GOP Panics OVER IMPEACHMENTS as MIDTERM SEASON STARTS!!!

Who speaks in this episode?

• Colette Dalawala (Guest)
• Dr. Nicole Sapphire (Referenced expert (media contributor))

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Spartanberg, Donald Trump, Dr. Nicole Sapphire
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Donald Trump, Stand Up for Science, Colette Dalawala
3. 9:00 – 12:00: Stand Up for Science
4. 15:00 – 15:30: Stand Up for Science, Colette Dalawala

Notable quotes from "GOP Panics OVER IMPEACHMENTS as MIDTERM SEASON STARTS!!!"

• Here, play this clip. More than 250 residents in Spartanberg County, South Carolina are in quarantine due to a major measles outbreak. The state's Department of Health confirming 111.

  about Spartanberg · at 1:20

• Why? Why would you do that? You don't know anything about this. But you remember Donald Trump gave a press conference where he said all hepatitis B is sexually transmitted…

  about Donald Trump · at 2:30

• All this cuz I know there's so much news and information coming our way, but you all remember when the former top CDC officials testified before the Senate.

  about CDC · at 4:06

• Now I want to bring in Colette Dalawala the CEO of Stand Up for Science and your group Stand Up for Science has called for the impeachment of RFK Jr. and it's based on a pretty…

  about Stand Up for Science · at 5:14

• Top people, and so there's not only zero, not see, not only is there zero preparation now for what happens when these things happen, they're affirmatively like the spreaders.…

  about HHS · at 7:52

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Donald Trump — Person · Referenced political figure (criticized) · 2 mentions · first at 2:34
  Portrayed as driving or enabling public-health misinformation and policy decisions alleged to worsen outbreaks and undermine health infrastructure.
• Colette Dalawala — Person · Main guest · 2 mentions · first at 5:14
  Introduced as CEO of Stand Up for Science, explaining the group’s rationale and tactics for urging impeachment and mobilizing public action around science and public health.
  Now I want to bring in Colette Dalawala the CEO of Stand Up for Science and your group Stand Up for Science has called for the impeachment of RFK Jr. and it's based on a pretty simple theory. It's.
• Dr. Nicole Sapphire — Person · Referenced expert (media contributor) · 1 mention · first at 1:45
  Appears via a Fox News clip as a medical contributor discussing a measles outbreak; used by the host to frame criticism of misinformation and media narratives.
  Measles surge this year with 1,912 cases so far, a more than 14,000% increase from 2020. Fox News medical contributor Dr. Nicole Sapphire joins us now with the latest. Good morning to you, Dr. Sapphire.

Companies & orgs

• Stand Up for Science — Company · Business focus · 4 mentions · first at 5:16
  Advocacy group calling for impeachment based on public health policies leading to deaths
• CDC — Company · Referenced expert · 2 mentions
  Criticized for its response to measles outbreak and misinformation under Trump's administration
• HHS — Company · Referenced expert · 2 mentions
  Criticized for its handling of the measles outbreak and spreading misinformation

Places & events

• Spartanberg — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at 1:23
  Location of a major measles outbreak discussed in the episode

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 the grounds for impeachment, death, killing people. I don't think we fully appreciate that these Trump regime unlawful policies have already killed hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands if you factor in the destruction of US aid. I mean, could we be talking even more than hundreds of thousands people who have actually died as a direct result of Trump regime policies? And I know it it's in such large numbers that it doesn't really get that much attention. But you know when there are people talking about what do you impeach the guy for? And we're hearing from a lot of groups that are saying the impeachments should begin. People are saying look his policies has resulted in killing people and I know in all of the craziness of Trump posting this and Trump posting that it's hard to keep up with everything especially when it comes to like the health space. But like just let's just talk about that for a moment.

