Trump VISIBLY SHOCKS MAGA host

[0:03] As we speak, Donald Trump is in the Oval Office having an interview with CNBC MAGA host Joe [0:09] Kernan. And to his credit, Kernan was forced to confront Trump about the staggering corruption [0:14] that we've been discussing all damn day here at Pondering Politics. And Trump's answers, [0:20] his blatant, egregious lies and deflections are truly disgusting, shocking, but unsurprising. [0:27] But before we unpack all that, if you end up liking this video and you want to support the [0:31] channel, please be sure to hit the like, subscribe and alert bells before you go. [0:36] All right, folks, brace yourselves because this is infuriating on so many levels and yet we have to [0:41] see it. Example, the president's the highest paid person in government and, you know, by some [0:49] standards gets a lot of money. I don't I'm the only president, they say, that's ever given up. I gave up [0:56] my salary, but I don't get a salary. I gave it up. And that's a lot of, you know, by some standards. [1:04] Right. It's like four hundred to five hundred thousand dollars. It is the highest paid person [1:08] in the government. And yes, half a million dollars is a lot to ninety nine percent of Americans and [1:13] most people on the planet. But Trump doesn't get any credit for donating his salary. As a matter of [1:18] fact, as as a Democratic congressman, Jamie Raskin so eloquently put it, the only thing Trump [1:23] is entitled to as president of the United States is his government funded taxpayer funded salary. [1:29] As a matter of fact, it would be better. It would be more ethical. It'd be more constitutional. It [1:33] would be better for the country if Trump did not enrich himself off the presidency and simply accepted [1:39] his government salary. Then he could do with it what he will. Instead, he actually inverts the [1:43] relationship. OK, I'll give up the one thing I'm permitted to have under the Constitution. And instead [1:48] of the half a million dollars I'm supposed to get, I'm going to make billions of dollars per year off [1:55] the presidency. You don't get any fucking credit for not taking your government salary. You don't [2:00] get credit. Oh, he gave up his salary. He's making orders of magnitude more corruptly off the presidency. [2:05] He gets no credit and all the blame. I think we shouldn't be surprised that your businesses [2:12] are doing well. But how would you counter critics that say you're using the presidency to enrich yourself [2:19] and your family? Well, in a lot of ways, if you think about it, the stock has got up so much. The [2:25] stock market today is up 500 points. It's up to almost 53,000. You know, I watched your show and you [2:33] had somebody on one of your brilliant analysts. And they said if I had won the election, they said if [2:40] President Trump could get the stock market to anywhere near 50,000, that would be an unbelievable [2:47] achievement. And that was over four years. In other words, at the end of his term, four years, if he could [2:52] get anywhere near 50,000, that would be well, it's at 53,000, just a couple of points short of 53,000 right [3:00] now. And that's essentially after. See how he's trying to deflect what he's trying to do is say, listen, what [3:06] about the stock market, man? I'm doing so well. Everyone's doing so well. So what if I get my beak [3:11] wet? Well, again, even if that were all true, it doesn't excuse public corruption of any sort. [3:18] It certainly doesn't excuse this unprecedented, staggering corruption of Trump. But here's the [3:23] reality. Here's the kicker. You're not doing well. The economy is not doing well. The American [3:28] people are not doing well, which is why not only the macroeconomic metrics quite terrible, but why the [3:34] American people are so pissed off. Trump is actively engaging in the most corrupt administration we've [3:40] ever seen at the same time that he's actively screwing people over. The Delta could not be wider. [3:45] A little bit more than a year. But do you do worry that if they take if the Democrats were to win the [3:50] House, that there's going to be endless investigations of you and your administration? Well, you know, I don't [3:55] do anything having to do with my business. My kids run it. I put a lot of money. I had a lot of money and [4:00] I have a lot of money. I've always made I've made money. You know, I'm a business person. I'm a [4:06] really good business person. I've made money. I've made a tremendous amount of money more than I would [4:12] have ever thought I would have made. And I let people invest it. I don't even speak to I don't [4:17] even know who they are. His children, his children are the ones in charge of his businesses. This idea [4:23] that it's in a totally blind trust. He's totally disconnected from them. Total bullshit. No evidence to [4:29] supported all the evidence to the contrary. But it's given to big firms like that are on your show [4:34] all the time. My son, Eric, handles it. I don't talk to him about things such as this. I think [4:40] I'd be allowed to. I'm not sure even what the status is, but I don't. And he gives it into these [4:45] like semi blind trusts or blind trusts where people invest. Again, staggering. He finally admits, [4:51] OK, yeah, my son manages it. No, but your sons are enriching themselves off the presidency, [4:56] too. There's a clear conflict of interest here and absolutely no clear safeguard. [5:00] And even Joe Kernan here, MAGA Joe Kernan of CNBC, visibly uncomfortable. [5:05] There was a story today about Jensen Wang, who's