off is First offs. Yeah. My first first off is we did come up with policies that the majority of Trump supporters like. Trump supporters are typically very down with a lot of quote unquote Democrat policies.

There is a media and messaging apparatus that is built to shut that down. I'm not suggesting that we write off half the country. I do think more people fall into the bucket of being ignorant in some ways of what this all means rather than evil, rather than wanting the malicious thing to happen. But I do think it could be very frustrating because of people who are like, I'm cutting off my Trump supporting family. And they're saying, well, you know,

you voted for Kamala Harris, I'm not cutting you off because of that. And I wanna, I wish, because I don't have family like that, I would say like, is it feasible in your mind, this would be me talking to a Trump supporter, is it feasible in your mind that there could be a candidate that is so beyond the pale, so awful in terms of everything he represents and wants to do that it would cause you genuine fear to know that people

who are close to you are voting for? And then the issue would be convincing them that Donald Trump is that person and that's the real hard thing. Because I assume people would say yes, there is a, if a fascist bigoted monster was running for president, then yeah, you'd have great concern about that.

But then you'd have to be like, Donald Trump is that. He is that, right. That's what I keep coming back to is this sort of like, the, but like, and then like trying to understand people, I understand the impetus for that. That's never going to be what they try to do. They're not, they're not willing, they don't seem to be willing to try to understand

the other side in the same way. It's always, I keep coming back to sort of like abusive relationship of like abusive relationship of like, well, yeah, fuck your feelings, fuck your feelings. But my feelings, you need to try to understand me. And I know that's not everybody. But I keep coming back to, like, I keep, you know,

these stories of like, you know, going out and like seeing people like crying in public and like really feeling like there is real fear and real grief and there are real reasons for that to exist. And I keep thinking about, well, if Kamala Harris won, they wouldn't be reacting like that at all. They would be angry and they'd be whining about a stolen election, but no one would be crying over Kamala Harris

winning. No Trump supporter would be like, oh my God, we're gonna like, I just don't see that happening. And it's not because the left is too emotional and they're very stoic. It's because these things don't affect them in the same way. They don't throw, exactly. It's a completely different dynamic that's going on there.

And to be, it's that conservative thing of like, oh, so you just don't like when people get together with their friends and do plans. No, that's how you're describing a conspiracy. Like it's like this vague description, like oh, you're cutting them off for a vote? Well, it's not just a vote, it's all this other stuff that you don't recognize as being a problem

because that's not how you view the actual ramifications of this. Like no one one's going to be... You know what I mean? I do. I totally do. I get it. And I agree with everything being said. And I think that the mystery of this disconnect is a little... It feels important to me. And I might not find a satisfying answer. And I think it's a different answer for a lot of people.

I have lots of thoughts on everything that's said, but I do want to, I don't want to spend too much time talking about this because it's going to be a continued conversation. We've got a lot of stuff to talk about. Boy and girl howdy. How's it going? I am so very still going

and I'm desperate for something positive to think about. Fortunately, I use Ground News, which you can check out at ground.news slash smn. That's a sponsor we at the show sought out. It's both a website and an app that helps you stay informed, but not overwhelmed. It aggregates news from around the world to help you understand the current political divide. That is, dare I say, quite divided. Hey, here's something positive. Did you know the deforestation in the Amazon

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Keep your home, your family, and your peace of mind protected with SimpliSafe. Trump's cabinet. We've got a flurry of nasty, nasty, terrible, disgusting news to talk about, starting with Jesus fucking Christ. I just added this because he is nominating RFK Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services so get those vaccines now folks. I don't know if he's going to be able to get like Tdap shots off the market. He is going to want kids to not get as many vaccines as they do because probably he's

never experienced polio. Has he? Has he experienced polio. Has he? Has he experienced polio? There's a small chance. Yeah, that's, I mean, that's what we expected though, right? Like, yeah, that's not a surprise. It's not good.

