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- [00:01]
Joy Reid
Shopping is hard. I can never find anything in my size. I don't even know my size.
- [00:07]
Afton Ben
I buy my clothes the same place I buy my groceries.
- [00:10]
Joy Reid
There's a better way. Make it easy with Stitch Fix. Just share your size, style, budget and done.
- [00:16]
Afton Ben
Your personal stylist sends pieces picked just for you. That was easy.
- [00:21]
Joy Reid
Stitch Fix online personal styling for everyone. Free shipping and returns. No subscription required. Get started today@stitch fix.com. Okay, Everybody, welcome to the Joy Reach show. I didn't. I'm hoping that I can hear, but as I definitely didn't hear the music, but I see that I saw it. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna accept and believe that it was there because I could visually see it, though I couldn't hear it. Good evening, everybody. Hope everybody is well. We got a big show tonight. Afton Ben, who's the candidate everybody's talking about in Tennessee, is going to be here later on in the show. I'm really excited about that, but it has been a big news Monday, so I'm going to jump right into it. Before that, I'm going to Wish Everyone on YouTube substack the various podcast platforms a big hello. Hi. Oh, hello to everybody in the chat. Y' all guys are already getting, getting it in. I love that. And your numbers are growing rapidly. We are, we are surging in subscribers and we're super appreciative of every single one of you. But that also comes with some downsides, meaning trolling. So to make our life a little bit easier, make life easier for you guys, to make the chat more fun for you to be in, to make the environment better for all of you and also to make things easier for our wonderful moderators, we're going to shift to subscribers only in the chat because we want to make sure that the chat is troll free, as troll free as possible. Because there's nothing worse than having a maybe foreign bot or just a troll jump in and start messing with the chat. So we're going to do that. Let us know how that works for you guys. If you want a chat, that means you have to subscribe. So not only am I going to do my usual please subscribe, help us with the algorithm. Please hit like and share. Also, if you want to chat and you want to interact, you have to be a subscriber on YouTube. That, that's already the case on Substack. And I can tell you the Substack chats are a lot more fun because they are troll free. And so we're going to do the Same thing over here. Only subscribers can chat. So that's the housekeeping that I want to do today. Don't be a lurker. Definitely don't be a troll. Nobody likes trolls. So let's get to the news. We have a lot of it. First up, the earth is healing, meaning the fundamental falsity and phoniness of MAGA is starting to show through the cracks and the faith is kind of cracking up. Item A federal judge has thrown out the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Concluding that President Donald Trump's handpicked prosecutor Lindsey Halligan was illegally appointed to the role when she single handedly secured the indictments. U.S. district Judge Cameron Curry concluded that Halligan's appointment as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia violated laws that limit the ability of the Justice Department to install top prosecutors without Senate confirmation. You'll recall that Halligan is the maga. The MAGA face photocopy. She basically looks just like all the rest of them. Big hair, same plastic surgery. I don't know if it's plastic surgery, but it kind of looks like it. Her previous role, as you will recall, was to root out the annoying slavery in America's museums. She's like an insurance lawyer or something with no actual prosecutorial experience, but she has the right look to make Trump hire her son. She suddenly got literally just appointed illegally as a U.S. attorney with no Senate confirmation because no actual credible prosecutor would bring a case against James Comey or Letitia James for the made up crimes that Trump wants them prosecuted for. So he just installed her. He's like, come off of museum duty and go do this. And she did it with no prosecutors in the room, no one willing to walk with her walking alone. Well, now a judge has said, yeah, the whole thing was bollocks. She can't be the prosecutor. Here's what the judge said. This is political. Quoting the judge, Ms. Halligan has been unlawfully serving in that role since September 22, 2025, he concluded in opinion simultaneously filed Monday. In both cases, all actions flowing from Ms. Haligin's defective appointment constitute unlawful exercise of executive power and must be set aside. Now, Curry did dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning prosecutors could attempt to obtain new grand jury indictments in each of these cases. However, in the Comey case, his attorneys have already indicated they're going to argue he can't be re indicted because the statute of limitations on his case actually expired on September 30th. And Curry agreed that the deadline had already passed without a valid indictment. So the curry, I mean the Comey case is probably doa, although Trump and them don't believe in the law. So they'll probably just do whatever. It's a huge rebuke of this rushed effort by the Justice Department and Pamela Joe to force indictments of Donald Trump's claimed political adversary. So that's a big whoopsie. Meanwhile, pretend MAGA Marco Rubio is in the shitter for apparently hand delivering Vladimir Putin's peace plan to the Ukrainians, after which Trump called the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky ungrateful for not accepting it. Now, you will recall that last week on this very program, Lev Parnas told you that Putin wrote the so called peace deal that leaked over the weekend. Well now apparently Marco Rubio, he kind of admitted it. Roll tape of Rubio. Has Ukraine indicated to you that is.
- [05:44]
Rick Wilson
Prepared to compromise, for instance, some of.
- [05:46]
Joy Reid
Those key issues like territory in exchange for.
- [05:49]
Mark Thompson
They suggested that they are prepared. Well, I'm not going to look, it's not because for purposes of evasion, it's just I'm not going to get into the details of the topics that were discussed because this is an ongoing process. What is important to understand and how these things work is you have to, in order to have a proposal, you have to write it. You know, if it's just verbal, it's in the air, you have to put it down on a piece of paper and just because it's printed on a piece of paper doesn't indicate finality. So you get input. And based on that input, you may make adjustments and then you get more input or you make a counter offer and you get more adjustments. That's an ongoing process. There's a lot more of that to happen. So I'm not going to speculate or go into the details of any of the specific items in the latest version of the proposal because frankly, by tomorrow or the next day that may have evolved and changed further. But I can tell you, I guess that I feel very optimistic that we can get something done here because we made a tremendous amount of progress today. Oh, we're very positive. I'm telling you today was the most productive day. We, well, today and we've talked since, I think he's quite pleased at the reports we've given him about the amount of progress that's been made. Well, obviously the Russians get a vote here, right? So I mean, look, we, we, we began, we began from the early stage of this process with our understanding of The Russian position. Position as had been communicated to us in numerous ways. I, you know, at the State Department, we received numerous written papers and things of this nature, also verbally, things they discussed over time and so forth. So it was no matter what we came up with today, obviously, we now have to take what we come up with, if we can reach that agreement with the Ukrainian side, to the Russian side. That's another question.
- [07:30]
Joy Reid
You said you received some. You should receive something. What now written. You said you received some things written and verbally at the State Department. Marco Rubio. Okay, check, check, check and double check. The Russians wrote the peace deal. You guys received it, and then you guys did, like, edits. Did you guys, like, mark it up and put, like, red marks on it to, like, correct the spelling? What exactly did you guys do to edit this? Let's go to what the actual members of Congress, you know, because United States House and Senate, they're actually supposed to be involved in these kind of things. And a bipartisan group of senators who were on their way to an international security conference over the weekend, they tried to clean up the mess that your Secretary of State has made of the whole Ukraine, Russia war mess. Here they are, clean up. Saying that Marco Rubio assured them in a phone call on their way to this meeting that the leaked document was a Russian proposal, not an American proposal, and that that proposal does not represent the Trump administration position. And I just want to remind you of what that proposal said that looked like from Rubio's earlier statements that we wrote it, that effectively Russia would get to keep all the territory they currently occupied, plus territory they don't occupy. They would get back into the G8. Russia could go back into the Group of Eight nations, and they would get rid of sanctions, basically meaning Russia gets everything they ever wanted. Now, Ruby was trying to wheel back and say, whoa, whoa, that was, like, sent to us in, like, a memo. Wasn't our real thing. Here's Senator Mike Rounds speaking for the group, trying to clean it up.
- [09:00]
Rick Wilson
Secretary Rubio did make a phone call to us this afternoon.
- [09:05]
Joy Reid
I think he made it very clear.
- [09:06]
Rick Wilson
To us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our representatives. It is not our recommendation. It is not our peace plan. It is a proposal that was received.
- [09:23]
Joy Reid
And as an interaction intermediary, we have.
- [09:27]
Rick Wilson
Made arrangements to share it. And we did not release. Was leaked. It was not released by our members or our representatives.
- [09:43]
Joy Reid
So meaning it kind of leaked. And it looked like basically Putin was cornering the United States by leaking a deal that completely serves Russian interests. And Trump is like how ungrateful of the Ukrainians not to do. But he's not a tool of Russia at all. At all. Meanwhile, any homestuck call them pitiful in the chat. You're absolutely right. Like pitiful. Pitiful, Pitiful. Somebody in the chat saying this is Bourbon girl saying, a Berber girl saying Rubio is in over his head. It wouldn't surprise me if he was replaced. You got to find someone with the look. The Pentagon, meanwhile, is apparently trying to in attempting to investigate. Get this, Senator Mike Kelly over that PSA that we played you on our previous show that a half a dozen military veteran House and Senate members made reminding servicemen that they are not to follow illegal orders, which is literally just like legally the law. Right here are the threats that were made, of course, via X Twitter. The Department of War, which they cosplay as it's really the Department of Defense has received serious allegations of misconduct against Captain Mark Kelly. He's of usn, retired. In accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice. And then they name a bunch of laws and other applicable regulations. A thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine whether determine actions which may include recall to active duty for court martial proceedings or administrative measures. This matter will be handled in compliance with military law, ensuring due process and impartiality. Further official comments will be limited to preserve the integrity of the proceedings. There's another part to it. Yeah, this is what they're actually posting like. This is the way that they now run the military. They run it on Twitter. Part du, the Department of War reminds all individuals and military retirees remain subject to the Uniform Code of Military justice for applicable offense and federal laws such as 18 USC 2387 prohibit actions intended to interfere with the loyalty, morale or good order and discipline of the armed forces. Any violations will be addressed through appropriate legal channels. All service members are reminded that they have a legal obligation under the UCMJ to obey lawful orders and that orders are presumed to be lawful. A service member's personnel philosophy does not. Personal philosophy does not justify or excuse this the disobedience of an otherwise lawful order. Now, nothing in that PSA that those military veterans made says anything different than what was in those tweets. They literally said you only have to follow lawful orders if you have an unlawful order. The Uniform Code of Military justice actually says you may not follow it. Remember the Nuremberg trials were a lot of Nazis saying, I was just following orders. But they're focusing on Kelly, the senator. They've decided to pick one high profile guy who's also an astronaut to try to make an example of him. Interesting. Okay, so I just teed those up. Just. I wanna focus for a moment on the absolute phoniness of MAGA in general. I mean, it pretends to be patriotic, but it attacks military veterans for asserting that illegal orders are not to be followed. All on behalf of a draft dodger president whose bone spurs have apparently morphed into cankles, and who, as you heard last week from Dr. Robert Gardner, is likely descending into dementia. Their supposed peace deals are just Epstein files, kompromat fueled service to Trump's puppeteer in Russia, and even their populism and promises to heal the economy and make life affordable. Bullshit. Trump isn't even honest about calling Zoran Mamdani a communist. He only says it to entertain his idiot base. When Mamdani is literally right in front of him, he kisses his ass just like he hugs up to the Saudis. Bone sawing an American president journal. An American resident journalist notwithstanding. If you give him cash, if you're nice to him, he loves you. In fact, his whole mental state is premised around who he thinks likes him, whether it's him being owned by Zorhan Mamdani, which he was last week. Here's a clip of that. Just had a great meeting. A really good, very productive meeting. We have one thing in common. We want this city of ours that we love to do very well. And I wanted to congratulate the mayor. He really ran an incredible race against, you know, a lot of smart people, starting with the early primaries, against some very tough people, very smart people.
- [14:25]
Mark Thompson
And he beat him.
- [14:25]
Joy Reid
And he beat him easily.
- [14:26]
Mark Thompson
And I congratulated him.
