'Ignorance is Strength': Judge shuts down Trump's history re-write in devastating ruling

Summary

The Rachel Maddow Show – Episode Summary

Episode Title: 'Ignorance is Strength': Judge shuts down Trump's history re-write in devastating ruling
Date: February 17, 2026
Host: Rachel Maddow
Channel: MS NOW

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Overview

This President's Day episode centers on a landmark federal court ruling that rebukes the Trump administration’s attempt to erase slavery references at Philadelphia’s President's House historic site. Rachel Maddow places this case in the broader context of ongoing resistance to President Trump’s expansion of immigration detention centers (“Trump prison camps”) nationwide, the administration’s crackdown on protesters and journalists, and Americans’ overwhelming disapproval of these policies. The episode weaves in the week’s overlapping historical and religious observances, current waves of local protest, and the personal story of a journalist facing federal prosecution for covering ICE actions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Federal Judge Orders Restoration of Slavery References at Historic Site

Timestamps: [00:57]–[06:00]

• Background: Philadelphia’s President’s House, where George Washington and John Adams lived, had its exhibits on slavery removed by order of President Trump.
• Court Ruling: A Republican-appointed judge (George W. Bush appointee) ruled that the references must be restored. The ruling cited Orwell’s “1984” and the dangers of erasing historic truths.
• Notable Quotes:
  • "As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell's 1984 now existed with its motto, ignorance is strength. This court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power, it claims, to dissemble and disassemble historic truths... It does not, honestly." (Judge, quoted by Maddow) [02:00]
  • "Removal of the crucial interpretive materials there strips that site of that truth and deprives the public of educational opportunities designed to be free and accessible." (Judge, quoted by Maddow) [02:50]
  • “The abrupt elimination of historically significant educational material at the site is like pulling pages out of a history book with a razor.” (Judge, quoted by Maddow) [03:15]
• Significance: Maddow frames this as a symbolic victory on President’s Day, restoring integrity to America’s historical narrative.

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2. National Observances and Remembrance

Timestamps: [06:00]–[10:00]

• Events This Week: President’s Day, Lunar New Year, Ramadan, Ash Wednesday, and Remembrance Day for Japanese American incarceration during WWII.
• Remembrance Day: February 19 marks FDR’s signing of the executive order that led to Japanese American internment.
• Upcoming Chicago Event: Cardinal Cupich will lead a pro-immigrant outdoor Mass and procession near an ICE detention facility, in solidarity with detained immigrants.
  • Federal judge orders Trump administration to allow Catholic clergy into ICE facility for religious services by Ash Wednesday.
  • “It is a stand with immigrants observation…a big physical show of moral force on the side of immigrants, a peaceful moral confrontation with this government…” (Maddow [13:45])

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3. Widespread Local Resistance to ICE Detention Centers (“Trump Prison Camps”)

Timestamps: [13:45]–[28:40]

• Victories in Hutchins, TX & Kansas City, MO:
  • Local protests and city government pressure prevent companies from selling property to ICE for new facilities.
  • "Your concerns did not go unnoticed... Thank you for protesting here at City Hall. I agree with you. It helps to have you protest here." (Hutchins, TX Mayor, quoted by Maddow [15:50])
• Similar Successes:
  • New Jersey: Local company turns down ICE contract; protests in Roxbury draw hundreds ([17:45]).
  • Delaware: Daedalus Aviation backs out of airport deal; Avelo Airlines ceases deportation flights ([18:20]).
• Continuing Battles:
  • El Paso, TX: Protests ongoing as local firm Flint Development is pressured not to sell facility to ICE ([19:30]).
  • Orange County, FL & Baltimore County, MD: Political moves to pre-empt ICE facilities ([20:20]).
  • National Scope: Protests and council actions in North Carolina, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Oregon, Georgia, and more.
• Public Sentiment:
  • "There is across the board nonpartisan opposition to any of these Trump prison camps being built… from Republicans, from Democrats, from independents, from politically engaged people, from people who clearly have no politics at all. Just everywhere, literally everywhere..." (Maddow [22:09])
  • Raises questions about giving such power to a president "in his infinite wisdom, in his restraint and modesty..." (Maddow [23:30])
• Polling:
  • NBC News: 60% of country disapprove Trump’s immigration/border actions, support for ICE even lower than for Trump ([25:43]).
• Trump’s “Gimmicks” to Distract:
  • Lists and debunks promises (credit card caps, rebate checks, etc.) that fail to materialize ([26:30]).
  • “Nothing he says substantively is worth paying attention to because there’s so rarely any connection between anything he says and A, the truth, or B, even anything he’s planning to actually do.” (Maddow [27:10])

