Transcript

🚨 Trump Puppet Gets BAD NEWS Before Election

From MeidasTouch · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 16 min · 3,503 words · 40 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "🚨 Trump Puppet Gets BAD NEWS Before Election", an episode of MeidasTouch published January 18, 2026 (16 min, about 3,503 words). It mentions 12 people, works and ideas, including Evan Muning, Fred Well, Gabe Evans, Congress, Donald Trump.

What this episode is about

Congressman Gabe Evans is facing backlash for his support of Medicaid cuts, avoiding town halls due to the likelihood of being confronted by constituents. During a news conference in Denver, he was booed by protesters and struggled to answer questions about the number of Medicaid recipients in his district who he claims are ineligible, revealing growing dissatisfaction with his policies as he approaches his first election year.

Key takeaways

  • Congressman Gabe Evans' avoidance of town halls shines a light on elected officials' fear of accountability.
  • In less than a year, Evans has transformed from a representative to a political pariah in his own district.
  • Despite protests, Evans clings to party line—proving loyalty can be more important than constituents' needs.
  • Seventeen Republicans voted to extend ACA subsidies; Evans opted for the Medicaid cuts—who's really in charge here?
  • Evan Muning's candidacy offers a refreshing counter to Evans' disengagement—veterans remember the importance of facing tough decisions.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 3:00: Gabe Evans, Marshall Zelinger, Evan Muning, Fred Well
  2. – 6:00: Congress, Gabe Evans, Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr.
  3. – 9:00: Congress, Gabe Evans, Donald Trump, ACA subsidies
  4. – 12:00: Gabe Evans, ACA subsidies, Healthcare
  5. – 15:00: Congress, Evan Muning, Donald Trump, 2026 midterms
  6. – 15:54: Fred Well, On Democracy

Notable quotes from "🚨 Trump Puppet Gets BAD NEWS Before Election"

  • District today in Denver where he was booed by protesters organized by a liberal group and he was questioned about his support for Medicaid cuts by our Marshall Zelinger.
    about Marshall Zelinger · at
  • Okay, so who is that character? That's Gabe Evans. He represents Colorado's eighth district. If you're familiar with this, just north of Denver. he's a freshman member of Congress, Republican side, and he has managed to successfully.
    about Gabe Evans · at
  • Experience, he's a great guy, great friend of mine. As a matter of fact, I'm proud to call him a friend. And that's Evan Muning. He's a veteran. He's a businessman. He's…
    about Evan Muning · at
  • Companies specifically like a drone company who all have miraculously benefited from government contracts in the last year where they didn't have them before, right? I mean all…
    about Donald Trump Jr. · at
  • Level of corruption is insanity. And it's the executive branch is running a mock. Trump is doing all sorts of things that are corrupt, including accepting gifts from foreign…
    about Donald Trump · at
  • Extending ACA subsidies. And if you're on that ACA marketplace and you're able to afford that health insurance, it's probably going to double this year for you. And even if you…
    about ACA subsidies · at
  • Not actually, once upon a time a bipartisan issue was that Congress always wanted to protect its article one powers and be a check and a balance against the executive branch. The current Republicans in Congress don't care about.
    about Congress · at
  • Called in the hot seat with on democracy. candidates, newsmakers, tune in anytime for on democracy, our main show. You can find our show every Friday night, 7 PM Eastern, live…
    about Fred Well · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Evan Muning — Person · Main guest / challenger candidate · 2 mentions · first at
    He is introduced as a Democratic candidate running against Gabe Evans in Colorado's 8th district, focusing on corruption, tariffs' impacts, and healthcare affordability.
  • Fred Well — Person · Host / interviewer · 2 mentions · first at
    He hosts 'On Democracy' and conducts the 'In the Hot Seat' interview with Evan Muning, framing the discussion around healthcare, tariffs, corruption, and constitutional checks and balances.
  • Gabe Evans — Person · Primary political subject / criticized incumbent · 8 mentions · first at
    He is the Republican freshman congressman for Colorado's 8th district and is criticized for avoiding town halls, supporting Medicaid cuts, and voting against extending ACA subsidies.
  • Donald Trump — Person · Referenced political figure / criticized executive · 3 mentions · first at
    He is blamed for tariffs harming small businesses and is accused of corruption and authoritarian behavior; the episode argues Congress is failing to check him.
  • Marshall Zelinger — Person · Referenced journalist asking questions · 2 mentions · first at
    He is cited as the reporter who questioned Gabe Evans about Medicaid cuts at a Denver appearance, providing the episode’s opening confrontation.
  • Donald Trump Jr. — Person · Referenced figure in corruption discussion · 1 mention · first at
    He is mentioned in connection with a ProPublica story alleging he joined boards of defense companies that benefited from government contracts.

