Ring of Fire Radio with Farron Cousins

This week on Ring of Fire! Donald Trump proudly proclaimed victory this week as the stock market continued to nosedive. Trump claimed on Truth Social that everything was going great and that prices for consumers were all dropping, which is the complete opposite of what’s actually happening across the country. It is obvious that he is attempting to do damage control, but it isn’t working. The Trump administration has maintained that the people they’ve deported to the El Salvadorian prison were all violent criminals that were so dangerous that they had to be sent away immediately. But a 60 Minutes investigation found that at least 75% of the people deported have NO criminal records, completely blowing up the talking points of the administration. Russian state media is laughing at the United States after Donald Trump tanked the economy and destroyed global trust in the US’ economic system. In fact, they went as far as to say that there should be statues built of Trump for the damage that he’s done to our country. This is a country that clearly hates us and thinks Trump is a fool, but that hasn’t stopped Trump from giving them everything they’ve ever wanted. And Elon Musk is continuing to escalate his feud with top Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, saying that he is a “moron” who is “dumber than a sack of bricks.” Elon also called out Navarro for inventing a fictional “expert” to justify his obsession with tariffs. Musk isn’t wrong about those parts, but he’s also being dishonest with people about the true nature of Tesla vehicles and the impact of the tariffs on his businesses. All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! In an interview published late last week by Jewish Insider, SEVEN Republican Senators went after Vice President JD Vance for trying to block Donald Trump’s military attack in Yemen, which was revealed during the Signal chat saga. One Republican Senator went as far as to say that Trump likely has buyer’s remorse about picking Vance as his running mate and as the heir apparent to the MAGA movement. Current and former pilots from the US military are speaking out about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his reckless behavior exposed through the Signalgate scandal. These pilots say that Hegseth’s recklessness could get pilots (and other members of the military) killed, and they say that there’s no place in the military for negligence of this caliber. A new poll shows that nearly three-quarters of Americans believe that the Signal Gate Controversy is a big deal. What makes the poll more interesting is that even a majority of Republicans believe that it is a big deal, and a larger share of Americans think this is a problem compared to those who thought Hillary Clinton’s “email scandal” was a problem. This is now a major problem for Donald Trump and Republicans, and it is up to Democrats to make sure that the public doesn’t forget and that those responsible are held accountable. All that, and so much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! The White House is in full panic mode after a reporter for The Atlantic was included on a private group chat that laid out war plans for last week’s attack in Yemen. The controversial move, and the possibly illegal decision to use a private messaging app for confidential information, has left many calling for mass firings or resignations on top of investigations, which has sent the Trump administration into a tailspin as the attempt to defend the indefensible. Vice President JD Vance could have some big problems ahead of him after it was revealed that he tried to block Donald Trump’s attack in Yemen last week. This information was apparently not known by Trump, as he wasn’t included on the text message chain that was accidentally sent to a reporter. But now the truth is out that Vance tried to undermine his boss, which was actually a GOOD thing. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that her department was going to begin the process of eliminating FEMA, as Donald Trump has suggested multiple times. It is impossible to believe that they don’t know how devastating this is going to be for Red States, as the top three recipients of FEMA aide are all deep red, Republican-controlled areas. But the administration is moving forward anyway, and as usual, their own voters will suffer the most. All that, and so much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! Democrats in Congress have decided to go on a nationwide blitz of town halls in districts controlled by Republicans, since Republicans are refusing to talk to their constituents. And the move couldn’t come at a better time for Democrats, as the latest polls show that the Democrats have a lower approval rating than at any other point in history. Both parties are getting hammered in polls, and Democrats have a chance to get the upper hand with these town halls. Sympathy is in short supply today for angry and upset Trump voters that are getting exactly what he said he was going to do. The very same farmers that overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump in the last 3 elections are now crying about how his tariffs are destroying their businesses, and some are even saying “we didn’t vote for this.” YES, you did, and we all tried to warn you. But their pains get spread around the entire country, so they aren’t as easy to dismiss. A very confused Alina Habba said that it was “unthinkable” that a judge could overrule Donald Trump’s executive orders. During an appearance on Fox News this week, the alleged lawyer claimed that Trump has the authority to basically do whatever he wants via executive