Druski, Nick Cannon, and Rachel Maddow's Top Questions for Trump

Summary

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Clock It with Symone & Eugene

Episode: Druski, Nick Cannon, and Rachel Maddow’s Top Questions for Trump

Hosts: Symone Sanders Townsend & Eugene Daniels
Guest: Rachel Maddow
Date: April 2, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this lively, sharply insightful episode, Symone Sanders Townsend and Eugene Daniels dive into the cultural and political crosscurrents shaping America in 2026. From viral comedy skits sparking "whiteface" debates to the bureaucratic turmoil over TSA pay, to deep analysis of Trump-era authoritarianism with Rachel Maddow, this episode takes on the week’s biggest moments at the intersection of politics, culture, and citizenship. Notably, the hosts and their guest challenge listeners to consider the real meaning—and threat—of America’s current trajectory, always weaving in humor and hope amidst the heaviness.

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Key Segment Summaries & Insights

1. Culture, Satire & Drewksi’s “Whiteface” Video

[04:37–09:32]

• Symone and Eugene introduce listeners to comedian Druski’s viral skit—a pointed satirical take in “whiteface” echoing conservative women’s talking points. The video prompted widespread debate across political lines.
• Quote (Symone, 06:05): “Some of the speeches sound like speeches she's [Erica Kirk] given recently.”
• The conversation pivots to the legacy and profound context difference between "whiteface" and "blackface," underlining America's specific history of blackface as a tool of dehumanization and oppression.
  • Eugene [07:54]: “There is no world in which...whiteface has been used to subjugate and destroy a people.”
  • Symone [08:19]: “Blackface is literally rooted in racism and oppression, minstrel shows, so on and so forth.”
• The hosts highlight the rapid spread of misinformation around Druski’s skit and a (false) rumor of a cease-and-desist from Erica Kirk, warning that unchecked disinformation easily warps both political and pop culture narratives.
  • Symone [08:56]: “Check your sources twice, folks. Can we turn to the TSA?”

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2. TSA Back Pay, Tyler Perry, and Political Maneuvering

[09:32–12:37]

• TSA workers' back pay dominates the news, exposing the political games involved in federal shutdowns. Trump issues a memo to pay TSA back pay—after blocking earlier Congressional efforts—positioning himself as a savior.
  • Symone [10:45]: “These TSA workers have no idea when Congress is going to actually get their shit together and fund them. And so I think that it’s a ploy, frankly.”
• Eugene shares how billionaire Tyler Perry attempted to give cash to TSA agents, only for the government to require return of the money after pay was restored.
• Both hosts underscore the systemic instability for frontline workers and the performative politics at play.

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3. Cuba Blockade Crisis and U.S. Policy

[12:37–16:27]

• With fuel blockades causing a dire medical crisis in Cuba, the episode spotlights the paradox of Cuban suffering, Russian oil shipments, and the U.S. allowing Russian but not Mexican aid.
• Ben Rhodes’ tweet and the context of a shifting regional power dynamic are analyzed.
• Eugene and Symone examine historical dependencies—Venezuela’s oil, Cuba’s communist economy, and the rhetoric versus reality around U.S. intervention.
• Symone [15:35]: “Everything’s gonna be like Venezuela child. And I’m just waiting on the people to understand.”

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4. Rachel Maddow Joins: Authoritarianism, Protest & Public Agency

[17:38–47:58]

“No Kings” Movement, Resistance & Trump’s Disconnection

• Rachel Maddow is introduced playfully as “Aunt Rachel”—symbolizing her generational influence and mentorship.
• Rachel unpacks the nationwide “No Kings” protest surge, even in deep-red states. She argues that the breadth and nonviolence of this movement signals MAGA’s eroding base and emboldened opposition.
  • Maddow [19:31]: “Everywhere where he has support, it is getting more porous and the opposition...is getting more brave, more present, more unified...”
• The group discusses the recurring American dynamic of mass protest versus governmental indifference, with comparisons to Vietnam, Iraq, and Black Lives Matter eras.
• Rachel analyzes how even authoritarians must pay attention to popular will—or eventually face counter-mobilization. She frames Trump’s current governing style as uniquely insular and unmoored from democratic legitimacy.
  • Maddow [22:11]: “There’s a counter-revolution being mounted by the American people...to hold onto the democracy that we’ve got.”

Trump’s Cognition, Cuba Policy, & Dangerous Precedents

• Eugene asks whether Trump’s isolation from reality represents mere arrogance or deeper cognitive decline. Maddow details moments (like the Cuba blockade) when Trump fails to grasp basic cause and effect, suggesting both incompetence and dangerous detachment.
  • Rachel [27:27]: “I think he literally doesn’t understand the difference between plus and minus.”
• Symone and Eugene contrast Trump’s disregard for information with observations from the Biden administration, reiterating that public vigilance is the only remaining ‘guardrail.’

Detention Camps, Citizenship & Community Resistance

• Maddow, an expert on authoritarian overreach, expresses grave concern about expanding ICE detention facilities and the precedent of mass incarceration without trial—drawing chilling parallels to WWII internment.
  • Rachel [35:46]: “Nothing is predestined...History doesn’t just happen. Right, right. We’re writing our future right now.”
• There’s hope in bipartisan, community-level opposition: even conservative localities organize against government contracts to house detention centers, reinforcing “no kings”—that presidential power only stretches as far as Americans allow.

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5. Hope, Agency & Mental Health Amid Crisis

[38:56–47:58]

• Eugene and Symone get candid about the psychological weight of political reporting, especially witnessing trauma inflicted on ordinary Americans.
• Maddow urges focusing analysis (and coverage) less on Trump and more on the energy, tactics, and resilience of citizens actively resisting authoritarian drift.
  • Rachel [43:27]: “I am very interested in whether or not our country is going to stay a constitutional republic. Whatever Donald Trump says each day is not material to that outcome.”
• They end this segment by affirming the importance of learning from American history—not only its failures but its tradition of resistance, reform, and the ever-evolving definition of “We the People.”
  • Rachel [46:24]: “The agency of good people working against very difficult odds to make us the kind of country we want to say we are...That’s the most important history of this country.”

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6. Side Chat: Trump’s Branding Obsession, Chilli Controversy, Nick Cannon’s Hot Takes

[50:24–60:28]

Trump’s Authoritarian Branding Moves

• Symone and Eugene discuss Trump’s fixation with putting his name on currency and public works, interpreting it as an attempt to enshrine his legacy and distract from long-term damage.
  • Symone [51:25]: “He thinks America is stupid. He thinks that he can capitalize on all of these cultural pieces and we won’t connect the dots, but we clocking it so you can be here too.”

Chilli’s Political Donations

• The hosts break down pop culture kerfuffles over TLC’s Chili’s (Rozonda Thomas) recent donations to Trump/PACs and her “All Lives Matter” comments, the subsequent public fallout, and the importance of standing by—or clearly explaining—one’s political choices.

Nick Cannon’s “History” & Fact-Checking

• Nick Cannon’s comments alleging Democrats are the "party of the KKK" and that Republicans “freed the slaves” prompts a pointed fact check by Symone and Eugene, featuring a clip from political strategist Joshua Doss.
  • Joshua Doss [57:59]: “American political parties are houses...the houses don’t create anything. The people inside of the houses do.”
• The hosts urge more nuance and resist anti-intellectualism, warning about celebrity influence and the recycling of simplistic, misleading narratives.

