Trump gets RUDE AWAKENING as HE TANKS…IN IOWA!!

What this episode is about

Donald Trump faced a significant backlash during his speech in Iowa, where recent polls indicate a sharp decline in his approval ratings among residents, now at a net negative of 8.7%. This dissatisfaction stems from his policies, particularly concerning farmers and healthcare, and is reflected in recent state legislative special elections, where Democrats have successfully flipped seats in areas that were previously strongholds for Trump.

Key takeaways

• Iowa's shift from red to blue shows Trump's grip is slipping faster than a farm tractor in mud.
• Voter disillusionment: even former supporters admit Trump 'got stupid'—a striking fall from grace in a year.
• Consumer confidence is at a 9-year low; Trump’s economic rallies are turning into nostalgic visits to the past.
• Iowa farmers are unimpressed with Trump's economic rhetoric, perhaps because they prefer harvests over hot air.
• Attacks on protesters highlight a leader struggling for relevance—Trump's charm is as rusty as his policies.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Christina Bohannan (Host) · 9 min speaking
• Donald Trump (Guest) · 7 min speaking
• Marionette Miller Meeks (Guest) · 2 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Donald Trump, Iowa, Mike Zimmer, Caitlyn Dre
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Donald Trump, Marionette Miller Meeks, Medicaid
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Medicaid, Marionette Miller Meeks, Christina Bohannan, ACA
4. 15:00 – 20:00: Donald Trump, Christina Bohannan, Mike Zimmer, Caitlyn Dre

Notable quotes from "Trump gets RUDE AWAKENING as HE TANKS…IN IOWA!!"

• Donald Trump got a rude awakening in Iowa yesterday when he gave a speech in the state where the people of Iowa made it very clear they hate Donald Trump.

  about Donald Trump · at 0:00

• Chaos that is coming out of this Trump regime. Just go back to last January where you saw Mike Zimmer, a Democrat, win in a state senate district that Trump won by 21 points in 2024.

  about Mike Zimmer · at 0:59

• District Seat 16 with 71.5% of the vote, a 27point Democrat overperformance from 2024 when former Vice President Kla Harris won that district by 16 points. So why did Donald…

  about Kamal Harris · at 1:47

• Mean, you zoom in on Iowa's first congressional district, which is currently represented by MAGA Republican Congresswoman Marionette Miller Meeks.

  about Marionette Miller Meeks · at 7:59

• Became a big topic at this town hall as well when constituents booed Congresswoman Miller Meeks because she ripped away people's Medicaid and their healthcare. Watch this.

  about Medicaid · at 9:26

• Running for Congress in the first congressional district of Iowa. It's by way of reference when Christina ran in 2024. You only lost by about 800 votes.

  about Christina Bohannan · at 11:02

• Video you just played, she voted to cut over a 100,000 Ians from Medicaid. She voted against extending the ACA subsidies. And so we are taking away health care. We're driving…

