Understanding Trump's America: A Deep Dive ft. Amber Ruffin | The Joy Reid Show

Summary

The Joy Reid Show: "Understanding Trump's America: A Deep Dive" Featuring Amber Ruffin

Release Date: June 9, 2025

Overview

In this compelling episode of The Joy Reid Show, host Joy-Ann Reid engages in an in-depth conversation with renowned writer and comedian Amber Ruffin. The episode, titled “Understanding Trump's America: A Deep Dive,” delves into the ramifications of Donald Trump's policies on American society, politics, and culture. Additionally, the discussion explores Amber Ruffin's personal experiences within the entertainment industry, particularly her role as the first black female writer on a late-night talk show, and the challenges of maintaining comedic integrity in an increasingly authoritarian climate.

---

Amber Ruffin’s Analysis of Trump’s America

Timestamp: [00:57] - [29:33]

Amber Ruffin opens the episode with a scathing critique of Donald Trump's presidency, highlighting the destabilizing effects of his policies on the U.S. economy, social fabric, and democratic institutions. She passionately addresses various facets of Trump's administration, emphasizing the erosion of democratic norms and the rise of authoritarian tendencies.

• Economic Turmoil and Tariffs

  Ruffin discusses the unpredictable tariff policies under Trump, coining the term "taco trade" to describe his inconsistent approach to tariffs: “Trump always chickens out on tariffs” ([02:15]). She points out the negative impact these policies have had on the economy, potentially steering the nation toward recession despite initial intentions to bolster American industry.

• Judicial Manipulation and Supreme Court Dynamics

  Highlighting the influence of Leonard Leo in shaping the Supreme Court, Ruffin laments the judiciary’s role in overturning tariffs and undermining democratic checks and balances: “The same Leonard Leo who built the right-wing Supreme Court majority…knocked down his big Ugly tariffs” ([07:45]). She criticizes the Supreme Court justices for granting absolute immunity to those enabling corruption within the administration.

• Authoritarianism and Civil Liberties

  Ruffin delves into the Trump regime's aggressive immigration policies, mass deportations, and the suppression of civil liberties. She states, “...we are the country that's deporting not just exiles in danger of persecution if they go back, but also kids with cancer” ([12:30]). Ruffin warns of the dangerous precedent being set as the administration seeks to eliminate habeas corpus rights, denying individuals fair hearings before detention.

• Media Manipulation and Public Disillusionment

  Addressing the media's complicity, Ruffin asserts, “News organizations are bending the knee” to the Trump administration, enabling corruption and the erosion of journalistic integrity ([18:20]). She critiques the media's role in perpetuating misinformation and distracting the public from governmental abuses.

• Historical Parallels and Oligarchic Tendencies

  Drawing parallels to the Gilded Age, Ruffin explains how America’s shift from a labor-driven economy to one dominated by oligarchs mirrors the current administration’s policies: “How do you get people to go back to the Gilded Age?” ([24:50]). She underscores the cyclical nature of power concentration among the elite, threatening to revert the nation to extreme inequality and undermine modern democratic advancements.

• Future Outlook and Collective Responsibility

  Concluding her analysis, Ruffin emphasizes the necessity for collective action and vigilance to preserve democratic values: “We have to do something. We gotta do” ([28:15]). She calls for unity among marginalized communities and allies to resist the authoritarian drift and restore equity and justice in America.

Notable Quote:

"Donald Trump is definitely in charge of the casting, because these clowns that he has in charge are his people." ([25:40])

---

Interview with Amber Ruffin: Navigating Comedy in an Authoritarian Era

Timestamp: [31:02] - [56:37]

Following Amber Ruffin’s powerful monologue, Joy Reid transitions into an interview segment, exploring Ruffin’s illustrious career and the challenges she faces as a comedian and writer in the current political landscape.

• Career Milestones and Breaking Glass Ceilings

  Ruffin shares her journey from Omaha, Nebraska, to becoming a trailblazer in the comedy industry: “In 2014, I was the first black female late-night writer on a network talk show” ([34:08]). She reflects on the significance of her role and the strides made towards diversity in comedy.

• Experiences with the White House Correspondents Dinner

  The conversation touches on Ruffin's disinvitation from the White House Correspondents Dinner due to her outspoken comedy: “They said I was invited. Then… they were like, you need to be equal and make sure... I was like, there's no way I'm going to be frickin doing that” ([43:31]). Ruffin discusses the intersection of free speech and professional repercussions in a politically charged environment.

• Comedy as Resistance and Survival

  Ruffin articulates the role of comedy as both a coping mechanism and a form of resistance against authoritarianism: “We have to laugh so we don't cry or scream” ([55:09]). She underscores the importance of humor in maintaining morale and challenging oppressive structures.

• Challenges of Artistic Expression Under Pressure

  Addressing the constraints imposed by the current regime, Ruffin speaks on the limitations faced by artists: “It's a devious way to shrink art and it is not working... artists are people who speak out” ([50:32]). She emphasizes the necessity for artists to push boundaries despite external pressures to conform or silence dissent.

• Future of Comedy and Activism

  Ruffin contemplates the future trajectory of comedy in advocating for social change: “We gotta do. Yeah. Do is the only thing we can do” ([53:15]). She advocates for continued activism through the arts, urging fellow comedians and creators to leverage their platforms for meaningful impact.

Notable Quote:

“I'm a comedian. I'm a goofball. I'm an improviser. It's not my job to fricking stand in the way of fascism.” ([44:21])

Insights on Diversity and Inclusion:

Ruffin highlights the evolution of diversity within comedic writing rooms, attributing the shift to intentional efforts toward inclusion: “Seth Meyers old boss is Tina Fey, so he doesn't have what regular white men have where they like, balk at the thought of listening to a woman” ([35:36]). She praises the progressive dynamics at Late Night with Seth Meyers that foster a more inclusive creative environment.

---

Conclusion

This episode of The Joy Reid Show offers a multifaceted exploration of America under Trump’s influence, blending rigorous political analysis with personal narratives from a leading voice in comedy. Amber Ruffin’s passionate critique serves as a clarion call for vigilance and resilience in the face of rising authoritarianism, while her personal experiences shed light on the nuanced role of comedy as both a sanctuary and a battleground for social change. Joy Reid masterfully facilitates a conversation that is both intellectually stimulating and emotionally resonant, providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the current socio-political climate and the imperative for continuous advocacy through every available medium.

