Latest / INSIGHT TODAY / Dem Senator TORCHES Trump's tax-funded propaganda ‘clearly political’

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Dem Senator TORCHES Trump's tax-funded propaganda ‘clearly political’ · INSIGHT TODAY

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So Donald Trump's use of taxpayer dollars to air propaganda
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: ads promoting himself isn't sitting well on Capitol Hill, even
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: with some Republicans.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: I just think it creates a bad taste in people's
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: mouth that their tax dollars may be misused for political purposes.
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: It's just not how we should be spending taxpayer dollars.
• 0:22
  Speaker 4: I don't think any public official should spend public money
• 0:27
  Speaker 4: on private property ads for themselves.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: In a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan says the ads have no, quote,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: clear official government purpose, adding, quote, this taxpayer funded political
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: advertisement serves as yet another troubling example of President Trump's
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: growing list of expensive vanity projects, end quote. Senator Maggie
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Hassan of New Hampshire joins us now.
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: Senator Hassett, thank you so much for coming on the program.
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: We appreciate it. In your letter, you also write it's
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: likely illegal that a general propaganda effort designed to aid a.
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: Political party or candidates.
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: That's what you feel that these ads by Donald Trump are.
• 1:16
  Speaker 4: You know, we know it's his intention and the administration's
• 1:19
  Speaker 4: intention to put this ad on our network. It's already
• 1:23
  Speaker 4: happened a little bit in some of the local ad
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: buys that we don't have direct knowledge.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: Of and control.
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: But it's one of these interesting juxtapositions, because here we
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: are fighting a battle for the First Amendment. And we
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: are a lot less afraid of Donald Trump than he
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: is of us. And since he's saying, hey. You have
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: the ad.
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: Put it on. Let's see it.
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: We can talk about it. We can discuss it. We
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: can have journalistic conversations about it. But what can be
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: done so that media companies are not in this position
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: where something that is government funded propaganda is put out
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: there and not stopped even before it comes out of
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: the White House?
• 1:59
  Speaker 5: Well, look, the reality is that what's at issue here
• 2:03
  Speaker 5: is that Donald Trump is using taxpayer dollars to promote himself.
• 2:07
  Speaker 5: It's another piece of his vanity project, as I mentioned
• 2:11
  Speaker 5: in the letter. But he is now using the reporting
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: is 20 million dollars to promote himself publicly. and issue
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: propaganda on this station and many others at a time
• 2:25
  Speaker 5: when Americans can't afford to make ends meet. You know,
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: when I did an analysis of some of the other
• 2:32
  Speaker 5: vanity projects, the ballroom, the reflecting pool, a couple others,
• 2:36
  Speaker 5: it adds up.
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: To about $ 1. 8 billion. That would pay for 600 school lunches.
• 2:41
  Speaker 5: That would pay for the electric bills for 12 million
• 2:45
  Speaker 5: Americans for a month, even with the sky-high electricity prices
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: that people are seeing right now. And yet this president
• 2:53
  Speaker 5: is so focused on himself that he uses taxpayer dollars
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: pulled out of the Department of Homeland Security to pay
• 3:02
  Speaker 5: for these propaganda ads. To your point, Luke, the First
• 3:07
  Speaker 5: Amendment It's something we all respect. And if Donald Trump
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: wants to use his wealth and riches or that of
• 3:12
  Speaker 5: his billionaire buddies to fund this, that is his right.
• 3:15
  Speaker 5: But my constituents know a political ad when they see it.
• 3:18
  Speaker 5: This is a political ad.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I just want to read on the
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: congressional restrictions of propaganda, Senator, for the folks at home.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: No part of any appropriation contained in this act shall
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: be used for publicity or propaganda purposes not authorized by
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: the Congress. It's from the 2026 Consolidated Appropriations Act. In
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: the letter you wrote, you asked a series of questions
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: to the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles. Have
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: you heard any response to the letter from the chief
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: of staff's office or anyone at the White House?
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: Here's a shocker.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: No.
• 3:55
  Speaker 5: I mean, look, one of the reasons I asked those
• 3:59
  Speaker 5: questions is I wanted to know what account the money
• 4:01
  Speaker 5: was coming from. I also wanted to know what other
• 4:05
  Speaker 5: White House staff, people who are paid for by taxpayers,
• 4:10
  Speaker 5: are spending their time.
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: Doing these ads. The president, by all reporting, is directing
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: a lot of these ads.
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: They're all spending their time on this rather than an
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: agenda that would lower people's costs and help them afford
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: health care or child care or groceries or gas. People
• 4:27
  Speaker 5: have spent four thousand two hundred dollars more. The average
• 4:30
  Speaker 5: household in America has spent forty two hundred dollars more
• 4:33
  Speaker 5: on goods and services since Donald Trump became president. They've
• 4:37
  Speaker 5: spent I think the latest number is around 90 billion
• 4:41
  Speaker 5: dollars more on gasoline since the beginning of the war.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: And the latest ad, by the way, promotes the war.
• 4:48
  Speaker 5: So, look, this is about taxpayer dollars being used for
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: clearly political purposes. It's also about the fact that this
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: is an administration that has no interest in actually addressing.
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: The issues that the American people are facing right now.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: I've got one follow up, Senator. So let's just say
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: Democrats take back the United States Congress, the House and
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: the Senate. What would the penalty be in a democratically
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: run and if the Democrats are in control of the
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Senate or if if the government just refuses not to
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: answer questions? I understand by now you all are in
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: the minority. But if you are in the majority, what
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: would the penalty be for this? Because I think it's crazy.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: They think they can just not answer you.
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: I think it's outrageous.
• 5:29
  Speaker 5: This is one of multiple letters or inquiries or requests
• 5:34
  Speaker 5: for testimony that Democrats make on a regular basis about
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: what this administration is doing. And they don't respond or
• 5:40
  Speaker 5: they say they won't come or they delay and the
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: majority lets them get away with it. So, look, if
• 5:45
  Speaker 5: we are in the majority, we will, among other things,
• 5:48
  Speaker 5: have subpoena power, which requires people to appear before us,
• 5:52
  Speaker 5: requires the production of documents.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: But I also want to be really clear.
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  Speaker 5: What we also have to do is make sure that
• 5:59
  Speaker 5: we are focused on lowering people's costs, on being accountable
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: to the American people about their most pressing priorities. Accountability
• 6:08
  Speaker 5: is a very important part of democratic government, of the
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: American way, right?
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: But having said that, we.
• 6:16
  Speaker 5: Need to balance the need to hold people accountable with
• 6:20
  Speaker 5: the urgency of of what constituents are going through right now.
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: So that means really focusing on lowering costs, getting rid
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: of these tariffs if we can, stopping the war, doing
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: everything we can to help people stretch their dollars and
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: to take steps towards an economy that will work for everybody,
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: and then eventually get, with I hope a Democratic president,
• 6:44
  Speaker 5: the opportunity to really get in there and right-size this
• 6:50
  Speaker 5: economy and make sure it works for average Americans.
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: Hey, it's Rachel.
• 6:54
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• 6:56
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• 6:57
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• 7:00
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• 7:12
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• 7:14
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• 7:19
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