- [14:29]
Joy Reid
And we talked about some things in very strong common, like housing and gas, getting housing built and food and prices, and the price of oil is coming way down. Anything I do is going to be good for New York. It's going to be good for New York. Yeah. And Mom, Donnie, over the weekend, I'll meet the press. Still called him a fascist, like without a hesitation. Okay. He also, you know, pretends that all is well between him and Palestine. Here's that video. Sorry, which one is it? Oh, I'm sorry. And will you visit Damascus? No, but where are you from? I'm from Palestine. Oh, Making a lot of progress, huh? They like Palestinians like me. Oh, they like me. Palestinians are doing very well, actually. I think we're working very closely with a lot of people to make everybody happy, including Israel, the Palestinians, Palestinians and everybody that's very interesting. Okay. No, no, no. Nope. They're not doing very well. The entirety of Gaza is. Is bombed and decimated and is dust and like 70,000 some odd people are dead. And that's just the ones we know about. And most of them are kids, so. No, no, they don't like you, man. And they're not doing very well. And, you know, he, he just, his whole mental state centers around that. It's therefore I like them. I called this guy a Muslim communist, but now he likes me, therefore I like him. The Palestinians like me, therefore I like them. And then they're the people he thinks don't like him or being mean to him by asking him questions. Here's a 8. How those people get treated. Yeah, they get quiet, Piggy. Which brings me to Marjorie Taylor Greene, who Trump used to like a lot of, especially when she was canoodling with him and his insurrectionist friends back on January 5, 2021, to help him plot to stay in office despite getting, like, beat like he stole something by Joe Biden.
- [16:33]
Afton Ben
Just finished with our meetings here at the White House this afternoon. We had a great planning session for our January 6th. Objection. We aren't going to let this election be stolen by Joe Biden and the Democrats. President Trump won by a landslide. Call your House reps, call your senators from your states. We've got to make sure they're on board. And we already have a lot of people engaged. Okay, stay tuned.
- [16:58]
Joy Reid
Thanks. Thanks, Marge. Well, nowadays, Trump doesn't like her so much anymore. He's even given her a new nickname to sport in addition to Bleach Bond, Bad Bill Butchbody, courtesy of Jasmine Crockett. Trump is now calling and collaring her Marjorie Taylor Brown. Marjorie Taylor Brown because he claims she's Brown nosing the libs or something. He says that she's one of the losers with Rand Paul. And then he calls Representative Massie, Rand Paul Jr, Marjorie Trader Brown, and a couple other low lifes. Low lifes. The fact that many want the filibuster terminated. Low lives. And he's calling her Marjorie Traitor Brown for daring to defy him by joining the discharge petition to release the Epstein files. Now Marjorie has fired back to the point of even making a surprise Friday announcement that she is leaving Congress as of January 5th. I'm going to play about a mini a minute of her video which accompanied her exit announcement, which originally posted via Twitter. This is A11.
- [18:03]
Afton Ben
Hi, everyone. I've always represented the common American man and woman as a member of the House of Representatives, which is why I've always been despised in Washington D.C. and just never fit in. Americans are used by the political industrial complex of both political parties election cycle after election cycle in order to elect whichever side can convince Americans to hate the other side more. And the results are always the same.
- [18:31]
Joy Reid
Same.
- [18:31]
Afton Ben
No matter which way the political pendulum swings, Republican or Democrat, nothing ever gets better for the common American man or woman. The debt goes higher. Corporate and global interests remain Washington sweethearts. American jobs continue to be replaced, whether it's by illegal labor or legal labor, by visas or just shipped overseas. Let me know when small businesses continue to be swallowed by big corporations. Americans hard earned tax dollars always fund foreign wars, foreign aid and foreign interest. And the spending power of the dollar continues to decline. The average American family can no longer survive on a single breadwinner's income as both parents have to work in order to simply survive. And today, many in my children's generation feel hopeless for their future and don't think they will ever realize the American dream.
- [19:24]
Joy Reid
Okay, so, you know, she certainly has perfected the oh, I'm every woman act. I'm just, aw shucks, I'm just a little, little old gosh darn normal American. But you know, something about that ordinary gal act has just not been sitting right in my spirit. And I've been, I thought about it over the weekend because something about it was just not feeling right to me. And let me go through a few of the things that are making it seem a little inauthentic. Number one, the timing. Marjorie timed her exit really carefully. AOC pointed this out and I think it's really important to repeat it. Ellie Mostall said it on our Live last week. She timed her exit so that she will be fully vested for her congressional pension. She fully vests on January 6th. That's the five year anniversary of when she walked out of that meeting with Trump and his fellow insurrectionist two days after she was sworn in as a troll turned congresswoman. So she fully gets to be vested. According to the National Taxpayers Union foundation, under federal law, members of Congress qualify for a pension fund funded in part with taxpayer contributions only after completing five full years of service. Green began serving on January 3, 2021. That's two days before that video that I showed you. And her departure date leaves her with 1,829 days of service. That's five years and three days, just enough to meet the eligibility threshold. Her pension would start at $8,717. And at age 62, I think she's 51 now and based on actuarial data, could total more than $265,000 over her lifetime. So the timing of her exit works out pretty well for her financially. And Marge came into office, you know, she was already in a solid place financially. She and her ex husband bought out her father's construction company, for which they took out a PPP loan during the pandemic, which has been fully forgiven. There it is, 183,000 plus dollars in forgiven loans from the SBA. And she got that despite Green herself opposing the same deal for people with student loans. She called relieving student debt unfair. And she's just one of several Republican members of Congress to take advantage of that sweet deal. Courtesy of you, the taxpayer. A bunch of Republicans took advantage of that deal. A14 will show you a list of few of them. There they are. Matt Gates took advantage of it. He got the biggest check, 476,000. And he bounced. After he didn't get to be secretary, he didn't get to be Attorney General. You go down the list, Ver Buchanan, who's actually already pretty rich, he got $2.8 million. Actually, he got a lot. Roger Williams of Texas got 1.43 million. You see what, you see where I'm going here? All these Republicans, they ate off of the offensive, off of the government teeth. They were all sucking down that money. And in addition to the money that she got free from the sba, Marge has really done well in the stock market over her five short years in Congress. According to this site called Quiver Quantitative, which tracks the stock trades of elected officials, Marjorie Taylor Greene's net worth has ballooned from an estimated $700,000 when she walked into Congress to an estimated $25 million today. Now, this is not my data, this is Quiver Quantitative's data. But it's showing her net worth skyrocketing based on a lot of trading activity, like really heavy trading volume. If you look at her trading activity, if you go on that site, you'll see that she had this interesting spike this year, right? Including what appear to be trades in Bitcoin and the online security company Crowdstrike. So she trades a lot and she's made a lot of money. A16 will show you the trading volume. And Marge, like so many members, is doing these investments. There you go. Look at that spike at the end. You see that little chart at the end? She blew up loon. She trades a lot. And Marge, like so many members, is doing these investments because there is no law that bars members of Congress from buying stock in companies that they may be passing laws to regulate. She's far from alone in playing the market while also making the laws. But Greene also sits on some pretty heavy hitting committees. Her committee assignments include the House Committee on Homeland Security, the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Accountability. Those are just some of her committees. Did I mention that that CrowdStrike investment. There's our committees. She also is the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, AKA Doge, meaning the committee's the committee whose job it is to make the Elon Musk Doge cuts into law. And by the way, without notice, another thing happened this past week that a lot of people didn't pay much attention to. Doge. The thing that Marjorie Taylor Greene sits on the committee to make their cuts into law. It went poof. It got doged. It went away. Voila. Just as quickly as it swept in to destroy the federal government. The fake agency is gone. It's disappeared. Just like Marjorie's congressional clique of congressional career soon will also do. Doge disappeared after accomplishing its mission right. Elon got our data, his Doge kids got federal paychecks and probably also our data. And now Marge and Doge can move on to lucrative podcast careers or whatever it is they want to do. Bank heist complete. We're also going to get definitive data on how much loot Marge is actually collected whilst in Congress because she still has to file a financial disclosure, even though she's leaving on January 5, that on May 15 she has to file a financial disclosure. Those are the rules. And she's still also required as a member of Congress to disclose her stock trades no more than 45 days after each trade. And that's how that company got her data. Right? And Marjorie, even with $25 million net worth, she's not even close to the richest member of Congress. Not even close. Look at this. Also from this quaver quantitative Jim justice, the governor turned senator from largely impoverished West Virginia, is worth $644 million. Rick Scott, whose health care company pleaded out to record Medicaid and Medicare and Tricare fraud before Florida elected him governor and then senator. He's worth north of $500 million. But as part of the multi multi millionaires club, Marge definitely benefited personally from that permanent Trump tax cut that she and her fellow Republicans universally voted to give to their rich donors and in many cases to themselves. No wonder they called it big and beautiful. It was certainly beautiful for them. And while she complains a lot about what her kiddo cannot afford when it comes to health care. That supposedly beautiful bill that she voted for gutted not just a trillion dollars out of Medicaid, nearly a trillion out of Medicaid, hurting the poor and rural people like those in her supposedly beloved constituency in her rural Georgia district, but also hurt her kids by killing the Obamacare premium supports that made health care coverage affordable for them and other people who don't have $25 million in stock wealth like Marjorie Taylor Greene. Oh, and yes, there's a shakeout happening in MAGA between the pro and anti Israel iterations and a breach over the Epstein files and all that. But the real story here is the grift that keeps on grifting and sorry, but Marjorie is all a part of it. Joining me now to discuss all the things, Christina Greer, Associate professor of Political Science at Fordham University Lincoln Center Manhattan Campus and co host of the FAQ NYC Politics podcast. And Rick Wilson. I don't know if Rick is here yet. Ricky Wilson. There he is. Ricky Wilson, my pal. Hello, my friend. Hello, my friend. Political and media strategist and the fun guy from the Lincoln Project. I call you the fun guy from the Lincoln Project. I'm gonna start with you first, Rick, because I just, I, I heard that she was leaving and I thought, oh, she's running for Senate. Then AOC disabused me of that. I was like, oh, she, maybe she's running for governor. You know, I guess Trump talked her down from those things. That's what AOC t is. But to me, it looks like she just got the, she took the cash and bounced.
- [27:21]
Rick Wilson
You know, look, I, I saw a lot of people taking the bait. Like she's on our side now. Marjorie Taylor Greene is an opportunist of the highest order. And like Trump, she's not an intellectual. She's not like a bright person. She's not like Roger Taylor Greene doesn't think in like a 10 year strategic plan. She's crafty and she's kept some, some options open for someday in this, like, this world. She imagines where Trump is gone someday, but the combination of the pension vesting and the fact that she's now made more money than she ever thought she was going to make in her life and she could retire right now and live off the, live off what the, what her stock investments throw off. Oh, come on. That's Occam's razor of politically shitty people.
- [28:08]
Joy Reid
Exactly. I mean, and she's not alone, Chrissy. I just, I don't want you to think I'm just picking on her. There's a congressman named Bresnahan who literally dumped stock after investing. Basically, he bet against Medicaid in the stock market. Now he's going to reap money off that. Like, they're literally cutting Medicaid, betting on its downfall and investing accordingly because they know they're cutting Medicaid. Christina Yeah.
- [28:34]
Christina Greer
And so, you know, our colleague Clay Kane wrote a book called the Grift. And, you know, I just, it's so blatant. And then we ask ourselves, why is it that people aren't interested in politics? And the, the catch 22 is the people who would make the rules to make sure that they don't enrich themselves are the same people who are enriching themselves. So, you know, when my students ask, like, why don't we have age limits for members of Congress? It's like, well, the people who would actually vote to, say 70 or 75 is the age limit are the septuagenarians and the octogenarians who would essentially be writing, you know, the notice to get themselves unemployed. So it's the same thing about this betting on the stock market. You know, in the past, I mean, when things weren't as complicated, I guess you will, with crypto and all these other things. We know that people did this, especially when it was majority white men. I mean, that's how they enriched themselves and that's how they got there in the first place. And it's they and their friends sort of kept this cycle going. But now when you have a president whose taxes we still have not seen, right. We've gone so far from Jimmy Carter selling that poor peanut farm to a president who at first we thought, remember, Joy, I remember talking to you about this on your show about the Trump Hotel. We thought that was the most egregious sort of money grab that we saw in Washington, D.C. but so blatant, you know, wasn't this issue insider outsider trading that Martha Stewart got caught holding the bag for? But now it's just, well, why not? It's sort of like doping. If everyone else is doing it, are you going to be the one fool who's not doing it? And a lot of members of Congress are like, no, I'm not. I'm actually going to do it.