Key Takeaways:

• The Trump administration’s policies are systematically undermining American democracy and societal well-being.
• Historical parallels to the Gilded Age reveal enduring patterns of oligarchic control and economic inequality.
• Comedy remains a vital tool for resistance, offering both solace and a platform for challenging oppressive norms.
• Diversity and inclusion within creative industries are crucial for fostering authentic and impactful narratives.
• Collective action and artistic expression are essential in combating authoritarian tendencies and preserving democratic values.

---

For those who haven’t listened to the episode, this summary encapsulates the essence of Amber Ruffin’s insights and experiences, presenting a thorough understanding of the challenges facing America and the role of art in navigating and resisting authoritarianism.

Transcript

[Livy Dunn]

I'm Livy Dunn, All American gymnast and Vuori athlete. When you travel and train as much as I do, you find happiness where you are on the mat or on the sand. Movement and comfort are essential. That's why I live in performance. Joggers by Viori. Made from Dream Knit fabric that's made of 89% recycled materials, effortlessly soft and made to move as much as I do. My happiness starts here in the softest joggers on the planet. Get 20% off your first purchase at vuor.com libby that's v U-O-R I.com l V-V-Y exclusions apply. Not only will you receive 20% off your first purchase, but enjoy free shipping on any US orders over $75 and free returns. Go to vori.com libby and discover the full versatility of Vori clothing exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions.

[Amber Ruffin]

Like, hey, that's your free speech and blah blah, blah. Because originally when I lost the White.

[Joy Reid]

House correspondence, talk about how, how did they tell you? Did you get an email? Like, did what happened? How did you find out you were no longer doing it?

[Amber Ruffin]

We like, you acted wild on a podcast and you lost White House correspondence center. I was like, yeah, man.

[Joy Reid]

What did you say on the podcast?

[Amber Ruffin]

Wild.

[Joy Reid]