fantastic, NVIDIA, and that I have some stock. [5:15] I think it's very small. I think it's one of many companies that one of the big Wall Street firms [5:21] invest. And so they said, oh, Trump has some stock in there. Tens of thousands of stock trades [5:26] involving companies that he has either shouted out directly or micron. He did it today, hyping up [5:33] micron. And yet right before he hyped it up, we have evidence broken by Midas touch that Trump was [5:39] engaging in micron stock trades. He's done it with so many companies. The level of trading is off [5:46] the charts, corruption and off the charts in scale and volume. But making money in the stock market, [5:53] that makes sense. So as far as crypto goes, and I'm just wondering, you didn't divest your business, [5:59] you have your sons running it. I think vice presidents and presidents are- [6:04] I want to stop right there. So again, MAGA Joe Kernan, who kisses Trump's ass. You've seen him in many [6:09] videos that we've done. He's so uncomfortable about this. Even he finds this repulsive. He knows, [6:14] Joe Kernan knows deep in his soul that Trump is infinitely more corrupt than any Democrat. [6:19] And Joe Kernan hates that. He hates that his preferred party, his preferred politicians are [6:24] morally inferior, that their pieces of shit. And Democrats are perfect by comparison. He hates [6:29] it. He knows he would lose every debate to his co-host, Andrew Ross Sorkin, but he knows he's [6:34] going to catch so much shit for this. And he's hoping that Trump will find the right combination of [6:39] words to navigate through this or have some sort of change of heart. But he won't because he is [6:44] a creature of corruption. So watch Kernan confront him again. [6:48] As far as crypto goes, and I'm just wondering, you didn't divest your business, you have your [6:54] sons running it. I think vice presidents and presidents aren't subject really to conflict [7:00] of interest laws. But there's this notion that you need to be aware of conflict of interest. [7:06] There was a large sum of- [7:08] It's so funny to me. By the way, this is a big fucking problem. It is true that much of [7:13] the conflicts of interest laws, the binding laws, are kind of like they are for the Supreme [7:17] Court. Eh, just suggestions. You do what you want. I mean, we hope you don't. Shame, guilt, [7:24] you know, good character. Eh. I'm sorry, this is unacceptable. There should be no one in this [7:29] fucking country. It doesn't matter if they're a Supreme Court justice, a senator, a governor, [7:34] a congressman, a president of the United States, binding codes of conduct on all of them with teeth [7:40] and enforceability and severe consequences should they violate them. This is a problem. This idea [7:46] of just trust me, bro, it's never worked. And to the extent it ever worked in the first place, [7:50] which I don't believe it did, it does not work now. No more of this shit. [7:54] Money made in crypto. Did you know that your family business was going to engage in crypto? [8:00] Did you have anything? Well, I was here before. I was there before I was in office. But the way I [8:07] view crypto is a little differently. We have to be at the top. Otherwise, China is going to take it [8:11] over. Like, for instance, AI. We're leading substantially in AI over China and everybody else. [8:17] I mean, we're leading. When I was with President Xi three weeks ago, he greeted me and these first [8:24] words, I mean, literally went, wow, you've really done a great job. You've really because this country [8:29] was dead. We had a dead country. Now we have the hottest country in the world. And the way I look [8:33] at AI or the way I look at crypto is if we're not going to do it, China is going to get it most [8:39] likely China or somebody else. Japan is somebody else. And I want to it's a big industry. Chip, [8:44] you call it an industry, but see how he's deflecting. And by the way, what a stupid [8:50] question from Kern in there. Did you know your family? He launched a cryptocurrency, a meme coin, [8:55] which is a form of crypto days before his inauguration. Of course, he knew Joe wants. [9:01] I mean, you kind of tripped and fell into it, right? No, you idiot. Of course, he knew this is [9:07] a problem. He made a conscious choice to use cryptocurrency, which is notoriously corrupt [9:13] and opaque in an industry that he would regulate to enrich himself and his family. And Kernan would [9:18] be apoplectic if it were a Democrat. And he still might be more tolerant because, again, it's just [9:24] I think that Kernan's view of capitalism is, hey, just be as corrupt as need be. But because he's a [9:28] partisan capitalist, right, he would certainly look at democratic corruption much more disfavorably. [9:36] But this is a choice Trump made to enrich himself and his family at the same time that [9:41] he's actively screwing everybody over. This is why the American people recognize that Trump is [9:46] corrupt. The only question is, will there be political consequences for it in November of [9:50] 2026 and in November of 2028? [9:53] One in AI. In the disclosure this week, the amount of money that you and the family made [9:58] in crypto, it was an outsized number. I was just asking, did you or you know about the [10:05] crypto venture? So that was just something. By the way, I could know about it. I didn't. [10:10] Right. I mean, there's nothing illegal. There's nothing wrong with it. I could know. [10:14] There's a specific, I think it's, I remember our Title 18, Section 208 from Congress, you, [10:19] the Vice