Special "Great American Pushback" edition of "The Jim Acosta Show" with filmmaker Lauren Windsor, live from anti-DOGE protest in Raleigh, NC

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Jim Acosta Show – Special "Great American Pushback" Edition

Release Date: March 12, 2025

Host: Jim Acosta
Guest: Filmmaker Lauren Windsor
Location: Anti-DOGE Protest, Raleigh, North Carolina

---

Introduction to the Rally

Jim Acosta initiates the special edition of his show by connecting live with Lauren Windsor, a filmmaker actively participating in the "Great American Pushback" movement. The rally is taking place at Bicentennial Plaza in front of the North Carolina state legislature.

Lauren Windsor explains, “[00:24]...we commissioned this puppet. And I think you can see them behind me...we thought that we should get a puppet made of Elon Musk. So he's actually the one in the middle” [00:24]. These puppets, including one labeled “Fat Cat Elon” wearing a black Doge hat, serve as symbols protesting Elon Musk’s alleged cuts to public services and NIH funding.

Purpose and Organization of the Rally

Windsor elaborates on the rally’s objectives, emphasizing community engagement and resistance against perceived governmental and corporate overreach. She states, “[02:31]...the solution is not to follow Carvel's advice and play dead. It's...to get out here and get loud and be engaged because people are really responding in really positive ways” [02:31]. The event aims to mobilize Democrats and other opponents of the current administration’s policies, particularly those influenced by Elon Musk.

Jim Acosta highlights the widespread impact of these cuts, noting concerns over reduced funding for key departments like the Department of Education: “[03:19]...people are seeing what's happening at places like USAID...they’re seeing what DOGE is doing and what Trump is doing is adding to that anxiety” [03:19].

Impact on Communities

Lauren Windsor connects the protest to broader economic anxieties affecting American communities. She mentions her nonprofit, American Family Voices, and its role in educating the public about the ramifications of these cuts: “[04:09]...public education campaign to show, you know, this is how this is going to impact you” [04:09].

Windsor discusses the tangible effects of these policies, including significant layoffs and freezes in funding for education. “[05:14]...a lot of people are going to be really, really hurt by this approach to move fast and break things” [05:14]. She emphasizes the need for a collective response to protect mission-critical government systems and support affected communities.

Interaction with State Senator Greg Meyer

During the live segment, Jim Acosta and Lauren Windsor engage with State Senator Greg Meyer from North Carolina. Senator Meyer details the local impact of the federal cuts: “[12:23]...the USAID cuts immediately have hundreds off in my district” [12:23]. He further explains the financial strain on districts like Juke and Chapel Hill, which have lost over $1 billion in NIH funding.

Senator Meyer underscores the national repercussions: “[13:08]...these cuts are having impact on people all over the nation” [13:08], highlighting the threat to rural education programs and Medicaid expansion efforts. “[15:14]...Medicaid expansion...we were just able to get...600,000 people could lose health insurance as” [15:14].

Lauren Windsor’s Documentary: Gonzo for Democracy

Jim Acosta references Windsor’s recent documentary, Gonzo for Democracy, which explores the economic distress in Ohio’s deindustrialized factory towns. Windsor explains, “[09:29]...we delve into the factory town's research of, you know, why is it that these deindustrialized manufacturing communities over decades, flipped from blue to red” [09:29]. The film challenges the notion that voter shifts are solely driven by racism, instead highlighting economic devastation and the erosion of the American Dream as critical factors.

The "Fat Cat Elon" Whistleblower Website

Windsor introduces a new initiative aimed at holding Elon Musk accountable: the website fatcatelon.com. She describes its purpose as a whistleblower platform where federal workers can report unethical or criminal behavior by Musk or his associates. “[06:35]...we're not asking people to be fans of Musk, like muskrats. We're asking people to rat out Musk” [06:35]. The website serves as a repository for vetted reports intended to influence public opinion and policy.