Hey, it's the B to the A, the s, the I Cs like, welcome to the Joy Reed Show. I am so excited to have you here. I've got my coffee cup ready to go and we've got a great interview with the hilarious and wonderful Amber Ruffin. And yes, I did ask her about that dinner and we're going to get to that shortly. But first, we begin with what I think is the question of the day in the year of our Lord 2025. And that question is what the actual. I'm sorry, Saints. I am so sorry for cussing on my first show. But seriously, I know that y' all are thinking it too. I mean, what is happening to this country? What's with these back and forth tariffs that have already wrecked our economy and that even the Rupert Murdoch Wall Street Journal says could put us in a recession, but that Trump can't even stick with for five minutes? It is so bad. Wall Street Bros have even coined the term taco trade, which stands for Trump always chickens out on tariffs. Now, thankfully, the courts are shooting down some of these tariffs for which he's now apparently beefing with Leonard Leo. The same Leonard Leo who built the right wing Supreme Court majority that yes, knocked down his big Ugly tariffs. I mean they're right wingers, they serve money. But who also gave him absolute immunity so he can crime at will. And yes, I know Jake Tapper and them are obsessed with Joe Biden, but Trump is unhinged, you have to admit it. And his brain clearly don't work good. The man cannot finish the sentence without slurring or his mind swerving into weird places, including ruminating on the man parts of a dead golfer. His latest rant was about the guy who built the segregated Levitt towns having trophy wives because you know, that matters to West Point grads. He is clearly negatively obsessed with Harvard, which leads me to wonder if maybe he didn't get into Harvard. I mean maybe the school wouldn't take a check from his tax dodging late father to let him in like Upenn did. I've also always wondered that about his friend Tuckhams. And sorry, who's even in charge at this point? While Trump is jet setting around the world accepting used luxury jets from countries he used to call terrorists and selling crypto meme coins to random rich people and maybe foreigners who get to have dinner with him and the presidential seal, I demand to know who is producing this insane reality show that we're stuck in. Also why are we paying for his golf trips and why why so many golf trips? Also is this creeper in charge? Or maybe his wife or chainsaw? And why are they always together? And doesn't chain Saw have like a dozen kids to take care of and ketamine bills to focus on? Maybe another electric car company to ruin? He clearly seems to be making bank on his fake agency Doge feeding our federal government into a wood chipper for much less savings than he promised and purchasing a second insane Donald Trump presidency has handed him even more government contract welfare than he had before plus a get out of investigations free card. Also, the regime is possibly forcing foreign countries to sign up for Starlink and punishing his former home country South Africa with 30% tariffs and by deep sixing USAID, the agency that helped end apartheid. So he's gotta be happy. Plus he'll soon have some new Afrikaner friends to hang out with in America. They claim to be refugee farmers who left their farms behind for some reason. By the way, while shredding the federal government hasn't saved us much money, it is jeopardizing Social Security and Medicaid so people aren't even sure they'll be able to retire or get health care. And I don't recall Trump running on any of that, as I recall, he, he ran on making things cost less, and last I checked, they cost more. Also, have you noticed that your student loan payments have started back up, including the collections that Biden paused. Also, am I the only one getting like 10 times more scam calls and texts? Why is there so much scamming? And why are people getting literally snatched off the streets by masked men, dragged into random vans and tossed into detainment for weeks sometimes, like it's 1930s Munich. Why is ice showing up at schools and restaurant kitchens and people's immigration hearings and arresting people who sometimes turn out to be US citizens, harassing people based on the color of their skin and locking them up sometimes hundreds of miles from their home cities without even a hearing, or even in foreign jails in El Salvador or now apparently in South Sudan. Sorry, why are any African or Central American or South American countries going along with this fascist madness? Do their leaders not have any sense of solidarity with the very people of the global south that the Trump regime is attacking? Has anyone called the Hague? You did see that the same right wing Supreme Court, the majority who Trump was screaming at on his busted social media just cleared the way for the regime to expel half a million Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Haitians and Cubans by allowing these monsters to revoke their humanitarian parole, Right? All to get to Trump's magic number of the biggest mass deportation in history, which they failed at so far. Lots of dramatic arrests, but Biden deportation numbers and we can't have that. Justice Jackson was right to condemn it as allowing the government to do what it wants to do regardlessrendering constraints of law irrelevant and unleashing devastation in the process. She's almost too eloquent for the kind of rot being unleashed by the Leonard Leo gang that she's forced to serve with. And do these guys even see their shadows? Why is the United States of America bowing to the maniacal hatreds of people like them and pushing that hatred as policy, when for decades we've been the ones condemning countries like Cuba and Venezuela and Haiti and Nicaragua for being brutal and unsafe, while also pushing policies that keep them brutal and unsafe? So what now all of a sudden we're not autocratic regime fighting anymore? All the Venezuelans and Cubans could just go back home now that we're an autocracy too. Has anyone told right wing Cuban and Venezuelan Trump loving South Florida? Since when do Republicans hate Venezuelans and Cubans? Oh yeah, that's right. They're the ones here in the kinds of numbers that can up the deportation rate so they're expendable regardless of how Republican their American families vote. I mean, we already knew how Trump and MAGA feel about Haitians under the Trump regime. The United States is now the country that's deporting not just exiles in danger of persecution if they go back, but also kids with cancer. We are the country that's defunding aids, medicine and other badly needed treatments around the world, which will make people die and make their families justifiably blame America. We are the country where brown and black children are afraid to go to school for fear they'll be snatched or that their parents will be dragged off by ICE before they get home to have a snack and do their homework. We are the country where you can get arrested, detained and deported for writing an op ed that the government doesn't like it's giving Russia. And where restaurant kitchens and farm fields and construction sites are emptying because dishwashers and cooks and farm workers and carpenters are afraid to go to work. I am thoroughly convinced that Stephen Miller and Tom Homan and Donald Trump would have deported Jesus and slept like babies afterwards, especially after they realized that he was brown and the fake exile himself, Marco Rubio, whose family came here under no duress from the very country he now proudly helps to ship his brothers and sisters back to. And that the media used to gush was the Latino Obama has turned out to be the Latino Clarence Thomas instead. What do these people think our economy is going to look like if they get the millions of brown people gone that they're salivating for? Do they really, honestly think that they can stop the clock on that 2042 estimated date when the US no longer has a white majority? If they do, they're not really that good at math. And while we're at it, why is this administration saying that they can ignore the courts and the Constitution and the right to habeas corpus, meaning an actual hearing before you get sent to jail? Trump got hearings for his crimes, including his 88 count felony and the sexual abuse case that E. Jean Carroll filed and won. If hearings and trials were good enough for him, why aren't they good enough for everyone else? And then there are the people that the regime does plan to put on trial. For instance, they arrested a Congresswoman Lamonica McIver for the apparent crime of daring to do oversight over a private prison that's holding the migrants Homan and Miller are salivating to deport. And for the further apparent crime of being in the way of ICE agents who were shoving an elder congresswoman while arresting the sitting mayor of Newark. Odd that these are three African Americans. And I am sure that is completely coincidental. Trump is so desperate to paint an insurrection on anyone other than the violent MAGA horde that attacked our Capitol on January 6, 2021, when he tried illegally to stay in office after getting whooped by Joe Biden. He has turned the whole Justice Department, and I have to say that in scare quotes, into a revenge machine. Any law firm, any Justice Department lawyer, any, anyone who tried to hold him to account ever, must be subjected to legal persecution. It's got everyone so shook, news organizations are bending the knee. And that is truly scary. This while he's pardoning not just the insurrectionists, even the most violent ones, but also every crook and scammer from reality TV and apparently from hip hop lore. Gotta feed black MAGA too, I guess. And maybe also anyone willing to pay him. Why is all this happening? Trump has made such a joke of our government. There are more Regulars from the 90s era, Oprah Winfrey show and Fox in his cabinet than actual experts at anything. I mean, no black people are allowed to have jobs, but these people. I mean, do you ever just sit back, just sit back and take in and wrap your mind around the fact that RFK Jr and Dr. Oz are in charge of our health care? I mean, we're all going to die of the measles. Podcast stars are running the FBI and national intel. The guy from the real world is in charge of aviation. Just honk if you're afraid to fly. The Attorney General mainly does FOX hits all day while maybe signing off on investigating companies for hiring too many black people. And earth to maga. The rest of the world does not fear Trump or respect him. They are laughing at him or rolling their eyes and trying to figure out how they can begin to get by without America. By the way, is the Signal Chat guy sober? You know, the signal chat guy from Fox? I pray that he's sober, because Trump can't seem to decide if he wants to buy Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal or launch three separate wars to steal them. And he would be in charge. And God help everyone in Gaza, because he's clearly going to let them all die so he can, what, build a Trump resort on their charred remains? Does Bibi get a timeshare in this genocidal madness? And also, why is the evidence that black people, women and gays ever existed in the military, science or US History being deleted from government records? Actually, I think we all know the Answer to that one. Bottom line, what really seems to be clear is that Donald Trump is definitely in charge of the casting, because these clowns that he has in charge are his people. But what's not clear to me is that he is actually running the country. He and his grimy adult children seem to be spending most of their time enriching themselves in a way that makes Hunter Biden look like a legitimate saint. While every insane right wing ideologue is picking off pieces of the Trump presidency to build their own personal versions of the Handmaid's Tale, it's every kooky right wing conspiracy theorist, grifter, and crypto AI entrepreneur for himself. Everybody gets a chance to ride the Trump train and get rich off the public dime. And that does lead me back to the question of why, why, why are they doing all of this? Is it that Republicans just hate multiracial modern America so much that they've decided to burn it to the ground? Like the ancestors torched the Nottoway plantation in Louisiana, or maybe they've seen secret intel that the world is soon going to end for real, so they've decided to just strip the US for parts and move with Elon to Mars. Honestly, I kind of wish they'd just go already. The just sheer chaos that these people are unleashing may seem random, but to tell you the