Companies & orgs

  • Midas Touch — Company · Publishing network / platform · 1 mention · first at
    The show is presented as being on the Midas Touch Network, and the host addresses the 'Midas mighty' audience for support and engagement.
    Hot seat for a while now. So finally you see here we're back again with in the hot seat episodes. I'm thrilled to be back with you here on the Myas Touch. We got a lot to talk…

Concepts & topics

  • Congress — Concept · Core governance topic · 10 mentions · first at
    The episode repeatedly argues Congress is failing to act as a check on executive power, is corrupt/self-serving, and is not addressing healthcare and economic issues.
  • ACA subsidies — Concept · Core policy topic (healthcare affordability) · 3 mentions · first at
    Evans is criticized for voting against extending ACA subsidies; the guest claims this will raise marketplace premiums and increase uninsured rates.
  • Healthcare — Concept · Core topic (cost and access) · 2 mentions · first at
    Healthcare affordability and insurance coverage are discussed as central economic concerns, tied to ACA subsidies and the 'one big beautiful bill.'
    Going up and markets overseas are not buying their products anymore. And then you look at health care costs and over 200,000 people here in Colorado are going to lose health…

Places & events

  • 2026 midterms — Event · Electoral context / timeline · 1 mention · first at
    The race is framed as a key 'red to blue' contest for 2026 and as critical for control of the House, anchoring the episode’s urgency.
    See here we're back again with in the hot seat episodes. I'm thrilled to be back with you here on the Myas Touch. We got a lot to talk about the midterms ahead of us. So let's…

Media & podcasts

  • On Democracy — Media · Show / program context · 2 mentions · first at
    The host identifies himself as the host of 'On Democracy' and frames this episode as an 'In the Hot Seat' segment within that show ecosystem.
    Called in the hot seat with on democracy. candidates, newsmakers, tune in anytime for on democracy, our main show. You can find our show every Friday night, 7 PM Eastern, live…

Full transcript with timestamps

Congressman Gabe Evans is avoiding town halls in his district where he is likely to get booed and questioned for supporting Medicaid cuts. Evans did appear outside his congressional district today in Denver where he was booed by protesters organized by a liberal group and he was questioned about his support for Medicaid cuts by our Marshall Zelinger. So the question from Marshall was

like a teacher repeating the question for all the class to hear, Republican Congressman Gabe Evans needed to listen closely and talk loud enough to overcome protesters who showed up at his news conference about the one big beautiful bill that passed the House last week.

Congressman, how many of the 214,000 on Medicaid in your district are cheats that need to be kicked off?

After repeating my question for all to hear, here's what Evan said. We went through the answer, Marshall. You got illegal immigrants. You've got people who are ineligible for the program. Those are the ones who will be removed from the program. And then we have 4.8 million people across the country, able-bodied working-aged adults with no dependence who have the ability to choose to go to work or school or volunteer part-time in order to keep their Medicaid benefits. I'm looking for a number in your district who are in those categories.

People who are no longer eligible for Medicaid. Do you not know the number? That sounds

telling you the number right now. You may not like the answer, but that's the answer. Next question.

Man, things are going great in Colorado. Okay, so who is that character? That's Gabe Evans. He represents Colorado's eighth district. If you're familiar with this, just north of Denver. uh he's a freshman member of Congress, Republican side, and he has managed to successfully piss off his entire district in less than a year, which is quite an accomplishment. Actually, he's just right at a year. And the thing is is because of things like that, he has voted against the interest of his district in every possible way. He has no reasoning. And something I talk about a lot my in this in this show on my main show, if you watch it, is the fact that we've got these people we've elected who don't understand anything about the people they're allegedly representing.

