Norm Eisen on Judge Blocking Trump's Firing of Federal Workers, Harry Dunn on Struggling Americans, and Nick Valencia on ICE Brutality

Summary

Podcast Summary

The Jim Acosta Show
Episode: Norm Eisen on Judge Blocking Trump's Firing of Federal Workers, Harry Dunn on Struggling Americans, and Nick Valencia on ICE Brutality
Date: October 28, 2025
Host: Jim Acosta

Overview

This episode of The Jim Acosta Show dives into three major issues dominating American news and politics:

• The federal judge’s decision blocking former President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire federal workers amid a government shutdown, featuring firsthand legal insight from Norm Eisen.
• The lived experiences and hardships of federal workers during the prolonged shutdown, explored through a field trip to a food bank and a conversation with former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn.
• An alarming rise in brutality and overreach from ICE and federal enforcement under Trump, highlighted by investigative reporting from Nick Valencia.

Jim Acosta maintains his blunt, urgent, and occasionally acerbic tone as he exposes the impact of recent government actions on everyday Americans and amplifies the voices of those fighting back.

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1. Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Firing of Federal Workers

Guest: Norm Eisen, legal expert and Democracy Defenders Fund attorney
[00:06–09:44]

Key Points:

• Trump tried to fire federal workers during the government shutdown, exceeding legal authority by using federal employees as political pawns.
• Norm Eisen and a coalition of legal teams won a preliminary injunction stopping these firings.
• Any appeals by Trump would go to the Ninth Circuit, and potentially the Supreme Court, but less than 10% of such cases reach that level.
• Eisen stresses the non-partisan nature of his actions—he would have fought against this if any president, of any party, tried it.

Notable Quotes:

• “Federal workers are not bargaining chips. They’re human beings. As Harry said. They’re suffering. They’re in food lines.”—Norm Eisen [06:49]
• “If a president had said, I’m going to use the government shutdown to fire Republicans and close Republican agencies and get political revenge, I would have sued them, too.”—Norm Eisen [06:49]

Timestamps:

• Legal background & injunction: [01:10–02:40]
• Appeals process and previous Supreme Court battles: [02:52–04:29]
• On the non-partisan rule of law: [06:49–08:44]

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2. Federal Worker Hardships During Shutdown

Guest: Harry Dunn, former Capitol Police Officer
[04:29–22:20]

Key Points:

• Acosta’s on-the-ground reporting at a food bank reveals hundreds, mostly federal workers, lining up for basic groceries—many for the first time in their lives.
• Federal employees express frustration and humiliation at being publicly mischaracterized as "on a paid vacation."
• They share anxieties about missing paychecks (“Most average Americans can’t afford to miss one paycheck, let alone 2, 3, 4” — Harry Dunn [04:54]) and describe the shutdown's toll on their lives and dignity.
• Harry Dunn slams the idea that workers’ backpay might be withheld—a notion floated by Trump’s administration—as illegal and cruel.
• Dunn connects the shutdown and threats to fire workers with larger anti-government plans, referencing “Project 2025.”

Notable Quotes:

• “Most of the average Americans can’t afford to miss one paycheck, let alone 2, 3, 4.”—Harry Dunn [04:54]
• “They don’t want a handout, they want to work.”—Harry Dunn [18:47]
• “These federal workers… have spent their entire careers working on behalf of the American people. And this is the thanks they get: standing in a line for food at a food bank during a government shutdown.”—Jim Acosta [18:05]

Timestamps:

• Food bank visit and worker interviews: [14:07–18:05]
• Firsthand worker voices: [15:13–16:38]
• Harry Dunn links shutdown to Project 2025: [10:24–11:33]
• Discussing political dynamics and poll numbers: [11:33–14:07]

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3. Healthcare, Rising Costs, and Political Consequences

[10:24–14:07, 18:05–22:20]

Key Points:

• Inflation, healthcare premiums, and SNAP benefits cuts are creating a “perfect storm” of economic pain for working-class Americans.
• Polling shows overwhelming disapproval (63%) of Trump’s handling of the cost of living.
• Acosta and Dunn call out Congress for failing to act. They highlight that average people “vote with their wallets” and warn that both parties are risking voter backlash.

Notable Quotes:

• “Donald Trump will never have to face the American voters again... what’s surprising to me, Jim, is so many of these elected officials in the House... are cowtailing the way they are.”—Harry Dunn [13:20]
• “Majority of the world votes on how their kitchen tables are going.”—Harry Dunn [12:19]

Timestamps:

• Healthcare and economic struggles: [10:24–11:33]
• SNAP benefits and government inaction: [18:05–19:46]

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4. Congressional Dysfunction and Political Violence Hearing

[22:20–27:27]

Key Points:

• Harry Dunn describes his visit to the Capitol for a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on political violence.
• Senator Peter Welch led the hearing, and Officer Daniel Hodges gave graphic testimony of his injuries on January 6th.
• Republican witnesses shockingly declared that Trump was right to pardon January 6th attackers.
• Dunn denounces the normalization of political violence and the refusal of many Republicans to acknowledge January 6th’s gravity.

Notable Quotes:

• “Daniel Hodges stared down the gentleman next to him... and said, ‘How dare you? How dare you say that the person assaulted me should have been pardoned.’”—Harry Dunn [24:12]
• “We’re never going to get through this era of just everybody being at each other’s throats if we can’t both at least agree that all political violence is bad and should be punished.”—Jim Acosta [26:59]

Timestamps:

• Breakdown of political violence hearing: [22:20–26:59]
• Reflection on political double standards: [26:40–27:27]

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5. ICE Brutality and the New Immigration Regime

Guest: Nick Valencia, journalist
[27:53–43:16]

Key Points:

• ICE enforcement has escalated under Trump, with mass raids, rising brutality, and lack of training leading to civilians—including U.S. citizens—being violently detained.
• Coverage includes specific cases, such as a 67-year-old marathon runner in Chicago who suffered broken ribs after being ripped from his car during an ICE operation.
• The militarization of federal enforcement is stark: agents in tactical gear, acting more like paramilitary units than police.
• The domain of ICE activity is expanding into wealthy, non-traditional targets and is affecting all Latinos, regardless of legal status; even "well-assimilated" Latino communities and legal residents are swept up.
• Growing Latino backlash is expected, as trust in Trump on cost-of-living and “tough on crime” policies erodes.

