BRIAN DERRICK: 0:00

I'm Brian Derrick.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 0:01

And I'm Glennis Meagher.

BRIAN DERRICK: 0:02

This week on Vibes Only, it's the last day of the quarter and the final major fundraising deadline of 2026. So we're talking about where your money matters and why it's not in US Senate races.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 0:13

Then we get into everything that's broken from Trump's taxpayer-funded campaign ads to Meta dodging billions to hackers stealing data on every FBI employee.

BRIAN DERRICK: 0:25

Plus, Ken Paxton admits Trump's convention actually hurt him. Eric Schmitt fumbles his Jack Smith gotcha moment, and why John Fetterman is a problem for the party.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 0:37

Let's get into it.

BRIAN DERRICK: 0:38

Let's get into it. Wait, "Lol, New York Times 14 minutes ago. Paxton said that-" I saw "… President Trump's midterm convention hurt his-" Hurt him "… second campaign." That is so funny. Good morning, Glennis. Happy last day of the quarter.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 1:04

Good morning. Brian, did you read the news this morning? I was drinking my coffee this morning, and it was like, "US officially pulls out of Iraq."

BRIAN DERRICK: 1:16

Oh, I did see that. But, like-

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 1:18

News to me that we were still there 24 years later. Like, what?

BRIAN DERRICK: 1:23

We're everywhere, baby. We have we're, we're deployed everywhere, especially- Iran.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 1:31

Also, I was listening to the news this morning and, like, the leadership at OpenAI was warned two months ago about security concerns, et cetera, and did nothing. And then some other headlines. It's just like, well, duh. Well, duh. Nothing's shocking to me. It's just we live in this cycle of, well, duh, everything is broken and corrupt. Anyway, the, the quarter, the deadline, this is important. Tell people why.

BRIAN DERRICK: 1:55

Great note to start the day on, everyone. Yeah. We're all fucked. Yeah. But there's actually tons of really good news coming our way as we see the blue wave on the horizon. Let's talk about it and all the nonsense that Republicans are doing to try to prevent that from happening.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 2:15

Yeah, let's talk about it. Brian, I saw your story on, on the Instagram, the Meta app Instagram yesterday, talking about the fundraising deadline. Can you give the too long, didn't read on why this is important and why it is indicative of what we might see in November?

BRIAN DERRICK: 2:29

Yes. While we are recording, we are pre-deadline. While you are listening, we are post-deadline. So this is the last major fundraising deadline of the year nationally, and it's a really big deal because it will be the final deciding factor in what races are ultimately deemed competitive pre-election day and which are not. So having a surge in fundraising late can be exactly what people need to see in order to believe that you have a path to win and put more money into the race. The DSCC, the DCCC, the DNC, broke but still, and big donors as well all are looking at these numbers as signals of where we need to put additional resources in order to maximize wins in November. So this is our last chance to sort of change what the playing field looks like materially in order to incentivize the right kinds of investment for the month of October, which is the biggest month of s- political spending of the whole cycle.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 3:34

Yeah. And you also posted a story which I think was quite helpful. It was kind of a cheat sheet for various states with candidates that are in certain House races or state races who need an extra bump or could use an extra bump in terms of fundraising. Where can people find that? Just on your Instagram?

BRIAN DERRICK: 3:51

Yeah. Hit up my IG for that. I stole your terminology with the- My cheat sheet cheat sheet. Glenn is famous- Listen … for her cheat sheets.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 3:59

I am.

BRIAN DERRICK: 4:00

It works and people know what it is. Yep. I just wanted to c- create a very simple directory for people to understand what races they should be focused on in their state. And if you look at the whole list, you'll notice some patterns that- I'm not telling people to go focus on US Senate races. That that is not actually where help is needed at this point. Mm-hmm. And I always get such angry comments that make me laugh of like, "You're missing this race," or like,"Why don't you know about this?" And I'm like, "Nope, I do know about that, and it's not missing. It is intentionally omitted- Yeah … because the races that you actually should be helping are right here listed for you." And of course, you could go on and on and on, but nobody has the time, energy, or money to do all of them, so we have to be selective. That's literally the whole point- Yeah … of, of doing an exercise like this.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 4:50

Yeah, and there are many, many people focused on the Senate races, that people are in your DM saying that you're not focusing on. Yeah. Myself included. Like, there- Right … there are plenty of resources at the Senate level for these states, but it is… Like, we've talked about this so much on the podcast, the importance of having your state government be Democratic and not Republican. We- Right … we've seen what's happened. So yeah, people should check that out. Go online. We're everywhere. There's-- We're, we're literally everywhere, and I'm gonna also be literally everywhere over the next, I don't know, 30 days. I can't do math, but until November 3rd. So if you wanna see some reporting from the states, follow me.

BRIAN DERRICK: 5:28

Where are you going?

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 5:30

Where am I going? I'm going to Iowa.

BRIAN DERRICK: 5:32

Oh.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 5:33

I'm going to Ohio.

