Oct 27, 2025
The RevolYOUtion: October 27, 2025
Cenk Uygur walks through HOW CORRUPT our politicians are on The Young Turks.
- 26 minutes
All right, so we've been doing this,
revolution segments,
for a couple of weeks now.
And then I realized, hey, I forgot to tell
you why we're doing the revolution.
Now, look, I don't really have to tell you
because you already know,
can't stand the corruption.
The politicians never work for us, and
we're trying to get our democracy back.
[00:00:17]
So the politicians likes to work for us.
But I want to show it to you in in numbers
and in facts and in, statements
from even politicians themselves.
So, to give you a sense of how corrupted
this country has become, how much money
did we spend in the 2024 election?
[00:00:34]
Now, when I say we, I don't mean us. Okay?
The regular, average American.
No, I mean the donor class.
How much did they spend? $15.9 billion.
Okay. So now let me ask you guys this.
And if you're watching
and you're part of mainstream media, man,
[00:00:52]
would I love for you to answer this.
But there's no way in the world
you could answer it.
So do you think that the $16
billion was for charity.
Like, oh, you know what?
Golly gee, I gave to cancer research.
[00:01:07]
Then, you know, try to figure out
how to beat heart disease.
Oh, I know.
I'll give to politicians
because politicians, man,
they need it most of all.
And they're they love the general welfare.
And so that's I got to help them out.
Okay.
Or, and by the way,
who who are the people giving them money?
[00:01:26]
Giant corporations.
Apple, Facebook, ExxonMobil,
Chevron, Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson,
and and private companies
like the Koch enterprises.
Okay.
And companies you've never
even heard of right there.
[00:01:42]
And by the way, now,
allies of foreign governments
or that's been around for quite some time,
at least with one particular government.
Okay. So what do they want in return?
So one idea is charity.
It's just giving people
they don't want anything back.
[00:01:58]
No, no, no. The good people at Pfizer.
They don't want a competitive advantage
over their competitors.
They want.
They don't want their monopolies
extended from five years to 12 years.
Wait, they actually
literally asked for that?
Interesting.
They don't want you to not be able
to negotiate drug prices and just pay
[00:02:13]
whatever ransom price that they owe.
I'm hearing they actually did want that.
That's weird. That's interesting.
So do you think it's
for the general welfare?
Do you think it's for their health
or our health?
No. Come on, guys, unless you're
a moronic mainstream media reporter,
[00:02:30]
you all know it's to get what they want.
It's an investment.
They're literally investing in buying our
politicians to serve them instead of you.
Now, to every American
that's watching this, it doesn't matter
[00:02:46]
if you're a Republican or a Democrat
or where you're on the political spectrum.
You think what I just said
is super obvious, right?
Literally every mainstream media
reporter says that's not true.
No, They're not buying the politicians.
The politicians are having real,
honest debates.
[00:03:03]
They have different ideology.
And these donors just happen
to agree with these politicians.
It just happened.
The politicians. Oh, look at that.
That guy thinks we should give
$35 billion every single year.
Take it from guys
who can't afford to pay their rent, pay,
[00:03:19]
having trouble paying for their health
care, their daughters got cancer.
They're worried to death
that they're going to die.
Give me your goddamn money.
Give me your money.
ExxonMobil wants it.
$35 billion a year in oil subsidies.
But wait a minute.
Those are the richest
companies in the world.
Nope.
Those politicians have decided
they genuinely just
[00:03:35]
loved Chevron and ExxonMobil.
They.
Oh, look at that.
I agree with you totally.
Yes.
The average American
shouldn't get that money.
The the giant oil companies, the most
profitable companies in the history
of the world should get that money.
[00:03:50]
They just the politicians
genuinely believe that.
And that's why ExxonMobil gave them money.
That's what mainstream
media reporters say.
How stupid do they sound?
They sound like the dumbest people
in America, right?
Because they're not doing news.
They're doing propaganda.
[00:04:06]
They just don't know it.
Okay, now let's talk about,
I mentioned pharmaceutical companies.
You could fill in any lobby here,
but we're trying to lower drug prices
because almost literally every
single person in the country wants it.
Unless you work for big pharma
or you're a greasy, corrupt politician.
[00:04:25]
So how many greasy, corrupt politicians
did they bribe legally?
