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Simon Marks returns from his stint in the presenter's chair for LBC to bring us another edition of his American Week. 00:28 Donald Trump's unrequited love for Iran. 02:52 Trump's old allies begin to turn on him. 04:25 Dr Trump or Donald J. Christ? 05:53 DoorDash reality in the United States of America. 07:36 Vance to Pope: Careful with the religion, buddy. 08:42 A senator's warning to the Republican Party... 10:30 A visit from a ducentoctogintaoctogenarian. Going up against his Catholic voters and his evangelical voters all in the same week was a brave play... let's see how it works out for the President... Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #simonmarks #politics #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
The president's instability has now advanced to such a degree
0:03
that when Fox News transmitted his live ramblings on Thursday, they added an on-screen warning
0:10
Viewer discretion advised, it read, on the basis that at any point he might go off on an expletive-fuelled bender
0:17
We are all still recovering here from his social media post 12 days ago
0:22
in which he ordered the Iranians to open the effing straight. Except, of course, he didn't use the word effing
0:28
We have a very good relationship with Iran right now, as hard as it is to believe
0:32
That was the president yesterday at the White House acting like a patient who had dutifully taken his happy pills
0:39
Twelve days after threatening to commit genocide against the Iranians by destroying their entire civilization
0:46
suddenly he's besties with them. When will the next in person? Probably maybe over the weekend
0:52
Will you send him by the president? Maybe over the weekend. Just so you understand, the blockade has been incredible
0:57
It's been, it's held. They're not doing any business. They're unable to do any business
1:02
because of the blockade. And so the combination of having no Navy, having no Air Force, having no
1:08
anti-aircraft equipment, they have nothing. Everything is gone, including their leaders. Now they have a new set of leaders and we find them very reasonable
1:17
Well, that's nice. Whether the Iranian people find that new set of leaders reasonable is no
1:22
longer of any importance to the White House. Provided Iran cuts America in on its oil and in
1:28
some form swears off uranium enrichment, the president is now eager to strike a deal that
1:34
will get him out of the mire into which he unnecessarily marched the US military. That
1:40
he's proposing to leave the country in the hands of new Islamic fundamentalist leaders who
1:45
just like Iran's old Islamic fundamentalist leaders, are about to execute a wave of demonstrators
1:51
who tried to overthrow the government earlier this year appears to be of no consequence
1:56
Remember this golden oldie from just seven weeks ago? To the great proud people of Iran
2:03
I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand
2:06
When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take
2:11
This will be probably your only chance for generations. Well, it turns out the word probably was doing all the work
2:20
in that particular now-shattered pledge. To buy into the president's claims about the war
2:26
you are required to accept that Iran was about to acquire a nuclear weapon
2:30
that could target America when it was not, and that the regime has changed when it has not
2:36
Over the last fortnight, a growing number of the president's Make America Great Again influencers have refused to buy what he selling concluding that particularly with his threat to murder an entire civilization he has demonstrably lost his mind
2:52
It's insanity. It's calling for the murder of an entire civilization of men, women, children
2:58
of innocent civilians. That is not what I would call proper or even decent negotiations
3:07
Former Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene speaking there on CNN, openly questioning the president's sanity
3:15
So was Megyn Kelly, for years a reliable Trump booster. On her daily program on Sirius XM radio, she dropped him like a hot potato
3:25
I am sick of this shit. I'm just, I'm sick of it
3:30
Can't he just behave like a normal human? I mean, honestly, like the president, 3D, just shut up
3:38
shut up about that shit. You don't threaten to wipe out an entire civilization
3:45
We're talking about civilians just casually in a social media post. This is completely irresponsible and disgusting
3:56
And that was before this week's developments in which the president enraged thousands of his supporters
4:01
by depicting himself as Jesus healing the sick and by going to rhetorical war with the Pope
4:07
issues that finally put questions about his mental health on many of the country's front pages
4:13
Let's start with that celestial image of Donald Trump cloaked in white and red robes
4:18
sunlight streaming from his left hand as he laid his right one on an ailing American in a hospital bed
4:25
Completely gonzo, the craziest thing that has ever appeared on his social media feed, even by the standards of his own lunatic social media feed
4:35
And then the cherry on the top, the explanation. I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross as a Red
4:43
Cross worker there, which we support. And only the fake news could come up with that one
4:49
So I had, I just heard about it and I said, how did they come up with that
4:55
It's supposed to be me as a doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor. making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better
5:04
Now, let's not waste our time with the doctor thing, because you'd get more honesty from a
5:08
three-year-old who had eaten all your quality street over Christmas. And let's stipulate to
5:13