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4. Crackdown on Dissent: Protesters and Journalists Targeted

Timestamps: [29:41]–[36:00]

• Minnesota Lawsuit:
  • Dozens of sworn accounts describe ICE and DHS agents harassing and retaliating against observers and protesters ([29:41]).
  • Examples: Agents threaten and follow citizens documenting ICE; shout personal details to intimidate ([31:00]).
• Interview – Georgia Fort (Emmy-winning journalist prosecuted for covering ICE):
  • Arrested and charged alongside Don Lemon; describes chilling effect, legal peril, stress ([32:54]–[36:00]).
  • “As a journalist, you would consider that to be an ethical dilemma. But there are only two people who can factually and objectively say what happened on that day. And now we're facing charges.” (Georgia Fort [35:20])
  • She expresses gratitude for public support but emphasizes many lesser-known individuals are also impacted.
  • Maddow lauds Fort’s “aggressive and even-handed reporting… the journalistic community misses you…” ([35:36])

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5. Case Study: Merrimack, New Hampshire — A Community Under Threat

Timestamps: [37:22]–[47:09]

• Bungled Trump Administration Pitch:
  • DHS sends error-riddled proposal to NH about the local “economic benefits” of the prison camp, with mistaken references to taxes NH doesn’t levy, confusing New Hampshire with Oklahoma, and including internal ICE comments by accident ([37:22]).
  • Maddow: “They not only placed Merrimack, New Hampshire, somehow in Oklahoma, they also forgot to remove the comments ICE officials sent back and forth…”
• Political Fallout:
  • Governor Kelly Ayotte (R), seeking to avoid blame, claims ignorance; ICE official publicly contradicts her ([39:45]).
  • NH’s Congressional delegation and neighboring governors publicly oppose the plan; Ayotte won’t take a position, compounding her political woes ([41:20]).
• Interview – State Rep. Wendy Thomas (D-Merrimack):
  • “To me, that smacks of either incompetence or lying… the owner of the warehouse…is a large financial donor to Kelly Ayotte campaigns.” (Wendy Thomas [43:17])
  • Community is “terrified;” fear for children’s safety, civil rights, and highlights facility’s proximity to a childcare center and a gun club, and being sited on contaminated land ([45:09]).
  • She calls for legal support and continued activism as the town faces the imminent arrival of ICE.
• Maddow: Expresses hope for legal volunteers and commits to continued coverage.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On the Judge’s ruling restoring slavery references:
  • “Abrupt elimination of historically significant educational material at the site is like pulling pages out of a history book with a razor.” (Judge, via Maddow [03:15])
  • “Each person who visits the President's house in Philadelphia and does not learn of the realities of founding era slavery receives a false account of this country's history.” (Judge, via Maddow [03:25])
• On public opposition:
  • “The American people are saying, no, they do not want this. They do not want a Trump prison camp in their town.” (Maddow [22:45])
  • “This president’s cruelty may be the point, but it is not working for him. He is reviled. He’s more unpopular at this point in his presidency than any president in U.S. history. And it is not close.” (Maddow [27:59])
• On ICE retaliation:
  • “She decided to drive to a public place for safety… The agent screamed at Keller Meyer to stop effing following them and that Keller Meyer would be arrested if she continued to observe them.” (Legal filing, read by Maddow [30:02])
• On journalistic freedom:
  • “It does feel in a lot of ways like we are being muzzled. It is extremely difficult to continue reporting on something when you’re listed as a defendant on the very story that you’re reporting.” (Georgia Fort [35:20])
• On leadership failure:
  • “If the governor truly did not know about the ICE prison being built in her state, then New Hampshire has a governor who is not paying attention to critical developments. If she did know and chose not to engage publicly, that is even worse.” (Concord Monitor editorial, read by Maddow [42:15])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:57 – Federal Judge’s ruling on Philadelphia historic site & slavery references
• 06:00 – National commemorations: President’s Day, Lunar New Year, Remembrance Day
• 11:00 – Chicago Catholic Ash Wednesday Mass & ICE clergy ruling
• 13:45 – Local resistance blocks ICE prisons in Texas, Missouri, NJ, DE
• 25:43 – Polling on immigration, Trump, and ICE
• 29:41 – Lawsuit alleging ICE retaliation against observers in Minnesota
• 32:54 – Interview with journalist Georgia Fort
• 37:22 – Protests in New Hampshire; administrative blunders in ICE facility proposal
• 42:53 – Interview with State Rep. Wendy Thomas (Merrimack, NH)

