← The Jim Acosta Show
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- [00:00]
Jim Acosta
Foreign.
- [00:02]
Ezra Levin
It's coming up Fast, guys. Monday, June 2nd, right here at the Lincoln Theater in Washington, D.C. my live town hall with Mike Fanone, Olivia Troy and some special guests you're not going to want to miss. Get your tickets now. They're going fast. All right, welcome, everybody, to the Jim Acosta show. It is six days and counting until our live town hall in Washington, D.C. with Michael Fanone and Olivia Troy, plus special guests. I'll have an announcement on that later on in the show, so stay tuned for that. Plus, I will tell you about how you can win tickets, free tickets to that show, so stay tuned for that. But in the meantime, let's get to the news. My first guest, Ezra Levin, is the head of indivisible grassroots organization here in Washington. They are planning a no King rally here in Washington and no Kings rallies in other cities and towns across the US on June 14th. The same day Trump is planning a dictator wannabe militaristic birthday party for himself down on the Mall, I guess is where they're gonna have it, right, Ezra? This is. This is sort of like what we saw play out the first time around in the first Trump administration. He's like a little kid who just can't get the toy that he wants for Christmas, and he's just gonna keep complaining until mom breaks down and gives it to him.
- [01:13]
Mike Fanone
Look, he wanted it the first term. He couldn't get it because it's an absurd waste of taxpayer dollars. We're talking 50 million or so taxpayer dollars on his birthday to run tanks through the streets of D.C. you know what tanks do to normal roads? They tear them up. It causes ton. And this guy on his 79th birthday wants to use the US military in order to celebrate how powerful he is. It's ridiculous. It's the kind of thing that you don't see in a constitutional republic. You see it. This is Kim Jong Un kind of style engagement with public propaganda. And so what we're doing, we are focused everywhere but downtown DC we do not want to give this guy an excuse to crack down on peaceful protests. We want the contrast. This guy's a big baby. He's throwing himself a big military parade for his birthday. We the people where power actually originates in this country. We're everywhere else. We're displaying what actual patriotism looks like. We're showing what a pluralistic democracy is. And we're showing normal, everyday people, boisterous, excited, empowering, and peacefully protesting would be monarchical rule. So if you go to nokings.org now, you'll find a thousand events all over the country, all over the world, actually, at this point. A thousand events. If you look there and don't find one, organize it. That's how all those events caught on the map.
- [02:33]
Ezra Levin
No, it's incredibly smart. And honestly, I mean, I think that a couple of things. One is the idea that you should not wave the red flag in front of the bull, have counter protesters at the mall and so on in that kind of a situation, I think that is smart. You don't want to do that. I think that trying to take the focus away from Washington is also very smart. But I think you're absolutely right in trying to highlight something here. He wants to be like Kim Jong Un. He wants to. I mean, if he could Somehow get the ICBMs rolling down Constitution Avenue, he would do it. And this is a moment where people power is needed, I think.
- [03:15]
Mike Fanone
Look, if you ask the experts in authoritarianism, you know, you asked the Tim Snyders or the Heather Cox Richardsons of the world, what do you do when the pillars of liberal democracy start falling? Whether it's universities or businesses or law firms or nonprofits, folks who are being threatened by the administration, what do you need? You need broad based constituent led peaceful protests all over the country. The people have to be the bulwark for democracy. And the point of that is not just because it feels good. It does feel good to protest with a lot of other people and show your power, but that's not the point. The point is to send a signal to Trump and to the rest of these institutions who are considering whether to go along with his agenda, whether to bow to this would be king or whether to focus on what happens afterwards. And if you have millions of people peacefully protesting in red states, blue states, purple states, rural areas, suburban areas, urban areas showing, hey, democracy is going to reassert itself. That sends a strong signal to those institutions and those leaders who might otherwise capitulate. That's why we show up is practical. It is the way that we protect democracy as citizens of this country.
- [04:23]
Ezra Levin
No, I think that's very smart. And the New York Times is reporting on it. Just today, during its first term, the Pentagon opposed its desire for military parade in Washington. But in his second term, that guardrail has vanished. There will be a parade this year and on the president's 79th birthday, no less. This is what it says. The current plan involves a tremendous scene in the center of Washington. 28 M1A1 Abrams tanks, 28 Stryker armored personnel carriers, more than 100 other vehicles a World War II era B25 bomber, 6,700 soldiers, 50 helicopters, 34 horses, two mules and a dog. Apparently not my dog. My dog, Little Duke will not be there. He will not participate in this kind of dictator wannabe parade. But the other thing in all of this, Ezra, I want to talk about a couple of things. One is, I mean, the way he is military, I mean, the way he's politicized the military, I should say, is un American. This is not what presidents are supposed to do. We saw it over the weekend at West Point. We saw it at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday. This is not how you salute the troops. This is not how you thank them for their service.
- [05:29]
Mike Fanone
Well, this is how you do it. If you believe that the entire country, including the military, exists to serve your ego and your power, that's what you do. You want everybody to bow to you and you show, you show the world. You show the country that, sure, it's the 250th anniversary of the army, but they're here for me. They're here for my birthday. Now, 250 years ago, why did we need an army, Jim? What was the purpose of getting it? What was the cost? I feel like a king was involved. Like we didn't want a king back then.
- [05:56]
Ezra Levin
Wasn't it a mad king too?
- [05:58]
Mike Fanone
I think indeed, yeah. So, you know, history doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme.
- [06:02]
Ezra Levin
It does rhyme. Yeah.
- [06:04]
Mike Fanone
And the people asserted themselves, then they'll assert themselves again. But we need to be part of this. I think a lot of folks are hoping that somebody will ride in and save the day. Whether it be the courts or political leaders who even respect or some institution, we have to accept the fact if we're going to save this democracy, people watching this right now, it's up to you. There's nobody else with special superpower other than you. If you're in a red state, blue state, purple state, that's not important. The important thing is you're a resident of this country. You have a role to play right now. You can be part of demonstrating what makes this country great, that normal everyday people are the source of power. And we're not just going to sit down and take it from. Some would be king.
- [06:43]
Ezra Levin
Yeah. And I mean, the other thing is we should talk about the fact that Doge came in and said we're going to cut the waste, fraud and abuse in government. Obviously, that was a farce. It was just an excuse to drive federal workers out of the workforce and impose their will on all These different agencies and so on. But I mean, this is going to cost in the range of tens of millions of dollars and maybe in a trillion dollar defense budget which Trump is letting spiral out, that's not a huge amount of money. But if the principle here is to cut out waste, fraud and abuse. Hello. I can think of something right now that would save us 30 to 40, maybe $50 million. Like you said.