Notable Quotes:

• “Anyone who stands in the way of Trump’s mass deportation army is going to get it.”—Nick Valencia [30:12]
• “Your proximity to whiteness isn’t going to save you. ... Today, it’s the undocumented, tomorrow, it’s the undesirable.”—Nick Valencia [41:13]
• “It’s just un-American to watch what we’re seeing in these cities these days. The way ICE is brutalizing people—it’s becoming like ‘immigration porn’ for Donald Trump.”—Jim Acosta [43:29]

Timestamps:

• ICE raids in Chicago and the militarization of enforcement: [29:52–32:29]
• Analysis of federal agency infighting and tactics: [32:31–34:35]
• Impact on Latino and immigrant communities: [40:22–42:42]

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6. The Cost of Living Crisis and Trump’s False Claims

[43:29–49:34]

Key Points:

• Acosta spotlights Trump’s false statements about inflation, energy, and food prices.
• Federal workers’ hardship is contrasted with extravagant spending for Trump’s associates and pet projects.
• Acosta uses strong language to rebuke MAGA “culture” for hypocrisy and armchair cruelty toward regular working people.

Notable Quotes:

• “These are people who want to go to work, who want to earn a paycheck and provide for their families.”—Jim Acosta [49:34]
• “It’s people in MAGA who need to get off their fat asses and start voting for somebody besides a wannabe dictator who doesn’t give a shit about the rising cost of living… It’s the shitty culture of MAGA that needs to be changed.”—Jim Acosta [49:40]

Timestamps:

• Trump’s misleading economic claims: [44:52–45:24]
• SNAP/food stamps and MAGA rhetoric: [49:34–end]

---

Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

1. Empathy for Federal Workers:
   “They don’t want a handout. They want to work. ... It is stressful as hell wondering: ‘Can I afford food, can I afford my mortgage?’”—Harry Dunn [18:47]
2. ICE Overreach:
   "A 67-year-old man ... was ripped from his car, his ribs cracked—he can’t run the marathon now. ... It’s not just the bad guys that they’re going after. That is what has become evident to us."—Nick Valencia [30:56, paraphrased for clarity]
3. Blunt Condemnation of Political Rhetoric:
   “It’s the shitty culture of MAGA that needs to be changed. ... Donald Trump ... does not give a fuck about you.”—Jim Acosta [49:40]
4. Rule of Law Above Partisanship:
   "If a president had said, I’m going to use the government shutdown to fire Republicans ... I would have sued them, too."—Norm Eisen [06:49]

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Additional Timestamps

• Acosta’s Visit to Food Bank: [14:07–18:05]
• Worker Interviews: [15:13–16:38]
• SNAP Benefits Segment: [18:05–19:46]
• ICE Video Analysis: [29:52–32:29]
• Healthy Healthcare Debate: [10:24–11:33]

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Conclusion

This episode combines field reporting, legal developments, and passionate advocacy to highlight the often-invisible suffering caused by political games in Washington and the rise of authoritarian enforcement tactics. The guests—Norm Eisen, Harry Dunn, and Nick Valencia—provide deep expertise and emotional resonance, making this an urgent and unfiltered look at the struggles facing ordinary Americans and those on the front lines of defending them.

Acosta’s sign-off:
“These are our fellow Americans, ladies and gentlemen... They want to go back to their jobs. ... They’re just trying to live and get by.” [End]

---

Transcript

[A]

FOREIGN.

[B]

Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Jim Acosta show. And it's another day that ends. And why in the affordability crisis in America, working class Americans are struggling to keep up with the high cost of living in this country. The government shutdown is grinding on here in Washington. Earlier today, I visited a food bank for federal workers. We saw hundreds of people standing in line for hours for groceries provided by local charities. We'll show you that in just a moment. And don't forget, these are the people Trump wants to fire as a threat to Democrats to buckle to his demands to reopen the government. But guess what? A federal judge says, not so fast, Donald Trump. I've got our old pal Harry Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer, to talk about what federal workers are going through and what Harry's been working on his projects. And the great Norm Eisenhower, who has been hard at work battling on behalf of many of these federal workers, trying to keep them on the job. Norm is here because, Norm, you've been working on this case. This update just came down. What can you tell us?

[C]

Well, Jim, I'm here in California where we won this victory on behalf of federal workers. So illegally and cruelly, Donald Trump said he was going to fire federal workers under the COVID of the shutdown. But, Jim, the law doesn't provide for that. Federal workers need to be exempted. There are those who are essential to the operation of government. And everybody else waits for the shutdown to end and then they're brought back and they get paid. So we went to court. We secured with our wonderful team. The federal employee unions have all joined this case. They're leading the case. Our legal partner, Democracy Defenders Fund, where I work, but also the Altshuler Birzan law firm and Democracy Forward, we put together a big team to meet flood the zone of illegal conduct with rule of law. Shock and awe. And as you say, after three pros initial ruling stopping this illegal conduct, the judge just ruled from the bench. Jim, you're fast and you're first. The judge just ruled from the bench about an hour ago that there would be a preliminary injunction.

[B]

And so what does that mean moving forward? It means it's not completely over. It can can Trump keep appealing this, appealing this, go to his maga, get out of jail free Supreme Court? What happens next?

[C]

Well, Jim, we've had experience with the cases that get appealed and those that don't get appealed to the Supreme Court first. This will go to the ninth Circuit. It will get a fair hearing in the Ninth Circuit. We've had a number of cases and a number of successes there in the Ninth Circuit. That's the first level of appellate court. And then we'll have our next level of appellate court, and that is the United States Supreme Court. Now, when the Justice Department thinks that a case is a loser, they don't always appeal. In fact, less than 10% of our cases have gone to the Supreme Court. We've won important matters at the Supreme Court, like the case of a Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook. And sometimes the Supreme Court issues an order and we go right back to court and we roll with it. Jim, that happened in the Birthright citizenship case. The Supreme Court said, oh, no, you need a class action. Well, guess who was on file with a class action two hours later? Myself and my friends at the Democracy Defenders Fund, together with our great partners in those cases, like the ACLU and lulac, the wonderful, wonderful LULAC in the Birthright citizenship case. So we've got a big terrific team here. We're ready for whatever what may happen. And federal workers, just like Harry done, you're.

[B]

Yep. And Harry, you know, I mean, you know what it's like to be a federal worker in the middle of all this. I mean, it's unreal what Trump has been doing. We're used to government shutdowns. Government shutdowns happen. People get furloughed, they don't get paid right away. They're supposed to get their back pay restored to them. But it's just nuts that Trump wants to just go and fire these folks. I was out at a food bank earlier today. People are just trying to get by right now. It's just beyond cruel.