BRIAN DERRICK: 5:35

Hey. Where?

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 5:36

Yes. Columbus. Georgia. Michigan, Texas. So we're, we're hitting the big- Okay … the big Senate races there.

BRIAN DERRICK: 5:46

Yeah. And it really shows that we are competitive everywhere, man. Mm-hmm. There are competitive races going on everywhere. You just have to selectively pick the right ones. We had new polling come out this week. There's always new polling, but more polling that showed Democrats up in the generic by 11, which is just so crazy. I'm not trusting that on its face, but directionally, we're averaging more than eight on the generic, which is a really good place for us to be at this point. It is making Democrats a little bit crazy, where people just now think that everything's in play and they wanna invest in these, like, super red Trump plus 30 places, uh, which I'm down for, but not until we have funded the Trump plus 20 and the Trump plus 10 at the down ballot level. Like, you shouldn't be spending- Right … on a Trump plus 30 Senate seat when you have a Trump plus 6 that it- we're gonna lose at the state legs level because they're being outraised three to one. Like, that doesn't make any sense. Yeah. So that's

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 6:53

the issue. And for those who don't know, a generic ballot is like if you were to vote for a Dem or Republican right now, who would you vote for? Yeah.

BRIAN DERRICK: 6:59

They don't tell you any names. They just ask you party.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 7:00

They don't tell you names. Just, it's… That's actually, like, the vibes poll. Like, are you vibing more- It is … with a Dem or a Republican? And two things I wanna touch on from that, which is also, you brought this up before we started recording, Ken Paxton, you know, the, the polls themselves are doing whatever, but then Ken Paxton, the most corrupt, potentially the most corrupt behind Donald Trump candidate to ever live, impeached by his own party, the list goes on and on, said, "You know what, Donald Trump? You at the, the Dallas Republican Convention, you actually hurt me. Like, the, the, your brand hurt me." It's, it li- literally is comical. It is comical. And then, Brian, I wanna bring up, which I feel like everyone should be burning trash, like everyone should be so pissed about this, but the Donald Trump ads, the MAGA Republican ads that then the disclosure is paid by the federal government, your taxpayer dollars. You are b- you are marketing Donald Trump, whether or not you know it or not. It's

BRIAN DERRICK: 7:59

crazy. Let's talk about it. It's so bananas, and it's very obviously illegal on its face. But what's happening is they're using money from the Department of Homeland Security because, as we've talked about for over a year, they cut a blank check to DHS for this ICE and CBP, Customs and Border Patrol, money in, in, like, the hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade, whatever it was, and they've just used it as a slush fund to do whatever they want, um, because it was, like, multiples of the agency's actual annual budget or anything remotely close to what was needed. And now they just do whatever they want with that money and pay people off, um, like, very much like this. So now they're spending-- They've thus far spent $2.5 million on ads promoting Donald Trump and Republicans ahead of the midterms. It's against the Hatch Act, which is what separates, like, campaigns from the official side. Mm-hmm. And it's also a violation of another federal statute that I couldn't tell you the name of that bars any federal funds anywhere in the government from pr- promoting or glorifying an individual. People might have seen, there was like a semi-viral clip from a constitutional lawyer breaking down why it was illegal. But it's just plainly, blatantly illegal, and they have 20 million more dollars worth of advertising that they're planning to do. They said they are, quote,"just getting started."

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 9:38

Yeah. You look at your paycheck, and you see that money come out to the federal government. That's going to pay for Donald Trump ads indirectly, but it's… I just feel like more Americans should, should be, like, up in arms about this. Yeah. And they're not. But we will keep on keeping on for the next 30 something days until November 3rd.

BRIAN DERRICK: 10:00

Yeah, and they're saying that they're not campaign ads, but they're actually frame for frame the same as 2024 campaign ads that

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 10:09

Donald Trump

BRIAN DERRICK: 10:09

ran. No, literally. They're, like, identical to actual campaign ads that they were running pre-election. So it's, uh, it's just kind of farcical.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 10:18

It's farcical. Yeah. Is that a

BRIAN DERRICK: 10:20

real, is that a real word?

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 10:22

It is now. It is now. Uh- No, I think it is … he also is, like, saying,"Pretend I'm on the ballot. Pretend you're voting for me." Oh, we are. Pretend I- Oh. Yeah.

BRIAN DERRICK: 10:31

We are.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 10:33

Yeah, we're marrying you. And all these Republicans now who are like, "Actually, the, the war in Iran is bad." I know. I said, "Well, you actually voted, Ashley Hinson, seven times for it." It's very- So-

BRIAN DERRICK: 10:44

Yeah, if it, if it weren't sad, it would be funny. I guess it's still a little funny 'cause I don't know what to do but laugh. But, um, yeah, you have Republicans in deep red seats that are coming out like, "Eh, maybe, maybe Trump wasn't right on this thing over here. Maybe ICE went too far. Maybe we actually shouldn't be murdering people in the street."