0:54 We can talk about anything, but just talk about like and and here's what I'll do. I'll pull back for a second and and just because I'm like, well, Ben, your might is touch and people say you're liberal and this is a progressive. Well, okay, let me play what Fox is saying then about uh the rising cases of measles. That's up 14,000% in the past year as a result of Trump policy and RFK policy or lack of policy. Here, play this clip. More than 250 residents in Spartanberg County, South Carolina are in quarantine due to a major measles outbreak. The state's Department of Health confirming 111 active cases. This marks the second US measles surge this year with 1,912 cases so far, a more than 14,000% increase from 2020. Fox News medical contributor Dr. Nicole Sapphire joins us now with the latest. Good morning to you, Dr. Sapphire.

1:50 Good morning, Ansley. Good morning. What is causing all of this? This is where I was born in Spartanberg. This is very concerning.

1:56 You you you you are causing you spreading lies and disinformation and telling people not to take vaccines. Quite literally, you and this propaganda machine that you've created and platforming a guy like this. So whether you talk about measles or, you know, again, remember, I mean, on a on an almost daily basis, Trump is spreading lies about hepatitis. Hepatitis. who wakes up and goes, "You know what I'm going to lie about today? I'm going to lie about hepatitis B and I'm going to engage in conduct that's going to result in babies getting hepatitis B." Like, like, why? Why would you do that? You don't know anything about this. But you remember Donald Trump gave a press conference where he said all hepatitis B is sexually transmitted, which is not true. But here, play this clip. and hepatitis B is sexually transmitted.

2:48 There's no reason to give a baby that's almost just born hepatitis B. So, I would say wait till the baby is 12 years old. Yeah, but that's false. And I'll tell you why babies get hepatitis B vaccines. Because since 1991 when newborns began getting the hepatitis B vaccine, we've seen a 99% reduction in pediatric infections. But then when Donald Trump is confronted with the truth, like you said that hepatitis B vaccines shouldn't exist because it's always sexually transmitted and you know you're wrong about that. Watch. Trump refuses to acknowledge he's wrong. I don't care. It should be done at 12 years old. Why? Why would you say something? Again, I don't care. This isn't a Democrat, Republican, independent thing. Why? Why? Why are you doing this? Like, why? What? Here, play this clip. Mr. President, you said that there was no reason to give newborn babies hepatitis B vaccines, but hepatitis B can be contracted, not just

3:47 during sexually transmitted diseases, sometimes needles, to open wounds. So, when you say you feel, you know, is that appropriate to be telling?

3:56 I think it's absolutely appropriate. I think they should wait till they're 12 years old. Yes.

4:00 Why do you think that? Why? Why? You're wrong. you are wrong and you are killing people. And finally, I'll just show you all this cuz I know there's so much news and information coming our way, but you all remember when the former top CDC officials testified before the Senate. I'll just show you what Susan Collins, Republican, just so I'm showing you the Republicans questioning of CDC officials who were brought in there by Trump and what they responded about the measles outbreak response by CDC and HHS. see her play this quote

4:32 health. Dr. Alri, did HHS's response to the measles outbreak earlier this year differ from its response to other infectious disease outbreaks in your previous interactions with the department?

4:54 Yes, in several ways. First, I never briefed the secretary as did um the the center director who oversaw measles. never briefed the secretary and an outbreak response usually you would be briefing leadership. Um the second thing is he said things like vaccines had fetal parts and I had to send a note to our leadership team to correct that misinformation.

5:14 Now I want to bring in Colette Dalawala the CEO of Stand Up for Science and your group Stand Up for Science has called for the impeachment of RFK Jr. and it's based on a pretty simple theory. It's kind of what I laid out. The theory is you've engaged in behavior and you've engaged in policies that are killing people. And if killing people is not grounds for impeachment, then what's the point of having it? Talk to us about what your group is calling for.