And Gabe Evans, he he's that guy, and he's managed to continue it. Amazingly, 17 Republicans did cross the aisle and vote last week to extend the ACA subsidies. He wasn't one of them. So, even as he gets screamed at in his own district, he still hasn't changed his ways. But the good news is, as always, as on the in the hot seat, it's great to be back within the hot seat. We've got a Democrat who's taken him on, who's got a great profile, has got a great experience, he's a great guy, great friend of mine. As a matter of fact, I'm proud to call him a friend. And that's Evan Muning. He's a veteran. He's a businessman. He's running for Colorado's eth district. I want to get Evan in the hot seat for a while now. So finally you see here we're back again with in the hot seat episodes. I'm thrilled to be back with you here on the Myas Touch. We got a lot to talk about the midterms ahead of us. So let's not waste any

time. I am Fred Well. I'm the host of On Demarcy with FP Wellman and in the hot seat right here on the Mas touch and night right now. Let's get in the hot seat with Evan Ming. Evan man, welcome to the show. How are you sir?

Fred, good to see you. How you doing? It's been good to see you too, brother. It's great to talk to you again. As I mentioned, we've hung out a couple times before talking a little bit about life and and running for Congress and how crazy it is. And I guess that's where we start, right? I mean, it it is it is not a small thing, okay? You know, you did four years in the Marines. You've been a businessman. You settled back down to Colorado for for a beautiful woman, which brought me back to Missouri. You know, us us men, you know, we know it's good for us and we move where we where we find happiness. But after all of that, what drove you to run for Congress right now in your hometown? Well, I think you just saw why we've got this guy, Gabe Evans, our representative, who runs away from problems and he runs away from hard questions. He doesn't have a plan and he's not here to solve problems. He's here to serve the party.

And you and I from our experience at war know what happens when we don't have good people leading the country. As you said, I'm a Marine. I was an infantry officer, did a couple deployments. My experience in Afghanistan and probably yours as well in Iraq was that we were fighting a war we couldn't win. We didn't have a strategy to win it and people in DC knew that.

But if all you care about is winning your next election. It's much easier not to address problems. Sweep them under the rug and ignore them and go on and win the next election. Kick the can down the road. But problems don't get better if you ignore them. And bad news doesn't get better with time. Things get worse. And I left the Marines because of those frustrations with people in DC who didn't want to actually solve problems. He didn't want to make hard decisions or speak hard truths to the American people. Went into business because I love solving problems. I like leading people. When Trump came in office, a lot of the small businesses that I work with are getting crushed [snorts] by the that he's doing. The tariffs are disastrous.

Yeah. I I I ran businesses. I know what it's like to wake up at 3:00 a.m. sweating about payroll. And a lot of people are sweating about those things right now. with if it's your business owner or it's about your paycheck. People are in a tough spot and we need someone in Congress who's going to represent this very critical district who's actually going to work with folks, solve problems, and do what Congress is supposed to do, which is pass laws and be a check and a balance against the executive branch,

which is not occurring. And along those lines, you know, I I was actually, as I was getting ready to talk to you today, I stumbled onto a story uh from ProPublica where it was mentioned that Donald Trump Donald Trump Jr. was added the boards of three or four defense companies uh specifically like a drone company who all have miraculously benefited from government contracts in the last year where they didn't have them before, right? I mean all the things that the the Congress you the Republican doormat Congress I called was fighting for fighting over Hunter Biden because he got a board member on Berisma and they're doing the exact things and not a peep is coming from this Dormat Congress. It it feels like that that's before we talk about storing $500 million in oil uh proceeds in an offshore bank and cutter. Okay. And then being given apparently we just found out this morning before you and I talked

that $6 million of oil was already given to a donor of Trump's. Right. So there's like an unchecked corruption moment going on here before we talk about the violence and everything else going on. But right now corruption seems like a real thing in Washington DC and the Republicans aren't doing a damn thing about it, are they?

No. I mean that's part of the problem. You also got folks who are literally buying pardons from the president who are

Yeah. in jail. And then you can actually buy a get out of jail free card right now. It's the level of corruption is insanity. And it's the executive branch is running a mock. Trump is doing all sorts of things that are corrupt, including accepting gifts from foreign nations, enriching his family members and his friends, but it's also in Congress, too. I mean, we've got a Congress that is corrupt, that is

uh unable to do basic things like pass a bill that would ban stock trading for members of Congress. Right. There is no earthly reason why folks in Congress should be able to trade stocks when they have access to really important non-public information that lets them beat the markets.

