In yet another debacle for the liberal mainstream media, CNN’s Michael Smerconish appeared to unravel on-air after a hard-hitting debate with James Fishback, the creator of the DOGE Dividend. Fishback, an entrepreneur aligned with Trump and CEO of Azoria, held his ground against Smerconish’s attempts to challenge the Trump-backed initiative. The DOGE Dividend, an initiative born from the collaboration between President Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), aims to rein in government overspending and redirect savings back to diligent taxpayers.
Right from the start, Smerconish seemed fixated on discrediting Fishback by highlighting his connections to President Trump and the America First agenda, which CNN traditionally criticizes. Yet, Fishback was unfazed, elaborating on a simple yet revolutionary plan to allocate 20% of savings from cutting government waste directly to taxpayers, with another 20% dedicated to reducing national debt.
Fishback articulated, “Our plan is really simple. Over the next couple of years, DOGE will save a set amount of money. We’re going to take 20% of that and put it right back in the hands of taxpayers. The other 80%, as President Trump has pointed out, will go toward paying down the debt and narrowing the deficit.”
Despite Smerconish’s interruptions and condescending remarks, Fishback called out the hypocrisy masked by government spending on initiatives like a transgender opera in Colombia, while American infrastructure crumbles. He emphasized, “That $20 million for a ‘Rocky Sesame Street,’ the money spent on a transgender opera in Colombia—all while roads and bridges are crumbling.”
Smerconish dismissed Fishback’s factual rebuttals by claiming the necessity of so-called “soft power” investments like “Sesame Street in Iraq,” countering that such approaches are preferable over military spending. Unfazed, Fishback shot back, “There was a terrorist attack in Iraq last month that killed 40 people. It’s clearly not working. Soft power and Sesame Street are not working.”
As the conversation intensified, Smerconish suggested directing the full savings towards the colossal national debt, a stance he hasn’t consistently applied in the face of reckless spending on foreign aid and domestic handouts. Fishback swiftly criticized these double standards and the misplaced priorities of legacy media. “Where was this emergency over the debt when we sent $350 billion to Ukraine to be wasted?” Fishback queried.
Throughout Smerconish’s attempts to retain control by threatening to cut Fishback’s mic, the entrepreneur remained composed, pointing to the double standard seen time and again in the liberal media’s narrative. Smerconish ironically labeled the DOGE Dividend as a “Ponzi scheme,” echoing narratives used to discredit initiatives that empower American citizens over governmental bureaucracy.
Fishback plainly addressed the misdirection of public funds, asserting, “Their taxpayer dollars were sent abroad, were not spent at home, were not spent in America—not on healthcare, not on education. That ends with President Trump’s leadership today.”
As Smerconish called time on the segment, Fishback left viewers with a compelling truth: the DOGE Dividend Plan under Trump’s leadership proposes a necessary restitution for decades of Washington’s financial mismanagement.