Trump Stunned as Dems Finally Go on Offense in DC
4/16/202616 mincomplete
0:00Donald Trump is panicking as Democrats strike back after the MAGA Republican recess, sending the
0:08House and Senate on a vacation for two weeks.
0:11Democrats have returned with a vengeance, and the Midas Touch Network was there on the
0:17steps of the Capitol Hill to document it all.
0:20Scott McFarlane, who leads the Midas Touch Network's Washington, D .C.
0:25Bureau, along with Pablo Monriquez, they were there documenting everything that was going down.
0:33Democratic Congresswoman Ansari talked about how it's important to note that a lot of former
0:40Trump supporters now are out there recognizing Donald Trump's cognitive decline, and thus it is
0:47critical that the Democrats and Republicans join them to establish a commission on the ability
0:54and fitness, cognitively and physically, for Donald Trump to serve.
0:58Here's Congresswoman Ansari. Let's play it.
1:01What do you think that would be impressive on social media?
1:04Are you getting any feedback at all, negative or positive, for Republicans or purple districts
1:09at all? I think we're getting a lot of positive feedback.
1:12I have been very impressed, actually, to see non -elected, but Republicans, people like Tucker
1:20Carlson, former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, people like Nick Quintas, Alex Jones, people I never
1:25thought I would ever agree with on anything, recognize that Donald Trump is so mentally
1:31unstable, and he clearly is in a state of cognitive decline.
1:35And I'm grateful that Representative Raskin is leading the charge on this 25th Amendment bill
1:40and has started an investigation into his cognitive decline because he is unfit, and he
1:46is a national security threat to the United States of America.
1:49Trying to make a statement with this.
1:51I suspect no members of the committee think it's going to be acted upon.
1:55Is it a messaging tool in your mind?
1:58It is important that, right now, we do not act like anything that is happening
2:03is normal. And to that end, we cannot use the excuse of, oh, this isn't
2:10going to pass, or this isn't going to go anymore, or it's not politically, you
2:14know, viable as a reason to not put forward a response that is equivalent to
2:22what the crime is, or what, you know, the actions of the president are.
2:26So I feel very strongly about that.
2:28I think if we were to operate like everything's normal, and we have a functioning
2:32Congress, and, you know, people will just do the right thing, then we should all
2:36just go home, because that's not the case at all.
2:40And so I believe in doing things differently, and speaking and acting just in line
2:46with what we believe with morally.
2:48And then we got in touch with Democratic Congress member Jamie Raskin, the ranking member
2:53of the House Judiciary Committee, who's leading the initiative to hold that committee to determine
3:01Donald Trump's mental and physical fitness to serve.
3:04Here's what Congress member Raskin told us.
3:07Let's play this clip. Oh, yes.
3:08Cases, we're going to make a match.
3:10I think that that is outrageous.
3:12The Department of Justice is acting like in -house counsel to the Proud Boys and
3:17other members. So I think that is a scandalous turn of events.
3:22It's in some sense worse even than a pardon.
3:25You know, Trump didn't pardon these people for seditious conspiracy, because the charges against them
3:30are so sweeping and extreme.
3:32I mean, these were the people who were acting as the ringleaders of the entire
3:36violent attack on the Capitol and the peaceful transfer of power.
3:40And Trump, even though he was pardoning 1 ,600 other rioters and insurrectionists, wisely decided
3:48not to do that and did not include them in the pardon.
3:51He commuted their sentences. But now this goes even further than a pardon, because it
3:57vacates the convictions entirely. What statement is that making?
4:00It nullifies the prosecutions. It's an attempt to completely whitewash history.
4:05It's really giving a whole new meaning to the word whitewash.
4:08Back to Congresswoman Ansari for a moment here, talking about the articles of impeachment that
4:14she immediately and instantly filed on the House floor as soon as the House opened
4:19back up and MAGA allowed the vacation to finally come to an end.
4:24MAGA Mike letting the vacation come to an end.
4:26Play this clip. Thank you so much, guys.
4:27Thank you. Do you see any updates on what's going on over in Iran?
4:30Like, are any sort of, obviously, this war has become very confusing very quickly with
4:35a lot of people saying a lot of different things.
4:37What's your take on how long this is going to last?
4:39Like, how long are we going to be stuck in this horrible foreign policy situation?
4:44I think every single week, Democrats should be forcing war powers resolution so that we
4:50take the power back into our hands.
4:52We need to put Republicans on the record as often as possible about whether or
4:56not they support a war that was costing Americans $2 billion a day.
5:01A war where the United States committed war crimes.
5:05I actually filed articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth today, and I think that's extremely
5:10important because... Pete Hegseth did not follow his oath to the U .S.
5:15Constitution. He violated his duty.
5:18He committed a war crime in Iran with the attack on a school that killed
5:23over 160 children. So not only do we need to end this war, but we
5:27need to hold accountable and prosecute anyone in the U .S.