  about ACA · at 13:05

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Donald Trump — Person · Main referenced political figure / speech subject · 13 mentions · first at 0:00
  Central figure discussed throughout: his Iowa speech, policies (tariffs/healthcare), and alleged political fallout driving Iowa electoral dynamics.
• Christina Bohannan — Person · Main guest / candidate interviewee · 2 mentions · first at 10:57
  Interview subject running for Congress in Iowa’s 1st district; discusses tariffs, Medicaid/ACA, rural hospitals, and contrasts herself with Rep. Miller-Meeks.
• Marionette Miller Meeks — Person · Referenced incumbent / political opponent · 4 mentions · first at 8:03
  Sitting U.S. Representative for Iowa’s 1st district and Bohannan’s opponent; portrayed as aligned with Trump and criticized for tariffs and Medicaid/ACA positions.
• Mike Zimmer — Person · Referenced example of Democratic special-election win · 2 mentions · first at 1:02
  Cited as evidence of Iowa electoral shifts: described as a Democrat who won a state senate district that Trump carried heavily.
• Caitlyn Dre — Person · Referenced example of Democratic special-election win · 2 mentions · first at 1:20
  Used as another example of a Democratic flip in an Iowa state senate district, framed as a large swing away from Trump.
  Democrat Mike Zimmer won that state senate seat. Or how about Caitlyn Dre back in August and she flipped an Iowa state senate district that Trump won by 11 points and she flipped it by 10 points. So it was a 21 point swing going.
• Renee Hardman — Person · Referenced example of Democratic special-election win · 1 mention · first at 1:41
  Cited as a Democrat who won an Iowa State Senate district seat with a large margin, used to argue Democratic overperformance vs. 2024 baseline.
  Points. So it was a 21 point swing going blue in that state senate district. Or we can also talk about Democrat Renee Hardman. She won Iowa State Senate District Seat 16 with…
• Kamal Harris — Person · Referenced political comparator (prior election baseline) · 1 mention · first at 1:51
  Mentioned as 'former Vice President' who carried a district by 16 points; used as a benchmark to describe Democratic overperformance in a special election.
• Terry Branstad — Person · Referenced former governor (policy/market development context) · 1 mention · first at 12:12
  Invoked to support the claim that Iowa leaders worked to build agricultural markets with China, which are said to be harmed by tariffs/trade wars.
  Farmers in Iowa had developed over a long period of time. Farmers here and even our former Republican governor Terry Branstad worked really hard to develop those markets with…

Concepts & topics

• Medicaid — Concept · Key argument · 5 mentions · first at 9:25
  Central to discussions about healthcare policy changes and their impact on Iowa residents.
• ACA — Concept · Key argument · 1 mention · first at 13:12
  Discussed in relation to healthcare policy changes and their impact on Iowa residents.

Places & events

• Iowa — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at 0:00
  Primary location discussed in the podcast, focusing on political dynamics and voter sentiment in Iowa.
  These state legislative seats in areas that Donald Trump won big in 2024. And the people of Iowa are very vocal that they hate the policies of Donald Trump, what he's doing to…

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Donald Trump got a rude awakening in Iowa yesterday when he gave a speech in the state where the people of Iowa made it very clear they hate Donald Trump. Donald Trump's approval has been plummeting in Iowa. Back in December it was net negative1. Right now it is net negative 8.7%. And we've been seeing in state legislative special elections after state legislative special elections, MAGAR Republican candidates have been losing and Democrats have been flipping these state legislative seats in areas that Donald Trump won big in 2024. And the people of Iowa are very vocal that they hate the policies of Donald Trump, what he's doing to farmers, how he's ripping away health care. They definitely don't like Donald Trump sending masked agents to terrorize people and they don't like the utter chaos that is coming out of this Trump regime. Just go back to last January where you saw Mike Zimmer, a Democrat,

1:09 win in a state senate district that Trump won by 21 points in 2024. Democrat Mike Zimmer won that state senate seat. Or how about Caitlyn Dre back in August and she flipped an Iowa state senate district that Trump won by 11 points and she flipped it by 10 points. So it was a 21 point swing going blue in that state senate district. Or we can also talk about Democrat Renee Hardman. She won Iowa State Senate District Seat 16 with 71.5% of the vote, a 27point Democrat overperformance from 2024 when former Vice President Kla Harris won that district by 16 points. So why did Donald Trump give a speech in Iowa? And Donald Trump said that it was a major kickoff speech for his midterm rallies, but he started in Iowa because the MAGA Republicans in Donald Trump are terrified that the House of Representative seats in Iowa are going to go the same way as those state legislative special elections. MAGA

2:28 Republicans are terrified that Democrats are going to have a major pickup in Iowa for the House of Representatives and Trump's terrified of being impeached. That's why he started in Iowa and there's many competitive House races there and there's a competitive Senate race there as well. But I want to focus right now on how Donald Trump was greeted by Iowa residents, including Iowa residents who voted for Donald Trump. Like this Iowa resident right here, a former Trump voter who says Trump needs to get his act together. He thinks he's God. He thinks he's going to take over the world. He needs to just stop it. Here, play this clip.

