Media dismisses "de-banking" concerns (08-07-2025--Hour2)

What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all of the links, become a patron, go to dpekclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free, write to your smartphone or tablet, and again, thank you so much for your support. Have you heard of the term d banking? I had the first time I became aware of this actually was a story I came across several years ago, maybe like five years ago. Of it was actually a porn star who had been d banked the bank accounts that she was using her like just like you have a bank account. She had a bank account and she would get paid, she would deposit the money in or whatever, and then and at some point the bank told her your account has closed. You got to take all your money out, and it was it was, and she claimed it was because of her work in the porn industry. And then I heard about it again. There were some people complaining about it related to like Second Amendment stuff like they either were running a gun shop or something like that. Like I said, this has been years ago, but I remember I remember hearing about this thing. I may have. I think I covered the porn story, and I think I covered the Second Amendment thing. The don't remember the details. The one that then really popped was the Canadian truck drivers when they started protesting during the lockdowns, when Canada went full authoritarian up there, and in order to stop the truck driver protest, they started debanking the protest leaders. And when you get debanked, now you don't have any way to engage in commerce, right, it's like an economic death penalty. Well, apparently Donald Trump got d banked. Donald Trump was on squawk Box and it's on CNBC. I think it's like a financial related show whatever, and he was. He was on there to talk about this executive order again that that would slap penalties onto banks for d banking. And oh, I forgot to mention. The biggest one that I heard after the truck driver example, the Canadian truckers. The next one was after Jason. That's when I started hearing more stories of people getting debanked. And that's when they did it to Trump was after January sixth, and you know, with the space and distance and time of five years, there are a lot of people in the media who want to pretend that the atmosphere after J six wasn't what I knew, it was what you knew it to be. Right. We all remember I remember watching J six. I was actually it was during COVID and I was doing the podcast and I was watching Roy Cooper, my good friend Ray. I was watching his COVID briefing, so I was not aware of all the stuff that was going on as it was occurring and afterwards, and I started going back and I started looking at the footage and all this stuff later on in the day, and I said at the time, like, this is going to be very bad for Republicans, not because of what occurred, because you know, we didn't know the full extent of everything that happened and all that, but this is going to be used to justify every transgression that the left will now be empowered to take. And they did. They absolutely did right all the J sixers, whether it was you know, somebody who was putting their feet up on Nancy Pelosi's desk, or it was somebody who followed the instructions of a Capitol Hill police officer who waved her into the Capitol and walked through the velvet rope line and then walked out of the building. Either way, it didn't matter, right the government threw the book at All of them had court appointed lawyers that hated their clients. And one lawyer I remember reading, was celebrating how and virtue signaling of you know, how she would get all of her plea deals by browbeating these Jason sixers into you know, just to admit that what you did was wrong and now you've learned your lesson and all this like this, this is your own attorney, your own defense attorney, who's cutting deals for you know, prison time for you because you walked in to the Capitol. Some people walked in and I know the left in the media, but I repeat myself. I know they don't want to hear this, but there were a lot of people that walked in there thinking they were allowed to be in there. These are they some of them had ever been to the Capitol before. They didn't know it was closed. That once the doors were opened up and people started going in, then a lot of people went in. That's not to excuse the violent ones. And I disagreed when Trump pardoned the violent J sixers. He should not have done that. If you engaged in violence against law enforcement or against the taxpayer funded you know, properties, then no you should you should be penalized for that. But if you were not engaged in violence, you were not kicking in the windows and such, you were at the back of this MASSI approaches like a lot of people just showed up at the Capitol after they had already gotten in. They were marching down from the from the rally site. They had to walk all that way down you know, whatever road it is, and they walk all that way several blocks. They finally get there and all they see is like a whole bunch of people around the capitol and a bunch of people going in. And so they walked in