truth, I don't think it is. I have always liked to say that when a lot of wild stories are being thrown at you, the way that you look at them, or the way to look at them is as one big story with many chaotic parts. So just ask yourself, why allow this much chaos to surround the White House? Who gains from it other than Elon and the other South African and American billionaires who were scoring all the contracts? When I look at this mess from the standpoint of the history of this country, it seems to me that what's happening with Trump and his band of misfits is the same thing that the very rich have been trying to do since before this country was even a country. Because the reality is, this country did not start out as a democracy. It started out as an oligarchy with a small number of very rich European men, mostly big plantation owners running everything, and poor European settlers, small farmers and indentured workers alongside enslaved Africans forming the labor force, while indigenous people basically got wiped out by germs and got their land stolen thanks to guns. And we remained pretty much an oligarchy until the Civil War overturned the slave system and Reconstruction gave black Americans a taste of Freedom and a chance at political power in the American dream. That was 12 years of relatively stable multiracial democracy. But it was put down violently in 1877 after the Union troops left the South. And the Republican party at that time switched from abolition to backing the super rich men whose fortunes were made not by being plantation owners, but by being the industrialists who powered the union side in the Civil War. America basically traded a planter aristocracy for a railroad and steel mill version. Just think for a minute about the Gilded Age. The super rich at that time, the Rockefellers, the Carnegies, the Vanderbilts, the Morgans, they lived almost as well as European kings. And because they were new money from steel mills and railroads and oil fields, they wouldn't have even been in the King's court in Europe. But here they lived large, while the average steel worker or shirt factory worker often died poor and young, if they were even an adult to begin with. And these new oligarchs amassed that wealth and left it to their heirs, tax free. Meanwhile, black farm workers who stayed in the south lived little better than they and their parents did during slavery, because again, the planter class was trying to stay as rich as possible, which meant low wages and brutal, brutal social repression. And those who fled north found themselves fighting discrimination and fierce ethnic competition with immigrants over jobs and places to live. And even those who made money and built successful communities had to keep an eye out for Klan gangs eager to burn those communities to the ground or lynch any black man, woman or child or who made them mad. Same for Chinese and Jewish immigrants and Irish and Italian Catholics. Always one good eye out for the Klan, who resented the presence of all these non WASPs. But the rich industrialists, they took full advantage of the abundant labor. What did they care about the social issues? It was all about the Benjamins. Sure, they had to deal with a few nasty recessions here and there and some labor strikes. And you know, in those cases, they basically just let their security or local police deal with it by shooting people. So mostly good times. Good times. And then came the great 20th century, or if you're conservative, the horrible 20th century whose reforms that helped working people made rich people very unhappy. Starting with the 1913 income tax under otherwise horrible Woodrow Wilson, which the super rich have been fighting ever since. The 20th century is called the American century for good reason, because a whole bunch of Americans who had almost no rights before 1900 got lots of rights after. That includes laborers of all races who were increasingly unionized. It included the end of child labor and the right of white Women to vote in 1919, black women took decades longer. The New Deal, which was the reaction to the damaging oligarchic economic policies of successive Republican presidents. Then came the first and the second World wars that pulled white women into the workforce. After that second one, baby, they never really went back. And FDR's new deal, which began to level the economic playing field between the rich and the rest. You see where I'm going. World War II left Europe in shambles, but it left America full of cash and confidence. By the 1950s, there was a relatively flat distance between the CEO class and the working class, mainly because the top incremental tax rate was north of like 90%. The average white guy could have a normal non college job and also a fishing home in the mountains and a boat. His wife could have a new refrigerator and an automatic vacuum cleaner and probably day drink herself into a stupor wondering why she was so bored. In the decades that followed, we switched from being a primarily industrial society that built trains, planes and automobiles, but also electronics and televisions and radios and refrigerators, to a consumer economy that mostly bought those things and had to compete with Asian countries and eventually Europe, especially for the cars. By the 1980s, and even more so in the 1990s, our economy was really driven by consumption and on low prices for imported goods. Economists call this era the great 20th century, the great flattening. And along with those expanded economic opportunities and broad prosperity, the 20th century brought another major shift in the culture towards greater racial and gender, social equality, racial integration. Hard fought and ugly, but it largely happened. More visibility and equality for LGBTQ people. And hell, by the early 21st century, we even got a black president and damn near had a woman twice. It certainly wasn't perfect, but we became modern. And modern ain't so good for oligarchs. What we are seeing in all of this chaos is a fight to repeal the 20th century. Sam Alito may be the most viciously vocal about hating that century, but trust me, a lot of them on the right do. Have you read Project 2025? It should be called Project 1825. But the far right has a problem and it is this. How do you get a modern society to give back all the advancements? Americans who've gotten used to letting the invisible undocumented people do all the hard work in the factories and the fields, while our economy mostly runs on consumption, on buying those cheap imported goods and enjoying relative prosperity. Even our poor folks often have cell phones. How do you get people to go back to a time when working Class people often died poor, uneducated and sick with only whatever they could scrimp together and save on their own for retirement. No social safety net, relying on religious charities to eat while the super rich left their fortunes again to their heirs untaxed. How do we get people to go back to the Gilded Age? How do you get people to go back to labor having few or no rights, women having few or no rights even over their own bodies, dying of sepsis because they're having a miscarriage or being thrown into prison for having an abortion, or doctors too afraid to treat them? Black folks and brown folks being openly discriminated against when looking for jobs, education or opportunities or grants. Children living unvaccinated with no protections against the measles, the mumps or Covid people just doing their own home experiments to try to cure deadly diseases that were dealt with decades ago. What if more of them come back? Are we so gone on conspiracy theories and reality TV that we'll just go along with it, with stripping ourselves of everything modern and go back to a pre 20th century age just so a handful of super wealthy right wing ideologues don't have to see drag queens or hear Spanish in public? How do you get Americans to go back to give up the benefits of health care, a decent retirement, unionized labor, women's rights, gay rights, civil rights? How do you go back to racial and gender hierarchy when whole generations of us have grown up without it? Well, it helps to make people afraid, make them feel destabilized and exhausted and keep them that way all the time. Especially the people that you're trying to suppress. The civil servants, the artists, the academics, the left, the journalists, the women, even the corporations, the people that might dare to protest, make them afraid to resist. That's how authoritarianism and fascism always work. It also helps to have an entertainer in the most visible political positions, someone charismatic who can rally the loyalists and keep them happy and entertained while their pockets are getting picked. And that is where Donald Trump and his clown posse come in. What does the Salvadoran version of Trump call himself? He calls himself the world's coolest dictator. The Argentinian version, Milei, a character the Hungarian version performs at conservative conventions like cpac. And of course there's Putin. He wrestles bears. So entertaining. The strongman model is pretty much all the same. And they always get really conveniently mega rich and they do not leave office. If you want to understand why Republicans who, let's be honest, mainly despise Donald Trump and say so on background to reporters Tolerate everything he does, including his blatant corruption, his destruction of their party's moral integrity, his twisting of American Christianity into a mockery of itself, his gross immorality, his blatant lawlessness, even his designs on becoming a king. Why do they let him do all of that? Well, it's because he and his cult of personality allows them to do something that this party, the Republicans who switched again from abolition to greed during the Gilded Age, abandoning their former legacy to get in with the super rich. It enables them to get a majority of white Americans who became affixed to the party due to their broad opposition to racial change, to get them and a small number of non white American working class people to willingly give up everything that was gained in the 20th century and allow the oligarchy to be great again. And to get us back there, the people Republicans serve, these elite, extravagantly wealthy men and women, these billionaires are willing to toss democracy literally in the trash heap and go straight past oligarchy to authoritarianism, even fascism, in order to ensure that they will never be taxed or regulated again, or that anything will stand in the way of their unlimited wealth. These people are waging war against everything that defined America in the American century. Cultural pluralism, women's rights, civil rights, even integration and a try for racial equality. And they are pushing hard and fast to drag America backwards to the time before the 20th century, to the Gilded Age, when apparently America was great because it was extremely unequal. They've got five, sometimes six Supreme Court justices in the bag and Clarence works for tips and trips. There's also a media ecosystem that they've got firmly in hand to keep the base on message and angry at all times, and also entertained the Trump chaos that is designed to entertain his people. The cruel arrests and degradation of immigrants, their demonization, that is the secret sauce designed to get millions of Americans to cheer for the cruelty and play ball. Because those are the people to blame. Those are the people to hate, even as they themselves maybe lose everything. And letting Trump grift, well, that is designed to keep him happy and distracted, guaping up bitcoin cash and ordering his minions at the DOJ to investigate and arrest anyone who makes him mad or whoever investigated him for his actual crimes, which his cult of personality will never even believe he committed. And while he and his family are grifting and corrupting and revenging so he can become America's Putin, and while his base get to eat religious zeal instead of affordable bread with a so called return to a Christian nation where the gays and the trans will be punished and the Bible will be read in school. You know, between mass shootings and girls marry as teens and start pumping out the babies for the for the American workforce and women shut up and cook dinner and behave and the brown immigrants get hurt. They get herded, tossed into concentration camps, maybe even killed or all pure entertainment for the base. While a lot of that is screaming across your TV screen and your laptop and your phone till you literally feel like you're going out of your mind. The billionaires are erasing everything you gained and putting every penny into their own pockets.

