Super-Agers, Silenced Comics, and an Embarrassing Hegseth

Foreigners reveal the one habit that keeps their brains sharp into their 90s. In India, a top comedian is silenced after mocking Modi, showing what right wing wokeness really looks like. Abroad In Alaska, journalists walked out after editors rewrote their story on Charlie Kirk to appease conservatives. Even Ronald Reagan's old speechwriter says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is embarrassing and his personal scandals make the hypocrisy even worse. And new polling shows Trump and Republicans taking more blame for the shutdowns, even as his loyal base keeps his approval rating frozen around 43%. All that and more today on Filtered. Welcome to Filtered with TJ Walker, Foreign hi and welcome to this Saturday morning. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm TJ Walker. This is Filter. This is where we look at the top business, news, technology, culture, news of the day. Filter it through the lens of communication skills and personal development skills. And it's Saturday morning. Why not start off with some healthy habits and personal development tips? The one Habit Superagers Share so what's the secret to staying Sharp in your 80s and 90s? According to a new report in your tango by Dr. Michael Hunter, it's not kale, it's not crossword puzzles or even daily workouts. The defining habit of superagers, people into their 80s and 90s with memory as strong as someone decades younger, is ready for this social connection. The Northwestern Super Aging Study has tracked participants for 25 years and found that staying socially engaged is the single strongest predictor of brain health. Hunter writes, every conversation is a workout, every laugh is a shield. These superagers maintain stronger brain volume, healthier neurons and lower inflammation than their peers. Conversely, loneliness fuels stress hormones, memory loss and dementia risk. Hunter points to his own 90 year old mother, who thrives with daily walks, steady friendships and a life rich in connection. As he puts it, memory is not just neurons firing, it's voices echoing. Okay, so what's the real message here? We face an epidemic of people who've cut themselves off from society. Everyone's so hunched over staring at their cell phones, before you know it, a decade has gone by. You haven't had a real conversation with the real person. We need to take a page from successful superagers. People live in their 90s and they're still active. Their brains work. It's because they're out having lunch with people, dinner with people, going for walks with people. They're in book clubs for people. They spend their time talking to real human beings. That's the secret to successful aging. Let's dig A little deeper here. And look at this survey. Now, you've heard this before, but the problem is we hear about a survey like this once every six months, and then we go back to being nudged by Mark Zuckerberg and the owners of X elon Musk and the owners of Google to hunch back down and isolate ourselves and stare at our cell phone. And oh, there's my friend from high school. I haven't talked to him in 30 years. Let me hit a like on his picture of his latest vacation. That's not real engagement. It's not true socializing. They should change the name of social media to antisocial media, because when you're staring at it and your head is buried and you're at home, it is the opposite of social. There's one thing I find that's true among wildly successful people I know and biographies I study, and that is they spend very little time alone staring at a phone or staring at a screen. Now, they may spend some time alone writing and thinking. Certainly Winston Churchill spent a lot of time every night, sometimes midnight to 5am dictating his thoughts for his next book, although he had someone in the room writing it all down for him. But it was a type of alone. You need some time alone to think, to read. But we live in an era of a pandemic of loneliness and isolation, and it's not the way to live longer here in the United States. We actually saw life expectancy drop during the pandemic. And yeah, you can say it's because people were just dying from COVID But it doesn't help that so many people who perhaps already had some introverted nature were nudged further into this cave, this black hole of isolation, where they weren't having real conversations with real people. Now, this is something I take to heart a great deal, and it prompted a life change for me. I was living in an urban environment, in a village, really, in downtown Delray Beach. And it was a fun, vibrant place. Nightlife, great restaurants, the beach. But very hard to actually create meaningful connections, especially for my daughter because there were no kids in the neighborhood. We've now moved to a community where the. The lots are tiny, the houses are not tiny, but the lots are tiny. It was forcing people to get out. You see people constantly. You see your neighbors in the street, the kids are in the street, people are walking their dogs. Fosters social connection. We had dinner with new neighborhood friends last night. We're having dinner at someone's home who has another set of new friends. I say this like it's some brilliant creation of mine, some innovation. No, that's what my parents did. That's what your parents did. That's what people did. Until not that long ago, you actually had dinner at other people's homes, and then you reciprocated. You had them to your home. And it's not just about doing it because you have to do it or doing it to be a good neighbor. Do it because it's fun. It's actually more enjoyable than staring at a screen. It's more enjoyable than watching this podcast. Maybe I hate to say that I'm biting the hand that feeds me, but having real conversations with real people where there's no agenda other than having fun, sharing a joke, talking about your day, your life, you're not selling insurance. You're not building a network to sell your upstream product line. You're just socializing. The other huge benefit is it could make you live longer. And even if it doesn't make you live longer, who wouldn't want the last 10, 15 years of their