Well, let's go to, this, news report.
A 2020 stat analysis found
that more than two thirds of Congress
were receiving a check
from pharmaceutical companies that year.
[00:04:44]
Two thirds of Congress.
Gee, I wonder why they bought
Democrats and Republicans.
Gee, I wonder why they bought
two thirds of Congress.
I bet it was for general welfare.
I am a reporter.
All right.
More recent data from Open Secrets
likewise confirms that a large majority
[00:05:02]
of leaders serving in the US
Congress and Senate receive significant
contributions from pharmaceutical
or health products companies,
averaging 45,040 7000 for Republicans and
[00:05:17]
Democrats in the House of Representatives,
respectively, and 50,060 9000 for
Republicans and Democrats in the Senate.
So it costs you a little bit more
to buy senators than congressmen,
[00:05:32]
but it's an open auction,
and Israel pays a different price,
and the defense contractors
pay a different price, and the chip
manufacturers pay a different price.
And they all buy these politicians.
And by the way, that explains the mystery
of why we have politicians
that are so old and feeble because they
are guaranteed return on investment.
[00:05:51]
When you pay off Joe Biden,
he's always going to deliver for you
when you pay off Mitch McConnell.
He's so deeply corrupt,
he's always going to pay off for you.
Lindsey Graham, Nancy Pelosi,
they're all the same.
They take the same money
from the same donor class.
[00:06:08]
Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi
have both raised about $1 billion
that they have shared with their
fellow Democrats and Republicans.
Those are all bribes
that they paid out to them.
Now, everybody remember oil subsidies.
Yep.
Billions of dollars.
Oh, the average guy in Kentucky
who cares about him?
[00:06:25]
Let's kick him in the nuts. Okay.
Who asked about the average voter?
You're fired. Get out of here.
Only people who work for donor class.
So two thirds of Congress
includes Democrats and Republicans,
who just gave you the actual numbers.
For what?
The bribes that pharmaceutical companies
are willing to pay.
[00:06:42]
How many people in mainstream media call
it bribes when they're obviously bribes?
Obviously. Bribes.
None. Zero.
In fact, if you call it bribes,
that's outrageous.
That's a conspiratorial.
Are you doing a conspiracy theory
that ExxonMobil cares about profits
[00:06:59]
when they obviously care with their big
giant oil heart about the American people.
And they're doing this on behalf
of Americans everywhere.
I mean, come on.
They sound so stupid that it's like,
really like, what do we did
the short bus drive into New York Times
and CNN and MSNBC and oh, you go, yeah.
[00:07:19]
ExxonMobil and Lockheed Martin
only care about the Americans
are the average voters.
That's why they're getting all the
subsidies and all the wars that they want.
Gosh, I, you know, look,
to be fair to mainstream media
who hates me, I've earned their hatred.
[00:07:35]
And I'm proud that I've earned their
hatred because they are giant liars.
They lie to you more than everyone.
Anyone online? No. Come on.
There's crazy people online.
I mean, what lunatic tells you
that these pharmaceutical companies
are bribing two thirds of Congress for
your benefit, and not because they want
[00:07:55]
higher drug prices and higher profits.
Please spare me.
Breaking down the numbers individually.
Continuing. Jacob Hess nice report here.
Breaking down the numbers individually.
At least 72 of the 100 sitting U.S.
Senators last year received at least
$10,000 from employees or PACs associated
[00:08:12]
with pharmaceuticals health product
companies in the 2024 election cycle,
with 12 senators receiving more
than $100,000, including seven Democrats
and five Republicans.
So 7,272% of the senators
are taking bribes.
[00:08:30]
I mean, charitable contributions
from the drug companies who I'm sure
have our best interests in mind.
I'm sorry.
For a second,
I lapsed into an early Halloween outfit
of dumbass mainstream media reporter.
No, 72% of the senators in America
are bought by this particular lobby.
[00:08:51]
Don't worry.
When you tally up all the lobbies,
it comes out to about 90 to 95.
Out of the 100 senators that are bought,
bitches of the donor class despise
the American voters and betray them at
every turn to serve their donors instead.
[00:09:08]
So we just give you
pharmaceutical companies as an example.
But good news you don't have
to rely on me.
There's a Republican House member,
Ex-house member, Mo Brooks,
very conservative.