[Amber Ruffin]

Hey, that's your free speech and blah blah blah. Because originally when I lost the White House correspondence, talk a little about how.

[Joy Reid]

Did they tell you? Did you get an email? Like, did you what happened? How did you find out you were no longer doing it?

[Amber Ruffin]

My rex were like, you acted wild on a podcast and you lost White House correspondence dinner. I was like, yeah man.

[Joy Reid]

What did you say on the podcast? Hablas Espanolsk?

[Unknown]

If you used Babbel, you would Babble's Conversation Based Techniques teaches you useful words and phrases to get you speaking quickly about the things you actually talk about in the real world. With lessons handcrafted by over 200 language experts and voiced by real native speakers. Speakers Babbel is like having a private tutor in your pocket. Start speaking with Babbel today. Get up to 55% off your Babbel subscription right now at Babbel.com Spotify spelled B A B B E L.com Spotify rules and restrictions may apply.

Ten years from today, Lisa Schneider will trade in her office job to become the leader of a pack of dogs as the owner of her own dog rescue. That is a second act made possible by the reskilling courses Lisa's taking now with AARP to help make sure her income lives as long as she does. And she can finally run with the big dogs and the small dogs who just think they're big dogs. That's why the younger you are, the more you need AARP. Learn more at aarp.org skills.

[Joy Reid]

Recently I had the chance to interview writer and comedian Amber Ruffin, who was supposed to headline this year's wonderful White House Correspondents Dinner. We discussed that, her amazing career and how to stay funny in an autocracy. Check it out. You know her from have I Got News for you on cnn, Late Night with Seth Meyers, the eponymous Amber Ruffin show, and many, many, many more things. The great, the wonderful, the hilarious Amber Ruffin is here with me now. Hey, girl. Welcome to the basement.

[Amber Ruffin]

Yeah, I love it here. You're never gonna get me to leave.

[Joy Reid]

It's fine. We've got a spare room and you can stay. Yes. So let's get it. So I am here holding my dossier on you. And you know you've made it. When you got a dossier, girl, you got a dossier, honey. So I want to talk about. You are a 70s baby.

[Amber Ruffin]

That's right.

[Joy Reid]

Born in Omaha, Nebraska. Yes. Home of Malcolm X.

[Amber Ruffin]

That's right.

[Joy Reid]

So the obvious question there is, how many black people are there? And now that you're not there, are there any left?

[Amber Ruffin]

My family's still there, so that's some.

[Joy Reid]

That's some.

[Amber Ruffin]

But we do have. You know when I was like, okay, we have black people, was when we got a soul food restaurant.

[Joy Reid]

Okay.

[Amber Ruffin]

I was like, well, well, well, that's when, you know, lookie here, I can pick up the phone and order greens. I was never able to do that before.

[Joy Reid]

Absolutely. I get it. Because I grew up in Denver, Colorado, and the first question people ask is, are there any black people there? And I'm like, there absolutely are black people. There are black people everywhere. That is the key. But you've had such an incredible career, you know, in terms of doing stand up. And you went to Amsterdam. Like, you literally. What, first of all, what got you from doing comedy, I'm assuming locally to go all the way to Amsterdam.

[Amber Ruffin]

Well, I was an improviser in Omaha, Nebraska, and then I would go to Chicago for the Chicago Improv Fest because Chicago is like the heart of all improv. Fight me. And then I did well there. And one of the theater owners was like, if you moved here, you could have a full time job within a year. And I did. And I did. And that full time job was in Amsterdam doing comedy at a theater called Boom Chicago, which has a lot of famous alums. So I lived there for five, five years. Well, here's the whole story. I lived there for two years. Then I called Second City and asked for a job and they gave it to me because that's how it worked back then. And then I moved to Denver to do Second City. Denver, we existed. Then I moved to Second City, Chicago to do Main Stage for two years. I don't know. And then moved back to Amsterdam for another three years, then to LA for two years to try to make it. And then I got Late Night with Seth Meyers in la. And then I've lived in New York ever since.

[Joy Reid]

I want to Get. And I know everybody wants to know about the White House Correspondents Dinner, Dessa. But I'm making wait just a little bit longer because I just want to know more. I want people to know more about you because when you became a writer on Late Night with Seth Meyers, weirdly enough. And look, this is my dossier. So let me know if my dossier is correct because I will get at my AP if it's wrong. In 2014, you were the first black woman to become a writer on a late night show, which to me sounds crazy because 2014 is in the 21st century. Is that true?

