Who Trump's Bill Really Hurts ft. Ayanna Pressley, Nina Turner & Jamal Bryant | The Joy Reid ShowDraft Episode for Jul 04, 2025

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Joy Reid Show – "Who Trump's Bill Really Hurts"

Date Released: July 12, 2025
Guests: Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Nina Turner, Pastor Jamal Bryant

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1. Introduction and Guest Introduction [00:04 - 02:38]

Joy-Ann Reid kicks off the episode by introducing her esteemed guests: Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, former State Senator Nina Turner, and Pastor Jamal Bryant. She highlights their collaborative efforts in the "Target Fast" boycott, a strategic move against Target's perceived lack of commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Joy underscores the significance of this movement, noting its grassroots momentum and the collective leadership of her guests.

2. Status of the Target Boycott [01:20 - 02:38]

Pastor Jamal Bryant provides an update on the Target boycott, emphasizing its ongoing momentum.
Jamal Bryant [01:20]: "We're in full throttle... the 4 demands still have not been met and people are keeping the pressure on every day."
He notes the tangible impacts on Target's business, including declining stock prices and reduced foot traffic, attributing this success to grassroots activism and social media engagement.

3. ESSENCE Fest and Target's Sponsorship [02:38 - 04:08]

Nina Turner discusses the implications of Target's continued sponsorship at ESSENCE Fest, a major event for Black women.
Nina Turner [02:38]: "Be shocked as well... We are asking them to love ESSENCE but boycott Target."
She clarifies that the sponsorship is not a new development but part of an ongoing relationship, urging attendees to separate their support for ESSENCE from their disapproval of Target.

4. Corporate Cowardice and DEI Failures [04:08 - 07:01]

Joy introduces Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, who addresses the perceived retreat of corporations from authentic DEI commitments.
Ayanna Pressley [04:35]: "Our advocacy is not an appeal for charity... it's about fairness, it's about justice."
She criticizes companies that prioritize profits over meaningful DEI initiatives, linking this behavior to broader systemic issues perpetuated by the current political climate and an extremist Supreme Court.

5. The Impact of Trump's Bill on Medicaid and SNAP [07:01 - 28:43]

The discussion shifts to the ramifications of a proposed bill by former President Donald Trump, which aims to cut significant funding from Medicaid and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).
Ayanna Pressley [24:05]: "These are not histrionics... People will die."
Nina Turner [10:35]: "This is a 91-1. This is everything we love is on the line."
The guests elaborate on how the bill disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, including seniors, children, and undocumented immigrants. They highlight the hypocrisy of prioritizing military spending over essential social services and criticize the bill as an assault on American citizens' well-being.

6. Democratic Party's Responsibilities and Failures [20:16 - 23:04]

Nina Turner and Ayanna Pressley critique the Democratic Party for not adequately addressing the needs of working-class Americans.
Nina Turner [22:46]: "The Democratic Party has to take a hard look in the mirror and figure out what it wants to be when it grows up."
They argue that the party has failed to present a united and effective front against Republican policies that harm the poor and marginalized, urging for stronger advocacy and policy proposals that prioritize the people's needs over political positioning.

7. The Role of the Black Church and Community Mobilization [34:37 - 40:03]

Pastor Jamal Bryant and other guests emphasize the critical role of the Black church in mobilizing communities against systemic injustices.
Jamal Bryant [38:27]: "This is the people's movement... We have to continue to push back."
They discuss the historical significance of the Black church in civil rights movements and call for renewed solidarity and action to combat both racism and classism, highlighting the intersectionality of these issues.

8. Classism, Racism, and Economic Inequality [32:17 - 44:08]

The conversation delves into the intertwined nature of classism and racism in America, illustrating how economic policies exacerbate racial disparities.
Jamal Bryant [34:37]: "Classism because it looks and smells a lot like racism."
Nina Turner [38:05]: "President Trump is the manifestation of failure... in the DNA of this country."
The guests discuss how policies like the proposed Medicaid and SNAP cuts disproportionately impact Black and working-class communities, perpetuating cycles of poverty and social inequity.

9. Call to Action and Mobilization [24:23 - 44:08]

Congresswoman Pressley urges listeners to take immediate action to oppose the harmful bill by contacting their representatives.
Ayanna Pressley [24:23]: "Call 202-2431-2120-2224-3121 and tell your reps to vote no."
She emphasizes the urgency of grassroots activism and the importance of collective voices in influencing legislative outcomes. The guests also highlight the necessity of building a united front within the Democratic Party to effectively counteract Republican initiatives.

10. Conclusion and Final Remarks [44:08 - End]

The episode concludes with Joy-Ann Reid summarizing the critical points discussed and reinforcing the message that the proposed bill is a direct threat to millions of Americans' well-being. She highlights the ethical and moral imperatives to oppose such policies, emphasizing solidarity across all marginalized communities.

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Notable Quotes:

• Jamal Bryant [01:20]: "The stock is tumbling, the foot traffic is slowing down and their valuation is diminishing."

• Nina Turner [02:38]: "We want the people to support ESSENCE but boycott Target."

• Ayanna Pressley [04:35]: "It's about fairness, it's about justice, it's about reciprocity."

• Nina Turner [10:35]: "This is everything we love is on the line."