5:31administration who may have committed war crimes during this process.
5:34And what reception is your impeachment resolutions against Pete Hegseth gotten so far from your
5:38colleagues here in the House?
5:39We very quickly have gotten over 10 Democratic co -sponsors.
5:43You know, the thing with Pete Hegseth is that this is not the first time
5:48he has done something impeachable.
5:50This goes back to the Signalgate scandal.
5:52This goes back to the double tap strikes on the boats in the Caribbean.
5:56Pete Hegseth has been committing crimes and violating his oath.
6:00And so I have no doubt if this absolute clown, this former Fox News, not
6:06even a real anchor, continues in this position, there will be more and we will
6:10get more support. And I urge my colleagues to join me.
6:12He is a national security risk to the United States of America and to the
6:16world. Thank you so much.
6:17We got Democratic Congress member Pocan talking about the trillions and trillions of dollars that
6:25Donald Trump is now asking in terms of the military defense industrial complex, how we're
6:32now up another $500 million.
6:33He wants $1 .5 trillion.
6:35And what that's doing to our debt and how it is increasing our deficit significantly
6:41play this clip. What do you make of the prospect of the company of Iran
6:47money in hundreds of billions of dollars?
6:50Well, it's preposterous on a few levels.
6:52I mean, one, when I formed the Pentagon Spending Reduction Caucus, we were trying to
6:57protect it at about $685 billion a year.
7:01And we're now up to a trillion a year in just a matter of a
7:04half a dozen years. And now they're proposing to add another $500 billion to that.
7:09And they failed eight audits in a row.
7:12This is a war of choice.
7:14This is costing us between a billion and $2 billion a day that could be
7:18going to childcare and healthcare.
7:20And I just don't think there's an appetite to just fund a war that there
7:25was no intimate threat to the United States.
7:26And this was Donald Trump's war of choice.
7:28What kind of feedback do you get from constituents about this?
7:31Do they ask you about this?
7:32Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, in fact, the biggest thing is they tell me how
7:36much they're paying to fill their tank on a regular basis because that's something they
7:40know. And they're driving by those signs every day when they see gas prices go
7:43up. So, you know, that may be the most direct corollary they have to it.
7:47But also the concern, you know, that was kind of unhinged social media posts, you
7:52know, saying you're going to end a civilization and all the rest of the stuff
7:55he said. Yeah, a lot of people are just, you know, nervous that Donald Trump
7:59may not be the most stable president.
8:01Is the war powers vote going to pass eventually?
8:04What I keep hearing Republicans say is they're giving them 90 days and that's another
8:0830 days about from now.
8:10I don't think you just give extra time if they're not doing it right.
8:14And they're clearly not doing it.
8:15We then caught up with Democratic Congresswoman Del Bene.
8:18Here's what she had to say.
8:19Let's play it. Do you think the messaging on tax pay isn't going to resonate
8:26with folks? Tell me why.
8:28Folks across the country are struggling.
8:30They've seen prices rise all across the country because of actions Republicans have taken.
8:35And their big ugly bill wasn't focused on working families.
8:39Families are struggling. So the fact that they have to do press conferences and try
8:45to tell people that this is helping them when they know that's when families know
8:49that's not true kind of says it all.
8:51Do you have your would you encourage the candidates to run against the tax policies
8:55to mention them at all?
8:57Well, I think what Canada is talking about are all the policies Republicans have put
9:01in place that have been raising costs.
9:03Any benefits that they saw, you know, even the benefits that might have seen from
9:07a tax bill were wiped out by tariffs and slashing health care.
9:11So people's costs are skyrocketing.
9:14And that's what they're feeling across the country.
9:15Food, housing, health care, child care, energy costs, all going up directly because of actions
9:21taken by this administration. Let's talk to a possible potential candidate from Virginia.
9:25Do you see how many people want to say about Virginia yet?
9:28Or you want to wait till Tuesday?
9:30How important is Tuesday for your organization?
9:32Well, I think it's important across the board that we are standing up to Republicans
9:36who are trying to break the system.
9:38Let's be careful. If they thought they were winning, they wouldn't be out trying to
9:41change seats in Texas, which is where they started when Donald Trump said, give me
9:46five seats. This wasn't about the people of Texas asking for change.
9:50In fact, they hate this.
9:51It was Donald Trump trying to find seats because, you know, people have are tired
9:56of the broken promises. They're tired of the struggles.
9:59They're tired of Trump and Republicans in Congress.
10:02They want leaders who are going to stand up for them.
10:04And we're going to stand up across the country to make sure that they can't
10:07rig the system. Yes, absolutely.
10:11Good luck. And you know what?
10:13We were talking to Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill.
10:17We caught up with MAGA Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert.
10:22Here's what she had to say.
10:23Let's play this clip. How important is it for people who want to come forward
10:27with credible sexual misconduct delegations here in Congress to have sort of jobs lined up
10:31and stuff like that? It seems like some of these people who got who accused
10:35Eric Swalwell, they were able to find jobs quickly.