3:13 He needs to get his act together. and the our representatives here in Iowa need to stop following his lead. I'm not voting Republican again.

3:23 Did you ever vote for him? First time around and he did a good job, but then he got stupid.

3:28 What does that mean? Means that he just changed and it's all about him. He thinks he's God and he's going to take over the world. And then as part of Donald Trump's trip to Iowa before he gave that disastrous speech yesterday, he kind of had this mini town hall on state regime media, which calls itself Fox. And they had this interview with Will Kaine from state regime media and Donald Trump at a diner in Iowa. And Iowa farmers were not buying what Donald Trump was selling. Fox News host Will Kaine had to jump in to save Donald Trump after no one clapped for him.

4:10 Watch what went down. Let's play this clip right here. Couple more questions. I think the farmers in a way and it's going to take a little while to kick in and the farmers stuck with me the first time and I was right with China when China did a little bit of a number. We gave you 28 billion then because it was it was a help because they were taken advantage of for years. We gave them 28. Now we gave them 12. sort of a minimal payment 12 billion dollars for the farmers. Nobody else would be able to do that. Nobody else would even think of doing that. But the tariffs are going to be phenomenal for the farmers. But they just kicked in.

4:43 I just see some nods here as you're talking. A lot of nodding. A couple more questions. A couple quick more questions, Mr. President.

4:51 Now, a another individual over here is talking about how the problem Trump has in Iowa is that he wants to talk about the economy. apparently, but he ain't doing a good job with the economy. Play this clip. But the other problem he has in Iowa is that uh that he wants to talk about the economy. And I'm sure most people are going to be talking about this, but even if he even if and when he does, today it was just reported that consumer confidence in this country is the lowest that it's been since 2014. And that's a really hard thing to just talk up and tell people that they should feel better when they don't. Now, that brings us to Donald Trump's terrible speech that he gave in Iowa. Donald Trump was booed and heckled throughout the speech, and he would attack the audience and say, "You're a bunch of sickos. You're a bunch of sickos. Here, watch this." You know, we used to have protests and you'd have guys making a

5:45 sign in a basement. These are all paid agitators. That's all they are. They get paid to to go and they don't even know what when they interview him. Why are you here? I don't know. They have no idea. They're paid insurrectionists. Really, in some cases, they're sickos. But I've made new fair trade deals with country. Trump kept on being interrupted. Here he was being interrupted by another protester. Let's play it.

6:10 Sign, but I made new fair trade deals with countries covering half of all US trade. And then he was getting really creepy with the crowd in Iowa and he would point out women who he thought was attractive and he would go, "Oh, she's really beautiful. Look how look how attractive you're beautiful." Here, play this clip.

6:36 Right over here. Where is she? Oh, she's so beautiful. I'm not allowed to say that anymore. If I say a woman is beautiful, that's the end of your political career, you know. But that how she is beautiful. How are you? Congratulations. What a good story.

6:53 Again, very strange behavior. And then Donald Trump told the people of Iowa who are struggling right now when it comes to being able to afford things, who are having their health care ripped away, who are having educational opportunities foreclosed on, who are having homes literally foreclosed on, people who can't afford their rent, people who can't afford homes, people who are struggling, the farmers in Iowa who are getting crushed, rural hospitals being shut down. Donald Trump in this speech said, "Mission accomplished. We've done an amazing job." He says, he says, "No one even talks about affordability because I solved it." Here, play this clip. And they come up with this word affordability. And I saw it even re although you're not hearing it so much anymore. You know why? Cuz the prices are coming down so much. They don't want it to be an election based on lower prices. But we're bringing down the

7:48 lower I like that term better. It's a lower prices. We're bringing them down. And across the country, people are absolutely livid at what these MAGA Republicans are doing to this country. I mean, you zoom in on Iowa's first congressional district, which is currently represented by MAGA Republican Congresswoman Marionette Miller Meeks. She's the one who just posts photos of herself and Donald Trump. And whatever Donald Trump says, she does, regardless of whether it actually benefits or hurts the people of Iowa. And most frequently, it really hurts the people of Iowa. You know, when she held a town hall a few months back, y'all may remember this, but she was getting booed. Just want you to watch this as Congresswoman Miller Meeks, MAGA, Republican from Iowa's first congressional district, got booed mercilessly in deep red, Iowa. Let's play this first clip.