life to be vibrant, where your memory is intact, where you're fully engaged with and friends, as opposed to that relative who sort of back in the corner, other people say, hey, Grandpa. Hey, Grandma, but they're not really there. If you want to be truly present, be truly there. The key is not just having one dinner a year for Thanksgiving around people and then eating alone 364 nights a year. It's spending more time having meals. Could be breakfast, could be. Doesn't have to be fancy, doesn't have to be an expensive meal, doesn't have to be as extravagant as a Thanksgiving or a major holiday meal. Have meals with people, spend time with people. I just got through playing pickleball with a lot of new friends in my community here in South Florida. It was fun. Yeah, I lost some games that wasn't fun, but spun actually talking to real people. And you may say pickleball, that's an old boomer sport. Well, you'd be surprised. There are a lot of young people playing pickleball these days. But the important thing is when you're playing pickleball, you're not staring at a cell phone. You're not thinking about your cell phone. You're in the moment doing physical activity and you're socializing with other people. So for especially a Saturday morning when I'm recording this and doing this live from those of you watching, try to find some time where. Get away, I hate to tell you, turn this off now. While you're watching me and go run around the block or ask a neighbor for a walk. But it may come down to that. As soon as this show is over, then please do something. Get out of the house. Get out of your apartment. Meet with another human being. Socialize it. Your life may depend on it. Certainly the quality of your life according to this latest study and the Northwestern 25 Year Super Age study shows that is crucial. Some more facts here. Brain scans show they resist shrinkage and maintain memory and attention the more socializing you do. Loneliness, on the other hand, raises cortisol, accelerates brain decline. Socializing lights up brain regions like cognitive cross training. The best thing to do for habits to increase your social hygiene. Join groups, volunteer, keep rituals and stay curious about life. I hope to be here with you. Not next year, five years from now. I hope to be here, right here, doing this show with you 30 years from now. It's not going to happen if I don't keep my brain nimble. And you're not going to be here with me if your brain's not there. So together, let's figure out how to socialize more and spend time away from screens and, dare I say it, even sometime away from Filtered with TJ Walker. More in a moment. Lots more stories to come on this Saturday. Filtered is brought to you by the following Want to advertise here? You better be legit. No crypto, no junk food, no supplements. Go to tjwalker.com advertisement advertise Want to become a better speaker, leader or communicator? Start with the TJ Walker Success Library. It's five of my most practical books, covering everything from public speaking to media interviews and persuasive messaging, all for only $9.95. I've trained presidents and Fortune 500 CEOs, and now you can get the same wisdom and affection. Fast, affordable format. Go to tjwalker.com books and download your copies instantly. Issue 2 the joke that silenced India's boldest comedian in America, a late night host like Jimmy Kimmel can take shots at politicians, face some backlash and still be back on the air within days. Thankfully, in India, the world's largest democracy, the cost of a joke can be life altering. As the New York Times reports, comedian Kunal Khamra has been off stage for more than six months after mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The line that set off outrage wasn't profane, but it touched on something deeply cultural. Kamara said, quote, the time is so bad that I think the prime minister enters your dreams. Also with respect in dreams too he comes as Modi G and not just Modi. You may be thinking, what does that even mean? Well, here's the difference. In Hindi, adding G after a name signals reverence, like calling someone sir or madame. By joking that even dreams require the honorific camera highlighted how Modi is treated as untouchable. And the good kind of untouchable, I should point out. Later, in a comedy special, he hinted that Modi was a gadar or traitor. That one word triggered mobs, police complaints and armed guards now stationed outside his home. As Kamara put it, I used to think the court cases were harassment. Now I feel harassment is better than broken bones. Okay, what's the real message here? Authoritarianism is on the rise across the world. A lot of so called democracies like the United States and India are harassing comedians for having the temerity of criticizing a dear leader. Whether it's a guy in a dress or a guy with orange hair. You're not allowed to criticize anymore. Sorry, comedians, let's dig a little bit deeper here, okay? I am not a fan of Modi. I'll state that up front. I am involved, not in the last decade, but I have been involved with political campaigns in Modi. I do have respect for his political skills, but I also see that he reads the tea leaves and sees that the way to consolidate power is to become more nationalistic, to become more authoritarian, to borrow a page from dictators like Viktor Orban of Hungary, to fuse religious extremism and religious nationalism into a message. And it has consolidated his power. But it's not made for a very democratic or safe place for a lot of people in India these days. And I have a special love for India because frankly, I have more students in my online communication skills and personal development courses from India than any place else in the world by far. I've been there several times. I hope to get invited back, although maybe after what I've said today, there will need to be a regime change. But it's a fascinating, fascinating place. Let's look at some more of the facts of this case. Now, the second joke, calling the ally of Modi essentially a traitor, it sparked mob violence at the comedy club. Now, I'm sorry folks, but that just doesn't happen. If you have any respect for the