• Ayanna Pressley [24:05]: "This is not abstract. People will die."

• Jamal Bryant [34:37]: "Classism because it looks and smells a lot like racism."

• Ayanna Pressley [24:23]: "Call 202-2431-2120-2224-3121 and tell your reps to vote no."

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Key Takeaways:

• Target Boycott: A strategic movement led by influential Black leaders aims to pressure Target into fulfilling DEI commitments, showing tangible business impacts.

• ESSENCE Fest Sponsorship: Target's continued sponsorship at ESSENCE Fest despite the boycott underscores the complexity of corporate DEI relationships.

• Trump's Medicaid and SNAP Cuts: The proposed bill poses severe threats to millions, particularly affecting seniors, children, undocumented immigrants, and the working poor by stripping essential social services.

• Democratic Party's Role: There's a pressing need for the Democratic Party to unify and prioritize the interests of marginalized communities to effectively counteract harmful Republican policies.

• Intersectionality of Classism and Racism: Economic policies often exacerbate racial disparities, necessitating a holistic approach to social justice that addresses both class and race.

• Community Mobilization: The Black church and grassroots movements remain pivotal in advocating for justice and equity, calling for sustained activism and solidarity.

• Call to Action: Immediate and collective efforts are essential to oppose detrimental legislation, emphasizing the power of individual voices in shaping policy outcomes.

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This episode serves as a potent reminder of the ongoing struggles against systemic injustices and the critical role of community leadership in driving meaningful change. Listeners are encouraged to engage actively in advocacy efforts to protect and advance the rights and well-being of all marginalized populations.

Transcript

[Joy Reid]

Okay. All right. We are going to just keep this thing moving. Okay. So let me first go to Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. We've been waiting for Congresswoman Presley. I'm go to her first. I want to also note that we are going to bring you Representative Jamal, I mean, Representative Pastor Jamal Bryant. And we're also going to have my friend, my wonder twin, Nina Turner on. Let's go ahead and bring in Pastor Jamal Bryant and Nina Turner. Please welcome both of them to the show. Thank you all for being on the Joy Reid Show. It's always great to see you. And I always want to mention that Nina Turner is not just a former state senator from the great state of Ohio, but she is also the leader of a great organization called we are so Somebody. And they, along with Tamika Mallory, my other homegirl, Tamika Mallory, all three of them started this Target Fast together, this boycott of Target. This was a three person job. You all obviously know that Pastor Bryant has been at the lead of it. But I want to get a status update if I could and I will. I will go first to the pastor, to Pastor Bryant. What is the status right now of the boycott? Is it still on?

[Jamal Bryant]

We're in full throttle. This is the never ending mystery. We thought that we would be finished by Easter and here we are on the 4th of July and the 4 demands still have not been met and people are keeping the pressure on every day. The stock is tumbling, the foot traffic is slowing down and their valuation is diminishing. And so this organic, grassroots social media black church movement is really hitting on all cylinders. I'm excited about it.

[Joy Reid]

Wonder twin Nina Turner, it is so great to see you, to be back on a version of TV with you, right on YouTube with you. Let's talk about this. Because black women are about to descend on New Orleans for ESSENCE Fest. It's one of the most popular events for black women every year. And I'm not sure that a lot of sisters know that Target is a spot sponsor, that Target will be there. They have an activation there, but they have done for the last five years. I will note that they did not do this new like they did with the Baptist and throw this as new money. This is actually like the fourth or fifth year of a contract that's already been there. So ESSENCE didn't do something new. But what do you anticipate the reaction will be of black women who've been boycotting Target when they see that Target activation at essence, I think they will.

[Nina Turner]

Be shocked as well. So it's good that we educate to let them know this is not new relationship they've been in. Relationship. That doesn't necessarily mean that will be that into the future. But I do believe that those black women and the people who are supporting this boycott will walk away. That is what we are asking them to love essence. But to boycott Target, two separate things. They're going to be in the marketplace. We don't want. Don't take the bags. Don't take nothing that Target is handing out because Target continues to play in our face. They could have done the right thing and continue to commit to diversity, equity, inclusion, but they decided to side with bigotry, with President Donald J. Trump. And so they have to answer the consequences. And there are lots of people engaged in this boycott. We got the amazing Dolores Huerta. The legend herself is on board. Latino freeze. We got sisters and brothers rocking from all ethnicities and races. Well, there's only one human race, so let me not. But all kind of walks of life who are loving on black people in this way and standing up in collective solidarity to boycott Target.

[Joy Reid]

Well, and I appreciate you making that clear because. Right. I think that people, when you kind of go to an event, you see who's a sponsor and you just assume that the relationship is new or this is no, Target's been there for many years. This was not the original plan. But I want to introduce Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and bring you in now because you have been such a strong advocate.

[Ayanna Pressley]

Ste.

[Joy Reid]

Standing up for and never backing down from diversity, equity and inclusion. And I just would love to get your take on the, I would say the cowardice of some corporations who have been. Who have received great loyalty from audiences of color and from black women in particular, running away from it. What do you make of that? That as a strategy going forward?