like that to me is not That does not warrant incarceration or even charges if you find out that the person was just there walking through and there were a lot of them, hundreds of them. Okay. Nick Sercy has a documentary about this, Actually I think he did too. Nick Serci world famous actor, Peabody Award winning he played Deputy Art Mullen on Justified. He was also Frank from Fried Green Tomatoes. Anyway, He's from western North Carolina, so you know, I've had him on the show. I've interviewed him before, and like he talked about this because he was there, and he's like, I didn't see any of the stuff. I was there. I saw none of the violence that we are shown on all of the clips and stuff. So a lot of those people got d banked. There was this nationwide man hunt for anybody that was at the scene. Anybody had you know, facial recognition programs running, they had, like the FBI pulled from all of these other investigations. They went full bore at them, and part of that effort was dbanking. So the media has now woken up to this because of Trump's executive order, and now they're like, oh, oh, what's this issue? And you're going to be shocked to find out that the media is minimizing the de banking issue. Here's then, Alison Morrow. President Donald Trump is doubling down on d banking, a once niche political issue that now appears deeply personal for him, a once niche political issue which is dismissive. She's dismissing this Oh, that's just Nietzche niche niche niche anyway. Oh, like it's such a tiny thing. Nobody cares about this. Oh but it's personal for him, Yes, personal for anybody who gets d banked and now they can't engage in any kind of commerce. You have no bank. Mark Halprin actually did a very good job on this issue. He has a podcast called two Way, and on that podcast he has a longtime Democrat guy Dan Turnantine or Turntine, and Sean Spicer as well. All Right, if you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events, and I know you do too, And you've probably heard me say get your news from multiple sources. Why Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with ground News. It's an app and it's a website and it combines news from around the world in one place so you can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out at check dot ground dot news slash pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. I started using ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check dot Ground dot news slash Pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports Ground News. As they may the media landscape more transparent. Got this message from Mark. It's a Pete tweet. Mark says, Mike Lindell, the my pillow guy was d banked as well, almost lost his business. It's just a niche, I say. I think I need to say it like niche. But I sound I sound too French, you know what I mean. I don't like sounding French. So anyway, Mark Halprin talking about this issue because the Wall Street Journal did a big story on it after Trump announced he was gonna do an executive order to penalize banks for engaging in this kind of behavior. Here he is talking on his podcast with it's called two Way, and here he is talking with Dan Turantine or Turantine, that's the first voice you're gonna hear besides Marx, and then you're gonna hear Sean Spicer. After that, here we go. The President today told a story about his own debanking. Yeah, this is this is one of the most undercovered stories of the last ten years. And it's undercovered because the New York Times, the Washington Post doesn't want to write stories that are sympathetic to Republicans, and the Wall Street Journal. This is an incredible story of people who have been debanked across the conservative movement. And it's not some small thing to be debanked. It's not like, oh, you know, okay, I can't bank it Chase, I'll bank it a Bank of America. If you are debanked, you cannot bank anywhere. And even if you don't run your own business where of courts, you need a bank account. Not having a bank account, credit cards atm it's it's a It's Orwellian And go look through the archives of the Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. You will find next to know stories about this. So the President signed the executive order and here he is telling his own story of being debanked. One eleven. Please, well, they did discriminate. I had JP Morgan Chase. I had hundreds of millions of dollars in cash. I could see if they want to, you know, if they want to do something bad because you're not any money and you defaulted and they took people out. But I'll give you me as an example. I had hundreds of millions, I had many many accounts loaded up with cash. I was loaded up with cash, and they told me, I'm sorry, sir, we can't have you. You have twenty days to get out. They said, you got to be kidding. I've been with you for thirty five forty years, they said. And I mean I had all this, I didn't know what to do with it. And I went to and you could ask him, maybe he's not going to admit it. So I said, you know, I was informed by my people that we have to get out of Chase Manhn and that's Jamie and JP Morgan Chase. So I said, I can't believe it. Well, I was