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Memorable Quotes

• Maddow [21:07]: “The total number of people that you get out, it does really matter...how broad-based it is. Because if the authoritarian still has a regional base...that’s a different thing than if all over the country his support has just degraded like it was made of sugar and it is raining.”
• Symone [45:16]: “It is so important for people to realize that they have agency and that they don’t have to...accept the idea that their neighbors are gonna be snatched up and taken away.”

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Key Timestamps

• [04:37] — Druski’s viral “whiteface” video and cultural/political controversy
• [09:32] — TSA pay crisis, Tyler Perry’s intervention, and Trump’s ploys
• [12:37] — Cuba’s blockade: humanitarian fallout, U.S.–Russia policy paradoxes
• [17:38] — Rachel Maddow joins: “No Kings” movement & authoritarian analysis
• [19:31] — Maddow on protest breadth and weakening MAGA base
• [27:27] — Trump’s cognitive failings laid bare via Cuba oil blockade episode
• [35:46] — Maddow: “Nothing is predestined...We’re writing our future right now.”
• [43:27] — Maddow: “Whatever Donald Trump says...is not material to that outcome.”
• [46:24] — Maddow on history’s lessons: “The agency of good people...”
• [50:24] — Side Chat: Trump’s legacy branding, Chilli’s donations, Nick Cannon fact-checked

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Takeaways

This episode perfectly blends personal, pop cultural, and political worlds—showing how none are insulated from the others in contemporary America. The conversation with Rachel Maddow is a standout, offering rallying clarity: history is not a prewritten doom; agency, protest, and truth-telling still matter. The hosts’ insistence on taking misinformation and culture war grist seriously—while never losing sight of humor or hope—makes “Clock It” both a lifeline and a call to action for listeners who want to stay engaged, informed, and resilient.

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Transcript

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I was like, you can come, but you can only stay for an hour and then I'll get nervous and make you leave.

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That's all I can take with the outdoors.

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Honestly, it's an all or nothing kind of thing. You either can't handle people and so you need to be around birds and trees all the time, or you need to see birds and trees for a second and then.

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So you can handle the people.

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Exactly. You're like a Disney princess. You and the animals hanging out, talking to each other.

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Not Snowball.

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That's the one time that's ever been said in my life, Eugene. That is not a thing that comes up.

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Greetings and welcome back to Clock It. Gas is up. The SNP is down. The Supreme Court ruled this week that conversion therapy is protected by the First Amendment. And as we speak, there are over 50,000American troops in the Middle East.

[A]

Just a little bit. And I am confused personally, because aren't we supposed to not be going to war? And Trump's America. I thought all of a sudden we were America first. It's right there in the name. But the America first party does seem a little lost. This is Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Good Morning America on Monday. Listen to this.

[B]

Imagine in Iran that instead of spending

[A]

their wealth, billions of dollars supporting terrorists or weapons, had spent that money helping

[B]

the people of Iran.

[A]

You'd have a much different country. Imagine if a country with a lot of Money. Use that money for the people in the country that they living in instead of spending it in a war. Also be applied, madam.

[C]

As Tupac said, they got money for wars. We can't feed the poor. I would edit it to say they have money for war, yet they are refusing to fund health care and are trying to slash your benefits.

[A]

It doesn't roll off the tongue as much as Tupac.

[C]

No, it doesn't. It doesn't. I had to update it for 2026. But it's also crazy because the Iranian regime is literally a regime like they don't care about the people, which is why the people were. The Iranian people were celebrating the potential FR for the United States to help liberate them from this regime.

[A]

And we don't seem to be doing that.

[C]

That does not seem to be happening at all. Well, also on Wednesday, the Supreme Court took up a case that could end birthright citizenship in this country. And to be clear, I don't think it could end birthright. Birthright citizenship is literally in the Constitution, and it was debated at the founding of this country by many individuals. But what do I know? The administration's argument is that Trump should decide who gets to be a citizen. And it's not. It's not a strong argument, Eugene.

[B]

It is just incredible that they are dragging that stinking heap up to the door of the Supreme Court this very week, the same week that more than 8 million Americans from every single corner of this country came out full tilt and at full volume to say, no kinks, no kings, no thrones, no golden toilets, no crowns, no kings, no camps. That's where we are. That's where we stand.

[C]

Game on. Here, here, Rachel.

[A]

Game on.

[C]

Okay. Game on. I'll drink to that. Is water.

[A]

That's the Rachel Maddow who, in addition to lighting up on her show, is coming on our show this week. She'll be here later.

[C]

But first, Eugene, we are gonna do a quick TSA update. We're gonna talk about what's going on in Cuba that is blowing up in all of our group chats.

[A]

Drew Ski. It's crazy that we're talking about Drew Ski, but this week we thought we'd start the show in a different place with the real cultural political collision. This video dropped on Wednesday night.

[C]

In what ways have you grown closer to Jesus?

[A]

I serve a righteous God, and that is why we say our prayers.

[C]

That is crazy. That's crazy.

[A]

Now, for those of you listening, that is a comedian, black guy named Drewski. He's wearing white makeup, a Long blonde wig, center part color contacts, blue with lashes that make him look very much like many conservative women. He would say some people gave some specific names. Erica Kirk, Kat Kamek, the congresswoman. Especially when he pauses to stare at the camera like that. In this other scene, Drew Ski, still looking like that, is standing at a podium. There's a black security guard or law enforcement officer, somebody standing behind her. Watch this. We have to protect all men in America, especially all white men in America. Those are the boys that we care about in this country. America is built on their backs.

[C]

We're playing the video because it's crazy, but it has stirred up a lot of consternation in conservative circles. You know, obviously Drew Ski never said anyone's name specifically, but a lot of people online, I mean, understandably so. I mean, it looks like he's trying to portray Erica Kerr.

[A]

Exactly.

[C]

It looks like he's trying to. He sounds like her.

[A]

Some of the speeches sound like speeches she's given recently.

[C]

Correct. So it has gone viral. I mean, Ted Cruz retweeted the video, tweeted.

[A]

He said it's beneath contempt. The fact that it's one of those things that has like bubbled up and gone from like our normal political group chats into the social media folk group chats.

[C]

It is literally my political group chats are talking about this. My non political group chats are talking about this. I mean, Ted Cruz all the way down to the shade when they are all on the same page. I do think it's something that has broken through. Drew Ski is a comedian that has done a number of.

[A]

He's done his wife based stuff a lot.

[C]

Yeah, a lot. And like, to be clear, I don't know. Drew Ski is not everybody's cup of tea. Cup of tea. I would argue some days he's not my cup of tea child. I don't necessarily find all the skits funny, but I think it is important to discuss this because again, this is a topic that has now made its way from the cultural zeitgeist into the political zeitgeist. And it's fueling conversations that are being had. There was a conservative influencer and outkick founder Clay Travis, who tweeted a piece of his tweet, says this honest question, if a prominent black leader had been assassinated and a white comedian put on blackface and mocked his widow, what would happen?

[A]

This is such a layered conversation because at once, yes, Erika Kirk is a widow.

[C]

Yeah. And whose husband was murdered in a very insane, disgusting, terrifying, disgusting, vile way.

[A]

And we all watched it over and over and over again. So there's a world in which. And a lot of people who feel like, no, don't leave this woman completely alone. But at the same time, let's be very clear. The difference between white face and black face is very different.

[C]

Now people are gonna hear this and be like, what? Whiteface and blackface are different?

[A]

They are.

[C]

There is. And you have to break down for why. Because there is a historical context to blackface.

