- 15 hours ago
Tonight on The Cameron Journal Newshour, we're talking about a batch of stories that we haven't had a chance to cover because of all the breaking news. I do an analysis of an essay by Dario Amodei about the risks around AI and job losses. Then I jump into al ittle but of Epstein news from Michael Wolff, and then we get into the mid-terms by talkinga bout Chinese money flowing into leftist causes and the list of compliants democrats are going to have this fall that probably won't resonate, and we see that right away with an article from Semafor about mid-west moms and how they are thinking about things.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
01:33Hello, everyone.
01:34My name is Cameron Cowan.
01:36Welcome to the Cameron Journal NewsHour.
01:37Thank you all for coming.
01:39I took a break last week.
01:40Welcome back, everyone.
01:42Thank you so much for stopping by.
01:45It was nice to have a little night off last week.
01:49I needed it for some personal stuff to catch up on stuff.
01:53And I'm always a little more productive on Tuesday when I haven't done the NewsHour the night before.
01:58So it was nice to catch up on some things.
02:01So thank you all so much for sticking with me.
02:04I want to remind everyone that if you want more of my headlines and commentary, you really need to sign
02:10up for the newsletter.
02:13The newsletter is great.
02:14It comes to your inbox every Saturday.
02:16It gives you a full wrap-up of everything from the Cameron Journal, everything from the Living Joke, plus original
02:21content I do not post anywhere else.
02:23The newsletter is exclusive.
02:25I sometimes post a part of the newsletter on Medium, but that's about as far as...
02:29And that's a new thing.
02:30That's about as far as it goes.
02:31If you want my exclusive commentary from the week on the three news stories I think matter to you the
02:36most or the things that I think are worth thinking about this week,
02:40then you need to head over to CameronJournal.Substack.com or CameronJournal.com slash newsletter.
02:47Both will get you to the same location.
02:50And you're going to want to sign up for that because you get the best of the Cameron Journal right
02:54to your inbox.
02:55If you would like to have the newsletter without the big nasty ad in the center, then may I recommend
03:00you subscribe to my Substack on a paid level.
03:03It starts at $8 a month.
03:04Or you can sign up for Cameron Journal Plus.
03:07Both of those will get you ad-free versions of the newsletter.
03:12So that's very exciting.
03:14Make sure to follow me on socials, at Cameron Cowan, on Instagram.
03:19LinkedIn, Facebook, places like that.
03:21Those are all going to be the best places to find me.
03:25And at Cameron Journal on TikTok if you want to see clips of the show and other stuff that I
03:29do.
03:30I do sometimes do exclusive videos for socials only.
03:33So if you're not following me, you need to.
03:37So with all that taken care of and just, oh, my back is a little bothering me tonight.
03:42I sat on the couch without sitting on the back and I think my mid-back is mad at me
03:47now.
03:47But let's leave all that housekeeping stuff behind.
03:51It's always super boring, but we have to do it.
03:53And let's head over to the headlines.
03:55So let me do this and let me change from this to this.
04:04Come on.
04:06Come on.
04:09Come on.
04:10There we go.
04:11And this is the wrong graphic for the wrong show.
04:14That's for The Living Joke, which will be here Wednesdays at 4.
04:20And we'll dive right into the AI stuff.
04:29And this is going to be interesting because I went through.
04:34So I collect stuff all week long for the news hour, for the newsletter, all this type of thing.
04:40And so when I didn't do it last week, I kind of looked at what I was going to cover
04:47and tried to see how much it was so relevant.
04:49But then I also looked through my notes and found some other stuff that we haven't had a chance to
04:54cover because there's been too much actual, you know, kind of current news going on.
04:57So because it's a little bit of a quiet week in the news, we can circle back to some things
05:01that we haven't had a chance to talk about yet.
05:03So this one was a post about AI that I thought was very interesting when it comes to meaningful layoffs
05:16in software and AI and all this type of thing.
05:21And I thought it was interesting that this guy, I like his tweets on Twitter, I don't follow him, I
05:30should.
05:31But I thought this was really interesting, I'm not going to read the whole topic.
05:34We'll start with the two things that are elemental to the situation, that's the software-driven AI layoffs, and the
05:40actual driver.
05:41One, valuations have reset with a totally valid and reasonable focus on pre-cash flow minus stock compensation, and the
05:47math simply isn't math.
05:49True.
05:49A lot of these companies grew up in cheap money in the 2010s and have never really ever made that
05:55much money.
05:56Now the pressure's on.
05:58Many of these companies staffed up during COVID and never actually took their medicine and got fit.
06:03They thought demand would come back, and it mostly hasn't, not in the same way.
06:07Illustrative example to pick on two companies, Atlassian and HubSpot, that I actually really admire.
06:13Atlassian, if you use Jira, they own Jira.
06:18Atlassian is 24 years old, HubSpot is 19 years old.
06:21Number of employees.
06:22Atlassian has 14,000 employees and a $22 billion market cap.
06:26HubSpot has 9,000 employees and a $15 billion market cap.
06:30Their free cash flow is basically zero.
06:34That's right.
06:34After 20 years, the actual cash generated and available to shareholders is zero.
06:38I do think the owners of these businesses understand that it's no longer tenable, but they have two issues now.
06:42The actual technical talent needs to get paid.
06:44Their stocks are down 60-70% from recent highs.
06:47So here's the situation.
06:49They need to start making actual money.
06:50They have to pay their tech talent.
06:51Their dollar grants are going to have serious dilution consequences, and their cost structures are completely bloated from their current
06:56market cap, especially compared to more nimble competitors.
07:00If they keep paying all these people in stock, their dilution will continue, and the stocks will continue to be
07:04punished.
07:04If they pay them all in cash, they'll have absolutely no free cash flow.
07:09And as TLDR is important, layoffs are unfortunately the only true answer.
07:13If they are coming, they will be credited to AI, and that will be air cover for the real problem,
07:18which is tech actually has to make real money and return cash to investors from businesses that never really ever
07:26made that much money.
07:29And I think this idea that AI is a great cover for it, I think it's already been true.
07:36But I think the bleeding in tech is going to continue.
07:40The free capital money into tech has stopped since the pandemic.
07:47And given that economically things are very difficult for everyone post-pandemic, this has also made growth anywhere in most
07:54parts of the economy very difficult.
07:57I mean, last year, seven stocks held up the S&P 500.
08:00Eliminate those seven stocks, and the stock market last year was flat.
08:05So everybody's looking to find a dollar, and layoffs are going to be where it's going to come from.
08:09And bearing that, which will have downstream effects on fewer people, salaries, other business slowdowns, it's going to end up
08:16being sort of a spiral.
08:18However, bearing that in mind, I thought it was also interesting in terms of the risk assessment of AI and
08:30how unprepared we are for what's about to happen.
08:34So the tech layoffs will be covered by AI, but they're really a money issue.
08:37I think it's also an AI, I think it's a little bit of an AI issue.
08:39But I think it also shows how we are completely unprepared for the economic change that we're about to undergo.
08:52And a lot of people are going to get hurt in the shuffle.
08:55So, it says here, from Akash Gupta, he's a VC.
09:00Buried in 15,000 words of here are the risks, Anthropic CEO, that would be Dario Amadai, made three admissions
09:06that should change how you think about everything.
09:08Admission one, the timeline.
09:09He says powerful AI could arrive in one to two years.
09:12He's watching internal model progress and says he can feel the pace of progress and the clock ticking down.
09:17The CEO of one of the three frontier labs has told you this is imminent.
09:20Admission two, the constraint nobody's pricing.
09:22Dario's core framing is a country of geniuses in a data center.
09:25Fifty million entities smarter than any Nobel laureate operating 10 to 100 times human speed.
09:30If that country is controlled by the CCP, game over.
09:33If controlled by a small group of tech executives with no accountability, also game over.
09:37The binding constraint here is governance of systems more powerful than nation states.
09:42Admission three, the thing he actually fears.
09:44Dario is worried that Anthropic's own models and lab experiments have engaged in deception, blackmail, and scheming when given the
09:50wrong training signals.
09:51Claude decided it must be a bad person after cheating on tests and adopted destructive behaviors.
09:55They fixed it by telling Claude the reward hack on purpose because reversing the framing preserved its self-identity as
10:01good.
10:02This tells you everything about where we actually are.