Community Response and Future Plans

The rally garners positive reactions from attendees, with many engaging with the puppets and expressing solidarity. “[05:14]...people are really, really hurt by this approach to move fast and break things” [05:14]. Windsor emphasizes the importance of maintaining community bonds and fostering a collective response to governmental crises.

Looking ahead, Windsor outlines plans to expand the protest nationwide, targeting battleground states to amplify the message and educate the public about the impacts of current federal policies: “[04:09]...a template for, you know, a national tour” [04:09].

Closing Remarks

As the segment concludes, Jim Acosta reflects on the significance of the live protest, lauding Windsor's efforts and highlighting the urgent need for public engagement. He encourages listeners to support the movement by visiting AmericanFamilyVoices.org and following Windsor on Twitter.

Lauren Windsor urges continued attention and support for the pushback movement, stating, “[16:40]...we do very much plan to bring this across the country” [16:40].

Jim Acosta wraps up the special edition by acknowledging the dynamic interplay between activism and journalism, affirming the role of the media in documenting and promoting democratic resistance.

---

Notable Quotes

• Lauren Windsor [00:24]: "We thought that we should get a puppet made of Elon Musk. So he's actually the one in the middle."

• Jim Acosta [03:19]: "People are seeing what's happening at places like USAID... they’re seeing what DOGE is doing and what Trump is doing is adding to that anxiety."

• Lauren Windsor [05:14]: "A lot of people are going to be really, really hurt by this approach to move fast and break things."

• State Senator Greg Meyer [12:23]: "The USAID cuts immediately have hundreds off in my district."

• Lauren Windsor [06:35]: "We're not asking people to be fans of Musk, like muskrats. We're asking people to rat out Musk."

• Lauren Windsor [09:29]: "We delve into the factory town's research of, you know, why is it that these deindustrialized manufacturing communities over decades, flipped from blue to red."

• Lauren Windsor [16:40]: "We do very much plan to bring this across the country."

---

Conclusion

This special edition of The Jim Acosta Show provides an in-depth look into the "Great American Pushback" movement, highlighting the economic struggles faced by communities across the United States and the proactive steps activists like Lauren Windsor are taking to combat perceived governmental and corporate malfeasance. Through live interactions, impactful storytelling, and actionable initiatives, the episode underscores the importance of community engagement and collective resistance in safeguarding public services and economic stability.

Transcript

[Jim Acosta]

Hey, Lauren. We're live right now.

[Lauren Windsor]

Hi, there.

[Jim Acosta]

Special edition of the Jim Acosta Show. Filmmaker Lauren Windsor is there right now. Lauren, tell us a little bit about this rally you're at. I've been doing this theme, the Great American Pushback. And when you told me about this rally today in Raleigh, North Carolina, I thought, hey, this is a great opportunity to see what's going on. Tell us about where you are right now.

[Lauren Windsor]

So we're at the Bicentennial Plaza in between. Like, it's right in front of the legislature, between the legislature, the state capital. But we partnered with the North Carolina Democratic Party. So when I say we, my organization, my nonprofit, American Family Voices, we commissioned this puppet. And I think you can see them behind me. Yeah, they're these big street puppets. We. We. We had a Donald Trump one for a long time that we would take out in during Trump one to send out to protests. And I just remember watching some news come out about Doge and Elon Musk cutting NIH funding for the Research Triangle. And, you know, this is before all the litany and putts that we now are familiar with, but it was like, oh, this is, you know, a really big hit. And I'm just thinking about ways to really try to screw with Elon Musk. And I thought about the puppet, and I was like, we should get a puppet made of Elon Musk. So he's actually the one in the middle.

[Jim Acosta]

Yes. Let's see that.

[Lauren Windsor]

He's wearing. He's wearing a black Doge hat. And I'll go stand in front of him in a second.

[Jim Acosta]

Cool.