Uh and it's that kind of level of self-serving that Americans like me are really frustrated with. And at the end of the day, Congress isn't going to fix itself. If we want to fix Congress, if we want to fix the White House, we need people from outside the system to come in who are going to fix it and who are not just going to be there for decades serving themselves and serving their parties. We need real solutions.

And that's the thing. That's the thing is like that's why I love talking to veterans who are running for office. Everybody everybody's followed this show and my my past work tells me that like there's a there's a get it done kind of mission mentality with a Marine. There's a thing about gets it done, but we're also regular folks. Like you said, you're a businessman. I know you live out in the community. You know, we have a unstable economy. I interviewed a gentleman today who talks about how, you know, scientists at the CDC can't be sure they're going to have a job next week. It's it's completely unstable. You know, we talk about stability a lot in the economy. Trump, you mentioned in your introduction how the tariffs have hurt small business. My own daughter owns a small business. She doesn't know what she's going to pay for her products that she imports overseas on any given time. Um, it really is like it feels

like no one's really fighting for that stuff. They're not fighting for a stable working economy for working people. And we see that again with your opponent Gabe Evans once again voting against extending ACA subsidies and then his comments during that press conference how this mythical lazy American lang I what are you hearing as you walk around your community I'm sure you're talking to folks at town halls about the economy and what are we going to do for that what you know is that one of your priorities is finding help for folks

oh yeah I mean look the economy it still is the economy stupid like at the end of the day people

back at that again aren't we People need to have a home that they're proud of. They need to be able to pay their bills. They need to be able to have health care for their families.

Yeah. And shit's just way too expensive here in Colorado. I mean, last Friday, I got a burger. And All right. It was a double bacon cheeseburger, but don't judge me, Fred.

I get that protein. Uh, it cost more than $15. And that's just the burger itself. That's not the fries. That's not a drink. It is just the burger. And then, you know, you extrapolate that and it gets way worse. I mean, if you want to buy a house here in Thoring, where I live, the average house cost is now over half a million dollars. It's just way out of reach for ordinary people. And then you add on to that all the other that's going on in DC. The tariffs, number one, are crazy because they drive input costs for small businesses, which means you're a business owner, your costs are going up, and you either have to charge your customers more, which hurts them, or you have to hurt yourself by not passing that on.

And then you also can't even plan on it. like Trump's now talking about putting more tariffs on countries that don't want him to uh invade Greenland. And so like you can't plan as a business. And then you add on to that, we've got a lot of farmers who are being hurt by the tariffs because all their costs are going up and markets overseas are not buying their products anymore. And then you look at health care costs and over 200,000 people here in Colorado are going to lose health insurance this year because of the one big beautiful bill as well as because Gabe Evans voted against extending ACA subsidies. And if you're on that ACA marketplace and you're able to afford that health insurance, it's probably going to double this year for you. And even if you can get insurance through your employer, those costs are going up as well. I think the last number I saw was 20%. And so that hurts you, that hurts the businesses. and we

can't plan anymore. At the end of the day, if you're a business owner, you got to make payroll every two weeks. If you're an employee, you're expecting that check to come in. You need that check. So, it's the costs that are bad, but it's also the job stability because of those things you mentioned. Like, if if small businesses go under, people lose their jobs. We're also seeing things like automation come into play in warehouses where they're rolling out robots and people, you know, can't count on that anymore. And so, it's not just affordability anymore. We've got a real problem with people not knowing if they can count on a good paying job here in Colorado. And because of that, we're seeing folks move out of state, which is not a good sign.

No. No. And and and I hear that a lot as I talk to folks in my community that they wor because their own kids can't live in their hometown anymore. The town I and and it crosses by it crosses economic lines now, right? It's we're seeing it all over the place. Something a number I quote a lot is that 67% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. But that also comes back to a root problem and and you touched on a little bit, you know, we we still have to talk. We still have to get things done for folks. And I think the frustration I've heard from people when they talk about Gabe Evans is he just hasn't really done anything for the community anything else, right? At the same time, he's not doing any checks on executive power. I know you must have been horrified. We ra you and I both raised our right hands to swear an oath to Constitution. And to actually see NATO members deploying troops to

Greenland because of the United States threatening the United States. I mean, our freedoms that we that you and I fought for and served for the Constitution we swore an oath to it. It does feel like for the really I mean we thought it was bad Trump won. Congress has not done anything, has it? They're not protecting our freedom. Not we've got we got fights in the streets of Minnesota. I mean, do is you know, I you I got a feeling you're going to want to go to Congress and fight for freedom in the Constitution like we're supposed to, aren't you?