5:43 Yeah. Um, thank you so much, Ben, for having me and for drawing attention to this matter. So, you know, a lot of people have called for his resignation. I think generally speaking, it's kind of a toothless uh endeavor because he's at the height of his power. So why would he just voluntarily, you know, hand it over? And we're in this situation where, you know, we're on the cusp of several pretty significant outbreaks. Um, you know, we've got the measles, bird flu is kind of creeping around in the back and there are several others that are just kind of hanging out waiting to like, you know, have their moment. And if we don't have experts in the field, if we don't have the most world-renowned public health folks that are there and ready to help manage these problems, if you thought that COVID was bad and over a million people dying of COVID in the United States was bad, this is going to be so much worse. Like this is going to

6:36 be very bad. And it's really really difficult to explain to people like this is the uh danger that you're going to miss if we do this right. Like people tend to have a little bit more easy of a time when there's like a tangible pain point, you know, to to drive for change. But we are just so close to to a really critical point in terms of our public health as a nation. Um, and not to mention the fact that like by by undoing this, you know, hepatitis B, for example, the the newborn vaccination, that's going to be something that we really experience that like hits our healthc care infrastructure in 20 to 30 years. Like, yes, there will be infants that will die now of hepatitis B that, you know, completely preventable. Uh, but this is also going to be something that sort of snowballs over the next decades. And we don't have the infrastructure to deal with that now.

7:31 Like why should we expect that we'll have it then if we're not going to be making changes?

7:35 Yeah. And the thing was is that I mean during Trump's first administration they did a lot to destroy that infrastructure and now they're doing a lot to just completely eliminate it. I mean, what we've seen at the CDC, at HHS, and others, I mean, they've lost all their top people, you know, and so there's not only zero, not see, not only is there zero preparation now for what happens

8:01 when these things happen, they're affirmatively like the spreaders. Like they are now causing the thing. They are the cause of the illness.

8:11 They're on team cancer. They're on team HEP. They're on team menitis. They're on team measles. Like, these are not people who care about public health, who care about the the health and well-being. And you know what? Good for RFK Jr. that he can do a pull up at an airport. I'm happy for him. Good for him. That doesn't make him qualified to be the person that is steering the ship of our biomedical research and public health infrastructure. It just like that's not a qualification that works in this situation. Are you finding although it's been a year of this that people are at least more receptive to this message, you know, the lies they tell

8:52 because illness is wrapped up in science and sometimes science is complicated and you know science is evolving and you know you have a hypothesis you test it sometimes the tests are accurate. So, it's a field that is easy for conspiracy theorists and those who want to weaponize it to kind of fester in and provide explanations that aren't accurate to ultimately get people towards your political position because if you give a science lecture, let's face it, could be boring. It could be slow.

9:27 Science isn't your thing. It's not your thing. So, are are people though beginning to say, "Well, maybe I should have cared about this or maybe or are you seeing the same level of, you know, cons, you know, festering conspiracy that we've seen before?"

9:42 It's really interesting because um the way that this has landed in the public has been completely different than what I anticipated. I thought that we would have to convince people that there that RFK Jr. like that with him there were grounds for impeachment and um that's actually not what we've really had to do at all. I think that there have been some of the like maha folks that are, you know, very like you could tell them anything and they're just going to believe what they're going to believe, but like generally speaking, I think that people agree. The issue is that they're really feeling disenfranchised and jaded and feeling like they can't do anything about it and and feeling like very much like our government doesn't care about us. Our government doesn't care to take action. And I think that that's a frankly it's different than how I thought this was going to land. Um and also that's an easier thing to work with

10:32 like we can give people actions that they can take and we've seen that pressure works um on our electeds.

10:38 You know what's what I find interesting is you know like stand up for science is at the intersection of health and policy and and the interplay between them. But just historically, the idea of authoritarians um denying disease uh denying epidemics and actually spreading them, it's it's a trait of authoritarianism that we've seen and and based on kind of your observation and Trump's a typical authoritarian. So, it's just the the mindset of the malignant narcissism that I alone can control it and fix it and I'm gonna talk about what I'm your cure women, right? That's what it goes.

11:24 Women, ladies, you don't know about he I'm going to cure your he and it's like some sick stuff. And so, what do you make of that though? Because there seems to be that at play. You saw that HIV AIDS originally when that started to be known the authoritarians denied it and then that's what led to it and America came in with people like Dr. Fouchy saying no no no here's how we fix it and now America is the spreaders.