[Amber Ruffin]

Well, it is. What I have been told is that I was the first black female late night writer on a network talk show.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

So it seems true. Ish.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

But I choose to believe it. And it certainly, like, if you look at the late night landscape.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah, it's very white male.

[Amber Ruffin]

Who else was doing it?

[Joy Reid]

Right.

[Amber Ruffin]

But.

[Joy Reid]

But you think about, like, shows like Saturday Night Live that have had so many incredible black women cast members. You think of all the black women in comedy. You would think at some point a black woman would be elevated to those roles because some, in some cases those writers rooms are writing for black women.

[Amber Ruffin]

Yes. It's just the shape of what modern comedy used to be. And it used to be black people were only funny through the white lens. You know what I mean?

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

And so that small part of black comedy and white comedy that overlapped, that was the only spot black women were really allowed to exist.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

So it took a long time to separate those two things and to be like, I'm valid outside of my stereotype.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

So it. And now freaking. Since Late Night with Seth Meyers, a few black women have had late night shows. So I feel really, really good about it.

[Joy Reid]

No, absolutely. And I mean your, you know, let's talk a little bit about just actually being in those writer rooms. Talk about what it was like to be. Because, you know, we're in this DEI conversation and we know the diversity, equity, inclusion actually brings. It brings something important to the table. Can you talk about being on Seth Meyer's show and what it was like?

[Amber Ruffin]

Well, Seth Meyers old boss is Tina Fey, so he doesn't have what regular white men have where they like, balk at the thought of listening to a woman. Yeah, most of them have it. I just hit the jackpot. He also has this weird thing that should not be weird, but it is where you can say, you shouldn't say that.

[Joy Reid]

You literally had a piece called Things Seth shouldn't say. These are two of our writers, Amber and Jenny.

[Amber Ruffin]

I'm black and I'm gay, and we're.

[Joy Reid]

Both women, and I'm not. So here's how it works. I'll read the setups for these jokes, and Amber and Jenny will read the punchline.

[Amber Ruffin]

But you can say that to him, and he'll be like, oh, all right.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

He just doesn't have a crazy, weird ego. He's, like, eager to learn and open, and he's not convinced that he knows everything.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

Which is great.

[Joy Reid]

Hit show Black Mirror recently began its seventh season.

[Amber Ruffin]

A black mirror is like a white mirror, except you look good.

[Joy Reid]

Amber, are you saying all white people are ugly?

[Amber Ruffin]

I didn't. You did. You heard it here first, folks. Seth Meyers said all white people are ugly.

[Joy Reid]

No, I didn't.

[Amber Ruffin]

You heard it here first, folks. Seth Meyers gaslit a black girl.

[Joy Reid]

Enough. And there's. I mean, you've done so many other things. Black lady sketcho. Like, people have gotten to see you in the context of doing your full comedy with other black women. Black lady sketch show is one of the best things ever. It's fabulous, too. But you've also done your own show, so talk a little bit about hosting, because then you went from being the writer and being a frequent person that appeared on the show to hosting the Amber Ruffin show. What was that like?

[Amber Ruffin]

Yeah, it was bonkers because we wrote up the Ruffin show, the Amber Ruffin show, a year before we got it because we didn't know Peacock was going to exist.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

So we wrote it up. We pitched it to NBC. They were like, no. We're like, okay. So then forgot we ever talked about it.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

And then one day, Mike Shoemaker, our EP on Late Night Seth was like, they want to do Ruffin show. And we were like, holy crap. Okay, what's Peacock?

[Joy Reid]

So then we don't. So many people ask that question. No offense to Peacock, but people do ask the question.

[Amber Ruffin]

Yeah. But since I got Late night Seth, I've had my own show. I've written on a sitcom. I've written on Black lady sketch show. I have written two books. I've written two Broadway shows. Like, there is no. They're like, fly baby bird. They want everyone to succeed. And it is bananas that other shows just leave money on the table.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

I'm like, you EP it. You benefit. Everyone benefits.

[Joy Reid]

Absolutely.

[Amber Ruffin]

But, yes, Seth got his head on. Right.

[Joy Reid]

You talked about these books. I have to talk about the name of this book I had. This one is written Down. You'll never. Okay, this is. You'll never believe what happened today. Crazy stories about racism. You're with your sister.

[Amber Ruffin]

You'll never believe what happened to Lacey. Crazy stories about racism.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah. And I need to know what is the craziest story about racism that you have? And you order with your sister, by the way.

[Amber Ruffin]

There's so many, dude. There are so many. My favorite, and the fastest one to tell is that Lacy Lacey was at. At the store this a million years ago, and she had Black History Month checks, but each has. It had a different black history hero on it. She paid for a check. A little white child took the check, was like, I didn't know you could get your picture on a check. The picture was Harriet Tubman.

[Joy Reid]

No, no, she did not think your sister was Harriet Tubman.

[Amber Ruffin]

Special picture of Harriet Tubman.

[Joy Reid]

The real.

[Amber Ruffin]

The one.

[Joy Reid]

You're the famous one. Yeah. I've always had this question for. You know, you all make everything funny. Comedians make everything funny. It is your job, it is your career. But some things feel like, are they funny or not, Right? In this era, when we're just facing such a war, what feels like a war against black history? A war against black people? Not even just black people. People of color, queer people. You did. You did make this announcement about yourself after you got divorced and said, this is me. I' I am who I am. Which, by the way, on my notes, my AP wrote slay. But I mean, you know, the war is on so much of your identity. How do you make that funny?

[Amber Ruffin]

I feel like this has always been the case. This has always been the case. Like every. Every I would say month for me, every day for Lacy, we'd come home and be like, my white boss said this and you were going to flip out, right? Like, it was always something wild. And we would laugh because we live here. This is what it is. And the cool thing that's happening with comedy, horrible for the world. Yeah, Very cool for comedy, is that we're all in hell. So it's like everyone gets to have that bananas, like, holding one hand and going like this with the other. It is. Everyone gets to be like, oh, wow, we're all on the sinking boat together. We rage, you know, so it's nice to have that brotherhood of terribility.

[Joy Reid]

The brotherhood of terribility. We gotta pat that.

[Amber Ruffin]

That's the name of the next book.

[Joy Reid]

It should be the name of the next book. And so you're cnn. I actually was pleasantly surprised. And God bless them for doing the show. It's Roy Wood Jr. Yourself. And you two guys are like the coaches of the show. Have I got news for you. Did it surprise you that in this era that in this climate CNN was like, yeah, we'll greenlight that. And do they do you feel restricted ever in what kind of comedy you can do based on, you know, the regime?