concept of the freedom of speech, the idea that you would resort to violence because someone made a joke or used a word you don't like about someone you like is. Is. Is utterly vile. And it's not something specific to India. It's happening in the United States these days as well, which we will talk about in the next segment as well. So I want to praise the comedians in India who do speak out. They are truly risking their necks, literally and figuratively. And this is why in India most celebrities avoid politics. Now in the United States, some, some celebrities, Hollywood celebrities avoided, but in India they really, they really stay away. It's typically they, they don't do much other than tweet their happy birthday wishes to Modi Camera has this message for citizens. He says as citizens you also have duties, especially when you have a mic. So utterly fearless. I take my hat off to him for having the bravery of doing this. There is a real problem around the world these days with democracies backsliding rights going away from citizens and flowing more to authoritarian leaders who want all the power for themselves. More in just a moment. Filtered is brought to you by the following get the deeper takes. I don't post anywhere else. Subscribe now@substack.com J. Walker 6 Success and stay in the loop issue 3 Right wing wokeness claims another newsroom in Alaska. Four journalists just resigned from three local newspapers after their corporate owner caved to political pressure over coverage of Charlie Kirk's death. According to the New York Times, the original article described Kirk as a, quote, Christian nationalist icon who defended, quote, often racist and controversial views, end quote. That language was later stripped out after Republican State Representative Sarah Vance blasted the piece as hate baiting at its worst. But the original description was accurate. That's right, it was factually accurate. Kirk repeatedly declared America a Christian nation in 2024. He said, quote, you cannot have liberty if you do not have a Christian population. Okay, well, I'm sure the people in Japan find that interesting. He also said, quote, this is a Christian state. I'd like to see it stay that way, end quote. On race, Kirk once said, quote, if I see a black pilot, I'm going to be like, boy, I hope he's qualified. He also called George Floyd a scumbag and dismissed systematic racism as fake. The journalists resigned, saying they couldn't work for an owner willing to erase uncomfortable facts to appease politicians. As Poynter Institute's Kelly McBride put it, they capitulated. Okay, so what's the real message here? Right wing wokeness is growing stronger every day in America, and it is literally rewriting the first draft of history when newspaper writers write facts about someone like this guy Charlie Kirk and say the truth, which is he did speak of hate. He did promote hate. He was a Christian nationalist and the story just disappears. That is a brave new world we don't want to continue going into. Let's dig a little deeper here. This is, this is scary stuff, folks, because I hate to tell you, this whole democracy thing, this whole having a republic doesn't really work if there's not some free form of journalism. And if we have politicians saying, okay, remove this story not because it's factually incorrect, but because it doesn't politically help me. So you're going to delete the story and publishers do the bidding of the politicians, you can kiss democracy goodbye. I'm sorry. It really is that simple. Let's look at other facts on this case. Now, I showed you, in Kirk's own words, the original story was accurate. He did in fact embrace Christianity nationalism. A lot of people embrace Christian nationalism. It's not considered to be a part of what a real American would believe in. Frankly. It's not what Ronald Reagan promoted. It's not any part of the traditional conservative, Republican, centrist or liberal Democratic position ever stood for. But it does sell. Again, his direct quote is, if I see a black pilot, I'm going to be like, boy, I hope he's qualified. So his implication is, again, black people are inherently inferior. The only way a black guy could be a pilot is through some affirmative action program. Because you probably couldn't really get into school or pass test without that. That's clearly the implication. So he said, I, I didn't even get into things. He said about Martin Luther King. Now you don't have to love Martin Luther King, but to trash an icon like Martin Luther King as Kirk did, and then be aghast, well, how dare anyone say I'm stoking hatred or racial fear? That's a bit much. It's a bit rich. Now, four journalists resigned. I'm hoping they, they band together. Maybe they start a YouTube channel, maybe they start their own substack. I hope there are enough people in the land of Sarah Palin to actually promote some real journalism, who care about real journalism. But I don't know. It's very, very difficult to be a journalist in a smaller market, smaller town, small towns, mid sized towns, even large towns and make enough money. Because frankly, Craigslist and Google Ads and Facebook ads have sucked all the money away from journalism. And these big tech companies realize, why do we want to spend money on things like fact checkers? Let's just give people tools to spew lies and spew nonsense and it cost us nothing. And we can just rake in all the money for advertising. So this is something our founding fathers could not have anticipated, they did not anticipate, and I don't know what the problem is. In an ideal world, we wouldn't have utterly spineless cowards like Mark Zuckerberg throwing in the towel to the great orange one and say, oh, you know what, fact checkers, we'll not check any facts anymore. We're not going to throw people off for spreading absolute nonsense and vile conspiracy theories that end up killing people and causing riots in Washington, D.C. we're no longer going to de emphasize those people or kick them off for being hate mongers and tearing apart our fabric. In fact, we're going to continue escalating them. We're going to boost their feeds. You got a big enough lie and say, oh, Kamala Harris eats