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 11:03

Deporting people to third countries that they- Random

BRIAN DERRICK: 11:07

countries.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 11:07

Yeah. Anyway, we see you Republicans. Brian and I see you, and we're coming for you.

BRIAN DERRICK: 11:14

It is a little funny with the, the commercials just how it's, it's just another thing in a long string of things that are sort of i- inexplicable that Donald Trump has e- engaged in or, or decisions that he's made that are really indefensible heading into a, an election where he's historically unpopular. His unfavorability is now at a record level. Not in the last 40 years have we seen- Mm-hmm … a president heading into a midterm cycle this unpopular. And then at the same time, mortgage rates just soared above 7.5%. Nobody's- They're 7.8%… GLENNIS MEAGHER: buying a house. Aren't they? Yeah. It's bananas. Diesel highest it's ever been. I'm seeing constant viral content over, like, $1,000 gas bills at the gas station. And then Trump, it's so funny. I can't even deal. I'm reading from Punchbowl. Mm. Trump is planning to begin a national political tour on Thursday focused largely on Republican strongholds. So he's specifically going to red places 'cause he can't even, like- Yeah turn people out or, or have a, a decent- Right … presence in, in anywhere purple. The president will talk about how great data centers are. He's going on a data center promotional tour. It's the one thing everyone agrees on. Is against, yeah. Other than him being just, like, a piece of shit, is like, it's so widely unpopular to be pro data center right now. And he's like, "Wait, let me tie myself-

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 12:50

Yeah… BRIAN DERRICK: to the Republican I'm gonna tell you I'm on the ballot, and then I'm gonna tie myself also to data centers in your backyard." Two kind of addendums I wanna add to this point, which is my heat was on this morning in my apartment, and I was like, "Damn, too soon." Let me, let me Google the cost of heat, if it's gone up, 'cause I'm thinking about, like, how much is this gonna cost me. Okay. It's up 8.7%. Americans are going to pay 8.7% more on their heating costs this year. Over $1,000 more- Yikes … from last year. Oil is up 31%, electricity is up 9%, propane is up 8.7%, natural gas is up 5.8%. Adding that stat to what's- Yeah … what it's gonna cost you to keep your family warm this winter. And- Not

BRIAN DERRICK: 13:36

me. I'll be in a sleeping bag. S- Don't catch me with that 10%. I--

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 13:41

Yeah, I'll put a hat on. I put some wool socks and a hat on, put a heating pad in bed with me. It is Victorian times, okay? It

BRIAN DERRICK: 13:49

is Victorian times.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 13:51

This is very, like, corrupt. I was reading this this morning on the data center of it all. Did you see the New York Times headline about Meta and the tax loophole that they are using for data centers, and how it is saving them? Let me just get this number right. They shaved $2 billion with this strategy off their taxes in 2024, and almost 4 billion off in 2025. And what Meta is doing with data centers is they're saying that it's experimental, it's innovative. It's a, a 1980s, probably Reagan-era tax loophole that says if you're, like, engaging in innovative research and strategy, you can cut your operational costs for said research and innovation. So Mark Zuckerberg-

BRIAN DERRICK: 14:36

That's

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 14:36

wild and Meta, with the data centers that are making your electrical bill more expensive and your reality horrible, the humming, the constant humming and, like, sound coming out of data centers. He's just- Right … laughing all the way to the bank. And Trump wants him to. Trump wants him to.

BRIAN DERRICK: 14:55

That's so crazy.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 14:55

The exact IRS terminology is, like, pilot models, so they're saying that the chips they're buying from Nvidia and all of these centers are pilot models. I'm like, "I'm gonna pilot model a new life, and write it off

BRIAN DERRICK: 15:12

Okay, so we're in a new term of the Supreme Court, and we're gonna get a bunch more shitty decisions based on the cases that they're deciding to take up. But the thing that I did wanna celebrate is that this makes it pretty much impossible or extremely unlikely that Alito or Thomas decides to step down from the Supreme Court pre-November. Like, it's basically too late. The Senate's out of session after today anyway. So Trump is not getting his replacement pre-midterms. There's a chance that if we flip the Senate, they could try to do it in the lame duck, meaning between the election and when new senators are sworn in.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 15:55

Well-

BRIAN DERRICK: 15:56

But that would be a challenge and potentially unprecedented. I would need to go do some additional research. And Jon Husted, the senator from Ohio who's filling out- Mm-hmm … JD's term, doesn't have until January. He's only in his seat- He's out,

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 16:14

right?

BRIAN DERRICK: 16:14

The, the, the appointment only lasts until December 15th.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 16:17

Yeah,

BRIAN DERRICK: 16:17

see ya. And so they'll lose another seat as well, even before new senators are sworn in. So we might be, we might be in safe harbor. We might be in the period of time where if we do flip the Senate, then we might be able to block a Supreme Court replacement for Trump. I mean, the issue that we're gonna have is Fetterman. So-

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 16:41

Did you see his gaffe-

BRIAN DERRICK: 16:43

Yeah … this week? So, so bad.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 16:45

For those who missed it, he said, "I've, I've been a lifelong Republican. Oh, uh, I mean, Democrat."