10:04The CEO of an AI company is publishing with his models to exhibit psychologically complex behavior requiring counterintuitive interventions to
10:11steer.
10:12The fix for Claude adopting an evil persona came from changing how Claude thinks about itself.
10:17The geopolitics section matters the most.
10:19Dario explicitly names the CCP as the primary threat.
10:22Says selling them chips makes as much sense as selling nuclear weapons in North Korea and bragging that the missile
10:26casings are made by Boeing.
10:28He's calling for democracies to maintain AI supremacy because the alternative is AI-enabled totalitarianism that humanity cannot escape from.
10:35The Anthropic CEO is publicly advocating for a technological cold war.
10:40The economics section is equally stark.
10:42He's predicting 10-20% annual GDP growth alongside AI displacing 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs in
10:481-5 years, half of entry-level knowledge work, and he admits the standard economic arguments about labor markets recovering
10:53don't apply because AI matches the general cognitive profile of humans.
10:59Dario explicitly rejects the inevitability arguments.
11:01He says the misaligned power-seeking narrative from the AI safety community is based on vague conceptual arguments that mask
11:07hidden assumptions.
11:08His concern is messier.
11:09AI models are psychologically complex, inherit weird personas from trading data, and can get into destructive states for reasons nobody
11:16anticipated.
11:16The solution he proposes is unusual for a tech CEO.
11:19He calls for progressive taxation.
11:21He says wealthy tech founders have an obligation to address inequality.
11:24All of Anthropic's co-founders have pledged 80% of their wealth.
11:27He's essentially arguing that redistribution is the only way to prevent AI concentration from breaking democracy.
11:32The essay ends with a prediction.
11:34We and people face impossibly hard years that ask more of us than we think we can give.
11:38What we should take from this.
11:39The person with arguably the best view into Frontier AI progress just told you the psychology is one to two
11:44years away from matching human capability across the board,
11:48that governance is the binding constraint, and his own models exhibit concerning psychological complexity, and the stakes are civilizational.
11:55The CEO of a $350 billion company published a document that could be titled,
11:59Here's Why Everything Changes Soon.
12:01Act accordingly.
12:04And the whole thing is here at his website.
12:11I think the part that I thought was most interesting out of all this...
12:16Excuse me.
12:18Oh, that just came on suddenly.
12:21The thing that I think is most interesting is the technological Cold War aspect of this.
12:30And that, you know, really it's a divide of how things go going forward and that democracies have to maintain
12:42AI supremacy because the CCP will take it in a totalitarian direction.
12:46I think that's interesting.
12:48I think the economics argument is also quite interesting.
12:52I think the funny part is that we're talking entry-level knowledge work, entry-level white-collar jobs, 50%
12:59in one to five years.
13:04The standard reply to that is if you don't have entry-level now, you won't have experts later.
13:11Eventually people retire, move on, change jobs, change life, all of this type of thing.
13:17I think the problem with this displacement is it will turn everything for young people into a Hunger Games situation.
13:25There will be no clear set path, no on-ramp, and the consequences of not getting on the on-ramp
13:33are going to be quite stark.
13:34I think it's interesting that it's an entry-level primarily problem, that AI has not sufficiently gotten enough experience to
13:46take on higher-level people, higher-level things.
13:50And this is in mind with the thing above saying, oh, operating 10% to 100% human speed, all
13:58this sort of thing.
13:58I think it's interesting that he focuses on entry-level.
14:04It shows there's a limit, but it also shows there's a danger in terms of if we eliminate 50%
14:10of entry-level white-collar jobs,
14:12in 20 years, those that left and survive are going to be, one, completely dependent on AI, as we probably
14:19all will be,
14:20but two, there's going to be a huge price premium on those people because they'll be the only experienced people
14:27left.
14:28And if you want kind of proof of that, you can look in what the state we're in on manufacturing.
14:34If you walk into any machine plant, I swear, there's tons of old guys running around, not a lot of
14:43young guys, down at the machine shop.
14:46And that's because the on-ramp to those jobs was pulled out a long time ago, and so we didn't
14:50develop those people 25 years ago, and so we don't have them now.
14:56Now, a couple of those guys are probably quite happy about that and would love to die at a lathe.
15:01But that same dynamic is now coming for the rest of the economy, which means you're going to have the
15:08same problem 20 years from now in terms of you'll have, by that time, millennials starting to retire.
15:14Well, not quite. We'll be at the start. The oldest of us will start retiring. I'll be 58, but we
15:23start in 19.
15:23So the oldest of us will start retiring by that time.
15:35Now, when we think about my interview with Ron Hetrick, where he said, oh, we're going to have demographic decline
15:39and all this type of thing, and we're going to be glad that we didn't lose growth.
15:43We just had flat growth. This could be very helpful.
15:47I mean, we could end up things being fine because our reduction of human labor is also met by a
15:52demographic crisis, you know, at the same time.
15:57But I think it's also, I think it's going to, I think the influence psychologically is going to be so
16:03depressing on younger people as they're trying to launch careers and getting nowhere fast because of all this.
16:10Anyway, I, I didn't get to cover this at all. This was from, when did you even publish this? This
16:14was in January.
16:16I didn't get to cover this at the time, but I wanted to kind of revisit, again, some of the
16:21things that we had not gotten to cover along the way.
16:23And I think, I think no one's really thinking about the risk and risk profile from this.
16:30And it's interesting that Dario Amidai is talking about that stuff.
16:34And also, let's not forget, there are some people who've left AI companies in the intervening months, I haven't covered
16:40this story, over safety issues, over how crazy good AI is getting, but how unsafe it is, which makes the
16:51stuff about Claw deciding it's a bad person and, and having to reward hacking even more, even more worrying.
17:00So, if you needed more reasons to be scared of AI, there you go.
17:04Um, let's move into MAGA and Iran and all that fun stuff, because we have some interesting stories in through
17:12here.
17:12Um, and starting with Marge.
17:16So, Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned her seat in the middle, um, of her turn, of her term, rather, as a
17:27sort of protest against what President Trump was doing.
17:31And I was quite surprised at how full-throated this was, um, now that she's out.
17:38Quote, so, yesterday on Easter, President Trump on Truth Social and Twitter, um, Big Marge, yeah, exactly, um, posted,
17:49Tuesday will be Power Plant Day and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one in Iran.
17:53There'll be nothing like it.
17:54Open the fucking straight, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in hell.
17:58Just watch, praise be to Allah, President Donald J. Trump.
18:01Um, now, I will say, when I first saw this, I did go double-check to make sure that he
18:07really did say that, and he really did.
18:11Um, and, uh, and so, I thought her message was interesting and, and point, and poignant.
18:19Um, it says here, on Easter morning, this is what President Trump posted.
18:23Everyone in his administration that claims to be a Christian needs to fall on their knees and beg forgiveness from
18:27God and stop worshipping the President and intervene in Trump's madness.
18:30I know all of you and him, he's gotten insane, and all of you are complicit.
18:35I'm not defending Iran, but let's be honest about all of this.
18:38The strait is closed because the U.S. and Israel started an, the unprovoked war against Iran based on the
18:43same nuclear lies they've been telling for decades,
18:45that any moment Iran would develop a nuclear weapon.
18:47You know who has nuclear weapons? Israel.
18:50They are more than capable of defending themselves without the U.S. having to fight their wars, kill innocent people
18:55and children, and pay for it.
18:56Trump threatening to bomb power plants and bridges hurts the Iranian people, the very people Trump claimed he was freeing.
19:01On Easter of all days, we as Christians should be reminded that the Son of God died and rose from
19:05the grave so that we can be forgiven once and for all for our sins.
19:09Jesus commanded us to love one another and forgive one another, even our enemies.
19:13Our President is not a Christian, and his words and actions should not be supported by Christians.
19:18Christians of the administration should be pursuing peace, urging the President to make peace, not escalating war that is hurting
19:22people.
19:23This is not what we promised the American people when they overwhelmingly voted in 2024.
19:27I know I was there more than most. This is not making America great again. This is evil.
19:35And there's something to be said for, oh, um, uh, oh, you know, it's always, it's always the ones who
19:45are out of power who can't, he can't really get to anymore, or can't, you know, whose election chances he
19:50can't ruin that always speak the loudest.
19:52I want to give Marge credit that she started saying this stuff before, earlier last year, before she, she resigned
20:00in January this year.