Start cooking your meat real well. Well, I guess that's not, is that under the Health and Human Services or is that gonna be under different kinds of? I think he gets FDA stuff as well as CDC. Yeah, you know, all the, all those, all the, all you MAGA folk, all you right-wingers out there who kept saying, uh, you're not gonna make me eat the bugs. You're gonna eat so many bugs.

I'm so sorry. There's gonna be so many bugs in your food, you guys. You're gonna eat all the bugs. Well, there's like a weird balance here, right? Because he also wants good things in the sense that he wants people to eat less processed food. Yeah. But what are you gonna do about that?

Because we've talked about this before, Michelle Obama also wanted people to eat less processed food and people went nuts on her. Well, she was communist. And everyone else in your administration wants to deregulate the FDA. You want to regulate more by getting rid of the ultra-processing.

So there's like a balance here that I'm not sure Donald Trump has thought out at all. Well. Trump said he didn't want to deal with it. He's like, I want R.F. he didn't want to deal with it. He's like, I want RFK Jr. to go wild on health. Okay. Yeah, this is something I, there's a, a quarter conversation recently about this sort of aspect, um, talking with JD Vance about, um, basically putting people in

charge of departments who are the enemy of those departments. Um, and, uh, Trump was like, has like, so, uh, how do you do that? Like, what do you, what do you do? And Jay's like, just, you just do it. Um, and that's what we're seeing with all of these appointments, uh, people who are hostile to, and there's a, to a degree, that was the case in his first term. Um, but this is really just aggressively like,

you don't think these departments should exist, and so you're going to make them even worse. And Trump doesn't care really about these. Like all these people are very ideologically mixed and not in the way of like, oh, I like hearing information from all sides. It's like, no, they have their one thing that they wanna do, and he doesn't care that that's the one thing they wanna do. He's just like, okay, I like hearing information from all sides. It's like, no, they have their one thing that they wanna do, and he doesn't care

that that's the one thing they wanna do. He's just like, okay, you go do that. Oh, you wanna destroy this, okay, you go do that. He's not thinking about that at all. He's just sort of picking people who are hostile and loyal for various reasons, which I'm sure we'll get into, and setting them free, because he doesn't want the job.

He just didn't want to lose or be in prison. Just speaking a little broader, it's been a little dizzying the last couple days. I mean, this is just a slew of absolutely fucking wild nominations all at once. So you're not even having time to process the ridiculous of one before the next wild nominee comes down the pipeline.

And you know, I guess he really coming in hot here and he's got control of Congress. So I don't know, it's slim in the house. There's some of them that I think might be harder. Unless he picks more senators to scout. Whoa,'t know. It's slim in the house. There's some of them that I think might be harder. Unless he picks more senators to scout. Whoa, I know. But Matt Gaetz is, as Attorney General. Yeah, this is the one that might get held up the most.

Might not get through. Just because most people in Washington hate him, including Republicans. I have a perhaps naive hope that a bunch of the people that held their nose and did it anyway if they don't know who Matt Gaetz is yet they will soon and I have a very naive hope that that will be very off-putting for them that people will be regretting their votes sooner than later Yeah, he's a known opportunist and sex pest who should not be the attorney general. Alleged rapist and sex trafficker. I mean, yeah, alleged, but we have him.

Don't we have him on camera in his Florida office making fake IDs for underage girls? Isn't that part of the evidence here? Am I pulling that out of my- One of his buddies, I think, was the one on camera doing that. Other members of the House say he would show them photos of girls he was going to meet up with and how he would pound erectile dysfunction medication so he could go all night. He is a creep and a deviant. And he's currently being investigated.