He was gave one of the speeches
on January 6th,
and he was running for Senate in Alabama.
[00:09:26]
And, Lauren Winzer of undercurrent
happened to be there,
got him on tape saying this.
He said it publicly. Okay.
Now it reported
by no one in mainstream media.
I had Lauren on the show.
They buried this news because not only
do they lie actively to help the powerful,
[00:09:44]
but mainstream media.
If you find a news story that is really
impactful, they'll work overtime to bury
it and make sure that no one ever sees it.
Now, Jake, that's coming,
It's got to be hyperbole.
I mean, this congressman isn't going
to openly, publicly talk about how they're
getting bribed by the industries
they're supposed to regulate.
[00:10:01]
Is he? Let's find out.
Special interest groups run Washington.
And I don't mean that metaphorically,
I mean literally.
Now, here is how it happens
in the House of Representatives.
[00:10:18]
I'll use that as an example,
because that's where I work.
If you want to be chairman of a
major committee, you have to purchase it.
And the purchase price for
a major committee say like Ways and Means,
minimum bid is $1 million.
[00:10:35]
You have to get it
from the special interest groups.
And with the special interest groups,
there is a quid pro quo.
If you don't do what they tell you to do,
they won't give you the money
that finances your chairmanship.
Period. Period.
[00:10:52]
If you want to be a leader in Congress,
you must give $1 million in bribes to your
fellow Republican or fellow Democrat.
And where are you going to get that money?
The only place you can get it
is from the industry.
You're pretending to be a watchdog of.
[00:11:10]
But in reality, you have
to let them rob all of your voters
in return for the bribe you're getting.
So you could be the leader
of that committee.
You just heard it from the horse's mouth.
And he said, where are we going
to get it from the average Jane or Joe?
They don't have that kind of money.
[00:11:25]
So we got to go to the industry,
and we have to take their bribes
in order to advance our careers.
New York Times never covered it.
CNN never covered it.
MSNBC.
He's a Republican running
for Senate in Alabama, MSNBC.
He's like, shh, wait,
I thought you hated Republicans.
[00:11:41]
That's a perfect opportunity
to attack him.
- He's admitting it publicly, right?
- Shh.
Never talk about the donors.
Do you remember that scathing, segment
Rachel Maddow did about the donor class.
Oh, right.
Neither do I. Remember the one
Sean Hannity did?
[00:11:58]
Oh, right.
Neither do I. Now, from time to time,
they'll pick one guy from the others.
And so Sean Hannity will be like,
don't ever.
He you will never see Sean Hannity
taking on a corporate donor.
Never. He works for corporations, okay.
[00:12:15]
He's part of corporate media.
But he'll be like, oh, George Soros,
he's the one donor in the country,
George Soros. Everybody hate the Jew.
I mean, I mean, source oh, wait, wait,
wait, I thought you guys were the ones
handing out all the anti-Semitic trope
cards when we talk about AIPAC and the
[00:12:31]
Israeli lobby, but you kiss their ass.
But when you find a Jewish donor,
George Soros,
who's actually friendly to Palestinians,
all of a sudden Soros, he's the only one.
Soros.
The only problem. Why?
Because Soros is actually
against the other donors.
But you don't have to like Soros.
I don't want Soros money in politics.
I don't want it.
[00:12:48]
I don't want any money in politics.
And then the MSNBC crowd
will be like the Koch brothers.
Now, they were right
about the Koch brothers,
and Soros does give a lot of money,
but that's the only, donor you could find.
Where's your scathing editorials
on MSNBC or New York Times about the
[00:13:07]
defense contractors has robbed us blind.
Year after year,
the Pentagon can't, ever pass an audit.
They've literally never passed an audit.
They say they can't find $400 billion.
And so where's the attack dogs
at MSNBC and CNN?
[00:13:24]
Nowhere to be found
when it comes to the donor class.
All of a sudden, every single person
on cable news agrees.
Don't let the voters know.
Don't let the voters know.
We all work for the powerful.
We all work for corporate rule.
That's the reality.
[00:13:41]
Okay, now, why are the politicians
so obsessed with the money?
Well, first of all,
they're the worst of us.
They're not the best of us.
The mainstream media gets you to believe.
Or at least they did for the boomers
for a long, long time.