[Amber Ruffin]

So CNN's this show, have I Got News for your has run over 30.

[Joy Reid]

Seasons in, in England, in so many American comedy shows. It's a bite of an English show.

[Amber Ruffin]

And they are wild over there. They're like, say whatever you want. The more we get in trouble, the better, right? So they are on a mission to be subversive. And here they're like, you can do whatever you want. And buddy, I'm telling you, I'm up there saying whatever.

[Unknown]

Don't nobody give a this episode is brought to you by LifeLock. Between two factor authentication, strong passwords and a VPN, you try to be in control of how your info is protected. But many other places also have it and they might not be as careful. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast for 40% off terms.

[Joy Reid]

Apply the number one selling product of its kind with over 20 years of research and innovation. Botox Cosmetic Adobotulinum Toxinae is a prescription medicine used to temporarily make moderate to severe frown lines, crow's feet and forehead lines look better in adults.

[Unknown]

Effects of Botox Cosmetic may spread hours to weeks after injection, causing serious symptoms. Alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems or muscle weakness may be a sign of a life threatening condition. Patients with these conditions before injection are at highest risk. Don't receive Botox Cosmetic if you have a skin infection. Side effects may include allergic reactions, injection site pain, headache, eyebrow and eyelid drooping and eyelid swelling. Allergic reactions can include rash, welts, asthma symptoms and dizziness. Tell your doctor about medical history, muscle or nerve conditions including ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, myasthenia gravis or Lambert Eaton syndrome, and medications including botulinum toxins as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. For full safety information, visit botoxcosmetic.com or call 877-351-0300.

[Joy Reid]

See for [e-mail] so you got invited to host the White House Correspondent association, which is a big deal and Roy did It last year, year before last year.

[Amber Ruffin]

Last year or the year before last.

[Joy Reid]

Year or the year before. So you, you know, they knew who they were inviting. Talk about how the invite happened in the.

[Amber Ruffin]

Initially, I got a call and they said I was invited. Then I. We talked about what was expected of me, and we were like, we'll give it to both sides. And no one said, give it to both sides equally and make sure ba, ba, ba.

[Joy Reid]

Give it to both sides. I was like, hell, yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

And then like, this freaking January. So that's before people were getting snatched up off the street.

[Joy Reid]

Right.

[Amber Ruffin]

That's before they were erasing black history from national websites. That's before black book bands in schools. It's before we really found out what was going to happen.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

And so I, I just can't.

[Joy Reid]

And look, I'm not.

[Amber Ruffin]

I'm a comedian. I'm a goofball. I'm an improviser. It's not my job to fricking stand in the way of fascism. That's not my job. And I, I don't know anything about that. But I cannot say that what they are doing is equal to what Democrats are doing. Can I create a false equivalency that does actual harm and it harms me?

[Joy Reid]

Right.

[Amber Ruffin]

So, you know, I. I'm not a martyr or, you know, free speech soldier. I'm a girl who doesn't want her life to get worse. Right?

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

You know, but now I find myself in this odd place where I, you know, people were like, hey, that's your free speech, and blah, blah, blah. Because originally, when I lost the White House correspondence gig, I thought about, how.

[Joy Reid]

Did they tell you? What, did you get an email? Like, did. What happened? How did you find out you were no longer doing it?

[Amber Ruffin]

Were like, you acted wild on a podcast and you lost White House correspondence dinner. I was like, yeah.

[Joy Reid]

What did you say on the podcast?

[Amber Ruffin]

How much do you actually know about.

[Unknown]

Who will be in attendance?

[Amber Ruffin]

Do you get, like, the rundown? I'm sure that I will at some point. I know the news organizations that will be attending. I don't think the people confirm until quite a bit later. I don't necessarily. Like, I'm not 100% interested in being like, ha, you're here. Look at your stupid head. You're burned. I care. Like, you're kind of a bunch of murderers. I mean, so like, they were like, you need to be, you know, equal and make sure that the. That you give it to both sides and blah, blah, blah. I was like, there's no Way I'm going to be frickin doing that, dude. Under no circumstances.

[Joy Reid]

But you're a comedian. And when someone books you to be on a podcast, you're gonna do comedy. It's what you do. I'm act up, right?

[Amber Ruffin]

So I was like, okay, well you know what? That's what I get for acting out. Then people were like, you can say whatever you want. You're not a politician. You can act up. You're supposed to act up. I tuned in to watch you act up. I was like, oh yeah, she did it again. I see how that happened. I see how they came to that conclusion. Because I was going to say all of manner stuff.

[Joy Reid]

You're like, you say I was going to burn him to the ground, but.

[Amber Ruffin]

The ground, yeah, but so if you hire me, I do that, people get mad at you, you lose your access to reporting on the White House. You gotta fire me. You have no choice.

[Joy Reid]

But you don't. Because here's the thing. You know, your former boss Seth Meyers has hosted the White House Correspondent association. And every week when he was on Saturday Night Live, they were doing a thing called Weekend Update where they were roasting the administration, including, you know, they roast anyone. All of the comedians that have done White House Correspondence association dinner, they've all done the same kind of comedy. You see what I mean? Like, I feel like there's a. There was a special kind of retreat this year because. And he wasn't even going to be there. He doesn't go to it because he can't laugh at himself. So to me, it was very odd that they booked people before who have. I still can remember the attacks on Bill Clinton when he was there. It was so crass what happened. And they were. That happened. And there was no penalty for it. And you're allowed to do that. Lots of people have done it. Did you feel like it was different this year?

[Amber Ruffin]

Yeah, it's different this year because you're not allowed to do that this year.

[Joy Reid]

No longer allowed.

[Amber Ruffin]

People would have literally lost their access to, to the White House. They are kicking people out of the.

[Joy Reid]

Press pool and they're doing that anyway despite the fact that you did not do that dinner. So that the thing is that we're going to lose it anyway, right? Like they're about to lose it anyway. You almost wonder if the press in this moment is making decisions to take the knee to retreat and then they end up the thing, the bad thing they were afraid of happens anyway. They banned the AP anyway. It had nothing to do with You. Yeah, I wrote down a guy's name. His name is Zainab Mousavi, and he is an Iranian comedian who in 20, was arrested and jailed in Iran for making fun of the regime there. And I think in the United States, we've never thought we would get to the point where we'd ever have to even think about it, not being that you're just not invited to a thing. But you can get arrested. You know, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, the largest city in New Jersey, literally arrested, even though an ICE detention center. He was. He's in court with. Saying that they're illegally occupying, you know, working in his city. He's in court with them. He's the mayor of that city. He's in his jurisdiction. Arrested. You have this administration threatening to arrest the governor, members of Congress, to put them in jail, and to take away even the ability for people to get a hearing. So I wonder if, for you, as a comedian, in this era where it's not even just about being disinvited to things, do you ever worry that worse can happen as a result of you doing comedy?