Yeah. Hell yeah. I mean, as you said, we both took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, that is

deeply important to me and everything we've seen from the Trump administration is that he doesn't care about that. I mean, the fact that anytime a city has a protest, he calls out and he says he wants to use the insurrection act to deploy the military. This guy is the insurrectionist and chief. He did incite an angry mob to attack the capital to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. So, it's insane that now he's saying, "Oh, if people are having peaceful protests, I'm going to call out the military." Uh, it's just beyond insane.

Then it's also crazy that Congress does not actually, you know, once upon a time a bipartisan issue was that Congress always wanted to protect its article one powers and be a check and a balance against the executive branch. The current Republicans in Congress don't care about that. All they care about is winning their next election. And for a lot of them, they think the way to do that is to just back Trump, whatever he's doing. And you know, part of the reason I got into the race was back in February. There was that moment where probably a lot of us thought that maybe Trump's just going to give some tax breaks to his billionaire buddies. And then he really started to attack the court system. He started to cut deals with law firms that opposed him. Those law firms got co-opted by the Trump administration.

And at the end of the day, we are living in a authoritarian state if we don't have a court system that functions, that is independent,

and if we don't have law firms that are willing to represent clients that are standing up against the government. And all those things go back to the rule of law and defending the Constitution, protecting individual freedoms, and all those things are under attack today.

I love it. And Gabe's not doing deck about. So I It's just It's just ridiculous. Well, I guess I I don't want to keep you. I know you got to go run a campaign. The most important question of every hot seat interview is the most important one at the end. Where can the incredible Midas mighty and our supporters go out, find out more about your campaign outreach, do some reach out and folks, maybe throw them some money because you know what? We've got a machine to beat and we're going to need money to do it. Evan, tell us where they can find more information.

Yeah. So, this is the top red to blue race for 2026. So, love the support. Okay.

Absolutely critical for control of the house. You can find me at evanmudsoning.com and you can also follow me on all the social media channels by googling me uh or just going to my website and clicking the links there. But Fred, really appreciate it. You're a great friend and I love what you're doing here.

Thanks, bro. I really appreciate you. Good luck, man. It's a big deal. It's a hard thing to do to run for Congress. Appreciate you sp stepping up for your community once again and that means the world to us. So, good. We'll talk to you soon, bro. Good luck. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks for joining us.

Thanks, Fred. Awesome. See you soon. All right, man. I like Evan. I love a good Marine. You guys know I'm the son of a Marine. I I didn't get in the Marine Corp. I had to go to West Point instead. Uh, this is a great example. And you heard what he said about the red to blue. That's the DC C is targeting these races. We are the DC C expand their map to 31 races, folks. Colorado's one of them. So give your support if you can. If you're in a place you can you don't have to worry about your race. You can support Evan. I really can't encourage you enough. This has been another great conversation. This is our first one back in the midterm year in 2026. We'll be presenting a lot more of those right on here on uh right here called in the hot seat with on democracy. Uh candidates, newsmakers, tune in anytime for on democracy, our main show. You can find our show every Friday night, 7 PM Eastern, live on the

Miest Touch Network. That's our main show. And of course, find out what we're doing at fpwman.substack.com. That's the best place to find out what I'm up to these days. That's fpwoman.substat.com. Thanks for joining us for another great episode in the hot seat. We'll see you soon and keep up the

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "🚨 Trump Puppet Gets BAD NEWS Before Election"?

Fred Wellman (Host), Evan Muning (Guest), Gabe Evans (Guest).

What is "🚨 Trump Puppet Gets BAD NEWS Before Election" about?

Congressman Gabe Evans is facing backlash for his support of Medicaid cuts, avoiding town halls due to the likelihood of being confronted by constituents. During a news conference in Denver, he was booed by protesters and struggled to answer questions about the number of Medicaid recipients in his district who he claims are ineligible, revealing growing dissatisfaction with his policies as he…

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

12 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Evan Muning, Fred Well, Gabe Evans, Congress, Donald Trump, ACA subsidies. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "🚨 Trump Puppet Gets BAD NEWS Before Election"?

The episode runs 16 min; the transcript is about 3,503 words in 40 timestamped sections.

More from MeidasTouch

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.