- [07:20]
Mike Fanone
One of my favorite signs we see because this is organic and it's real and normal people just putting this together, we see a lot of fun signs come together. And there was one that was circulating through the weekend. If there's enough for a parade, there's enough for Medicaid. And I think it really drives home the right point. Look, they're on the verge of passing this incredibly egregious reconciliation package that cuts billions from Medicaid, that attacks Medicare and Social Security and food stamps and meals on wheels, and provides huge tax cuts to billionaires and millionaires. And at the same time, like you said, spending $50 million on a birthday parade for the President, it's the kinds of things that alienates a lot of people and it's the kind of opportunity to pull new people into a pro democr. Peaceful movement because he is making it as clear as he possibly could he's not working for you. That is not who he is getting up every morning thinking about. He is thinking about how do I self enrich myself and my friends? How do I concentrate power in my hands? And we have to take the narrative opportunity to highlight that June 14th is one of those opportunities when it just could not be clearer. You're either with this would be king who is self enriching himself, or you're with the people. Choose a side.
- [08:38]
Ezra Levin
Yeah, no, you're 100% right about this. And I mean, the thing that I get upset about is that this is supposed to be marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. army, of the Continental army that was formed on June 14, 1775.
- [08:54]
Mike Fanone
Yes.
- [08:55]
Ezra Levin
Happens to be Trump's birthday. He's not quite 250 years old. But you know, that's another aspect of this too, is that you're gonna have a lot of nice people down there gathering on the mall to mark this very big occasion. And it's going to be cheapened by Donald Trump trying to politicize the whole thing. And I mean, yeah, go ahead, let's.
- [09:16]
Mike Fanone
Not let him cheapen it. Look, he can throw his little party in D.C. fine. He can do that. He has the power to do that. We should not shy away from patriotism. We should not shy away from supporting veterans. We should not shy away from the flag. It's Flag Day. Wrap yourself in the flag. Celebrate the veterans in your community. Celebrate the good work the US Military has done. By all means, do not cede that argument, that narrative to Donald Trump. So I think he's going to make a fool of himself. I think he's going to look ridiculous and weak, and I think we're going to look like the majority. Yeah.
- [09:48]
Ezra Levin
And wasn't he. Didn't he have some sort of. He had a big military thing, I think, on July 4, one year. It was during his first term, and I think it was during his remarks. I have all this stuff burned in my brain because I covered him and it has that effect on you. But I think that was the event where he was talking about, you know, the, the airports or, you know, the planes that were taking off during the revolutionary. Wasn't there something? Wasn't he. Maybe all of our brains are broken. We can't quite get the exact verbiage. Here are our wonderful viewers out there. Might be able to find it for us and post it in the comments. But I seem to remember, you know, him stepping into it big time on that day.
- [10:26]
Mike Fanone
But anyway, I mean, I think you can kind of count on every time he opens his mouth, he either says something insane or that's a lie. Like, I mean, everything in between. It just, I mean, I. You rarely get some kind of factual statement from the guy. He speaks in a code, and the code is, I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. Or the code is, I'm lying to you.
- [10:44]
Ezra Levin
Yeah, yeah. Let's talk about some other things. Ezra, one of the things I wanted to ask you about is this movement that has been cropping up in cities around the country. You see it covered occasionally on Rachel Maddow show. And that's where you're seeing the protest. People are showing up, they're doing the protesting, and it's been a wonderful organic thing. Do you get the sense at all that people are getting tired, that they're, you know, they're, they're saying, oh, you know what? I did my thing. I'm not going to do it as much. I can't do this for four years. What do you say to folks to get them to keep going, to keep them motivated, to keep them energized? Do you have any tricks of the trade? What are your thoughts on that?
- [11:24]
Mike Fanone
So here's What I. So first of all, I will say we are experiencing wave movement energy, and we really have. Since November, we're averaging somewhere between five and ten new indivisible groups. Every single day. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, there are five to ten new indivisible groups. These aren't individuals. These are people in all walks of life who are deciding to organize their own community. And they're doing it for two reasons. One, they're doing it because of Trump's agenda. It's heinous, it's unpopular. Two, they're doing it because they don't see a political system that is rejecting it. They see folks going along with it. They see institutions that should be fighting back, coalescing around a cooperation strategy. And they ask themselves, well, what do I do? I guess I've got to organize my. My own community. These indivisible groups, they're led by normal, everyday people, nurses and IT technicians and, and teachers and. And it is so damn inspiring to see folks say, well, what can I do? And they start pulling their community together. What our responsibility is as organizers of organizers is to help them actually have an impact. We aren't doing this work to. To just see our names in the paper or put our fists up and have a cool picture. We're doing this to change what's happening in this country. And so our responsibility is to develop smart strategies and tactics that actually move the ball forward, that actually change what elected and institutions do. We call that power, Jim, and power. Power can take on almost a mystical characteristic. People talk about power all the time. I mean, something very simple. Power is nothing more than the ability to get someone or some institution to do something they wouldn't otherwise do. That's what we build and wield with Indivisible. And if you tell people you should participate because it's the right thing to do, you'll get some folks in. If you tell people you should participate because it's the right thing to do and you will change things, you'll get a lot more people in. And that means tactical innovation. That means smart strategies, and that means setting goals that are actually achievable.
- [13:32]
Ezra Levin
Yeah. And we've got a great audience that is tuning in little by little here on the show. I'm with Ezra Levin of Indivisible, and he is planning, and his group is planning all of these no Kings rallies and demonstrations across the country on June 14, that is. It happens to be Trump's birthday, also happens to be the 250th anniversary of birthday for the U.S. army. They're going to do this dictator wannabe king wannabe style birthday party for Donald Trump in Washington, demonstrating against it. I do want to mention that my brain is not broken. During his July 4 speech in 2019, Trump talked about how the Continental army, quote, took over the airports from the British during the American Revolutionary War. Okay, so it's good that I'm not completely dealing with that kind of an issue in my brain right now, which would not be good. But, no, I want to ask you also, Ezra, on the big beautiful bill, what is the sense that you're getting from the grassroots? Is it resonating? Is it sinking in that people are saying, you know what? This thing is a crock. This thing is basically taking healthcare away from people to give tax cuts to the wealthy. And well connected.
- [14:42]
Mike Fanone
There is not a congressional district in this country. Lauren Boebert's, Marjorie Taylor Greene's. Think of the reddest of red congressional district. There is not a congressional district in this country where there is more than 15% support for cutting Medicaid. 15% support. This is one of the most deeply, deeply egregious and unpopular pieces of legislation that this country has seen and certainly in modern American history. So when I talk to folks on the ground who are organizing for this, the things that really resonate are the cuts to Medicaid, the cuts to the attacks on Social Security and Medicare and food stamps, and this sense that almost the entirety of the benefit is going to the wealthy. That that is actually what this bill is designed to do. And I do think it's important when we talk about this. This is a bad bill. They, though, are not. This is not a done bill, though. I'm old enough to remember the 2017 fight to save the Affordable Care Act. At that time, Trump was in office, he had the House, he had the Senate. It was his top legislative priority. We ran a campaign to save the Affordable Care Act. And I will tell you, when we started, they said, what are you doing? It's impossible. They've got the votes. It's their top priority. It's dead. The Affordable Care act is gone. And then as the campaign kept on going, they said, well, sure, you've got some traction, You've delayed it, but you're not gonna win this. And then it was like, w they might actually win this. And then this is my favorite part. After we won, after we saved the Affordable Care act, everybody said, well, that was always going to happen. They were never going to be able to get rid of It. So when you engage in an advocacy campaign like this, when you've got Donald Trump, when you got the Republican leaders in the House and the Senate saying, oh, we're going to get this done, there's an instinct among some political commentators to say, well, that's game over. They're going to do it and they might get it done. I'm not saying I know the future, but I have seen advocacy campaigns, advocacy campaign after advocacy campaign, start with impossible and end up in inevitable. And I think right now we're fighting the fight. And I can guarantee you one thing. If you don't show up and push your member of Congress to fight back against this, we are going to lose. The way to win this is to get engaged.