baby children, spits it out, turns it into soup, and then puts that in your children's lunch the next day. If you create the big enough lie, the folks at Facebook and Twitter and say, well, sure, come on, come on in, the water's fine. We'll promote you. We'll actually give you millions and millions of views and impressions and clicks because it's interesting and it's engaging. The bigger the lie, the better. That, unfortunately, is what people are consuming. Actually reading facts about Charlie Kirk's record. Something factual. No, we don't get that anymore. Sorry, Charlie, you are out of luck. Although Charlie's. Well, he's out of luck for other reasons, obviously. Back in a moment. Like what you heard. Don't let the algorithm bury us. Subscribe now@substack.com jwalkersuccess want direct access to me live? Want to unlock bonus episodes, behind the scenes takes and full access to my premium courses? Then become a member today. Just go to tjwalker.com members and choose your preferred platform, YouTube, Patreon or whatever works for you. This isn't just another subscription. It's a full access pass to the tools, coaching and content that can transform your communication and career. TJ Walker.com members, I'll see you in welcome back. This is Filter with DJ Walker. I'm your host. Thanks so much for spending some time with me today. This is the show where we look at the top business, technology, economic and culture stories of the day and then filter it through the lens of communication and personal development skills. My pledge to you is spend a little time with me here each day and you'll learn more about important stories in the world. And you'll also learn how you can be a better communicator. And how you can have personal development skills to be more successful in your personal life and your professional life. That's what we're all about. Okay, let's dive right in to the next issue here. And this revolves around a well known figure here in the United States, the Secretary of War, as he likes to be called, Pete Hegseth. Even conservatives call Pete Hegseth embarrassing these days. When the Wall Street Journal's editorial page, the voice of conservatism, and Peggy Noonan, a Reagan speechwriter, are calling you embarrassing. It's not the radical left piling on, it's your own side. In a searing column, Peggy Noonan labeled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a pumped up drama queen and compared him to Captain Quake on Adderall. His theatrical rally for generals at Quantico was called flat out bizarre by a retired officer. Hegseth thundered, no more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. We are done with that. Well, you know, figure out what he said. He added, quote, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals, which between saying no more beardos and no fatties, might have disqualified allies like J.D. vance and Donald Trump. Even stranger, he here's a man demanding conformity while flaunting tattoos, colorful socks, using the flag as a pocket square, and juggling three marriages, children with multiple women, including one born during an affair, plus allegations of abusive and drunken behavior. When Reagan's speechwriter calls you embarrassing, conservatives are warning us too. Okay, what's the real message here? More and more conservatives have come to the conclusion Pete Hegseth is in embarrassment. He is someone who is just trying to be Trumpier than Trump, and he looks like a fool in the process. Not everyone, like Dear OrangeLeader, can marry three times, do whatever he wants, and still get away with being the tough guy. Heath's tough guy act is wearing thin. Let's dig a little deeper here. Now, for those of you if you're watching this the first time, you may be interested in noting I did an extensive analysis of Pete Hegseth's speech at Quantico earlier this week. And I analyzed it from a pure public speaking platform technique perspective. And those of you who saw that may remember I actually gave him very high marks. He is a skilled speaker. His platform techniques, his gestures, his movement, his use of his voice is masterful, utterly masterful. But as Aristotle pointed out to us many years ago, anytime you speak, it's really about three things. You're being judged on how you speak. There's also your message. There's also who you are as a person. So I was analyzing the pure technique of how he spoke. And he is by all accounts a skilled communicator, because let's not forget, he has very little military experience. He has a lot of experience communicating in front of a TV camera. That's his rise to power. He was a Fox News host, and that's why he was selected for this position. He looks good on tv. He looks good on a stage. He looks and sounds good when giving a presentation. But having good platform skills is never enough, unless you just want to be a motivational speaker. He aspires to more. He aspires to be the leader of the largest defense department in the entire world. And if the reports are true, he aspires to high political office. Again, some are saying he did this whole thing in Quantico just to position himself as a potential frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2028, although I don't think there's going to be an Open race in 2028. He's run for the Senate before. He's clearly an extraordinarily ambitious person, and he's a man of many appetites, shall we say? So again, here's what struck people as so odd that he's addressing people in the room that if he had stayed in the military instead of opting out to be a talk show host, it was unlikely he would even be in that room. He would not have elevated high enough. He's in there with people who fought numerous wars, seen so much death and talking, some of them injuries, don't even have a leg, and he's giving them lectures about how they need to be as physically fit as he is. So it struck a lot of people as frankly bizarre and, you know, no more beardos. Combination of beard and weird. Get it? That does seem particularly odd in an era where the vice president of the United States has a beard, Senator Ted Cruz has a beard. I mean, it's almost to the point where I'm weird for not having a beard, so