10:37That's been a change as opposed to previous.
10:39Congress is where people really have their careers destroyed by for doing the right thing.
10:43I would say come out.
10:45I mean, we will be here for you to protect you.
10:47Come to my office. If you if you have something, if your boss is mistreating
10:53you, someone else in the office, tell somebody.
10:55If you want to remain anonymous, remain anonymous.
10:57You know, let one of us loudmouths get it out there for you.
11:00I'm happy to issue receipts on behalf of anyone.
11:04I don't know what's going to come out.
11:06You know, like everybody's like, oh, my gosh, TMZ is here.
11:08Like, what are we going to do?
11:09You know? And I'm like, I don't know.
11:11What are you hiding from?
11:12Like so they don't even have their credentials yet.
11:15They're not down here. But anyhow, it's I don't know if you have something to
11:21hide. Sorry. I want it out.
11:23And I hope that people come forward.
11:24I'm glad that Eric Swalwell's staff were able to to find work.
11:29But also, I mean, turnover is crazy on the Hill anyway.
11:32It seems like, you know, one one meeting in the Dunkin Donuts and somebody is
11:35ready to switch offices and have a better job.
11:37So Democrat or Republican, they can count on your office to have their back.
11:41If it's Democrat or Republican, you know, if it's if even if it's another staffer,
11:46a chief of staff, someone, a senior staffer, if you have something, if you've been
11:51wronged, like, absolutely. My door is open and I will listen.
11:54And if anonymity is is requested, that's what you'll get.
11:58Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
11:59Then you had MAGA Republican Congress member Nels.
12:02Here's what he told us about Donald Trump mocking the pope and pretending to be
12:07Jesus. Let's play it. He reacted to Donald Trump's comments on the pope over the
12:11weekend. I'd probably say the pope needs to keep his business into leading his flock,
12:17so to speak, leading the church and probably stay out of the political arena.
12:21He doesn't need to be getting involved in the political arena.
12:23Go lead your church, but stay out of the politics.
12:26We didn't elect it. We didn't elect the pope to be the president or be
12:29the anything else. So just keep his nose in the church's business and stay out
12:34of the political arena. What if he sees his role as sort of leading his
12:37flock? No, lead his flock.
12:38Well, let's focus on just behavior, doing everything else.
12:41Just just focus on your flock.
12:43And Donald Trump is our president.
12:45It's not the pope. I didn't elect the pope to be president.
12:48We also caught up with MAGA Republican Congressman Jimenez.
12:52Here's what he said about Donald Trump pretending to be Jesus and attacking the pope
12:56relentlessly every single day. Let's play it.
12:59What do you make of Trump's attacks on the pope over the weekend?
13:02I have a difference of opinion.
13:05Difference of opinion? Yeah. Okay.
13:06You for the pope or you for Trump?
13:08I'm for the pope for spiritual things and I'm for the president for political things.
13:13Thank you, Congressman. Back to Congresswoman Ansari here.
13:16Here's what she had to say.
13:17Let's play it. Congresswoman, how important is it for there to be opportunities for staffers
13:22who come together or who come forward with credible allegations so that they don't get
13:26run out of town so that they can, you know, do their jobs available to
13:29them for doing the right thing?
13:30Oh, my gosh. It is so important that staffers here on Capitol Hill, but really
13:36in any workplace dynamic across the United States, have the ability to come together to
13:42report any allegations of assault or abuse or harassment and be able to feel safe
13:48and protected. I think there's long been a culture, especially in politics, you know, feeling
13:54worried about political retaliation. I think when you look at lawmakers, especially as a staffer
14:00or a very young staffer, as an intern, for example, there is a massive power
14:06imbalance and there could be a lot of fear.
14:08And so I think this has been, you know, an important reckoning moment in our
14:13country. I am so relieved to see former Congressman Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzalez gone.
14:19And I think what they did was egregious, but I also think it was an
14:23important moment for accountability. And I'm so in awe of the bravery of the women
14:27who spoke up. I, I can only imagine how much bravery that took.
14:32And then Scott McFarland from the Midas Touch Network was able to catch up with
14:36MAGA Republican Senator Cynthia Loomis from Wyoming.
14:40And even she acknowledged that, you know what, with this difficult, difficult economic climate we're
14:47in right now, lots of people in her state, they're a suffering.
14:51They're a suffering. Here, play this clip.
14:55In my state and others, we had record distributions in my county in Wyoming of
15:02Meals on Wheels records, which is an indication that more and more people are turning
15:10for food to subsidized food opportunities.
15:17So I'm worried and I admit that.
15:21But for now, I have patience.
15:23There you have it, folks.
15:24Shout out to our great team on Capitol Hill for all the great footage that
15:30they've been getting. Thanks, everybody, for watching.
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15:51We'll see you next time.