President, and you do not have, you would have to recuse yourself. [10:24] I didn't even know that. I'm glad you told me. [10:25] You would have to recuse yourself on every decision that could, running the country that [10:30] could have. [10:31] Or how about you just don't get involved with the fucking industries that you're regulating? [10:35] Oh, you can't have a president. We can't have a binding code of conduct for these sorts [10:39] of things because then like you just can't have, then you'd have to like recuse yourself [10:43] from like running the country. Or what about this? What about, what about you divest yourself [10:50] from your businesses in meaningful, legally binding ways? Not like, oh, I'll divest it [10:54] by giving it to my son. No, no, no. Somebody who you have no control over, you have no idea [10:58] what's going on, who will give you the fucking finger and say, no, Mr. President, I decide [11:02] what's going on with your stocks. You get, you don't get informed about it. You don't get [11:06] to say, you know, it gets returned to you once you leave office, but that's it. When [11:10] it comes to your portfolio while you're in office, you're my bitch and I'll do whatever [11:14] I want. That's the sort of divestment we expect. And then you take your government salary [11:20] and that's it. And then you leave office and then go try to be rich again. Man, you were [11:26] already rich when you got in office. That's what we expect. This idea that you can't like [11:34] be president and be ethical. Like you can't have like, can't be bound to like ethics laws. [11:39] If like you want to be president, it's just insane. It's just disgusting. And so I want [11:46] to play a couple more clips here before I like lose what little is left of my mind at this [11:51] point. Again, Kernan, um, and, and Trump in this case saying he feels bad for his kids. [11:57] I feel badly in a way for my kids because every time my kids do, if they invest in a stock or [12:02] they go and do a bill, anything they do because the presidency is so powerful, so big, everything, [12:10] if they buy a cupcake company, well, the energy to make the cupcakes is, you know, sort of like, [12:18] how's my energy policy? So therefore you have a conflict. Almost anything they do, if they want [12:25] to buy a truck, if they want to buy, you know, if they buy an energy efficient truck, [12:30] they have inside information. Uh, so, uh, it's, it's pretty tough in that sense. I tell my kids [12:37] stay away from as much as you can say. You mean stay away his government, his defense department, [12:45] the Trump administration are giving his kids government contracts. What do you mean? You tell [12:50] him to stay away demonstrably not evidently not. They are enriching themselves, not only off the [12:56] presidency, they are getting direct taxpayer subsidies. You're such a fucking lie. It's, [13:02] it's insane. It's insane. This is where we are. And it's insane. Folks, remember, I've told you [13:08] before, two priorities, Supreme court reform, institutional reform, and exposing and condemning [13:13] and punishing Trump corruption. I need you all to give a shit about this. I need you all to be [13:18] furious about this. And I need you to put your anger to productive use in the form of voting against [13:23] Republicans in the November midterms. And in 2028 and telling democratic candidates who want your [13:29] vote, you better dedicate yourselves to Supreme court reform and expansion and punishing Trump [13:34] corruption. Otherwise you're not going to get my fucking vote in the democratic primary. [13:37] Make this an issue. Please like subscribe, comment, and share the video. We have to make this a bigger [13:45] deal than what the American people are currently making of it. We were doing business long before [13:52] I ever thought of, you knew me a long time before I thought of even running. You knew me before I even [13:56] thought about running for president. I knew you before we did a lot of Melania. Yeah, that's right. [14:02] But I did, you know, I've made a lot of money over the years. And I think one of the reasons that [14:07] I got elected was to have a business person. And if you look at what's happening again, this is the [14:13] excuse that the white house is coming up with, well, listen, his corruption's okay. Because [14:17] you know, he was, he was elected to be a businessman. He was in, he was elected to enrich [14:22] himself off the American taxpayer. It's no big deal. This is what they're doing. This is the cope. [14:27] This is the BS. This is the story. You elected him to be corrupt. Just want to see some of the [14:34] reactions to this literally disclosed what he did and signed off on it. Not a minute goes by where he [14:38] lies, but he just doesn't care. Mob deflection, nothing to see here says, uh, Adam Schiff, [14:44] Democratic congressman, new filings reveal Trump personally out earned every single publicly [14:48] traded crypto firm in America last year. He's a frigging liar. Look bad at what his net worth was [14:55] before he came president compared to now people calling him out for this, people calling him out [15:00] for his deflection, dishonesty, insane lying. He doesn't even give a fuck anymore. He's not even [15:06] trying to hide it. Most corrupt president of all time. Again, making this, this, this magazine, [15:12] NBC host Joe Kernan visibly uncomfortable. We need to continue to tell the story of Trump [15:17] corruption. We need to continue to signal boost this. In the meantime, let me know what you think [15:21] in the comments.