First They Take Your Job… Then They “Pay” You to Obey | TMP #1032

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:02]This is Tony Michaels with the Tony Michaels podcast. We got a big announcement today, so stay tuned for that. Um, but we're going to run through some news, like the on again, off again, it's like wax on, wax off with Iran and nuclear war with Iran. Now, oil prices and your in your gas pumps, they're like slot machines now that you the price just keeps going up and up and up.

[00:00:25]Inflation going and this morning the Senate is trying to approve a new Fed chair for Trump. So, there's a lot of news that we can get to, but we want to get to the news about this show first. We got to do the music.

[00:00:41]Let's talk about our democracy for a minute.

[00:00:45]But let's do it in a way that makes the snowflakes' heads explode. Let me be clear before this podcast begins. We are loud, proud, and do not give a This is the Tony Michaels podcast. Real and raw political and social commentary.

[00:01:08]The freedom to oppress the rights of other people [music] is not liberty, you eating [ __ ] Ah, the smell of freedom of speech. This is the Tony Michaels podcast and this is Tony Michaels.

[00:01:23]Hey, Tony.

[00:01:32]Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Tony Michaels podcast. It is Tuesday, April 20 1st.

[00:01:40]Is it 21st or is it 21st?

[00:01:42]It is 3:01 p.m. in the East.

[00:01:47]All right.

[00:01:50]Enough of the BS. Let's get everyone crowded in here for a second because I need the YouTube crowd. Last week, we weren't on YouTube.

[00:02:01]Which there are some weeks where we and the Tony Michaels podcast do not get to post on YouTube.

[00:02:10]I've been doing this for a long time now. I I didn't really think about it that way until like I was trying to think about what to say this morning in this announcement.

[00:02:20]>> [gasps] >> Uh, cuz I'm just going to do this off the cuff.

[00:02:23]But, um, so I was thinking about like, oh man, I've been doing this for a long time.

[00:02:28]The the the very first show, the very first Tony Michaels podcast was uh, the the day that the house was voting.

[00:02:38]Actually, they were voting on the floor live when I went live for the very first episode of this show to impeach Donald Trump for the second time, for the January 6th insurrection.

[00:02:48]Now, I didn't I didn't plan it that way.

[00:02:51]That's just kind of how it happened. I planned the day and the time. I'm like, okay, that day works for me, that time works for me. And it was like a 30-minute show, I believe.

[00:03:02]And I just sat and like talked cuz I didn't know how to do the clips or anything else. I just knew how to turn on the the [ __ ] microphone and push go. That was it.

[00:03:10]That's all I knew.

[00:03:12]And and and I knew a bunch of [ __ ] to talk into the microphone. That that's that was kind of my my expertise. Now, I've been listening to politics for a long time and following politics for almost at least my entire adult life, if not before that.

[00:03:31]Been interested in politics since I was a teenager.

[00:03:36]But, um, when I when I first did this show, cuz I've been a long ways here.

[00:03:43]I used to have like 12 people that would listen that first like 6 months to the show like once a a week on YouTube.

[00:03:56]It was really rough going. Like it took a lot to get the 400 500 subscribers on YouTube. That first thousand was a [ __ ] Oh my god, it was so difficult.

[00:04:12]And you know, I I I made a lot of choices, um, in this show that I think a lot of people wouldn't agree with.

[00:04:24]Right? I saw a clip the other day of Katie Couric in some sort of interview about something. Who gives a [ __ ] really what it is.

[00:04:36]But Katie Couric on social media posted a clip of her in a short saying the word [ __ ] Now, this [ __ ] pissed me off. Here's the reason why.

[00:04:48]I've had people call me and tell me and go into a rant or or advice or a lecture into why I shouldn't say the word [ __ ] I should stop saying [ __ ] Now, if you're not aware, I I'm kind of known as the [ __ ] 'em guy originally. That was the [ __ ] 'em was my phrase. Which honestly, this return to this branding is is almost full circle to be perfectly honest with you. You guys know I've been frustrated with not only not only the fascist in this country, but I've been really kind of acting like fascist.

[00:05:33]So, and I don't I don't really, you know, I'm not on the the libby lib lib train anymore. I am a liberal, um, but in the classical sense and and the non bootlicking sense. That's what I would say say I'm not a bootlicker.

[00:05:50]Best describe me.

[00:05:51]Um, so the returning to this brand [ __ ] 'em kind of makes sense, really.

[00:05:57]But I watched this Katie Couric video and she used the word [ __ ] and I was like, I should be so mad about this.

[00:06:04]Like people would call me. People would tell me you got to stop saying that word. You got to stop saying it. You got to stop printing it on stuff. You got to stop putting it in your on your memes and you got to stop.

[00:06:18]And then Katie Couric is doing it.

[00:06:20]Um, you know, and I'm I'm not saying that in the political realm I'm the one that drove the ability for people to say that word, but I had a lot to do with it probably.

[00:06:32]Some other accomplishments that I've done in this business and on this show, we have over a thousand episodes.

[00:06:39]A thousand. Do you know how many that is?