[Ayanna Pressley]

Well, first, Joy, I just want to say it's wonderful to be with you. And I know we were having a lot of technical difficulties there, but I knew between Pastor Bryant, Senator Turner, yourself, the saints were busy and I was going to get in here. So I'm glad that it worked out. You know, look, the thing is, it is shameful, but I think it is shameful and it's infuriating because anytime we are demanding accountability, anytime that we are doing the work of enforcing the law, because the thing about being black is that we've had to litigate, legislate and agitate for those things that are a birthright for other people. And of course, diversity, equity and inclusion is not just about black folks it's about veterans and the disabled and seniors and, and women and people in rural communities. So it does stand to benefit everyone. As Anna Julia Cooper said of the black woman, when and where I enter, the whole race enters with me. And that is true for diversity, equity and inclusion. But it's so frustrating that people will act like our advocacy is an appeal for some charity or benevolence. This is about fairness, it's about justice, it's about reciprocity. It's about that for which we deserve. And you know, unfortunately, this extremist Supreme Court who are active conspirators and accomplices in this march toward authoritarianism, towards fascism, this anti blackness on steroids. You know, the first domino to fall was that decision to on affirmative action in higher ed After 50 years of precedent, then the minority Business Development Agency decision ruling rather. And then I would just say that this rolling effort to defund and dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion began with attacks on black leadership from Tennessee to Harvard. And I would even include you, Joy. You know, these attacks to defend and define diversity, equity, inclusion began with attacks on black leadership.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah. And I would include Marilyn Mosby in Maryland who was prosecuted for taking money out of her own 401k to buy property, which is supposed to be the goal. Right. To have property in this country is supposed to be the American dream. I want to circle back around and have all of you because I think these are blended conversations. We were sort of debifurcating and talking about this, you know, big billionaire bust down, as I call this hideous bill. But there is this sort of sense that the super wealthy are eating, eating everything and leaving nothing for the ordinary person. And I want to come back to you, Pastor, because this is a moral issue. So to me, when I see the National Baptist Convention, which should be spending its time and its energy fighting that bill and saying that our constituents, that the people in our churches might end up having to come to our churches to eat because you're going to take away food stamps, you're going to take away Medicaid, they might not have health care. They might have to come to our churches to pray over a dying loved one who could have been saved. Right? That could have been a great use of the National Baptist Convention's time. Instead they're like, give us a $300,000 check target and we're good. What is happening?

[Jamal Bryant]

It is a rerun of the Twilight Zone. Let's not forget it was the National Baptist Convention that put Martin Luther King Jr. Out of the convention for Leading the march on Washington because they didn't want to be civically involved and engaged. And asterisk joy of greater humiliation and embarrassment. It wasn't 300,000. It was 75,000. The 300,000 had to be split between four. National Baptist America, National Baptist USA Missionary Baptist, and the Church of God in Christ. So it's literally peanuts. And you juxtapose that with Black people spending $12 million a day is absolutely egregious. And so we really have to do a rallying cry because we got to figure out, are the black churches going to send the church mothers to go cook in the school cafeterias in the fall because there'll be no free lunch. We got to figure out, what do we do? Because congressmen would know better than I. This is about to be the largest homeless population, that is senior citizens, because they can't afford senior care because of what is taking place. So the church is getting ready to find out after worship comes service. So we really become the church after the benediction. And so the real shining and revealing hour for the church is going to be revealed in this moment.

[Joy Reid]

Okay, before I come to you, Congresswoman, I want to come to you, Nina, because you, you were. You worked on the ground as a state senator at that local level. And so it is at that level where people are going to see the pain first. Right? It's going to radiate up to United States senators, but it's going to be felt first by the state senators, reps and state senators who are going to have hungry constituents and desperate people coming to them in this moment. Can you just point out the failures? Because there are so many structures that seem to have failed. Right. For us to get to the point where women have to figure out, how do I hold my precious dollars and not go to Target, but actually, where can I shop? Where should I shop? Who should I support? Am I devoting my money to small businesses? Or maybe I just need to give my money to churches to make sure that they're helping to feed people because summer lunch is gone. Just talk to me about where you are in this moment and where you're organiz organization stands at this moment in terms of the needs that we're going to see pretty immediately after this bill passes.

[Nina Turner]

Yeah. Thank you for that, wonder twin. And I hate that the congresswoman is gone. I want to shout her out, so I hope that she gets to hear this, that, you know, she's been fighting and the congresswoman served on more local levels of government like I have, too the local level leaders, the council people and the mayors are the ones that are going to see this pain first in places like Cleveland, Ohio, where one out of every two children already live in poverty before the snap cuts hit their families, before the Medicaid cuts hit their families. And so this is a 91 1. This is a everything. All that we love is on the line in this moment for all working class, working poor people. And the way that the Republican Party is making it seem like people who may receive these benefits are unworthy, it's really a shame. And nobody should buy into that because but by the grace of God, there go I. My family was a safety net family. And but for that safety net for my working poor mama, my working poor daddy, there were times when we wouldn't have had food. There were times where we did not have food. So how I got over. My soul looks back and wonders how I got over. We need the House of Labor. Those are the things that my organization is working on, is bringing together working class people from all backgrounds to understand that we are truly, truly, truly all in this together. And this is not about the Republican, Democrat, libertarian little country, little rock and roll. This is about people who are not going to be able to have just their basic needs met in a hegemonic country that has no problem with sending weapons of war, buying bombs, but have problems making sure that Ms. Johnson or Mr. Johnson was or big mom and big Daddy's kids and their kids kids have something to eat. It is immoral what the Trump administration is doing and what the Republicans are doing. And we have got to continue to speak up and to fight back and have policy positions in the ready so that when this thing comes to a head and Congresswoman it is, this ain't gonna be always we gotta be in the ready position to take back the power in this country.