[D]

Yeah, Jim, we see it a lot here in the DMV area where we, where we live, which is the highest density or population of federal workers. In fact, I'm actually at the United States Capitol right now. Stepped outside to talk, to talk to you. But going through the buildings, seeing some of my former co workers just saying this is a bunch of crap, and talking with them very candidly, who can afford to miss these amount of paychecks? Sure, all these financial gurus say that you should have three or four months savings. For who? Real people don't have that. I mean, yes, congratulations to the people that are able to. You're blessed, you're in a good position. But most of the average Americans can't afford to miss one paycheck, let alone 2, 3, 4. And now even with the guaranteed of getting your pay back, and now the Trump administration is floating the idea that they may not have to pay that back, which is illegal. It's completely illegal. But when has this administration ever cared about the law? So, I mean, listen, you got people out there, the costs are going up, and that's a whole different issue. But they could barely afford to pay, make ends meet with the full paycheck, let alone not getting one at all. So, I mean, you could call your. Call your mortgage broker, call your leasing office. Hey, guys. The government shut down. That's nice. We still need payment on the first. So, I mean, tell. I mean, what are these people supposed to do while Congress. Excuse me, the Republicans can't get their act together and open the damn government and pay the workers?

[B]

Yeah, and, Harry, I want you to stand by because I want to hear about what. Why you're up on Capitol Hill. I want to talk about that. Just a second. But, Norm, the legality of this. Yes, shutdowns come and go, furloughs happen. They're supposed to get their back pay restored to them. But this idea of just firing them and retaliating against government workers as a way to just go after the Democrats, that's not legal. That's not what the law says. This should be open and shut.

[C]

And, Jim, if a president had said, I'm going to use the government shutdown to fire Republicans and close Republican agencies and get political revenge, I would have sued them, too. So it's just wrong. These federal workers are not bargaining chips. They're human beings. As Harry said. They're suffering. They're in food lines. We brought our litigation with our wonderful team so that we could defend their jobs, so they could not have their jobs torn away from them. And we're ready with all legal remedies. At the Democracy Defenders Fund, we have brought over 200 cases of legal matters, Jim, to fight authoritarianism. And in fact, I'm gonna get back to court in a moment. I'm gonna.

[B]

Yep. All right, Norm, we lost your audio there. Just a little bit there.

[D]

Yeah, I can't hear.

[B]

Pick up on that, though. Pick up on.

[D]

No, I mean, that's good. We got people out there, like Norm, like these groups that are saying that are out there defending. Because that's what this. That's what this. I. I call it a regime, Jim. This is a regime. That's what they want to do. They want to just. And like Norman mentioned earlier, a lot of these cases, they don't even appeal to the Supreme Court because they know they're losers. So. But the goal isn't. A lot of times isn't to Win. As crazy as that sounds, they just want to beat you into submission and make you have to fight back. Because the federal government has the resources to fight back. These average government workers do not. Which is why we should be thankful for people like Norman and these other organizations that are out there fighting for just American people. And like Norman said earlier, he would do this if it was Republicans doing this or Democrats doing it. It doesn't matter. This is wrong. It's wrong is wrong.

[B]

And, Norma, we lost your audio there for a second. If you're. If we have it back, I want to let you finish that thought there.

[C]

Thank you, Jim. I can put in. Have you got me?

[B]

Okay, I got you now. Yes, sir. Lax. So he's on the move. He's here, he's there.

[C]

I just. And I'm headed to deal with another case right now. I'm on my way downtown to deal with another case. I just wanted to thank you for the independent coverage. I wanted to thank Harry for what he's doing. We have to fight for these federal workers. They are not bargaining chips. They're human beings. They should not be targeted. If any president targeted those of another political party, we would fight them. This is not a partisan issue. It's a rule of law issue. It's a human decency issue. And we're very pleased that our preliminary injunction will provide some more assurance to these federal workers. Thank you, Jim. Great to see you.

[D]

Harry, great to see you.

[B]

Thanks a lot. Godspeed. Go Dodgers. I guess I'll say that, too. He's Norm's. Norm's a Dodgers fan. I am not, but Norm said he's there. He's going to try to sneak in a game while he's in LA working on all these cases. I don't know how he does it.

[D]

But that's a busy man.

[B]

I mean, you. You and I are both like. Like DC guys. And I mean, I. I take this stuff personally when they go after the federal workers like that, because, you know, they act like federal workers, sit around, they don't work and all this. They're working in very important jobs all over the place, like defending the Capitol. I mean, all sorts of things.

[D]

Yeah, I think it's. It's obviously, Jim, this is bigger part of a bigger plan. And we saw this with Project 2025. Dismantle the government, fire people to show. To have Donald Trump show that we don't need it, which is a complete farce. It's totally. It's irresponsible to even suggest that. Just look at A lot of people are about to suffer because of the government shutdown with what the Democrats are fighting so hard for, with health care. And I'm really glad, and if I could pivot to that for a second, that's what I really want to talk about is health care. The cost, the right, everything's so expensive. We just talked about the food and everything. But these health care premiums that are going to shoot through the roof. I mean people are getting notices of 6, 700, 800, 900, $1,000 increases. Who can afford that? And couple all that, couple all that while they're not getting paid. This is irresponsible, but it is part of the bigger plan. What Donald Trump wants to do. He doesn't want the government, Donald Trump is sitting back right now happy that the government shut down. He's happy about it, it's true.

[B]

And, and you know what? If, if Donald Trump and the Republicans were to say, okay, Democrats will go ahead and extend the Obamacare subsidies, the, the premium assistance for people who need that help to afford Obamacare, the government would reopen. Everybody would go about their business. They can, they can fight and haggle over all this other stuff. But Harry, the, the American people are starting to figure this out. There's a new Reuters poll that just came out and I just want to, I want to share this number because it stood out to me as eye popping number. A new Reuters poll came out today. Do you approve the way Trump is handling the cost of living in the U.S. 63% disapprove, 27% approved. That's two thirds of all Americans. I mean it's, it's out of sight right now. It's crazy.

[D]

The thing is though, Jim, that most people, majority of the world votes on how they're, their kitchen tables are going. Like you hear a lot of stuff about identity politics and you know, transgenders and all. Majority of voters care about what, what their households look like. Can I afford this? Can I afford that? Is how that's what people care about the most. Majority of it. Now there's room for people to care about a lot more, to care about simple civil freedoms and liberties for all, all people. But majority of the people care the most when their own households are affected. And listen, this is a big thing. Donald Trump will never have to face the American voters again. Now obviously there's all the talk about, you know, the third term and everything that needs to be shut down immediately. By the way, like Mike Johnson came out, I said, he said, didn't he? There's a path forward or anything like that.

[B]

Yeah, but if Donald says there is a path, don't you think Mike Johnson would just say, okay, that's fine, go ahead?

[D]

Exactly. So I think that that needs to be. But Donald Trump will never have to face the American voters again. What's surprising to me, Jim, is so many of these elected officials in the House. Every, every single member of the House has to face their voters in November of next year. Every senator, 2, 1/3 of the Senate is going to have to face the voters. So all these people that are enabling Donald Trump, who doesn't have to answer to the American people ever again, I can't believe they're cowtailing the way that they are. I, maybe that's just the optimist in me. I would expect them to do what their, their constituents want. I mean, I, I thought that's how government was supposed to work, but I'm really surprised by this. Maybe they'll get a wake up call sooner and later when they start believing these polls that people are pissed off and not happy with the way they are running things.