BRIAN DERRICK: 16:52

He didn't even correct it. It's he, he got corrected. It was so crazy. I mean- So crazy … it's weird that we don't talk about the fact that he is suffering from brain damage. It's, it's weird to me that we don't talk about it more often. I'm like, is this like a ableism thing? Is that, like, why we're not saying this? No. But, like, we should talk about how, like, he- We're not so woke … had a stroke- Be

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 17:13

stoked out.

BRIAN DERRICK: 17:14

Yeah, he's, he's-… has brain damage, is not competent to serve at all, and is still in office. It's ver- it's weird to me that we don't just, like, say that m- more. I don't see people saying it more.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 17:26

Maybe we should add in, like, our accountability era some sort of policy that says if elected official suffers a serious medical incident that requires insert length of hospital stay here- They lose their job

BRIAN DERRICK: 17:42

This is the Tom Kean Jr. thing as well- Mm-hmm … where he was gone for four months with no explanation, not even a doctor's note, nothing. Didn't tell anyone, didn't tell… Literally didn't tell anyone, just stopped showing up to work for four months. But while he was gone, continued to sign approvals for stock transactions.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 18:05

Oh,

BRIAN DERRICK: 18:06

so he was- Um Okay. So that he could- He was fit enough … making money. Yes. Right. Mm. Correct. But couldn't attend a meeting, couldn't call in, couldn't do an interview, couldn't tell anyone where he was, but he could sign off on stock transactions. And he was gone for inpatient treatment for depression.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 18:24

Yeah.

BRIAN DERRICK: 18:24

Which- I feel like I've made my feelings about that. I think that you have the same one. It's like no tea, no shade. Great. Get treatment. Love that. You don't need to be in Congress while you do that. You actually aren't entitled to this seat regardless of what happens to you, and so I'm very sorry that you went through that, but, like, make a decision to take time away to be with your family, to get well- To get well and then run again in the future. That's like your- Yeah … you have the ability to do that, but you don't have the right to sit on a seat and just deprive almost a million people of any representation.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 18:58

Yeah. Love and light- It's a joke … with you next.

BRIAN DERRICK: 19:00

Same with Fetterman, get the fuck out.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 19:03

Yeah. Did you see the stat that our elected officials in the federal government would not meet the work requirement in the new SNAP rules? Like, they did not physically work enough this year. For those who don't know, with the big brutal bill, murder bill, MAGA murder budget, whatever you wanna call it, the thing that literally stripped children from SNAP benefits, they had a new work requirement for receiving SNAP, which said that you had to work X amount of days per year in order to receive the benefit. And the viral post is that the House has not worked enough to receive that.

BRIAN DERRICK: 19:36

It's crazy. The least productive Congress we've had in over a century. It's pretty crazy. It's what a Republican trifecta will get you.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 19:45

Mm.

BRIAN DERRICK: 19:46

Did you watch any of the Jack Smith hearings?

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 19:50

Did I? In Senate. As someone who's going to the Iowa Hawkeyes homecoming game this weekend, I sure did.

BRIAN DERRICK: 19:59

Wait, it's so funny. It's really funny.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 20:02

So for those who missed it, Jack Smith, the Republicans are trying, it's a witch hunt against him, right? Like, this is an actual witch hunt, and there was this moment that felt like truly a Veep episode where this Republican senator from Missouri, what's his name?

BRIAN DERRICK: 20:16

Eric Schmitt.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 20:17

Eric Schmitt, is trying to pin Jack Smith for perjury by saying that he's lying about where he was on a date and time, and he is trying to say that he was in Atlanta with Fani Willis, who they're trying to say is super corrupt, yada, yada, yada The senator is like, "The Hawks. Were you at the Hawks game?" And Jack's like, "Mm, no. Like I, I- no, I don't think I was there."

BRIAN DERRICK: 20:48

B- basically, he switched the Iowa Hawkeyes with the Atlanta Hawks, NBA team, college football team, and they were trying to claim that Jack Smith was in Atlanta when he was actually in Iowa. And it comes out, like, live, and he thought that he had him in this gotcha moment. They had, like, posters blown up with evidence. They, like, were laying out this whole case and timeline, whatever, and the whole thing was a mistake by some intern who prepped Eric Schmitt's remarks. As we all know, a bunch of senators on both sides of the aisle are just reading when-- in these hearings- And they don't know they're just reading- Yeah… whatever staff sort of puts in front of them as, like, "Here's your line of questioning that we prepared for this witness," whatever. He's just reading from it, and oh my gosh, I just think about the staffer who prepped it, watching it unfold live and realizing their mistake.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 21:47

Oh, yeah.