[Joy Reid]

When you hear Lululemon you probably think of Align yoga pants weightlessly soft like you're wearing next to. That's why you see them in class, at the grocery store and in the park. But did you know about skirts with built in liner shorts so you can still jump for the Frisbee and tanks and bodysuits with Align's iconic stretch you won't want to take it off. And with endless style options, you don't have to shop in store or [e-mail] it's true. And Congressman, you know, I'm glad you're back. I know you're having some technical gremlins here. So you know it is weak I overstand. But this is the thing that is infuriating to me. You think about countries like a Russia, you know, or like El Salvador, you have a small number of very rich people. They get really, really rich, basically eating off the public dime. They own the railroads, they own the utilities, they own everything. And then you've just got a lot of poor people. You don't have a lot of a middle class and you have a lot of desperation and they try to keep the poor sort of, you know, dazzled by sort of religious fervor and other things to try to keep them calm and keep them from rebelling. But we're becoming that country, Congresswoman.

[Ayanna Pressley]

We're getting that. I mean, I have to say that, you know, that is the thing that is especially upsetting in all of this is that, you know, this, this, this hate, this callousness, this contempt for working people, for working families is all wraps up in an American flag of faux patriotism and in so called faith, yet to find a psalm that says, make people leave them hungrier, poorer and sicker than you found them. And so the fact that they are doing this in the name of so called patriotism and faith is shameful. They are as clueless as they are cruel and callous. And we now have a legacy in this nation at this moment where we are starving children all over the world. Joy, whether you talk about the dismantling of usaid, whether you talk about the genocide in Gaza, or whether you talk about what is about to happen now with the biggest cut to food assistance in our nation's history, they continue to make history. These, this cult of maga cowards complicit in wholesale harm. They continue to make history for the wrong reasons. I don't know how they managed to convince people that they are for the every man and every woman. What abroad, they have contempt for them. They have contempt for them. And yeah, it's going to be a tsunami of her. We were doing oppressor today and there were some people there that were heckling us. And every time we invoked occupant Trump or J.D. vance, they cheered for them. And I told them, I said, I will pray for you because this bill is a betrayal to you that you have believed whatever lies this man told you. But you will not be exempt from this harm. Your whiteness will not save you. Rural communities will feel this. Suburban communities will feel this. Urban communities will feel this. Meemaw, Pawpaw, June, Big Mama, everybody. But Joy, it's important that we not move as if this is an inevitability. The fact that the caucus is currently fractured either because people want the cuts to go deeper, if you can imagine that, or because they are actually listening to the outcry from their constituents who are saying, I will die. I will be unhoused. I will be sick. So that means that our efforts to make sure people know who are the architects of this harm and that they continue to tell their stories so that these people can be less clueless, more knowledgeable about what this means, what this means for generations, and be more concerned with doing the job than keeping it.

[Joy Reid]

Amen.

[Ayanna Pressley]

I'm going to take advantage of, start working. Amen.

[Joy Reid]

Let me take advantage of the fact that I have a pastor on, because I just want to check and make sure that I got this right. Back when I was a Sunday school teacher in high school, I've been a Sunday school teacher in a minute. So maybe I have it wrong. Pastor, the last I checked, the call from Jesus was to care for the poor, to care for the immigrant. Am I wrong?

[Jamal Bryant]

No. Welcome to the revival of slave religion where they take away what it means to liberate people. This national gospel excludes exodus. It wants to keep people bondage. We still have not said anything about the 500,000 Haitians that are unprotected, the Jamaicans that are unprotected. Immigration is not just a Mexican Latino issue. It is a diasporic issue that we got to give some redress to. Unaccountable. I want to say on record, Ayanna Pressley for president. I don't know what else is happening, but that kind of furor and fire is what is going to be needed. Something is wrong that in this hour, people, I've got to say it here, have as much confidence in the Democratic Party as they do in the black church because they feel like neither is really speaking to the issue. So I am grateful for my dear sister raising the flag up high. And I hope that the church doesn't fall on the sword in this hour, but really has to cry out. In a lot of ways, Joy, the black church has been spoiled because we've been falsely claimed as a Christian nation, but we don't have Christian principles of values. So again, there are two religions in America, two different Christianities in America, and that's why we have a black church.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah. Amen. And you know, Nina, this has been, you know, and you and I, we've, we've been at various points in frustration with the Democratic Party. But I think that the challenge is, you know, those of us who are falling away from the party. It's because we're not hearing enough voices like Congresswoman Pressley. Like, if you, if it was Congresswoman Presley's voice that we were hearing, we were hearing, I think you and I would be very much aligned with the party. We'd say, yeah, we can follow that system. Like, we can follow that. And Jasmine Crockett talks. Yeah, I can follow that when AOC speaks. Yeah, I can get behind that. But it feels like the party is reticent to embrace that fury, to embrace that language or a few. Chris Murphy, I think, is doing a good job. There are a few people who are really speaking to the fury, but this is a moment for fury. Nina. These people are willing to starve senior citizens, to close rural hospitals, to make children hungry. Yeah. While increasing the defense budget we had. We put up the graphic earlier. The biggest beneficiary of this budget, other than the super rich who get a permanent massive tax cut, is the military. They're going to send more bombs to bomb Gaza with. They're going to make more warships and not name them after Medgar Evers. Probably name them after Confederates. God help us if they choose some German generals to name them after as well. What are we doing? And do you feel like the party is being strong enough and is giving Ayanna Pressley and other people with her strength enough of a voice?