[00:13:57]
Not all of them,
but some of them get you to believe that.
Oh, these are the best of us. Oh, Senator.
Oh, here comes the honorable gentleman
from Connecticut.
No. They're dirtbags.
They're the worst of us.
If you had honest news media,
they would tell you we found the 520.
[00:14:15]
So I'll give 15 a pass. Okay.
Some on the right,
some mostly on the left.
But that's my opinion. But okay.
But, Marcy, now, Marjorie Taylor Greene
is being honest now.
Okay, I could disagree with them, but
they're being honest, so they're exempt.
But about 95% of Congress,
500 some odd folks are the very worst
[00:14:36]
people we could find in the country.
The ones that raise their hand
and say, oh, I'll work.
Oh, would you like to me
to finance a genocide?
I'm in. I'd love to finance.
Oh, we're murdering children. Love it.
Give me money. Give me a bribe, and I'll.
And I'll help you do that.
Oh, you're destroying the planet
and for your own pocketbook.
[00:14:53]
Oh, and you want me
to give you money on top?
You want me to steal from
the American taxpayers and give it to you?
Yeah.
Me? I'll do it.
I'll do it.
Those are the worst people on earth.
And. And they're 95% of Congress.
Wait, no, let me be clear. 93.65.
Why do I say that?
[00:15:09]
What percentage of House races
does the candidate with more
money win in the year 2022?
That number was 93.65%.
They're obsessed with the money
because it doesn't matter
if you're a Republican or a Democrat.
It doesn't matter
if you're conservative or liberal.
[00:15:25]
The only thing that matters
is whether you have more money or not.
And by the way, did you hear that
on mainstream media?
Remember when they were like, oh my God,
it turns out 94% of the time, whoever was
more corrupt and collected more bribes
was the one who won the election.
[00:15:40]
Oh my God, we should be really worried
about these scumbag politicians.
It seems like they're all taking money
and working for those guys.
And then the guys who take the most
bribes win 94% of the time, zero times
said on national television in America.
Zero zero.
[00:15:56]
Isn't that amazing that not a single
reporter on television noticed?
Collectively, trillions of dollars,
trillions of dollars in lobbying
and PAC money in dark money, etc.
At least billions leading to trillions in
subsidies for those same exact companies.
[00:16:15]
The rules being rigged
for those same exact companies.
But not a single reporter
followed the money.
They couldn't figure it out.
They're still like penciling it out there.
Right now they're like in
a Washington Post, conference room.
They're like, what do you think it is?
Do you think the American voters
never get what they want?
[00:16:32]
Because the best people on earth
are trying so hard, they just can't do it.
Filibuster. Good answer.
Good parliamentarian. Great answer.
That's probably why. That's probably why.
Oh, how about the Republicans?
They say that there are populist
average guy, but they just passed
[00:16:48]
giant corporate tax cuts,
giant tax cuts for the rich giant
corporate subsidies, giant extra pork
barrel for the Defense Department, etc..
How about them?
Oh, they meant well,
they just just coincidentally,
they ran out of time before they can get
to the average guy, let alone the pause.
[00:17:06]
They just happened to give all
of the money to the richest and most
powerful people who happen to bribe them.
Well, golly gee, another coincidence.
What a coinkydink.
Is that the moronic conversation going
on in the newsroom of the New York Times
[00:17:21]
and the Washington Post and CNN and MSNBC,
and we know Fox News is lying.
We know that.
But the other four are also lying.
They're just better at it.
They're more sophisticated.
Oh, Joe Manchin is a moderate.
[00:17:37]
He's against paid family leave
that pulls at 84%.
He's with the 16% radicals
who think that moms should not get any
time off after they have a baby, they
should go right back to the assembly line,
right back into the coal mines.
That is a radical.
[00:17:53]
Joe Manchin is one of the biggest
radicals in this country,
but he's a radical corporatist.
So instead, CNN and New York Times
will label him a moderate.
What kind of a moderate agrees
with 16% of the country
and disagrees with 84% of the country?
Please tell me why you're all liars
at the New York Times.
[00:18:11]
Why you're all liars at CNN.
Please tell me why.
No, but. Oh, I found an excuse.
Joe Manchin is from a red state,
but he's a Democrat.
That gives me the excuse
to call him a moderate.