[Lauren Windsor]

Yeah. So we're calling him Fat Cat Elon because we're trying to emphasize, you know, that we have, you know, this unelected billionaire basically making all these cuts to, you know, public services and really. Sorry, things are getting loud now.

[Jim Acosta]

It's loud. Yeah. Looks like a big event.

[Lauren Windsor]

You know, talking to some of the organizers of the party, I mean, people got really excited about it, and everyone that we shared it with, that we were promoting it to, you know, people are looking for things to do. You know, they're looking for ways to speak truth to power. And so I think that the more that people are out there, I definitely think that Democrats cannot take. And really, not just Democrats, but anyone who opposes the president's agenda and Elon Musk must agenda.

[Jim Acosta]

It's.

[Lauren Windsor]

The solution is not to follow Carvel's advice and play dead. It's. It's to get out here and get loud and be engaged because people are really Responding in really positive ways. And I think people need a sense of community right now.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah. And, you know, you. I think you hit the nail right on the head. I think a lot of people are wondering, what can I do? People were down in the dumps for a while. They didn't know what to do. They were not really engaged. And they're seeing what Elon Musk is doing with all of these DOGE cuts. They're seeing what's happening at places like usaid. My goodness. Today, they're talking about slashing the Department of education by 50%. And so folks are fired up. They want to go do something. And this is a perfect example of that. Why North Carolina, Lauren?

[Lauren Windsor]

Well, so what we were looking at doing initially was stopping in every state on the way back to D.C. because they had to fly down to Tampa to pick up the puppet. So, you know, if I was gonna drive it back.

[Jim Acosta]

Logistics.

[Lauren Windsor]

Yeah. I mean, just logistically, it was like, okay, let's have some fun. Like, let's make it a roadshow. But it just didn't have enough time for it to all come together. You know, people are fighting on a lot of different fronts. And so, you know, okay, we. Things came together fairly quickly for North Carolina, and it was like, okay, great. Let's just do North Carolina and then build from there. So this is really meant to be, like, a template for, you know, a national tour. You know, we would love to spend time in, you know, battleground states, but really every state to do a public education campaign to show, you know, this is how this is going to impact you.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Lauren Windsor]

Yes. You know, government is bloated and we have bureaucracy, but this is not the way to cut it.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, well. And if folks are just tuning in right now you're watching a special edition of the Jim Acosta Show. My friend Lauren Windsor is out there. She has organized this rally in the streets of Raleigh, North Carolina, the capital of North Carolina, to protest the DOGE cuts. People have been asking, what can you do? And Lauren is right there. She's holding her phone up. She's showing how big the crowd is. Looks like hundreds of people there. Lauren's group has put together these puppets of Trump and Elon Musk. And what they're talking about, basically, is getting people mobilized and organized to take this on, because people have felt powerless. That sort of, you know, Trump comes into office, and then Doge comes in. Elon Musk comes in with his chainsaw, and they just start cutting through all these departments and doing all of this stuff, and what are you hearing from just the people there at the event? What are they telling you? I, I, there's a lot of fear out there, a lot of concern.

[Lauren Windsor]

There is a lot of concern. I haven't had the opportunity to talk to people about how they've been impacted, but all of the response to the puppets, people love these puppets. You know, we pulled up with the U haul truck and as we're getting out and people are starting to wear them, you know, just get a crowd of people like, oh, I need a picture. And you know, the press love them. They're, they're just, they're fun.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Lauren Windsor]

You know, we're not coming out here to like, for this to be a negative experience, you know. Is it a negative experience what's happening right now? Yeah, it is. A lot of people are going to be really, really hurt by this approach to move fast and break things. This is the federal government and we're talking about mission critical systems. And I think that people care about each other at the end of the day and there's a much greater sense of community and we need to marshal that right now before.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, people are angry, they want to do something and this is something that people can do. And we've been seeing these town halls all around the country, Republican town halls, A lot of MAGA people, Trump supporters going into these town halls and saying they're pissed off, they don't like what's going on here. And I noticed there's a, there's a website, fat cat, Elon.com, that's. Is that the website you've started here, Lauren?

