Transcript of Trump Abruptly Cancels Sunday Shows + Haley Stevens Goes MASK OFF…

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Episode summary

Ben Meiselas hosts this episode, which covers the Trump administration abruptly canceling Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's Sunday show appearance as economic questions grow before the midterms. The host argues the move and Trump's Mar-a-Lago remarks signal a weak economic message.

He reviews early voting figures in several states, Republican comments on Alaska's Senate race, and the Michigan church event where Representative Haley Stevens appeared with Mike Rogers, which drew backlash. The episode also addresses Iran and Qatar tanker strikes and a House report on the American Psychological Association.

Most claims are the host's own characterizations and should be weighed against the sources he cites.

In this episode Ben Meiselas

This MeidasTouch episode on canceled Sunday shows and Michigan Senate politics was made with the same technology HappyScribe uses for Zoom transcription.

00:00:00

Donald Trump abruptly canceled the appearance of Treasury Secretary Bessent on CBS Face the Nation this morning. There was no reason given. This would have been the main kind of proxy of the Trump regime to talk about the economy before the midterms. And again, this was just abruptly canceled moments ago. Instead, last night, Donald Trump was holding a Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago, where he was talking about all the rich members and all the big guys from Wall Street who spent all this time to dress up to party at Mar-a-Lago at this Gatsby Epstein-style event last night. Take a look at what Trump said last night. Play this clip.

00:00:39

All my rich members, they spent all day getting ready. Look at these guys. These are the big— quiet for a second. These are the biggest guys on Wall Street, and they spent all day long getting ready. I only had 10 minutes. I just put on a red tie.

00:00:53

And instead of Treasury Secretary Bessent appearing on the morning shows. Instead, you had some prerecorded interviews between Donald Trump and a New York Post reporter, Miranda Devine, where she said, so what's your final message to voters, Donald? And he says, poverty is the best. The poverty numbers, they are just the absolute best right now. That's his closing message. Here, play this clip.

00:01:18

So what's your final message to the voters to get them out?

00:01:21

Well, if you want to have, for instance, uh, I go over numbers when I make these speeches and I say, Your individual income is the highest it's ever been. I said poverty numbers are the single best, meaning they're the best. Poverty is a bad thing, but poverty is poverty, and we have the best numbers we've ever had.

00:01:42

So instead of Treasury Secretary Bessent, the Trump regime is sending other proxies out for the regime. You have James Comer, who dyed his hair recently, and he looks completely odd. He was on Larry Kudlow's state regime media Fox this morning, and they're talking about making sure that Mary Peltola is not sworn in and is not seated as a United States senator if and when she wins that race in Alaska. Here, play this clip.

00:02:09

Is it possible, though, if Peltola wins, if she won't be seated? Have you spoken to any senators about this? Is it at all possible that she might not even be seated, even if she were to win?

00:02:24

That's a big possibility. I have not spoken to Senator Thune about that. We kind of tend to operate within the confines of the House with respect to our investigations. But at the end of the day, I think the American people can see loud and clear what was done here.

00:02:40

And that was the main talking point by the MAGA Republican Trump proxies this morning, like MAGA Republican Senator Tim Scott, who basically said that it's all rigged and we're not going to seat Mary Peltola. And there are criminal investigations taking place in Alaska. Just more Trump regime intimidation and threats taking place. Let's play this clip.

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00:03:02

If Mary Peltola wins, if the election is certified, will you accept the results of that race?

00:03:10

Kristen, 2 things. Number one, Dan Sullivan, the real Dan Sullivan, will win. And number two, it actually is a federal offense to confuse voters. That's the law. And that's why you've seen the Department of Justice ask for— send out 30 subpoenas. So what we're going to find out very quickly is who all was involved in this attempt to confuse the voters. It's okay to expand the ballot, but it is not okay to confuse the voters.

00:03:38

Senator, you've also seen Alaska's Republican— Yes, ma'am.