[Ayanna Pressley]

Yeah.

[Nina Turner]

No, I don't. And this is really a sick nation and it's been sick for quite some time. Joy, I want people to understand this is not new. President Donald J. Trump is the manifestation of failure. In other words, white supremacy would not be able to rear his ugly head in this fashion and anti blackness in this fashion if it already wasn't in the DNA of this country to begin with. And so the Democratic Party itself, and I'm talking about the party, I'm not talking about the congresswoman, I'm not talking about some individuals who see this. I'm talking about the party itself absolutely failed. And it didn't just fail last night, it didn't just fail two weeks ago. It's been failing over the years to change material conditions. And this is one of the reason why the faux populist Donald J. Trump has a second term. And so my challenge to the party, not to the faithful who believe in the party, is you got to have a vision that provides provision for the people before it is time. There's an African proverb that says that one must never build their shield on the battlefield. Instead of them fighting Members of the squad or members who are bold, like the congresswoman, they should have had a plan and they should have been fighting Republicans. But sometimes I believe, and I have been the victim of this, so let me go on and confess this, that they'll fight those who are on the progressive side of the ledger harder than they will fight Republicans instead of fighting for the people. So the Democratic Party has to take a hard look in the mirror and figure out what it wants to be when it grows up. All that we love is on the line. You know, I visited East Palestine where that train derailed. These are working, poor, working class white folks. And you know what they were asking me? First of all, it wasn't just that a black sister from a distance was there. It was that they couldn't believe that a Democrat came to check on them. They weren't talking about less government. They wanted Norfolk to pay for poisoning them. They wanted the government to protect them. The total opposite of what the Republicans are pushing. When you ask average, everyday Americans and not put a label on it, would you like health care? Would you like your prescription drugs to be lower so you don't have to put your insulin on credit cards? Would you like us to do something about homelessness? Overwhelmingly, the American people are on the side of these changes. But see, relative status ain't gonna protect some of these people. They think they're relative stat. They worship at the feet of relative status. Instead of understanding that truly we are all in this together and the pain points are different in most cases based on how you, how your identity in this country, all of that is true.

[Joy Reid]

Yeah. Congresswoman, I want to come back to you because this is such an important point. One of the ways that Trump has sold this bill, and I've seen it on social media every so often, have to strengthen my stomach and go and look at what's happening on conservative social media. And what they're doing is they're telling people, Congresswoman, that the only people who are going to lose Medicaid are undocumented people. And they don't use the word undocumented. They use the much more racist term that starts with an I, which, you know, if you use that term, I'm just going to let y' all know, this is a public service announcement. If you say illegals, people get to say you're racist because you just identified yourself. I'm just letting you know that you can use the term. This is still America. We still have the First Amendment. But if you use that term, I'm just telling you, you sound mad racist. But they think those are the only people, Congresswoman, who are going to lose Medicaid, snap, et cetera. But they don't believe that American citizens are going to lose it as well. You have seen this bill. You are in the process. Please let me know if that is a true or false statement.

[Ayanna Pressley]

Oh, no, it's very true. And I do want to say to Pastor Bryan and Senator Turner, I'm so grateful for these two truth tellers, because the challenge for us in this moment, I thank you, Joy, for righteously stewarding your gifts and for this platform, is that we have to make the truth more compelling than the lies. That is what.

[Nina Turner]

That is what we're up against.

[Ayanna Pressley]