- [30:06]
Joy Reid
I mean, you've got Kristi Noem apparently directing Rick, you know, money to affirm that she's connected to. She's got all of this. She's going on every fun vacation with her boyfriend during her Job, you know, she's. I have to play this video. This is 8, 23 days. Whenever you get it, she and Cash Patel are like partying it up.
- [30:27]
Mark Thompson
Vegas.
- [30:28]
Joy Reid
They are dying. Is making, you know, federal law enforcement protect his girlfriend, flying her around on federal. What is happening? Go ahead, Rick.
- [30:49]
Rick Wilson
Oh, you know, look, the, the corruption of this administration is a feature, not a bug. Yeah, the corruption, this administration is so extensive in so many ways that that again, as Christina pointed out, it's like, oh, we thought the Trump Hotel was bad. Add a zero after whatever they made, we're talking. The corruption is now in the billions, not in the millions. And, and, and so I think one of the things we got to look at in the coming campaign cycle, if I'm a Democratic candidate, I know there, look, Republicans and Democrats both do this, folks. Nobody's, nobody's got clean hands on the stock trading in the, in the, in the, in Congress. But if you're a Democrat running, just say it right now. I won't trade stocks when I'm in Congress.
- [31:33]
Joy Reid
Right.
- [31:33]
Rick Wilson
I'll get it. I'll have a 401k and I'll let somebody else manage it. I'll do a blind trust, whatever it is. I will not fiddle with stock trades because the corruption in Washington is what's causing the, the, the, the things that Trump is doing are very bad. But the other stuff in Washington where nothing gets done, it's part of that. It's part of these people thinking, I don't want to make a, any lobbyist mad because I might want a job with them after. I don't want to screw up a stock trade. I'm going to do, you know, on this defense contractor because, you know, I'm going to make a good amount of money on it. It's all got to stop. We got to clean up our house, and Democrats need to clean up their house in advance so we can hang it around the necks of these Republican candidates that are running scared.
- [32:17]
Joy Reid
Yeah. I mean, there's a reason why, you know, Ossoff in Georgia, you know, put a lot of his, you know, sort of leverage behind pushing the stock act and bar this. And it's kept him clean of a lot of this stuff, you know. And, you know, Christina, it is a thing where MAGA on the outside looks like its main purpose is like racism or neo Nazism or whatever. And that is starting more and more to feel like that's just the selling points to people who don't really pay attention to politics but really hate brown immigrants. Right. What's really happening behind the scenes is while they are doing these performatively, incredibly cruel things to brown and black people and making black people all get unemployed because that just makes their base feel good. Behind the scenes, it's just theft. It's just a bank robbery. They're just, from Trump on down, they're just cleaning out the bank.
- [33:13]
Christina Greer
Well, Joy, this is my favorite LBJ quote that I paraphrase all the time in my favorite president. But he says if you can convince the poorest white man that he's better than the Negro, then you can pick his pockets all day long. He says, hell, he'll even open up his pockets for you and empty them for you. And we've seen this time and time again. We, whether it's gun control, whether it's health care, whether it's housing subsidies, you name it, all Republicans have done to their base is say the boogeyman. Is this right? These immigrants have taken your jobs before was these black people took your jobs? They're getting a little uppity. You saw Barack Obama and the cadre of educated black people he had around them. Now we had Kamala Harris. So these fears have everyone focusing over here. While your life hasn't gotten better, your children aren't safer in school, you don't have better job prospects, you don't have factories that are staying, you don't have an ability to buy a house. And you can blame it on everybody, but you're not blaming it on the Republican Party that's constantly enriching themselves and making laws to keep you poor. So this idea that MAGA Republicans, that that faction has now become the large part of the party, it's an old trope that has just been exacerbated. And, and you just have more and more people where it's like, but you should know better. Like, you're not actually sort of some super uneducated rural person who's always voted, you know, for the Republican Party in the last 50 years. It's like you actually, you work in a factory, you have a middle class job, but you're going to vote against your own. You're going to vote against your own potential health care because they just said, you know, we're giving it to, quote, unquote, illegals, which you have to know is not true. It's just not true. But you'd rather have nothing. And sorry, just the last point. Yeah, we saw this constantly with the civil rights movement in the past, like 75 years, when as social scientists, political scientists, we see this with data all the time. When we ask white Americans, do you want some sort of additive policy, whether it's better schools or, or gun control or health care or whatever it is, housing subsidies. And they're like, yes. It's like, okay, great, so we can do that for everyone. It's like, nevermind, forget it. I'd rather have nothing. So it's like, so you'd rather have. If we know that blacks and Latinos and Asians and the American people are going to get this, this benefit, whatever this policy is, you would rather have nothing at all than to make sure it's for everyone? And they're like, yeah, I would.
- [35:32]
Joy Reid
Well, then how do we break that, Rick? I mean, because you're the, you're the message man here. Because the point is, I was just watching Harry Enton. He's quite entertaining, by the way. Yes, very enthusiastic.
- [35:41]
Rick Wilson
Harry's got, Harry's like born again showbiz lately.
- [35:44]
Joy Reid
He really is. And he was doing his Harry Enton act about crappy. Everyone agrees the economy is. And this includes Republicans who are now also over 50% blame Trump. So now we have this golden moment where everyone hates the economy unless they're really, really rich. How do Democrats message this in a way that gets people to actually finally punish the people who are stealing? How do we get them to stop the steal?
- [36:10]
Rick Wilson
We have to take the thing that empowered Donald Trump way back in 2016. There was a belief that he was uncorruptible and that he would be the one who would stop Washington's corrupt politics. And that was something that a lot of those MAGA voters, they thought he was rich. They thought he was, he was smart. They thought he would do this magical trick where he wouldn't be, he'd be the one guy that Washington couldn't corrupt. Well, what he was, really was, was the most corrupt person who would ever sit in the Oval Office. And I mean that by including you, Ulysses Grant and Grover Cleveland.
- [36:44]
Joy Reid
Ulysses Grant. I like Ulysses Grant.
- [36:46]
Rick Wilson
I know, but, you know, not better on the battlefield than in the Oval. But, but long story short, they now know that this guy is there in Washington pumping the country dry, giving our struggling billionaire class a huge tax cut while screwing them. The tariff war is where I think the Democrats can make a lot of traction here because that was something that. He's made money off of it. They've gotten screwed. Farmers, factory workers all across this country. Democrats need to go in there, I would say not with a suite of like, long, fancy policy, you know, slide show, slide decks, PowerPoints. But go in there and say, we're going to clean this up. We're going to get people back to work. You know, a lot of the things that, that, that a Joe Biden figure was able to do in 2020 set aside all Biden's failings, but Joe Biden connected with working white men and you know, we were able to scooch out a few of those victories. But being back there talking to everybody now, black, white, Hispanic, everybody, We're going to stop this crazy stuff that's killing this country. We're going to stop zip tieing kids on the streets. We're going to stop breaking up families. We going to stop taking people who came here to work and sending them to, to, to th. Countries they've never lived in. We're going to cut it all out. We're going to stop it, we're going to slam the brakes on it because America needs to get back to work. And, and there's no world in which you're going to break through to MAGA unless they feel pain. And this last, this last thing with the, the shutdown, every single poll Democrats made a mistake ending it. But okay, we'll set that aside. Every single poll blamed the Republicans. I'll tell you why Magas don't want to tell you this, but you know what? A higher percentage of those people in red states and red districts were on snap.
- [38:40]
Joy Reid
Yeah.
- [38:41]
Rick Wilson
And Medicare and black people know that. Rick, listen, listen. They want to pretend that doesn't exist. They're always like, well, if it's, if it makes those black people work, that one MAGA guy that went on Fox Business and said, well, you know, a hungry dog will do, will be obedient. I'm like, who the are you talking about? What, what world are you living in, pal? But this idea, I think there's a moment for Democrats to be straightforward, simple language, direct. You talk about the way that this government has hurt them to pay for Elon Musk to own an eighth private jet. A motherfucker. Sorry, excuse me, that guy owns eight private jets.
- [39:23]
Joy Reid
Yeah, yeah.
- [39:24]
Rick Wilson
Okay. This is a world where some, where we get to finally invert the class warfare garbage they've been shoveling down the throats of these, of these Republican and rural voters for 40 years. We get to invert that class war where they're always like, well, you don't, you don't have anything that you want because we're giving it all to those poor people. Now they feel poor because Trump has made them poor.
- [39:51]
Joy Reid
Well, they're the.
- [39:52]
Christina Greer
I mean, those of us who are from New York, we know that he's tanked every business he's ever touched. I mean, how can you tank a casino like it's casinos, like it's nothing but people giving you money.
- [40:01]
Rick Wilson
Certain, right.
- [40:03]
Joy Reid
That you're going to.
- [40:03]
Rick Wilson
Mathematically certain.
- [40:05]
Christina Greer
He's destroyed Atlantic City. Like he's destroyed a whole town, to say nothing of his businesses in New.
- [40:10]
Rick Wilson
York and every other thing. Trump vodka, Trump vitamins, Trump everything. It's all garbage.
- [40:15]
Christina Greer
The stakes, the phones, the water. But I mean, I think also, Joy, you know, Democrats just have a messaging problem. You know, everything's like I call the John Kerry disease, where you want to just describe everything in the greatest detail. And it's like we've seen time and time again, look at the success of the 111th mayor elect of New York City. I have a succinct message. It's three points. Everyone understands it. Right? And so let's not go deep into the weeds and have this larger philosophical, theoretical conversation about what is affordability. It's like, it's affordability. I sent you that picture of Rick. I said, joy, a picture of. I went to my grocery store. There was three Romaine hearts for 999. That's. That's what Democrats need to just show lettuce, expensive lettuce. It's like you're trying to be healthy because you don't have health insurance. But now it's like, just meet people where they are. And so I feel like even when we have these younger politicians who show how a message can break through and break through and efficiently, Democrats then fight that message. And it's like, why are you fighting success? I'm not saying to just transport Mamdani's message to, you know, Virginia, but the.
- [41:22]
Rick Wilson
Great part was that. But the great part was that message worked. You got Virginia, which is a very purple state, and Spanberger is a center left candidate. And you've got New York City, where Mondami is a progressive candidate. And you got New Jersey, which is a left but not too far left.
- [41:39]
Christina Greer
And that I say all states are red states. You just got blue cities to make it blue, but, like, they're all red states.
- [41:45]
Rick Wilson
Okay. Luckily, the Constitution skipped over. We vote for the acreage.
- [41:52]
Joy Reid
I love these two. You guys come back often. Christina and the co founder of the Lincoln Project. And I still say the fun guy from the Lincoln Project. Thank y' all very much. Christina, Rick, thank you all. Come back.
- [42:04]
Rick Wilson
Thank you, Joy.
- [42:04]
Joy Reid
Good time.
- [42:05]
Rick Wilson
Have a great Thanksgiving.
- [42:06]
Joy Reid
Everybody, Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your turkey. Or if you're a vegan, you know, enjoy your bowl of really expensive lettuce. All right, let's take a quick ad break. This episode of the Joy Reid show is brought to you by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Now listen, if there is one thing this year has made super clear, it is that we are in a battle for the soul of American democracy. And as we approach Bill of Rights Day, which falls on December 15, I want you to just think about this. The very first right listed, the one that kicks off the entire Bill of Rights, is the freedom from government imposed religion. But right now, Christian nationalism is making a serious power play in the courts, in your classrooms, and yes, in the Capitol. It is trying to drag us backwards, rewrite the Constitution and silence voices of reason. 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Now I will note that these statements have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and this product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. And now back to the show. Sort of falsity and lie is that it's a push for America first and an end to foreign wars. You know, except when they want war. But it's never as simple as it seems, right Captain No More wars is apparently looking to remake The Mandate of Palestine with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff's investment portfolio backed by a Trump led Department of Peace and maybe even US Troops. US Troops may also be headed to Nigeria, purportedly to protect Christians from persecution by Islamic insurgent groups. And then there's Venezuela, where the so called President of peace is threatening war while blowing up more than 70 fishermen in the Caribbean Sea supposedly to stop a war on the US by Fentanyl that isn't even made in Venezuela. And major airlines have now canceled all flights in and out of Venezuela for fear of elevated military activity. So why is Trump seeking to go after Venezuela? Is it to free the Venezuelan people from the horrors of their dictator Maduro, who is horrific? I doubt it. Venezuelan opposition politician and current Nobel Peace Prize holder Maria Corina Machado has what I think is a clearer answer. Here she is get about Saudi Arabia.