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Episode Tone & Language

Rachel Maddow’s tone is urgent, pointed, at times incredulous and sardonic. She draws sharp contrasts between government actions and public sentiment, highlighting resistance, solidarity, and the moral clarity of activism. Across interviews and reporting, the language is clear, accessible, sometimes wry, but always anchored in the real concerns and stakes for American communities.

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Summary for New Listeners

This episode is a deep dive into the Trump administration’s efforts to control historical and present narratives—whether by erasing slavery from national memory, expanding secretive detention infrastructure, or suppressing protest and journalism. Maddow traces the swelling, bipartisan wave of resistance, uplifting small-town victories, high-profile legal pushbacks, and the lived experiences of those targeted for dissent. She emphasizes the inconsistency, political cost, and unpopularity of these policies through polling, local voices, and expert guests, offering a sweeping but personal view of this front in the American democratic struggle.

Transcript

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Thanks Dew at Home for joining us this hour. Really happy to have you here this President's Day. Happy President's day. The first U.S. president to live in the White House was the second U.S. president was John Adams. John Adams moved into the White House in November of the year 1800. Before that, while he was president, but before he moved into the White House, before the White House was complete, John Adams lived in Philly. Both John Adams, the nation's second president, and George Washington, the nation's first president, they both lived in Philadelphia in the 1790s while the U.S. capitol and the White House were being built in D.C. and that house in Philadelphia where both George Washington and John Adams lived while they each served as president. That house has a really interesting story. Accidentally, the last remaining walls of that house were by accident torn down in the 1950s. That was the last standing portion of the house. It was accidentally demolished in the 1950s. Decades later, once archaeologists and historians figured out for sure where that president's house had been, the city got involved. They bought the land, they preserved everything they could, and ultimately that site was reopened as a national historic site. Today it is sort of an open air pavilion where you can see the shape of the President's house, you can see the foundations of the original building. They've got artifacts there from the time that George Washington and John Adams lived in that house. And while John Adams, who was from Massachusetts. While Adams was not a slaveholder, George Washington was. George Washington had eight people who were enslaved to him who he brought from Virginia to that house in Philadelphia to serve him while he was president. He later brought an additional enslaved person from Virginia to Philadelphia to that house Making it a total of nine. And that is all part of the history there at this historic site in Philadelphia. Now, you've probably heard about the fact that over this past year, President Donald Trump ordered the physical removal of all references to slaves and slavery at that national historic site. Well, today, a big change in that case. Today, happy President's Day, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ordered that the Trump administration must put those references to slaves and slavery back up. The judge in the case is a Republican appointee from the George W. Bush administration, and she starts her remarkable ruling today with a quote from 1984 from George Orwell. She then says, quote, as if the Ministry of Truth In George Orwell's 1984 now existed with its motto, ignorance is strength. This court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power, it claims, to dissemble and disassemble historic truths when it has some domain over historical facts. It does not honestly. This is your President's Day present this year, this ruling. Let me give you a little bit more from it. The President's House meeting that site in Philadelphia represents the city of Philadelphia fulfilling an obligation to tell the truth, the whole complicated truth. Removal of the crucial interpretive materials there strips that site of that truth and deprives the public of educational opportunities designed to be free and accessible. The abrupt elimination of historically significant educational material at the site is like pulling pages out of a history book with a razor. Each person who visits the President's house in Philadelphia and does not learn of the realities of founding eras slavery receives a false account of this country's history. Worse yet, the judge says, worse yet, the potential of having the exhibits replaced by an alternative script, a plausible assumption at this time, would be an even more permanent rejection of the site's historical integrity. It