00:03:42

Because the Trump regime sees these early voting numbers, and right now it is an absolute disaster for the MAGA Republicans. Just take a look right here at the North Carolina end of early in-person voting numbers. In 2024, Republicans had a lead of about 41,457 votes with those early in-person voting numbers. In 2026, Democrats lead by 343,000 votes and change. Republicans did not win a single day of early voting, even when high propensity voters were were red. Those gains were overwhelmed by exceptionally blue turnout among less frequent voters, as Zachary Denini says over at VoteHub. And he's doing a really good job covering this as well. Also this morning, there was a piece in Axios detailing the early voting data for Byron Donalds, the MAGA Republican congressman who's running for governor of Florida. The early voting for Donalds is so awful that it sent a chill through the Republican ranks in Tallahassee. Turnout is so good for the Democratic candidate for governor, David Jolly, that Byron could need to win Election Day vote by a 2-to-1 ratio. That's what they're saying in Florida right now. And in Michigan, you have state regime media Fox was caught by the Midas Touch Network presenting Mike Rogers campaign backers as a bipartisan voter panel on Lara Trump's show last night.

00:05:14

The Midas Touch Network poured over hours and hours of footage that we've analyzed before. And we recognize that 4 of the 5 people who were on this purported panel appeared at Rogers campaign events in the past. One of the people on this panel that was supposed to be like the independent panel runs a multimillion-dollar pro-Rogers super PAC. The amount of money being poured in by billionaires, by the oligarchs to try to steal and rig and manipulate this election is beyond anything we've ever seen before. And it's directly traceable, as we've always said, to the Citizen United ruling and this right-wing fascist Supreme Court that wants to truly topple our democracy. It's why it's so damn important over the next 48 hours that you go out there, that you vote, that you get out the vote, and that we keep getting out the message here on the Midas Touch Network. So just make sure you're subscribed to the Midas Touch Network. You may think you're subscribed to this channel, but go and double check. Now, also, what's the messaging coming out of Kansas right now, where with less than 48 hours to go before the midterm elections, the MAGA Republican extremist Roger Marshall— he used to be— well, he was an OB-GYN who sent a lot of his patients to collections, and a lot of them actually got arrested for even just not like owing like $50 or $100 or, you know, a few hundred bucks for procedures that they were probably overbilled anyway by Roger Marshall.

00:06:49

I mean, this guy's a total scumbag. He's running against the Democratic candidate, Adam Hamilton, who's run a fantastic campaign. Let me show you the closing message here by Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas. Play this clip.

00:07:02

I'm Dr. Roger Marshall, and you should know the truth about Adam Hamilton's ads. Their faults, plain and simple. When I practiced as a small-town OB doc, often serving as the only OB in the middle of 40,000 people, my wife and I decided to take care of everyone regardless of their ability to pay. We wrote off hundreds of bills monthly, and 1 of every 5 patients received free care. Now, to ensure that 40,000 Kansans would still have access to care, we did have to keep the lights on, so we occasionally handed some accounts over to collection agencies, just like nearly every private medical practice does. To be crystal clear, the Kansas Bill of Rights ensures that no one can go to prison because of indebtedness. And I would never wish that on any patient I had the privilege to serve. My involvement in any patient's account ended the minute it was turned over to an outside agency. I never had anyone arrested, not once. And Adam Hamilton knows it. Kansas deserves to know the truth. And now you do. I'm Senator Dr. Roger Marshall, and I humbly ask for your vote.

00:08:02

And folks, with all this disinformation that's coming out right now, It is so critical that we have a healthy media diet. We see what's going on. There are so many bad faith actors right now shilling for the oligarchy and just trying to screw us all. And they have other interests in mind that have nothing to do with the United States of America. It's their own personal wealth and also elevating foreign countries over the interests here of the United States. I mean, take a look right here. Of this report that just came out and how it is being reported by the press? Did you even know about this? There was a House report by these MAGA Republican extremists that accused the American Psychological Association of antisemitism. So this was a report out of the House of Representatives. And I just want you to think about that. Why is one of the reasons that they may be doing this? Well, because if you attack the American Bar Association, like the legal group, if you attack the American Psychological Association, if you attack all of these groups that create certain types of standards for governing, you know, professions, you know, how should we view things through a legal prism?