Well, not anymore. Or am I wrong about that? The house the house ethics committee is days away or was days away from Releasing their report but he has since resigned he resigned yesterday from the house perfect timing Huh, so they're not going to officially release the report. Although Hopefully someone will leak it because it is apparently quite damning given his crime. It sounds quite damning from the reports. They need to release it. I do have, even if they do let this guy through,

I do have optimism about that. I think it's the kind of thing that will get leaked. People love leaking during Trump's administration. They can't get enough of it. We're back to it already. I forgot how dumb this all was. Did you guys like, because now that we're back into all the leaks, all the like backstabbing rights members of his team are already trying to backstab Elon and this stuff.

And it's just like, it's dizzying and exhausting and it's so stupid. It's ramped up to it's really it's one of those like it's ramped up in stupidity and it's aggressively evil agenda and All the things like this is how it goes. It's just like yeah this is like your shitty fascist regime of freaks who fucking hate each other and It's it's already happening. It's not good, but it is stupider. It will be a test to see how easy it is for him to get these people through.

Well he's good at tests, camera, TV. If Matt Gaetz sails through this process, that will be a real chilling moment for us because it's gonna be a test of what is his control over these people, what's the inflection point, what's the point of no return here, we're past it. But you know, we're past it. I'm struggling to find the right colloquialism here.

Is there a line for any of them? No, they fall in line, but they don't have one. I mean, and it's just wild because these are people that throw out accusations of pedophilia all the time. That Democrats and being pedophiles. And you have one with the credible accusation and apparently damning report coming out and you are nominating this man. Also the president.

I know. Well, that's what I was about to say. It's especially chilling. It's extra chilling that the person that's been investigated for his sex crimes is nominating a person being investigated for sex crimes. Yeah, for this position too, like for the attorney general. Like it's like, it's, ah. I don't have a lot of confidence in Senate Republicans.

Obviously, I do think Trump will be taken aback if they're like, wait a minute, let's ask this guy questions and maybe not vote for him. I think it might be a very contentious confirmation hearing that they may still fold. I don't expect them to have much of a backbone. I would be surprised if they say, no, you got to send someone who is at least qualified for the job.

They could be scum. You would be surprised if they reject back eights. You would be surprised if they reject Matt Gaetz. I would be surprised if they reject any of these people. A little bit. Like, I just think they're gonna get bullied. I think they are afraid. I think they're afraid of Trump and his hardcore fans and what it represents.

There was that guy, I think it was Republican Senator Mike Simpson, who was asked, is Matt Gates qualified? And he's like, why are you asking me a question like a shitty quote? I don't know what the quote was. Why did you ask me a question? It's a, are you shitting me?

Why are you asking me that? Now I'm going to get investigated. He's like, no, he's not qualified, but now I'll probably get investigated. They know what we're in for. The Republican senators are like, this is the world we live in now. If you go against Trump. Yeah, they all know. That's why these people are getting the positions because they're the most loyal.

They're the most loyal and everybody else is too scared to not be loyal enough to not be attacked by him because every time anybody stands up to him, he attacks them until they lose their jobs and then they have to pretend to be Democrats. Like that is just how it's always been and it's worse now. Yeah, I mean, look, I know I started this by saying I have this naive hope. He's the one that I think maybe people will stand up and say no. If we remember the last time, it took a while for people to find the ability to do that. It'll probably be around the approach of midterms,

especially people who are in vulnerable seats. And you'll start to see people have courage. I decided I wasn't going to be tricked. Because after January 6th, when they didn't put an end to this, I was like, then he if he gets back in, he's going to at least think he can do whatever he wants. If you fool me once, you fool me, you can't get fooled again, as another former president once said.

Yeah, don't don't don't believe them. They're all craven. They did this in 2016. Oh, my God. Anyone. So many Republicans. Anyone who votes for Donald Trump is voting for a fascist. Well, here we are now. Oh, totally.