it seems a bit odd. Also, as I pointed out earlier this week, there was a time when having lots of gel in your hair made you look like an outsider and a Rebel. In the 1950s and early 60s, that was a bit countercultural. Now, I mean, Pete Hagseth, he's got a good head of hair. You got to give him credit for that. But wow, he certainly looks like he would dispatch an Air Force jet to go across the world to get his favorite hair gel if he ever forgot it on a trip. Not saying he's done that. But you certainly get the impression that this guy values his hair gel a lot more than, well, his relationship with most of his wives, for example. So again, I'm not saying you have to be married to one person your whole life or if you're not, you're disqualified from public life. Ronald Reagan showed Americans that, you know, they're, it's okay to be divorced. I'm not wrapping him for that. That's not the criticism. But for a guy who is trying to talk about how, you know, straight and narrow he is, and we don't want all this individual stuff where this guy's wearing a dress and this guy's having long hair, this guy's having a beard, he sure seems individualistic. That much hair gel is individualistic. Now you could say, well, T.J. you're jealous. He has more hair than you. Okay, guilty. This guy, if you've ever seen him, and I'm not going to show it again, we did show it earlier, is completely covered with tattoos. That was considered countercultural until really just a few years ago. And when you look at this guy's personal, a few more things about just his own physical comportment. He's got loud socks, the tattoos. The interesting thing about the pocket square is according to the way some people read government regulations, he's violating the US Code as far as its treatment of the American flag. The American flag is supposed to be treated with honor. And you're not really supposed to touch it other than putting it up on a flag pulling down. You're not supposed to build it into your, your jeans that sit it on your butt. Or in his case, building it into his pocket square. So that alone is considered controversial and sort of anti conformist. Now, it's not that he's been divorced. Lots of great political leaders all across the spectrum have been divorced. Okay, that's not my point. But for a guy talking about, you know, we gotta be tough and honorable, he had his first divorce was with him admitting he had like six affairs with his. That was with Meredith Schwartz, his second wife, Samantha Dearing. He had three kids. Then he had another kid with another woman. He got married to another woman. 2017 police report accused of blocking women in hotel rooms. He's certainly been reported to be just blotto drunk on numerous occasions. I will point out we've not heard him being blotto drunk since he's been the Secretary of War or Defense. So maybe he got that under control. But the Daily Mail has done stories about him talking to about all the dissent in the Defense Department and people describing him as paranoid, crawling out of his skin with paranoia, and this is our Secretary of War. So, yes, I did in fact give him high marks, and I still do, for his platform skills as a speaker. But people are always analyzing the message. And by all accounts, across the political spectrum, it doesn't matter if you like the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times or a left right publication, the generals who did speak off the record, and they couldn't do it on the record for fear of being canned, were all insulted by this guy's speech. Who is this little snot nosed kid coming in here telling us, you know, he doesn't like that we're a few pounds heavier? Who is this guy lecturing us that we're not macho enough? And who are these soldiers that are going around in dresses that are so offensive? So part of it is many of those in the audience found this speech just factually off and thematically obtuse and irrelevant. I mean, it sounded like what a very, very junior level office sounded, almost like what Sergeant Carter would tell Gomer Pyle some of these things. And to give it a very dated reference from an early 1960s sitco, it sounded like what a lower officer would say to 100 men or women, you know, let's polish our shoes. Let's get in better shape. And this idea that if I can be in great shape, every one of you can, too. Okay? It's not that strenuous, it's not that hard on your body. Going into 6th Avenue, the set for Fox News Channel. I've been there myself a hundred times. And a limo will take you as they did me many times. You go in, there's the green room, there's the coffee, there's the donut, which I assume Pete avoided because he maintains his figure. But my point is it's not a very physically demanding environment to do what he's been doing for the last decade. I've been there, too, and I can tell you it's really easy and cushy to go in and sit down in a chair and give opinions. I've been to the Fox News Network in downtown midtown Manhattan. I say probably 150 times. Not lately. They haven't invited me, but there was a time when I often went three times a week. So some of you want to instantly pigeonhole me. I have appeared on Fox News Channel, Bloomberg, msnbc, cnn, and a gazillion other channels all across the spectrum. I'm a sensible, sane centrist, and I'M trying to give you information that's going to help you. So what do we learn from Pete? Hag said, it's certainly not enough to have good platform skills as a speaker. You need a message that resonates with your audience and accomplishes goals and doesn't make people laugh. Like, who is this guy saying, if I come give you a speech about I have a magic pill to give you a perfect head of hair? At some point people are going to say, well, wait a minute, T.J. you don't have a perfect head of hair. Who are you to tell us that you have the solution to a perfect head of hair? You've got to look about who you are, how you are perceived by the world. Are you credible before delivering certain messages? Having said all that, Peggy Noonan and a part of the Wall Street Journal conservative crowd that the people who are most upset with Pete Hegseth and think this speech was a