- [16:42]
Ezra Levin
And the question is, are there any John McCain's out there now? I mean, you know, I'm sorry to say, yeah, we don't have John McCain's anymore in the Republican Party, in the House and the Senate. Mitch McConnell has attempted as of late to occasionally play that role of the maverick. I mean, good luck with that. That's not really how the country is ever going to see Mitch McConnell. But maybe at the end of the day he will come forward and put a stop to some of this stuff. But I mean, one of the things that you are starting to see inside the Republican Party, this is not exactly a profile encourage. Some of them are just talking about where they come from on some of these issues. I mean, some of them are referring to the big beautiful bill as being a, quote, debt bomb for future generations. The Hill is reporting the fiscal impact of Trump's big beautiful bill, which one prominent budget hawk called a debt bomb, is becoming a significant political concern among Republican lawmakers. You may not be able to get them on saving Medicaid, you may not be able to get them on saving assistance programs when it comes to food and so on. But you make it some fiscal hawks who are just a little too nervous about what's happening to the bond markets and so on, where maybe they do hemorrhage some support. I don't see it happening. I see him having, I see Trump as having way too much political leverage over this party right now, where I think they may be able to pull this off.
- [18:01]
Mike Fanone
But I think, look, I think you might be right. But we got to think about what is a win when it comes to advocacy. You win by delaying. You win by watering down the bill and making it less egregiously bad. Still going to be bad. But maybe you get some of the worst provisions out of it, or maybe you win by killing the bill entirely. Those are all possible outcomes here. But if they are able to do it quickly, if they are able to do it in the dead of the night, if they're able to do it with any, without any kind of public backlash, it's not just going to be pass, it's going to be the worst possible version and pass as quickly as possible and cause them as little political damage as they want. So I don't know if we're going to win on this. Nobody knows if we're going to win on this. The way to organize on this is to put as much pressure on, on the most vulnerable Republicans up for election next year and make clear to them that they're not just casting a vote for a piece of legislation, they're deciding their future political career.
- [18:54]
Ezra Levin
And Ezra, I mean, and finally, the one thing that I think, and this circles back to your message of no kings, the one thing that concerns me greatly, and we saw Scott Pelley talking about this in his commencement speech at Wake Forest, which I just thought was fantastic. I just thought it was extraordinary that Scott went out and did that. But, you know, when the rule of law is being threatened in this country to the extent that it is right now, when the, when the president of the United States is thumbing his nose and daring the courts to do something, when he's defying orders from judges to return migrants, I suspect you're going to have a lot of people who are sympathetic to that message, too, in all of this. It's not just about stopping Trump acting like a king or a dictator with his military parade or the big beautiful bill. I think that I quite frankly think that issue really resonates with people the way he has defied the courts and said, well, maybe we'll get rid of habeas corpus or maybe we'll just get rid of parts of the Constitution that deal with due process.
- [19:48]
Mike Fanone
Look, I think we need to update our political thinking and how we think about messaging because there are a set of folks on our side, Democratic folks, who looked at, for instance, Abrega Garcia, this, this terrible a disappearing of a Maryland resident out to that El Salvadoran prison and said, well, immigration is bad for Democrats. We shouldn't talk about immigran immigration. It is it is an outdated way of viewing politics because actually, normal, everyday conservatives see somebody denied due process, see somebody denied their basic rights. And regardless of how they think about comprehensive immigration reform or whether the border should be beefed up in terms of security or anything else see that and say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That is not a principle I stand for. We obviously shouldn't be doing that. And you win them over. Joe Rogan was talking about, I mean, he was no friend of ours during the.
- [20:41]
Ezra Levin
That's right.
- [20:41]
Mike Fanone
But he saw that and said, well, that's a step too far. I don't like that. We actually started winning on immigration by focusing on those assaults. On.
- [20:49]
Ezra Levin
The poll numbers moved. I mean, this was, this was an area where Democrats were upside down. I'm just seeing a breaking alert from the Hill right now. Apparently Tommy Tuberville is going to run for governor and leave the Senate, is what the Hill is saying right now. That is.
- [21:02]
Mike Fanone
And the iq, average IQ of the Senate just went up a couple points.
- [21:05]
Ezra Levin
It just did. You know, I, we're going to miss those football metaphors for literally everything under the sun, but Godspeed, Tommy Tuberville. No, but I do think you're absolutely right and it's such an incredibly important point because you're right, the party bigwigs and so on said we can't win on immigration. We screwed the pooch on immigration. And then Trump overdoes it. He obviously violates the constitutional rights of all of these migrants. It continues to this day with ICE agents showing up in masks. Why do they have to be masked and look, you know, terrifying like this at all times? That just also rubs people the wrong way and then not giving people due process and sending them off to gulags and everywhere else getting sent to places like South Sudan when they're not from there, people are looking at this and saying, this is not right. We want, sure, we want border enforcement. Sure. We want the border to be beefed up and so on. Yeah, okay. Criminal gangs and so on. It's not about that. When they're sending 12 year old little kids who are US citizens off with their parents to Honduras and so on, people know this is wrong and wrong is wrong.
- [22:15]
Mike Fanone
I really think that's right. I think there's an outdated view of politics right now that frames everything as left versus right, including intraparty fights. That this is like the progressives or the liberals versus the centrists or the conservatives. And the dominant question of the day is not do you support this more progressive economic policy or health care policy or the more conservative establishment. One, the dominant political question of today in 2025 is do you support pluralistic democracy or do you support authoritarianism? And if you don't support authoritarianism, what are you doing to fight back? And Americans of All stripes. Not just rank and file Democrats, but independents and even moderate Republicans. They want to see a party fight back against this stuff. They want that. And they'll give you support, even if they don't agree with you on your specific economic and social policies. If they see you standing up to a bully and doing it, clearly you're going to get support from a lot of quarters you're not currently getting support.
- [23:09]
Ezra Levin
And do you think that the folks out there, they want to see new faces? I get the sense that they want to see new faces. They want to see fighters. They, they're, they're just, they're, they're hungry for that right now, it seems to me.