And January 6, obviously, was a huge thing. Everyone was like, oh, my God, this is not who we are. Good, sir. They either fall in line. They all fall back in line or and here's the another bad part it, is that anybody who is going to show courage will lose their job. And that's one less person with a semblance of a conscience in there. This whole first two years is going to be a process of whittling down the government, getting rid of people who are ideologically opposed in some way, they're already trying to determine,

like, are you a leftist? They're gonna get rid of anybody who's mildly liberal, and then anybody who questions them, they're gonna get rid of them too, and so it's gonna get smaller and smaller, and more and more freaks who backstab each other more and more and hate each other even more, and that's how you get these kinds of regimes, because you no longer have like the weight and

size of the government to keep it together. We did have that in 2016. And it seems like they know that they had it and they are going to try to get rid of it all. Because if you're not loyal to Trump, then you're out of here. Well, then that's one fewer person. It's one less person. Yeah, that's the through line through all of these nominees is loyalty. We should go through a few more. Yeah, let's go. Yeah, for sure.

I didn't put that much here about Tulsi Gabbard because, like, what are we doing here? She's going to be nominated as director of national intelligence. She should probably not be privy to all of this intelligence, given that she is a, let's put it in a way that wouldn't get us sued if anyone listened to this. She's an apologist for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and there have been some connections

with Russian entities in the past. She seems to only say things that a Vladimir Putin type would want to say, especially regarding war in Ukraine, but just generally seems to reiterate a lot of talking points. Director of National Intelligence, Elizabeth Jennings from Washington, D.C. Do you guys watch The Americans? Am I making any sense here? Speaking of fake people on television. Yeah, perfect transition. Department of Defense.

Pete Hegseth. So, so very wild. If you don't know who Pete Hegseth is, it's not because you haven't been hanging around in Pentagon circles or in Washington, it's because you aren't watching Fox and Friends Weekend on which he is a host. He was in the Army National Guard.

He did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Who wasn't in the National Guard? Come on. But he does not have qualifications to lead the biggest bureaucracy on earth. Aren't the majority, like people that have held this role in the past are like four star generals or people that have an extensive role in the past are like four star generals or people that have an extensive background in the military. There's not all generals, there's some civilians.

I mean, and evil war criminals like Donald Rumsfeld. Absolutely, but it is a wild swing to take someone off of network TV. Yeah, it's this combination and it's going to be forever. It's going to be all the time. Forever? For four years? Well, for- forever? We'll see. Forever, Cody? Forever? Just like, that's a tragic

mistake. And it's bad for everybody. And that's so stupid. It's so stupid. How silly can you get? Was Gutfeld not available?

Oh my goodness. And that is part of the superpower of getting away with it. Because it's just like, you look at it like, well that's just a joke. You're doing a joke at me right now. You're firing off these jokes at me, but they're real and they're also bad. And I just don't know how we're going to continue absorbing all of this stuff. Well, he has said that he thinks wokeness and DEI in the military has gone too far. He does not think women should serve in combat roles. He said that last week on a podcast.

He said that if he was in charge, because he was just kind of openly musing, he said he would fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Trump said he wanted to do that for a long time, right? Yeah, General Charles Q. Brown. I think he goes by CQ because his name's Charlie Brown. And yeah, the military is just so woke. And he's like, well, we've all served alongside women.

And they're great. They're great. Women are great. But it's just made it so complicated to serve alongside them. No, this is just scummy misogynists. You mean all the like, makes it harder because all the, there's all the sexual assault in the military, women in the military? Is that your concern?

Wasn't, isn't he famous for defending the guy that did the photos. Yes, he has suggested that people who have been in trouble with military leadership or faced court marshals for violent crimes should not have faced those. On this podcast, it was very chilling. He was like, well, if the Iranians are storing weapons in their heritage cultural sites, you know, those are fair game, we should destroy those. And then he said, quote, the rules of war are for winners, which is very terrifying. That is really interesting from the anti war president. Well, he is Donald the Dove, Donald the Dove.