order, specifically with regards to invoking the Alien Enemies Act, and said that judges shouldn’t even be allowed to disagree with him. All that, and so much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! Donald Trump is putting his own reputation on the line with his latest defense and plea to help Elon Musk. After Tesla suffered major losses in the market early this week, Trump got on Truth Social to beg Republicans to help Elon in any way they can (probably by purchasing Tesla vehicles or stock,) and then he claimed that “The Left” is engaging in “illegal” boycotts of Musk’s products. Boycotts are in no way illegal, and Musk is suffering from his own arrogance. Donald Trump appeared to suffer another mental breakdown on Tuesday morning as he announced that he would be implementing an additional 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum products coming from Canada, while then suggesting that the tariffs could be increased to as much as 50%. He THEN said that all of this would go away if Canada would just agree to become the 51st state of the United States, something that isn’t even possible. Fox News is desperate to spin the stock market crash from Monday in any way they can, so they decided to tell America that this was actually a GOOD thing, with one host going as far as to say that he’s actually glad that this happened. There is no positive from this, and it isn’t just the market “correcting itself” – it was a massive crash caused by statements that Trump made over the weekend about a possible recession. All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced immediate retaliatory tariffs against the United States following the tariffs that Trump put in place on Tuesday of this week. The Canadian tariffs will cover roughly $155 billion worth of goods coming from our country, and that’s just the beginning. Canada also has the ability to completely cut off most of our oil supply as well as the ability to cut power to millions of homes in the United States, which they are also threatening to do. Donald Trump has now cancelled the 1st Amendment on college campuses across the country by proclaiming on Truth Social that the government would immediately stop funding any university that allowed an “illegal protest” to take place, and the students would be expelled and possibly deported if they participated in one of these “illegal” events. Protests in this country are absolutely not illegal, thanks to the 1stAmendment, and Trump is setting up a Constitutional showdown that could severely destroy Freedom of Speech in this country. Minnesota Governor, and former Vice Presidential candidate, Tim Walz has told constituents in his state that if their Republican Representatives aren’t brave enough to talk to them, then he will be more than happy to come and talk. The NRCC has officially told Republicans to STOP doing town hall events, leaving voters with no way to air their grievances about the Party’s decisions. Walz is showing what leadership looks like, and this is EXACTLY what the entire Democratic Party needs to be doing right now. All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! Donald Trump has picked conspiracy-peddling podcaster Dan Bongino to serve as the Deputy Director of the FBI immediately under Kash Patel. Bongino has no FBI experience, but he has plenty of experience trying to “own the libs” on social media while also spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and COVID. His COVID lies were so bad that he was actually banned from YouTube several years ago, and now he brings his “I hate the left” mentality to the top law enforcement agency in the country. A federal court ordered Donald Trump to immediately pause his pause on federal funding, but that order doesn’t appear to have had any impact on Trump’s decisions. The administration has continued to halt funding for National Institute of Health’s medical research development, meaning that new, potentially life-saving treatments are no longer being funded. This decision along could cost countless lives across the globe. A hunting pal of Donald Trump, Jr. has been installed as the acting deputy commissioner for human foods at the FDA. The man, Kyle Diamantas, has been a hunting partner of Junior for years, and his friendship is being rewarded with a position that he is grossly unqualified to hold. Diamantas is also a lawyer who has spent his career representing major food companies – the same companies he’ll now be “trusted” to regulate. Donald Trump appeared to lose his mind this week in a post on Truth Social where he threatened to start suing people who write mean books about him. He then went a step further and suggested that he may start suing any writer or commentator that talks bad about him, and THEN went on to suggest that maybe he’ll change libel laws to make that easier to do. This is fascism at work. All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! Over the past few days, Elon Musk – a man that was neither elected to serve in the government nor confirmed by a governing body – has made sweeping changes to the federal government, consolidating it under his control. He has locked civil servants out of their computer systems at some departments; the NTSB has announced that they will only be using Musk’s platform to make official announcements; And he has gained access to personal information, including pay, from the Treasury. This is both completely unprecedented and wildly dangerous. The Trump Administration authorized the release of billions of gallons of water onto California from several dams in order to fight the fires that have already bee declared “100% contained.” This decision was not only