[A]

There is no world in which, in this country or any other country, that whiteface has been used to subjugate and destroy a people. That is what blackface was about. It was about making of and dehumanizing black people so. So that they can continue to be subjugated and treated like I was about to cuss. Be treated badly in this country. So that is really important. There is a big old difference.

[C]

I don't want everybody to get into a white face, blackface situation. Yeah, blackface is literally correct. Blackface is literally rooted in racism and oppression, menstrual shows, so on and so forth. One could argue maybe Drew Ski needs to put the makeup down.

[A]

Let it go.

[C]

Let it go. But, you know, we'll see if he don't let it go if he comes back with a part two.

[A]

Right.

[C]

Maybe if Erica Kirk and the conservative women wanna respond, we will be discussing it here.

[A]

I will also say the misinformation that happened.

[C]

Oh, the disinformation is real here.

[A]

It is something that's really important. So rumors were online that Erica Kirk had sent a cease and desist to Drew Ski. That never happened, apparently.

[C]

No.

[A]

And everybody was leaning in on that.

[C]

But it was so real, to be clear. It looked like it did. It looked very real. And in this day and age, this is something people have to be vigilant about because the misinformation and disinf. Ran wild on, like, a random video from a comedian. Right. But this same thing could happen as it relates to the election. The same thing could happen as it relates to the war in Iran. It has been happening. And so you have to be able to differentiate between what's real and what's AI Okay? And so oftentimes, you know, I look at things and I'm like, is this AI? No, we really haven't started. Is this AI and check your sources twice, folks. Check your sources twice. Can we turn to the TSA? Yeah.

[A]

Because you're fired up about the TSA.

[C]

I'm very fired up about the TSA. Because this week the news is most of the AI agencies, 60,000 workers started to get back pay on Monday. And thank goodness, because the rent was due on Wednesday. But the DHS shutdown is not over. And there's still people within CBP and FEMA and Coast Guard who are not getting paid, whose accounts are negative zero. And this memo that Donald Trump put out that directed the DHS to pay the TSA workers their back pay. To be very clear, what the memo said is that the DHS secretary and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget should work together to identify funds that are based tangentially related, Eugene, to tsa and use that money to pay the workers, give them compensation for the checks that they have missed thus far. The memo does not say, keep paying us.

[A]

No.

[C]

And to be clear, everybody didn't get full back pay.

[A]

And at the end of the day, Simone, the reason that the lines were long, it wasn't just because people weren't getting paid. It was because people quit because they weren't getting paid. Or called out hundreds of TSA workers as I would, too, if I wasn't getting paid. I'm not coming to work either.

[C]

No, I have to call out. I need to go somewhere. I need to get a job. Get something. Exactly. That can help sustain the household.

[A]

Exactly.

[C]

These TSA workers have no idea when Congress is going to actually get their shit together and fund them. And so I think that it's a ploy, frankly. I think that Republicans thought that they could not pay the TSA workers because Democrats literally put a lot of bills on the floor to pay them. You know, the Senate did pass something. Democrats didn't want to pay them.

[A]

Republicans went to the White House and asked the president to be okay with the bill that only funded everybody. But ice, that happened over and over again.

[C]

But he didn't do it because they thought that they could use the pain of TSA workers as leverage. And so after the Senate passed that bill, then Donald Trump was like, you know what? Dhs, omb, find some cash to pay him. If he could do that now, why didn't he do that before? I think it's important to understand because you know what? People gonna walk away and be like, well, you know, Trump paid the TSA workers. No, no, no, no, no. The Senate passed a bill to pay them already. And Donald Trump told the House, don't do it, Mike Johnson. And then he wanted to look like the hero. It is a master ploy in marketing. Okay? Master ploy who was trying to pay his TSA workers was Tyler Perry.

[A]

This is Something Simone sent me. Did y' all see Tyler Perry try to give TSA workers in Atlanta cash last week? This was something that he was trying to do. This is the one of those good billionaires you be talking about?

[C]

Yes. See, the good billionaires understand the assignment. The people at TSA could not accept the money because there are rules against TSA agents accepting cash. Obviously, they are unionized. But apparently his people eventually figured out a workaround and donated $250,000 in $1,000 gift cards. Okay, shout out to Tyler Perry.

[A]

There's gotta be some more money in there. Cause 250,000 for a billionaire. Moving on.

[C]

Well, I mean, Tyler Perry's trying to do it. He can.

[A]

He can do more. We know where your heart is, Tyler. But this week, the NBC affiliate in Atlanta reported that DHS TSA guidance is the workers have to return the gift card since they're getting paid again.

[C]

That's crazy. Okay, so, baby.

[A]

And they probably already spent.

[C]

Maybe my gift card would not.

[A]

It'd been gone. I'd be like, what gift card? What gift card? You mean this food that's in my house? You mean the rent that's paid?

[C]

There's no way I would have still held on to the gift card. It's crazy. So, long story short, flying is still very terrible. ICE is still at the airports, not doing anything to help tsa. And you know where you can't go, even if you were willing to brave the airport? Cuba. Cuba. You can't go to Cuba because it is blockaded. And this is what the girls on the left are fighting over. This was Gavin Newsom on a political podcast on the road with our good friend Jonathan Martin last week.

[B]

This quasi blockade is creating conditions where now we have 51 prisoners that have

[A]

been released, that we're having a different

[B]

conversation with the leadership, that we're negotiating a different framework from a different position of strength. So pursuing those values. Absolutely.

[A]

And Ben Rhodes, y' all know him at Ms. Now, he was a deputy national security adviser to President Obama. He responded by tweeting, no Democrat should support this policy. And linking to the New York Times reporting about Cubans dying because this quasi blockade is wrecking their country's healthcare system. No oil tankers have been able to dock on the island for the last three months. So the power keeps going out. The Ministry of Health told El Pais. The Ministry of Health. It is the Spanish version.

[C]

It is the Spanish version of the AP.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

96,000 people are waiting for surgery. 96,000 people. People who rely on Electric medical equipment are in peril. Chemo, dialysis patients can't get everything they need on time. Vaccines will go bad if refrigeration goes down, which is happening, is likely to continue to happen.

[C]

It's actually crazy. So the question I have, Eugene is reporting, like what you just ran down the reason why Trump led a Russian ship with 730,000 barrels of oil docking Cuba Tuesday morning. Maybe it's a good question because why wouldn't he let Mexico, which is closer and whose president has said her nation wants to help do that instead of. And to be clear, the barrels that come through, it's not going to be enough.

[A]

Right.

[C]

Because the island, it's a, for lack of a better term, it's a communist government. And so the government controls everything. And so if the government does not have oil, right, for the electricity, money for the electricity, all those things, it is not on. People are getting out of the bed in the middle of the night in Cuba, like when the power just happens to come back on and then they're starting to cook. Yeah, yeah, they are. It's. It's absolutely insane. But you gotta wonder why the Russian oil tankers are not the Mexican oil.

[A]

It's interesting, it's a question, right? But one of the most important one questions I have is tied to the fact that one, Cuba, Cuba mostly relied on Venezuelan oil. Yes, they did. So when Maduro happened, that was a problem for them. And that problem has continued moving forward. What's next? And what the President has said is Cuba is next. This was on March 27th in a speech in Miami. So it is very clear the war

[C]

we with in Iran right now, it is very clear. Everything's gonna be like Venezuela child. And I just, it is not. I'm just waiting on the people to understand.