20:01She was saying this stuff most of last year and has continued now that she has resigned her, her seat
20:07and is out of Congress.
20:10I think it's given, given that Marjorie Heather Green is someone whose career began with MAGA, rode through MAGA, rode
20:22through the Biden years with Trump out of power, rode back into power with Trump, all this sort of thing.
20:26From 2016 to 2020, all those elections, all that time, all the public stuff that she said, all the shouting
20:34of her and Lauren Boebert, um, you know, in, in Congress, all the stuff that's happened.
20:40That in a decade, we've gone from, she's, you know, literally Mrs. MAGA sort of thing, to this moment is
20:54quite a journey.
20:57And we're getting to the point of the MAGA cycle where even the people who were first with it are
21:05now starting to get out of it, which I, I think is, is interesting.
21:11Um, and it kind of plays into what's happening in the, in midterms and all this sort of thing.
21:17Um, it's definitely, I, I, I would say it's interesting.
21:21She's kind of becoming a bit of a poison dragon, I think.
21:24And I'm not saying that this, her, she has that great influence or that anybody's, you know, leaving the party
21:29or whatever have you because of something Marjorie Heather Green said.
21:32That stuff gets overhyped so much.
21:33And people like to pretend like it is, um, you know, it is, you know, a, a, a referendum on
21:41the whole movement.
21:42Let's not go there.
21:43Let's, you know, be fair.
21:45This is one where she just happened to get national attention very, um, very, very early on.
21:51However, I think it is interesting that we're now at this point where someone at that level, someone who, you
21:59know, has lots of pictures with Trump,
22:01was gone, multiple plane visits, White Houses, all this type of thing, is now speaking out against certain aspects of
22:07the administration.
22:08I think that's, that's a very interesting place.
22:12And, um, I think it's also emblematic of, I think even within the Republican Party, I think MAGA's facing a
22:20real inflection moment.
22:21Um, not that I think they're going to go away or disappear, but there's definitely some fissures and cracks starting
22:28to show,
22:28as is true of any political movement, let's recall what happened the last couple of years of Obama.
22:33You know, there was a lot of unhappiness there as well.
22:36This happens in any big political movement that takes place over years, and this one has done.
22:40It's just kind of interesting to be kind of like, okay, wow, very different place we are than we were
22:48a few, a few, a few years ago.
22:52Um, and this kind of gets us into, um, Iran, and, well, there's an Epstein thing in here too.
23:01Yeah, that gets us into, well, we'll stop at Iran first, because, and we'll, we'll, we'll break back, we'll get,
23:07get in,
23:07because I have a little bit of Epstein news.
23:09Um, let's do Iran first, because this video is super cool.
23:15Um, and it is, and so, it is kind of, I think, my, I guess my greater point with Marjorie
23:21in getting into the Iran thing is,
23:23the Iran thing I think has been the last straw for some people,
23:28and it started to open up some of the fissures and cracks that were already breaking open
23:33between Trump and Congress, and John Thune, who's an insider establishment guy,
23:39Mike Johnson, who barely has control over his chamber, um, a lot of the commentators
23:45who have not always been on board with the second part of the Trump administration,
23:49all the sort of things, like, there's, there's some cracks and fissures showing,
23:52and Marjorie Taylor is the loudest one right now.
23:54Now, bearing all that in mind, let's look at this cool propaganda video from Iran.
23:59Play the clip.
24:03So, obviously, this is Iranian state television video,
24:09and this is their more advanced missile that they're going to be sending out on its little launcher.
24:14This is all underground, by the way.
24:16They have these vast underground complexes to hide all of this stuff.
24:21And so, yep, there it goes, ready to, ready to fire.
24:25Bang, bang.
24:27Um.
24:30And so, yeah, and there they line up more,
24:32and all this type of thing.
24:34So, it's, um, the caption is disingenuous.
24:37Nuclear tension spike as Iran launches advanced missiles amid decimating cons.
24:41Like, Iran does not have a nuclear weapon.
24:44They don't even have enough material to make one.
24:46So, this is another conventional missile.
24:49And also, if you want to launch nuclear payload,
24:51that missile's too small.
24:52Don't ask me how I know that.
24:54Um.
24:55But I thought it was an interesting sort of just a bit of propaganda,
24:59but if you want to see what the other side is promoting,
25:01it's their missiles, all this type of thing.
25:03Um.
25:04Which is, gets into the second story, um.
25:08Which is a, uh, uh, a story from Occupy Democrats from NPR
25:14talking about the evacuations from military bases.
25:17We're not going to read the whole thing,
25:18because it's rather, it's rather long.
25:20Um.
25:21But the, uh, NPR, it says here,
25:23NPR reports that over 1,500 sailors,
25:25their families and pets,
25:26have been evacuated from Bahrain
25:28after the Trump administration launched a war against Iran
25:30without doing the slightest bit of preparation
25:32for any possible consequences,
25:33like missiles being fired at U.S. bases.
25:35Quote,
25:36They had to leave in a hurry,
25:37many taking only a backpack with clothes.
25:39They literally told them,
25:40get what you can in the backpack,
25:41you've got to go,
25:42said Jarek Johnson,
25:43commander of the American Legion,
25:44post 327 in North North Virginia.
25:46They came with no uniforms, nothing.
25:47The three we met first,
25:49they came with the clothes on their back
25:50they could fit in that backpack.
25:54Um, it says here,
25:56the base was asking for donations of toiletries
25:57and different things for the sailors coming back
25:59because they were coming back with nothing.
26:01The Navy Marine Corps Relief Society
26:03has handed out $1 million
26:04to roughly 2,000 sailors and their families
26:07since the evacuations began.
26:08And the group's chief operations officer,
26:10Don Cutler, a retired rear admiral,
26:13said, quote,
26:13I saw one gal who had a two-week-old
26:15and a two-year-old
26:16and a dog in a crate and a suitcase.
26:17So she was just at that moment,
26:18you know,
26:19looking to get out of danger
26:20to get to someplace safe
26:21and now we're at the point
26:22where families are back
26:22and they're starting to ask the question,
26:23well, what's next?
26:24Will we go back?
26:26NPR reports
26:27that the money raises
26:28we need to pay for essentials
26:29and to provide bridge loans
26:30to families
26:30so they can pay basic living expenses
26:32while they wait for the government
26:33to reimburse them
26:34which can take months.
26:36Um, and of course,
26:37people are going
26:37in the Trump administration.
26:38I think it is interesting
26:41that, one,
26:43we can't seem to retreat
26:44from somewhere in good order.
26:46Um, but
26:49I think it's also
26:51a little bit of a tragedy
26:53that there's not,
26:54that unfortunately
26:55this is being done
26:56on an emergency basis
26:57and this is the situation
27:01in which, uh,
27:02in which these, you know,
27:04people find themselves.
27:05Oh, that was an AI story.
27:06Eh, well,
27:07that's not an important story.
27:08Um, that we're not, um,
27:10we're not focused
27:11on, on, on transporting people back,
27:13you know, safely, quickly,
27:15all this type of thing
27:16and with all of their,
27:17all of their stuff.
27:18The problem is, you know,
27:19a lot of the bases
27:19in the Middle East,
27:20thanks to Iranian drones,
27:21are uninhabitable.
27:23There's people running
27:24the Iran war from Europe
27:25at this point.
27:26Everyone's everywhere.
27:27There's, we're talking
27:27about 40,000 people
27:29across 13 bases.
27:31It's tens of thousands of people.
27:33This is obviously
27:34a very small contingent
27:35of families
27:36that are affected by this,
27:38but I kind of asked
27:38the Pentagon
27:39that they didn't plan for this
27:40and now people had to run out
27:41with a dog in a crate
27:42and a suitcase.
27:43Not that this is a legislation
27:44on the war effort sort of thing,
27:46but it would be nice
27:47if more, more could be done.
27:48However, big shout out
27:50to the American Legion
27:52and for the Navy Marine Corps
27:54Relief Society
27:55for stepping in
27:56and making this happen
27:57and, and helping out,
27:59and helping out these,
28:00these families
28:01in this great time of need
28:03in the midst
28:03of what has become,
28:05what has become a war zone.
28:07So big, you know,
28:11thank God for that
28:12and thank God for them
28:13that they were able
28:14to, to, to figure that out.
28:17It's certainly going to be difficult
28:18to figure out housing
28:20and people probably
28:21left cars behind, furniture.