[B]

And if you've got a few minutes, I mean, it's not just polls. I mean, we went out to, I went out, I'll just celebrate the food bank earlier this morning in Landover, Maryland, and it's right outside Washington.

[D]

That was a big one.

[B]

And, and it's a big one. We saw hundreds of people standing in line this morning and a lot of them were telling us, Harry, that this was the first time they'd ever stood in the line at a food bank. And today was the day when federal workers show up. So this was just federal work. When people see this footage we're about to play, please understand, this is federal worker day at the food bank that we saw earlier today. Let's show this. And Harry and you and I talk about on the inside. This is the real people here at a food line at a food bank in Maryland right outside Washington, D.C. talking to federal workers. And some of these workers, this is the first time they've ever had to line up for food and they're not happy about it. We talked to one lady, she didn't even want to be on camera because she's worried about being retaliated against. And another person told us, you know, why are these politicians in Congress getting paid and they're not.

[D]

Damn, man, look at that.

[B]

Hundreds of people.

[D]

Yeah. And like you said, these are the federal workers.

[B]

These are your mind being here this morning.

[D]

What's going through my mind, it's just a necessary thing. Life has different waves, so I'm not looking down on myself or feeling sorry for myself or anything like that, you know.

[B]

Got food.

[D]

Yeah. It's a necessary thing.

[B]

And you're worried about even being on camera, I guess.

[E]

Exactly. Exactly.

[B]

And what's it like, I mean, for the federal workers right now, seeing what's happening? The government shut down. It just seems like they're not getting their act together and getting things going.

[A]

It.

[D]

It.

[A]

It's.

[E]

It's hard to watch. So I've been trying not to watch the news as much because they. It. The news will kind of bring me down with everything's going on, because it doesn't seem like they're really trying to do anything. And people are making judgment calls about federal workers. Like, we're on paid vacations. We want to be at work. We want to get our paychecks. We want to feed our families. We want to keep a roof over our heads.

[B]

You don't want to do this.

[E]

Exactly.

[B]

You want to work?

[E]

I want to work.

[A]

Want to work.

[E]

So I'm over watching tv. I'm over applying for jobs. I'm over everything.

[A]

I'm tired.

[E]

I'm ready to go to work. You know, I've been there 23 years. Gave them all my life.

[B]

Your whole life?

[E]

My whole life I've given to the government. So I don't know.

[B]

Yeah, well. And is. Have you ever done this before?

[E]

Never. This is my second time. I went. I came last week and this. So this is my second time.

[A]

I mean, money's really tight to begin with, and it's just been a whole big stressful thing. Come back to work. And then people got fired, then people left. And I'm a supervisor, so I understand. And it's. I. I respect people's individual decisions on what to do, but it's just a very stressful situation. I think that these politicians, if we don't get paid, they shouldn't get paid, and that they should all be sitting at their desks in Congress. If they can't figure out a cr, then they should be working on the regular bill instead of being at home in their districts. They need to. They need to. They need to work.

[D]

They need to work.

[A]

We're paying them to work. Go back to work.

[B]

There you go.

[D]

All right.

[B]

And we're doing a story on the people getting help. Oh, you're a farmer. Oh, how are you? Hi, I'm Jim.

[A]

So whatever we can do to help our community, we will do just that.

[B]

Yeah, but you seem A little sad about it.

[A]

Very sad. Because it affects me, too. Everybody's affected directly and directly.

[B]

So a lot of people hurting right now.

[A]

Yes, sir.

[B]

And if you think about it, these federal workers, a lot of them have spent their entire careers working on behalf of the American people. And this is the thanks they get standing in a line for food at a food bank during a government shutdown. And then you add on top of that, the fact that Obamacare premiums are about to go up, that SNAP benefits are about to expire at the end of this week. You know, we're talking about bailing out other countries like Argentina right now. Where's their bailout? No bailout, Harry. No bailout for the, for the, for the folks who are just trying to put food on the table.

[D]

Well, Jim, you just. They don't, as the people said, they don't want to bail out. They want to work.

[B]

They want to work.

[D]

They don't want a handout. They want to work to be able to afford it. These people are proud people who just want to go to work. It's not a paid vacation. It is stressful as hell, wondering, can I afford food, Can I afford my mortgage, Can I afford my rent, Can I afford my, my auto insurance, Can I keep my electricity on? And that's a whole nother conversation with the raising, the raising of electric cost. These people are just proud people. They don't want to be there. No, they want to be. And, and you know what? The, the lady who, the, the woman that you interviewed that said she was a supervisor, she makes a very good point. She's like, the hell with the cr. Do a full term funding bill since you already shut down.

[B]

Exactly.

[D]

We're past cr. And one thing to the Senate's credit. I don't want to give credit. But you have to. They're here working. At least the House is nowhere to be found. Well, excuse me, excuse me, Republican members of the House. I'm on the Capitol now. There are Democratic congressmen walking all around the Capitol.

[B]

It's Mike Johnson keeping this. I, I hate that. This, there's this, like, debate over who's at fault here. The Republicans are in charge of the House and the Senate. Mike Johnson won't even swear in Adelita Grialva. Yeah, she was elected over a month ago. He's not opening up the House for debate. I mean, it's just unreal. It's just, it's disgusting.

[D]

When you have problems like this. You used to have people come to the table and sit down and figure out their. Their differences. Let's figure it out. They're not even sitting down to air out their differences, which means that they don't believe in working together. They don't. They don't. And their actions are proving that to be. To be true right now. Don't tell me. Don't tell me one thing you're showing me by your actions, by refusing. Now, listen, I understand you don't want to. In their words. I'm trying to play devil's act. They don't want to negotiate with hostage. They feel like the Democrats are taking the government hostage. Okay, well, sit down to the table and let's talk about it. They're not even doing that.

[B]

They're not even doing that.

[D]

They're not even doing that at all. So the only communications they're getting from is stuff that you see on interviews with. Sit down and talk. Because, you know, a lot of. You've covered politics long enough to know that so many deals get worked out behind closed doors. You'd be like, wait a minute, y'. All. Wait, I thought y' all were miles apart. And then a whole nother get together, and they can't even be in the same room. And it's pathetic. And American people are suffering because Congress is still getting paid. And the Capitol Police. The Capitol police are not. My former co workers are not. The officers I just walked by are not getting paid.

[B]

And they're on the job.

