First Class Grift | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas

First Class Grift | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas

From DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas by Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas

April 28, 2026 · 1h 5m

About this episode

Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas discuss the financial struggles of low-cost airlines, military setbacks in Mali, and a high-profile bribery trial in Switzerland.

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Low-cost airlines are asking the Trump administration for $2.5 billion to offset some of the cost of fuel, which has surged because of the war with Iran. Spirit Airlines is negotiating a loan of up to $500 million from the government; the government would have the right to purchase ownership stakes in the airline through financial instruments known as warrants. The government could end up owning as much as 90% of the Spirit, in its second bankruptcy in two years. • A joint offensive by Tuareg separatists of the Azawad Liberation Front and JNIM militants linked to Al Qaeda represented a major setback for Mali’s military junta and its Russian paramilitary partners . Defense minister Lt. Gen. Sadio Camara, a key liaison between the Malian Army and Russian paramilitary forces, was killed in the coordinated attacks. • Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of former Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov , went on trial in absentia in Switzerland in connection with alleged bribery and money laundering involving assets worth hundreds of millions of…

People in this episode

Hosts: Ted Rall, Jamarl Thomas

Topics covered

  • low-cost airlines
  • government loans
  • Mali military junta
  • Tuareg separatists
  • bribery trial
  • Uzbekistan
  • Al Qaeda

Keywords

  • low-cost airlines
  • Trump administration
  • Mali
  • Gulnara Karimova
  • bribery
  • Al Qaeda
  • Spirit Airlines

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Spirit Airlines, Azawad Liberation Front, JNIM, Al Qaeda, Uzbekistan, Switzerland, The Office

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