Yeah, this is, again, it's so so absurd on its face and like so transparent what's going on. I really hope people who I'm going to be nice about right now, who voted for this man and was so willing to believe all of the obvious lies are paying attention to these sorts of things. Nice name. all of the obvious lies are paying attention to these sorts of things. They say this like he's just this like this like Pete specifically. It's like, OK, so you're absolutely a war hawk. You're a vicious war hawk, Neo Khan ideologically.

And you've been your brains been cooked in Fox News on camera for years. That's a lethal combination. And I, what a bad decision. Also his weird like, kind of like Christian nationalist-y like tattoos and stuff, got some stuff going on there. Yeah, that stuff's not great. Like again, I think the idea is that Pete Hegseth, Trump has watched him on Fox News for years, defending

him. Exactly. And he's like, that guy was in the military and likes me, done. And is willing to say and wants to say these terrible things. When it comes to Pete Hegseth, we have to hope that Donald Trump's desire not to get us bogged down in more foreign wars wins out because he also picks all these people because they'll do exactly what he says. So if Pete Hegseth goes in there and is like, well, we got a bomber ran, I would really, really hope that the part of Donald Trump that doesn't care about that stuff and doesn't want to get involved in that will say no to him.

But also he probably does want to do that, right? He wants to be a war president. He wants to be a successful war president. That's the thing. It's so clear that he has such an utter lack of respect for all of these departments. He's like, anybody, any fucking person can run this. Anybody can do it, doesn't matter. Just put someone in there that likes me. But there's no thought about who, but about the actual reality of running a department

of the United States government means. Just utter disrespect is what I get from the man. He's the least American president. Marco Rubio, secretary of state. How about that, y'all? Oh, another neocon. Oh no, what? But I was told. But I was told. The biggest war hawk, right it like it's a joke China Iran like it's just like he I Like here's the so here's the thing and like we're not gonna go back to our original conversation at the very beginning I have so little patience for this kind of stuff of people like but but he didn't say but he said like

Everybody was yelling at you and maybe we shouldn't have yelled, but like it's so obvious that it was going to go this way. And I just want people to just see it and go, oh, I was conned. I'm gonna change all my opinions now. That's not how things work. I think conversely, it might make them dig in even more. Oh, interesting. If I had money on it.

That's a bet that I will not take, Jonathan. I don't know that everybody is as tuned in and clued into this cast of characters as we are at this moment in time, but boy, I sure hope they pay attention when we get to the actual vetting process and hearings. Well, you know, we hope that we can highlight these things. And like, Katie, you've talked about before, like you plant seeds early on saying, well,

he's going to do this and this is bad and this is bad. And this is going to help. And then you're like, do you, maybe I was right about other stuff too. If, all this stuff is happening. I just wish that it happened maybe before the election instead of Now we have to see it. We already saw it. We were pre-cogging all over the place We already saw it. We didn't need it to happen to prove it We got the dog shooter in the security had to mention that that's completely expected like I you know

Joke about like oh, it's like Marjorie Taylor Green would be a great secretary of education For a lot of reasons. It's like that's the choice right? It's like her or Bobert or Like Chaya, right chick would be like the Wow don't even joke about that shit. Don't put that Like that would it back in your mouth a long shot bet but I bet you know Odds on I could it's her it's her or Marjorie Schiller green Because you all they also want to get rid of the department

So you put somebody like Marjorie Schiller green and who believes like so many things that are you can't learn in school? Because they're not true and then she's gonna just let it devolve And as awful as Betsy DeVos was she resigned immediately after January 6th in disgust So I don't think Trump's gonna reach back out Maybe you'd want somebody who like really, really, really, really, really liked January 6th. Maybe somebody who wanted to participate in January 6th even more than they did. Maybe somebody like that would be good in that position instead of the one who resigned because of it.