- [23:21]
Mike Fanone
They, I mean, they really are. Look, I, I, I don't think it's just, it's not just about getting the septuaginarian and octogenarians out of office, but some of it is that with the Democratic Party needs a better brand. You've got a congressional Democratic Party that's got a 21% approval rating that is vastly, that's about half what Trump has. And it's just unacceptable. The party needs a brand refresh. There are capable fighters who are in their 20s and 30s and 40s who could be leading this right now. We need some set of folks who have done good work and we should appreciate them for doing the work to say, I've done it now. It's time for the next generation. They need to step down. They need to stop dying in office and pass the baton before it comes to that.
- [24:04]
Ezra Levin
More pickleball, maybe less shuffleboard. That may be something like that. Yeah.
- [24:08]
Mike Fanone
Pickleball is great. Yeah, go enjoy yourself.
- [24:10]
Ezra Levin
You know, if your knees can handle a game of pickleball, that means you should be running for Congress. Ezra, thank you so much. Great catching up with you. You're doing the Lord's work out there, fighting the good fight, all those things. Thanks for your time. Really appreciate it. Good to talk to you.
- [24:26]
Mike Fanone
Good to be here, Jen. Talk anytime. Thanks.
- [24:28]
Ezra Levin
All right. And it's the June 14, no kings rallies coming to a town near you.
- [24:33]
Mike Fanone
Indeed.
- [24:34]
Ezra Levin
All right, Ezra, thanks a lot. Really appreciate it. I mean, talk about tireless. The folks at Indivisible are tireless. And I could see in the comments as we were talking here that Ezra is the real deal, because you can see all these folks saying, I'll be at this rally, I'll be at this demonstration, I'll be at this protest, and so on. And people are fired up about this, and it's absolutely the right thing. I mean, you just need this right now. And the question that I wanted to ask, and I think that that was the answer I was hoping to hear, was that he is saying that people are not tired yet. They're not ready to say, you know what? I'm done with this. I've done a couple of rallies. I can't do this anymore. I'm seeing some Judy cross saying, I'm 83 and I won't give up. I'll fight until this is over. That is exactly the kind of spirit that we need right now. Absolutely. Somebody chiming in and saying, san Francisco, no Kings. Really, really appreciate Ezra coming. I'm going to quickly go to Gabe Fleischer. And for folks who follow politics on the substack, as I like to call it, Gabe is one of those up and coming political reporters here in America for our viewers in Canada and overseas. Gabe has been on the case. I've met up with Gabe, just by happenstance, just recently got to talk about this. And he's. He is a political junkie. Gabe, how are you? Good to see you, man.
- [25:58]
Jim Acosta
I'm good. How are you, Jim?
- [25:59]
Ezra Levin
I'm doing great. Hey, thanks for doing this. I appreciate. Where are you coming from? Are you a D.C. guy? Are you a New York guy? Where are you?
- [26:05]
Jim Acosta
I'm here in D.C. here and here.
- [26:07]
Ezra Levin
In D.C. along with the rest of us nuts. And Gabe, just to bounce off of the conversation I was having with Ezra over at Indivisible, I mean, it is kind of incredible what they've put together. And there are all these protests that have been cropping up all over the country. I don't get the sense that people are getting worn out here or that young people are saying, ah, you know what? I'm done with this. It only feels like it's ramping up to me. What's your sense of it? Because you cover a lot of this stuff and I want to get to your recent substack piece and everything else, but just to play off of that, what's your sense of it?
- [26:41]
Jim Acosta
Sure, yeah. I mean, I think it's a mix. I do do a lot of coverage of young voters and I guess I'm always hesitant to kind of speak. There's.
- [26:47]
Ezra Levin
I know, yeah, yeah.
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Jim Acosta
And it's large. It's a large demographic and it's a mix of people. I would say, you know, if you look. Just if you look at the polling, I mean, I say first, just in terms of engagement, I think it is true that the political engagement among Gen Z, I think among the very engaged members of the generation has still kind of been at a high, but I think there's certainly a vast portion of generation that's fairly tuned out from politics, fairly disengaged, very disillusioned about both parties, and kind of has increasingly kind of been tuning out. If you look at polling, those are the voters that, in that kind of less engaged group were very favorable to President Trump in the 2024 election. It really kind of came up very heavily for him. Now, if you look at polls, you know, have really kind of started to turn against him. And you see his polling among Gen Z really kind of going back down to earth among the levels that he was at, you know, more during his first term during the 2020 campaign, even though there was kind of a spike during 2024, has now really kind of have dipped back down amid the tariffs, amid a lot of the issues that young people have really cared about, including the economy. As he's kind of, you know, once they've seen an opportunity, how he's chosen to handle it has really kind of, I'd say opinions have gone less favorable.
- [27:55]
Ezra Levin
Yeah. And Gabe, I should mention this at the top, you write the Wake up to Politics newsletter on Substack. And one of the things that you've been following, and this plays off of the conversation I was having with Ezra as well, one of the things you've been covering is the way that the Trump administration has been refusing to comply with these court orders and several cases of migrants being deported out of the country without much or any due process. And you wrote this, you wrote about Kilmar abrego Garcia's case. 53 days after a district judge, district court judge first ordered his return and 47 days since the Supreme Court largely upheld the directive, alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia. And again, that's an allegation remains in El Salvador, where he was deported by US Officials due to due to administrative error. You make this other observation, too, which I think is important, as attempts to return Abrego Garcia have hit a wall. The Trump administration has been accused by judges of wrongfully deporting migrants, at least 10 other cases. So it's not just the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case. There are lots of other cases. And it's happening over and over again, which says to me there's a pattern. This is what they're doing. They want to carry out this policy no matter what the courts say.
- [29:15]
Jim Acosta
I think that's right. I mean, I think, I'm sure people Remember, kind of the Kilmar Brago Garcia case was very much in the news a few weeks ago. And I wanted to write this piece, I guess, a, because as much attention as being paid to that about a month ago or so has basically almost completely fallen out of the news, despite the fact that he is still in El Salvador.
- [29:31]
Ezra Levin
He's still there.
- [29:32]
Jim Acosta
He's, you know, the Terrorism Confinement center is the very kind of notorious prison that's gotten a lot of publicity. He's not there in that prison anymore, but he's just in a different Salvadoran prison still in El Salvador, where again, as we said, you know, the U.S. had, he had a legal order protecting him from being sent there, and he's still in that country. But even as attention on that has kind of dimmed, there's also been a few different cases that have cropped up where judges have said other migrants have been wrongfully deported by the Trump administration. And these have gotten almost no coverage. Some, but you know, very small percentage of the attention that was paid to Kamar Brago Garcia. And like you say, this is a fairly clear pattern. You know, there's different cases and there's different details, so we can get into the different contexts of each of them. But I think the overarching pattern is of the Trump administration not really doing its due diligence. Just in the case for Brago Garcia, some of these cases are cases that the administration acknowledges were errors. They acknowledge that they did things accidentally or made mistakes, and you have really not tried at all to rectify them. Or are cases where, as in the case of Abrego Garcia, really kind of doing the bare minimum of due process, even in cases where judges said there needs to be some sort of opportunity for these migrants to challenge the deportations. And you've seen in one case that there was especially kind of pointed back and forth by a judge where the judge asked, how much opportunity do you think would be enough? And the Trump administration says, well, they say it would only be 24 hours. They say that would be enough. Which even that, a lot of the lawyers say that's not nearly enough. But then the judge goes back to them and says, well, in this case, they were only given 16 hours. So even your kind of bare minimum that you say be enough, they weren't even given that. So it's very kind of fast moving processes that you see judges trying to clamp down on.