00:09:16

How do we view things through a psychological prism where Trump is breaking the law, where his behavior is quite literally the definition of psychotic? He is a malignant narcissist who's cognitively and physically declining. in front of our eyes, and his psychotic behavior has plunged our country into economic disaster and never-ending wars. And you see him at the beginning at this weird Halloween party, at this Trumpenstein Gatsby party, bragging about all of his freaking rich friends. So they want to undermine these institutions, and they do it by using antisemitism. Oh, it's the— they're antisemitic, the, uh, Psychological Association. What are you even talking about? At the same time, They then send out US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who says, you know, there's just so much anti-Jew hatred. It's an epidemic in the world. It's a disease. It's evil and has nothing to do, he says, with Netanyahu at all. And it is just, you know, no matter who the leader would be of Israel. And so what they don't want you to be able to do is just have a criticism of the Netanyahu regime, of the genocide in Gaza, of people like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich.

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00:10:26

And what the Netanyahu regime has unleashed in Gaza, genocide, southern Lebanon, the massacres there, getting the United States into this catastrophic war in Iran, wanting the United States to escalate this catastrophic war in Iran. Watch over here what Huckabee just said here. Play this clip.

00:10:42

Who are mad at Israel are mad at Israel. There's an anti-Jew hatred that is an epidemic in the world. It's a disease. It's an evil. It's irrational. And I'm not sure, you know, people say, well, if Netanyahu wasn't there, people wouldn't hate the Jews. Really? What's the evidence for that? What's the evidence that he is singularly responsible for Jew hatred across the world?

Advertisement00:11:07

And again, I need us all to have a healthy media diet. It's why when I prepare these videos, I partner with Ground News in the morning. For example, I partner with Ground News for this video and this episode because they're the best tool that helps me stay objective with my reporting. Ground News is an app and a website that pulls in thousands of articles from around the world and organizes them by story to show you how's the left, how's the center and right framing the story differently. For every story, they have this color-coded layout that makes it easy to see the political bias of each source, to see whether it's independent news or a corporate conglomerate. And so, for example, in the report I shared with you about the House report accusing American Psychological Association of antisemitism, It's all being pushed out by right-wing media over and over and over again to pursue a right-wing media agenda. And that's why I love the Ground News dedicated blind spot feature that I just used right there. I believe in Ground News so much, we're gonna offer 40% off the same Vantage plan that I use for my research.

So just go click the link in the description or go to ground.news/MTN or scan the QR code up here. It's one of the biggest discounts they've ever offered. If you want to support the channel and get a clearer understanding of the world, try out Ground News. Now, speaking about disinformation purveyors and frickin traitors, in my opinion, as I was just reading that, here's the news that is coming in right now. And I need to share it with you because it is absolutely disgusting. Mask off. Just 48 hours before the midterm elections, the purported Democrat— I doubt she is— Representative Haley Stevens is now appearing alongside the MAGA Republican Senate nominee in Michigan, Mike Rogers, at a church in Detroit. What a mask-off disgusting moment that is right there. She's alongside him. Sam Robinson captured the moment that she walked in with this MAGA Republican extremist. And so seriously, you have Haley Stevens would like to have the Democrats lose control of the Senate. Because it seems that her interests have nothing to do with the United States. So damn freaking sickening. She says, uh, with Mike Rogers, she goes, he's for investing in Black-owned businesses.

00:13:24

Who the hell are you? Seriously, you make me want to vomit. So absolutely disgusting. Here, play this clip.

00:13:31

And that is a policy that Mike's going to take off.