flop. They're not running the Republican Party anymore. They really aren't. They were never big fans of Trump. Rupert Murdoch, by all accounts, someone who's known Donald Trump for 40 or 50 years, thinks he's a complete moron. He hates him. He, he did everything he could to stop him from getting the nomination in 2016. But once it became obvious, he's like, well, I guess I'll go all in. That's where the money is. That's where my audience for my TV news channel is well supported. But make no mistake about it, Rupert Murdoch has utter contempt for Donald Trump. It's been extraordinarily well documented. My point is, Pete Hegsett may have actually helped himself. Not with the generals in the room, not with the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, but with actual voters in the Republican Party. He may have, in fact helped himself because they liked a lot of stuff he said. They're not Messy personal life. That only counts for Democrats. We're not going to look at anyone's messy personal life if they have an R next to their name and they talk tough. So who knows what will happen in the future. I do not write this guy off. He's extraordinarily ambitious. He's focused when he's not drinking at least, seems to be fairly disciplined. And if something happens to Trump, let's say he actually respects the Constitution and says, well, I've served my eight years, my two full terms, I'm going to sail off to the sunset. There's going to be an open primary. Let's say he does that. I don't think he's going to. I think he's going to declare martial law and make himself president King for life. But let's say, hypothetically, he does leave office when he's supposed to and there is an actual primary. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Pete Hegseth actually helped his case because a lot of Americans saw this speech because it was televised live a lot of places. It's all over the Internet. So regardless of the criticism of the pegging unans of the world, the Wall Street Journal, and even my criticism, Pete Higseth may have helped himself dramatically this week with this speech because it was the first time a lot of people really got to see him speak and in a stage setting. And he does have, like it or not, impressive speaking skills. More in a moment. Imagine having a communication coach who never sleeps. Meet your new secret weapon, the TJ Walker AI clone. Go to TJWalker AI and start getting custom coaching 24 7. No scheduling, no hourly fees. I train presidents, prime ministers and Fortune 500 CEOs, but the same exact communication I've delivered to world leaders is now available to you online anytime@mediatrainingworldwide.com whether you're speaking on camera, pitching a client, or handling a client crisis, you need these tools. These aren't fluffy motivational videos. They're practical, battle tested techniques to help you speak clearly, competently and persuasively. Go to mediatrainingworldwide.com and take your communication to the next level. Welcome back to Filtered. It's a beautiful Saturday morning. I'm here in South Florida. Just finished playing five or six pickleball games. I think I won three and lost two. Or maybe it was the other way around, but I had a lot of fun, good physical activity, getting the blood pumping and really, wow, did I work up a sweat. But I did shower for you before I came into the show for you today. If you're listening on a podcast, thank you so much for doing so. I should have noted it yesterday, but I think yesterday was our official one month anniversary for the show, so I'm having a blast. Those of you who have become regulars, I really appreciate it. If you're new to the show and you're listening on a podcast platform, please follow me on that platform or subscribe. My understanding is Apple and others changed the word subscribe because it scared people. It made people think, oh, I'm going to get charged. You're not going to get charged if you subscribe to this podcast, whether it's on Spotify Apple Music, YouTube, Music, iTunes, or any of those places. It is free of charge. So I want to thank you for joining me. If you're watching this on TikTok, as our friends are today, or on YouTube or X or Twitter or that's the same thing, LinkedIn, Twitch, any other platform. Thank you for watching today. I do appreciate it. Please leave a comment. Tell me what you like. Tell me what you don't like. Tell me what you disagree with. But be specific. Don't you say moron, crazy person, extreme. Don't give these one words responses because it's not helping the debate. It's not adding anything. You're not persuading anyone. Claus says Congratulations. Well, thank you. Thanks, Claus. And thank you for being a regular. I do appreciate it. Please let me know if you have any questions or perspectives you want to share on any of the top issues of the day. Let's dive into our final big issue of the day. Shutdown polls spell trouble for Trump and GOP the government shutdown is only days old, but polls already show who voters hold responsible. According to the Washington Post on 10-1-50. Excuse me, 47%. I'm sorry, that was. That would be. Yeah, just October 1st. So the poll was a little bit dated. 47% of Americans blame Trump and Republicans compared just 30% who blame Democrats. Now these are fluid. These can change. Among independents, the margin is even starker. 50% blame Republicans. Only 22% blame Democrats. A Morning Consult survey found similar results. 