never in this situation before. I've never had anything like it. And it's not like g You defaulted and alone. You know, Jesus if I could understand that, that's different. But there's no default. I mean, there's nothing but cash. It's a really good I have a really great company did so. The Wall Street Journal reports that the executive order would subject banks who violated an order banning discrimination against conservative subject to monetary penalties, consent decrees, or other disciplinary measures, and then later in the story they say it could also be potentially referred to the Justice Department for criminal charges. Dan will this executive order, which as best I can tell from the general description, is not retroactive, will this be welcomed by the banking community or will they fight it? I think they won't fight it because they don't want to pick a fight with Trump. I look, as you say, it's been under reported. It's the first time that I had heard him that he spoke to Jamie Diamond, and he made it sound almost like Diamond called the Trump people, but that he didn't do it. And then Trump went on to say he called Brian moynihan, and Brian moynihan said no, as well, who's the CEO of Bank of America. Look, it's it's not that. It's as Trump said, It's one thing if you go into default or you're you've engaged in some illicit financial activity, where a bank would say Okay, you're violating banking laws. I imagine this was after January sixth, when he was unpopular and they just didn't want to be associated with them, which is not not okay in my opinion. So I look forward to hearing more about it, but I don't think the banking community will say a peep about it. Sean Sean, this may sound like a rhetorical or plaintiff question, but how could this have happened in America? Don't these banks have board Don't these banks have boards of directors that have some conservatives on them. No? I mean, honestly, this is to your point, beyond Trump, this is a big issue, especially in the Second Amendment area where they have debanked organizations or anyone that has to do with firearms, Second Amendment, right life issues. Also also crypto, but not but not just those sectors. Right. But I'm I'm just saying that this has been going on, to your point, largely unnoticed. The bank that I'm on the board of, in full disclosure, Old Glory Bank, was literally that was the nexus behind it is to give a place where, no matter of your views, your money could be saved and grow. And it's grown two hundred and forty five percent in the past twelve months or twelve twenty four months, because people are basically I don't want to have to worry about it. So it's not just a cultural thing. It's the philosophy is you will never be debanked, but the idea that major corporate I mean, to your point, no, these boards are are complicit in this, and no one's speaking up for it. But you're literally telling organizations and people because of your political views, your money's no good here. And to your point, it's not as simple as oh well, then we'll just go from Bank of America to Chase. They're all in it together. Yeah. And I think the other thing too, is because it sounds like this happened to Trump after twenty twenty. In my own experience when I in my previous career, I can't tell you how much board of directors lost their minds the summer of twenty twenty, after George Floyd and everything else, the pressure on companies to start making statements because I had many meetings, many phone calls advising not to do this, because once you open the door to one person's politics, you expose yourself to the pendulum swing. And then you're caught, you know, kind of trying to ping pong and satisfy yea, who's ever in power? But boards of directors were considered waiting into or out of in this instance, so many things that historically companies would never have touched ever. But yeah, go ahead. I was just gonna say to your question. Though. Part of the reason that they don't get they don't cover it, and I you know, I'm not trying to be hyperbolic, is because they agree. I mean, the New York Times say, is good, I'm glad you can't get that, and the washing boats so it's not a story of them because the reporter says, yeah, you don't deserve I. Mean, most of these people agree with those tactics, but they agree. I saw people calling for this. They would dismiss any complaints about de banking as well. You deserved it. Even now after what this Wall Street Journal story talks about, Even now with the examples that it provided, CNN calls this a once niche political issue that now appears deeply personal for Trump. Everything through the prism of Trump Right. While Trump's at times rocky professional history with Wall Street Banks is well documented, he aligned himself Tuesday with many of his mega supporters who claim they've been shut out from mainstream finance, telling CNBC that the banks discriminated against him very badly and it was very good to the banks. Trump was responding to questions about an executive order he was preparing to sign that would direct bank regulators to investigate whether any financial institutions might have unfairly reached out directed customers on political or religious grounds. And then it spends the rest of the article basically talking about the legitimate reasons why banks would debank somebody, like for fraud or defaults and all of that stuff. Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina. Just a quick drive up the mountain and Cabins of Asheville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to plan a memorable proposal, or get family and friends together for a big old reunion, Cabins of Asheville has the ideal spot for you where you can reconnect with your loved ones and the things that truly matter, nestled within the breath, taking fourteen thousand acres of the Pisga National Forest. 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This is a continuation of the conversation over at Mark Halperin's Two Way podcast. He's got Sean Spicer, formerly of the first Trump administration, he's the former Press secretary, and Dan Turntine, who is a Democrat, and they do this regularly. I don't know if it's every day, but it's I think it's once a week. Maybe it's every day. But the podcast it's called two Way, and they're talking about this D banking executive order that Trump signed, but also the Wall Street Journal report where detailed, you know, several cases of the D banking problem. And so here is the rest of the rest of their comments. I want to know where were the Republican members of Congress. Why didn't they do more? Ah, because they were being pummeled about January sixth. So one of the big movements in corporate America was cut off all pack money to republic any Republican. But this isn't but this isn't just about January six. Well, Mark, but it all became this stew of George Floyd Charlotte. You're right right now. So I'm going to stop the clip for a second because it was j six related. I saw people calling for the you know, the D banking of people like Dan Bishop, congressman at the time. Right now, he's up at the Office of Management Budget. I saw people making these arguments, you know, and somebody would complain that they got debanked, and then I'd see people respond on social media. Good, that's what you get for participating in an insurrection right. Right about the context, Dan, I'm just saying the silence on the part of people who were affected and people should have advocated for them. It's it's un American what happened. Well, but the problem was is that that First of all, I agree with you Mark on the sense of where were Republican members of Congress speaking up and saying this. But to Dan's point, they were getting squeezed by saying, you know, hey, we're going to cut off this. They weren't the majority. And you watch these guys, and this is where I have a problem with my own party, where all of these guys are not coming back and like, oh, I'm really sorry, we screwed you, Mark Zuckerberg. Et cetera. And I get it. They're playing a game smart on them and that's their business they should be. That's their job is to look up for their companies. But our job on the right is to hold them accountable and the same no, no, no, no, you don't get back with a million dollar contribution to the inaugural. I would like to I would like to interview every executive producer and every executive editor every major news organization and say, did you know about this story? Did you know that? Yeah? And I can just say Sean Republicans did, so. I want to be careful here. I advised what I advised. The entity did not end up doing what a lot of Democrats wanted. We got. I got a phone call from a Republican saying, if you go ahead with what Democrats are saying, we will never forget. We're keeping score. Now. I knew that already, so they didn't have to call me, but I always appreciated being called. But both sides were threatening, you have to do this because this is outrageous. If you do this, it's insanity and we'll never forget. So Republicans work quietly under the radar. Back in the day, if Tom Delay was still in Congress, we would have a list and say you're not dealing with these guys again. And I I to me the idea that JP Morgan and Bank of America got away with this and and they're not paying a bigger price is bad on Republicans. Republicans need to hold them accountable and say, Okay, you guys had it your way, but you know what, now we're going to hold you accountable. And I just, I'm it is shameful that Republicans are not holding them more to account. And look, to Mark's point, this was a big issue with the Second Amendment in pro life communities for a long time before it reached a boiling point. And and so I just it's it's. Also it's also it's also part of why the multi billion dollar crypto industry is now totally a wholly unsubsidiary of the Republican Party. Well, it's Austin why, like I keep saying, I don't feel like this is the end of democracy what Trump is doing. Like Democrats did some of the same things, we just did it in a different way, and most people's sensibilities in the media agreed with it. This guy Tarantine is spot on, spot on right. He's not on with He's not in line with this end of democracy argument that Democrats keep screaming about. He's not down with this. Oh I actually just saw