[A]

And for those who are paying attention to the America first of it, we have gone into Venezuela, we snatched up their leader, we have propped up this sort of government. We have gone into Iran, US in Israel. We have killed the Altoid, we continue to bomb them.

[C]

We are now in a war. And they have closed the shredded Hormuzzo. That's why gas is so hot as hell.

[A]

Iran in response is bombing all the people around them, all of our allies. So that's where we're at. And that's gonna continue. But I'm gonna stop there and take a breath and come back with Rachel. You don't wan. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the

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People act like the culture war started five minutes ago.

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Meanwhile, adults have been panicking about books since forever.

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Bandcamp, our top ranked podcast about banned books, is back for its 10th season. This time around, we're reading J.D. salinger's classic the Catcher in the Rye. We're reading the book out loud, cover to cover, one chapter per episode.

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By the way, we have no clue what's gonna happen. We should have read this book in school. I don't know why neither of us did. So you're basically gonna hear us stumbling over words, trying to figure it out as we go. It's gonna be embarrassing. It's gonna be chaos. So if you've never read it before

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but always wanted to experience it again through a set of new eyes, now's your chance.

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That sounds like your kind of show. You already know where to find us. That's band camp. Band like in band books? Not band like tubas and snare drums.

[C]

Well, I think we should just go on ahead and welcome our. You know, last week we called Harry Sisson our Gen Z cousin, Right? I think Rachel is our. Is our big sister.

[A]

Yes, correct.

[C]

Our big sister. We're gonna welcome our big sister.

[A]

Oh, your old maid. You see how she started stuttering there? I got a little worried.

[C]

We gonna welcome our big sister to the group chat. Grandma's here.

[A]

Aunt Rachel.

[C]

Honey. Welcome Aunt Rachel to the group chat. The one and only Rachel Meadows. She doesn't really need an introduction, folks. Okay.

[B]

I'm so happy to see my grandbabies here, you guys. I can't wait.

[C]

I love you.

[B]

I have you, my grandbabies here for

[C]

each other next week.

[B]

You guys are gonna be here on Sunday. We've been missing you.

[C]

In case people are living under a rock. We are not actually related to Rachel, but also she is a broadcaster, a podcaster, an author, a documentarian, a professional reader, and I do mean read in the shadiest good ways. It is a pleasure to welcome her to the podcast, Rachel. Thank you.

[A]

Thank you so much, Rachel, for coming on.

[B]

Oh, Simone. Oh, Eugene. I'm so happy to be here.

[C]

This is the time to have this conversation, Eugene, because. No Kings.

[A]

No Kings. So, Rachel, over the weekend, we saw the no Kings, and I think the thing that I'm, like, stuck on, and I feel like you are, too. 600 more events than last time according to the no Kings movement. So much more Growth was in rural areas, red state communities, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana. There was a protest in Pulaski, Tennessee. That is where the KKK was created and born. So what does that tell you about where this movement is, how the mood is in this country, and what's gonna happen moving forward?

[B]

I feel like it's the physical manifestation of a president with 32% approval and 62% disapproval, that even in a Pulaski, Tennessee, even in Wyoming, even in rural Montana, even in places that probably would could, you know, I guess potentially go for Trump again if he was on the ballot again. There's enough people even within those communities that are not just against him, but that are really against him. And that, I mean, in terms of just like the political science of what it means to have a broad based, nonviolent protest movement against an authoritarian leader, it does matter. The total number of people that you get out, it does really matter. It existentially matters that you're a nonviolent move movement, but it also matters how broad based it is. Because if the authoritarian still has a regional base, still has a place in the country that is uniformly like, on his team, and that's gonna go to war for him, metaphorically speaking, that's a different thing than if all over the country his support has just degraded like it was made of sugar and it is raining. And that is what's happening everywhere. Where he has support, it is getting more porous and the opposition to him is getting more brave, more present, more unified, more organized, and more willing to speak out. Nobody's afraid of him, and people are disgusted by him. And people are increasingly willing to say they are, even in very conservative places. And I think that just tells you there's a lot of indicators right now that MAGA is on its heels. And that's a big one.

[C]

There is this, like, tension between a public that is mobilizing and frankly, a president that is like, ignoring it. And that's not new. I mean, I think, because he doesn't seem to care. He does not seem to care. He is governing as though public opinion and accountability do not exist. And, you know, they say fafo. He's about the FAFO in the midterms, I think, and going forward. But we have. This is not unique, I think, to Donald Trump, because we've seen this throughout history. When the public mobilizes, the presidents might ignore it or not understand the gravity of it. 1960s during Vietnam, right? The early 2000s during Iraq. I mean, hell, the summer of 2020, Black Lives Matter, right? The early debates way back when that shaped the very constitution itself. So I do think that it's. The world is hard right now and no kings. I think why is so important is because in America you still need the consent of the people to govern. In a democracy, you need the consent of the people. And the people standing up are saying we do not consent. And it's reminding them that they still have the power. And I think people need that reminder.

[B]

I think that's right. And you know, I think it's also interesting when you look at entrenched authoritarian regimes around the world, they still need know that they need the people. Right. That you can't. Yes. I mean, if you're going to be a full blown, autocratic, militarized, coast to coast police state dictatorship, like maybe you don't care what people think. But even, you know, in Russia, even in Hungary, even in China, to a certain extent, like, yes, they're willing to oppress their people and to reign over their people in a way that the people wouldn't want were they allowed to consent in a meaningful way. But they still have to monitor the public opinion and what people are willing to stand for and what they're not. Because ultimately numbers matter, people matter. Revolutions happen and they're mounting a revolution to try to overthrow the US system of government, to overthrow the constitutional republic and install some sort of authoritarian, permanent, non elections based dictatorship in its place. There's a counter revolution being mounted by the American people in very large numbers to hold onto the democracy that we've got. They have to contend with what the majority of the people in this country and the organized majority of people in this country think and want and are planning to do to save this country. And I think Trump being in a bubble and only being told good news and only being flattered by all the people around him isn't serving him well strategically. And that's good news for the country.

[A]

You know, I talk to a lot of people around Trump who have been with him for a very long time, and what they have told me is that he has increasingly cared less about the polling because in the first term, bad polling actually did make him rethink things. Bad headlines did make him not go as far as he would have gone otherwise. And it feels like those kinds of guardrails are completely gone.

[C]

Because. Is it because he's not getting the real information though?

[A]

It is both. Because he's not getting it. Even when he does get it, he's like the fake news thing that people are like, oh, he just says that he does know the news. No, he truly believes, according to everyone I've talked to, that these things are just not true, that people just make it up quotes about him. And Rachel, I wonder how you, how you, as someone who has studied this, like, has studied authoritarians, who studied the backsliding of democracy. Like, when you look at a leader who refuses to even look at the real information, where does that put the country? Because it feels like it's even more dangerous than if the President actually, like, believed the information and was, like, tweaking his movements to seem not as unpopular as he is.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, it's funny because he believes in the markets, but he doesn't believe in the polls. Like, some numbers still matter to him, still cause him to react, but some others don't. I mean, I think that you can use it as a sort of diagnostic. I think what it tells us, the sort of way we can diagnose what's going on with Trump is that it means that he's never planning on being subject to the will of the voters ever again. Right. When he's talking about the SAVE act, right. When he's talking about this huge restriction of voting rights that he wants to do. The way he explains that is by saying, we will never lose an election again for 50 years.

[A]

What Republicans have to win this one. We'll never lose a race for 50 years. We won't lose a race. We want voter ID, we want proof of citizenship, and we don't want mail in ballots. Except for the.