would be, quote, irreparable. The city has met its burden to establish irreparable harm. The defendants, the Trump administration, for their part, raise only one argument for why an injunction in this case would be inequitable. They argue that there's a public interest in upholding the federal government's right to convey its preferred speech. Restoration of the President's House in Philadelphia does not infringe upon the government's free speech, nor is the government prevented from conveying whatever message it wants to send by wiping away the history of the greatest founding father's management of persons he held in bondage. President Washington's house would not merit designation as a historic site if Washington had not commanded the army that won the Revolutionary War. His presence presiding over the Constitutional Convention graced it with the gravitas and spirit necessary to the creation of our government's foundational document. Washington's restraint and modesty radiated strength and wisdom that defines the ideal chief executive to this day. The government can convey a different message without restraint elsewhere if it so pleases, but it cannot do so to the President's House, not until it follows the law and consults with the city. The motion for preliminary injunction will be granted. Happy President's Day, Philadelphia. You are getting your history put back up by court order at the President's House. A lot of stuff is happening all at once this week. I think it's kind of just an accident of the calendar, but it's all happening all in a very quick series of days this week, tomorrow, excuse me, today is President's Day. Tomorrow is Lunar New Year. The year of the Fire Horse begins with this Lunar New Year. Ramadan starts tomorrow as well. Also this week is Ash Wednesday, which is the start of Lent in the Christian calendar, which is the period leading up to Christianity's holiest day, which is Easter. I will also note, and this isn't a religious observance, it's a civil observance in the United States. But this week also happens to be when we have Remembrance Day for the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Over 125,000 people locked up in prison camps in this country during World War II. American citizens and non citizens alike locked up purely on the basis of their race. It was an executive order from President Roosevelt that enabled that to happen. That executive order was signed by FDR on February 19, 1942. And so February 19 every year is Remembrance Day for that warrant wildly unconstitutional and unwise decision to lock up whole families, to lock up men, women, children, elderly, people, babies, lock them all up all without trial for years in mass prison camps purely because of their race. That's all that Remembrance Day and all those other holidays and observances are all this week. And the last two things I mentioned there, the Remembrance Day for Japanese American incarceration in World War II and Ash Wednesday on the Christian calendar. Those two things are sort of coming together this week in a. In a way that I think is going to be a pretty big deal in the Chicago area. It's going to happen this Wednesday. Ash Wednesday this week. The Cardinal who leads the Archdiocese of Chicago, Cardinal Blaise Cupich, is this week on Wednesday going to lead an outdoor mass in Melrose Park, Illinois. They are expecting literally thousands of people to attend. And this service is specifically to basically stand up with both feet and to have the Catholic Church in America say, our church is a church of immigrants. It is a stand with immigrants. Observation. It's going to be Wednesday, Wednesday evening. Interestingly, it's going to culminate in a procession through the streets. Again, thousands of people are expected. But a couple things to know about this. I mean, first of all, this is just a couple of miles from the immigrant prison, the ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois. And second, a federal judge has just ordered, has just ruled that Catholic clergy must be allowed into that ICE facility to offer Holy Communion. Offer Holy Communion, to offer ashes for Ash Wednesday to people who are locked up there by the Trump administration. ICE has just been ordered. They need to let in the Catholic clergy to provide religious services to the people locked up there by court order, and they need to do it by Wednesday. Is the Trump administration going to allow that to happen at that very same facility at Broadview? For years, nuns and priests have been allowed in there to hold mass to minister to the people who are locked up there. They'd been allowed to do that for more than a decade before this past fall. In September, the Trump administration put a stop to it. You might remember our footage that we aired here on this show, the dramatic footage of the Catholics Eucharistic procession to Broadview in October this year, just right after the Trump administration started turning away the Catholic clergy and blocking them from providing religious services, even though they'd previously