11:50 Yeah. Um I love this question. So I started Stand Up for Science in February of this year. We're a very new organization despite the fact that you know it's really picked up steam. We've got activists all across the country. And the reason why was because um on day one of Trump's presidency, he was signing executive orders that were that clearly showed, at least to me and my colleagues, that science was going to be under attack. And it is absolutely, to your point, a feature of authoritarian and fascist regimes to go after independent centers of thought that challenge um the viewpoints of the regime. And so that's what we're seeing with science, right? Like the second that a government dictates uh what biological sex is incorrectly by the way it is incorrect in the executive order like that's when we start to see you know in um 1984 this idea of like you don't believe your eyes and you don't

12:47 believe your ears like you believe what the regime says like that's what we're really getting into and it is very reminiscent of like lysencoism um in you know the Soviet Union that they they didn't believe in heritability and it caused a famine that killed millions of people um across the USSR and China. And so, you know, there there are these things like people often ask me, what does science funding have to do with democracy? And at the end of the day, science, particularly the way that we do it in America, is this really cool expression of freedom of speech, like it's first amendment rights, right? like being allowed to ask questions and being allowed to freely explore the world around us and nature and you know like earth and space is a part of a healthy democracy and the second that the government starts saying no you can't ask those questions and this is actually what the truth is is when we get into

13:42 some really hot water and so that's why I think that you know this question of what does science have to do with democracy and like why is this such a feature of authoritarianism like this is how we're seeing it play out and having read a history book like this has happened before.

13:58 Colette, call to action. What can people do who are watching this who don't just want to be on the sidelines and want to help? What are you urging people to do?

14:07 Yeah, so go to our website standupforcience.net. Uh we are asking people to sign on, sign your name individually to endorse these articles of impeachment that we helped write. Um you know, Haley Stevens, Representative Haley Stevens was the one who brought them forth. We worked with her team for about two months to get them exactly right. Sign your name to endorse them. Uh you can also pay $3 and we will hand deliver a rubber duck um that we call quackoggrams to your house representative to let them know that you know you want them to impeach the quack.

14:37 We've had about 4,000 or so people uh buy these and we really just want to like flood the zone with the ducks. Um you can also use the really super easy tool on our website to call and leave a message or you know talk with your representative. We've got a script for you and keep an eye out, you know, sign up for our emails. Um, help us, you know, if you donate just a little bit, it really does help us keep up the pressure. Um, we're a new organization and we're trying to do the best that we can. So, really appreciate the support.

15:04 Colette Dalawala, CEO of Stand Up for Science. Thanks for joining us. Thank you so much, Ben.

15:10 Everybody, hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our Substack at midasplus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Philipki, ad free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at midasplus.com.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "GOP Panics OVER IMPEACHMENTS as MIDTERM SEASON STARTS!!!"?

Colette Dalawala (Guest), Dr. Nicole Sapphire (Referenced expert (media contributor)).

What is discussed in "GOP Panics OVER IMPEACHMENTS as MIDTERM SEASON STARTS!!!"?

In order: 0:00 Spartanberg, Donald Trump, Dr. Nicole Sapphire; 3:00 Donald Trump, Stand Up for Science, Colette Dalawala; 9:00 Stand Up for Science; 15:00 Stand Up for Science, Colette Dalawala.

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

7 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Donald Trump, Stand Up for Science, Colette Dalawala, CDC, HHS, Spartanberg. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "GOP Panics OVER IMPEACHMENTS as MIDTERM SEASON STARTS!!!"?

The episode runs 16 min; the transcript is about 2,744 words in 31 timestamped sections.

More from MeidasTouch

• All analyzed episodes
• Books mentioned on MeidasTouch
• People mentioned on MeidasTouch
• Sponsors mentioned on MeidasTouch
• Topics mentioned on MeidasTouch