[B]

If you're planning on, if you're planning on destroying the technical system of our democracy in such a way that your side will never, quote, lose an election for 50 years, that means that he's not planning on subjecting anything he or his cronies are doing to the will of the people again. So that's, that's one thing that's to. Going. Going on. There is another thing that's going on, though, which is I think that the President appears, and I don't mean this in an ad hominem or mean way, but there's a sense in which he doesn't seem capable of absorbing information anymore. And I will put one very specific data point to you. So he's announced this blockade of Cuba. Cuba's not allowed to have fuel or oil.

[C]

Right.

[B]

And they've been threatening US Military action against any tanker that comes in to bring fuel or oil to Cuba. And then, and Putin sends a tanker towards Cuba and Trump decides, okay, yeah, well, you know, the boss needs something. So he's gonna let that through. And he gets asked about it because this is contrary to this policy that he's announced. And there's all these suspicions that he's kind of a Russian agent and so why can't Papa do this thing that you won't let anybody else do? And how come Russia isn't subject to the tariffs, like, and everybody else is, right? So all of these questions, but he has to answer a question like, what effect do you think this is going to have on Vladimir Putin? Why are you doing this for Putin? And he says, well, you know, Putin's going to lose one boat full of oil. And I don't think it's that big a deal.

[C]

He loses one boatload of oil.

[A]

That's all it is. If he wants to do that, and if other countries want to do it, it doesn't bother me much. It's not going to have an impact. Cuba's finished, have a bad regime.

[B]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. He's not losing a boat full of oil. You're allowing him to send a boat full of oil to Cuba.

[C]

He's about to make some money.

[B]

This is something that you're asking, right? Putin is not doing you a favor and giving up some oil. You're doing him a favor. And in that moment, I don't think he's trying to bamboozle us. I don't think he's playing four dimensional chess or whatever. I think he literally doesn't understand the difference between plus and minus. I don't think he understands that, that, like, you know, water doesn't flow south, it flows down. North and up are two different things. Like, I think there's a cognitive thing going on where I'm not sure if you told him that he had 62% disapproval right now. I don't know that he could forgive the phrase, but I don't know if he could clock that. I don't know.

[A]

I don't think he could.

[C]

I mean, I think what you're saying is very important. Look, obviously I used to work for Joe Biden. Lots of people made comments about his mental acuity. And if he was all the way there. I think Joe Biden is old, and I think he was old. But I never doubted, like, if he understood what we were talking about, you know, maybe the words could get jumbled, But I never doubt. I mean, that's the stutter creeping up. You know, Joe Biden would say he doesn't have a stutter anymore. I'm like, sir, sir, the stutter is still in the room with us. But I do think President Trump, he is lacking some comprehension on some things. And that is, I think we should ask more questions about.

[A]

I think he also doesn't care to comprehend, I think, the difference.

[C]

That is where.

[A]

Right. Like I covered President Biden. I saw the good days and the bad days. Right. And I think that was what it was for as someone who was watching and, you know, I didn't get all the access to the man like a, like a staffer would. But like, like all old people, he had really good days and he had bad days. He always knew who I was. I never had that issue. Hello, Eugene. One time he said, eugene, you're not smiling. I said, oh, sorry, sir, I'm at work. I'm working. But.

[B]

But you have to pay extra for

[A]

the smile just like everybody else.

[C]

Give me a quote.

[A]

Exactly. Exactly. But with President Trump, he doesn't seem to care to comprehend the information. Like the ways in which they have to give him things show that this is not a person who wants to fully understand the government that he is running. That is what it feels like when you listen to all the things that are happening.

[B]

That's right. Like on the Strait of Hormuz. Like I talked to Ben Rhodes on my show about that this week, and Ben pointed out, you, you know, Trump keeps saying that we don't need the Strait of Hormuz because he thinks that because us, the US Is a big producer of oil and gas and we're not in the Persian Gulf, that therefore the Strait of Hormuz is somebody else's problem. Like, he doesn't comprehend that the world oil price for everybody is set in the world, including all the people who have to get their oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz. Like, he doesn't get a global price for a commodity having consequences here. He thinks, oh, we don't use it. We're doing the straight of Hormuz as a favor to other people who use it. It doesn't matter to us. And while that may be a failure of comprehension, I think it's absolutely right to surmise that he has no incentive to understand that, to do the mental work to get there, because it lands you at a difficult place. Right. That lands him at a place where, oh, you have caused this crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, which is an economic disaster for you and for the United States as well as the rest of the world, and you have no way to fix the Strait of Hormuz problem. It is a much happier place. It's A much more like do the two handed weird dance thing and listen to the Village People and DJ your own pool party thing. Like, it's a much happier feeling to think that the Strait of Hormuz doesn't matter. And so that's where he lands, that's where he stays. And that may be a form of incompetence, but it may also just be a form of emotional laziness.

[C]

Yeah, clock it, clock that, clock that. Okay, let's add on to this then. Do you think he is aware and fully comprehends what's going on with these DHS warehouses and these ICE detention facilities? Do we think that he understands what is happening and is in the nitty gritty of that, or is this a Stephen Miller special and you've done a bunch of this on your show, really gone deep dive. And I think it's important because. Because we are attempting to warehouse some human beings. Human beings. But some of them are Americans. To be clear, ICE is snatching up people whom they don't. They just can't prove their citizenship. And, like, if I don't have my passport on me and I might look a little Latino. Right, okay. There are Americans that have been swept up as well. And we are warehousing people, some of them American, some of them undocumented, some people who are here lawfully in facilities all over this country. Like. Well, we've done it before, let's be clear.

[A]

Right, okay. Many times.

[B]

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, so immigration detention has been a disaster for generations. Immigration detention is jails for immigrants where there is a striking lack of due process and bad conditions and poor public visibility into these things. And very few politicians who are taking it on as something that is part of their remit. Like, it's a, a very dangerous, very toxic gray area in our carceral system anyway. And those things have existed for a time, long, long time. And that's bad. And Trump has, and Stephen Miller have filled them up and reopened ones that were closed. And the conditions are terrible. And people are dying in immigration detention at levels that they haven't ever before. I mean, it's very bad. And on top of that, they are trying to build Trump a network of new, huge, like 7, 8, 9, 10,000 people facilities where they want to hold people, people without trial indefinitely. And they're trying to make us think of these as an extension of the immigration detention system. Okay, well, there are still immigration detention facilities that were run in previous administrations or that are available to be open, that they're not opening, that they're not tapping. They instead are opting to buy these big warehouse facilities to create these huge prison camps. And I just think if you've got got an authoritarian minded leader like Donald Trump, who I really think doesn't plan on ever being subject to the will of the people ever again and doesn't ever plan on allowing there to be free and fair elections, to the extent that he can effectuate that, I don't know that that's the kind of leader you want to give an archipelago of massive prison camps in which the goal is to hold people without trial. And they can say it's for immigrants. It's terrible enough if it is for immigrants. But as you say, Simone alone, it's not that they've only been picking up immigrants. They've been picking up all sorts of different people. And they're talking about taking away birthright citizenship, they're talking about denaturalization, they're talking about stripping citizenship of people. Like whatever they say they want to do to immigrants, they want to do to you. And they're gonna open up a system that's roughly the size and shape of what they did to hold Japanese Americans during World War II. They're gonna open up a new system like that and give it to Trump. I mean, his infinite wisdom and wise restraint to use as he sees fit. I think that would be an existential mistake, an existential level mistake for the constitutional republic. I think if you give him a network of concentration camps, he will fill

[A]

them up with people who maybe look like me and Simone, maybe people who love. Like me and you. Right. Like, it is not going to just be, I think, immigrants.