[D]

But you know what? They will get a thank you, Chick Fil A breakfast sandwich. Thanks, guys. Here's Chick Fil A. Give me my. Give them their damn paycheck.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, that's unreal. It's disgusting. And. And the other thing is, like, when 63 of the American people say Donald Trump is not doing a good job of keeping costs down, it makes me kind of wonder, maybe that's why Mike Johnson is saying no third term. I mean, Mike Johnson is saying, you know what? We're gonna lose. We're gonna lose the majority. We're gonna lose our seats. We don't want him. Lame duck, lame turkey. Donald Trump squawking around, doing his thing, tearing down parts of the White House to build his ballrooms and all this stuff and despicable. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[D]

And you know what? And that's what it is, Jim. Like I said earlier, Donald Trump doesn't have to face the American voters again. Mike Johnson will. Every. Every Republican will. Every Democrat will. Everybody's gonna have to face those American voters again. And Lord, I hope they do not forget.

[B]

I. I I, and I know you would be very, you would be number one in the list of people who would be a little suspicious as to whether folks might forget. But Harry, remind us why you're up on Capitol Hill today. Because as you said earlier, the Senate is working. Yeah. Judiciary Committee had a hearing today on political violence. Our friend Daniel Hodges, the Metropolitan Police Officer, D.C. police Officer was testifying what, what happened at this hearing. What, what's going on there.

[D]

So it might still be going on now. We're finishing up now. But so it's a subcommittee of the Judiciary, the ranking member, Peter Welch from Vermont called Daniel Hodges to testify and ask myself and Ken Sicknick, who is Brian Sicknick's brother. For people that don't know, Brian Sicknick was the Capitol police officer who died the day after January 6th. The problem is the thing that stuck out to me in this hearing, it is a condemning political violence. We're condemning it. And Senator Welch made a very, a statement. It was very profound. He said, listen, instead of talking about who commits more violence, left or right. And there's there were people there saying that the left does it. The people that it's a Republican led committee. So they had majority of their witnesses saying that it was all extreme, radical left that are the people responsible for it. So Senator Durbin and Senator Welch, Cory Booker showed up a little bit later as same way with senator from California. I'm blanking on his name, the one that was assaulted by ice. Senator, excuse me, Senator Padilla was there and they were of the fact, listen, I don't care which side is doing it more, it has to stop, period. And they, they had this hearing to.

[B]

Try to make, to try to say that political violence is coming from the left.

[D]

That's what they, that that's what their messaging was. So Daniel Hodges testified about his injuries on January 6th. The, the assaults, the brutal assault that the whole world saw by the way, specifically Daniel Hodges as the officer who was crushed. And in the doors defending the lower west terrace of the Capitol, he detailed minute by minute his day where he got assaulted, beaten, they tried to gouge his eyes out, his baton stripped from him. And then the last question that Senator Welch asked, he said all the panel is a panel of five people. He said, raise your hand if you think that Donald Trump made a mistake or excuse me, Donald Trump did the right thing by pardoning the people who attacked law enforcement on January 6th. Every single Republican witness raised their hand say that Donald Trump did the right thing. And mind you, this is a hearing about political Violence. And they. They could not even. Daniel Hodges stared down the gentleman next to him, I'm sure somewhere on C Span right now. But Daniel stared in that man's face and said, how dare you? How dare you say that the person assaulted me should have been pardoned. And the dude had this smug little look on his face, and it was just disgusting and despicable and just shows how unserious they are.

[B]

And. And they're trying to make this point. I mean, obviously, because of what happened to Charlie Kirk, which, remember, when that happened, everybody said, we all condemn political violence. That's how it should work in this country. It reminds me a little bit of what took place after January 6th. And just about everybody said, we condemn political violence in this country. But now it's like, you know, Republicans, they're afraid to say anything that pisses off Donald Trump. And you can't be against pardoning January six criminals.

[D]

Give me a Jim. Even. Even Ted Cruz, who said on the Senate floor that it was a violent terrorist insurrection. And then Tucker Carlson called him into his office and said, did you really say that? How dare you? And then Ted Cruz walk those comments back faster than anything I've ever seen. Faster than Mike Johnson got the House. Oh, put the House in recess. But Ted Cruz was scared because for a moment, everybody was like, wait, this is bad. This is really what happened. And then. And then political pressure set in and said, no, no way.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, they only want to condemn political violence if it's happening, if it's coming from the other side. And that's just not how it works in this country. We're never going to get through this moment. We're never going to get through this era of just everybody being at each other's throats. If we can't both at least agree that all political violence is bad and should be punished.

[D]

Period. Period. Full stop.

[B]

It's pretty easy. That's easy.

[D]

It's full stop. So they're blaming the people, the congressmen, the. The political pundits, the people with voices, for inciting it and normalizing it, which is. Which is disparate, despicable, and very disingenuous. You know, it's very disingenuous. And, yeah, you can't break through to that. And it just shows how unserious they are.

[B]

Well, Harry, I know you are always trying to break through that noise and appreciate you coming on and talking to us about it. I knew that this was a very important thing that's near and dear to your heart, so I wanted to make sure we got into it. But I also knew as a. As a D.C. guy, D.C. area guy, you were definitely fired up about how federal workers being treated right now. What's happening to just regular folks right now. Harry, thank you as always. Really appreciate it. Good to see you.

[D]

Thank you. Thank you, Jim. Talk to you soon, my friend.

[B]

Thank you so much. You know, Harry always just. I mean, he's always right on target with this stuff, and I always appreciate him coming on. And you know what? It's just. It's just a damn shame he was not elected to Congress. Remember when Harry Dunn ran for Congress? And it. It just made me sick to my stomach that a guy like Harry, who's just as great as can be, could not get elected for internal political reasons. Just. It just. It was a real disappointment to me. Great guy, always tells it like it is. And he was just the guy that popped in my head. I was. I was coming back from the food bank. I was like, who should I talk? I was like, oh, yeah. Harry would here would know exactly how these folks feel right now as a former Capitol Police officer who has been through this sort of thing. So we appreciate Harry's time. I want to switch gears now because as we've been chronicling on this program almost on a daily basis, the outrageous behavior from ICE across the country, in particular in Chicago lately. My buddy Nick Valencia is. My old colleague Nick Valencia is here. And Nick, always great to see you. Always appreciate the hard work you're doing. Nick is also fighting the good fight and independent media. And Nick, for folks who just has. Maybe they've just missed them the eight or nine times he's been on this show. But. But Nick, you've been, I mean, just really relentlessly following what ICE has been up to, the mass deportation operations that have been happening all around the country. And it's almost a daily. It's in my Instagram, maybe it's my algorithm. It's just in my feeds now on a daily basis, these ridiculous, outrageous actions that are being taken place, people being thrown to the ground, people getting their. You know, the. The officers are putting their knees on people's necks. It could be undocumented, could be mixed status, could be a US Citizen. If they're. If they look Hispanic, they sound Hispanic, they're getting grabbed, thrown to the ground, thrown in the back of the van. What's the latest that you're picking up on?