And so here you have a bill that is a thousand pages and it is death by a thousand cuts. I'm not being hyperbolic. These are not histrionics, though Black women are so often the canaries in the coal mine and accused of that. This is not abstract. People will die. This is taking away their health care, ripping away their health care. 17 million people. And do you know who's on Medicaid? I mean, there's 80 million Medicaid recipients in this country, right? So you're talking about elders. You're talking about babies like Layla in my district, who is a. Who had a rare kidney disease, had a transplant. She's thriving, but she has to be an immunosuppressant for the rest of her life. Her family pays for that with Medicaid. And if this cut happens, they'll go into bankruptcy to do everything to keep their baby alive. I know that, but there are Laylas everywhere. I've got a sister who said, listen, people think I'm not the face of Medicaid. I had a big job in corporate America, but I got cancer and I got sick and now I'm on Medicaid. You're talking about people who use Medicaid to pay for their blood pressure medication, their heart medication, their asthma medication. These people are so hell bent on making you believe that struggle is a character flaw, that they don't understand. Struggle and hardship is transcendent. It does not discriminate. Yes, some people feel in more than others because of decades of budgetary divestment and policy of violence. But struggle and hardship does not discriminate. And Donald Trump, if nothing else, he is an equal opportunity harmer. And this harm is coming for everyone. And you know, Coretta Scott King said that starving a child is violence. Ignoring need is violence. Contempt for the poor is violence. And that is exactly what this bill is. It is violence. It is an assault. We have never had a president and I actually don't call him that. I call him the occupant because he's occupying space that has contempt. He has no respect. He shreds the Constitution every day. He has no respect for the rule of law, no respect for separation of powers co equal branch of government, and he has contempt for the people that he has been charged with protecting. And so far as the undocumented accessing Medicaid. The Republicans are always a solution in search of a problem that is already against the law. That is there always a solution in search of a problem. And so, Joy, we're running this clock down. We have to do everything we can to resist, reject and obstruct congressional black caucus. And we let 100 members today in a unanimous consent action to slow roll this because we know the more we delay a vote, the more constituents can reach their Republican members and get them to make this right. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. You can do something about this. We just need four people, four Republicans of conscience, to adhere to public outcry. We've introduced over 400amendments, including one. Joy, I have to say this because this bill is a backdoor bill to advance a nation of forced birth. And just because the media isn't always reporting on it, Black women are still dying. They're still dying. There's still active black medical experimentation we saw with Adriana Smith in Georgia. But, Joy, it's not just. It's those who get their insurance through the Affordable Care Act. If you get your insurance through the Affordable Care act in a state like the Massachusetts Commonwealth, where your rights are protected and we fight to expand abortion care and reproductive health care. If you're seeking abortion care, you will be denied because insurers in the ACA marketplace in this bill will deny abortion care. It also defunds Planned Parenthood, which is where I went as a college student to get diagnosed with uterine fibroids, where people go for cancer screenings and sti screenings. These rural communities, Joy, these people are going to have no place to go.

[Joy Reid]

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[Jamal Bryant]

Yeah. I think Kenny was right that one of the evils that the country has to contend with after racism is classism. And so the racist joy is now wealth and poor. It's not black and white. The billionaires are going to be able to take $30,000 in benefits that poor people don't make in a year. The reality is we saw a sneak preview of coming attractions at the inauguration of the president, who was on the front row was the wealthiest people. They put them ahead of the cabinet ministers, ahead of visiting heads of states and ambassadors. Wealth is all that this administration honors. Anybody who is in poverty or the working class is going to catch stray bullets. Cornel west said america is the only place in the world where there's a category called the working poor that you can work 40 hours a week and still not have enough. And so we're getting ready to see that with an exclamation point. Congresswoman. What is so dastardly is even in this moment, we've got to shine a light on job corps about to lose their funding, that if they lose their funding, that's 12,500 black kids who are going to be homeless who were at risk trying to get a trade. And so we've got a whole lot we've got to do. Last week, Joy, six HBCUs had to have the UNCF pay to payroll because they're on oxygen trying to breathe. And so we've got to really dismantle classism because it looks and smells a whole lot like racism. It's the exact same thing. And so when you look at how AI is going to impact the job force and Joy, we can't even have this conversation without talking about June was the greatest job loss that we've had since the pandemic. And it's in the backdrop of a president who claimed that there would be employment gains. They were expecting 300,000 new jobs created, and they lost them. And it's only going to escalate. And so we are functioning, not alcoholics, we're functioning poverty.

[Ayanna Pressley]

Pastor Bryant but the thing is, in that point about the jobs numbers is that unfortunately in this country, your health insurance is tied to your job. So when people are laid off and they lose their job, they're also losing their health insurance. So what would they normally do? They would go on the state's health care. Yes, but we're cutting that. They would go and they would apply for snap. So the crisis is so layered. And I also want to thank you for, I don't want to get us too off topic, but thank you for invoking Haiti as we do so often. Haiti, the Sudan and Congo. I co chair the House Haiti Caucus. You know, and if you really believe that black lives matter, then you have to affirm that as black people for the globe, that is not just a domestic struggle or solidarity. So I thank you for invoking Haiti. But on this bill, this big betrayal bill, this billionaire bill, Joy, I just need people to know that we cannot accept it as an inevitability. And so please call 2022-2431-2120-2224-3121 and tell your reps to vote no. The fact that their caucus is fracturing in this moment, all for different reasons. You know, like I said, some people because they want it to be even more callous and for the cuts to be even deeper. But, but others, because they are hearing finally, they are listening to the outcry from their districts and they know that they stand to lose their seats. And again, they are more concerned with keeping a job than doing it. And so, you know, shame has not been the motivator. But when they know that their seat is being threatened, and I mean by the people, not by Donald Trump and his culture of retribution, revenge and grievance, but by the people who elected them. So it's so important to keep the pressure up and tell your stories because there is no deficit of resource. We haven't audited the Pentagon. There's no deficit of resource, but there is a deficit of empathy. And that's why it's so Important that you continue to raise your voices and to tell your stories again. Call 202-224-3121 and demand that your representative listen to you and hear your story. And finally, on wealth, I just want to say this to Senator Turner's point about how we've been slow rolling in this direction for a long time. You know, when Build Back Better died, we had $150 billion investments there. Unprecedented for housing, housing that's affordable, thanks to the leadership at the time of chair Maxine Waters, now a ranking member. And a stat just came out because I'm on financial services. The average age for a first time home buyer in 1981, Joy Senator Turner, Pastor Bryant was 31 years old. Today it is 56. That is the average age for a first time home buyer.