45% would blame Republicans. In Congress, 32% Democrats. Ameris poll found 38% blaming Republicans, 27% Democrats. Across multiple polls, the GOP consistently shoulders more blame on the economy. Let's look at other polling data. On the economy, the picture is just as bleak. A late September Pew Research survey reported that 53% of Americans believe Trump has made economic conditions worse. That was supposed to be his big calling card. I'm the big successful businessman. I'll get rid of inflation day one. But it's not looking good in the polls. Regarding how people perceive Trump's impact on the economy, only 24% say it's better now. But here's the paradox. Before people say, oh, T.J. sounds like you're in the tank. One side, let's hear the other side. Despite all this, Trump's overall approval rating remains steady. Gallup style averages place him around 43% approval, 54% disapproval, almost exactly where he's been not for the last day, the last week, the last month. This is where he's Been pretty much for the last decade. Nothing really seems to change the thermometer as far as where this guy is in polling data. And among Republicans, loyalty is ironclad. Nine out of ten still back him. Okay, so what's the real message here? Right now, voters think Republicans are more at fault for this government shutdown. But is this really going to hurt Trump? We've seen scandal after scandal after scandal after outrage, and still his overall poll ratings seem stuck at about 43%. He doesn't really ever go up or down. It's one of life's great mysteries. Let's dig into this a little bit deeper. So the Democrats have been quite strategic in this government shutdown. They are not saying we want to shut down the government because we don't like Trump's illegal, unconstitutional use of tariffs, which he could do. They're not saying we're shutting down the government because we don't approve of his unconstitutional attempt at firing members of the Federal Reserve. They're not saying we're shutting down the government because Trump is blatantly ignoring the constitutional provisions that say the Congress allocates spending and the Republican, the president is supposed to administer it. And he's not doing that. He's just not spending money on things he doesn't like. They're not saying that. They're saying there are 7 million Americans who will lose their health care if they agree to his terms. And they don't want 7 million Americans losing their health care, seeing their health care double. Now, what the Republicans have done, and so far it hasn't worked, but it may end up working, is Trump has said this. Speaker of the House has said this. Other Republican senators have done this. They have said Democrats are not opening the government because they're upset that Trump doesn't want to give illegal aliens free health care. They're saying it once, twice, three times. They're saying it from the different branches of government. Say this what you will about Republicans. They're amazingly disciplined on marketing and messaging. They're saying it again and again and again. And I have to give credit to the so called mainstream media and really any media outlet other than extreme right wing hack organizations, they have done a good job of fact checking Trump and Speaker Johnson and others when they spread this lie. And it is, in fact a lie. There is in fact no legal means or attempt to legally give illegal aliens free health care. There's no provision in the government that's pushed by a Democrat or anyone else that would do that. It's a lie, though. And It's a lie that is convincing to some people. I've seen people leave comments on my own videos on this subject. I believe it was on TikTok asking, True or false? TJ Isn't it true that the Democrats want to give billions of dollars for free health care to illegal aliens? Well, it's not true. The problem is from a communication standpoint is if you say a lie and it's a big enough lie and you just say it with a straight face and you say it again and again and again and you repeat it, you are going to convince some people. And over time you may convince a significant portion of the public no matter how many times you're fact checked. And it's horrible for democracy, it's horrible ethically. But I have to tell you, it does work sometimes and nobody's better at that than the great orange one himself. Let's look at some more of the polling data. Again, this was an October 1st. That was the first day of this shutdown. 47% blamed Trump. Only 30% blame the Democrats. Here's the thing everyone, before we get too excited about this, is voters can punish and be upset with the party for shutting down the government, but quite often the very next election, they've forgotten about it in our next election is more than a year away. So I don't know that regardless of what party gets the biggest blame for this shutdown, if it's going to have any meaningful impact on the composition of the Congress after the next election. Independents. Those who self identify as independents in These polls break 50 to 22 against Republicans on the shutdown blame Morning consult. As I mentioned, 45% blame the GOP, 32% Democrats, Maris, NPR and PBS. 38% blame the Republicans. Only 27% blame the Democrats. Pew Research says that 53% say Trump has worsened the economy. Only 24% say improved. So this is what is perplexing. Certainly a lot of Democrats and centrists and those on the right who are not fans of Trump, which is, it's one thing to say, okay, he's the big businessman and he ran on the platform of Biden, created the worst economy ever supposedly. And Trump day one would eliminate inflation. The economy would grow faster than ever. Those things are not happening. It's true. Stock markets hit an all time high. The stock market benefits. Frankly, people like me, most Americans don't really benefit from the stock market. They don't have any skin in the game. But they do get harmed by inflation. Inflation is creeping up. Tariffs are really taxes that are passed on to consumers. And so it's. People are realizing that Trump is making the economy is worse. But here's my theory as to what has happened, and this is not original theory on my part. We have reached an age of negative partisanship that is so intense that for many, many voters in America, their attitude is, it doesn't matter how many things you tell me about how awful the guy is. I voted because the guy I voted for hates the people I hate. Really? Well, he's good at hating them, he's good at attacking them. And. And I hate those people so much, I don't care if my guy destroys the whole world. I'm going to continue supporting him because I hate the other team so much. And the theory is it's called negative partisanship, and that's why it doesn't really matter. It does. Certainly, we're seeing this with Republicans who say they believe in things like free trade. Well, now we got a communist in the White House socializing