- [48:11]
Kika Matos
Forget about the Saudis.
- [48:13]
Joy Reid
I mean we have more oil, I mean infinite potential.
- [48:19]
Kika Matos
And we're going to open markets, we're going to kick off the government from the oil sector. We are going to privatize all our industry.
- [48:29]
Joy Reid
Venezuela has huge resources, oil, gas, minerals, land, technology.
- [48:35]
Kika Matos
And as you said before, we have.
- [48:37]
Joy Reid
A strategic location, you know, hours from the United States.
- [48:42]
Kika Matos
So we're going to do this right.
- [48:43]
Joy Reid
We know what we have to do.
- [48:44]
Kika Matos
And American companies are in super strategic position to invest. This country, Venezuela is going to be the brightest opportunity for investment of American.
- [48:58]
Joy Reid
Companies, of good people that are going to make a lot of money. Make a lot of money. Good people who are going to make a lot of money. Ms. Machado, no wonder she dedicated her prize to Trump. Do you remember before the Iraq war, what was his name? Chavez. Not Chavez. There was a gentleman that was saying that they wanted to go to war in Iraq. It's the same story. Yeah, the same story. They went in for the oil and remember Trump complained that we didn't take all the oil in Iraq. It's always about the oil. We toppled Iran for the oil. We're now going into Venezuela for the oil. And by the way, I just want to show you guys the top oil producing countries in the world. The people who have the largest proven then proven reserves of oil. You see Venezuela right there at number one, larger proven reserves than Saudi Arabia. You see Iran right there. You see Iraq, you see them there, you see Kuwait. And then look there at number 10, Nigeria. Nigeria. Joining me now is Kikamatos. Her latest piece in Time magazine is titled the Danger of Trump's War Threats. Kika Matos. Thank you welcome back.
- [50:06]
Kika Matos
Thank you for having me, Joy.
- [50:07]
Joy Reid
So talk about this threat to go to war in Venezuela. Did Ms. Machado just sum it up for us that this is all about oil? She didn't.
- [50:19]
Kika Matos
She didn't. It's not just about oil. It's also about power. And it is part and parcel of this administration's efforts to undercut and undermine our democracy and bring about authoritarianism. Because Trump is doing two things at once. First, he's saying that we are apparently are at war with drug cartels, and that allows him to then use the laws of war. Right. So he's, for example, invoked the Alien Enemies act to be able to deport Venezuelans without giving them the right to go before court. And now he's saying that apparently drug traffickers are enemy combatants who are in armed conflict with the United States. So what does that mean? You talked about the number of people who've been killed. Now there have been 83 people who've been killed in 20 boats. Right. And extrajudicial killings are permissible when you're at war. Now there's the war outside, and of course, it's beneficial that Venezuela has, has so much oil. He also wants to deport as many Venezuelans as possible. So there's that war that he alleges is taking place outside, and then there's the war from within. And recall that when he went and gave that speech in front of all those four star generals, what did he talk about? He talked about a war within. Right. And said, we're going to use cities as testing grounds. And a war from within is targeting immigrants and it's targeting people who support immigrants. Why? Because he wants to advance an authoritarian framework on the backs of immigrants.
- [51:58]
Joy Reid
And, you know, we. And Jason, you know, did the reminder that, you know, we've been down this road before with Iraq, Another war not declared by Congress, in which Congress expanded the ability of the president at that time, George W. Bush, to use all of the tools of war against a country that had not declared war on us and that we had not declared war on formally. And all of the stuff is back, as you said, the whole idea of enemy combatants, the idea that you can wage this war in any time and place of the President's choosing with no constraints, really, by Congress. And Trump is now using that same formula which those of us who were against the Iraq war, this is why we were against it, because we knew that future presidents would just take this and carbon copy it onto another people. In the case of Venezuela, is the idea the same as Iraq occupation and then the privatization of their oil companies.
- [52:52]
Kika Matos
I think the idea behind Venezuela and idea behind declaring drug cartels as enemy combatants is all about consolidating power. Right. And it's all about being able to carry out extrajudicial killings. It's all about being able to invade Venezuela. Right. For all intent and purposes, if we look at what's happening to Venezuela, what is it? 15,000 troops have already been deployed and they're sort of lurking out there and there's all of this military equipment just off the coast of the Caribbean. Right? The Caribbean and the Pacific. Strikes have taken place, I think, as a warning. So what do I think? Oh, and then apparently today the administration designated Cartel de Soles as a foreign terrorist organization. And apparently Maduro is the head of the Cartel de Soles. So it is this march towards war, but it's also a march towards authoritarianism, which is why all of us should be concerned. Because at the same time that he's doing that, look at what happened in Charlotte, North Carolina last week. He sent Customs and Border Patrol there. He has now sent the National Guard to five cities. The Customs and Border Patrol head is now heading to Louisiana and Mississippi. And that is also the march towards authoritarianism. Within already 400,000 people have been deported, 170 US citizens have been detained, scheduled for deportation. That is what keeps me up at night. It is not just about what's happening on the outside and what he wants Venezuela. It's also what's happening within and what's around, around the corner. And I fear that what's around the corner is an effort to undermine the midterm elections.
- [54:46]
Joy Reid
Oh, for sure. And I mean, and also what's ironic, given the fact that Donald Trump did win a raw number, a raw majority of Latino, you know, voters, Hispanic men, is that they are being hyper targeted because they, they're actually the largest non white minority and are the group of Americans who are producing the decline of white Americans out of the majority because of birth rates and younger age, et cetera. And so you have this interesting or horrific thing where you're kind of demonizing all Latinos to hyper target them for mass deportation, detention and extradition. And Venezuela is interesting because Venezuelans came here largely because of Hugo Chavez. And they were. A lot of Venezuelans came and fled to Miami. You know, they call west, Western Florida, West Consuela, because there's so many Venezuelans who live there, who came there and brought a lot of cash, bought a lot of homes for cash, moved to Venice and Got amnesty to come here, very broad amnesty, similar to Cubans, because they were anti communist. Then you have Trump and those guys sitting that somehow Venezuela, if you guys remember this, was behind the so called stolen election. They're claiming that the machine that somehow, secretly, somehow stole the election were related to Venezuela and the late Chavez. Right. And they put Venezuela in the middle of his quote, unquote, stop the steal conspiracy theories. And now if you want to deport a lot of Latinos all at once, the biggest group you can get besides Cubans are Venezuelans. If you want to do mass deportation, you want to brown a lot of brown people to go away, you got to get them. So it feels like the perfect storm that's targeting brown people.
- [56:30]
Kika Matos
Yeah, revoke temporary protected status, which is a status that you can give to people who are undocumented in the country when their countries are facing, for example, a natural disaster or some kind of civil conflict. So hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans benefited from temporary protected status. And one of the first things that this administration did and has been doing is to get rid of temporary protected status. And it will come as no surprise to you. In many countries with a majority population of people of color, including Venezuelans, it is no coincidence that the first thing he did after he invoked the Alien Enemies act and the Alien Enemies act, in essence, it's a wartime authority that allows the government to deport people who are considered to be the enemy without due process. No matter how long you've been here, you can just be picked up and deported. So what did he do? He invoked the Alien Enemies Act. He rounded up hundreds of Venezuelans and he sent them to El Salvador to that terrible center where they faced tremendous amounts of abuses. And then eventually some wheeling and dealing happened and many of those Venezuelans were then sent to Venezuela. So the target now is on Venezuelans. I think the target is going to continue to spread because the other thing he's intent on doing is on deporting 1 million people. That is his goal before the end of the year. And I think when they think about undocumented immigrants, the stereotype is a Mexican or a brown Latino looking man. And that's part of the reason why they are upping their levels of aggression. And the interesting thing is that the pendulum has started to swing the other way. I was disheartened by how many Latinos voted for Trump because I thought, he's going to come after you. And now we saw in the recent elections that a lot of Latinos now have started to swing in the Other direction, because they have seen what this man and his administration has done to immigrants, particularly Latino immigrants.
- [58:49]
Joy Reid
Yeah, wait till they see the internment camps. This is what happened with Japanese Americans during World War II. And Donald Trump is nothing if not somebody who likes to repeat anything that's close to the 1930s. And so that. And they've already started to build internment camps in Texas and in Florida. I remember Alligator Alcatraz. The goal also is going to be internment. Right. Because this is about ethnic cleansing. I spoke with a member of, of Congress who said she agrees, who's Latina, who says, yeah, it's ethnic cleansing. Reduce the numbers of brown people. And you can't do with Mexican Americans because, hate to break it to y', all, but this was Mexico before, so they're, they're all from here. You know, they're not, they're not immigrants, so you can't get Puerto Ricans either. Also, it's territory. So, last question. What would a war if, you know, do with me, what would that look like if we wind up invading Venezuela? By the way, Venezuela is right next to Guyana, which Venezuela keeps wanting to invade because it also has oil. And Esquibo used to be part of Venezuela, so there's oil next to oil. What is an invasion in a war like that? What would that look like?
- [59:55]
Kika Matos
I don't know. That's a really good question. But what it looks like to me, it will look like efforts to get rid of Maduro, and it'll be efforts. Look like efforts to try to get access to as much oil as possible. Right. And then the question that I have is, how does that impact the rest of the region? Because at the end of the day, what is happening now is, is really an effort to flex the US's military muscle to say, we're coming after you. Right. But Venezuela is also a big country.
- [60:30]
Joy Reid
Yeah.
- [60:31]
Kika Matos
No, let's go back. You've talked about Iraq. Let's go back to Iraq. Venezuela is a very big country. I remember Bush putting up the Mission Accomplished. I could similarly see any efforts to try to invade Venezuela will likely meet with some level of resistance. And the population in Venezuela is quite big.
- [60:52]
Joy Reid
It's quite big. And it didn't work out so well what we did in Iraq. And Maduro, as wicked as he is, is preparing for war. Kika Matos, who is the president of the National Immigration Law Center. Thank you very much. We're going to put up your piece on the substack so people can read it. Thank you very much.
- [61:09]
Kika Matos
Thank you. And have a Good time.
- [61:11]
Joy Reid
Thank you, you all. We don't want this. I thought Donald Trump was supposed to end the foreign wars, but as I've counted so far, he wants to invade Greenland, Panama, occupy Panama to get control of the Panama Canal. He wants to put troops on the ground in Nigeria. He wants to remake the mandate of Palestine, putting US Troops in charge of guarding Jared Kushner's new real estate development, putting himself in charge of this Department of Peace, meaning he and Witkoff will also be making coin off of the dead bodies, you know, so the ghost of the Palestinians there. He wants to hand Ukraine over to Russia and then now also invade Venezuela. So much for peace. Welcome to hour two of the Joy Reid show. Hopefully you guys are enjoying the troll free, free environment in the chat. Our goal was to sort of decrease the trolling, so we wanted to make sure that we did that. So you guys let us know if you're always enjoying the. The reduction in troll volume by making it subscribers only. And if you want to jump in and chat with the really fun people in our TJRS chat, they're really fun people. I loved. I sneak over and I look at the chat. Y' all see me looking off to the side a lot because I'm looking at the chat and seeing all the fun things that you guys are talking about. Oh, we got the Lemon Nation. Our Lemon Nation folks here. If you're from the Lemon Nation, shout it out because we love to have our Lemon Nation friends in the house. Don Lemon and I, we have a, we have a. We have a bond. Those of us who are in the Lemon Nation fan group, you guys, please shout out yourselves as well. If you're Jim Acosta fans, if you're, if you're members of the Jim Acosta gang, also shout yourselves out because we are, we are a trio on breaking news nights. So. And I want to remind you guys also, please, if you guys would like to chat, just subscribe. That's all you have to do. You can hear, you can hear what we're. We're seeing up for you guys in the background. But I wonder, have you guys ever wondered whether the numerous bots control you on any pro democratic or any post or real people going on in the background? Hold on. I wonder that as well. You guys are seeing that what we're going to be getting very soon. Oh, are we going to go to the. Okay, we're going to come back to it. We're going to come back to it because I have a question. Then we're going to Go to that live, that live feed if you've ever wondered whether a lot of them are real or bots. How about option number three, as discovered by our friends on Midas touch. This is C1.