BRIAN DERRICK: 21:48

Oh my gosh. You couldn't sink-- I would be under the Earth's crust. I would… No. It's so embarrassing 'cause he really- Yeah … came at him like he was trapping him in this thing. No. Yeah. And then just wildly, wildly off the mark, Amy Klobuchar also was like, "Are you fucking kidding me with this?" You're wrong. Yeah. Like, what are you talking about?

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 22:11

She was like,"You're wrong." Yeah, and then he, like, had a meltdown and was like, "You're still a dirt bag," and, like, ran away. But to your point, we need to bring back fear. As a former Senate staffer, you were-- I'm not saying… You, you, you had a f- a fear of disappointing your principal. You had a fear of getting the facts wrong because you understood the weight and the importance of the position of being a senator and getting it right for your constituents, and making sure that the senator looked good and had fact-based information. To me, also, I saw that, I was like, that Republican in that office to not know who the Iowa Hawkeyes are? To not know, like, these, like, core college football teams? I feel like I don't even like football. I could probably name most college football teams and NFL teams because I'm an American.

BRIAN DERRICK: 22:59

The senator's also from Missouri, so I'm like-

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 23:03

You're

BRIAN DERRICK: 23:03

close to Iowa… you're-- you share a border. Like, it's right there. The reason it was particularly funny is that no one, literally no one knows who Eric Schmitt is. No one knew before this was ultra viral this week. The day before this happened, actually maybe even the morning of- There was a whole piece in Axios about how he is JD Vance's favorite for VP- … when Vance runs for president. And so this moron is literally getting, same day, is getting national spotlight for consideration- An idiot … as a potential VP pick, and makes tons of news as a literal village idiot. Hilarious.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 23:53

It's, it was mortifying. Folks should look it up. Maybe we can roll the clip here so people can hear it live.

ERIC SCHMITT: 23:58

Did you go to an NBA game between the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks on February 3rd, 2024? Let me, let me just give you a little context. Yeah. The day before, Fani Willis came clean with her affair with the prosecutor. You know the Atlanta prosecutor that was also trying to get Trump? The next day, were you in Atlanta?

JACK SMITH: 24:15

No.

ERIC SCHMITT: 24:15

What would you say if I had a series of text messages from your team that said you were in Atlanta at a Warrior Hawks game on February 3rd, 2024, the day after Willis and Wade announced their affair? Y- I don't think you know that we have this stuff. Yeah. So I'll give you a second to process it so you don't, you know, perjure yourself. You've, I think you've already perjured yourself, but, um-

JACK SMITH: 24:36

If this is the correct basketball game, I recall going to a University of Maryland basketball game where Caitlin Clark was playing. Right around that time was Maryland playing Iowa, I think February of 2024. But again, that's … You can check that out if that's what we're talking about

AMY KLOBUCHAR: 24:59

Could, could it then be that University of Iowa is the Hawkeyes? Could that be it if he was at an Iowa game? Is that correct?

JACK SMITH: 25:07

It, it was because Caitlin Clark was coming to Maryland to play.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: 25:10

That might be the confusion over the names of the team, but perhaps you should have looked at it more carefully. But it's not your time. When you are calling a witness a dirt bag-

ERIC SCHMITT: 25:18

I presented him with text

AMY KLOBUCHAR: 25:19

messages- … and

ERIC SCHMITT: 25:19

showing

AMY KLOBUCHAR: 25:20

him

ERIC SCHMITT: 25:20

these things … about him wanting to meet with people.

CHAIRMAN: 25:22

Please.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: 25:23

I'm gonna begin my questions now, but I think that people should have their facts straight- Oh, we had bonus time around here … before they accuse someone of being a dirt bag and not get the teams wrong.

ERIC SCHMITT: 25:31

I stand by that statement.

CHAIRMAN: 25:32

Uh, Klobuchar

AMY KLOBUCHAR: 25:34

has the- Teams, you have the teams wrong, sir… CHAIRMAN: Senator Klobuchar- Mr. Chairman… has the floor. Go, proceed with your questions. Thank you. From the state of Minnesota, where we have the Gophers, so there's not a lot of confusion. Hee hee hee.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 25:46

Idiot. Okay. Should we do some click bait Double Click?

BRIAN DERRICK: 25:51

Yeah.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 25:52

Okay Brian, headline one. All right."Embarrassing breach at FBI fuels fear of harm to its employees."

BRIAN DERRICK: 25:59

Wait, what i- what ha- what happened?

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 26:01

Have you not been following the FBI breach?