- [31:10]
Ezra Levin
Yeah, I mean, and I mean, just today, Politico reporting, a federal judge said the Trump administration is falsely blaming him for a Crisis of its own making, the rushed deportation of seven men to South Sudan in violation of court orders and constitutional due process. I mean, this is, I think this is one of the more extreme cases, people are starting to hear about it more and more where the administration, where the Trump people want to deport migrants to countries not of their origin. I mean, think about that. Okay, let's say you're from Central America, you came into the US you don't have legal status here, you don't have the right documentation. They scoop you up and they want to send you to places that aren't even in Central America, maybe not even in the Western hemisphere. I mean, that, that's what we're talking about here.
- [31:56]
Jim Acosta
And that's true. And it should be noted under federal law there is a pathway to do that. These are known as third country removals. And it's not on its face, illegal. And it's something that administrations of both parties have done. There just is a proper process you have to follow. And frankly, there isn't much of one. You know, that frankly, there is kind of a fairly low bar. The administration can be doing this and they're not even meeting that, but they're not even meeting that. And really the only bar is they need to at least give the migrants an opportunity to prove that they're not going to be tortured or persecuted in the country they're being sent to. So you can't imagine a scenario where you could be coming from Venezuela being sent to El Salvador or something like that. And as long as El Salvador wasn't going to torture you or anything like that, you could, the administration could do that. Obviously, in the case of the most high profile Salvadoran deportations, that's been controversial because there is some evidence that torture is going on in the Salvadoran prisons. So don't meet the bar there. And then you see the other cases where the migrants should be at least given this bare minimum allowance to say, you know, if they, you know, there's one case where there's a man who was being sent back, he's a Guatemala man being sent to Mexico. He's a gay man who says that he was persecuted in both Mexico and Guatemala for his sexuality, that he was raped and tortured in Mexico. And so that is again, one of those cases where he should have been able to press the case that he should not have been had to be sent to Mexico because of the persecution he's faced there. And he was sent there anyways without being given that sort of process to kind of prove Those allegations, and I.
- [33:26]
Ezra Levin
Will point out, and I'll say this on my own, you don't have to echo this, but that is why the United States has been here for people like that. The United States has been here for people like that because you were supposed to be able to come to the United States and apply for asylum, because you were going to say to a judge, to, you know, to authorities that if you send me back to my country of origin or if you send me to another country that I'm not from, there is the potential that I will be killed, I will be tortured, my human rights will be violated. That is one of the things that has always been a big part of what we send out to the world in terms of a message that we are a beacon of hope to people who need asylum. I mean, it's on the Statue of Liberty, for Christ's sake. And the other thing I wanted to talk to you about, and this was something that, that Ezra and I spoke about, is that the conventional wisdom has been turned upside down here in Washington. There was a time, and it was not that long ago, was even during this, this new Trump administration, where it was said that the Democrats had a losing issue when it comes to the issue of immigration. That is not the case right now. That is not the case. Trump has gone underwater on immigration since coming into office because of these tactics.
- [34:40]
Jim Acosta
I mean, one thing I do think is interesting there. I do think. I mean, I think it's useful to kind of separate out. Immigration is such a large issue.
- [34:46]
Ezra Levin
It is a large issue, the treatment of migrants.
- [34:49]
Jim Acosta
So many different things, so many different people. Right. And indeed, one thing that is interesting, his numbers on kind of all facets of immigration are dropping on border security still still fairly high and usually above water in most polls. Kind of reflective of the fact that he has, you know, that I think most people would acknowledge the successes the administration has had in kind of really reducing migrant crossings. That is clearly something the American people wanted when he was elected, and that has been a success. So that is something that most. That American people do judge him fairly well on in most polls. But then you take out the border security piece of it and move on to deportations, treatment of migrants. Like you say, when you ask about specific cases like Kamara Brega, Garcia, then the numbers look very different. And you see.
- [35:29]
Ezra Levin
And whether we should have due process. Whether.
- [35:31]
Jim Acosta
Exactly.
- [35:32]
Ezra Levin
Whether the Constitution.
- [35:33]
Jim Acosta
Exactly. And things like due process funds are very foundational things that have such high amounts of popularity and support among the public. And that he clearly, I Do think there's a sense when you look at the polls that this is an issue where he has so much goodwill on and really is burning it by going much too far and by going against these basic foundational ideas that people do hold really dear.
- [35:56]
Ezra Levin
And he's hosing himself on the issue. And for the folks out there, for the MAGA supporters out there who are saying it's because of the way the media is covering it and so on. Baloney. Trump in his Memorial Day messages over the weekend, he was going after judges. He was going after the judges who were standing in his way and all of this. So he clearly feels this way. And he and Stephen Miller and those guys, they want to push the envelope on this. Okay, Gabe, you said earlier you did not want to speak on behalf of Gen Z, so I'm going to make you do that anyway.
- [36:24]
Jim Acosta
Okay.
- [36:26]
Ezra Levin
Your sense of it, because you follow this stuff closely as to what happened in the election of 2024, because it seemed as though Gen Z was really looked upon as like they were really going to turn against Trump and come out and vote in droves against Trump. That is not what. That is not what happened. But the numbers have shown since then a ton of hemorrhaging. And my read of the numbers is that it has been probably more significant than other demographics. Is that your sense of it too? We're pretty darn close.
- [36:57]
Jim Acosta
I think that's fair to say. I think always an important thing to note when you're talking about Gen Z is just this very stark gender divide that we see, and we see this in generations, but particularly Gen Z. And so I would say that's always just a detail to keep in mind when you're looking at polling of Gen Z that, you know, Gen Z women were very opposed to President Trump during the 24 election, have only grown more opposed to him since then. Gen Z men were fairly supportive of President Trump and have grown less supportive since the election. But you see in much smaller numbers than Gen Z women. So always important to keep that gender divide in mind. I would say broadly. Again, not again, not to speak for the generation, but there's a very, very clearly in almost every poll that you take of Gen Z is the number one issue that comes across is the economy and cost of living. That's what matters most to young people. That was a big reason why they rallied, why a lot of especially Gen Z men rallied behind President Trump. The 2024 election. And that is one issue where you've seen pretty stark disapproval pretty quickly from a Generation that was very willing to give the President kind of goodwill, was very disillusioned with Democratic handling of the economy, with the Biden Harris administration's handling the economy, and has pretty quickly also soured in the Trump administration's handling the economy as well. And I think that's really gonna be the key issue that's gonna animate any movement on that issue.