- [63:41]
Midas Touch Host
Is freaking out right now because Twitter, which prefers to identify as X, released this new feature in which you could actually see the country of origin of an account. And it's now being revealed that a lot of these Maga accounts out there with hundreds of thousands of followers that have a big influence online are actually based in other countries. The way my jaw stayed in place. So I could literally go through like a thousand of these accounts. But I'll show you just a few. Like this account, America first verified. Well, turns out this account is based in Bangladesh. How about America, ma'? Am, Based in Indonesia. What about Maga, Nadine over here? Oh, it's probably some dude based in Morocco.
- [64:17]
Joy Reid
Okay.
- [64:17]
Midas Touch Host
Mary Tiles, Texas. You sure post a lot of pro Maga stuff online. Oh, wait, you're from Russia.
- [64:23]
Rick Wilson
Interesting.
- [64:23]
Midas Touch Host
Like I said, I could keep going and going. Nigeria. This is a major account that always gets Elon Musk's attention. This is based in India. The Savanka Trump fan account based in Nigeria. This big Maga accounts based in Papua New Guinea. This one's from Serbia. Ultra Maga Trump 2028 Nigeria. Dark Maga coin, Thailand. The Maga Beacon, South Asia.
- [64:45]
Joy Reid
Wow.
- [64:46]
Midas Touch Host
Maga Nation, Eastern Europe. Aaron Trump News, Eastern Europe. I think this definitely confirms what a lot of us thought but couldn't definitively prove. But now this feature is live. If you're on Twitter, if you are an X, you could see this on anybody's accounts. So just think about the foreign influence operations that are happening right now on this app. Think about the lawmakers who feel pressured by accounts like this. Think about the disinformation that spreads as a result of all these accounts out there. So in addition to the foreign influence angle, I actually see a simpler explanation for a lot of these accounts, and that's the fact that X pays their content creators for their posts, specifically their verified content creators who engage with other verified content creators. And. And so in this case, you can imagine somebody living in India or Bangladesh wanting to figure out how they can make a few extra hundred bucks a month, a few extra thousand bucks a month, and realizing that if they spread this Maga propaganda, they are getting checks from Twitter which change their lives if they're living in a country where they would normally live on just dollars a day. And so all this together has just created this really dangerous online landscape. And so it's important that we call it out and it's important that we, we realize that this is going on not just on Twitter, but on all social media apps. Hey, if you like this video, remember to add the Midas Touch podcast right now. Anywhere you find audio podcasts. I'll be back with more updates. So remember to spread the word and follow our account for more.
- [66:03]
Joy Reid
There you go. Yeah, definitely subscribe to Midas Touch. They are an excellent source of news. We also subscribe to them. And hello to everybody from the Lemon Nation. Y' all have been shouting yourselves out. We got some Jim Acosta fans also in the chat. But this is, I think, really important for us to just hold on for just a moment because we start started this show talking about the grift that members of Congress are running, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, where they come in medium middle class. Ish. Or a little upper middle class and they leave really rich. Or they come in really rich and they leave as billionaires. Like they're, you know, getting close to a billionaire. Jim justice is getting close. And they are using their positions in Congress not to serve the people, but to actually cut people's healthcare in order to give themselves and their donors tax cuts, cuts to bet on the stock market, play crypto, do investments, and then write the laws that are literally related to the things that they're investing in. Mark Wayne Mullen is like, notorious for this. If you, if you look at Mark Wayne Mullen's portfolio and then look at the things that he's doing legislatively, they align. He's in there getting rich. They're not there to serve the people. They're there to get rich. And then you have a few who are actual public servants who are usually the poor ones. One of the things that one poster pointed out is that, you know, love him or hate him, Joe Biden made a lot of mistakes. I think his Gaza policy was an abomination. But he was one of the poorest members of the United States Congress, House or Senate. When he was there, though, he was there for like 30 years. He never got to be the richest because he was basically just making his salary and a small number of investments on the side. This guy didn't get rich. He didn't become really rich until he became President of the United States or until he be. And he wrote a book. He got a book deal. Same with Barack Obama. What made Barack Obama finally wealthy was a book deal. They became, when they went over a million, they were normal public servants with normal jobs. But these people These MAGA people are coming in here. Netflix deal, and the Netflix deal is what really made them rich. But that was after they were president. Joe Biden got a huge book deal after he was president. But these people are coming in here, and during their terms, they're getting crazy rich and doing it while giving themselves a huge tax cut. The Senate, supposedly the clean cr. We talked about this on the show, added to it that seven of them get to sue for half a million dollars apiece, and Lindsey Graham is fighting to keep it so that they can then go to the Justice Department and demand a half a million dollars each because their phone records were subpoenaed. Because they were trying to help Trump stay in office forever. Why do they want Trump to stay in office forever when they all hate his guts? Because they're making money with him. They're making money with him. They keep him there because he's making money. Their donors are making money, and the members of Congress are making money, which is why when you have a John Osoff who's like, I pledge to not do this, you need to really keep them. Warnock is a pastor. Pastors make a good living. But they're not. He's not like a 10 trillionaire. He's not like super rich because he's just a regular guy. And there are very few who stay regular. And you need to really start looking at the portfolios of your members of Congress, House or Senate, regardless of the party. Are they getting rich? Sure. Because most of them are already millionaires, by the way. The majority of people. Chucky Schumer, how much money you make it, buddy? How much is coming in? I think you should want to know. This is. Somebody said they are the swamp. Lisa Gee, seven. Yes, this is the swamp. Donald Trump promised to drain the swamp. He's drained it into his pockets. He's drained the swamp into his pockets. They're all getting rich. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump walk out, and Kushner gets 2 billion. The former Treasury Secretary gets a billion from the Saudis. They're all getting paid. They're all getting money. While they're taking away your little subsidies for your little Obamacare, they're taking away your little rural hospital's Medicaid funding. They're eating up. They're eating off the poor, stealing from the poor and giving to the rich. And Trump is now doing it, like, brazenly and building himself a golden ballroom, which he's claiming you're not going to pay for. Who do you think is going to pay for the construction. You're going to pay for it. He's going to build an arc to Trump. Cash. Patel is partying with his girlfriend, having our federal law enforcement protect his girlfriend, flying in federal planes so that he can go on a date with her. They're all in Vegas right now, chilling on your dime.
- [70:27]
Mark Thompson
They're doing a double date.
- [70:29]
Joy Reid
Doing a double date. Christine, Chris, Corey, Lewandowski and her. Chilling on your dime. She gets with three private planes to fly around. Why does she need that Tom Holman bag of cash. Tom, how many of his friends that gave him the $50,000 in cash did he hook up with these internment camp deals? So all these private prison companies who all gave to Trump, one hand washes the other. The private prison companies give money to Trump. Then Trump suddenly decides mass detention. Put them in a private prison. They get money. They barely feed them. It's like slavery. Then they're doing these patrols that look like slave patrols, dragging women and children out of their homes with no warrants and then detaining them while they're detained. Who's getting money off of that? The people who feed the private prison. The people who make the food. Everybody's getting. Everybody's eating except you. Everybody's eating except you. It's the great people calling it the great. They call them the great Fatsby. They call the. They call. What is the good sound effect for that? They call him the Great Fatsby. That's what they're calling Trump. He's stealing. Stop the steal. Now, luckily, there are some. Oh, I got. That was pretty weak. There are some real humans who are actually working on the pro democracy, anti theft, anti fascist side. And I want to go live real quick. Let's go live to North Carolina where Bishop William Barber and repairs of the breach are doing. They're doing actual real life activism. Jason jumped into that live earlier, so we're going to jump into it again so you guys can take a look. There are people who are actually trying to do something. Oh, no, he's not. He's not there yet. But I think we're just going to look at the. We're going to look at the live shot. Okay, we'll take a look at that live shot and then talk to. To Mark Thompson, Our buddy, the Reverend Mark Thompson hosted the make it Plain podcast. And we're going to show y' all repairs of the breach and Bishop Barber, folks, there it is. So this is the event that they're having, which we're going to go to live and just take a Look at it, look, see at it for just a hot minute and see what it's looking like. They are. We're going to come back to, you know, good service always keeps growing. All right, so let's bring in Mark Thompson who is, is joining us to talk about the, the kind of real activism versus the theft economy that's been created by the other side. Mark, it's always good to see you.
- [72:52]
Mark Thompson
Good to see you too, Joy. Glad to join you. I was supposed to be in Charlotte with the good people tonight. I just couldn't, couldn't work it out. But now we can do everything virtually.
- [73:02]
Joy Reid
Yes.
- [73:02]
Mark Thompson
And so here we are. I see Bishop Barber on screen. I'm trying to get a sense of what time he'll go to the pull pit in case we want to throw to him. But as as many of you have been hearing, it was this operation called Charlotte's Web. And once again here is ICE going into communities and rounding up people. The numbers say there were about 370 people rounded up but maybe only 100 if that actually had some type of real law enforcement issue. And you know, I think we have to be honest with ourselves. These things are meaningless. They don't yield the return. I think that people would expect or that the arrest themselves warrant or the surveillance and the occupation. The military like military style occupation is disproportionate to the return in terms of actual so called criminals and people who break the law. But it's, it's, it's, it's, it's a distraction from Epstein, from everything else that's going on. Special election in Tennessee which is going to get handed to him again. It's a distraction from other things that have been going on. The court said he could not occupy communities like he did in Washington D.C. the first federal court said that it, it distracts what the judges said in Texas, it distracts from that. And, and today even I'm sure he'd love for this to distract from the charges being dropped between, with, with Comey and Tis James. Now they're claiming that they have pulled back, that they have withdrawn but that is not true. Even the sheriff in Mecklenburg county says that's not true. There is still a presence there and kudos to all those in law enforcement. I think I have this right. I think the sheriff pushed back himself as well. But what we are watching is the, is the event in, at the church in Charlotte where at First Baptist Church west in Charlotte, North Carolina where they're having a rally. And what's beautiful about it is you can see the diversity of the crowd. This is not folks. These are not just folks who speak Spanish. There are people white, black, and otherwise who are standing with our brown and Latino and Hispanic sisters and brothers. And that's what every community ought to do. And this is what more. This is more on Monday. This is what more Monday is about. This is what public theology about. Is about. This is what Dr. King gave his life for, for the beloved community. And Bishop Barb and others, as you can see on the screen, are doing that just now.
- [75:47]
Joy Reid
Yeah. And the reality is that, you know, what they're doing to brown people is literally just a rehearsal for what they want to do to all Americans who oppose them. The idea is to create a compliant population, regardless of race, who will not push back, as they are literally busting open the vault and stealing every dime, taking away health care, taking away the livelihoods of farmers, taking away the livelihoods of ranchers, and then claiming that they're going to give a tariff rebate that is double the amount they've taken in. In tariffs. So you'd have to go into further debt to even afford to give the rebate because the tariffs have taken in, like, 100 billion, and they're talking about spending 300 billion on SOPOs and rebates, which would literally be like me stealing your money and then giving you back $10 of your money.
- [76:36]
Mark Thompson
That's right. That's right.
- [76:38]
Joy Reid
Theft. And they're doing all of this to placate people who are clearly waking up to the fact that this is just a bank robbery that looks like a presidency.