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That's drinkag1.com slash more news to start your holiday season off on a healthier note while supplies last We are noggin It's gone Department of Government efficiency Elon and Vivek are gonna co-head this non-department Cuz the president can and I'm sure Trump found this out after the election the president can't just create And I'm sure Trump found this out after the election the president can't just create government agencies Congress has to do that and he's like I won isn't the Constitution gone yet and they're like well not yet You know, yeah work in so

They're they're gonna either get funding or pay for it themselves to do this like to create a report by the semi-quincentennial July 4th 2026 by the semi-quincentennial, July 4th, 2026, where they're gonna release a report that's like, get rid of this department, get rid of the FDA or whatever. Vivek online said, you know, we gotta get rid of all of this funding that, where money was appropriated decades ago and those appropriations have since expired.

But that includes a lot of valuable stuff that people rely on, like veterans' affairs and veterans' healthcare. Just because it's expired and it's still going doesn't mean that it's waste. Yeah, not a real government agency since only Congress can create those. And we do, we already have the government accountability office. This, I'm gonna go out on a limb, doesn't seem efficient to people in charge of a new department that can actually be created and there's already a department that does this.

Not the most efficient use of energy, all of time, resources, any of it. Also, I'm sorry, how many companies does Elon supposedly run well He's too busy playing. He's too busy getting the top 20 Diablo 4 players In the globe wait is he really I yes he plays that much he plays that much Yes, he does man. I I work too much. I really should become the CEO of six companies So yeah, then you're free up time to play Diablo 4. I highly recommend it for your schedule.

It's just these two clowns, the two biggest clowns you can imagine. Well, also it's interesting. And Matt Gaetz. I keep going back to, and Matt Gaetz, I keep coming back to, like not to live out, but like it's like when Michael and Jim were co-managers on The Office.

It is like that. We'll see how long Elon lasts, honestly. We can talk about that a little bit, but it's interesting because Elon and Vivek are two unique people who have very off-putting personalities in different ways, and they're both two of the most narcissistic people in politics or in the public eye right now. Vivek ran for president. two of the most narcissistic people in like politics

or in the public eye right now, Vivek ran for president. Like that's a broken brain you have. You tried to run for president, unbelievable. And then you have Elon Musk and like those two people like working it out and like being normal and like doing this job together just doesn't sound likely, I guess is my point. Not like aside from like it's two people doing it, those two people.

I honestly don't know how any sort of a working relationship between Trump and Elon is long lasting at all. He's the first buddy. They're just two, their egos going to bash up against each other. And do you think Trump's okay with him being richer than him? I don't know. No, no, no. They both need attention too much.

And I agree with you, Katie. I think Trump's like this guy's got more money than me. And he wants to like, put his hands up and get applause when he walks into a room, not in my gaudy hotel in Florida, you don't. Very clearly wants to be the president. And Donald Trump's the president now, buddy, and he doesn't want you to do that. It's gonna be-

He just wanted you to win the election for him. Exactly, it's gonna be a long time. He's already joked, he's already joked out loud several times about how he can't get rid of Elon because he helped him win. That tells how he can't get rid of Elon because he helped him win. That tells me he wants to get rid of Elon because he's obnoxious and he doesn't want him running the government with him. And there's honestly there is a world where because I do think and we will talk about this so much more in upcoming episodes and this show too. The mass deportation thing is one of the worst things

to prepare for. It's going to be so bad, instantly all these private prison companies were like, yes, finally. Like, they're salivating for this. The only way to do this is to get rid of due process, which is against the constitution and just kick them out, of due process, which is against the Constitution and just kick them out or due process, which takes a long time and will require building all these facilities. We will talk about it. My like part of my hope is that enough people

will see it actually happen. Who thought like, oh, they were just signs. They were merely holding signs up that said mass deportations now. And they didn't think through like, what would that involve? What would that mean? What does that look like? What does that cost? Like all the things that are going to be bad about it and just like seeing all these pictures and videos over and over of like, oh my God, look at these children, like the children and the way like everything. The hope is that enough people will actually see it and realize what has happened. And I think that, you know, just generally politically, there's swing back all the time. Like, okay, right in charge.