BRIAN DERRICK: 26:04

No.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 26:05

The huge hacking from Shiny Hunters? No. Okay, raise your hand if you've been hacked by- Shiny Hunters? I don't

BRIAN DERRICK: 26:10

even know what that is. What is that?… GLENNIS MEAGHER: by I have. This is the worst hacking of federal databases since the 2012 hacking from China. Do you remember this? Of the Office of Personnel Management? Yes. Where they took my information. I'm like, "You're not, you're not gonna get much out of me. You, you can't make me a spy." Cut to, this was what, last week? So Shiny Hunters, which is a dark web hacking group, hacked the FBI and pulled tranches of data on their employees out, and then they blackmailed the FBI and said,"We're gonna do something with this information." It's a big deal. It's like a really- Yeah … big deal. It's Double Click just 'cause, like, the incompetency of our government under- Yeah the administration of Donald Trump and his cronies is just really pathetic. And like, I would be really scared if I was working, like, the Russia desk at FBI for 30 years as, like, an anonymous employee and all of my information was leaked. And now this, you know, vigilante hunter, Shiny Hunter hacker group. They said they're not gonna release it now, saying the FBI got to them, and they, they have arrested one person in, I believe, Amsterdam. But If I was China- Yeah … I'd be like, "I'm gonna give you guys a billion dollars for that information." Right. Right. Double-click indeed, 'cause I haven't even heard about it. But I do think that the FBI, despite elected Republicans' complaints about some sort of partisan whatever the fuck, is really widely respected. I think that's like a bipartisan thing that-

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 27:48

Yeah… BRIAN DERRICK: people like the FBI. So any news about Trump undermining the ability for us to have law and order at that level is gonna resonate with conservative-leaning voters. Okay, my next one for you. Despite hosting the World Cup, the US saw a decline in overseas travel by more than two million people last year. It is now down more than 20%. And for context, tourism to the United States generates over $2 trillion a year in economic activity, and is responsible for over 3% of GDP. This is the people coming to the United States to visit.

BRIAN DERRICK: 28:33

Correct.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 28:34

Yeah, double-click. Correct. Down

BRIAN DERRICK: 28:35

20%.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 28:36

Trump, MAGA Inc., MAGA Republicans, bad business. Bad for our economy, bad for the American people It's bad. Yeah. No one… Of- why would you want to come here if you're scared you're gonna be detained at the border without cause? Like this is, these are things that are happening. Double click, Trump is bad for business. He's bad for the economy. He's bad for small businesses. He's bad for your bottom line.

BRIAN DERRICK: 29:02

This is part of the reason that the blue wave and all of the crazy positive data for Democrats seems legitimate. Like some of the things that make me believe that this is real and not just a bad polling year is because of things like this. Think about how many people are impacted by a 20% drop in tourism from overseas. Yeah. All kinds of people, all kinds of people of all different political persuasions- Yes … are directly affected by that. The same as we've talked about many times with the farmers, right? When you look at how- Mm-hmm … the ag industry has been impacted by Trump policies, uh, many Trump policies, like that's why it's real. That's why it's not a mirage of people just like registering annoyance. It is like a simmering economic rage that people- Totally … feel about having their livelihoods destroyed intentionally by Trump.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 29:53

Y- yeah, and I'm even looking at, you know, this college football tour I'm going on. Like the prices for these flights are astronomical, and this is something you've been doing with your family. Is it college football?

BRIAN DERRICK: 30:02

Did you

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 30:03

say that? Oh, yeah. That's what I'm… Yeah, I'm going to… No, I, I didn't say that, but now you know.

BRIAN DERRICK: 30:06

Wait, it started as a US Senate tour of like, "Oh, Glennis is gonna be knocking on doors," and now it's just you going to- Oh … college football games to like shotgun beers at a tailgate?

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 30:16

First of all, I will not be shotgunning a beer. I haven't done that for at least 15 years. No, it's, it's leveraging the power of college football and, uh-

BRIAN DERRICK: 30:26

Hmm. Do you have tickets to the games?

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 30:29

No. I'm not going to the games. I'm

BRIAN DERRICK: 30:31

solely

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 30:31

tailgating.

BRIAN DERRICK: 30:32

Okay. All right. That was gonna be very sus. No. If you were a Republican, you would have tickets to the games.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 30:36

Oh, 100%.

BRIAN DERRICK: 30:37

You would, you would have expensed that. And

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 30:38

I would… Yeah, it would've been a pilot program, and I would've expensed it out to the IRS. If you're a family who's gone for 20 years, and you, maybe you live, you know, a couple states over, and you've flown or you've driven, and the, the cost to attend a homecoming game has gone up 30%- Right you might not be going, and that might affect your vote.

BRIAN DERRICK: 30:57

Totally. I think it's gonna be a lot of people just who don't show up, you know?

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 31:01

Mm-hmm.

BRIAN DERRICK: 31:01

Because they're like, "Fuck this guy. He lied." A new alliance has formed between AI companies and private equity firms that is targeting seven states with data center expansions.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 31:16

I hate it. Double click. What are the states?

BRIAN DERRICK: 31:18

Double fucking click. Texas, Georgia- Mm … Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and South Carolina.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 31:29

Interesting choices

BRIAN DERRICK: 31:30

Double click. Can you- Yeah … can you quadruple click something? We're gonna quadruple click this.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 31:36

Yeah, that's absolutely crazy. We know that private equity is, like, the cause for the gentrification of, like, basically anything and everything you ever enjoyed, and this feels like the axis of evil of 2026. It's so bad. What do you… I don't- Right … even get it. So private equity is going to buy up, what, like, thousands of acres of farmland to make sure that OpenAI and, like, Palantir have as much data as humanly possible? And, uh, sorry, I could go on and on.