[00:06:42]A thousand.

[00:06:46]There are very few people who make it to a thousand anything.

[00:06:51]And I've got over a thousand episodes in my belt. Most of those are two-hour episodes.

[00:06:58]That's insane. And most of those shows I did on my own.

[00:07:02]>> [laughter] >> The whole two hours, just me.

[00:07:10]Um, I I s- I started in this business thinking that I would probably be uh, you know, pretty closely aligned with the Democratic Party.

[00:07:26]I think that was that was the main assumption. So much so that at the time it it felt like it made sense to seek out groups to, you know, spread my influence and build my authority. Now, in hindsight, I don't know if that was such a great decision, um, because now people can say that I got my start with the Soros-funded media.

[00:07:51]And I regret that probably a little bit.

[00:07:54]But I don't regret my experience and I really don't regret some of the people that I've met along that way.

[00:08:01]And more than just because they're friends, I know who they truly are now.

[00:08:06]That's probably the main thing.

[00:08:11]But I did some I did some pretty cool stuff.

[00:08:14]One of the coolest things is before Midas Touch became the Soros-funded media, I actually produced their January 6th select hearings.

[00:08:23]Now, if you don't remember, um, they streamed Marjorie Taylor Green's testimony in Georgia when uh, she was remember they were contesting her on the ballot. Do you remember this? And she had to testify in front of that and Midas Touch decided they were going to have their own camera and so that they could get a picture of her. And it was horrible. The sound was horrible. The positioning was horrible.

[00:08:46]It was horrible. And when they wanted to do the January 6th select hearings, they were wanting to do something with it, um, I actually with me and my co-host at the time, Gabe Sanchez, we went and we pitched to them. We were like, hey, man, we'll we'll do the select hearings. We'll produce them for you. We'll do the whole thing. That way you'll get a good angle.

[00:09:06]You'll be able to see everything. It won't look like [ __ ] You can get tens of thousands of people watch it.

[00:09:14]You're going to grow your YouTube channel.

[00:09:17]You're going to grow your authority in the space because not only not only are you producing the January 6th elect hearings, but you're doing them live and you got someone who can host them, which I hosted them. Every single last one of them and I did a round table with some of the personalities inside that universe at the time before in the middle and after.

[00:09:43]So, that was pretty cool.

[00:09:47]That I get to say that I I I had a part in producing those January 6th elect hearings so the American people could see them with easy access.

[00:10:00]So, that you could at least get some part of the story.

[00:10:04]I feel like that was That's That's probably, you know, if if I had to say that was the most significant thing I've done in this business, it'd probably be it.

[00:10:16]It's just unfortunate >> [laughter] >> that it has the Soros-funded media stain kind of on it, you know, that That's the only thing that bothers me now.

[00:10:26]But, hindsight's always 20/20.

[00:10:30]Um as far as YouTube goes, the reason why I've had such trouble in this business is because YouTube blacklisted me a long time ago.

[00:10:43]I don't really know why. I wish I could figure it out.

[00:10:48]I actually have uh representation that is trying to figure that out. I thought it would only take a few months.

[00:10:56]I really did.

[00:10:57]Um but these big corporations and these people who suck up all of our money and give and and wage theft us, they're going to unemploy us with AI and technology. I mean, uh these companies are not are not easily penetrated by just average Joes like me and you.

[00:11:22]No, you have to have money, you have to have influence.

[00:11:26]Um you have to have power, you have to know people a lot of times. I'm just some dumbass that turned on a microphone. And I'm just really good at talking and I'm really good at shit-talking politics. That's it. That's all it is. I'm really Other than that, I I learned the hard way through this that you're not going to change a lot just by talking.

[00:11:52]If you We got to get everybody talking to change [ __ ] But, when average people like me and you, just normies walking around, enter into some sort of space where they can actually kind of gather up an audience.

[00:12:11]People actually value their opinion because they feel like their experience kind of matches the experience either that they have or that they are familiar with.

[00:12:24]And I think that's why people have always kind of listened to me. Cuz I don't I sound like I'm from the South, but then again, I sound like I'm from the Midwest, right? There's something about it that's like, is this guy from [ __ ] Chicago or something?

[00:12:38]You just don't really know because I'm just a dude.

[00:12:46]And I think that's why it's worked so well.

[00:12:49]But, YouTube blacklisted me for whatever reason.

[00:12:53]I don't know if it's the word [ __ ] I don't know if some person or some group of people are out to get me. I I don't know.

[00:13:03]Really, honestly, I don't give a [ __ ] anymore.

[00:13:07]The problem is is that I have built this show pretty much around YouTube being the headquarters of the flagship.

[00:13:17]And the reason why is because that's what you're told to do in content creation, right? That's the idea. And the only reason why they can't get rid of me is because I have a YouTube channel that's got almost a half a million subscribers.

[00:13:31]That's the reason why they can't get rid of me.

[00:13:33]>> [laughter] >> Even though it's not monetized, even though I don't make a [ __ ] nickel off of it, bec- especially because I don't make a nickel off of it. Let's say it that way.