00:13:39

Here's the moment, by the way, that she walked into that church. Play this clip.

00:13:43

Congresswoman. Congresswoman.

00:13:52

Jason. Good morning. Good morning.

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00:13:57

Welcome to Family Friends Day. Good, man. Good to see you.

00:14:04

Welcome to the family. And here she is sitting next to Rogers. You can see Jason Turkish and hat tip to Sam Robinson for getting this footage. Jason Turkish beside Rogers' wife, Kristi Rogers, and you see them all there, one big happy, you know, group right over there to think about how close Democrats were to basically electing another fricking Fetterman over there. Oh my God. I mean, again, how fricking disgusting is this? Here, play this clip. Um, you know, I was able to interview Dropkick Murphy's lead singer Ken Casey this week, and I'm dropping the full video today, you know, and he's always been fighting for the working class. And it's why we need to be shoulder to shoulder with people every step of the way. So when these freaking outside traitors and so-called political pundits come in right before elections and try to divide us. And these billionaires try to spend all this money to spew out all this disinformation. We know the people who were with us from day one. We know what we're fighting for, and we could fight back against these old guards. Now, Ken Casey is someone who's always been on the front lines.

00:15:17

Here's what he told me. Play this clip.

00:15:19

Well, we've also been the front line of really having that, like, white working-class audience. We've been the front line of people that used to you know, profess to agree with our values and our stances that got caught up in this, you know, twisting of the minds of Americans into thinking that the billionaire Epstein class, who largely reside on the right side of the aisle, uh, had their best interest in mind. And I would just try to simply dumb it down to saying, guys, these people wouldn't piss on us if we were on fire. Why do you think Donald Trump cares about you? Yeah. Maybe, maybe you could make the argument that a Democratic politician doesn't care about you either. I'm not here to say that that's not possibly true as well, but look at the voting records and that's where really the questions, you know, are answered.

00:16:12

Now, while Donald Trump is engaged in, you know, all of this election tampering and manipulation with all of the oligarchs, um, let's take a look at what's happening throughout the world. The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs just released a formal statement just now condemning Iran strike against a Qatari LNG tanker that was attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz last night. More tankers are being struck by Iran, and I think that's notable because the Trump regime is trying to use the Qataris as basically a way to have this kind of carrot-stick threat approach to Iran and basically say you better do a deal with Donald before the midterms because if Trump loses control of the Senate and the House He's going to be very mad at you, and he's going to likely invade you even worse right now with the Netanyahu regime. And I think Iran wanted to send a message like we're not afraid of that, like we're not scared of that. I did a video this morning of Iran's top advisor to Ayatollah Mojtaba Khomeini, Mohsen Razai, where he basically said, "Look, we've got the order from Ayatollah. You strike us right here in Iran, we will unleash hell across the region with no geographic limit." You can see some of the tankers hit in the Strait of Hormuz right now.

00:17:24

Multiple more. tanker struck in the Strait of Hormuz. Also, the United States sending a ton of military assets to Israel right now. Patriot interceptors, which could have been used in Ukraine, are now going to Israel, even though Israel already has a ton of our weapons for their Iron Dome. Now, 13 US Air Force KC-135 Stratotankers, uh, these big refueling, uh, supertankers, they're lined up in Israel's Ramon Airport in anticipation for major escalation. This is Trump and Netanyahu destroying the world right over here. You've got Trump last night at his Gatsby Epstein-style party saying, we'll take care of Iran in just 10 minutes, 10 minutes. So that's all we need, just we'll hit a few targets. Do you see, by the way, why the kind of Trump regime and MAGA Republicans are targeting the freaking Psychological Association and saying, oh, antisemitism, antisemitism? Because he's a freaking lunatic, he's psychotic. And if we actually use like psychoanalytics and we like look at real metrics, we would see that this is an actual freaking lunatic who's not fit to be anywhere near any position of power. Here, play this clip.