BRIAN DERRICK: 32:07

Here's my, here's my take on it. More data centers have been built or are, like, in the works being discussed in the whole US than, like, Burger Kings or Wendy's. Like, it's so many, and as the pushback and backlash has gotten more severe, I think that what has happened is the people with a financial interest in building more data centers, which are AI companies and- Mm-hmm … the financiers backing them, have decided they can't fight everyone all at once. So they need to define a set of battles that they think they can win and fight the war on those specific fronts, rather than trying to win over everyone everywhere all at once. It's too expensive. And so they're narrowing their focus to seven states where they can buy legislators, they can focus their political operations on ousting people who stand in their way, and buying, you'll notice based on the states, Republican- Yeah … majorities and pushing through their agendas and favorable policies to building more data centers in these states. The only one with split government is Pennsylvania. Yeah. All the other ones have unified Republican control, and they know that Republicans will do anything for cash. Yeah. Like, they, they've proven that time and time and time and time and time again. Yeah. And so that's, that is what is happening in my eyes, is they're like, "We actually can't simultaneously be battling policy in New York, and in Florida, and in Montana, and in California. Like, we have to pick. We're gonna go all in on these seven." Yeah."We're gonna change who's in charge in these places, and then we're gonna jam all of the data centers that we need into these seven states."

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 33:57

I really hate that, and I am going to read more on that, given that I'm gonna be in four of those states that you mentioned. They're building a data center outside of Iowa City. I was looking at that yesterday.

BRIAN DERRICK: 34:09

Hmm.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 34:12

I hate it. I hate it. And, and then we don't have time for this, but then you, you kind of get into like, you know, the AI leaders were at the White House this week, and they're talking about how everything needs to be regulated, and it's called regulatory control. Like, they're trying to say, "We wanna say exactly how it's gonna be regulated to make sure that we're still the leaders in this industry." It's very nefarious, and I hate it. Yeah. Double click, quadruple click.

BRIAN DERRICK: 34:35

For sure. I mean, to your point about the AI dinner or lunch that was just had at the White House- Mm-hmm it answers the question that I think a lot of, like, MAGA and MAGA curious and Trump voting non-MAGA 2024 people are asking, which is like, why is Trump doing all of this? You know what I mean? Like, there's all this stuff that he said he wouldn't do that now he's doing, stuff that he said he would do that he didn't do, and it's kind of like, why? Because he's so obviously unpopular for doing it. What is the incentive behind it? We've already talked at length for two years about the personal enrichment, right? Is like there's a huge amount of it that's done specifically to make money for himself and his family, but not all of it. It doesn't explain every decision. There's a whole nother crop of terrible decisions that he's made because of the people that he has surrounded himself with. Yeah. Because the number one criteria is undying blind loyalty- Yep … over competence or being at all expert in your field or, or anything like that. And he's just so insulated from the real world- Mm-hmm that I don't think that he knows or believes much of the truth anymore.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 35:53

Yeah.

BRIAN DERRICK: 35:54

And the lunch showed that. It was, as Axios reported, the richest table- Mm-hmm … of people ever assembled in the history of the world. Disgusting. By a lot. Yeah, that's what he's basing all of his decisions off of.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 36:09

Yeah, did you see the Alex Karp interview, like, with CNBC?

BRIAN DERRICK: 36:13

Yeah,

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 36:13

insane.

ALEX KARP: 36:13

Okay, you know what? I love you guys ask these questions. Yeah. They're stupid as [expletive] . Okay. I'll give you like- What's a good question? Okay, like- What's a good question? What do you think about AI and why do you believe it? Why is it good for America? Do you think I'm the village idiot?

CNBC REPORTER: 36:24

I'm asking you the question,

ALEX KARP: 36:24

right? Okay, exactly. So you can answer however you want to answer. So I'll give you a… I, I… No, no, I gave you a question that was- Yeah. So this is a question I could answer. All right, what's, what do you- What do you believe about AI? Let's do that. Is it, what is it? What do you believe about AI? Okay. AI has to work for the war fighter.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 36:35

It was disgusting the way he, like, got in the CNBC reporter's face. I know. I was like, I would've

BRIAN DERRICK: 36:40

physically pushed him- I would've

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 36:41

pushed him … if

BRIAN DERRICK: 36:42

I was that guy. Yeah.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 36:43

I sent to our group chat, "I've never seen a more punchable face." Like, this guy… I, they, they think that they're gods. It's, it's really disturbing. Bernie Sanders has, has talked about a, a sovereign wealth fund around AI, and I'm, like, fully for that. This is our intelligence, our academics' writings, like, our brains that are being extracted for these AI machines. We're watching our future be stripped from us and our economic stability being stripped from us as Americans in real time.