- [38:11]
Ezra Levin
And I'm glad you brought up the economy because he's hosing himself on this as well, particularly with Gen Z, because people in Gen Z are now getting to the age where they wanna buy a house, they want to buy a car, they want to be able to afford things because they're starting to have kids. And when his tariff policy is causing prices to go up in places like Walmart, you know, Gen Z, they're not going to high priced department stores or brand name stores that you might find or shopping mall stuff. Like a lot of kids in Gen Z do go to Walmart, do go to Target, A lot of those do buy things on Amazon and a lot of those products, those prices are going to be going up as a result of this tariff policy. And you're starting to see mortgage rates and car loan rates creep up. I have to think that is going to be applying some pretty negative pressure on his numbers with that category. I have to think absolutely.
- [38:58]
Jim Acosta
And I think you're right to kind of make the connection. Immigration, where I do think there's a lot of people who voted for President Trump, particularly Gen Z, who I think you do have to remember, you know, these are voters who basically whole entire lives have kind of lived with Trump as kind of the animating force of American politics. Voters who don't really remember kind of pre Trump era, but many of whom do have somewhat rosy memories of at least the first few years of the Trump administration. I think a lot of people who are casting ballots thinking that they would both in the cases of immigration and the economy be kind of returning to a 2018, 2019 kind of, you know, environment of prices, environment of border security. And I think in both these two issues we've talked about, you see President Trump having a very clear opportunity to kind of roll back to that kind of status quo that I do think a lot of young people looked back on fondly and instead going way, way, way past it and really kind of burning any kind of support that he otherwise could have had. And I think if he had just done very little, changed very little in the economy, but instead kind of did a much more of a PR campaign around the economy and tried to take a lot of credit for prices that were already falling. He probably would have solidified a lot of his political support and a lot of his support among young voters and same at the border if he had simply kind of focused on border security.
- [40:10]
Ezra Levin
Same thing.
- [40:11]
Jim Acosta
But I think in both cases you see the president both with his tariffs and then both with these kind of, you know, really kind of rapid and court defying deportations. You see him going well beyond that mandate. And perhaps someone could argue, I'm sure there are people that would argue these are things that he was promising to do in the campaign trail. Of course, we know young voters maybe weren't looking at every single promise. So specifically, it doesn't mean they shouldn't have been, but you know, looking at every single tariff proposal and everything like that and may have gotten a very different presidency than they bargained for when they were pulling the lever.
- [40:42]
Ezra Levin
Yeah. And finally, I mean, I had this conversation a little bit with Aaron Parnas last week about Gen Z attitudes and in particular about the presidency. And one of the things that shocked me and just blew me away is he said his real, the real memory that he has, first memory that he has of a president, of a presidency was basically Donald Trump. And I would say that that is probably the case for a lot of folks in Gen Z. And that to me is such. And I can say this, you don't have to say that is a totally depressing thing to think about. I grew up, you know, obviously maybe I wasn't that politically astute or aware of things at the time with Reagan, with Bush. And then Bill Clinton was the first person who was president. Really, when I was a voting age and it was just a completely different time, people would say, oh, Bill Clinton, he was bad in this way or that he was, he was a generational figure. He was a generation changing figure. And you know, it seems to me it's not a stretch to say that a lot of folks in your age group just kind of see Trump as the normal when it comes, you know, as normality when it comes to a president.
- [41:53]
Jim Acosta
I think that's exactly right. And I do think. I won't speak. I can't speak.
- [41:56]
Ezra Levin
I know you can. I know you can.
- [41:58]
Jim Acosta
You know that the, what that might have been like for presidents for past generations. And I won't speak on the emotion of it, but I will say I do think that speaks to you. See a lot of Democrats really wondering now, how do you win back Gen Z? How to win back Gen Z Men. And I do think it was something I think back to is during the 2024 campaign that when Kamala Harris was making a lot of her big push to win over all voters, but especially young voters, too, and talking so much about Donald Trump as someone who is breaking norms and talking about the defensive institutions and the need to kind of return to normal and all of that. Putting aside the merits of all that messaging, which I'm sure Kamala Harris did believe in and obviously a lot of voters believe in, but that obviously isn't just going to land in the same way with the generation for whom he is the norm. And so I think it does speak to how you reach a generation where, if you're talking so much about norm violations and defensive institutions, if you have a generation who doesn't really view Donald Trump as a violation of the norm and isn't really that thrilled with how institutions are working, you know, that isn't the type of messaging that's going to bring them back to the party when you. I think a lot of the issues that we're talking about now, especially on cost of living, the economy, are just always going to be much more effective issues to winning over these voters. That's what young voters actually care about, versus a lot of these kind of more broader philosophical issues, which I'm not trying to degrade the importance of, around norms, around constitutional process, around democracy, important as they may be, you kind of have to meet voters where they are and you have to recognize what they do or don't care about.
- [43:26]
Mike Fanone
Yeah.
- [43:26]
Ezra Levin
And Bill Clinton, I mean, you know, he was a young president. He, I mean, really salvaged his political campaign to a large degree. When he told voters, I feel your pain. I mean, he, he was a guy. He was. I think he was a very big transformational figure. He balanced the budget. He tried to bring health care to the people. I mean, he was just a guy. A lot of. Lot of flaws, no question about it. A lot of personal flaws, no question about it. But I think he understood that moment. And I can't imagine Donald Trump going anywhere and saying that I feel your pain. We're just in a very different time, I guess, from a generational standpoint. But, Gabe, thanks for breaking it down. Really appreciate it. Great talking to you. I hope we can get you back on. And thanks for paying attention to the migrant issue. I think that's a fascinating storyline to continue to follow. I think, people, you're absolutely right. No matter where you stand politically, there major concerns about how this is being carried out. No Question about it.
- [44:23]
Jim Acosta
Well, thanks so much for having me, Jim. It's great talking to you.
- [44:26]
Ezra Levin
All right. Good to talk to you, Gabe. Thanks so much. All right. That's Gabe Fleischer. Check out his. His newsletter. It's terrific. It's Wake up to Politics on Substack. And I try to do this every once in a while because you know what? We can't just be in these silos where we're like. I know. I see people chiming in saying, I'm Generation X too. I. I love it. Remember when we were cool? I mean, I guess we were still cool, but we had Nirvana, we had Pearl Jam. You know, we thought we were some badass shit back in those days, the Violent Femmes. I mean, the list goes on and on. And we gotta listen to the Gen Z kids, honestly, because to some extent, I think that that generation is looking for something new. I think they're very much looking for something new and something that is more in touch with who they are, their thoughts, their feelings, where they're coming from. Thank you for folks for telling me that I'm. Feel that I'm still cool. Please tell me. And yes, my microphone did shrink. I meant to clip this on my shirt at the beginning of the show and I completely forgot. So I'm going to clip it on now. And look at that. It hides the button. I'm going to try to get Mike Fanone in here. My buddy Mike and I, along with Livia Troy, we're doing a town hall coming up very soon. If you're in the Washington, D.C. area, you need to listen and you need to listen close. Thank you for saying that you love the MIC on Monday, June 2, at the Lincoln Theater in Washington, D.C. right on historic U Street. My man right there, Mike Fanone, who occasionally stirs up a little trouble, occasionally gets a back tattoo on my show. Mike's going to be there with me and Olivia. It's going to be a lot of fun. We're going to do a lot of cool stuff. We're going to hand out some awards. I think, Mike, I don't know what you think. I've arrived on Defending American Democracy Awards, or DADDY for short. We're going to call these the Daddy Awards because you're kind of a daddy. Am I allowed to say that?