this speaking of the end of democracy. James Carville says that if his party wins back power in twenty twenty eight, then the Democrats should blow up the filibuster, add two new states, add two states to America, and pack the Supreme Court. Here's Guy Benson talking to Stuart Varney on Fox Business. This is how the left now thinks, which is anything that they don't like is an attack on our democracy, and anything that they do in pursuit of their power is democracy. It is so simplistic and almost childish and very silly. But it's also scary because I think you will see an another big push for this. If guys, if. Old guard, old school Dems like Carville are now saying let's add states and let's pack the Supreme Court, that is a worrisome turning point in the Democratic Party. And I would simply just ask this question. The Republicans have the trifactor right now. He's saying, well, if we get it back in twenty eight, Okay, Republicans have it right now. If they were to move to create East and West Oklahoma, and let's say in north and South Alabama a couple of new states, and let's add a five new Supreme Court seats and let Donald Trump fill all of them. Would that be greeted as a safeguarding of democracy by these exact same people, or would their hair be on fire? I would argue quite rightly that this is way too far. We all, yeah, way too far. Absolutely it is. But Democrats, once again, they get to make these statements, say these crazy things, and media give them no pushback. They get to call everybody they disagree with a Nazi and the media just mm hmm, yes hmm. If you're a Republican and you call Zoron Mamdani a communist, because you know, he talks about seizing the means of production, he talks about Marxism. He says we're going to run government grocery stores. Like when he says we're going to tax the billionaires. There shouldn't be any billionaires, right when he says all of these things, and oh no, no, no, no, that's a Pinocchio rating right there. We need a fact check on Aisle Zoron like. No. See, this is why I've been saying it. You guys on the left, you've become intellectually flabby. And I blame the media, as I do with most things, the things they devote attention to, and how they cover stories, story selection, all of this stuff. It's all part of the mix. When you don't push back on dumb assery coming out of the Democrats' mouths, right, you just make them weaker. Now whether or not the reporters are intellectually incapable of pushing back or asking questions because they are just so far partisan gone, you know, they are just in lockstep with the ideology that these thoughts don't have a cross their mind. Right, This this playing of devil's advocate, and it's not part of their repertoire. They don't know how to do it for a Democrat, and that's possible. The only arguments that they can get into are against Republicans because they're Nazis. So yeah, on this d banking issue, this is a good example of it. Alison Morrow's piece at CNN, who then says, we're gonna unpack what d banking is and why it's become a go to complaint for conservative groups, crypto industry advocates, and the president. So we're gonna explain it to you, CNN reader and viewer. We're gonna tell you why this is all just much to do about nothing. This is zim Molehill being made into a mountain by Donald well Trump, the Nazi Orange Nazi. You know. Stories are powerful. They help us make sense of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect us to the people of our past while transcending generations. They help us process the meaning of life and our stories are told through images and videos. Preserve your stories with Creative Video started in nineteen ninety seven and Mint Hill, North Carolina. It was the first company to provide this valuable service, converting images, photos and videos into high quality produced slide shows, videos and albums. The trusted, talented and dedicated team at Creative Video will go over all of the details with you to create a perfect project. Satisfaction guaranteed. Drop them off in person or mail them. They'll be ready in a week or two. Memorial videos for your loved ones, videos for rehearsal, dinners, weddings, graduations, Christmas, family vacations, birthdays, or just your family stories all told through images. That's what your photos and videos are. They are your life told through the eyes of everyone around you and all who came before you, and they will tell others to come who you are visit creativideo dot com. Got a message from Russ, who says, I'm old enough to remember social media posts and videos and articles recommending D banking for people who chose not to get the COVID vaccine. Well, Russ, that's because you're so much older than I am. That was before my time. That's ancient history. Now, who could remember such a thing. CNN's going to give us the rundown on what d banking has been, and broadly, D banking, CNN reports, is an umbrella term for when a bank turns away a potential customer. It's actually not the case right out of the gate. She's wrong. D banking is when they say you have to leave their bank when you have an account, you have a relationship, and then the bank