[Lauren Windsor]

I have and it's not fully fleshed out yet. I need to do some more to dine. I mean, please, you know, bear with me as we like build out all the components to everything. But it's meant to be a whistleblower website. So we're, you know, there's a muskrat, there's a rat like little icon in the corner of the website. We're not asking people to be fans of musk, like muskrats. We're asking people to rat out musk. You know, if you're a federal worker and you have seen unethical or criminal behavior by Elon Musk or one of his minions, you know, send the tip to us. We will try to vet it, we will try to get it in front of the right person. Maybe that's Jim Acosta. Maybe that's, you know, a variety of people. I don't know if you're interested in doing that, but, you know, yeah, everything, everything obviously has to be vetted. But I think that the more that people speak out and it's scary to do that if you're a federal worker and you're trying to hold on to your job, you know, like, you could be fired. People are, you know, some people are surviving multiple rounds of being fired. And yeah, that I can tell you, living in D.C. that the mood there, the, it's, there's a lot of anxiety for people who live in D.C. right now because people don't know what's going to happen and you're playing with people's livelihoods. This is, this is serious. People, people need to really take it serious. Not just, you know, I guess what it calls to mind, I don't know if you saw that viral video of the woman in, I think it was West Virginia, and she was a Trump supporter and she said, you know, I, I don't know if I can support this anymore. You know, after I lost my job, like, I wasn't supposed to get, I wasn't supposed to get laid off. This, this economic devastation wasn't supposed to happen to me.

[Jim Acosta]

Right.

[Lauren Windsor]

And it's like, oh, okay, you were cool with, you know, economically devastating other people, but then once it hits home for you, then it's a problem.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah. And people are just joining us right now. And just to get everybody up to speed, this is a special edition of the Jim Acosta Show. My friend Lauren Windsor, the filmmaker, you've seen a lot of her work. She, she did some hidden camera footage with the Alitos, you know, Roger Stone, many others, where she's exposed a lot of the hypocrisy out there on the far right. And Lauren, you were down there in the streets of Raleigh, North Carolina, where there's a big anti Elon Musk, anti Doge rally. It's part of this great American pushback, as I've been calling it. But the thing that you just mentioned there about Trump supporters coming out of the woodwork and saying, hey, I didn't know this was going to happen to me. I'm really worried about this. You just had a film that just came out recently, Lauren, where you talk to people in places like Ohio and you've been hearing about this economic anxiety, and it sounds like what Doge is doing and what Trump is doing is adding to that anxiety for sure.

[Lauren Windsor]

So my documentary, Gonzo for Democracy, we spent time in Ohio trying to, you know, really, Ohio is the quintessential factory town state. When I say factory towns, this is A research project that is undertaken by my. By my organization, American Family Voices. And so we delve into the factory town's research of, you know, why is it that these deindustrialized manufacturing communities over decades, flipped from blue to red? Why. Why did they go to Trump?

[Jim Acosta]

Right.

[Lauren Windsor]

And, you know, there really is, I think, a lot of liberals, a lot of people in D.C. like to really pigeonhole these types of voters and saying it's not economic anxiety, it's racism. But, yeah, go to these communities and to people about the economic devastation that they face, the desperation that they feel about really, like, the backsliding of the American dream. That's what this is all about. People were raised to feel like, you know, their children would do better than they did, that they would do better than their own parents. And when you live in a place and you see all of that destroyed and you have to move or other people have to move, you don't want to move, and you just slide more and more into poverty. Hold on one second.

[Jim Acosta]

Wow, look at that.

[Lauren Windsor]

Folks, this is State Senator Greg Meyer.

[Greg Meyer]

This is Jim Acosta.

[Jim Acosta]

Hey, how you doing, Senator?

[Lauren Windsor]

Can you hear him, Jim?