[Amber Ruffin]

Yeah, it can certainly happen. It's. I. When I lost the White House correspondence dinner, I was like, oh, no. And as I was, like, undoing the dress, as I was undoing, you know, releasing hair and makeup, getting rid of the hotel room, a thing I had to get rid of was a bodyguard. And I was like, wait, wait. In this madness, I had hired a bodyguard and then just been like, okay, check. Like, that was a normal freaking thing. And then once I had to let the bodyguard go, I was like, you know what?

[Joy Reid]

Yeah, I think.

[Amber Ruffin]

I think this turned out for the best.

[Joy Reid]

Turned out for the best.

[Amber Ruffin]

Yeah.

[Joy Reid]

So my exit question to you is just a bigger picture. I'm gonna make you be deep now. I'm gonna go over on you. Talk to us about what comedy and what performance and what art to you, looks like in authoritarianism, because that's where we are.

[Amber Ruffin]

Yeah, I'm. It's odd to see the way that shows are bending to the way networks are bending to appease what Trump's requirements might become.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

You know, because I don't think he's issued an edict yet about, hey, you can't. So people are just preemptively snatching shows off the air and making sure that there's not too much noise, you know, and where does that end? Furthermore, another side effect of this is there are cities now where you have to use the bathroom. That is your assigned gender at birth.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

So when companies go on tour, I have two. I co wrote and wrote two shows touring America now. And when our cast members are trans, then we have to worry about them when they hit this city and that city, you know, so it's like, it is a devious way to shrink art and it is not working. Honestly, I do not think it's working because artists are people who speak out.

[Joy Reid]

I mean, I've asked a couple people this about the Kennedy Center. Like, there's a question of, do you pull away? If you had a show at the Kennedy center, do you drop it or do you go in defiantly and like, I'm not gonna let you kick me out. Where would you fall on that?

[Amber Ruffin]

I feel like each choice is valid.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

Personally, I would pull out. But if you stayed and then just delivered.

[Joy Reid]

Do the gayest show ever. Like, literally, Literally. Have the drag queens also dress as drag queens. Like, be double drag. I don't know if they know if that's actually possible, but do it. Do like 2 times drag.

[Amber Ruffin]

Go back and forth.

[Joy Reid]

Go back and forth.

[Amber Ruffin]

All genders do them all. That would rule.

[Joy Reid]

Would actually be.

[Amber Ruffin]

Yeah, I would watch that.

[Joy Reid]

You could write that, girl, listen, we got a project. Let's do it. But yeah, it is. It's hard to know what to do because some people are like, you know, we just will never go back to the Kennedy center ever again.

[Amber Ruffin]

Yeah. And not knowing what to do is fine. Not doing is becoming unacceptable.

[Joy Reid]

It's a problem.

[Amber Ruffin]

Like, we gotta do. Yeah. Do is the only thing we can do. And there are so many people who are unable to do anything. You know what I mean?

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

Remember when, Remember after George Floyd's murder where white people were like, I have to use my privilege to blah, be blue. Now it's us. Like, dang, I didn't have but a major privilege, and now I gotta use it to save trans people. Dang. I'll do it.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah. And you've seen a lot of black people pull away from being in the streets because they're like, we're not gonna use. Because black folks have a moral privilege. Right. African Americans in particular have been at the center of the civil rights movement, including, you know, the place Malcolm X, who's from your hometown. Right. I mean, it's been black folks who've been the moral conscience of the country. And now you're sort of seeing black people pull away from the street movement piece of it. Because first of all, we're a bigger target. And second of all, there's a sense of betrayal that all these other communities failed to come out and vote, you know, in our best interest. Do you have a thought on whether we should be out in these streets?

[Amber Ruffin]

Yeah. Streets is hard.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

Should we be in the voting booth? Absolutely.

[Joy Reid]

Yes.

[Amber Ruffin]

Should we be in the streets? Oh, man, I don't know, man. They're out here wiling out now. Will I be in the streets? Should you be in the streets? You know, you know your town, right? Will I be in the streets of New York? Yeah. Will I be in the streets in Omaha, Nebraska? I don't know. I don't know.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah, I hear you.

[Amber Ruffin]

Tell the truth. I, I don't know.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah.

[Amber Ruffin]

But I think that. Would I be in the streets of Minneapolis? Absolutely. But it is imperative that you do something. I think we're just, our backs are against the wall now and it will come to us running around in the streets. And I make prediction is you may not feel comfortable getting out there now, but soon you will feel as though you must and then I think everyone will.

[Joy Reid]

I think so, too. Amber Ruffin, we appreciate you. Have I Got news from you. It airs Saturday nights, 9:00pm Eastern Standard Time on CNN. It is a good reason to tune into CNN because look, sometimes we have to laugh so we don't cry or scream. Yeah, that's a good strategy. Yeah, we appreciate you.

[Amber Ruffin]

I'm laughing and crying.

[Joy Reid]

There you go. Thank you, Amber Ruffin. And be sure to catch amber Roy Wood Jr. And Michael Ian Black in have I Got News for your. Please be sure to share this channel with all of your friends and family and also hit that like button so that we know that you're enjoying the content. And if you are a true reader, subscribe not just to this channel but also to Joy's house on substack by going to joyanread.com there you will have access to my daily reading and exclusive content, including behind the scenes footage of the show and exclusive chats and actor parties. First dibs on getting your questions answered every Friday by me and first dibs on telling us who won the week. We've also got those cute throwback, throwback readout jerseys that folks have been asking me about in the merch shop over there with more cute merch to come. So head on over to joyannread.com to subscribe to for free, but only after you hit subscribe right now on the screen below and throw in some comments while you're at it. We would love to hear from you. Thanks again for watching and see you next time on the Joy Reaches bouncing.

[Amber Ruffin]

On my ones, counting on my twos.

[Joy Reid]

Sitting on my threes. We are done. It is eight, nine o' clock. I have and I need to eat. I'm sorry.