- [76:49]
Mark Thompson
Right. And. And he's. He obviously, he also is. Is making every effort to. To confuse, to divide and, and, and conquer. That is. That is really where we are, and that's what we have to be concerned about. And so I'm just. I'm. I'm. I'm buoyed, and I hope others are buoyed by what is taking place in Charlotte tonight. And this is just one place. This is happening in a lot of communities. Chicago stood up. Other people have stood up. So I don't think it's going to work. And so to be clear, y', all, the proof that it's not working, the proof in the pudding, is that he's got to redistrict, because if this was working, if this is what it's supposed to be and it's effective, you don't have to redistrict. You don't have to do anything. So. So that's what he's doing. And I'm glad communities are standing up. And I hope others will take advantage and take heed and model what we're seeing in Charlotte and other cities.
- [77:46]
Joy Reid
I mean, the reality is, I think. Right. Well, Donald Trump believes he can choose somebody on Fifth Avenue and he would still not lose a supporter. So he assumed he could deport people's abuelas and abuelos and girlfriends and wives and. And not lose a single Hispanic supporter. They just assumed that they're all going to behave like the Cubans in Miami, no matter how much you beat them up and hurt them. But what you don't have to understand is Cubans actually have flipped before. Even. Even Cubans voted in a majority for Obama because they were angry at George W. Bush for making it more difficult for them to send money home to Cuba to their families. And when they did that, you had Cuban Americans, Republicans burning their Republican voter ID cards in Miami, Florida. And then Obama comes along and actually wins outright Cuban Americans in 2020.
- [78:30]
Mark Thompson
That's right.
- [78:31]
Joy Reid
Done. And what. And there's no permanent interests or permanent. There's only permanent interests, not permanent allies. And I think what's so interesting is that the break in the economy, the fact the economy is so horrible and everyone's experiencing it the same way, the rising unemployment, the inability to find work, to get jobs, to survive, combined with the lies about the Epstein files, it's just utter hypocrisy where people who've been honors who believe there was a global conspiracy of pedophiles, only to find out there was a global conspiracy of pedophiles and Trump, rather than exposing it, is protecting it, I feel like is lethal for Trump's politics.
- [79:11]
Mark Thompson
Yeah. No, no, you're absolutely right. And again, that. That's a distraction. You can't focus on the forest for the trees. And. And the forest being what he and Epstein were really up to now. Now, y', all, I don't think he just did that willingly. Released. Release the files. They've got 30 days to do it. Let's see what really happens.
- [79:31]
Joy Reid
Yeah.
- [79:31]
Mark Thompson
Over the next 30 days, Joe, I have some numbers on. On Charlotte. In particular, please. The Department of Homeland Security has said that the operation. Operation Charlotte's Web target.
- [79:43]
Joy Reid
Cor.
- [79:43]
Mark Thompson
Quote, violent criminal aliens. And they released Profiles of about 20 individuals with convictions for serious crimes like domestic violence, assault, DUI and dui. Now, some of the internal reports and legal aid documents indicate that fewer than one third of those arrested of the 300. Something like I said, about 100.
- [80:05]
Joy Reid
Right.
- [80:05]
Mark Thompson
Had any prior criminal record record. The majority, 65% were arrested solely for similar immigration violations just being undocumented. Many were collateral arrests. People just happened to be around when, when, when the, when the arrests were were taking place. Here's some local reporting. 16 year old boy was reported arrested while working at a grocery store. Many arrests occurred in public parking lots such as Home Depot. So that's where the day workers are. People go to Home Depot. When you see the brother standing outside, that's a day worker waiting for construction and landscaping work. Two women were arrested and had their vehicle windows smashed by agents after they honked their car horns to warn neighbors of the agent's presence. There are reports of a deportation trap where individuals attending routine immigration court hearings expecting due process were arrested by plainclothes agents in the hallways or shortly after leaving the courtroom. See, and what that does is that's why people stop, stop sending their kids to school.
- [81:08]
Joy Reid
Right?
- [81:08]
Mark Thompson
That's some businesses closed because all these traps out here. Now the, the, the, the nationals that DHS has identified so far have been those from the Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, grocery stores, construction sites, Home Depot, apartment complexes, gas stations, and even near churches. Many of these agents are folks in, in tactical gear, some in plain clothes. And the press down in Charlotte describes them using blitz like in football. They use blitz tactics in public areas rather than solely targeting specific homes with, with warrants. We don't have a full list of all the names. Some of the 370 arrestees have been transferred out of state to private detention facilities in Georgia and it is unclear how many have already been deported. So we, we, we just don't know. And this is, this is, this is appalling. It is. This is not on the week of Thanksgiving, which often I like to call thanks taking. And I renew that tonight because they're taking people. That's not Thanksgiving, that's thanks taking. Yeah, as long as that is happening, we're not. So I think Bishop Barb is up at the, at the pulpit if you want to.
- [82:31]
Joy Reid
Yeah, let's listen in. Let's listen in.
- [82:39]
Mark Thompson
I'm quite sure that that was an impromptu request. So you got another one coming tonight. Come on, stand up here with me. Nobody stands alone.
- [82:49]
Joy Reid
Amen.
- [82:49]
Mark Thompson
I want you to stand with me. Would you help me? There is a scripture in the Bible that's honored by Christians, grace and peace, that's honored by Jews, Shalom, that's honored by Muslim brothers and sisters as salam alaikum. That's honored by almost every faith tradition and even those who may not have a particular faith tradition, but they honor the fact that there is a moral arc of the universe. And Dr. Woods, it might be long, but it always ends up bending towards justice. I want you to hear it tonight in the Message Bible. Thousands and thousands of people are listening to us online even as we're here today. It says in the Message Bible, in chapter 5, verse 10, actually verse 9, God could destroy this as easily as he has made it. God could turn this vast wonder into total waste. Now, people hate this kind of talk because raw truth is never popular. But here is some raw truth, bluntly spoken, because you run roughshod over the poor and because you take the brave bread right out of their mouth.
- [84:32]
Joy Reid
Jason, can we boost that volume a tiny bit?
- [84:34]
Mark Thompson
You, as a.
- [84:35]
Rick Wilson
That's all we have.
- [84:38]
Joy Reid
That's all the volume we have.
- [84:39]
Mark Thompson
Luxury homes you have built. You're never going to drink wine from the expensive vineyards you planted. In other words, you're going to have a constant.
- [84:48]
Joy Reid
Okay, we're going to have to come back from it because. Yeah, the volume is just a little too low. I think folks can't hear it.
- [84:53]
Mark Thompson
Precisely the.
- [84:54]
Joy Reid
So, Mark, let's talk about the enormity, the reason that this is happening tonight in Charlotte. We're gonna. We're gonna come off of it just because the volume is really low. What is the purpose of this event tonight?
- [85:14]
Mark Thompson
Tonight, the purpose is to rally this local community to stand in solidarity with those who are being targeted by ice, to provide support for some of the families that are victimized in this and to show a show of resistance to ice, to Trump, to the way people are being treated in this moment. You know, W.E.B. du Bois had it saying, you have to fight even if you lose. People have to see that blood was spilt on their behalf, on the ground. And that's not literal, but it's figurative and metaphorical. This is an example of what communities must do, what communities must do in this hour and in this moment. And I'm be honest with you, you and I have relationship with Bishop Barber. That's our man. You don't go to North Carolina and not expect somebody like him to mobilize. This is where he made his bones. This is where he cut his political organizing teeth. Moral Monday was one of the biggest phenomenon over the past two decades. And so the. The infrastructure is there to mobilize people and organize people. And I think every opportunity we can take to do that and provide a template for other communities. You know, this is what happened in civil rights movement Montgomery provided a template that was then able to be taken to Birmingham, that was then able to be taken to Selma and other cities in Atlanta and Albany and even Chicago, where Dr. King went in 1966. So we need, we cannot stop organizing. And as I said last time we talked, Joy, you know, sometimes we get euphoric just on election Day and then that's it.
- [87:00]
Joy Reid
Right.
- [87:01]
Mark Thompson
This was a big election, and we had a reason to be euphoric. But, but politics is eternal vigilance. As Frederick Douglass said, we must continue to organize, organize, organize, and never stop. This is not, this is not something we're just going to vote away. We've got to show organized resistance on the ground. And those numbers I just read you, that's, that's the, the, even some of the mainstream corporate coverage is disproportionate to what's really going on. Trump is, is building a reel. He just wants to show, like, an episode of Cops, folks getting rounded up.
- [87:34]
Joy Reid
Right.
- [87:34]
Mark Thompson
He wants to use that to mobilize his MAGA base, or at least the MAGA base who hasn't awakened to the fact that they don't have no money. I'm sorry, my mother would give me, for you, some bad English. They ain't got no money. So let me say it that way. So, so, you know, back to the OBJ statement you and I always talk about. You know, you can, you can pick a man's pocket as long as you convince him that he's better off than the lowest black man. But in this case, in this moment, in this decade, can pick his pocket and convince him that he's better off than the lowest black man, the lowest immigrant, the lowest woman in anybody in that category of historically discriminated against people. And so this is an effort to really, you know, beat the bushes. We lift up the name of Reverend Jackson, you all, who was in the hospital, but, you know, he used to always quote the scripture about just rocks laying around and, and David picking up the rock to slay Goliath. If we don't organize, we're just, we're just, we're just locked rocks laying ground.
- [88:34]
Joy Reid
Yeah. And by the way, I will note for everybody, if you will recall, that Barack Obama actually won North Carolina in 2008 by about 90,000 votes. And then when they lost, it wasn't by that many votes. But Bishop Barber was already organizing on the ground in terms of getting North Carolinians registered to vote and getting people to understand their power. That Moral Mondays movement, which launched itself to try to demand health care and demand Obamacare for North Carolina. It is one of the reasons that, that North Carolina became one of the first Southern states to actually expand Obamacare to get expanded Medicaid. And that was a fight. It was a fight that the Republicans fought so hard that they actually tried to neuter the governor, let's say that the governor wouldn't have any power anymore and take his powers away so that they couldn't do it. And so, you know, this is a model that, that fight for, that for health care and for living wages has been core to repairs of the breach. I know y' all can hear him in the background, but we're, we're not going to turn it up to full volume, guys, because it's just, it's just not coming in loud enough from North Carolina. That's why we're not actually playing the live video. But mark, it, it is important to keep fighting on this note of keeping the fight going. I want to, because I have you here. You know, we do have some sad news. And, and this one hit me today personally, and I know it's going to hit you the same way that mother Viola Fletcher, Mother Fletcher, who was one of the last three living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. She's passed away. She was just 77 years old when an army of white racists, including law enforcement, even military planes, attacked beautiful Greenwood, Oklahoma, better known as Black Wall street, killing hundreds of people, dumping dozens of people into mass graves, shooting and murdering and driving hundreds of families out of town for good, including Ms. Viola's family. In 2023, the three remaining survivors, including mother Fletcher, her brother Hughes Van Ellis, AKA Uncle Red, who died last year, and mother Lessie Renningfield, who's the final survivor, testified before Congress in their fight for reparations. I want to play a little bit of that. My name is Viola Ford Fletcher. I'm the daughter of Lucinda Ellis and John Wesley Ford of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the sister of Hughes Van Ellis, who is also here today. I'm a survivor of the Tulsa race massacre. Two weeks ago, I celebrated my 107th birthday. Today, I'm visiting Washington, D.C. for the first time in my life. Life. I'm here seeking justice and I'm asking my country to acknowledge what happened in Tulsa in 1921. On May 31, in 21, I went to bed in my family's home in Greenwood. Neighbors of Tulsa, the neighborhood I felt asleep in that night was rich, not just in terms of wealth, but in culture, community, heritage. And my family had a beautiful home we had great neighbors, and I had friends to play with. I felt safe. I had everything a child could need. I had a bright future ahead of me. The night of the massacre, I was awakened by my family. My parents and five siblings were there. I was told we had to leave, and that was it. I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left our home. I still see black men sin being shot, black bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and seafire. I still see black businesses being burned. I still hear airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams. I have lived through the massacre every day. And that was in 2023, Mark. She passed away. And she and the final remaining survivor were still fighting for reparations, which they have not gotten. They've still not gotten. Let me play. Let me read to you what the mayor of Tulsa was. A better mayor than the one they previously had. Today, our city mourns the loss of Mother Viola Fletcher, a survivor of one of the darkest chapters in our city's history. Mother Fletcher endured more than anyone should, yet she spent her life fighting a path, lighting a path forward with purpose. Mother Fletcher carried 111 years of truth, resilience, and grace and was a reminder of how far we've come and how far we must still go. She never stopped advocating for justice for the survivors and descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. And I hope we can all carry forward her legacy with the courage and conviction she modeled every day of her life. On behalf of the city of Tulsa, the mayor says, I offer my heartfelt condolences to our family, loved ones, the Greenwood descendant community, and every Tulsan who saw hope in her journey. Rest in peace, Mother Fletcher. Your thoughts, Mark?