Show me one policy position
that he was a moderate on.
Don't tell me gun control.
That's the easiest one.
[00:18:27]
And he gets paid
and bribed to do that, too.
And even if he doesn't get bribed,
yeah, I get it.
It's culturally different
in West Virginia, outside of that one
fig leaf that you have.
Go ahead. Subsidies to oil companies.
He drove him and his daughter,
drove out jobs from West Virginia
[00:18:44]
to serve a pharmaceutical donor.
As someone who is literally
paying off his daughter and he.
And on top of that,
Joe Manchin owns a coal company.
How many times did CNN
or New York Times tell you, hey,
this son of a bitch owns a coal company.
So as he's paying, as he's passing bills
that get subsidies to coal companies,
[00:19:05]
he's literally paying himself.
That's how corrupt he is.
That's why he lives on a yacht.
None. Zero.
The liars in mainstream media.
Their job is to protect the corruption.
They're the getaway driver
in this corrupt system.
[00:19:20]
I loathe the politicians.
I loathe the mainstream media figures
who are pretending to be journalists,
but are actually propagandists for
foreign governments, for current American
corporations, multinational corporations.
They're just marketing executives.
[00:19:35]
So. All right, look,
today I got worked up on this.
Let me give you guys a couple of things,
and then we got to do an interview.
So we're still asking some of you
have participated in this and I love it.
Israel has a 16 year old American kid
that they basically kidnaped.
They said he looked at someone else
throwing a stone
[00:19:53]
and he's now in captivity.
He's got he's got sick.
He's lost 30% of his body weight.
The so-called American officials
aren't even asking for him back.
They're like, no, just keep him in an
Israeli dungeon for as long as you like.
Where's the check? Where's the check?
[00:20:10]
Marco Rubio, I know you already got it.
You got $5 million from Larry Ellison.
Just in in one email we saw in 2016,
you got $1 million from AIPAC, etc..
Okay, that's just the ones we know.
God knows how much money, how many bribes,
legal bribes they funneled to you.
[00:20:25]
Can you just free one American child?
Can you just be
the American secretary of state once?
Do your job once for Americans
instead of foreign countries?
Hashtag free our child.
That's what we're asking.
By the way, I love what I love
about this revolution is it doesn't
[00:20:40]
give a goddamn about parties.
It doesn't care.
I don't care if you're
on the right or the left.
That's an American child.
Hashtag free child.
It's Marco Rubio's handles
on X and Facebook
and wherever else you can get him.
Hey, represent us for once.
Can you please release that child
from the dungeons that Israel has him in?
[00:21:01]
He can't even talk to his family.
He can't talk to anyone.
He's so dangerous.
American child from Florida.
She should be working
at dairy Queen right now.
It's so dangerous because he saw
someone else throwing a stone.
According to the giant liars,
that is the IDF.
[00:21:17]
They've never told the truth
in the last two years.
I don't know if they're ever
told the truth in their whole lives,
but Marco Rubio is busy bowing
down to them, groveling
and licking their boots for money.
Hashtag free our child.
I know, I know, he's not an Israeli, so
his life is, like, barely worth anything.
[00:21:36]
All right.
Other people wrote in with great ideas.
I'm barely going to have time for him.
So, So let's see here.
First. I'll get in what I can.
I'm going to go to Coffee Graphic 12 I
registered and own pardon my Corruption.
[00:21:53]
Gladly donate to tight
if they want to build it out.
Play on all the pardons
and everything else.
So. Hey, listen brother, I love that.
Thank you.
Can we build another website
about all the crooked pardons
from the Democrats and the Republicans?
Maybe, but one thing at a time.
So I love it.
[00:22:09]
Keep that in your back pocket.
We'll let you know if we need it.
But the collaborative way that we're doing
this, guys, I can't get enough of it.
We can't do it by ourselves.
We need all of you guys.
Speaking of which, let me go to, arpan.
Because he built
this unbelievable website.
[00:22:25]
We asked you guys,
you named it corruption.
Watch us.
And so, let me give you
some quotes from Arpan.
He said, I feel like this graphic six
I feel like this will eventually come up.
So I thought I would go ahead
and say it now, I do not want to monetize
this app or get any money from it.
[00:22:40]
I did this for the people.
As a teacher,
I live humbly but comfortably.