Okay, now the left is like has this this wave coming back. And so there's going to be a lot of like liberal leftist, like leaning, like resurgence, one hopes, and people realizing and leaving the party as it were. And Elon's also going to get fired by Donald Trump. And that's going to be a really nasty falling out. And Elon Musk does not like anything remotely like that. And I think there is a small possibility that Elon will think that he has the permission structure to go against Donald Trump and become like, actually, after having worked with him,

he's not a good person and this is not who we want to charge. Like there is a world where Elon takes all his resentment and spite from getting kicked to the curb by Donald Trump, which is going to happen. Oh, for sure. And channels it and tries to be like, actually, I'm more Democrat than ever now, now that I've seen who he really is.

Or I'm the future of the Republican Party or something. Exactly, something. We can't let him do that, but there's a small chance he's going to try to do that, because he'll think, oh, like everyone, the tide is turning against him. Now it's okay for me to do this. We'll see this drama unfold. Oh, I hate this so, I hate this so much.

I fucking hate that we're having this conversation. And this guy's gonna suck all the oxygen out of, we got to talk about other things for a while. We got to talk about things we'd like and anyway, anyway. And we will, we will, we will try not to get bogged down by this stuff if you're listening and you're like, God, guys, stop, we will, we We will try not to get bogged down by this stuff. If you're listening and you're like, God, guys, stop. We will. We're going to try to tamp down on it is it's an onslaught.

The only thing right this week that we can. But, well, actually, that's not true. I have never been on this podcast when Joe Biden was not the president. So that's going to be a very weird shift. When it's all as I'm sorry, Trump, the president. And we're not just like this loser. But I like to jump on something you just said, Cody. By the end of his term,

and I know there's a lot of up in the airs about was it gonna be, are they gonna get rid of the 22nd Amendment, whatever. He is a American president, which means by the end of this term, he will be unpopular. Yes. Absolutely.

Even if he doesn't do all the stuff. He's going to screw up enough stuff and people's lives aren't going to be notably better and they're not going to have more money in their pockets, whatever. Especially if he does the tariff stuff, which I assume they will talk him out of because it will make him less popular. Yeah. His popularity will take and we of because it will make him less popular. Yeah. He, his popularity will take and we can guarantee, we can count on that. And I, we kind of danced around it last week.

It's just so brutal because there's so much that will happen between now and then that will either be, will take a long time to clean up the mess. I don't want to be fatalist, but like it's gonna fucking suck. And at the end of it, he won't be liked by at least a lot of the people that did vote for him. But probably there will be, of course,

the people that will continue to. Well, he's a cult leader and they're in a cult. So like, some people are gonna stick around. And those are the people that we're not trying. But you know, there are other people that are going to. And immediately, I've already said this, I know this pissed off Cody, I already got something from somebody here that was like... It did piss me off, you're right. I know, and I understand why it pisses... It does piss me off too, but I felt like, ah, yes, a little validated. That means good.

But I will explain this interaction now, which was, oh, talking about deportations and the argument being like, oh, well, there's no way he's not going to deport that many people. And then it was, I think I was too quick to say that. I think that you're probably right. And I was like, have you looked up how much it costs? And I hate to go to that argument, but it's an effective one with a certain type of voter. And it's like, it is very expensive. And I'm like, so what's the through line?

If we can't do that, what happens? Where do we put people that we need to make a stand? And Cody's rightfully pissed off, but I also was like, this is literally what I'm talking about when I say, I want to be able to have these conversations and say like, yeah, that's what I'm talking about when I say I want to be able to have these conversations and say like, yeah, that's, that's what I was saying. I would like to say 10 days too late, buddy. My gosh.