- [46:26]
Olivia Troy
It's great, dad. You know, dad on the streets, Daddy in the sheets.
- [46:33]
Ezra Levin
Oh, man. See, I knew you were going to take it there. I knew you were going to take it there. But that's okay. Don't use up all Your Vegas material. Now we got to save something for, for next Monday, but, man, I'm looking forward to. This is gonna be a lot of fun.
- [46:50]
Olivia Troy
I agree. Although, you know, when we were talking earlier and you were mentioning to me like, all the, all the folks that are going to be in the audience, you know, a lot of whom are like you and I kind of out there, very outspoken, the one thing that I kept thinking about was, you know, we're going to have to leave somebody behind as the, you know, the, the lone survivor.
- [47:16]
Ezra Levin
Yeah.
- [47:16]
Olivia Troy
You know, all of us being in the same room. The Designated survivor in Washington, D.C. yeah. I think we're going to have to have. Maybe we can have a Designated Survivor and then go to them at some point in some kind of a virtual capacity and just see how they're doing. Maybe we'll set them up with a bar tab somewhere in Washington, D.C. and, and, but yeah, no, it's something.
- [47:40]
Ezra Levin
Akalina Canal. We might have to have them, you know, down the street or something. Sorry, Akalina, we're gonna have to have you down the street. But no, I think that's not a bad idea. No, but I, it's good, you know, and, and for folks who are thinking, oh, this is going to be just serious. No, we're going to have a lot of fun. We're going to give out awards. There might be some, some music involved, there might be some, some other hijinks involved. So this is going to be fun. I'm looking forward to it. Man, this is going to be great. And some of your buddies are going to be there too.
- [48:09]
Olivia Troy
I can't wait. I can't wait to give the people in Washington D.C. and, you know, the greater DMV who have been so adversely affected by this administration an opportunity to come out, talk shit about Trump and his enablers and have their opinions and voices heard.
- [48:32]
Ezra Levin
Yeah. And for folks who are wondering, the doors are going to open at 6:30, we're going to start at 7, and in the next day or two, I'm going to tell people how they can win free tickets to this event. Because I think that's going to be something else that we want to do is make sure for folks who want to come, maybe can't afford to come, there's gonna be an opportunity to win free tickets. And you're absolutely right, Mike. I mean, this is gonna be a chance to talk about, I mean, let's just say it, the. That this guy has pulled since coming back into office and he's been pulling a lot Of, I mean, just today. Yeah, go ahead.
- [49:04]
Olivia Troy
I love the fact that we're gonna take it to Washington D.C. and do it right there, you know, just a few blocks away from. From his house.
- [49:14]
Ezra Levin
Yeah, no, absolutely. And I mean, you know, listen, this is what democracy is all about. This is what freedom is all about. This is what free speech is all about. All about. And we're. I'm thankful that the folks at the Lincoln Theater are swinging open their doors to doing this. It's a historic venue in Washington D.C. great people there and they're giving us this opportunity to hold this. And there's a lot to talk about. I mean, honestly, like, you know, today, RFK Jr. Saying that Covid vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women. I mean, anti vaxxers are going to anti vax, but you know, this is just some of the batshit crazy things that they've been doing. They've done batshit crazy things to you and the other January 6th police officers, apparently. I'm looking at this today. Politico reporting Ed Martin, the, the idiot that almost became U.S. attorney in Washington. Apparently he personally reviewed Stewart Rhodes pardon request. I'm seeing this in Politico today. I mean, one of the issues, Mike, is the, is the, the caliber of the individual that Trump. The individuals that Trump has put in this administration.
- [50:27]
Olivia Troy
And I'll be honest with you, I don't, I don't even think he gives a shit what they do or, you know, it's just. But I'm glad you brought up Ed Martin. I think he's particularly dangerous. And I think that the fact that he's no longer, you know, a candidate for, for the U.S. attorney spot in Washington D.C. doesn't mean that he's not dangerous. You talk about the, the pardons that he's reviewed and, and then, you know, he's now talking about pardoning. I think it was, was it Gretchen Whitmer who was. Had the kidnapping plot? He said that he's going to review those individuals and it's, it seems as though the priority. Whereas in the past the priority for pardons. I know you had. I forget her name, but she was the pardon attorney for the Department of Justice.
- [51:20]
Ezra Levin
Oh, yeah, Liz lawyer. She's great.
- [51:22]
Olivia Troy
Yeah. The litmus test was kind of like people who had served significant portions of their sentence who had been model prisoners who had admitted their guilt and their culpability in their crimes and then had done something above and beyond the average, you know, incarcerated person's, you know, whatever their expectations were.
- [51:48]
Ezra Levin
Yeah.
- [51:49]
Olivia Troy
Now It's. If you were a right wing extremist who holds extremist ideological viewpoints that are in some way in alignment with this administration, then we will, we'll look for a pardon. Regardless of whether you've admitted your guilt, whether you feel you're guilty at all, or whether you express a willingness to do it again in the future, we will still entertain a pardon.
- [52:17]
Ezra Levin
Yeah, well, he's selling pardons. I mean, there's a story that just came out today where donors are getting pardons. And so either you're a donor or a whack job or an insurrectionist. Those are the people that are getting moved to the front of the line. And I mean that. It just tells you about the character of the guy at the top. I mean, this stinks from the very top. And the White House has been basically put up on the auction block. And it's sick. Oath. When the Oath Keepers founder Stuart Rhodes is having his pardon application personally reviewed by Ed Martin, that tells you, it tells you everything that you need to know. And it's, it's, it's disturbing.
- [53:01]
Olivia Troy
Yeah, no, I mean, again, it's a big part of why I'm in this fight. It's a big part of why I, I'm in it until the bitter end. And it's to return this country to a place in which we can recognize individuals like Stewart Rhodes for what they are. Traitors to this country and dangerous extremist individuals.
- [53:29]
Ezra Levin
Yeah, no, absolutely. And the other thing that we want to do is give people a sense of the fact that they're not alone. Because I know Mike, you and Harry and some of the other guys, you know, after the election happened and after Trump came back into office, I don't blame anybody for this, but there were, there were some feelings like, hey, what am I doing here? Why am I still talking about this stuff? Why bother? And what we've seen over the last several months is people picking themselves up, dusting themselves off, and getting back into this fight for the future of this country. And that's what this is all about. It's about lifting each other up and, and saying, hey, you know, get back in there. This thing is, this thing is still on the line.