[C]

That's why I sometimes say this jokingly. But to be very clear, when they take me to the Gulag, my nails will be done and my lashes will be on because I don't know how long I'm gonna be there. But it's crazy. But we have to laugh to keep them crying and joke about that because it's real, because they tried to jail Don Lemon. I mean, who's to say that they will? There are no guardrails from their perspective, unless we the people enforce the guardrails.

[A]

And Rachel, you have reported on this. There are communities around the country who have teamed up with companies. There's tribal communities, local communities, even Marsha Blackburn in Tennessee. Like, people who are saying, actually, you cannot put this warehouse and house all these humans in our community. Right. So it goes back to the conversation of no kings. The power of the presidency. It only has the power if we Allow it to. Right. How much power we are willing to give it, that even with Donald Trump, that still holds true. So when you look at these communities who said, you will absolutely, absolutely not be able to do that here, does it give you hope? To me, it feels like nothing is predetermined, nothing is automatic in this country.

[B]

Yeah. Nothing is predestined. You know, history doesn't just happen. Right, Right. We're writing our future right now. And so like one of those camps they want to put in Roxbury, New Jersey, and the facility was owned by a company based in Texas. And so the activists in New Jersey who were trying to stop this, this is a Republican run town in New Jersey, a conservative town. But activists there, the local officials, even the Republicans there were like, we're not sure this is a good thing. We're not sure we want to be known as a, as a PR community. They contacted, they sort of put up signal flare to activists in Texas, near where the company that owned that facility was headquartered. And people in Texas, including clergy in Texas, went out and protested outside that company. And they said, you know, dolphin concentration camp coming soon to Roxbury, New Jersey. Right. And they're holding these signs outside the headquarters of that company, which does not want to be known for this. I mean, Roxbury, New Jersey doesn't want to be known as a, as a town that has a gigantic multi thousand person Trump prison camp in it, nor does Social Circle Georgia, nor does Surprise Arizona, nor does Salt Lake City, nor does any of these places. And so you're seeing even Republican officials like you said Marshall Blackburn, John Curtis, the Republican senator in Utah, Roger Wicker in Mississippi, stopped one from going into Bahalia, Mississippi. Nobody wants this thing to be anywhere near them. And it's not just not in my backyard stuff. I think people instinctually know, know that a Trump prison camp is not something your community is going to be proud to host.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And it may be destructive in the short term, but even if it, even if things go as well as possible, your community being known for that is something that you don't want to morally or reputationally bear. And so I think the sort of healthy instincts against that, even among Republicans all over the country do make me feel hopeful. I just feel like everybody is kicking back against that in a reflexive way. That is good. And if the Washington Post's recent reporting on this is accurate, it looks like now that Kristi Noem is out and Mark Wayne Mullen is in at Homeland Security, they may be, quote, slowing down the Process of trying to open up these camps.

[C]

Okay, let's. As our friend Steph Rule would say, new topic. That is also, I think, tangentially connected. Rachel, I think it's safe to say that you've been warning us all about the trajectory of this country for at least. At least the last decade. You have been clocking it. You have been. We said earlier, like, you are the only person I know, and I don't care. They say the men do it, but no, it's just. Rachel, the first 30 minutes of your show is just you breaking it down. And you could start with, like, a pillow in New Jersey, and then we done gone from the pillow in New Jersey to this is democracy. And I'm like, damn, Rachel, you're a crazy girl. That's only how you can do it, right? As someone that has been doing this for as long as you have, and you also have a very deep knowledge of, you know, frankly, the 1930s and 1940s, like, how democracies collapse, how people acquiesced. How we doing?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

How are we doing? How are we doing? And how are you doing? Because this is a lot to be.

[A]

Cause it's heavy for us, and I can't imagine for you.

[B]

How am I holding it together?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Well, what are you guys doing to hold it together? Maybe you can give me some ideas, because I'm not sure I'm a paragon of, like, good mental health at this point.

[C]

I think that I've liked myself.

[B]

How to Live well in Bad Times.

[A]

Exactly.

[C]

Can you tell? Okay, so, like, right in the thick of when ice was at the height in Minneapolis. And I kept listening to all of these NPR videos of the sound on the ground. And I watched that video of those young men who were working at Target, who were literally targeted because they were brown and at work and they were both U.S. citizens. And I text Eugene. I'm like, I'm so sad. I'm crying watching this. He said, girl, you gotta turn that shit off. You cannot. He said, you cannot watch every single video. He said, you're not gonna survive. And I thought it was my responsibility to watch every single video so everybody else doesn't have to watch him. And I can help tell people what's going on, but I do think we have to just find a line for ourselves because it is a lot to absorb.

[A]

Yeah, both of those things are true. Right. We do have a responsibility as people that sit in front of cameras during the week, on the weekend, and help explain to the country what is happening. But we also have a responsibility to make sure that we can keep doing it right. Like. Like, you can be steeped in it, and we should, but at some point, you have to pull yourself out of it. I am terrible at this. I'm very good at giving other people advice that I do not follow, to be very clear. But there is. You have to find the hope also. Whether that's in, you know, a little old lady in a random small township this weekend, you know, by herself with her husband, with a sign that says, you know, I am not gonna take it. And I think that is where I kind of find the get going. Right. Or talking to young people who understand this moment in a way that many of the leaders on Capitol Hill don't seem to be matching. So the mental health is also sometimes just finding the happiness or the hope within it.

[B]

I'd say two things about this. Number one is that I don't know what's going on inside Donald Trump's brain, but I feel like over this past decade or so, the thing that I have learned is what he most wants. Wants is for everybody to be thinking about him and talking about him all the time. He wants to be in the front of your mind and in the front of what counts as news, and in the front of what we understand is important in this country. Whether you're for him or against him. All publicity is good publicity. He just wants to be present. I feel like he's such an archetype. He's such a classic, stereotypical wannabe strongman type. I am very disinterested in him as a person. People say, like, oh, if you could interview Donald Trump, what would you ask him? I don't know. I would probably ask him, is Africa a country? Like, I would ask him, you know, like, how many Rs are in Strawberry? Like, I think I would be like, I don't care.

[C]

I'd be interested to know, Rachel said, if Johnny has five apples.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Like, I would want to do, like, some version of the cognitive test. Like, I don't know, like, you know, who is the president of Mexico?

[A]

I don't know who's the president of the United States.

[B]

Who was your third wife? I don't know. Like, I would. I. I don't have an interest in his opinion.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

On the world.

[B]

And I actually don't have very much interest in what he's saying. And I certainly don't have interest in my job in putting him on camera.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

All the time. And having you watch him mumble his way through interactions with reporters or pronounce things about the Iran war which make no sense or whatever it is. Like, I am very interested in whether or not our country is going to stay a constitutional republic. Whatever Donald Trump says each day is not material to that outcome. I know that Donald Trump wants to dismantle us as a constitutional republic. The most important thing is what the country is going to do in trying to stop him. What is everybody else going to do? What is the reaction? What are the defenses? How are the institutions holding up? How are people building opposition and also sort of policing opposition to him like it's everybody else? I am not interested in him. And when I focus less on him, I feel like I'm both doing a service to the people who come to me for analysis about what's happening in the country. But it's also better for me. I don't need to, you know, we get enough of him. And I also don't enjoy sort of having my chain yanked. I don't like. I know that he wants us all to talk about him all the time. And so I try not to.