- [93:51]
Mark Thompson
Yep.
- [93:51]
Rick Wilson
She.
- [93:53]
Mark Thompson
To live for a century, to have been a child. When that happens, she's one of the living manifestations of that experience. And, you know, most of our ancestors did not live to tell the story. You know, we. We hear about it, we read about it. It's historically documented. But to have had a living witness in that situation was. Was more than meaningful. And as an activist, she made a tremendous difference. I said to our friend earlier today, I texted him, attorney Demario Solomon Simmons. I said, my brother, we know you're an activist and a lawyer, but the most important thing you did was be a faithful servant to your elders and including her. And I know she appreciated that. So no matter what, she did not get what she deserved here on Earth. But we know, we are certain that she has her reward with. You know, things happen in threes we lost in. In the past 24 hours. Mother Fletcher, Jame. May Allah be pleased with him. And Jimmy Cliff, the great reggae artist. So we say when we pass away, we go from labor to reward. She has her reward that she couldn't get here. But. But what about Marley? Say heaven is here on the earth. We need our reward here while we alive. She deserved it. She did not get it. But in her blessed name forevermore, we will continue to fight for reparations. And if any of you ever on Jeopardy. And you get it, you get a question like this, I want you. It's a bit of trivia. The Great Gap Band is from Tulsa. GAP is an acronym for the intersection of three streets. Greenwood, Archer and Pine Gap.
- [95:48]
Kika Matos
What?
- [95:49]
Mark Thompson
And the song you Dropped a bomb on me is really about what happened when Tulsa was bombed.
- [95:58]
Joy Reid
Wow, wow, wow. Okay, you've blown my mind, Mark. You have brought. My mind is blown.
- [96:05]
Mark Thompson
Okay.
- [96:06]
Joy Reid
My mind is blown. You brought. Whoa, that. That's heavy. Who knew? Mark Thompson with. Before I let you go, my brother, real quick to just go back to politics for just one moment. There are some folks who have. Have thrown out to me the idea that Bishop Barber to go back to Bishop, should run for Congress. If you heard that, because I'm hearing it. I need to ask him. We didn't get him to come on and. And, and answer the question and himself. But that word is in the street, Mark.
- [96:34]
Mark Thompson
Well, actually, not just some people. I had a conversation with Bishop Barber about even running for Senate. Now, you know, I don't know that he's called to do. Do that. You know, when I was in high school, I went to high school, I had to do a thesis, and my thesis was on the last year of Dr. King's life where he was heavily recruited to run for President of the United States on a peace ticket. And he said that just wasn't what he was called to do. Yeah, I don't know. Everybody's not called run for office.
- [97:03]
Joy Reid
Yeah.
- [97:03]
Mark Thompson
Bishop Barber may not have ruled it out, but. But for example, what I was going to mention, part of the agenda here is to destabilize North Carolina so there can be a win there. So Roy Cooper, who is going to run. Who is running for senator, can be hobbled. And anybody else for that matter. I reached out to the team. I think they were working on the audio. Hopefully they'll be able to fix that for you. Jason, if I get any more word, I'll keep you posted. But. But, I mean, yeah, I mean, if that's something he Feels called to do. I think that's what he should do.
- [97:33]
Joy Reid
Yeah.
- [97:34]
Mark Thompson
And I think we should all support him. Is the audio better, Jason?
- [97:37]
Joy Reid
Let's hear it. I'll try. Hold. On.
- [97:49]
Mark Thompson
Is taking 16 million?
- [97:50]
Joy Reid
Nah, it's too low.
- [97:53]
Mark Thompson
It's the same bill that's going to take 22 million people's food.
- [97:57]
Joy Reid
Yeah, unfortunately, I think it's too low. But we're gonna, we're gonna keep an eye, a weather eye on what's going on there. Mark, as I let you go and, and I'm gonna let the audience know that we're going to post the full testimony. We've already posted. It's already up. Look at that. The team is so quick. The testimony of Mother Fletcher is available on the Joy Reid show channel. So if you want to watch her full testimony, it's not super long, but if you want to listen to everything that she had to say as she completes and tells that story. The tragedies that we faced in this country are not ancient. They're, they're, they're, they're recent enough that somebody who lived through it can be alive to testify for it in the year of our Lord 2023. And there is still one survivor still alive. She is also north of 100 years old. And imagine being a 6 and a 7 year old because that's how old that these guys were. Viola was seven and her younger brother Uncle Ray was six. And when this happened to them, this didn't happen a thousand years ago. It literally happened in the 1920s when they were children and they lived to tell about it. Mother Fletcher wrote a book which we're going to put into the store about her experiences. And she and the other two survivors actually became citizens of Ghana. So they made the trek home, Mark. They made the trek, flew even at their advanced age to Washington D.C. to testify and they also flew to Accra, Ghana to become citizens and to touch the African continent, which I think is so beautiful.
- [99:25]
Mark Thompson
It was. She was beautiful. We're so, so thankful for her life and example. And those of us who got the chance to touch the hymn her garment. We're truly saved and blessed. Let us continue in her blessed name.
- [99:39]
Joy Reid
Amen. Amen. I got a chance to meet her and Uncle Red. And Uncle Red was spicy, man. Uncle Rose. I think Uncle Ray had a little crush on Tiffany Cross, though. He mentioned him when I got to interview him. He loved him some Tiffany Cross with it because she got a chance to go out to Tulsa and do a really great special when at, at the former MSNBC Ms. Now is what they call themselves now. But they have touched so many lives. Much love. Love to and blessings to the memory of Mother Fletcher. Mark Thompson, my friend. Thank you very much. Always appreciate you.
- [100:06]
Mark Thompson
Thank you, Joy. Appreciate you. God bless you.
- [100:09]
Joy Reid
God bless. Thank you very much. All right, let's, let's get in one more sponsor. MSI United is one of the great sponsors of our show. Jason, roll them. The Joy Reid show is brought to you by MSI Reproductive Choices. They are a nonprofit that provides reproductive health care in 36 countries. Now, I've been learning a lot about their work. And you know what really hit me? In sub Saharan Africa, 4 million teenage girls drop out of school every year because they get pregnant. Now, let's just keep it real. Teens everywhere are going to have sex. It's human nature. But in too many places, these young girls do not have access to birth control. No options, no information. Once they get pregnant, most never go back to school. Only 5% do. In fact, a lot of them risk their lives trying to end a pregnancy. And a tragic number of young women and girls die as a result. But there is hope. MSI Reproductive Choices is out there doing the work, traveling to remote places to bring young women and girls contraception, health care, and control over their futures. In this group, they're the real deal. Charity navigator and candid both rate MSI highly for quality, efficiency and impact. So here's how you can help. For just $26, you can give one girl contraception for four whole years. That is four years to stay in school, follow her dreams, and build her Future in the U.S. go to MSIUnitedStates.org for tax, deductible, giving. That's M for modern, S for safe. I for Informed. MSI United States.org you can also text my last name, Reid. That's R e I D to 511-511. Just text Reid to 511 511. Go to MSI United States.org today. Let's give these young girls a chance. Text fees may apply. All right, guys, I want you guys to take a look at this clip. This is from last week when former Vice President Kamala Harris headed to Tennessee. We talked about the South a lot tonight to campaign in the 7th congressional district, which opened up a seat when Republican Representative Mark Green announced a surprise retirement. Here was. Who's the power win? The people.
- [102:44]
Kika Matos
Who's the power win?
- [102:45]
Joy Reid
The people.
- [102:46]
Kika Matos
Who is the power Win. And here's what I have to say. Don't you ever let anybody take your power from you. Don't ever let anyone take your power from you. This is still a democracy.
- [103:02]
Joy Reid
And in a democracy, who's the power with the people.
- [103:07]
Kika Matos
And we understand, you know, when they try to say the young voters in particular, oh, your vote doesn't matter. Why do you think they say that? Because they know the power is with the people. And that when you start to vote and you vote in your numbers, you show your power and then the decisions are made that reflects your needs. But when you don't vote, then your power is not present and other powers will lead. And what did I say? Don't ever let anybody take your power from you. Why am I here in Tennessee? Because I know the power is in the South.
- [103:52]
Joy Reid
I know that the Democrat and the racist state representative often been a progressive community organizer who's also received a campaign visit from DNC chair Ken Martin and a million dollars in television and digital advertising from the House Majority pac. On the other side, MAGA Inc. A Trump supporting super pac, has pumped a million dollars in spending so far for the Republican candidate, Matt Van Epps, a former army helicopter pilot who served in combat tours overseas. According to the Associated Press, it's the first time that that organization has participated in a campaign since last year's presidential race. And State Representative Afton Ben joins me now. Hello there, candidate.
- [104:33]
Afton Ben
Thanks for having me.
- [104:34]
Joy Reid
Well, first of all, did I pronounce your name correctly? It's a cool spelling.
- [104:38]
Afton Ben
My first name, yes. My last name is pronounced Bain, like the bane of my opposition's existence.
- [104:42]
Joy Reid
And that's what you should be. That's what you should be. So in the state of Tennessee, I think people tend to, we've had a lot of guests who come on the show and they talk about the ways in which Democrats tend to, to write off the South. That is not happening in your, in your race, you had no less than the former Vice President of the United States come down, you're having money pumped in. Why do you think your race is getting that kind of attention?
- [105:03]
Afton Ben
Yeah, this race is competitive because the Washington Republican agenda has not delivered for working families in Tennessee. Instead, they've sold us out to billionaires. And Tennessee voters feel like they want change, not more of the same. It has been. It's an indictment on the federal administration's inability to deliver for working families. And that's why this race has suddenly become really competitive.
- [105:25]
Joy Reid
And the thing is, you know, what would you. Well, let me, let me ask you what you would do differently because what do you want to see different than what the outgoing congressman has done?
- [105:33]
Afton Ben
Well, the former congressman cashed out on his corporate donations and took a very cushy job somewhere in another country. And I would do the exact opposite. I've been a, I'm a social worker turned community organizer turned legislator who has doubled down in my fight to support my community and affect change in the Tennessee legislature by trying to end the grocery tax. And so I'm someone who digs deep and wants to, you know, be the best advocate for her community possible.
- [106:06]
Joy Reid
Would you support a bill that would ban stock trading by members of Congress 100%?
- [106:11]
Kika Matos
Absolutely.
- [106:12]
Joy Reid
Absolutely.
- [106:12]
Afton Ben
And I think that's the problem. I mean this race is one, as you, as you intimated about special interest money getting involved. And I've been endorsed by End Citizens United. I don't take corporate PAC money and I agree to all of the, you know, the pro Democratic measures that include banning stock trading for congressional representatives. It's a, it's a no brainer.
- [106:32]
Joy Reid
What about taking APAC money?
- [106:35]
Afton Ben
I do not take APAC money.
- [106:37]
Joy Reid
And do you think that the whole incentive structure in Congress, it has gone from public service where the House is the closest to the people in terms of House versus Senate? Right. You represent a district, people you can meet at the grocery store and yet it has seemed like a cash grab. We talked at the top of the show about Marjorie Taylor Greene getting to $25 million net worth investing in bitcoin. All of does feel in a way like the House is no longer about the people. It is about enriching the person personal pocketbooks of members. How do we change that incentive structure?
