An MSNBC host and two guests shredded former Donald Trump and his new business partner late Monday following the former president's announcement earlier in the night that he was launching his own cryptocurrency exchange platform.
Trump announced during a livestream on X that he, along with a family friend, some of his sons and crypto enthusiasts were launching World Liberty Financial. Trump said his sons got him interested in crypto.
“Crypto is one of those things we have to do,” Trump said. “Whether we like it or not, I have to do it.”
The news caught the attention of MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle, who noted on her show, "The 11th Hour," that Trump has "changed his tune" since calling cryptocurrency a "scam."
Zeke Faux, an investigative reporter at Blomberg, told Ruhle that while the "details are pretty scant at this point" — "shocking," Ruhle deadpanned — Faux said he has looked into Trump's new business partner.
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A giddy Ruhle seized on Faux's comment, and noted the partner, Chase Herro, describes himself as a "dirtbag."
She then played a devastating clip of Herro and encouraged viewers at home to "turn up the volume."
In the YouTube video, Herro is driving as he says, "You can literally sell s--- in a can, wrapped in piss, covered in human skin, for a billion dollars if the story is right. Because people will buy it. And that is what is going on in the crypto space."
Herro later adds, "All I'm saying is you have the ability to make a f---ton of money right now."
Ruhle turned back to her guests and jabbed the former president over his choice of new business partner, as Faux laid out what he called Herro's "very weird resume."
"He was a weed dealer. He went to prison. He started getting into online marketing. One thing I found he was selling was colon cleanses," laughed Faux and Ruhle.
"So he's not full of s---. Oh!" laughs Ruhle, apologizing. "Sorry, sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Excuse me. Apologies."
Most recently, added Faux, Herro has been selling a $149-a-month "get-rich-quick club."
"And now he's Trump's crypto guru," said Faux.
Ruhle chimes in that Trump's son Barron learned some of his cryptocurrency knowledge from Martin Shkreli, a hedge fund co-founder who served five years in federal prison after being convicted of securities fraud.
"This is funny but it's not. Cryptocurrency is ... a very dark place. There are huge positives and huge unknown negatives," she said.
Tim O'Brien, senior executive editor at Bloomberg, told Ruhle that, "Like everything around Trump, it's tragic comic."
"It is funny because it's absurd. And it is funny because it seems on its face to be such a transparent scam," he said. "But it's also tragic because Trump is using the public media and the platform he's on to perpetrate a carny act."
O'Brien said that if Trump is re-elected, he'll then have great sway over the crypto market — and he and his children could profit "massively."
"He doesn't bat an eyelash at it because it's in keeping with who he's been for decades," said O'Brien.
Ruhle then laid out why she believes Trump's latest announcement is "so much more dangerous" than his other business ventures. Trump can become the next president and make a "fortune" off crypto — particularly as he would get to decide who gets to be the next chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