says, take all your money and leave. We don't want you as a client anymore, she says. And this could happen for a ton of reasons. Maybe you've got bad credit or a history of not paying loans, or associations with criminal enterprises or business movel potentially based on selling unregistered securities in a highly volatile and speculative financial ecosystem. Or I will add, maybe you work in the porn industry where this stuff first started happening, as I mentioned earlier. Or you are a gun shop owner, Second Amendment advocacy group, you know, stuff like that. She says, to be clear, Americans don't have a legal right to a bank, and it's not unusual for a bank to reject a person or business they see as risky. That's not what we're talking about, CNN. Not the same thing. D banking became an issue because banks weaponized access to their service against conservatives. That's when this happened. As you just heard the Democrat guy Dan Turnantine explain, he was against this. He urged people don't do this. His fellow Democrats don't do this. This is the pendulum swinging back the other direction. She then says, this has long caused problems for undocumented people. Well, yes, if you don't have documents because you are an illegal alien, then yes, I see, that would be a problem except for Bank of America. Remember when they started opening bank accounts for anybody, you didn't need those types of identification. This was gosh, twenty years ago. More recently, the term has been co opted by conservative groups. It's not a co opting. Alison Morrow it's not a co opting of the term. It is the proper use of the term. The banks co opted the practice to weaponize it against conservatives, that's what happened. But conservatives groups see themselves as victims of a left wing value system that's can root across corporate America. Yeah, it did. That's why we got all these ridiculous statements in the wake of the death of Saint George Floyd. As Dan Turntyne explained and as Sean Spicer pointed out, this is why the cryptocurrency industry is joined at the hip with the Republican Party. Now, that's why the two industries are getting along, or the industry and the party. That's why they're getting along is because they recognize now the importance of having an alternative way to keep your money safe, to keep it away from government and left wing business leaders that try to punish people for holding double plus un good thoughts. Now, I mentioned earlier about how the left constantly uses these terms, like, you know, the Republicans are Nazis and all of that. David Strom had a up on this yesterday. Actually, he said, if the Pravda media, which is his term legacy media, if they challenged Democrats every time they compared Republicans to Nazis. How long before the Democrats tried a less insane tactic. My prediction is it would happen pretty quickly. Right as annoying as it is to be compared to Nazis, it's not hard to see why Democrats keep doing it, and it is because the media encourages them to do so because they never question them on it. PolitiFact will write a long and detailed explanation defending Mamdani even though he says things like sees the means of production, he wants to eliminate private property right. But if Mamdanni were to accuse a Republican of being a Nazi, well, then the media nods along, and that gives them the permission structure to keep using the terms. And this is a problem because legacy media still remains influential even among people who mistrusted Look First. They still have the privilege of determining the Overton window. Like the things that are acceptable to talk about in political discourse. That's the Overton window. Although Donald Trump yes has managed to expand that window significantly. You never hear about far left groups or politicians, but everybody to the right of John McCain or Mitt Romney is far right. And when they were running for president by the two By the way, those two were also considered to be far right, but now they're not right because they lost. This influences the thinking of people who believe themselves to be centrists, and they don't like the extremes in both parties. By defining the quote extremes, the media substantially shifts the Overton window to the left. And all the Nazi talk is absurd, yes, and even most people who hear it know that it is at best hyperbole. But the Democrats do it because the media wants to help them set the Overton window, which David Strom says brings him to his point that the media, even than the Democrats, they're the real enemies we have to fight. If the media held Democrats accountable to even minimal standards of truth and reasonable levels of hyperbole, we would have better Democrats and maybe even better Republicans. This is why I am so hard on media and have been for years. I was a reporter. I have seen this firsthand. If you guys hold democrats to a higher standard, you will get better democrats. Stop letting them get away with their dumb assery and their insane remarks. You're getting worse democrats. All right. That'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetekallanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone. M