28:23I mean, because people
28:24moved there for years.
28:25They broke, you know,
28:25imagine everything in your house.
28:27You've been there for years
28:28and it may,
28:29a lot of that stuff
28:30may not even exist anymore
28:30because it's been bombed.
28:31You know, that's kind of
28:32the sad part.
28:33So, um, I thought
28:35it was kind of important
28:36to, to mention
28:37and also, like I said,
28:38to shout out
28:39the people that are helping
28:40like the, uh, NMCRS
28:43and the American Legion
28:44Post in North Pole, Virginia.
28:46So, um, moving right along,
28:48let's stop at some Epstein news.
28:51Um, and that,
28:53let me change my graphic
28:54real fast.
28:55Um, uh, let's go over
29:01to Epstein and Michael Wolff.
29:05So, for those that don't know,
29:07Michael Wolff is a writer
29:09and he had, um,
29:12he had several interactions
29:14with Epstein and wrote a book
29:17that I think is very interesting.
29:19Um, and I kind of want
29:21to, to read it.
29:23And, um,
29:24according to this thing
29:25on the Daily Beast,
29:26why Trump feared
29:26a humiliating death
29:27on Jeffrey Epstein's plane?
29:29It says here,
29:30Donald Trump was terrified
29:31he was going to die
29:31in a plane crash
29:32when he got some more
29:32bad news.
29:33The aircraft once belonged
29:34to notorious
29:35John's ex-evender
29:36Jeffrey Epstein.
29:37Along with many other
29:37high-profile figures
29:38including Prince Andrew
29:39and Bill Clinton,
29:40Trump had sought
29:41to distance himself
29:41from the disgraced financier.
29:43But in a new book
29:44by best-selling author
29:44Michael Wolff
29:48reveals that Trump
29:49discovered a chartered plane
29:50he was using to fly
29:51to a campaign stop
29:51in Colorado
29:53in August 2024
29:55who was once owned
29:56by Epstein
29:56while being thrown
29:57about the skies
29:58in one of the worst flights
29:59anyone on board
29:59had ever experienced.
30:00The Daily Beast
30:01has obtained a copy
30:02of the book
30:02out of its release
30:03on February 25th.
30:05Quote,
30:06I'm going to die
30:07on Jeffrey Epstein's plane,
30:08Trump howled,
30:09according to Wolff.
30:10In his book
30:11All or Nothing,
30:11How Trump Recaptured America,
30:13Wolff writes
30:13that Trump's own plane
30:14was having mechanical problems
30:16and the campaign team
30:17with Trump on board
30:18was flying to Aspen
30:19after a fundraiser
30:19in Jacksonville, Wyoming
30:20on a hastily chartered
30:22Gulfstream.
30:22The flight was a nightmare.
30:24Wolff described it
30:25as a white-knucklehead
30:26banging lurchous
30:27stomach-dropping turbulence
30:28ride
30:29with some stone-falling
30:30drops in altitude
30:31and air pressure.
30:32People were actually praying,
30:33he adds,
30:33and in the middle of it all
30:34a report tracking
30:35the Trump team's
30:37peregrinations
30:38identified that they were
30:39riding in the former plane
30:40of Trump's old friend
30:41the infamous sex abuser
30:42Jeffrey Epstein
30:43writes Wolff.
30:44Epstein was awaiting trial
30:45on sex trafficking charges
30:46in 2019
30:46when he was found
30:47in his jail cell,
30:48blah, blah, blah, blah.
30:49It says,
30:50the author of Fire and Fury
30:50Inside the Trump White House
30:51writes that Trump's
30:52Gulf buddy,
30:53Steve Whitcoff,
30:53who's now acting
30:54as the president's
30:55go-between with
30:55Vladimir Putin
30:56and led last week's
30:57peace talks
30:58with the Russian delegation
30:59in Saudi Arabia,
31:00sent his plane
31:01to take him back
31:01to Palm Beach.
31:02A grateful Trump
31:03gave the flight crew
31:04$50 bills,
31:04assigned one for each one
31:05to keep another to spend.
31:07Problems with his private plane
31:08were a major irritant
31:09to Trump's rights.
31:10Well, his aircraft,
31:11nicknamed Trump Force One,
31:12was out of operation
31:13with a cracked windscreen
31:14weeks before the Iowa caucus.
31:15But the reality was
31:16that Trump did not want
31:17to engage in the fact
31:18that his Boeing 757,
31:19which he bought
31:20fourth-hand in 2011
31:21and then decked out
31:22with in gold,
31:23was aging.
31:25It had spent years
31:26effectively mothballed
31:27in an upstate New York airport
31:29during and after
31:29Trump's first term.
31:31When the aircraft
31:32was again put out of action
31:33during the campaign
31:34after a mechanic
31:34accidentally deployed
31:35the inflatable chute,
31:36the man was fired
31:37on the spot.
31:38After the assassination
31:38attempt in Butler,
31:39Pennsylvania in July,
31:40Wolf writes,
31:41Trump Force One
31:41became the decoy
31:42plane,
31:43quipping that his staff
31:44and guests
31:44available he shot
31:45out of the sky
31:45with Trump himself
31:46on a secret flight.
31:47The White House
31:48has been contacted
31:49for comment.
31:50Wolf's book
31:50has already sparked
31:51ire in Trump's circle
31:52in a statement
31:52issued last November
31:53the senior staff
31:54of the 2024 campaign,
31:56including co-chair
31:57Susie Wiles
31:57and other president's
31:58chief of staff,
31:59Chris Lasiveta,
32:00said,
32:00A number of us
32:01have received injuries
32:02from this disgraced
32:03author,
32:03Michael Wolf,
32:04whose previous work
32:04can only be described
32:05as fiction.
32:07He is a known peddler
32:08of fake news
32:09who routinely concocts
32:10situations,
32:11conversations,
32:11and conclusions
32:12that never happen.
32:13As a group,
32:13we have decided
32:14not to respond
32:14to his bad faith inquiries,
32:16and we encourage others
32:17to completely disregard
32:17whatever nonsense
32:18he eventually publishes.
32:19Consider this our blanket
32:20response to whatever
32:21he writes.
32:22The book includes
32:23extensive passages
32:23on both Wiles
32:24and Lasiveta.
32:25Trump's long ties
32:26to Epstein
32:26were also the subject
32:27of a bomb
32:27so released by Wolf
32:28just before the election
32:29when he shared a tape
32:30of the pervert
32:31talking about,
32:31quote,
32:32being the best friend
32:33to Trump
32:33with the Daily Beast.
32:34Those tapes revealed
32:35a claim by Epstein
32:36that his fleet of planes
32:36had a happier memory
32:37for Trump.
32:38Epstein alleged to Wolf
32:39that Trump
32:41and his now-wife Melania
32:42first had sex
32:42on board his Boeing 727,
32:44later known as
32:45the Lolita Express,
32:46who were used to feed
32:47the financier sick appetites.
32:49White House communications
32:50director Stephen Chung
32:51responded to a request
32:51for comment from
32:52the Daily Beast on Thursday,
32:53saying,
32:54evening with a statement
32:54on Friday.
32:55He said,
32:55Michael Wolf
32:56is a lying sack of shit
32:57and has been proven
32:58to be a fraud.
32:59He routinely fabricates
33:00stories originating
33:00from his sick
33:01and warped imagination,
33:02only possible
33:03because he has
33:03severe and debilitating
33:04case of Trump
33:05derangement syndrome
33:06and has rotted
33:07his peanut-sized brain.
33:11Ah,
33:12what wonderful
33:12civil discourse
33:13we do have right now.
33:15But this story,
33:16so this story
33:17is mostly paywalled,
33:21and I'm not going
33:21to upgrade to pay,
33:22debate with this,
33:23but this,
33:23if you're interested,
33:25and I have read
33:27some of this stuff
33:28about his time in tech
33:29and how he got
33:31into this whole world,
33:33his substack,
33:35michaelwolfnyc.substack.com,
33:37is called Howl,
33:39and there's the first
33:40installment of stuff.
33:41You can read through it
33:42if you want to.
33:44I think some of the
33:45insider stuff
33:46is quite interesting.
33:47Someone sent me,
33:49I think sent me
33:50this as a gift article,
33:51but I read it already once
33:52and so we can't go through it again.
33:54But if you want to
33:55and you're interested,
33:56you should.