the fact that by putting the evangelical vote and the Catholic vote at risk in the same single week
5:19
is itself an act of madness. But let's interrogate the claim that he makes people a lot better
5:26
When he spoke there, it came in the middle of a photo op designed to spotlight his policy of levying no income tax on tips or overtime a genuine potential boon for workers all over the country And to make the point he was flanked by a woman who has become known here
5:42
as the DoorDash Grandma. She delivered a bag of McDonald's to the president in the Oval Office
5:48
he gave her a now tax-free tip, and then the two of them spoke to reporters
5:53
You know, we call it the Great Big Beautiful Bill. We should call it the Great Big Beautiful Tax Cut Bill
5:58
because it's tremendous amounts of money, and that's overtime, that's also on Social Security, as you know
6:04
Yes. And it's pretty amazing. Yes, it is. Well, you're really nice
6:09
So nice that it turned out later this was by no means the first time
6:12
she had been brought in by Trump's image makers to make a campaign appearance on his behalf
6:18
But then she gave an interview to Fox in which it turned out that actually
6:23
there's a reason why she really needs the tax-free tips. and listen to the indictment of modern life in America that she inadvertently presents here
6:34
Tell us what this no tax on tips really means for you. Well, what this really means for me is, you know, as they said last year, my husband
6:42
he was diagnosed with stage three cancer. And during that time, you know, I was able to take some time and take him to his appointments
6:53
and, you know, be there with him. but, you know, as you know, going through treatment, even with insurance
7:01
you kind of break the bank. A family ruined by the cost of health care here
7:06
and they have the gall to rail against the NHS. The railing against the Pope this week was next-level lunacy
7:12
and saw Vice President J.D. Vance, the man who just ten days ago was directly interfering in Hungary's election
7:20
warning Pope Leo to keep his nose out of America's business. Remember the pontiff has infuriated the White House by criticizing the war on Iran
7:29
the president's earlier illegal attack on Venezuela and his brutal ongoing policy of mass deportations
7:36
When the Pope says that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword
7:41
there is a thousand year, more than a thousand year tradition of just war theory, okay
7:47
Now we can of course have disagreements about whether this or that conflict is just
7:51
but I think that it's important, in the same way that it's important for the Vice President of the United States
7:55
to be careful when I talk about matters of public policy, I think it's very, very important for the Pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology
8:04
There is no indication that the Pope is taking a blind bit of notice of that
8:08
Trump won the Catholic vote by a 12% margin in 2024. Today 60 of America Catholics say they agree with the pontiff and disapprove of the war on Iran With the President losing support at a rapid clip it is fair to ask what happens if Republicans lose America November midterms
8:29
One Democrat this week, Senator John Ossoff of Georgia, warned the White House of the accountability that may come knocking next January
8:38
if the President's opponents secure control of Congress. While our national power and wealth are squandered and families are made to pay more for everything, rest assured, the Mar-a-Lago mafia are finding ways to profit
8:52
A company owned in part by Eric and Don Jr. has been pitching Gulf monarchies on its drone interceptors
9:00
Jared Kushner is already on the Saudi payroll to the tune of $2 billion, and he's been soliciting billions more from princes and sheikhs across the region while leading negotiations on Iran
9:12
And then there was the insider trading on oil. Did you all see this? Hundreds of millions of dollars in oil futures. Just minutes before a presidential truth social post moved the price of oil 13%
9:28
Now, I don't know who placed those trades, but I'll tell you this
9:33
The SEC better find out. And if they won't, when you elect this new majority in Congress
9:38
and you give us gavels and subpoenas, we will. We will. It's a good line, that one, and you'll be hearing a lot more of it between now and November
9:47
Between now and the end of the month, you'll be hearing a lot more about the King's visit here
9:52
Four days he and the Queen will spend in the United States on the advice of His Majesty's government
9:58
They're coming here to begin celebrations of America's 250th birthday and obviously also to try and head off at least briefly
10:05
yet another drubbing of Sakhir Starmer, if he's still in office by then
10:09
Let's just hope that by the time King Charles arrives in 10 days
10:14
America's journalists and politicians will actually have learnt his name. Look at this interaction yesterday between a Fox News reporter
10:23
and Congresswoman Lauren Bobart, a pro-Trump Republican from Colorado, The whole thing is a gem
10:30
Do you think it's appropriate for King George to meet with members when they come up here
10:34
as they pursue the Epstein investigation because of his brother? I wouldn't meet with him
10:38
So I don't know. I have 1776. I have nothing to do with King George or the royal family
10:46
I am American first and I have no need to meet with him. Will you attend the speech
10:50
Probably not. I don't know. Maybe I'll show up. I don't know. You guys are in there
10:55
Sometimes we get great photos. Now, I've seen her at work personally. She has got the sharpest elbows on Capitol Hill
11:01
and trust me, she will be climbing over the other members of Congress
11:05
to get a picture of herself and King George
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