dangerous for the state – one official said that it nearly flooded them – but it also screws over farmers. That water was meant for summer crops, and now it is gone, which is going to wreak havoc on food availability and prices in just a few months. Donald Trump’s response to the deadly plane crash in Washington, D.C. last week is all the proof you need to know that he is insane. He blamed people with disabilities, “diversity” hires, people with missing limbs, and even “dwarfism” for the disaster, none of which played a role in what happened. But this type of response cannot be tolerated, normalized, or ignored. The man is mentally unwell. All that, and so much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! According to award-winning economist and columnist Paul Krugman, Donald Trump is creating a massive economic disaster for himself that he has no idea how to handle. Specifically, Krugman is warning about the looming economic crisis from Trump’s mass deportations which will likely send inflation and consumer prices back up. On top of that, we’re already seeing labor shortages spring up from the moves, so the economic impacts are already upon us. Following the late-evening confirmation of Pete Hegseth this past Friday, Donald Trump took to Truth Social to rehash one of his “greatest hits” by declaring certain media outlets to be “the enemy of the people.” But this time he took things a step further, and specifically mentioned MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow by name. Every time Trump does this, he puts a target on someone’s back, and we’ve seen his crazed supporters attempt violence from these “enemy of the people” comments in the past. Tom Homan, Donald Trump’s new “border czar,” says that he is considering conducting immigrants raids at schools in order to round up students and deport them. Homan had the audacity to say that these because these people “broke the law”, they shouldn’t be allowed in at all. This is coming from a man that is working for a convicted felon. All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! Donald Trump and his Republican allies have been trashing Bishop Mariann Budde all week after she called out his anti-Christian immigration policies at a Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday, and now a whole new group of Bishops is jumping in to pile on Trump’s plans. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter criticizing Trump’s deportation plans and called for mercy and compassion, just like the Bible calls for. Even when Republicans win, Steve Bannon can’t stop spreading conspiracy theories. As Donald Trump was set to be sworn in on Monday, Steve Bannon was on the scene spreading conspiracies about why the inauguration was moved indoors. According to Bannon, it wasn’t because the weather was too harsh to safely conduct the ceremony outside – instead, it was part of a plot to “nullify” Trump, which he didn’t elaborate on at all. In a post on Truth Social this week, Donald Trump said that MSNBC (or MSDNC, as he calls it) “shouldn’t even have a right to broadcast” in the United States, suggesting he could take their license away. This is the man that conservatives are heralding as the guy who is “saving free speech” and “doing away with censorship,” as The New York Post suggested this week. And Donald Trump spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, marking his first international appearance as the new President of the United States. And to absolutely no one’s surprise, he made a complete fool of himself and the country. He made countless false claims that were immediately called out by both US media and international outlets, which obviously is going to set the tone for the next 4 years. All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! Marjorie Taylor Greene is back at it with her weather manipulation conspiracies, this time suggesting that the government should simply create rain by “cloud seeding” and then the problem of the California fires would be solved. It isn’t just that she’s crazy, it’s that she is so arrogant in her insanity to say something so crazy and yet so matter-of-factly. Republican politicians in both the House and Senate are threatening to withhold disaster aid to the victims of the California fires unless they agree to “certain concessions.” This is absolutely reprehensible, and it isn’t something that would ever happen to red states during disasters, regardless of which Party controlled the government. But this is how things work when a Blue State needs help. MAGA faithful are finding out very quickly that they are part of the actual club. Elon Musk continues to censor and silence his conservative critics on Twitter (X), and the MAGA crowd is furious that the “free speech absolutist” turned out to be a big fat liar on the issue of censorship. But there is little they can do about it since he owns the platform and can make the rules himself – just like conservatives do with politics. All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Fox News this past weekend that he and his fellow Republicans in the House are aiming to push through a single bill that contains ALL of Donald Trump’s legislative priorities by Memorial Day, instead of passing multiple separate bills. This seems like an unusual move for someone like Johnson, and that’s because it isn’t his idea at all – It all came from Trump who is demanding that Republicans do it this way. This is a stupid plan that is destined to fail. President Biden now has less than 2 weeks in office, and he’s spent the past few days signing legislation and orders designed to help protect Americans from Donald Trump. One of the biggest achievements