[F]

It's getting worse. It's. It's seeming to pick up, and that's why we're Seeing these videos. Last time I was on with you, we, it was a couple weeks ago and it was our, you know, from our conclusion, these officers that were fast tracked, Jim, they don't have any training. That's why you're seeing these videos that are escalating these situations. You're seeing everyday American citizens. It doesn't matter. First it was this persecution of our people going after the colors of skin. The data showed us from the individuals that were in these private facilities, these private detention facilities and now it's like anyone who stands in the way of Trump's mass deportation army is going to get it it. And we're seeing this show continue on. What was commonplace in Los Angeles where it started, that ground zero testing in the first weeks of June has moved on to Chicago and want to show you some video here that you might have missed. Yeah, let's have a 67 year old man who was taken into custody by I.C.E.

[D]

Look at this.

[B]

It's hard to watch.

[F]

This. So to give you the details, if you could still hear me, I, I might have lost your audio, but if you could still hear me. This is a 67 year old man who was training for the New York City Marathon. He's been training the last four months and as his friends tell and reported out on social media, he was showing up to a neighborhood in the Chicago area, hit a roadblock where ICE was conducting an operation in his neighborhood. He asked to go around, he couldn't, he did not comply fast enough for the, these federal agents and as a result they ripped him from his car, they cracked six of his ribs and now Jim, he's not going to be able to compete in the NYC Marathon. A 67 year old, a 67 year old man who was just trying to get home. And so for those individuals who are out there who are not moving in good faith in this country and refuse to believe that US citizens are being caught up in this. We're showing you the video and these instances keep happening more and more. Another clip I want to show you here while I'm on with you is what's going on in the north part of Chicago. This is in the Wrigleyville neighborhood where it's not just these low income areas. This incident that we're about to show you happened outside of a $3 million home that's being constructed. ICE went after two of the construction workers. The community residents stood up, look at what happened. And Jim, these are everyday people, these are moms on their way to pick up. These are people that live in these upscale neighborhoods. Wrigleyville is a two million dollar home. Three million dollar homes being built. It is not just the bad guys that they're going after. That is what has become evident to us.

[B]

More and more videos.

[F]

And what is really chilling for us. And what's more and more sobering that we're seeing is this rift that's happening. Fox News is reporting it out. Take it for what it's worth.

[B]

Worth.

[F]

But there is a rift that's happening in the DHS of this more moderate wing, which I don't believe there is, but a more moderate wing in the dhs, which is reported to include Tom Homan. I don't know if I believe that, but apparently he is trying to go after the criminals, according to this article. And he's missing out and losing to people like Stephen Miller. To people like Christy. No, to people like Chief Greg Bovino. Where the show goes. Where he goes, the show goes. And that's what we're seeing now in this streets of America, unfortunately.

[B]

Wow. Wow. And Nick, we were having a couple of little audio hiccups there, but I. I hope you can still hear me. I mean, what do you make of that? This. This.

[F]

Jim, I can't hear you. I'm so sorry, man.

[D]

I had to.

[F]

I had to restart it in order to come back on. In order to hear you. Last time, I'm sure you said something amazing and very wise.

[B]

That's okay. No, no, no. Nick Valencia. Great, great stuff, as always. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. That's Nick Valencia. He's jumped in just for a few.

[D]

All right, well, we'll.

[B]

If he. If he jumps out, comes back in, we'll bring him back in. But, I mean, I saw some of this reporting from Fox that there's some sort of split inside of DHS over these enforcement issues. I. I'm just gonna. Just call me a skeptic. I'm just gonna say right off the bat here that I'm. I'm not sure I believe that. It sounds as though maybe people like Tom Homan might be on his way out because of, I don't know, a certain. There's a bag of cash issue that propped up recently for him. And, you know, that that was a problem, Nick.

[F]

I'm not sure if I'm. I'm not sure if I believe that either. You know, this seems like. And we've done source reporting before, Jim, the both of us. It seems as though a source close to him may have floated this idea because he's on the outs. And he wants to save some face. You know, there is no moderate wing of dhs. What we're seeing now is what Trump promised us and what he ran on. The largest deportation in the history of America.

[B]

And he wanted Apocalypse Now. He was the one putting out the Apocalypse now thing. He wants it to be like the apocalypse for people who are Hispanic in this country.

[F]

And I felt a little bit like Jim Acosta yesterday, man, waking up to vitriol and like people, look, I move in good faith. And so because of that, I have people that voted for Trump who are in my orbit and the edges of the orbit. And for whatever reason they woke up yesterday, Jim, and they are taking such exception with the work that we're doing at Nick Valencia News that they just started, they started to attack us yesterday. I can't put my family online anymore because our profile has doubled in size. And they're like, you're not a journalist, you're an advocate. I want to be clear about this. This is the hill that we're willing to die on. Because for us, the line here, and I know it's the same for you, is suspected masked federal agents without warrants ripping people off the streets of America.

[A]

Correct?

[F]

Period.

[B]

67 year old guy who gets tackled and thrown to the ground and he's training for a marathon and they crack six of his ribs. I mean, that's, that's police brutality. And I guess at ICE you get to. Police brutality goes out the window. You can do whatever you want. It seems, well, what we're told by.

[F]

A source close to the Trump administration because there's still good people working in bad places. That's how they identify themselves. And what they tell us is that these agents have, have been given the carte blanche that the quote that I got is, the gloves are off. Don't worry. Maybe if you guys end up being held accountable, the files of who worked for us during this time might mysteriously be misplaced or you can't find them when it's time to show up in court. We believe, and we're doing this work in the short term because we believe that it needs to have a historical record. What we're seeing on the streets of America is up, man. This is not okay. It's not okay that our neighbors are having to step up and put their, literally, literally their lives on the line to step up for people who are contributing to this country, some of whom have legal permanent residents, have legal work permits, permits to be here, are in the process of their asylum claims or getting their legal status and that doesn't matter. You have a guy who's now being considered the moderate in the dhs, Tom Hoban, who says if you're here illegally, you're going to get it. I mean, it's insane what we're seeing. And he promised it and the Trump, and President Trump is keeping to his word. And there's people out there that like this. Jim.

[B]

Yeah, well, and, and just to back up a second, I mean, we were showing that video again of the ICE police officers kneeling on top of this guy. I mean, it looks like, you know, what was done to George Floyd back in 2020. I mean, this is the kind of stuff that police officers are being trained these days to avoid doing because you could have bad incidents that happen. But if we can show that video again. The other thing I want to just call attention to people is the fact they don't look like cops. Look, these guys are, are paramilitary now. They're all dressed up like, look at, they're all teched out like they're in camo. These, that they don't look like police officers, they look like soldiers. And I guess that's typical of what we're seeing these days as well. Nick Is that right? Is that we're seeing sort of a militarized federal police force on the streets, like just opening up a can of whoop ass on, on defenseless people.