[C]

You know what? I'm going to my EP today. Like, you know, I don't think we should be talking about you. Well, you know, I don't be like, oh, you.

[A]

Exactly, Rachel.

[B]

You can talk about him, but just don't show him on camera. We don't need to hear his voice. We don't need to see his hair. We don't need to see his face. We don't need to see him dragging his leg up whatever walkway he's on. Like, I don't. You don't need it. We all know what he's on.

[A]

You do something that I think so many journalists, so many people who are in front of cameras, whether they're influencers or they do the work that we do need to understand, which is the focus on the agency that the human beings have to fight against something like this. And I think, like, when you think about the people that look like us, right, the people who are queer, the people who are women, the people who feel like they don't have power in this country and that the promise of this country is that they would have power and a say in this country standing up for maybe the first time, maybe in their lives, realizing that actually we are the country and there's like one guy and some folks that work for him. They don't get to decide what the country is. My producers make fun of me because anytime someone on our show says, especially like former members of Congress or Congress members are always like, this is not who we are as a country. And I'm like, no, it is. It is who we are. This is who we are.

[C]

It is who we have been.

[A]

But the important aspect of that is it is not who we have to.

[C]

To be.

[A]

And that is what like, you are talking about, right? Is that there was a choice in allowing the constitutional republic of the United States to go away. There's a choice in allowing your neighbors to be snatched up off the streets to folks in Minnesota. As hard as that. You.

[C]

Are you preaching today? I'm a little.

[A]

I'm crying a little bit.

[C]

Cause I'm like, feeling. Preacher done got you in here on the pulpit.

[A]

Because it is so important for people to realize that they have agency and that they don't have to, like, accept the idea that their neighbors are gonna be snatched up and taken away. They don't have to accept the idea that, you know, gay marriage may go away. They don't have to accept that shit. They don't. And I think that is, like, such a key through line of the work that we should be doing every day. Wow, Rachel got me off.

[B]

And that is the key through line in American history that we can all learn from. Right? Like, you talk about the Klan being founded in Pulaski, Tennessee, right? That's in the immediate aftermath of the United States Civil War. Well, in Reconstruction, when founded the United States Justice Department in its earliest iterations, the first Attorney General we had under the new Department of Justice went down to the south and busted the Klan and busted the first Klan. And so, yes, the Klan came back in the 1920s for the second Klan. And then the Klan came back for Jim Crow after that. Right? But part of our history, including the noble history of our government at its best, is standing up against authoritarian and fascist movements and genocidal movements.

[A]

Movements.

[B]

And the reason we study the Civil Rights movement is not to learn that America's bad. The reason we study the Civil rights movement is to learn that the civil Rights movement is part of what is good about America. And that fight had to be waged so that America could be better than what it was doing. And that is America too. That's not anti America. That's not America versus some of its enemies. That's America too. And the agency of good people working against very difficult odds to make us the kind of country we want to say we are. And our founding doctors documents say we ought to be. That's the most important history of this country. Fighting against American fascists in the lead up to World War II, fighting against the Klan and Reconstruction, fighting against the segregationists in the civil rights movement, fighting against the folks who we're fighting against now. I mean, the history of this country is not linear. It has been one, forgive me, one battle after another. And it's worth knowing that and being inspired by the people who've been on the right side. They don't always, but they always have something to teach us.

[C]

The preamble to the Constitution says we the people in order to form a more perfect union. And when those words were written, it included not ne' er one of us, but as Rachel just noted, it is the people throughout history in this country who have fought to expand the we, who demanded that the we include us and didn't wait for somebody else to do it. They went out and they did the work themselves. And so I think that's a good. A good place to end. Experience Inspiring. Shout out to Auntie Rachel. You better come on, Rachel. Come in here preaching.

[B]

I love that I have been okay. I so want to be Auntie and not Grandma. But I understand if I have to become Grandma, it'll be Auntie.

[C]

It'll be Auntie Rachel. I'm giving you Auntie, Auntie Rachel. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. We're gonna take a quick break, get Eugene to touch up on his under eye, and we'll see you very soon. We'll be back, folks, with the side chat. Lifelock.

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[B]

People act like the culture war started five minutes ago.

[A]

Meanwhile, adults have been panicking about books since forever.

[B]

Bandcamp, our top ranked podcast about banned books, is back for its 10th season. This time around, we're reading J.D. salinger's classic, the Catcher in the Rye. We're reading the book out loud, cover to cover, one chapter per episode.

[A]

By the way, we have no clue what's going to happen. We should have read this book in school. I don't know why neither of us did so you're basically going to hear us stumbling over words, trying to figure it out as we go. It's going to be embarrassing. It's going to be chaos. So if you've never read it before

[C]

but always wanted to, or you want

[B]

to experience it again through a set of new eyes, now's your chance.

[A]

That sounds like your kind of show. You already know where to find us. That's band camp. Band like in band books, not band like tubas and snare drums. Welcome back. It is time for the side chat. Rachel. I mean, Rachel always.

[C]

Rachel Maddow is the only person I know on TV that will do a 30 minute, like, breakdown at the top of her show. And she has you hanging on every single, every word. Every single word. Cause it's like, wait, what? Rachel, paint me the picture. And she painted a picture today so grateful that she took some time to. Ooh, if I had etches, they'd be snack.

[A]

Correct? Correct.

[C]

Okay, thank you, Rachel.

[A]

Now, ma', am, do you remember a couple weeks ago when we were talking about the new dimes?

[C]

Yes. The Trump administration, people didn't understand the dimensions they didn't understand.

[A]

I'm like the olive branch out of the eagle talons. He's also now gonn put his signature on paper money. He knows, I think that he knows no one is gonna celebrate him. So the only way to kind of unstain, uncomplicate in his eyes, his legacy, get his name on stuff. Because that's what they do with good presidents. Right? They put their name on stuff. It's also all he knows. What has he done our entire lives? Put his names on things, whether it's a building, whether it's a university, whether it's water or Trump steaks, that is a part of it. But I think so much of this is tied to his knowledge. And this isn't my opinion. This is me talking to people around him. He seems to believe to these folks that no one is going to name things after him. He did get a airport recently thanks to the folks in Florida, but in most other countries, he's not going to get his name on things.

[C]

Crazy.

[A]

And I think that's what he knows.

[C]

You know what this is Donald Trump putting his name on the money, affixing his signature to our money. Similar to putting his name on the Kennedy Center. Right. But it is different than the Trump state. And it's different because I think the stakes and all those other things that he is selling, that is his way of trying to convert the presidency. The things that he's the new things he's tried to sell. Like the coin. What's that? The coin, the phone, the cologne. The cologne, them sneakers, the bible after the first Trump administration. I mean, all those things. He is trying to convert the presidency into cash. And to be clear, in this, Trump 2.0 is working quite well for he and his people.

[A]

Yeah. Because no one is.

[C]

They are rolling in the cash, child. Rolling in the cash. But. But what he is doing with the infrastructure of our government and these cultural things and the money, that is about, I think his legacy, to your point, because I think he knows that when he's gone, Republicans will not move to protect his legacy. They will move to erase him because he is a stain on them. But what he is doing that is uniquely authoritarian. So this isn't just like a, oh, he wants his name on the money. No, Donald Trump. He wants to build a monument to himself. He is literally changing up the White House. You think Democrats gonna tear down the ballroom? I don't give a ding dong dip what they telling you they gonna do. They not about to tear the White House down when Donald Trump is gone. He thinks we stupid. He thinks America is stupid. He thinks that he can capitalize on all of these cultural pieces and we won't connect the dots, but we clocking it so you can be here too. Okay, let's move on to one more thing. Cause I just. I don't feel right leaving here today without addressing Nick Cannon and chilling. We'll start with Chilli. Chilli.