00:18:35

Is there a timeframe for the Qatari mediated negotiations?

00:18:40

Look, we're not in that much of a hurry from the standpoint that we've knocked out their navy, we've knocked out their Air Force. We've knocked out their anti-aircraft. We've knocked out almost every piece of military equipment there. We've knocked out a lot of their manufacturing capability. We've knocked out the nuclear. We've knocked out their nuclear. We still have to take care of, I would say, one or two sites, but we can do that in 10 minutes. So we have that, we have that plan.

00:19:18

More of Donald Trump on Iran right here. He's like, you know, they say they want to make a deal. We'll find out about that. They always say they want to do a deal and then they pull out of it. No, that would be you, you freaking loser. Play this clip.

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00:19:30

We've got Iran. We'll never have a nuclear weapon. They want to make a deal. We'll find out about that. They're going fine. But you know, they're not very reliable. I will tell you, they've They make a deal and then they back out. They want to make a deal. We'll see if they make it.

00:19:45

And to prove the point, you were the guy who said that Russia and Ukraine would do a deal 24 hours after the election. How'd that go? How did that go? Oh, you just say, oh, 2 more weeks, 2 more weeks, 2 more weeks. He goes, I think it's going to come to an end soon, is what he said last night at the same Trumpenstein Gatsby Epstein-style freaking gross party at Mar-a-Lago. Play this clip.

00:20:08

I think that the war between Ukraine and Russia is going to come to an end in the not too distant future.

00:20:14

And more warmongering from this globalist authoritarian class. And by the way, in WTF America, what do I talk about a lot? The globalist authoritarians. Those are the true globalists who want to destroy your life, create chaos. They don't even give a crap about countries or nations. They just care about enriching themselves, pillaging lands for resources so the rich get richer. That's their goal. It's not even, you know, in the past imperialism was still kind of rooted in concepts of nations. These new globalist authoritarians are just about stealing from you to make themselves trillionaires while you all suffer. And then they try to create all of this chaos and death and destruction. They're the arsonists so that then they could come along and when people are feeling trauma, they could say, oh, well, let us fix it. We want to be the ones to fix it. So here Donald Trump is talking about another person as part of this globalist warmonger authoritarian class. The president of El Salvador, Bukele, is now going to war in Haiti. And Donald Trump's like, I told him, do what you got to do in Haiti. Do what you got to do in Haiti.

00:21:17

Here, play this clip.

00:21:18

Have you spoken to Bukele about Haiti? Uh, El Salvador's president, he's sending his forces.

00:21:27

He said that he has a big problem with Haiti. I said, look, you're running your country, you have to do what you have to do. He had a big problem with Haiti. They killed some of his people. And I said, you're running your country, you have to do what you have to do.

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There you have it, everybody. Go get your copy of WTF America: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. Get the hardcover, get the ebook right now. It's currently number 2 on the New York Times bestseller list. Let's get it to number 1. And we lay out all of the globalist authoritarian network. We explain it, we dissect it, we tell us— we tell you how we can beat it in the book as well. Appreciate you so much. And let's keep on fighting. We got this. Just keep on fighting. You know, when these people go mask off, we just got to fight extra freaking harder. Okay. It's finally here. WTF America, the book I wrote with my brothers, is out now. It's about how we got into this hell and how we get out. Scan the QR code, Click the link in the description or find it anywhere books are sold and order your copy today. Here we go.

Episode description

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on the Trump administration abruptly canceling Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s Sunday show appearance as economic questions mount ahead of the midterms. Meanwhile, Trump’s allies discuss not certifying election results as Trump brags about his wealthy friends at Mar-a-Lago. Ben also covers Haley Stevens appearing alongside Mike Rogers at a Detroit church and the backlash surrounding the appearance.

Go to https://ground.news/MTN to cut through misinformation, critically analyze the news shaping our lives and hold the media accountable. Save 40% off unlimited access to Ground News with my link or scan the QR code on screen.

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