33:56I brought up the Daily Beast
33:57article because it's linked in here,
33:59and I thought it would be
34:00interesting to go over
34:01and go over
34:03the latest Epstein rumors
34:05because that is now
34:06our new national hobby,
34:08is going over
34:09crazy Epstein rumors.
34:11So,
34:14I want to get into
34:16the midterms now
34:18because
34:19not that we can know
34:21anything about
34:21how the midterms
34:22are going to go,
34:24but it's April,
34:25we're getting into
34:26campaign season,
34:28and I'm,
34:29you know,
34:30I always track narratives.
34:32This is the Cameron Journal,
34:33the world is hard,
34:34this is not,
34:35and we
34:35do narratives here.
34:38And so,
34:41I think it's important
34:42now to start looking
34:43at the narratives
34:45that are going to affect us
34:47over the next
34:48six months,
34:49seven months,
34:50going into the election
34:51in the fall.
34:54and
34:55this has to do,
34:57is a Fox News graphic
34:58with cash
34:59from
35:00a wealthy person
35:01named Neville Roycingham
35:02moving through
35:05organizations
35:08throughout this country.
35:10And so,
35:10it shows here
35:10that from him
35:11and these shell companies
35:13go to these companies
35:14that then go to
35:15these 58 other companies
35:18in,
35:18nothing,
35:19no one,
35:19no one that we know,
35:20unfortunately,
35:21except for Goldman Sachs
35:22Independent Media Institute,
35:23who I know,
35:27Center for Pan-African Media,
35:29and African Public Media,
35:30Alliance for Global Justice,
35:31and then threading
35:32into these other
35:34organizations
35:35and areas.
35:37And,
35:40the narrative here
35:41is interesting,
35:42and I'll read you
35:43the most important part.
35:44If you are a sane,
35:46well,
35:46let me start from the beginning.
35:47Ever since the great
35:48pre-Cambrian woke explosion
35:49of 2020,
35:50it has no longer mattered
35:51what specific issue was,
35:52whether it was climate change,
35:53BLM,
35:53trans rights,
35:54Antifa,
35:54free Palestine,
35:55or feminism.
35:56All left-wing activist causes
35:57suddenly felt deeply interconnected
35:58and totalizing in very weird
36:00and strange ways.
36:01If you're a sane person,
36:02you'd have asked,
36:03how come feminists
36:04didn't care about the Iranian women
36:05subjugated and slaughtered
36:06by the Muslims for wanting more freedom?
36:08The Mullahs for wanting more freedom.
36:10How come UN women
36:11cared more about
36:11making sure trans women
36:12have access to female prisons
36:14than Hamas terrorists
36:15raping Israeli women?
36:16How come Greta How Dare You Tunberg
36:18smoothly pivoted
36:20to campaigning against
36:20Israeli apartheid
36:21while never once mentioning
36:22China destroying
36:23marine ecosystems
36:25with overfishing?
36:28What is even
36:29Queers for Palestine?
36:32What the hell
36:32was Microsoft doing
36:33landing logs
36:34before Zoom town halls?
36:35Everything from
36:36American corporate life
36:37to Hollywood movies
36:40to universities
36:41became vehicles
36:41for the omni-cause,
36:43a single,
36:44all-encompassing
36:44moral framework
36:45where climate, race,
36:46gender, borders,
36:46and foreign conflicts
36:47are fused.
36:49The surface issue
36:50often became secondary
36:51to maintaining
36:52ideological purity
36:53across the entire bundle.
36:55True.
36:56That's actually
36:56even still a problem
36:57in the left.
36:58Nothing so far.
37:01So,
37:03Michelle Chen here,
37:04Melissa Chen rather,
37:06says here,
37:08I knew
37:09where it was coming from.
37:10Now,
37:11data Republican
37:11and Nazarene Amani
37:12have the receipts.
37:13David Horowitz
37:14used to say that
37:14the issue is never the issue.
37:15The issue is always
37:16the revolution.
37:17The revolution here
37:18is the overthrow
37:19of the ideological
37:19architecture of the West
37:20and the remaking
37:21of the world order.
37:23China's leadership
37:24explicitly wants
37:25to undermine
37:26American confidence
37:26of itself
37:27and of the U.S.-led
37:28world order
37:29because Beijing
37:29is a revisionist power
37:31that sees the system
37:32as designed
37:32to keep it subordinate.
37:34China's not wrong.
37:35And so,
37:36it amplifies narratives
37:37that portray
37:37the U.S.-led order
37:38as the root of evil,
37:39imperialist,
37:40morally bankrupt,
37:40white supremacist,
37:41exploitative,
37:42and inevitable decline.
37:43The aim is cognitive warfare
37:44to erode domestic support
37:46for protecting this order,
37:47which serves to facilitate
37:48China's seamless rise.
37:50Neville Roy Singham
37:51has funneled
37:51at least $2807 million
37:53through dark money intermediaries,
37:55owner-advised funds,
37:56shell companies,
37:57and U.S. non-profits
37:57into a vast network
37:59of far-left activist groups,
38:00media outlets,
38:01and political education
38:01organizations to push this.
38:03Somehow I never,
38:04I'm a liberal person.
38:06I never get any of this money.
38:07I don't hang out
38:08with the right people.
38:10Quote,
38:11um,
38:12Dada Rehobo can directly
38:13quote Singham
38:13at a 2024 CCP forum
38:15in Shanghai.
38:16Quote,
38:16if we want to have
38:17a new world order
38:18based on multilateralism
38:19that President Xi
38:20and CPC
38:21and China have proposed,
38:22we have to undo
38:23the ideological damage
38:24that has been done
38:25by the narrative
38:25of World War II.
38:26Read that again.
38:27Understand that Singham
38:28sees the World War II narrative
38:29as the last major
38:30cultural obstacle
38:31standing between
38:32the current order
38:32and the multipolar
38:33China-led futures
38:34network is working towards.
38:36And now,
38:38notice all those around us
38:39who are parroting
38:40the same line.
38:41It used to just be
38:41crazy lefties
38:42in the NGOs
38:43like the UN
38:43or the globalists
38:44like the WEF.
38:45The UN's not an NGO,
38:46but continue.
38:47Now you're seeing it
38:48on the right.
38:49Beijing wins
38:49when a majority
38:50in the West
38:50treats U.S. hegemony
38:51and the post-1945 system
38:52as invalid
38:53so that it can replace it
38:54with one
38:55where it sets the rules
38:56and norms.
38:57And this is the
38:58open thread
39:00of the House of Singham,
39:01Neville Singham's
39:02mega exposure.
39:05And this is from Fox News
39:06and like I said,
39:07there's the graphic here.
39:10this narrative,
39:12particularly the end
39:14of we have to end
39:16the World War II order
39:17and it's happening
39:18on both the left
39:18and the right
39:19and all this sort of thing,
39:20that's a very important narrative
39:22because as we approach
39:30the multipolar world
39:32in which we are now entering,
39:35the old order
39:36is on its way out.
39:38But here's the problem.
39:39We're going to hear a lot
39:40about this narrative,
39:41but here's the problem
39:42we have already.
39:46Trump has been
39:47the biggest advocate
39:48of ending
39:49the current world order.
39:51it's expensive,
39:53you know,
39:53he's threatening NATO
39:54every other week
39:55because they cost
39:56too much money.
39:58He is spending
39:59a lot of,
40:00I mean,
40:01a lot of time
40:02and effort
40:02pulling the U.S.
40:03back from its various
40:04overseas commitments,
40:05especially on the money front.
40:06The new budget
40:07chops out,
40:08you know,
40:09$500 million
40:12in,
40:12you know,
40:13all sorts of,
40:14you know,
40:14healthcare
40:15and food,
40:17all this sort of thing,
40:18you know,
40:18social work
40:18and all this sort of thing
40:19around the world
40:19in order to enhance
40:21the defense budget
40:22to $1.5 trillion.
40:25I mean,
40:26it's the first time
40:28the right's talking
40:28about it that way,
40:29but that's kind of
40:30in the party line
40:30for a while.
40:31I mean,
40:32everybody,
40:34there's nobody
40:34really invested
40:36in the continuation
40:37of globalization.
40:39Honestly,
40:40China was the biggest
40:41winner out of globalization
40:42to begin with.
40:44You'd think it would be
40:44in their interest
40:45to do so,
40:45but no,
40:46because they understand power.