[Joy Reid]

You know that one friend who somehow knows everything about money.

[Ayanna Pressley]

Yeah.

[Joy Reid]

Now imagine they live in your phone. Say hey to Experian, your big financial friend. It's the app that helps you check your FICO score, find ways to save, and basically feel like a financial genius. And guess what, it's totally free. So go on, download the Experian app. Trust me, having a BFF like this is a total game changer.

[Jamal Bryant]

56 they just.

[Nina Turner]

56 just depriving people. And Sister Joe, I just want to say when you had to name the states and make it clear for some people that white people are going to be hurt because that's really why you name those states. That is, that is a pain. That is painful as hell that I should care about whether you eat, no matter who you are, where you hail from and how you identify.

[Joy Reid]

That's right.

[Nina Turner]

That is very much now. Now President Trump is bringing it up to the surface, but there has to be a reckoning in this country when it comes to caste and when it comes to class. And the fact that we gotta keep emphasizing, as the congressman led, you know, diversity, equity, inclusion, one of the biggest beneficiaries are white women in the form that it's in. But that's not stopping us from saying this wasn't. We wasn't number one on the list. But dag on it, even to roll that back is wrong. And so, you know, I want to shout out Sister Tameka Mallory, who is not as part of the. Is part of the. It's part of the three, the mothership three here until freedom. You know, we are stepping up and we are doing this thing. But as we have continued to emphasize, this is the people's movement. We may have been the spark, but it really is the people who are keeping this alive. And this is not just about target. There are other corporations who need to understand that as we have the people moving in this direction, we going to start educating, edifying and lifting up the fact that, that most of these corporations have betrayed, have absolutely betrayed the people of this nation when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion. We wouldn't need these programs if things were equal across the board. If people had equal opportunity and access. They got to ask themselves, why would we need diversity, equity, inclusion? Why did we need affirmative action? Trying to make some crooked paths straight. And they wouldn't even let us do that. So we have got to continue to push back on these folks. Congresswoman, thank you for all the hell you catching up there even before this moment.

[Ayanna Pressley]

No, thank. Thank you all for. You know, every movement needs three things. Imagination. So you gotta have that radical dream before you do that radical work. And I'm just bold enough to believe that we can really get free. The second is you need strategy, which you all have. Which you all have and have been nimble and continue to innovate. And the third is stamina. And that's the hardest at a time when faith is shallow and boycotts are often short lived. So people need to bring your gift to this movement and this moment. You need the stamina, a spirit of sacrifice and solidarity. I'm so grateful to you two movement leaders, truth tellers. Well, all three of you, really. Yeah. We'll get to the other side and then the work of reconstruction is going to take a long time because it's easier to tear things down than it is to build them up. But black people are the master quilters. So what's been torn apart, we will be able to stitch back something even better. I do believe that. But Joy on snap, bear in mind they're talking about waste, fraud and abuse and people needing to work 80 hours a week. They are so clueless that they don't understand that the majority of people on Medicaid and SNAP do work. They are employed. They are working. Poor and snap.

[Joy Reid]

That's right. And they actually work. They actually work on the floor of those Amazon warehouses while Jeff Bezos makes $12,000.

[Ayanna Pressley]

That's right.

[Joy Reid]

In Venice getting married with a $10 million ring for his wife. They actually do the work that makes Jeff Bezos a billionaire.

[Ayanna Pressley]

That's right.

[Joy Reid]

Understand that no billionaire was ever created without a lot of low paid workers doing all of the hard labor, standing on their feet for 12 hours a day or two while Jeff Bezos sits on A yacht or sends his penis rocket almost to space. That is the way billionaires are made. And they're made by federal subsidies, meaning your tax dollars. You make these people billionaires and then they have the gall to demand tax cuts and to demand less and less responsibility. I want to thank Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. She is a bad sister. Listen, don't even sleep because she is out here fighting these fights.

[Jamal Bryant]

I just made her my co pastor.

[Joy Reid]

Listen, I'm for that. I will go to that church because, you know, and let us just name where she's gonna be co pastor of. And that is the big new birth. You know, I was a member of Little New Birth. You know, Pastor Brian, I was at Little New Birth. You had big new birth. I was a member of little New Birth. But that's big new birth in this great city of the great state of Georgia in Atlanta, Georgia. Pastor Jamal Bryant out there doing the things and my wonder twin, we not wonder twins no more because we don't have the same hair color. But if you really look, if you really take a look and you focus right now, we're still wonder twins and we're wonder twins in spirit because I love this sister. There's nothing she can do about it. N. Turner from We Are Somebody. Thank you all for being here. We appreciate we went long tonight because this was important and we were not going to confine ourselves to an hour. This is one of the magic of having your own platform is that you can actually go beyond the hour. Well, how about that? So we did that on today. Thank you all very much. Keep up the fight and all stay in text message with me and keep me apprised so we can bring you all back on and give updates to everyone. Thank you all.

[Nina Turner]

Thank you.