8:37 Kevin from Davenport, is talking about the tariffs. Um, and he says, "It's killing us on the farm. The price of soybeans is below production cost and corn, too." Um, why are we supporting Argentina?

8:59 First and foremost, uh, farmers are suffering from high info cost, which occurred when we had record high inflation under the Biden administration.

9:10 Yeah, people are booing because you can't just blame former President Biden for everything. Come on, grow up. take accountability, accept leadership. People recognize what Donald Trump's tariffs are doing to farmers, what Donald Trump is doing in terms of ripping away people's health care, taking away people's Medicaid. And that became a big topic at this town hall as well when constituents booed Congresswoman Miller Meeks because she ripped away people's Medicaid and their healthcare. Watch this.

9:37 Why did you allow your committee to put in place the largest cuts to Medicaid in the PROGRAM'S ENTIRE HISTORY? THANK YOU FOR THE APPLAUSE FOR THE interchain commerce committee voting to strengthen and preserve medicaid medicaid has been unsustainable. Medicaid growth will continue to be 30%. But we did put some reforms in so that those who Medicaid was intended for children, pregnant women, those with disabilities, and those seniors or veterans who are dual eligible will continue to have that funding and growth.

10:21 Yeah, the people weren't buying that at all. And she goes, "Thank you for applauding us for taking away your Medicaid." I mean, it it it reminds me of, you know, the other MAGA Republicans there, the senator who said, "We're all going to die anyway sometime, so why do you care what I'm doing to you?" And then Marionette Miller Meeks was booed off of the stage here. Let's play this,

10:51 by the way. And that was a few months ago. If she were to do that again in a setting like that, it would be much much worse. I want to bring in Christina Bohannan. Mom, fellow law professor running for uh Congress in the first congressional district of Iowa. It's by way of reference when Christina ran in 2024. You only lost by about 800 votes. You ran back in 2022 and that was people didn't know you as well back in 2022. And it was like 14 to 20. It was it was a lot. 20,000 votes or 14,000 vote difference. Um, but people got to know you. They like you. The last race was very close. You have great name recognition and this is one of the most competitive congressional districts and one of the most important races right now in the midterm. So, I really want to highlight this district. So, it's it's great to have you on. And um the people of the first congressional district of Iowa are not buying what Congresswoman

11:43 Meeks is selling. Huh? No, they are not. Let me tell you. I mean, people are angry and they're angry for a really good reason. Look, you know, a lot of these policies that she has supported. Um, you know, from the tariffs and the trade wars to cutting health care, uh, driving up costs of electricity, uh, you know, all of these kinds of things are hurting Americans all across the country, but it's especially hurting rural communities like ours. Uh, you know, when you think about it, an agricultural economy like ours is going to be especially hurt by tariffs and trade wars that are closing off uh the market of China that that farmers in Iowa had developed over a long period of time. Farmers here and even our former Republican governor Terry Branstad worked really hard to develop those uh markets with China. And now uh these tariffs are driving up costs. Uh farming is becoming unsustainable. we've, you know, really

12:39 threatened markets in China, which is our biggest soybean market. And so, and Miller Meeks has supported every single one of those things. She voted three times to protect these tariffs and keep them in place. And so, people around um our state are angry. They are really upset that she has sold us out to her party loyalty, to corporate packs and special interests over and over again. And then when you look at the health care cuts that were asked about in that video you just played, you know, she voted to cut over a 100,000 Ians from Medicaid. She voted against extending the ACA subsidies. And so we are taking away health care. We're driving up the cost of health care of people in in this district. And you know, again, this district is not billionaires. This district is not corporate CEOs or pharmaceutical executives. This district is good, hard-working people. And we are going to see here that people um you