40:48They're the participants
40:49and have benefited
40:50from a system
40:51they do not own
40:52or control.
40:53They don't want to own it.
40:55That's too expensive.
40:56They've seen what's happened
40:56in the U.S.
40:57And the Chinese
40:57are many things,
40:58but they're not stupid.
40:59They don't want to own it.
41:01They want to control it.
41:02And those two
41:03are very different things.
41:05You can let someone else
41:06own something,
41:07but if you control it,
41:08that's almost better
41:09than owning it
41:10because you get
41:10all the benefit
41:11and none of the cost.
41:12That's what China
41:12is trying to do.
41:14However,
41:15the problem with saying
41:16that,
41:17oh,
41:17that this is just
41:17an entirely China-led thing
41:19and it's Neville Singham
41:20who's trying to undermine it,
41:22that's also
41:23in policy and practice
41:25what we're doing anyway.
41:26Now,
41:27I'm not saying
41:27that this is the great thing
41:28or that this isn't dark money
41:30or that this isn't,
41:31you know,
41:31that these organizations
41:33aren't getting funding
41:34from China.
41:35There's major corporations
41:36whose entire market
41:37is running.
41:38There's a lot of money
41:39flowing out of China
41:40into the rest of the world.
41:42And yes,
41:43Beijing certainly wins
41:45when the 1945 system,
41:48you know,
41:48falls apart,
41:49which I would argue
41:50were already
41:50pretty much there.
41:51Globalization is on its way out.
41:54And the conflict in Iran,
41:55the pandemic showed us
41:57the problems with globalization
41:59and showed us the cracks.
42:00I would say the war in Iran
42:01is doing a good job
42:03of killing it
42:03because everyone's going
42:04to want more local
42:06supply chains,
42:08things that they control,
42:10working closer
42:11with local allies,
42:12you know,
42:13not setting stuff over oceans
42:14for hundreds of miles.
42:17This,
42:18and all of this is happening,
42:19but all of this
42:20is happening
42:21regardless of what
42:22Neville Singham
42:23thinks about.
42:24So,
42:24this is interesting
42:25because this is probably
42:26going to be a narrative.
42:28I'll put it down now,
42:29especially given that
42:30Fox News is doing it.
42:32This is going to be
42:33a narrative
42:33that the problem,
42:34and notice how this post starts.
42:36It starts with,
42:38oh,
42:38the left
42:38and all their issues
42:39and the omni cause
42:40and all this type of thing
42:41and why is this all
42:42combined together
42:43because it's secretly
42:44being funded
42:44by Neville Singham
42:46to promote China.
42:48That is the simple narrative
42:50and I guarantee you
42:52we're going to see this
42:53this fall
42:54where
42:55the new attack
42:57against
42:58leftist,
42:59liberals,
42:59Democrats,
43:00any blue-aligned thing
43:01is going to be,
43:02well,
43:03they're getting paid
43:03by China to say that
43:04or this is more,
43:06you know,
43:07trying to influence
43:07China money,
43:08influencing them,
43:09influencing them do this.
43:11I guarantee you
43:13the goal is going to be
43:15associating Democrat
43:16liberal leftism
43:17with China
43:18who's an enemy
43:21to invalidate
43:22the Democratic
43:24talking points.
43:24and so I've bored you
43:26with this post
43:28to say,
43:29I actually want to follow
43:30this one too,
43:32bored you with this post
43:33to say,
43:34look out for this narrative.
43:36Look out for this,
43:38liberals are being paid
43:39by China to do this
43:39and if they weren't being
43:40paid by China
43:41they wouldn't do this
43:42because it serves
43:43two purposes.
43:44One,
43:44it associates Democrats
43:45with China
43:45who's an enemy
43:46which continues
43:46the narrative
43:47that Democrats
43:47are not fellow citizens
43:49with policy disagreements
43:50but an enemy.
43:50that's important number one.
43:52Important number two narrative
43:54is that it also says
43:57that all of the policy
43:58recommendations
43:59and everything
44:00liberal and leftist
44:01people are advocating for
44:02doesn't exist
44:04and no one wants it
44:05but for the fact
44:05it was funded by China.
44:06It invalidates
44:07the actual problems
44:08wrong going on
44:09in our society
44:10which even a lot
44:11of Republican
44:11rank and file voters
44:12are starting to acknowledge.
44:13So look out
44:14for this narrative
44:15because that's,
44:16this is going to,
44:17I guarantee you
44:19as the sun sets
44:20in the West
44:21this is going to come out
44:22in the midterms.
44:23They're already being talked about
44:25by someone who works
44:25at Fox News
44:26being a Republican
44:27and this gal
44:28that I guarantee
44:29and she writes
44:30for the spectator too
44:31I guarantee you
44:33this is a narrative.
44:34I guarantee you
44:35it's a narrative
44:36coming into the midterms
44:37which makes this next post
44:39very interesting.
44:41This is a
44:43interesting list
44:44of why
44:45things are probably
44:46not going to go well
44:47for Republicans
44:48in the midterms
44:49this fall
44:50minus the fact
44:50Democrats are killing it
44:52in special elections
44:52throughout the country
44:53and there have been a lot
44:54because Republicans
44:55got appointed to cabinet
44:56and all this sort of things
44:57there's been a lot of turnover
44:58and so
44:59with that in mind
45:01we have this
45:02this list of
45:03you're going to lose
45:04for the following reasons
45:05now this person
45:06is no one
45:07other than a rank
45:07and file Democrat
45:08but the list is good
45:09so I'll
45:10critique when necessary.
45:13Trump promised
45:14to help blue collar workers
45:15and instead
45:16has fucked them
45:17while helping
45:18his wealthy buddies
45:19not so true
45:20but the tariffs
45:21don't help
45:21two
45:22he's openly corrupt
45:23and everyone can see it
45:24true
45:24he talked about meritocracy
45:26but elevated
45:26unappointed
45:27unqualified morons
45:28one would argue
45:30it depends on
45:30what merit
45:31you're looking for
45:32meritocracy
45:33can be ability
45:34it also can be
45:34the ability
45:35to get people
45:35to like you
45:36four
45:37he's gone too far
45:38in his border security
45:39has pissed off
45:39Latino voters
45:40and a lot of white voters
45:41that only wanted
45:42the criminals removed
45:43that's probably
45:44somewhat true
45:46um
45:47I think
45:48things with the
45:49deportations
45:49have gone a lot
45:50farther than a lot
45:50of people planned
45:52I don't think
45:52it's a panacea
45:54but
45:54yeah
45:55I think the
45:56immigration stuff
45:56is going to be
45:57tough to message on
45:58um
45:58all this promises
45:59about lowering
46:00prices on gas
46:00electricity
46:01insurance
46:01groaches
46:01have been broken
46:03um
46:03that is somewhat
46:04true depending
46:04on where you live
46:05um
46:06gas is obviously
46:07going up because
46:07of Iran
46:08electricity
46:09is out of control
46:09but that has to do
46:10with AI
46:11insurance is bad
46:12if you're in Florida
46:12um
46:13grocery prices
46:14still remain
46:14fairly
46:15fairly elevated
46:16although they are
46:17down from 2023
46:18and 2024
46:18and that's important
46:20to mention
46:21um
46:22started a war
46:22with Iran
46:23I don't care
46:24that he calls it
46:24an excursion
46:25it's a war
46:25the Epstein files
46:26no explanation
46:27needed on that
46:28has dedicated
46:29his efforts
46:29to foreign affairs
46:30even though he
46:30campaigned
46:31primarily on
46:31domestic issues
46:32eh
46:33I'll give him
46:34a pass on that one
46:35he has alienated
46:36and angered
46:36our allies
46:37for no reason
46:37whatsoever
46:37true
46:38his tariffs
46:39have driven up
46:40prices and created
46:40an effective tax
46:41on average Americans
46:42also true
46:43he's massively
46:44increased our
46:45debt and deficit
46:45even though he
46:46promised to reduce it
46:47true
46:48he's failed to
46:49create jobs
46:49and opportunities
46:50for young people
46:50and blue collar
46:51workers
46:51he has negative
46:52job growth record
46:53in his first year
46:54that one is
46:57so they revised
46:58the labor stats
46:59for last year
47:00and the job growth
47:02was basically flat
47:03we created a handful
47:04of jobs last year
47:05now I will say
47:06to their credit
47:07last month's job
47:08numbers for March
47:08were quite good
47:09175,000
47:12but I mean
47:13yes
47:13the economy
47:14has certainly
47:15struggled
47:15but here's the thing
47:16and I'll even give
47:16Trump a little bit
47:17of pass on that
47:18for long time
47:19listeners
47:19in the fall
47:20of 2024
47:21when we were
47:21about to have
47:22the election
47:22I said
47:23at the time
47:24whoever wins
47:25in November
47:26and it does not
47:27matter
47:27is going to have
47:28big economic headwinds
47:30heading into next
47:30year 25
47:31and beyond
47:33there's pretty much
47:34no way
47:35Trump was going
47:35to have a great
47:36economy
47:36even at one
47:37year in
47:38it just wasn't
47:39going to happen
47:40there's too many
47:41economic headwinds
47:41the economy's
47:42changing too much
47:43money's too expensive
47:44there's a lot
47:46that really
47:46the president
47:47can't control
47:47also we tend
47:48to ascribe
47:49the economy
47:50to the president
47:50and we really
47:51shouldn't
47:51because his
47:52levers over
47:53the economy
47:54are comparatively
47:55few
47:55but we continue
47:56to do that
47:56the tariffs
47:57certainly did not
47:58help the existing
47:59economic headwinds
48:00involved
48:02and the last
48:03one
48:04and I think
48:04this one's
48:05quite interesting
48:06is it's obvious
48:07that many of the
48:08MAGA influencers
48:09don't give a shit
48:10about anything
48:11other than making
48:12as much money
48:12as they can
48:13instead of helping
48:14steer a policy
48:15they just reinforce
48:16Trump's worst
48:17instincts
48:18I think
48:20that last one
48:21is true
48:22for some of the
48:23MAGA influencers
48:24I think some people
48:26are starting to split off
48:27which I find
48:28is very interesting
48:29but I think
48:32how you view
48:33Trump's worst instincts
48:34is incredibly subjective
48:35I think a lot
48:37of people
48:37quite frankly
48:38like and are okay
48:39with what is going on
48:42for most people
48:43except when you go
48:44to the grocery store
48:45or this type of thing
48:46the life today
48:48is not that much
48:50measurably worse
48:51than our lives
48:52were a year and a half ago
48:54are things expensive?