[F]

And this is what we can provide, the context we could provide. Back in the 90s, it was the sheriff showing up with a shotgun to get the undocumented. Today it's somebody in fully full tactical gear wearing a riot helmet. You know, you have pictures of Chief Greg Bevino launching tear gas canisters himself into residential neighborhoods.

[B]

What, what's his deal? He seems to be like the new, the new thug, the new federal thug that Trump likes and Kristi Noem likes. What's his deal? I mean, you know, like border patrol people aren't necessarily trained to do this kind of stuff. It's a different mission, what they do down at the border versus going into enforcement activities in, in cities and, and so on.

[F]

And it's all about optics for somebody. It's all about optics for somebody like Chief Greg Bovino and for President Trump who's like a WWE president, you know, it's all about being strong and you get those optics. Chief Greg Bovino, let's remind our viewers here was the same person that was behind the MacArthur park raid earlier this summer where they went through MacArthur park, all those horses they swept through and there Was nobody there. They picked up nobody. But they were there with their propaganda machines. They were there with their, you know, their, all their gear, their equipment to put out these images of them being tough on the streets of America. Greg Vivino is taking the line that the President loves, is these optics of being a tough guy. He has convinced Americans that he is tough. And all they need, right, is these, these optics of toughness. Whether or not they overcharge, it doesn't matter. They get the headline. We're seeing activists who are charged, these charges are wilting away. It doesn't matter to the Trump supporter because they get the headline that they're going and they're being tough and it's all about law and order. True Border Patrol agents who I've talked to a lot of them, I've done a lot of reporting over the years, they don't want the attention, man. They're there and, you know, they're not out there on the streets of America. While, you know, having said that, they have authority and jurisdiction within 100 miles of a border, which is a lot of the interior part of the United States. You're not typically seeing Border Patrol agents on the street under any other administration, except for Donald Trump's. And that's where that, that's where it's a problem for both parties. And we're seeing this from conservatives. There are people that voted for Donald Trump who, I know, who have reached out to me because we're continually covered and drilled down on this, Jim. They reach out, they say, what did we vote for? For? We really thought he was going after the bad guys. I think of someone like a, whose husband was, you know, they were sending videos, her friends, of our stuff that we were reporting on. She was saying it was AI until ICE came for her husband at 4 in the morning. She's now going to vote in 2026, and she's voting against the Republican Party.

[B]

Interesting. Yeah. And you just have to think, I mean, we saw this during the 2024 campaign, Nick, where a lot of Latinos said they wanted to give Trump a try, they wanted to give the Republicans a try because inflation, because inflation had gotten to a point where they were feeling it as well. And, you know, a lot of Latinos were saying, you know what? Let's, let's give him a shot. And it's completely just blown up into being a horrendous thing for the Latino community. And I, I, I fully suspect that there will be a Latino voter revolt in 2026 and that I, one of the things that I'm going to be, you know, paying attention to next year is whether or not they just try to make it difficult for guys like you and me to vote for people with Latino last names to vote, people who look like Latinos, whether they're going to be allowed to vote. You know, that's the, that's the thing that scares me.

[F]

Well, there's a theory, look, hey, get Americans normalized to these federal troops on the streets. So once it comes to ballot day, you got people out there on the streets and you know that's a tactic of voter intimidation. Of course it's going to be more difficult and it's not going to be so black and white in your face. It's going to be stuff like that. Get Americans used to federal troops on the street, get them normalized to the federalization so that when we go to the ballot box, there's that layer of intimidation. 55% of Latino men voted for Trump. And I'll tell you, they thought they were voting to be alphas, they were voting for privilege. The only people that are benefiting right now are people who think they're alphas or who want to be alphas from that community. And what's evident to us is that your proximity to whiteness isn't going to save you. They don't care how, well Americanized you are and how much you adopt this culture. Do you think that they're going to stop at the undocumented? They're expanding this detention infrastructure all across the United States. Today it's the undocumented, tomorrow it's the undesirable. Today it's the undocumented, tomorrow it's the DACA recipient. They threw TPS out for Venezuelans. I mean, this is happening. And the reason why we're doubling down.

[B]

On this, even the Cubans, I mean, even the people that I, you know, align with my, my Cuban American heritage. You know, the Cubans in Miami are getting picked up and they thought they were immune to all this stuff. And guess what? They don't DHS there. It's equal opportunity. You know what they're doing to everybody who just looks like somebody they want to get out of the country. Yeah.

[F]

There's no moderate wing of dhs. That's the truest thing that we said. All segment here.

[B]

Yeah, there's. Yeah, you know, tell me that one and I'll, I'll buy a. I'll buy a bridge in Brooklyn or however the. Nick, great to see you, man. Thanks a lot. Really.

[F]

Hey, shout out to you and your team, man. God bless you, Jim, for helping me out so much. I thought, well, you have laid out such a blueprint for us, and independent journalism matters more than ever. We're seeing it this summer, people, they're calling us news fluencers now. We're just journalists trying to speak truth to power. And you're starting it. You're the blueprint imprint, man. You're the man, dude. Thank you so much.

[B]

Hey, I appreciate it. I'm just, you know, I, I just try to, I just make this up as I go along and hope that Duke doesn't come in and knock all the equipment over in the middle of my podcast. That's basically that. That's my day. That's how it goes day to day.

[F]

You're meeting the moment, brother. Thank you so much.

[B]

Thanks, Nick. Great to see, as always, and really appreciate the work you do, Nick. Nick does such a great job. And, and we need people, you know, mining the store on this issue because I don't know about you guys, but to me it is, it's just un American to watch what we're, we're seeing in these cities these days. The way ICE is just, they're just brutalizing people and it's becoming like immigration porn. For Donald Trump, One has to think that he's just sitting wherever he is, on the toilet, in the dining room, in the, in the bedroom, wherever he's watching, he's got his screens everywhere or looking at his phone, and he's getting off on this stuff. And these are human beings and. But people are starting to figure out, as I said at the beginning, as I said at the beginning, a new poll from Reuters, 63% of the American people think that Trump is doing a shitty job, a lousy job when it comes to lowering the cost of living, living in this country. And I will tell you, you know, he, he does, he thinks he can his way through this. Let's play a little bit of, of what Trump was saying earlier in the day. He's on this foreign trip and he's apparently, he's wandering around. If you guys saw this video, he's wandering around and he's looking lost. And the Japanese Prime Minister saying, go over here, go. That was a whole other thing. But then he started to lie about how all the costs of living are coming down in the U.S. let's take.