everything from intel to US Steel. It doesn't matter. People who say they believe in freedom of speech, when we've got a guy shutting down freedom of speech, we have a guy who's basically thumbing his nose at conservative Republican principles and policies that have been extraordinarily popular for 40 years. And they're saying again and again and again, okay, I don't like this, but I still support him. I don't like this. I still support him. The economy's in decline. I still support him. I mean, let's not forget, by the time Trump had ended his first term, he had lost more jobs than any president since Herbert Hoover. And virtually all the Republicans who voted for him last time still voted for him. It just doesn't matter. The old catchphrase from the movie Animal House is more relevant than that. Just doesn't matter. They're going to support him no matter what. So I don't think Democrats should be excited about this polling data, because the whole point of polls going up and down is that voters can change their mind, and someone who voted for the other guy last time might vote for your team this time. That's why you're trying to come up with new policies and new messages and new campaigns and new candidates. This is different. I mean, we've really never seen a president have popularity ratings start off so low, but also never go lower, no matter how many things he does poorly. A lot of people forget that George Herbert Walker Bush had astronomically high poll ratings. I mean, I think they were in the 90s. At one point, but they went down as the economy seemed to be getting worse and Bill Clinton emerged and you had like a, you know, 50 point change in polling data. It seems like we never see more than like two points change in Trump's polling data. And it is in some sense remarkable. And it is in fact why I don't think Democrats should get too excited about predicting that they're going to somehow win the public opinion debate on the government shutdown. They may have some slight plurality, but I personally see Trump and the modern GOP party better at messaging. They're much better at saying we're 100% good for this reason. The other people are 100% bad for this reason and really sticking to it. The Democratic messaging machine is typically more muted, more muddled, and that makes it less effective. Talk about clarity. I mean, Trump just this week posted things on social media saying Democrats are the party of Satan. Okay, who wants to be for Satan? Satan doesn't have a huge constituency these days. Is it factual? That's what we're going to talk about in just a moment. That concludes our main portion of the show. We are going to go to the grab bag section in just a moment. Like what you heard. Don't let the algorithm bury us. Subscribe now at the end. Substack.com J. WalkerSuccess want direct access to me live? Want to unlock bonus episodes, behind the scenes takes and full access to my premium courses? Then become a member today. Just go to tjwalker.com members and choose your preferred platform, YouTube, Patreon, whatever works for you. This isn't just another subscription. It's a full access pass to the tools, coaching and content that can transform your communication and career. Tjwalker.com members, I'll see you inside. Welcome back to the final segment of the show today. I do appreciate you spending time with me today. So our last segment, really, it dovetails into the previous one, what I just mentioned, but I think bears calling out. As the shutdown grinds on, President Trump turned to Truth Social, his platform to attack Democrats and okay, presidents of every party attack members of the other party. Nothing unusual there. But here's what's unusual. He posted an image collage of Schumer Aydin with the caption quote, the party of hate, hate, evil and Satan. The Democratic Party is dead. That was the post. Now if you had told me, okay, an 18 year old college Republican at an obscure university in, in Arkansas had posted that, I said, okay, well, that's what kids do. But this is the this is a near 80 year old man who's the most powerful man in the world posting such tripe, such absolute nonsense. This comes just weeks after Republicans demanded Democrats tone down their rhetoric following the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Instead, Trump has escalated, continuing to brand his opponents fascists and the enemy within. And let's not forget, you know, Trump's number one henchman, Stephen Miller, is now officially branding the Democrat an extremist organization. And you know what certain countries do to extremist organizations? They ban them once you have a strong authoritarian leader. So the message is clear. For Trump, politics is less about policy and more about, you know, this spiritual warfare. And I feel silly using the word spiritual in the same sentence with Trump because he obviously worships only one God himself. It's the only one he's ever shown any inclination of believing in. But to say, okay, because you're in a different party, you don't simply have a different position on what the top marginal tax rate is. That's not his argument. You say you are hate evil and you represent Satan. Okay, look, all politicians use hyperbole from time to time, but not like that. That's just childish. It's nonsense. It's really silly. The Democratic Party is dead. Now. Am I saying that that speech should be forbidden in our country? Am I saying it should be outlawed? No, I'm not saying that. That doesn't mean I can't say it's incredibly stupid, obnoxious, unhealthy, unproductive and unbecoming the President of the United States. What do you think? Post your comments. I do read every comment. If you're listening on any social media podcasting platform often, oftentimes I do have places to post comments and I, I do check most of them. You can also go to my YouTube channel and just hit the post tab and post your own comments right there. I would love to hear from you. You can also post comments right here on this video if you are watching it live or if you are watching it on demand. I'm TJ Walker. Hope the rest of your Saturday and the rest of your weekend is great. I'll see you back here live tomorrow.