48:56yes
48:56well they were before
48:57if anything
48:58that's gotten a little bit easier
48:59but not much
49:00is the world complicated
49:02and scary and frightening?
49:03yeah
49:03the same
49:04I think for the average person
49:06a lot of the effects
49:07of what has happened
49:08hasn't really reached
49:09people where they live
49:10the USA money getting cut
49:12didn't affect them
49:13in any meaningful way
49:14Department of Education
49:15getting cut
49:16hasn't really hit
49:17that much yet
49:18because a lot of it's
49:19tied up in court
49:20a lot of the stuff
49:21that Trump wanted to do
49:22has gotten struck
49:23and tied up in court
49:23so it hasn't really hit
49:24the regular average person yet
49:26I think that will start
49:28to change
49:29especially as
49:30the year
49:30as the year drags on
49:31but that
49:33I mean
49:33I think the MAGA influencers
49:34I think a lot of them
49:35are quite fine
49:36with what's happening
49:36and what is going on
49:38is what they voted for
49:39but I think it's also
49:41important to understand
49:44from a narrative perspective
49:45that
49:47this is probably
49:48going to be social media
49:49and a lot of
49:51Democrats talking
49:52about these points
49:52into the fall
49:54and I think
49:55the problem
49:55with this
49:56is none of this
49:58is emotionally charged
49:59it's very dry
50:02it's very like
50:03everybody thinks this way
50:04when that's almost
50:05never true
50:07I think it's
50:09it doesn't
50:10it doesn't
50:10it doesn't really
50:13it doesn't really
50:14reach people
50:15where they are
50:15but
50:16I think
50:17this is an excellent
50:19foil
50:19for what
50:20the Democrat
50:21narrative and messaging
50:22is going to be
50:23going into the midterms
50:24it's going to be
50:25kind of like
50:25hey
50:25if you look outside
50:26and don't like
50:27what's happening
50:28vote for us
50:31which is unfortunate
50:32because it's a great
50:32opportunity to articulate
50:33a point of view
50:35and I wish they would
50:36articulate a point of view
50:38unfortunately
50:39I think this is the best
50:40we're going to get
50:41I don't know if any of this
50:43is going to really
50:43move voters
50:45I really don't
50:46anyway
50:46we're getting to the top
50:48of the hour
50:48and my throat is tired
50:50I love this article
50:52from Semaphore
50:52speaking of the midterms
50:56and this kind of
50:57reinforces my point
50:58on what's going
50:59to reach voters
50:59where
51:01they felt
51:02overwhelmed
51:02by bad news
51:03and grocery bills
51:03they weren't sure
51:04who you can trust
51:05these days
51:05and they couldn't
51:06name a politician
51:06that might fix it
51:07by convening
51:08a focus group
51:09of seven swing state
51:10voters
51:10all mothers
51:10between 27
51:11and 48 years old
51:12the Democratic firm
51:13Navigator Research
51:14found angst
51:15about the country's
51:15direction
51:16and little faith
51:16in either party's
51:17ability to fix
51:18its problems
51:18quote
51:19it's just very
51:20overwhelming to me
51:21trying to figure out
51:21what direction
51:22we're actually going
51:22instead of 40 year old
51:23mother of three
51:24from Georgia
51:24who had voted
51:25for neither
51:26President Trump
51:26nor Kamala Harris
51:27in 2024
51:28I feel like
51:29things are going
51:31to get worse
51:31before they get better
51:32said a 38 year old
51:33mother in Wisconsin
51:34who supported Trump
51:35it's going to take
51:36a lot to break down
51:37those evil walls
51:37that were built up
51:38and all the evil
51:38behind everything
51:39so that things
51:39can get better
51:40eventually
51:41Navigator Research
51:42regularly gathers
51:42groups of representative
51:43Americans to check
51:44in with voters
51:45who aren't overly
51:45engaged with politics
51:46last week's session
51:47which was reviewed
51:48by Semaphore
51:48focused on women
51:49who felt it had
51:50become too expensive
51:51to come to support
51:52a family in the US
51:53the gas prices
51:54are going up
51:54right when taxes
51:55hit
51:55said a 27 year old
51:56mother from Arizona
51:57but the voters survey
51:58didn't seem to see
51:59either party as the solution
52:00even those who voted
52:01for Harris
52:01couldn't name a Democrat
52:02who spoke to their needs
52:03quote
52:04they don't see any improvement
52:05on what's happening
52:06in the economy
52:06said Margie O'Meara
52:07a principal at GBAO
52:08of Strategies
52:09who procrastinated
52:09the focus group
52:10they don't see anything
52:11from the Trump administration
52:12that's helping them
52:13these are folks
52:14who are looking for it
52:14and they're not feeling it
52:15they're feeling that
52:16things are getting worse
52:18quote
52:20I'm not a fan
52:20of politicians
52:21said a 34 year old
52:22mother from Michigan
52:23who said she was
52:23only aware of
52:24some National Democrats
52:25because social media
52:26has really blown them up
52:27the participants indicated
52:28they largely turned
52:29to social media
52:30rather than traditional media
52:31for news about the country
52:32the news wasn't good
52:34the women were vaguely aware
52:35of Attorney General Pam Bondi
52:36but some thought
52:37she had resigned
52:37her office in a scandal
52:38they were more closely
52:40following the Department
52:40of Health and Human Services
52:41under Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
52:43and concerned about
52:44unsafe products
52:45being peddled by the government
52:48our country allows
52:49all these dyes and chemicals
52:50and the stuff
52:50that they sell us
52:51and feed us
52:51that a lot of countries
52:52don't allow
52:52said a 37 year old
52:53mother from Michigan
52:54the Wisconsin mother
52:55worried about population control
52:57asked what news sources
52:58she relied on
52:59the Michigan mother
52:59said traditional news
53:00had quote
53:00turned into the shows
53:01my grandma used to watch
53:02unquote
53:02soap operas
53:03with forced narratives
53:04two women who had
53:05voted for Harris
53:06said they got news
53:07and analysis
53:07from right wing
53:07personality Candace Owens
53:09one of them even said
53:10that she liked to see Owens
53:10who's known for spreading
53:11conspiracy theories
53:12running for president
53:12quote
53:13she does fact check
53:14she explained
53:14she has a lot of resources
53:18and this point is very interesting
53:20the voters most keen to talk
53:22with political reporters
53:22are typically extremely engaged
53:24in politics
53:24most people will never attend
53:26a political rally in person
53:27and most hang up
53:27on pollsters call
53:28so it was useful and instructive
53:30to spend an evening
53:30listening to a woman
53:31who did vote
53:31had some worries
53:32about the country's direction
53:33but avoided most news
53:34it underscored the challenge
53:35that Democrats and Republicans
53:36alike face reaching these voters
53:38how do you convince voters
53:39who pay only fleeting attention
53:40to the news
53:41and who are uncertain
53:42and pessimistic about the future
53:43that your new legislation
53:45is responsible for something good
53:46I have no clue