[A]

Now tell people. Some people might not know who chilli is.

[C]

Okay, everybody, don't go chasing, chasing waterfalls. Just stick to the rivers and the lakes that you used to. That's tlc. Okay? Tlc. Iconic girl group Chili T Boz. Left Eye Rip. Left Eye were the ladies that made up that group.

[A]

There's a video of the two of them being interviewed and they're being asked about blm.

[C]

I personally, I didn't.

[B]

I didn't go into any marches or anything like that.

[C]

But for me, all lives matter. You know what I mean? Because there's a time when, you know, different groups are targeted for, you know, different things.

[A]

So I just said, like, it doesn't feel like it's new.

[C]

It. You're right. And as an older video, it's like, it doesn't feel like it's new. But the reason people are up in arms because apparently Chili has donated to a number of.

[A]

Roseanne Thomas is the name.

[C]

Rozonda Thomas. You can Google it. And Rozonda Thomas name Shows up on a number of expenditures for Ted Cruz, for some PACs associated with President Trump. And once this became public information, which happened fast, happened quite quickly.

[A]

Welcome to the Internet, Thomas. Ma'. Am.

[C]

Once it became public information, she put out a statement because I.

[A]

A video statement.

[C]

Yeah. Because Chili was like, well, I just want to be very clear. I was. Thought I was donating to veterans and it's a big mistake. Hey, guys, I wanted to come on

[A]

here to address a few things that.

[B]

Circulating on the Internet that's very concerning

[C]

to me when it comes to organizations that I have donated to.

[B]

These are the things that support the veterans.

[A]

You know, I have all always supported them. Not just now, but for years. This is not something new. But she does not say I'd regret donating to Donald Trump.

[C]

And I mean, these are 20, 24 donations. Okay? You can like literally look it up. So that I think is. Look, you gotta be. If people wanna donate to Donald Trump, that's their business.

[A]

Donate to who you want.

[C]

Donate to who you wanna donate to.

[A]

But stand 10 times.

[C]

Stand on business. Now, don't get caught saying you ain't really know. Now, if it was one or two donations, I could understand. Chili had multiple. Rosanna Thomas had multip.

[A]

And what I think is really interesting is she's going on tour. Her swv.

[C]

I know SWD is like, get them off. Salt N. Pepper defended her, by the way. Salt did. Or Pepper did.

[A]

Well, they better wait and get all that information.

[C]

They said, you know, Chili, we understand. We know who you are. She commented under like one of the videos. And I understand. Girl group solidarity. I understand.

[A]

You know, and they're on tour together, people.

[C]

They're on tour together. I understand. You know, you know, your friend, you know, they hard somebody try to come for you. I'm gonna be like, Eugene. I see. Well. Well, let's not. Well, well, if you.

[A]

If you was in the Epstein files, I'd be like, you know what?

[C]

Well, this is true. This is true.

[A]

Me and Timon are not friends anymore.

[C]

Disgusting. Which is true. So we just can't be defending everybody for anything. All over, everywhere.

[A]

Exactly.

[C]

So I understand Salt and Pepper trying to lift up they girl, but Chili, if you donated to Trump, baby, just.

[A]

Just say it.

[C]

Just say it. Just say it. Maybe. Maybe you weren't Maga, but you were a little concerned. Maga. Maybe you were Maga, Jason. I think it would be more believable. I don't believe what's currently going on. Nick Cannon. Nick Cannon. Nick Cannon called the Democratic Party.

[A]

Do we have the clip.

[C]

Do we have the clip of him calling the Democratic Party the party of the kkk? Democrats don't care about black people. They don't care about people of color. And the Republicans do. And that's the misconception.

[B]

And you know what?

[C]

I agree.

[A]

I agree with you 100%.

[B]

People don't know that the Democrats is the party of the kkk.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

People don't know that the Republicans are the party that freed the slaves. No. People do know that. People that read a book, people that pay attention to history do know that. That is actually what happened. But what we also know is that things changed. And it is no longer the case that the party that freed the slaves is the Republican Party of Now.

[C]

The Democratic Party was the party of white conservative segregation, the so called solid state. And the Republican Party was the original Republican Party was founded by Abraham.

[A]

Abraham Lincoln.

[C]

Okay? Lincoln was its first. Was the first Republican president. Okay? But. And frankly all of your. When you think about like Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglass, those prominent African American abolitionists were Republicans back in the day because their ideas and their ideals and their values at the time aligned with that version of the Republican Party.

[A]

Let's put this is Joshua Dawson. Yes.

[C]

I love Joshua Doss. Okay. I watch his videos on Instagram all the time. And Joshua Doss did a reaction video to Nick Cannon. And Doss is a pollster. He's a political strategist. He's a senior research manager at a DC based public opinion firm called Hit Strategies. Shout out to Terrence Woody. Terrence Woodberry. Okay. Cause they got the numbers. Let's hear from Joshua A. Doss.

[A]

You're about to learn so much about the world around you if you just don't stop. So let's ask the next question because it is crazy, right? The Democratic Party created the kkk. But you look around, all black people vote for the Democratic Party. That don't make no sense. Right? That don't make no sense. Right? That don't make no sense. Right? That don't make no sense. Right? Because there's more. American political parties are houses. You have the house of the Democratic Party. You have the house of the Republican Party. The houses don't create anything. The people inside of the houses do. I love this for you. You learning something?

[C]

Let's go. Here's the take. Tap in, folks. Do your values currently align with this version of the Republican Party? Now I think there's a lot of people out there that would say my values don't actually align with the Democrats or The Republicans, which is a conversation we can have. But to make these broad based statements that are devoid of factual information does require some scrutiny. But I like Joshua Doss video because it gathered Nick Cannon up with love and correction. But to be very clear, you know, you get bit by a dog once, shame on the dog. Get bit by the dog twice, you fool. When you ain't gonna get fooled, you

[A]

don't have George W. Bush.

[C]

I'm just saying, you know, Nick Cannon has. He's a little hotepish. Okay. For the streets that don't know. Okay. Google it. I'm not about to explain hotep to y' all today on this podcast. But he is. He is. He is who he is.

[A]

I also don't know how many people are listening and looking to Nick Cannon for historical information.

[C]

No, but they could use him to validate these like, warped and ill informed thoughts. Which is why, you know, we won't be distracted, but we gonna have to. Correct.

[A]

Correct, correct. So, Nick, read a book, please, for us, our brother.

[C]

Mm. And not a book from Dr. Umar Jones. Sorry, Dr. Umar. Well, well, well. With that, I think we have come to the end. Look, the people gonna cover me, they'd be like, you hate black men. I love black men. My husband is a black man. I just like education.

[A]

Correct.

[C]

Whether it is formal or informal. So, you know, I love to. I want to gather my brother's love. So thank you to the family and friends and the thrins and all the streets who are watching this show. This is the end of episode eight. You might be doing this podcast by yourself next week after I get canceled.

[A]

Clock it with Eugene, cuz Simone is gone. Got canceled. You be all right. You be all right. We'll bring you back.

[C]

Thank you, Lifelock.

[B]

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[C]

The IRS said I filed my return, but I haven't.

[A]

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