- [54:15]
Olivia Troy
And I couldn't agree more. And, you know, to make it incredibly personal again, like, I've kind of been experiencing this, this fight solo. And it really wasn't until you left CNN and joined Substack that, you know that I had, like, a partner in crime, so to speak. And so for me, that's become an incredibly important message is this idea of building community. That's why I'm on substack is to build community, to give people a place to go where they can express their fears, but also gain courage and strength in numbers. And I, I think that's what it's going to take to win this fight. I think we can't turn to our political parties. They've failed us. We need to build a coalition of freedom loving, empathetic, compassionate fighters, which is what Americans really are at their core, and push back against all of this. And we need to support one another. You know, my mom still to this day is writing notes to every single judge that experiences some type of, you know, the pizza gate crap or whatever, because she's experienced all those things. And so she wants people to know that, you know, there are other people that are caring and that are understanding of what's happening. And so, yeah, no, it's. This is all about community.
- [55:58]
Ezra Levin
Yeah. And people are tired of this. And people need to understand. Somebody hears you. Somebody is listening. And that's why, you know, we want folks to show up in force, in person at the Lincoln theater on Monday, June 2nd. It's. It's six days from now. Get your tickets now. Apparently the tickets are selling. They're doing well. We need people to get out there and buy tickets, come to the show. We are going to tape it, we are going to show it later. You're going to be able to see it later, but we don't want to compete with the live production by having a live streaming thing at the same time. So if you're in the Washington, D.C. area, come. If you're not in the Washington, D.C. i understand that you want to see this, and we're going to make that happen as well. So make sure that if you're in the D.C. area that you do get your tickets and you do come. Mike, great to see you, man. We had to plug the show, so I had to rope in into this.
- [56:47]
Olivia Troy
Bring me back anytime, anytime. All right, buddy.
- [56:49]
Ezra Levin
Good to see you. Thanks.
- [56:51]
Olivia Troy
Take care.
- [56:51]
Ezra Levin
All right. Thank you. You as well. You as well. The great Mike Fadone. And isn't it great when you hear Mike say, I'm not giving up, I'm not stopping. I'm not getting out of this fight until it's over? That's the kind of spirit that we need in this country, and it's infectious. When you hear Mike say that, that makes you think, I can do this. When you hear Mike talk about his mom, you think about Your mom. And you think, my goodness, if my mom was going through what Mike's mom is going through, I wouldn't like that. And so it is empowering. It does give you energy, as somebody was just saying, how can you get tickets? Okay, you can get tickets by going to the Lincoln Center. Excuse me, not Lincoln center, the Lincoln Theater website. The Lincoln Theater website here in Washington, D.C. and I'm going to put this up on my socials again. I'll put it up on substack as well. Just so everybody knows this is where you can get this stuff. But when you, when you look up the Lincoln Theater, it's the Lincoln theater in Washington, D.C. there are other Lincoln Theaters around the country. Make sure you go to the Lincoln theater in Washington, D.C. and it's the lincolndc.com and when you go to the lincolndc.Com you'll see our little poster right there pop up on screen almost immediately as soon as you go on the page. And it's the Fire Within Tour. You click on where it says the Fire Within Tour and it'll take you to Ticketmaster. Don't get mad. It'll take you to Ticketmaster where you can get your tickets. It's very easy. It's not a huge cost. It's like 35 bucks, but maybe 10 bucks more with the fee. Not a huge cost. And I'm also going to give folks a way to get free tickets between now and the show. I'm crafting some schemes. I'm coming up with some plans. I'm plotting as we speak to give folks a crack at getting free tickets as well. So stay tuned for that as well. I did want to close finally by saying, Again, that's the lincolndc.com the lincolndc.Com Finally, I want to say I have to give a shout out to Scott Pelley at cbs. Want to give him a shout out before I go. The independent reporting CBS journalist Scott Belt Pelley launched into a fierce condemnation of President Donald Trump during a university commencement speech. The news anchor rebuked the Trump administration for attempting to root out diversity, equity and inclusion, hiring policies from federal agencies. While speaking at Wake Forest University, Scott Pelley also said this quote, this was the money comment, quote, in this moment, this morning, our sacred rule of law is under attack. Journalism is under attack. Universities are under attack. Freedom of speech is under attack. Scott, I couldn't have said it better myself. Really appreciate your courage in going out there. We've seen what has been taking place with CBS lately. Their parent company has essentially been trying to put corporate pressure on 60 Minutes, on CBS News, to try to change what they report out to the American people. We cannot have corporate pressures like that being brought to bear on places like 60 Minutes. As I've said in the past, when 60 Minutes is in trouble, we're all in trouble. So good on you, Scott Pelley. Thank you so much for showing that courage. That is exactly what we need in this country right now. And for the MAGA crybabies out there, and you can go on social media and you could see these crybabies. I mean, I'm sorry. You know, my real news glass here is not. Is not big enough, not deep enough for your tears. Scott Pelley is honoring the long tradition at CBS of not offering his opinion. He's not giving a political opinion. He is telling you what is happening. He is giving you the news. When he says that at a place like Wake Forest, he is telling people what is going on in this country. Walter Cronkite famously. I've told this story before. I'll say it again. Walter Cronkite famously went to Vietnam during the Vietnam War, came back from Vietnam and said that the war in Vietnam could not be won. And Lyndon Johnson, the president at that time, said, if I've lost Walter Cronkite, I've lost middle America. Well, Donald Trump, you have lost Scott Pelley. When Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes feels that it's necessary to go out at a commencement speech at Wake Forest University and say that journalism is under attack, universities are under attack, freedom of speech is under attack, our sacred rule of law is under attack, ladies and gentlemen, that is not an opinion. That is the news. That is what is happening in this country. And that's what journalists are supposed to do. They're supposed to tell you what's happening. And that's what Scott Pelley did. And not that he needs to hear this from me, but I thank him for that. And I. And I want to say kudos to him. I really appreciate what he's done and what the fine journalists at 60 Minutes have done, putting what they do on the line to make sure that we continue to report the truth of what is taking place in this country right now, what is taking place in America right now. The stakes are just too high to do anything but that. So once again, my thanks to Scott Pelly. He is honoring the tradition of Walter Cronkite, of Dan Rather, people like Bob Schieffer, people like Edward R. Murrow. That is what Scott Pelley did over the weekend at Wake Forest. I want to thank Ezra Levin for coming on. Really appreciate his time. Want to thank Gabe Fleischer. Keep your eye on him. He's going places in this business, as they say. And of course, Mike Fanone, who helped me come on and talk about our live town hall coming to the Lincoln theater in Washington, D.C. on June 2, that is next Monday, folks. If you're in Washington, get your tickets now. It's going to be a great night. We're going to have a lot of fun and we're also going to talk about what matters. We're going to tell the truth until we can't do it anymore. Still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Have a good evening. Thanks a lot. Good night. It's coming up Fast, guys. Monday, June 2nd, right here at the Lincoln Theater in Washington, D.C. my live town hall with Mike Fanone, Olivia Troy and some special guests you're not going to want to miss. Get your tickets now. They're going fast.