was the signing of legislation to increase Social Security payments to more than 3 million recipients, and that was followed by an order that forbids oil drilling along the coasts of the country. Trump ally Steve Bannon celebrated the anniversary of the Capitol Riot on Monday by proudly proclaiming “we almost pulled it off!” Bannon’s comments make it clear that there is absolutely no remorse for what happened that day – including the deaths – and that they would gladly do it again if they ever felt the need. All that, and so much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! Donald Trump has filed a brief with the Supreme Court calling for a stop to the banning of TikTok, but legal experts can’t seem to make sense of what he filed. In fact, the filing is so incomprehensible that they aren’t even sure what kind of filing it is supposed to be. One attorney compared it to the movie “Legally Blonde,” while also pointing out that the filing is nothing more than Trump bragging about winning the election. Steve Bannon has been one of the loudest voices in the ongoing MAGA civil war, but he insisted this week that there isn’t actually a civil war happening with Trump’s allies and supporters because the other side (Elon Musk) isn’t “tough enough” to actually fight back. As evidence, Bannon pointed to the fact that Musk has already backed down on his vow to “go to war” on the issue of the H-1B visas by now saying that maybe they should be reformed. Musk is a lot of things, but a fighter isn’t one of them. A Republican state lawmaker named Danielle Gallant from Nevada told a reporter this week that Elon Musk has now made it “cool” to be a Republican, going as far as claiming that it is now “punk rock” to be in the GOP. These people have absolutely no clue what it means to be counterculture as they suck up to the richest man on the planet – who also happens to be the biggest dork in the world. All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! As he prepares to leave the Senate, and possibly American politics as a whole, Republican Senator Mitt Romney offered a warning to America: You don’t get to complain if Trump does what he said he will do. There is a lot of apprehension around the country right now as people reel from the thought of Trump’s economic policies, but Romney reminded us that Trump was very clear about what he was going to do, so we have no rooms to complain. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders urged President Biden to seriously consider issuing some preemptive pardons to the people that Donald Trump is threatening to go after once he returns to office. Sanders made the comments during an appearance on CNN this past Sunday, while adding that Trump’s rhetoric is making him sound like a “tinpot dictator.” Preemptive pardons could be risky, but it may be a risk worth taking. Judge Juan Merchan this week made the decision that Presidential immunity does NOT cover the crimes for which Donald Trump was convicted in New York. The day after the decision, Trump got on Truth Social and had the meltdown of all meltdowns, ranting that the judge was “psychotic” and throwing a massive tantrum. But Merchan made the right call on this matter. Marjorie Taylor Greene managed to unite both the Right and the Left this week when they joined forces to ridicule her relentlessly after she went full anti-vaxxer on Twitter. Greene proclaimed that she fully believes that vaccines cause autism in spite of the mountain of evidence that has not once found a single link between the two. She even earned a massive fact check from Twitter (X) itself on top of the ridicule that she experienced. All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! Donald Trump has finally announced where his failed attorney Alina Habba is going to land in his new administration, and she will be serving as the new Counselor to the President. This position was previously held by Kellyanne Conway, meaning that Habba has officially become the new Kellyanne. Her job, just like Conway’s, will be to give Trump advice but most importantly to go out and do interviews about how awesome he is. During his interview with Meet The Press on Sunday, Donald Trump served up an incomprehensible word salad where he appeared to imply that he invented the word “groceries.” He was asked about prices and inflation, and instead of giving a coherent answer, he went on a long rant about “groceries” and then pivoted to how amazing tariffs are – but he still wouldn’t say that consumers will NOT pay higher prices under his policies. All hell broke loose during a recent city council meeting in the small town of Middleton, Ohio, when JD Vance’s mother demanded that the city honor her son and recognize the “role” that he played in Donald Trump’s reelection. The city plans to honor him, but they don’t want to rush to any conclusions just yet because he hasn’t even been sworn in. This is now the second time in as many weeks that a Republican had his mommy go out and advocate on his behalf. All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! A new piece from The New Yorker has revealed some shocking allegations about Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth. The report, which was based on a whistleblower’s report from Hegseth’s time in the military, claims that Hegseth was frequently intoxicated, made comments like “kill all Muslims,” and had complaints about misogynistic behavior. If these allegations are true, Senators need to make it clear right now that they won’t vote to confirm him. Donald Trump has issued a strong statement AGAINST President Biden’s pardon for his son, Hunter, even though Trump said that he was open to giving