13:36 know, an average 60 year old cu couple are going to see their health insurance premiums go from $600 a month to more than $2,000 per month. That is not sustainable for uh people in this district. And and one other thing I just want to say about that is what it's doing to our rural hospitals because this isn't just about the people who are on the ACA who are on Medicaid. Uh these cuts are going to make it impossible for some of our rural hospitals to to survive. We're they're already being threatened. They're already having a hard time keeping their doors open. And now these cuts are going to make that really difficult. And uh we've had more than two dozen hospital and clinic closures in Iowa over just the past eight years. And just the other day, just like a week ago or so ago, uh a Tamwa hospital announced a major closure of a clinic there. That is Miller Meeks's hometown. So she knows

14:33 very well what this is doing to our friends and neighbors and to the constituents that she took an oath to represent. and she has voted for the the for the pharmaceutical industry, the insurance industry every time over the people of Iowa.

14:47 Does she just think the people of the district are dumb? I mean, do they does she think that when she speaks to them like she did in the town hall and said, "Thank you for applauding me that I've now helped you all." Like, does she think that people are are are buying that? I mean just if you even look at what the other thing that she did was then this is a very kind of universally popular thing that there is uh you know in for Medicare to allow the there to be you know the government to negotiate prices to bring down Medicare costs um she voted against that you know and people are seeing the tangible benefits of that like that's a real way drug prices have been brought down but she was bank she was bankrolled by pharma by big pharma and she voted against that too. So,

15:33 it is it is really hard to get inside her head on something like this, but but we know all you got to do is follow the money, right? She has taken over $600,000 from the pharmaceutical and insurance industries together. Uh and then she voted against letting Medicare negotiate for lower drug prices on, you know, life-saving drugs. And she also uh voted against capping the price of insulin at $35 for our seniors. And the most amazing thing about that is she took that vote against capping the price of insulin on the very same day that she received a campaign contribution from a group of insulin manufacturers. You know, that is just corruption pure and simple. And let me tell you, Ians are not having it. People are angry. I had I had Republicans tell me that they're diabetics and they voted for me last cycle uh you know because they knew that she was uh showing corruption on that.

16:26 And I had over 30,000 Trump voters vote for me last cycle on the same uh ticket that they voted for Donald Trump. Right? 30,000 people who voted for Trump also split their ticket and vote for me because they want an independent voice in Washington DC and somebody who is not beholden to these special interests. I've been going around to uh events lately. I just got back from a a swing um on Sunday and um it was amazing that after my events, the people who were coming up to me were largely Republicans and independents who said that the chaos and the craziness has to end. They liked what I had to say and they're supporting me this time.

17:04 Yeah. And I think a big issue too is especially what happened this past weekend. I mean, you know, Donald Trump not going after criminals when it comes to immigrants. I mean, Donald Trump sending masked paramilitary forces into American uh cities and towns and disappearing people, murdering people, then defaming people, you know, in in in their death. And Miller Meeks wholeheartedly supports that. And it's and I think the American people are like, "Enough is enough. Stop talking about Greenland. Stop sending masked men to kidnap Americans and kill people. Stop helping Argentina. Stop.

17:44 just stop with this stuff and focus on what matters to the people of Iowa. Like remember us? Hello. And you know, Congresswoman Meeks is like, "Nah, you know, I I'd rather hang out at Club Mara Lago or hang out in the new club rose garden or talk about ballrooms or golden arches or marble on the floor." People like this Iowa, what are you doing?

18:05 Yeah, it's it's it's crazy. Listen, this is not what people wanted. People were hurting from the high cost of living. Uh they wanted those prices to come down. They wanted a secure border and rightly so. I support securing the border. I support cracking down on people who are violent criminals. Absolutely. But what we have right now is people who are just focused on the wrong things. You know, Miller Meeks has supported these tariffs, uh, the trade wars. She supported the $40 billion bailout to Argentina. That money could have been put to really good use. I've talked about expanding Medicare to include vision, hearing, and dental coverage.