[D]

A look back home.

[G]

We had the worst inflation in the history of our country. Energy costs are down. You know, energy costs are worse, way down. Gasoline prices are way down. Grocery Prices are way down.

[B]

No, they're not.

[G]

We have a little problem with beef. We're going to get that down very quick. Prices are way down. Mortgage rates are down. Despite having an incompetent head of the Fed. I call him too late. He's always too late. He's too late in lowering interest rates. I call him Jerome, Too late, Powell.

[B]

Yeah, okay, Jerome. Too late, pal. I mean, Donald Trump, you know, this is why I like doing this show the way I do it. Because, you know when they have the video of Trump lying on TV and then the fact checker comes on and they can only he lies like about 12 things and then they fact check like five. So seven lies just go, they just go uncorrected. And so, you know, when Trump lies like that, where I'm going to try to play clips every now and then where I'm just in real time while he's talking, I'll interrupt him because he likes to interrupt everybody else and just say, no, that's a lie, that's a lie. That's a lie. And the Reuters poll that came out today tells us that people are starting to get this, that people are starting to understand this. And people say, oh, the information silos were polarized. People on the right watch Fox. People on the left watch msnbc. Nobody understands anything anymore. You go to the supermarket and you buy a pound of ground beef and it's the highest it's been in God knows how long. People get that. They understand it. Remember when, when the Trump people used to put those little Joe Biden stickers everywhere and said, I did this. They need to start putting the, the Donald Trump stickers at the supermarket that say, I did this. Because he, he campaigned on lowering the cost of living. He campaigned on tackling inflation. And guess what? The American people are saying it ain't, it ain't working. You ain't doing it. 63%, according to this poll, saying he is doing a lousy job when it comes to lowering the cost of living in this country. And the last thing I want to say is look at the lines that we saw out in Maryland earlier today. Again, for those of you who are just tuning in, I went out to a food bank in Landover, Maryland, right outside Washington, D.C. and this was Federal Worker day at the food bank. Federal Worker Day. These are all the, these are all the furloughed federal workers that Donald Trump wants to lay off. They had to line up. We, we were out there at about nine in the morning. They didn't start handing out the groceries until noon. It's, it's 50 degrees outside. It's windy, so it feels colder than that. People are bundled up. I saw a lady with a blanket over her head because they're so cold. And they're lined up because they're worried how they're going to make ends meet. They're living paycheck to paycheck like everybody else in this country. And look at this long line that we saw. This is my video. We, My, my producer, Sam, and I went out there and we got this video. Look at these long lines of people struggling right now. Federal workers. And people say, oh, the federal workers. What do you do? A lot of these federal workers are in very important jobs, ladies and gentlemen. And I know the viewers who watch the show understand this, but just in case they clip this and put it on Fox because they, they're obsessed with me over there. These are our fellow Americans, ladies and gentlemen. Our fellow Americans are so. And they, and they told us over and over again they want to work. They want to go back to, to their jobs with the federal government. They have jobs. These are not people who are asking for handouts. They're trying, they're just trying to live and get by. And we're giving $20 billion to Argentina, and Donald Trump is spending God knows what on the ballroom. Oh, it's going to be privately funded. Can we just see an accounting of that when it's all said and done? Can I get, can we get the bill for that when it's all said and done? Because I guarantee you that thing is going to have some taxpayer money involved in it at the end of the day. At the end of the day. And when he says, oh, you guys owe me $230 million because I got wrongfully prosecuted. And so I want the Justice Department give, give me $230 million. And then he says, oh, I'll use that as a charity gift to pay for the ballroom. That's, that's taxpayer money. I don't know if, I don't know if anybody out there has figured that out, but that's taxpayer money. But when I saw those federal workers lined up and, and then we saw the headline that a federal judge says, oh, no, you can't fire these federal. Remember, Donald Trump wants to fire these people.

[A]

People.

[B]

These are people who want to go to work, who want to earn a paycheck and provide for their families. And then look at this. This guy, Mike Davis, MAGA Guy maga. Mike Davis, occasional advisor to Donald Trump and the Trump administration. This is what he said in response to snap. You know that the SNAP program is expiring on Friday. And the U.S. department of Agriculture has said, even though we have this contingency fund to help pay for food stamps and SNAP benefits for people, we're not going to do that. We're not going to have, we're not going to use this contingency fund because, you know, we want to put this on the Democrats and, and hold them over a barrel and force them to help us reopen the government. So far, Democrats are standing firm and saying, no, they're not going to do this. And you have some Democratic attorney generals right now trying to stop the US Department of Agriculture from doing this. But this is what Mike Davis said in response to all this. We should only help people who can't help themselves. It's outrageous. 40 million people get food stamps. Get off your fat ghetto asses. This is somebody who was taken seriously inside the Republican Party. Inside maga. Get a job. Stop reproducing. He says, change your shitty culture. Stop giving food stamps to immigrants. We don't, we don't want you here if you don't work. All of those people who are standing in line waiting for food at the food bank are employed federal workers who just want to get paid for their jobs. They, they do, they do work, Mike Davis, but they may need food stamps if Donald Trump is successful in firing them. They may need food stamps, they may need snacks, benefits, if this shutdown continues to drag on. And so, you know, what Mike Davis needs to be told is, you know, get off your fat ass. Change your shitty culture. Maga. It's MAGA that has the shitty culture. It's people in MAGA who need to get off their fat asses and start voting for somebody besides a wannabe dictator who doesn't give a shit about the rising cost of living in this country, doesn't give a shit about the rising cost of healthcare in this country, lies through his teeth about the rising cost of groceries in this country. It's the shitty culture of MAGA that needs to be changed. And it's those asses who need to get to the polls and start voting differently in this country. Because Donald Trump, I'm going to tell you right now, does not give a about you. He gives a about the fat cats who come over to the White House and sit on his tacky rose garden patio that he paved over and who are going to sit their fat asses down in his golden ballroom once that monstrosity is constructed. You think the people in MAGA are going to get an invite to Donald Trump's new ballroom. You think they're going to be going in there and sitting in those golden chairs. People in MAGA who are on food stamps, people in MAGA who need Obamacare benefits, people in MAGA who can't afford the cost of groceries being totally led astray by this, this con man, by this pied piper with his gold everywhere golden ballrooms for me but not for thee. No food, no food lines for me but food lines for the that's Donald Trump's America. My thanks Norm Eisen. My thanks to Harry Dunn. My thanks to Nick Valencia. Guys, thanks everybody for watching. Really appreciate it. I'll post that piece that we did with the, the folks, the federal workers at the food line. I'll post that on the socials later this evening. Thanks everybody for tuning in. Still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Have a good evening.