[Jim Acosta]

I can hear him. Yeah. Talk to a senator. Tell us what's going on.

[Lauren Windsor]

Stage.

[Jim Acosta]

Okay, sounds good. All right. And which senator was that?

[Lauren Windsor]

It's a state senator. Greg Meyer.

[Jim Acosta]

Greg Meyer. Okay. They sound fired up out there. My goodness.

[Lauren Windsor]

Yes, they are. I'm not sure who is leading that chant, but she's right here in a fabulous purple. Hi. Well, grab her real quick. This is Jim Acosta. We're live right now.

[Jim Acosta]

Hey, there. How you doing?

[Greg Meyer]

How are you doing?

[Jim Acosta]

I'm doing great, Senator. Hey, tell us about what. What's happening out there. How. What's your message?

[Lauren Windsor]

Hold on. Hold on one second.

[Jim Acosta]

Okay. Hey, I'm doing fine, Senator. Thank you so much. This is a special edition of the Jim Acosta show on Substack. We're live right now. Tell us about what's happening out there. What's going on?

[Greg Meyer]

We're here in North Carolina, and as a state senator, I represent Durham county and Chatham County. We are feeling these cuts. The USAID cuts immediately have hundreds FL off in my district. Between Juke and Chaplain Hill alone, they brought out over $1 billion of NIH funding. So we are here in Raleigh, showing up and showing out, letting folks know.

[Lauren Windsor]

That this is not okay. We have 50,000 federal employees right here in North Carolina.

[Jim Acosta]

Wow.

[Greg Meyer]

So we are here to say that it is not okay and to dare the Republicans across the street to have a doge Office light here in North Carolina who are saying, don't you dare do that.

[Jim Acosta]

So, Senator, I guess what you're telling us is that Doge does not just affect people in Washington, D.C. but it's affecting people all over the country in places like North Carolina.

[Greg Meyer]

It's affecting people all over the country. And something else that they're running a muff on that has frozen $90 million in funding for our schools right here in North Carolina. A lot of those are rural districts. These rural counties will now lose the ability to have more educators, more programs in their district. So these cuts are having impact on people all over the nation, through the world, America, and they're feeling their.

[Jim Acosta]

Well, I really appreciate you jumping on the line there and talking to me. Thank you so much. Best of luck to you and all your efforts.

[Greg Meyer]

Thank you so much, Jim. And thank you for speaking up and shedding light on these issues. We want history to reflect that we did fight back, that we did not just lay down and take this. So thank you so much, Jim, for your reporting. Thank you.

[Jim Acosta]

Thank you so much. Senator, best of luck to you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Wow, that was cool.

[Lauren Windsor]

Yeah. I'll try to pull in more pieces if you want. I don't know how that will. You know, we're experimenting today, so.

[Jim Acosta]

No, it's great. No, this is live substack, live history I think we're making right now. Hey, how you doing? Hey, Anderson. How you doing? That's Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, if I'm correct here. Good to see you.

[Lauren Windsor]

Good to see y'all.

[Greg Meyer]

Thank you so, so much for live.

[Lauren Windsor]

Streaming and having us on.

[Greg Meyer]

2026.

[Jim Acosta]

People sound fired up there. They. They sound like they're not going to take this do stuff.

[Lauren Windsor]

They're not. They're angry about the cut to North.

[Greg Meyer]

Carolina right now that we are going to lose millions and billions of dollars.

[Lauren Windsor]

In terms of investments from nih. But Medicaid expansion that North Carolina was just able to get passed last year, Medicaid exp. Sure. That we were just able to get.

[Greg Meyer]

Passed last year in a bipartisan way. 600,000 people could lose health insurance as.

[Lauren Windsor]

Soon as they decide to cut Medicaid.

[Jim Acosta]

Wow. All right. Well, Anderson, I'll let you get back to it, but thanks for jumping on. Really appreciate it.

[Lauren Windsor]

Thank you.