[00:13:46]Do you have any idea how much money a channel that has as many subscribers as I do is has as many views as I do earns in on a monthly basis?

[00:13:59]Not a whole lot, but it's a living.

[00:14:02]It's a living.

[00:14:04]I don't get any of that and I still built my channel to be 430, whatever the hell it is. 430,000 through I don't know.

[00:14:17]It's I'm just not the kind of person that counts how many subscribers and followers I have at any given moment.

[00:14:25]And I appreciate every single 430,000 of you that are on YouTube. And I'm going to keep posting like videos here, but I quit.

[00:14:34]I quit. I quit.

[00:14:37]I'm going to quit posting live streams on YouTube. I'm not going to do it anymore.

[00:14:46]I've given them thousands of hours of my time and my creation.

[00:14:55]And it's not the audience, really. It's the It's the [ __ ] YouTube because they still sell programmatic commercials on my videos and I don't get a [ __ ] nickel. It's theft is what it is. It's theft.

[00:15:09]I mean, we got people burning down warehouses. What do you think I should be doing, huh?

[00:15:18]We're not quitting the show.

[00:15:20]No.

[00:15:22]Tony Michaels isn't going anywhere besides going to Rumble.

[00:15:26]That's right. I'm going to [ __ ] Rumble.

[00:15:30]That's where my live show is going to be.

[00:15:32]And yeah, you're going to have to come watch programmatic commercials at Rumble, but then I'll make money.

[00:15:41]That's just how it's going to be.

[00:15:44]And until YouTube wises up and understands that my intention was never to be in a situation where they weren't able to monetize me.

[00:15:59]But, Katie Couric is saying the word [ __ ] out there. So, I think it's all right if you let Tony off the leash. I mean, maybe not, but I I would say that it's accurate that you should leave me the [ __ ] alone.

[00:16:13]So, I'm going to go somewhere where I'm welcome.

[00:16:17]I've been streaming to Rumble for many, many years. Simulcasting. Just the same show, same [ __ ] that I put on YouTube.

[00:16:25]And Rumble has never banned me once.

[00:16:29]Not one strike, not one ding, not one nothing.

[00:16:40]Not once.

[00:16:51]So, I'm going to go over there where they monetize me first off.

[00:16:57]They haven't blacklisted me over there yet.

[00:17:04]But, somewhere that I can actually talk and people want to listen.

[00:17:16]Because every time I turn around on YouTube, man, it's just like suspension for that. I mean, I mean, they have permanently banned my channel twice.

[00:17:25]Twice. They have permanently banned my channel and gave it back to me.

[00:17:34]Is it like three strikes and then I get to own YouTube or some [ __ ] That's crazy.

[00:17:41]That's crazy. Think about that. In just a matter of a few years, YouTube permanently suspended my channel twice and gave it back twice.

[00:17:59]And I'm supposed to want to stay on YouTube. Well, I'm not going to. We're going to stream to platforms that that I get paid on. So, I get paid to do this show. That's That's how we're going to do it from now on.

[00:18:11]And I can't do it any other way.

[00:18:14]And the reason why I'm doing it now is because I This you need to hear voices. And I got to be perfectly honest with you.

[00:18:23]Um which leads me into the the main story of today, which is Elon Musk and billionaires calling for universal income. Holy [ __ ] [ __ ] And the lefties and these progressives and these DSA Ma'am Donnie types are going to buy it hook, line, and sinker, baby. Oh, yeah, they're going to buy it hook, line, and sinker.

[00:18:45]Ma'am Donnie is going to start talking about universal basic income and everyone's GOING TO GO, "OH, YEAH, Elon and Ma'am Donnie. Great combination."

[00:18:55]That's what you're going to do.

[00:18:57]That's what you're going to do.

[00:19:00]I know it. I know it. That's what's going to happen.

[00:19:03]And it's going to be really weird.

[00:19:05]They're going to have to do the whole um they're going to have to do the whole [ __ ] thing where you got to you got to play mental gymnastics to be for a thing like universal basic income because it's socialism.

[00:19:22]Now, I got I got to tell you I got to tell you that before I get into this, go and follow me on Rumble, okay? Before I get into the whole Ma'am Donnie, Elon, socialism, fascism, they all want a king type [ __ ] Um go follow us on Rumble.

[00:19:44]Follow us on Rumble. Download the app.

[00:19:47]You know what? Maybe just maybe maybe just maybe a lot of people will go.

[00:19:52]And if you don't go, you can watch here on YouTube. You can watch the clips and stuff, but I'm I'm sorry. It's just how it's going to be.

[00:20:04]Just how it's going to be.

[00:20:08]So, go to the tonymichaels.com uh and find Rumble, or you can just go to Rumble, download the app, search the Tony Michaels, Tony Michaels Podcast.

[00:20:16]You'll find me there.

[00:20:18]Um and we're just going to stream over there.

[00:20:22]So, uh if you want to hear this man Donnie, uh Elon Musk billionaires want universal income, you're going to have to go over to Rumble, because remember, I don't stream to YouTube anymore. So, bye YouTube. See you guys later.