Biden’s son a pardon just a few months ago. The media played right into Trump’s “disgust,” and they are going to be the ones that weaponize the pardon long before Trump even has the chance to do so. Republican Congressman James Comer has spent the past 2 years investigating Hunter Biden to no avail, and now he’s apoplectic that Hunter has received a pardon from his father. Comer posted a scathing message on social media, accusing the President of lying for years about pardoning his son. The rest of the MAGA world is also furious, but it doesn’t matter. This whole thing is only a shock to people who have their fingers far removed from the pulse of American politics. Ted Cruz has emerged as one of the biggest butt-kissers of Donald Trump, and he’s apparently refusing to let anyone else take that mantle away from him. During an interview this week, the irony-proof Cruz actually criticized the Morning Joe crew on MSNBC for not just kissing up to Trump, but “kissing even lower” than anyone else. But the crude sexual innuendo completely ignores Cruz’s own history. All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! It’s Thanksgiving week, so we’re doing another Ring of Fire Q&A session featuring questions from our YouTube Community members. Will Trump make it to the end of his term? How did Harris lose to Trump? Why won’t Farron run for public office? All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! According to “Trump whisperer” Maggie Haberman, Donald Trump isn’t harboring any delusions about Matt Gaetz’s chances of being confirmed as Attorney General, and she claims that he’s admitted in private that the odds are below 50% right now. But he’s not giving up, according to Haberman, and he is on the phone with Republican senators constantly begging them to get Gaetz through. A federal judge appointed by Donald Trump has blocked an overtime pay rule from the Biden Administration that would have guaranteed overtime pay for more than 4 million salaried workers across the country – and millions more would have been eligible next year. The rule has been stalled as employers were trying to prevent having to pay workers for their time, and now millions of people will be forced to work longer hours without any overtime. Members of the Trump transition team are currently discussing plans with Republican members of Congress to expand the 2017 tax cut package that mostly went to wealthy Americans. In order to pay for this extension, they are discussing cuts to social safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP benefits. To put that another way – They are going to take money AWAY from poor people so that they can give themselves and their donors a fat tax break. Marjorie Taylor Greene is bitter about the election for some reason, and she’s now at the point of saying that Democratic governors are possibly committing “treason” by enacting plans to protect their states from Trump’s policies. She said that she’s still open to the idea of a “national divorce,” which she claims would be horrible for Blue States. The stats don’t back that up, and Red States would be the ones to suffer the most. All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire! There are still a few House races that have yet to be called, but Republicans have already secured enough wins to maintain a majority of seats in the US House. With their flipping of the Senate and the White House, along with their control over the Supreme Court, this means that Republicans will control EVERY single branch of the federal government for at least the next two years. According to Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, Donald Trump may already be breaking the law by refusing to sign an ethics pledge that was part of a legislative effort that Warren herself got through the Senate. The pledge is required by law, and it is intended to prevent conflicts of interest and profiteering off the presidency, something that became a hallmark of Trump’s first term in office. With every pick announced for Donald Trump’s cabinet, a lot of people are thinking “it can’t get any worse than that.” And then the next pick comes along shattering that idea. Trump is managing to pick worse and worse people with each passing day, from a Fox News host that was labeled an extremist to the world’s richest and most immature man, Trump’s picks are scraping the absolute bottom of the barrel. All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast.

This week on Ring of Fire! Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, shocking most of the country by tearing down the “Blue Wall” that was supposed to keep him from returning to power. But unlike 2016, Trump actually won the popular vote (as of right now) and he officially got his mandate to return to power. To make things worse, Republicans also retook control of the Senate, giving Trump a blank check on judicial appointments. From Elon Musk to Alina Habba, some of the dumbest and biggest crackpots in the country are going to wield a lot of power. In fact, Trump made sure to point that out during his victory speech on Tuesday evening. This is going to be a rough time for people with common sense, but this is what the people voted for. Donald Trump has been far more incoherent and unintelligible during this year’s campaign, and now that he’s heading back to The White House, one has to wonder what is going to happen to his mental faculties. The man was already unstable, but his increasing cognitive decline is going to present very real problems that he’s not prepared to face – and those around him aren’t prepared to handle. This is going to be rough. All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!