[Joy Reid]

Thank you very much. And listen, audience, I'm going to say something that's even more controversial because look, the whole thing about this bill and is that it is a robbery. It's a reverse Robin Hood. It's taking from the poor, it's taking from the rural poor, the white and black poor, the brown poor, the Asian poor. It's taking from undocumented people, it's taking from women, it's taking from rural hospital, it's taking from all of those people and giving the vast majority of the benefits of the super rich. And as Congresswoman Jayapal affirmed, the no tax on tips is bs. The no tax on tips, you only get that if you make enough money in tipped wages to file a 1099 to actually file taxes. Most people who live on tip wages. If you're a barista at Starbucks, you probably don't make enough money to file taxes. If you don't file taxes, if you don't hit that income threshold, you don't get the no tax on tips deficit. Let me tell you who's going to get that. People who are hedge funders and money managers can just flip their income, call it tipped income and get that tax free.

[Ayanna Pressley]

Free.

[Joy Reid]

But you folks who are working in a retail store or I'm not a retail store, working at a restaurant, getting $2 an hour, most of those people don't pay income taxes. So they're not going to get the no tax on tips. It's BS the way they've worked these. And also, even if you do get it, it's temporary, it's two years so that Donald Trump can say he kept a promise. It isn't real. So they're tricking regular people into giving away all of their money, their loot to the very rich. And I'm going to say one thing, it's very controversial. People are not going to like it. But here's the thing. Even if people who are undocumented were getting Medicaid, why shouldn't they get Medicaid? A lot of them are picking the lettuce that's on your sandwiches, the tomatoes that are on your sandwiches. They're working in the meat packing plants, hard labor, getting blood all over their clothes. Some of them are 14 years old when they start working for you, they're feeding you, they're building your homes, they are doing all the construction, they're doing the hard work. And what we're now saying is that the way to get regular fellow working class people who are just as broke to before giving the rich all the money and stripping themselves of all the great benefits that we gain through blood, sweat and tears in the 20th century. The way to get y' all to go along with it say, well, people who aren't documented get cut off of benefits. Why shouldn't they get benefits? First of all, as the congresswoman, Congressman Iona Preston pointed out, it's illegal for them to get Medicaid. They do not get Medicaid. They can't sign up for Obamacare. And how I can prove to you it's not even logical to suggest they get Obamacare. If you're undocumented, the last thing you're ever going to want to do is fill out a government form. If you fill out a government form, you're going to get caught. So they are not signing up for Medicaid. They can't. They don't pay taxes. They don't have any of the mechanisms. They actually work and pay into the Medicare system, into the Social Security system and get nothing back. So my thing is, why shouldn't they be able to get poverty health care? Why not? And the last thing I will throw in is that Medicaid is Obamacare. I've said it before, I will say it one more time on this podcast. Medicaid is three things. It's rules that mean if you have private health insurance or public whatever kind of health insurance you have, your insurance company has to subsidize so that you can get free mammograms and cancer screenings. So you get those screenings. Those cancer screenings are free. When you go in, they don't charge you a copay. So it's rules like that. Number two, it's private health insurance exchanges so that if you're one of the 25 and a half year olds who's going to turf out of insurance because the, one of the rules was insurance companies can't drop you if you're sick. They can't refuse to cover you if you had a preexisting health condition, they must give you insurance. If you, if you approach them and say I want health insurance, they have to give it to you regardless of your previous health condition or your current health condition. And they have to insure your kids until they're 26 years old. So that's one part of Obamacare is rules that made it easier and more accessible for sick people, older people, smokers, all sorts of people to get insurance who couldn't get insurance before. So that's number one. Number two, it's private health insurance. So there are private health insurance exchanges where if you don't have a job that gives you insurance, you can go shop on these exchanges, some run by the federal government, some run by their states where you can shop for a policy. If you're like a freelancer, like my hair and makeup team, who are freelance employees, they get their insurance through Obamacare. They shop for insurance on the exchanges. So freelancers, that's, that's the second thing it is. But the third piece of Obamacare, the biggest piece of it, is Medicaid. They took Medicaid, which is called different things in different states, to try to get right wingers to be, to accept it. You know, they changed the name of it. It's called different things in different states, but they basically just took the threshold of money. You can earn to apply to get Medicaid. It used to be you could only make, let's say, no more than 60,000. They boosted that up to like 80,000 in some states. Right. So that people who make a little bit more, but who are still not rich and still can't afford it, can get Medicaid. So most of what Obamacare is, is Medicaid. They're about to cut $900 billion out of Medicaid. This is a backdoor way of cutting and of ending and hurting Obamacare. A lot of people are going to lose health insurance. I've seen estimates of 12 million people will be uninsured because of this bill. They're going to leave people sicker, broker, angrier, hungrier, children hungrier. This is insanity. And so this bill, which I will not call by its stupid official name, that name that you've heard people saying on the networks, that's its official name, that's in the Congressional Record, and Trump is their daddy. 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 apply only that it's insane, but this bill is something that is going to harm every single American. Unless you were at Jeff Bezos wedding. Thank you all for tuning in. Be sure to like and subscribe Share this this channel. Make sure that everybody subscribes to the YouTube channel. 70% of people are lurking, watching these shows and not subscribing. Why would you do that? So make sure that you like subscribe and throw some comments. And thank you all for joining the Joy Reid Show. See you on the next one and goodbye for now.