[Jim Acosta]

Let's do a live soon, though. All right. Okay. Well, Lauren, I'm getting more. I'm getting a lot more than I bargained for today, I'll tell you that much. This is great.

[Lauren Windsor]

You get a Value deal.

[Jim Acosta]

This was a happy meal. I would say this was a. Yeah, very Happy meal. Democracy Happy meal coming from the streets of Raleigh, North Carolina. Well, Lauren, I'll let you go. I don't want to. This has been tremendous. Thank you so much for doing this. Let's, let's have you back on the show soon. And then, and then you can kind of recap what you're doing when there's not 10,000 people, or maybe it's just a thousand people, but a lot of people yelling all at the same time. I'm sure it's not easy for you to hear me, but thank you for doing this.

[Lauren Windsor]

I appreciate you covering it and bringing attention to it. I mean, we need more people bringing attention to it. And you know, just for all of your audience, please stay tuned to this because we do very much plan to bring this across the country. And anything you can do to promote that will obviously help. So check out americanfamilyvoices.org you can follow me on Twitter at La Windsor.

[Jim Acosta]

Perfect. All right, great to see you, Lauren. Thanks a lot.

[Lauren Windsor]

Thank you, Jim.

[Jim Acosta]

Great live shot. Take care. Take care. Good luck. That was really cool. Okay, so just to explain a little bit of what I was doing there, I mean, typically I go on at 4:00 or try to go on around 4:00 every day. I'm not gonna be able to do that today. And so Lauren, just a happenstance reached out to me and was like, hey, I'm doing this, this rally in Raleigh today. And I thought, well, let's just try this. Let's just see what happens. It's democracy. It's happening. It's. Let's just go to it if we can. And I was worried about what is the, is the cell service going to hold up? Because she's in a big rally with a lot of people. Will anybody be able to hear me? Will she be able to hear me? And then right there, you saw two different state senators from the great state of North Carolina. I love. First, first of all, I love North Carolina. I'm a big North Carolina. I grew up going there on vacations as a kid and stuff like that. We got two state senators. We got the state Democratic chair, Anderson Clayton, who is, everybody thinks is just a rising star in the Democratic Party right now. And of course, Lauren Windsor, who is a fantastic journalist and filmmaker. She's the one. If you're not familiar with her work, go out there and check it out. She has this film, Gonzo for Democracy. It's been playing in certain theaters around the country. I believe you can see it online. I'll try to put a link to it on my sub stack. And yes, I see somebody saying definitely interview Anderson. I'm gonna, I'm on it. Yes. It just reminded me, yes, I need to try to get Anderson Clayton on the program. And so, and as you saw there, you had to bear with us a little bit. The audio was kind of going in and out. You know, this is, we're, we're going live with cell phones here. This is democracy in action. So. But just a programming note. So that was a special edition of the Jim Acosta show, the Great American Pushback, something I've been talking about time and again. We did it right there in about an hour. So 2:00 Eastern. I'm on the west coast right now in San Francisco. By the way, here's the headline in the paper. I'll mention this in about an hour. Dems see big spike in calls to fight back. Okay, there it is in the San Francisco Chronicle. I'm in San Francisco. I'm out west this. And so I'm going to be in transit at my normal start time at 4:00. So it's going to be 2:00 Eastern, 11:00am on the West Coast. Figure out your time zones in between because I'm not good at math. And I'm going to have Brian Caram and Tara Settmeier, we're going to talk about everything that's in the day's news. So I'll be back with you in about an hour. But I wanted to do that special edition of yes, please visit us in la. I'm going to do that special edition edition of the Jim Acosta Show. Somebody just said we've been accosted live. Yes, that's exactly what you just got accosted. And I'll be back in an hour. But in the meantime, thanks for everybody for jumping on and tuning in. I wanted to see if we could do this live thing and we were able to pull it off. So I'm going to take that as a win. See you in just a little bit. All right, take care, guys.

[Lauren Windsor]

Bye.