It's well, this person's not regretting their vote yet, but they, you know, so I can't say that, but, but a sobering moment of, oh, I see, I see that. And that is, I think it right, you're saying like indicative of like people are going to see that they've been conned a second time by the same man. And these things are actually going to be bad. I do want to sort of just sort of say, like, reiterate, I guess, we are going to try to not get bogged down by like the like you said like Katie you're like oh the drama and you're like I hate this like the palace intrigue and like all the leaked reports and stuff like there's a lot of noise always

especially with him and I think we'll we will try to focus on the things that Are the signal through that noise? But if before we go I can bring up one bit of palace intrigue that just came out. Sure. Oh yeah, we love it. Yeah. Some Republican senators have said that they would like to see the House Ethics Committee's report on Matt Gaetz before they vote during the confirmation process.

That report has not leaked yet, but what has leaked is that the House Ethics Committee did interview the woman at the center of the probe who confirmed that when she was 17, all these articles say had sex with her when she was 17 years old. I think we would call it something different. He raped her. Yeah.

That's what the report is going to say, of course. There that is. Whatever, 70 some million people just voted for a rapist, but when the rapist is not Donald Trump, Gates might think he's invincible. Maybe it matters. He is not. No one is but him. No one is but him.

That is true. It sucks that he is, but no one is but him. No one is but him, that is true. It sucks that he is, but no one is but him. It is just, it's that maddening thing where it's like, this is the stuff that you said you cared about. What do you believe? Who knows? Not much, apparently. We should probably wrap this up,

but a lot of people are leaving Twitter for blue sky, so that's cool I just ended that on a little upswing here, right? Fun little bit. Oh yeah, that's nice mostly. And the onion owns Infowars now. I mean I'm- The onion does own Infowars. Oh that's the best one! We didn't even talk about that. We didn't, but boy I cheered. I was- Congratulations. That was a fun little bit. To the funniest thing that's ever happened. It is truly spectacular. And I wish I'd had the money and the thought to do that.

Just like taking like, cause like the whole process was like, this is a really good thing that's happening. It's an important case and like, it was won. And like the justice started to happen and that's really good. And then it somehow also got to be an extremely funny thing. Like you got both.

Oh, that's so great. I can't like, they did it. They did it, justice. Oh my God. That's the funniest thing that could have happened. And we rarely get both. We do get a lot of tragedy and hilarious stupid things, but we don't always get the positive ones.

Yeah. And well, this one does also include tragedy, a lot of tragedy and hilarious stupid things, but we don't always get the positive ones. Yeah, and well this one does also include tragedy, but it's a whole arc here. And I think that that is a great place to end it. I hope you guys enjoyed that bit of news when you saw it in your feeds this morning, or right now when we told you, and go look it up because it's great.

And we did it, we're at the end of this episode. And it was good, I think. And there's gonna be more of this, so much more. We think, yeah. More of the podcast, I guess. This isn't the last episode? No, no, no. It's not the last episode.

It's the first, couldn't get that sentence out. Episode of the rest of the episodes. This is a good moment to end. This is a good, we're good. Thank you for your support. Thank you for your support. I said it earlier, but I'm gonna say it again, because that's how much I mean it.

We love you very much. Much. For years, Tim Ballard has been championed as a modern day superhero. The first time I saw one of the kids from the video, and it like changed my life. He was the face of Operation Underground Railroad, a movement that inspired hope around the world by rescuing children from human traffickers. However, Ballard's crusade to save innocent lives has always hidden a darker secret. Oh, I think he's a pathological liar. Beneath

the accolades and the applause, a dark storm has been brewing. I mean, I can't find a time that he's told the truth about anything. Shocking allegations of sexual misconduct have surfaced, casting a shadow over his once unquestioned reputation. I am host Sarah James McLaughlin, and in this new season of The Opportunist we explore the rise and the fall of Tim Ballard. Join us this October for Tim Ballard Unmasking a Hero. Subscribe to a new season of The Opportunist now wherever you get your podcasts.