I do not need any more money.
I would like the app
to always be free for people.
However, I know tight needs funding
because you're a large organization.
If ads need to be on the app
to help tight generate revenue.
I understand.
[00:22:56]
Okay, I'll get I'll answer that in
a second, but let me finish our comment.
Also, I'd like to request that a shout out
be given to Corey Project for progress,
specifically because he provided
the original vision for the idea.
Without his vision, the website
would have never come into existence.
I would also like to remember,
like to thank members of the of the
[00:23:13]
discord project paper trail channel given
to to be given a shout out because they
provided me with some input as well.
So first of all,
project Paper Trail on Discord.
Great job. Thank you brothers and sisters.
We appreciate you. Corey.
I know it was your idea originally.
I love it.
[00:23:28]
I love that it was your idea.
I love that it comes from you guys.
Our way to build a site.
We showed it on, Thursday's episode.
I don't know how he did it.
He just magically built
this giant website overnight, and he's
added a lot more to it since then.
You could I think it's.
I don't think it's live yet.
[00:23:47]
Wait. Is it live?
Car.
You're going to tell me corruption.
Watch us.
I think it might be live.
Sorry that I got confused about that in a
second, but we'll get the answer to that.
But what I wanted to say to Arpon is.
Listen, brother, we don't.
I love that you're.
You do this out of goodness of your heart.
I heard that you spent
13 hours on it recently.
[00:24:05]
You're amazing.
You're an American hero for doing that.
I love that you're a teacher
and you say you don't need the money.
That's great.
Right now we're not
raising any money, okay?
And so if when there is
a if there is a specific need.
Hey guys.
We need to hire this person to do X,
y and Z, then I'll come to you guys.
[00:24:20]
But right now we don't have that need
so you don't need to give any money etc..
This is the American people
working together, blood, sweat and tears
to try to get our government back.
And okay, so this site is not up yet.
I just couldn't remember,
not live yet, but it will be soon.
[00:24:36]
We showed it to you.
What? What it looks like on Thursday.
We'll show it to you again
as we build upon it, etc.
But for the folks, by the way,
that have joined because you liked
this idea, well, we love you for it.
And there is no Young Turks
without you guys.
So, last thing I'll do is shout outs for
those folks, Tim Haskins and Fedora Kenya,
[00:24:53]
thank you for joining
through the join button on YouTube.
Fat Satyr Box and Lady AF all
gifted five memberships on YouTube.
Thank you for having open minds,
open hearts for trying to work together.
Look, some people, they don't want
to work with the right wing.
So they they, you know, some folks
have left and said, I don't want it.
[00:25:11]
I only want the left wing,
and I want to hate the other guys.
And and I'm and I don't care that you're
right, that it's Trump and the Republican
politicians and Mitch McConnell and Dick
Cheney, all those guys, I don't care.
I want to hate the voters. Okay.
Then you this is not
the place for you, okay?
And there are certainly people
on the right who say, oh, I hate the left.
[00:25:28]
And they do this, this, this and this,
and I never want to work with the left,
and this is not the place for you.
Okay?
But if you guys want to work together,
and that's the only way
we're ever going to win.
The establishment is way too strong,
way too powerful, too much money,
too many politicians in their back pocket,
the entire mainstream media
[00:25:44]
in their back pocket.
If we don't work together,
we got no chance.
But if you want to work together
and you want to create amazing things
like Arpan did, and Cory with his idea,
so many others that I've given credit to
and we're going to keep
on giving credit to, then you come here.
We're now calling this show
The Revolution.
[00:25:59]
Revolution.
Well, get into that later.
I'll explain it.
Basically the revolution. Okay.
And it's a peaceful one.
It's a nonviolent one.
It's a democratic one.
I don't mean democratic as in the party.
I mean as in democracy,
as in the people ruling.
That's what Thomas Jefferson,
James Madison, George Washington,
[00:26:16]
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine,
that's what they all talked about.
This is a beautiful,
unique place at the time where the people
rule and not the powerful.
That's what we want to go back to.
We want to bring this back to the heart
of what this country was supposed to do,
[00:26:34]
and have it be America again.
Every time you ring the bell below,
an angel gets his wings.
Totally not true.
But it does keep you updated
on our live shows.
Now Playing (Episode)
Podcast