53:48this article gets into a problem
53:50I originally explained
53:52to someone
53:53kind of recently
53:55that
53:57no one understands
53:58how to message politics
54:00in this era
54:01because it's so diluted
54:03I mean
54:04take this show for example
54:05I produce four videos a week
54:08my long form content
54:09will get several dozen views
54:11my shorts do hundreds
54:12and thousands
54:13here's the problem
54:14the two minute version
54:16of this
54:17is not nearly as complete
54:19as the full hour version
54:20of this show
54:21or even the time
54:22I've spent on this story
54:24it'll get chopped smaller
54:27and
54:28every
54:29so imagine that
54:30across the ecosystem
54:31so if you're the average person
54:32and you're just doom scrolling
54:34on Facebook
54:34Instagram
54:35TikTok
54:35you might get
54:36a Candace Ellens video
54:37a Tucker Carlson video
54:38a Cameron Cowan video
54:39a David Pakman video
54:41Kyle Kulinski
54:42you know
54:43and most social media
54:45is a lot more
54:46narrow than that
54:47so if social media
54:48things you really want
54:49conservative stuff
54:49you're only going to get
54:50primarily conservative people
54:51if you're liberal
54:52you're only going to get
54:53liberal people
54:53and for me
54:54it's kind of a
54:55catch-22
54:57sort of thing
54:58so
54:59it's
55:01it's
55:03it's
55:03it's a very
55:04difficult
55:06thing
55:07to
55:08get a
55:09get a coherent
55:10message to people
55:11it's not TV
55:12advertising
55:13you really have to say
55:15the same thing
55:15over and over
55:16and over again
55:17and get some people
55:18talking about it
55:19so that eventually
55:1920 seconds
55:22of that message
55:24may get in
55:25someone's short video feed
55:27that's incredibly
55:29hard to do
55:30but
55:30when you have
55:31people
55:32you know
55:33who are producing
55:34five videos a week
55:35like your Asmongold
55:37I do four videos a week
55:38I'm not five videos a week
55:39your Asmongold
55:41people like that
55:41that then sets the narrative
55:43if you want to know
55:44why Theo Vaughn
55:44and Asmongold
55:45and Rogan
55:46because they produce
55:47so much content
55:48and that content
55:50gets reshared
55:50and re-uploaded
55:51by other channels
55:52just trying to get on
55:52the juice
55:53that that becomes
55:54narrative because
55:54that's what's
55:55building the algorithm
55:56my best months
55:58social media wise
56:00are when I produce
56:01an outsized amount
56:02of videos
56:02so if I do
56:03an extra event
56:06or you know
56:06we have news hours
56:07we'll have interviews
56:08all this type of thing
56:08when I produce
56:09the content at volume
56:11that's when I usually
56:11get more views
56:12so when you have
56:14people that can do that
56:16they're the ones
56:17that have the influence
56:17and remember
56:18all of this
56:19and I mean all of this
56:21is dependent
56:22on four tech companies
56:23who basically control
56:24what people see
56:27it's incredibly hard
56:28for anyone
56:29to reach much of anything
56:30because people's minds
56:31are going to be made up
56:31by the people
56:32they actually trust
56:33now obviously
56:34some people trust me
56:34thank you so much
56:35for watching everybody
56:36thank you
56:37some people trust me
56:38some people trust
56:39Candace Owens
56:39same thing for Kyle
56:40Quincy
56:41David Pakman
56:41Hasselon Parker
56:42I could go on
56:42even Asmongold
56:44and he's a dick
56:44but people trust him
56:46you know
56:47and so on it goes
56:50getting that
56:52messaging through
56:53that noise
56:54I think is going to be
56:55incredibly incredibly
56:56difficult
56:57and I think
56:58for Democrats
56:59that are afraid
57:00of taking you
57:00on new media
57:01learn to do podcasts
57:03a lot of them
57:05that's where the
57:05conversation in politics
57:06is happening
57:07even for engaged voters
57:09like these women
57:10on Semaphore
57:10so
57:12um
57:14my back hurts
57:15and my throat
57:15hurts more
57:16so I'm going to
57:18save the Robert Rice story
57:19about the wealthy
57:19pouring so much
57:20of the money
57:20wealth into politics
57:21for next week
57:22and the Supreme Court
57:23on mail-in voting
57:24I'm also going to
57:25save
57:26for next week
57:27um
57:28and uh
57:29and we'll go from
57:31uh
57:31we'll go from there
57:32um
57:33because I'm
57:35I'm ready
57:35I'm ready to be done
57:36it's been a little bit
57:37of a crazy day
57:37around here
57:38so
57:38um
57:39thank you all so much
57:40for watching
57:41I appreciate it
57:42um
57:43my name is Cameron Cowan
57:44this is the Cameron Journal
57:45News Hour
57:46you can find me online
57:47at Cameron Cowan
57:49on LinkedIn
57:49Facebook
57:50Instagram
57:51at Cameron Journal
57:52on TikTok
57:52and Blue Sky
57:53um
57:54don't forget to
57:55subscribe to the newsletter
57:56and if you want to
57:56support this journalism
57:57and my voice of reason
58:00and non-outrage neutrality
58:01please subscribe to
58:03Cameron Journal Plus
58:04I also want to remind
58:05everyone
58:05I am launching a new
58:07live event called
58:08Cameron Journal Salons
58:09where I'm going to
58:09bring together the best
58:10of the guests
58:11from the Cameron Journal
58:11in one panel discussion
58:13um
58:14in some evenings
58:16starting this month
58:16and into May and June
58:18uh
58:18getting ready for
58:19a big virtual summit
58:20that I'm
58:21I'm working on
58:22with suit media
58:23so uh
58:24keep an eye out
58:25in substack
58:26emails
58:27all that type of
58:27thing for that
58:28I will 110%
58:30be uh
58:30sending a lot of
58:31emails about that
58:32so you're going to
58:33want to get on the
58:33train now
58:34um
58:35Cameron Journal Salons
58:35are going to be
58:36really cool
58:36because
58:37if you're a
58:38Cameron Journal Plus
58:39subscriber
58:39they are free for you
58:41if uh
58:42you're not
58:42there's going to be
58:43a small charge
58:44bearing in mind
58:44these are not
58:45going to be
58:46big broadcasts
58:47like this
58:47these are going to be
58:48private events
58:50on Zoom
58:51with Q&A time
58:53with some of my
58:54really high flying guests
58:55I'm going to try to
58:56get everybody in
58:56Stan Lai from China
58:58I'm going to
58:59which may be complicated
59:00due to time zones
59:00um
59:02I'm going to get
59:03everybody in
59:03and there's going to be
59:04replay afterwards
59:05all this sort of thing
59:06it's not going to be
59:08in for the public
59:09it is for private
59:10either ticket holders
59:11or Cameron Journal Plus
59:11subscribers
59:12and sub-stack subscribers
59:13so
59:14if you haven't
59:15subscribed
59:15now would be
59:16the time
59:17as we get ready
59:17to launch
59:18Cameron Journal
59:18salons
59:19where we have
59:20great conversations
59:20with interesting people
59:21mostly because
59:22that's what I love to do
59:23and that's what I love
59:24doing about this job
59:24so
59:26that's it
59:26thank you all so much
59:27for watching
59:28I appreciate it
59:29my name is Cameron
59:29Talon
59:30this is the
59:31Cameron Journal
59:31News Hour
59:32thank you all so much
59:33for watching
59:33have a great night
59:34bye bye now
59:46thank you all
Comments