18:40 Well, we could give vision coverage for every single American on Medicare for the next 10 years for less than the amount that the country sent to Argentina to bail out its economy. Uh, you know, and so we are just focused on the wrong things. You know, the the the masked uh uh agents in Minneapolis, you know, look, let's secure the border. Let's crack down on violent criminals across the board, but that is not what's happening. uh we are, you know, they they are they are shooting uh American citizens on the streets. And so uh we now got to get back to focusing on what people in America need. And we and and and that means, you know, yes, securing the border, yes, cracking down on crime, lowering prices, getting people health care, and and that is not what Marionette Miller Mix is about. It's all about doing whatever her party tells her to do, whatever the corporate packs tell her to do, and whatever her billionaire

19:37 uh donors tell her to do. And that is not Iowa. People are sick of it. Yeah. And we saw in lots of Iowa races recently, big flips in the Senate district and and local races there. Mike Zimmer back last January flipping like a Trump plus 29 district or something like that. You had Caitlyn Dre flipping the red district in Iowa. Um, so I Iowa is flippable. I think people are fed up. Before we go, I want you to give your kind of final message to the people of Iowa and people across this country right now. Um, and also to give some information about where they can learn more about your campaign.

20:16 Absolutely. Well, hey, thank you. Listen, it's time for a change. We we are hear I am hearing this all over my district that we uh have Republicans and independents, Democrats alike who feel that we have got to get back to focusing on what the American people need. Uh enough with uh the extreme partisanship uh that is just toxic to our country. Uh enough of you know the the corporate packs and the billionaire donors uh running the show. You know, we need people in Washington who are going to focus on what everyday Ians and everyday Americans are facing in their daily lives. And you know, I I had 30,000 Trump voters vote for me last cycle on the same ballot. And I'll tell you that if what I'm hearing is on the trail on the trail is any indication, we're going to have a whole lot more of them this time. So, uh, please, you know, go to my website uh bohanon4ongress.com.

21:11 That's B O H N F O Congress.com and help us flip this seat. It is literally the top seat in the country. My opponent won this seat by the narrowest margin of any Republican currently in the US House. So, this is an absolute top opportunity to flip a seat, win back the majority, and bring people back into our government.

21:33 And that congressional seat actually has a history of the person winning who runs on the third time. You had Miller Meeks win on her third time. And

21:42 actually, it was her fourth. I'm gonna do it in three. You're gonna you're gonna you're gonna do it in three. But you know what? It speaks to Iowa. You got to earn the trust of the people. You got to show that you're there. You know, it's the it's the grittiness that makes Iowa first, Iowa first. And you definitely have built the trust of people there and people know you and um very important race. So, Christina Bohan, thanks so much for joining us.

22:04 You bet. Thank you so much. Great to be here. Take care. Everybody, hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers.

22:10 Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our Substack at midasplus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Philipski, ad free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at midasplus.com.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Trump gets RUDE AWAKENING as HE TANKS…IN IOWA!!"?

Christina Bohannan (Host), Donald Trump (Guest), Marionette Miller Meeks (Guest).

What is "Trump gets RUDE AWAKENING as HE TANKS…IN IOWA!!" about?

Donald Trump faced a significant backlash during his speech in Iowa, where recent polls indicate a sharp decline in his approval ratings among residents, now at a net negative of 8.7%. This dissatisfaction stems from his policies, particularly concerning farmers and healthcare, and is reflected in recent state legislative special elections, where Democrats have successfully flipped seats in…

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

11 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Donald Trump, Iowa, Christina Bohannan, Medicaid, Marionette Miller Meeks, ACA. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Trump gets RUDE AWAKENING as HE TANKS…IN IOWA!!"?

The episode runs 22 min; the transcript is about 3,844 words in 38 timestamped sections.

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