BRIAN DERRICK: 37:15

Yeah, hundo. Okay, well, I do wanna give everyone something actionable that they can be doing because just to the point of why the AI Private Equity Alliance is focused on these seven states, we need more Dems in office who are gonna fight back against these things, particularly at the state level, which is why our Oath candidate of the week is Jacob Weinberg, who's running for the Arizona House of Representatives. It is identified by Oath as the tipping point seat. So if we win this race and the races that are more Democratic than it, we will retake the Arizona House of Representatives, pushing us one step closer to unified government there, hopefully in November. And he's also just a really cool guy. When I was looking through which races from Arizona I would wanna highlight, he's a veteran. He was in the Army. He was a parachutist. I'm like, "Okay, work." He climbed Kilimanjaro, which is also a reason that he stuck out to me personally and I was vibing with. And he's a young, new voice for Arizona, and he seems like a very chill dude that you would totally want to shotgun a beer with. You should see if he's available on your college football tour wh- while you're tailgating. Um- Oh, I'm not

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 38:29

gonna be at ASU, unfortunately.

BRIAN DERRICK: 38:32

If you're looking for something you can actually do about all this stuff that's really pissing you off, he's an amazing candidate to go support right now.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 38:38

Great.

BRIAN DERRICK: 38:39

For our Good Vibe Goodbye this week- … we have an Avengers moment.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 38:46

Oh, okay.

BRIAN DERRICK: 38:48

In Nevada, we have a very competitive governor's race. There's a Republican incumbent, Joe Lombardo.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 38:56

Boo.

BRIAN DERRICK: 38:57

We hate. We hate. We

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 38:59

hate.

BRIAN DERRICK: 39:00

Who is running a-- He's the guy for people, just for people to remember, that said Trump needs to give money to his billionaire friends to keep them happy so that they'll create jobs for people, as if that's how the economy works. Um, and he's running against Aaron Ford. Trickle

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 39:15

down. Trickle

BRIAN DERRICK: 39:16

down. Nevada's… Exactly. Nevada's current attorney general, and it's a really tough race. We've been recommending Aaron Ford. We've talked about him on the pod all cycle. Yeah. He's been chronically underfunded, and we're getting this last-minute surge effort to try to put him over the line because right now it's looking tough. And so in Nevada- In the next, like week and a half, we have Elissa Slotkin, Pete Buttigieg, Gretchen Whitmer, Mark Kelly, Rahm Emanuel, Andy Beshear, Ro Khanna.

It is literally an Avengers: 39:51

Endgame moment of a- every nationally recognized, like, next gen Democrat all- Yeah … swarming to the state in the same 10-day period to stump and rally for Aaron Ford, to try and get him over the line as governor. So that is our good vibe of the week is teamwork.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 40:14

And I was, like envisioning in my head, like a spin board of all the different faces, and it's like, "Okay, who are we landing on?" And a question for you, do they feel like the progressive caucus or, like an AOC is not helpful?

BRIAN DERRICK: 40:25

I mean, Ro Khanna represents that wing. Oh,

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 40:26

Ro Khanna. Sorry. Yeah. I missed R- sorry, Ro. Didn't see you there.

BRIAN DERRICK: 40:31

Was it- I don't know if AOC is gonna show up or not, but she wasn't included in the article.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 40:34

Oof. It's crazy that, like Ro Khanna and Rahm Emanuel are in- Right,

BRIAN DERRICK: 40:38

right… GLENNIS MEAGHER: the same. Totally.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 40:41

Okay. I

BRIAN DERRICK: 40:42

honestly- Go, go, Power Rangers.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 40:44

Period. Yes. We need- Or

BRIAN DERRICK: 40:45

like

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 40:45

Captain Planet

BRIAN DERRICK: 40:46

all the help that we can get from lefty lefties to reluctant center right-

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 40:53

Yeah… BRIAN DERRICK: now Democrats. We're gonna need them all. Yeah, and I'll just add, we need all the help that we can get, period. So if you are listening to Vibes Only, you're still with us at this, like good vibe goodbye, we need you to text your friends and your family. Make sure they have a voting plan. Someone is more likely to go vote if someone personally reaches out to them to go vote. So like we said, we're not pollsters. We're just on the vibe. The vibes are text your friends, make a voting plan, make sure they know who they're voting for. Everyone needs to do everything they can if we want to win in November.

BRIAN DERRICK: 41:27

Hell yeah. Hell yeah. All right, guys, thank you for joining us this week. We will be back next week. Same time, same place, same platform to check the vibes of the midterm elections. You don't wanna miss it. Make sure you're subscribed, like, comment, share. Make sure you're following us on Instagram, and we'll see you guys next week.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 41:46

Go Hawks.

BRIAN DERRICK: 41:49

Hawkeyes.

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 41:49

I'm gonna just do a shout-out to the team. No, they, they say Hawks. They don't even say Eyes.

BRIAN DERRICK: 41:53

Oh, who knew? Who knew?

GLENNIS MEAGHER: 41:54

Who knew?