The Daily Herold: 8/20/26 - $40 Trillion in Debt, Swalwell's Seized Devices, and a Slow News Chat Day

Jon Herold deals with a wave of fraudulent charges on his own bank card while running a genuinely slow Thursday show, leaning heavily on chat interaction. He covers the national debt officially crossing 40 trillion dollars, plays a Scott Bessent clip on whether the deficit has peaked, and digs into reports that the FBI seized former Congressman Eric Swalwell's electronics amid a sexual misconduct investigation. Other topics include Trump's sweeping new economic pressure campaign against Iran, a DOE critical minerals funding announcement, and a look at how both anti Trump Democrats and the Freedom Caucus are struggling in this year's primaries. The chat also pulls Jon into a lengthy, somber discussion of an ongoing Massachusetts murder trial that dominates a good chunk of the show. Sponsor reads, a new Badlands group chat setup, and plenty of live chat banter round out a lighter but talkative Thursday.