- [107:15]
Afton Ben
Yeah, that's a great question. And I think it's, it's pretty disgusting when members walk in and walk out of Congress as millionaires. And so there's a lot of internal measures that need to be passed and unfortunately, as you said, it is incentivized. But I'm someone who has always, you know, been an advocate for pro Democratic reform, especially when it comes to individual members of Congress. And so I would absolutely be against, you know, stock trading or any type of, of those incentives.
- [107:45]
Joy Reid
You know, the, a lot of people have come to know the Tennessee Three as, you know, the Justins and Gloria Johnson who really fought, you know, with young people, with students about gun reform. Has that come up in your race? Is that an issue that you're dealing with in your district?
- [107:59]
Afton Ben
No, not at all. It's, it's been about affordability. People are struggling to afford rent. Snap, as you know, has not fully been restored in the State of Tennessee, we have the highest cost of groceries in the country. It is really tough right now. It is economically really tougher for working families in Tennessee. And that's been the issue that I've heard again and again at the doors.
- [108:21]
Joy Reid
And, you know, Tennessee is one of those states that has the dubious distinction of its Republican majority being against, like, school meals, school lunches, free school lunches. Like, they don't seem to want the most. What is that about?
- [108:33]
Afton Ben
So one of the core our campaign theme is feed kids, fix roads and fund hospitals. Lo and behold, our governor, Republican governor, exploited a federal loophole to allow to not to feed kids across 95 counties. And so that was one of the galvanizing moments for me in this race is I can't believe that we've left federal money on the table to feed kids, which should not be political.
- [108:57]
Joy Reid
You are, as you are a social worker. As you said, you're not a rich person. You know, I've done a little bit of reading on you. You're not a multi millionaire. It can't be easy to run for Congress because it is so expensive. I mean, the fact that you had to have, like, Democratic groups come in and put money in, that is what keeps a lot of rich people in power and a lot of not rich people from running. Right. It's the barriers to entry. So can you just walk it, Walk people through? If people are in the chat that are thinking, I would like to run and I'm not rich, how did you do it?
- [109:24]
Afton Ben
Yeah, it's a great question. I mean, to be fair, I'm the most broke I've ever been. To run for the Tennessee legislature, I had to take a two thirds pay cut. I make $26,000 a year as a Tennessee legislature. And so even that type of seed, it doesn't allow for young people who want to buy a house in Nashville. I don't have the ability to do that, but I take public service seriously. And we have been able to raise a lot of money through grass grassroots donations. But it's taken a lot of, you know, support and political mentorship. And so my advice to you, all that want to run for office that, you know, don't come from personal wealth is to, you know, start building your. Your local networks and, you know, finding political mentors that can help you access the skill sets to raise money of which we have. We actually outraised my Republican opponent who is being bankrolled by corporate packs.
- [110:19]
Joy Reid
Yeah, well, of course he is. And like, can you just talk a little bit about kind of. I mean, because I think a lot of people feel like politics, people have sort of gotten disinterested in it because they feel like nothing actually changes like that you vote for somebody and then things don't change. And obviously, a member of Congress is one of, you know, 435 members. It's not like you yourself can pass a bill. How do you just look at the prospect of having to go into an environment that is a viper's nest, that is full of lobbyists, that is full of people who are trying to pull at you and saying, hey, I can hit you with a hundred thousand dollars in your pack if you'll just do X, Y and Z. How do you resist that? And how do you plan to resist it?
- [110:58]
Afton Ben
Well, it's what I've done in the Tennessee legislature. I mean, it's a. You know, it's a place that is bought and sold to the highest bidder. Corporate lobbyists run the Tennessee legislature. And I haven't taken corporate PAC money nor ever will. And. And so for me, my accountability comes from my community and the people that elect me. And so when I go up there, I mean, I just. I'm someone who cannot be bought or sold. I just can't. And I'm not impressed by, you know, multimillion dollar tickets for stadiums at Super Bowls. It's just not something that's in my political repertoire. And so, you know, I'm someone that has. Is deeply connected to our community and someone who. Who won't be bankrolled by these special interests, unlike my political opponent, who is bankrolled by the puppet masters of the universe, and that's who he answers to.
- [111:47]
Joy Reid
It is really discouraging because. Right, because the idea is that government is supposed to serve the people. And if you're saying that in your little town, which is probably not the most expensive place to live in the world, people still can't afford groceries in America in 2025. That actually, it feels criminal to me.
- [112:03]
Afton Ben
Yeah, it absolutely is. And, you know, one thing I've tried to do in the Tennessee legislature is to end Tennessee's grocery tax by closing corporate loopholes. Right now in Tennessee, multinational corporations pay more of an effective tax rate than a working mom buying baby formula at Kroger. And that's a tragedy. It shouldn't be that way. And that's the type of fight that I'll bring to Congress is, you know, revising our tax code to be in favor of working families rather than rigged against us.
- [112:30]
Joy Reid
Amen. Amen. Amen. Afton Bain, good luck to you. I mean, obviously you're doing something right because you. You got Kamala to come down there and do the mamala act on the folks that need to vote. When is the race? When do people need to get out and vote? Give your elevator pitch for why people should get out and vote.
- [112:46]
Afton Ben
Yeah. If you are upset about the cadence of Washington and the cost of living, then I am your candidate. We have been building a coalition of the disenchanted of those that are upset, and we welcome you to our fold. You can vote for me and vote for change, or you can vote for my opponent. And more of the status quo early voting is happening now until Wednesday. We really need Nashville to show up. So if you are in Nashville and haven't voted yet, please, please, please head to the polls. Election day is December 2nd, and I can't wait to shock the nation. I want to say, if we win, it'll be because of black voters, and that will absolutely send a message to the White House.
- [113:22]
Joy Reid
Oh, well, wait, say more now. You got to say more. You got to say more. What's the district look like? What is the composition, position? Black voters make up what percent or what share of the vote? And what's your pitch to them? Yeah.
- [113:32]
Afton Ben
So if your listeners remember, Nashville was a consolidated Democratic district, and after redistricting, they cut it into three Republican districts, and they overreached and they included the highest voter turnout precincts in North Nashville, which is our historic black communities. And so if black voters show up, and they are, we can win this. And it will send a message to our, not only our Republican super majority, but Washington Republicans, that black voters are not having it.
- [114:02]
Joy Reid
Afton Bain, make her the bane of maga's existence and also of the super rich and the billionaire class. Put a regular person in Congress. We need more regular folks in Congress so they can do regular folks things like making you be able to afford your groceries. Afton, good luck to you. Please come back when you win. We want you to be a stop on your victory tour. Please.
- [114:27]
Afton Ben
All right, well, thank you so much for your time.
- [114:29]
Joy Reid
Thank you very much. There she is, Afton Bain. Jason, can I get a round of applause for Afton? I think she seems like a great candidate. See, that's what we need. We need young, enthusiastic folks who are willing to work for the vote and work for the people. Look, she had me at I would vote to end stock trade trades by members of Congress because that has to stop. Like the. The incentive structure is upside down and backwards. All Right. You know, we've come to that part of the show where we're going to get to our moment of joy. And our moment of joy actually starts with a troll. Okay. Last Thursday, Mean Sugar Baby Barbie Katherine Levitt had some pretty shady words for the President of South Africa who remarked on the US boycott of this past weekend's Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg over President Cyril Ramaphosa's criticism of Donald Trump. Ramaphosa told reporters in Johannesburg that the US had indicated that it might be changing its mind on the boycott at the 11th hour and wanted to take part after all. To which this 23 year old elderly gentleman fan in the West Wing who Trump reportedly calls honey, had this to say.
- [115:34]
Afton Ben
Times is reporting that, that the administration is now sending a US official to the G20. They are sending Mark Dillard. Can you just, can you confirm if that is true and then also explain the shift in. Ms. I'd be happy to explain because there is not a shift. The United States is not participating in official talks at the G20 in South Africa. I saw the South African president running his mouth a little bit against the United States States and the President of the United States earlier today. And that language is not appreciated by the president or his team. The ambassador or the representative of the embassy in South Africa is simply there to recognize that the United States will be the host of the G20. They are receiving that send off at the end of the event. They are not there to participate in official talks despite what the South African President is falsely claiming.
- [116:28]
Joy Reid
Meow, meow. Huh? Well, guess what? Grandpa McDiapers missed out by not moving his dementia mris to South Africa where he could have done his nursing home dance. You know, his little nursing home side arms dance to the grooves of South African culture. Here was President Ramaphosa closing what, sorry, has to have been the funnest G20 summit ever. Moment of joy, right? Moment of joy. Here it is.
- [116:58]
Christina Greer
Ro.
- [117:00]
Mark Thompson
I now say that this gavel, this gavel of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now moves on to the next president of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall see each other other again next year. The summit is therefore closed.
- [118:02]
Joy Reid
That's what I'm talking about. Look, you missed out, America. You didn't want to go to South Africa. You missed the fun. You missed the fun. Donald Trump could have done his. He could have done his. They said they called it the Bubba dance.
- [118:13]
Mark Thompson
Ow.
- [118:14]
Joy Reid
The Bubba dance. He could have done his Bubba dance down there. There. Okay. In South Africa. But you missed out. And guess what, Katherine Levitt, you the one talking smack. You need to really keep the president of South Africa name out your mouth. You horrible little. You know, you're horrible. You mean she's like mean, like elderly man loving Barbie. Horrible, Horrible, horrible, horrible. She's a sugar baby, but also a mean Barbie. But anyway, that was our moment of joy. I would have loved to be there. I think next time when the G20 meets up, please invite a sister because I would actually love to go and hang out in South Africa. It is one of the best places ever. Right, Jason? We love it. South Africa is a great place. There's lots of stuff to do.
- [118:55]
Mark Thompson
It's nice.
- [118:55]
Joy Reid
I prefer Ghana. Oh, Shade, you're gonna get all the South Africans in the chat. No, I love South Africa. I just prefer Ghana. Well, okay. Well, I love me some South Africa. And that was our moment of joy.
- [119:07]
Mark Thompson
Poppy's gonna get me.
- [119:09]
Joy Reid
Yeah, Poppy about to get you. I have family in South Africa. So Jason just messed up. He just messed up.
- [119:13]
Mark Thompson
And they watched starting it. Poppy, come and get me.
- [119:15]
Joy Reid
Yes, that's right. Elderly loving man Barbie. People are liking the elderly loving man Barbie. I mean her husband is like elderly. She's like a. She's like a sugar baby that's also mean and snaps on people. But she don't know anything. She can't answer questions and she gonna snap on South Africa. Guess what? You're never going to be invited to South Africa, ma'. Am. You're not going to get to go. You don't get to go. You can't come to the barbecue. You can't come to the barbecue. You are not invited. You cannot go. Just stay in America where you are happy. Thank you for tuning in to the Joy Reach show. And that's it. Jason, play the song. Oh, don't forget, by the way, to like and subscribe. Make sure you like subscribe and share. And let me know you guys in the comments if you guys are enjoying the troll free experience in the chat. Yeah, let's wait on see what, what, what are they saying about. I've been peeking at the chat and enjoying it and it looks like it's a lot more fun. People are not having to fight. We got another 30 seconds. Let's see what the trolls will say about. No trolls. Absolutely, absolutely. We got a Joy and Jason forever. We got a peace all. We got lots of people happening. We got I'm making Mean girl Barbie. Mean girl Barbie. And also guys, don't forget if you're buying the shirts and the swag. I will note you that this one says, I'm a reader. There it is. Okay. There it is. Intelligent, informed, compassionate, faithful, and joyful. That's what this shirt says. So if you like that shirt, you can get that at the shop.
- [120:44]
Mark Thompson
At the shop, y'.
- [120:45]
Midas Touch Host
All.
- [120:45]
Joy Reid
It's at the shop. Make sure that you tag us if you post it on your socials, because I'm a reading more Business Fridays wanting to wear something fun and wear something positive on this moral Monday. Thank you all for tuning in. That's it. Have a great night, and I'll see you on the next Enjoy Reed show. Goodbye.