been allowed in there to do that for more than a decade. I love how the Trump administration, Republicans, like to crow about how they're all for religious freedom. They're the ones who turned away the nuns and the priests in Broadview after letting them in there for a decade. It was the Trump administration that turned them back. Well, now this week, a judge has ruled that those nuns and priests must be allowed back in. And so on that day, on the day they must be let in, on Wednesday this week, day after tomorrow, there's going to be a cardinal and several thousand Catholics and immigrant families and supporters of immigrants from all over Chicagoland, all in the streets celebrating a huge outdoor Mass marking one of the holiest days of the year in the Christian calendar and making what is effectively a big physical show of moral force on the side of immigrants, a peaceful moral confrontation with this government, with what they're doing with these attacks on immigrants and with their prison sites. So, again, I think that's going to be a big deal. That is Wednesday this week. And While that is gonna happen in a couple of days, there's also just a ton of news to report about other confrontations, sort of of this type, other confrontations, other opposition that's being stood up against Trump right now and how those things are starting to pay off all over the country. So let's start tonight in Hutchins, Texas, which is just outside Dallas. Hutchins, Texas, is one of the places where they've been trying to put a huge new Trump prison camp. Well, tonight, Hutchins has its regularly scheduled City Council meeting. Local news stations in the Dallas area were planning to send camera crews and reporters to this City Council meeting in Hutchins because they were expecting another fiery night of protest and anger and emotional opposition to this prison camp that Trump was trying to put up in this Texas town. You might remember our previous coverage of how up in arms everybody was in this town in Texas saying they did not want one of these prison camps there. Well, today, in advance of this City Council meeting tonight, the company that owns the warehouse in Hutchins that ICE was going to buy to turn into a prison camp, that company announced that they will not sell that warehouse to the Trump administration. So the Trump administration can turn it into a prison camp. They won't sell. The Hutchins mayor telling the Dallas Morning News, quote, God answered our prayers. The mayor, in a statement, thanked the company for deciding they wouldn't sell their property to ice. He said, quote, we look forward to working with this company to find a tenant that is a good fit for the city of Hutchinson. The mayor also in a statement to wfaa, the local ABC station, he thanked everybody in his town. He thanked everybody in Hutchins who protested and spoke out and said they wouldn't stand for this prison camp. He said, quote, your concerns did not go unnoticed and your professional decorum shown during our City Council meetings, as well as the protest here at City hall, is much appreciated. Thank you for protesting me here at City Hall. I agree with you. It helps to have you protest here. Thank you. The mayor of Hutchins, Texas, kind of showing how it's done in terms of respecting the First Amendment. Local opposition, though, in, in Hutchins has, has stopped a Trump prison camp from being built in that Texas town. People who were against it, the whole town was against it, they stopped it. Same thing just happened in Kansas City, Missouri. For the past few weeks, we've been covering local opposition in Kansas City. People there protesting, turning out to local meetings, pressuring people every way they can. People saying, we will not stand for a Trump prison camp being built in Kansas City. The local press, including the Kansas City Star, showing documenting in detail the incredible pressure being brought to bear, not just against the Trump administration, but against the local company that stood to profit from selling this Kansas City facility to the Trump administration so they could turn it into a prison camp. We had Kansas City's mayor, Quinton Lucas here on the show talking about how he and Kansas City would do everything in their power to stop a prison camp from being built in their city. Well, now they have won that fight as well. Hutchins, Texas won Kansas City, Missouri has just won. The local company that was going to do the sale of that facility in Kansas City decided, after all, they are not going to do it. The mayor says that is good news and they're not letting down their guard. He credits all the local opposition for having stopped that sale. He says now it's Kansas City's job to make sure that Trump can't find anywhere else in their town to try it anywhere else. We're seeing stories like this pay off all over the country. In New Jersey, this is a low profile story, but it's the same dynamic New Jersey local opposition. Concerted local pressure led to a New Jersey company saying it would turn down a contract contract to build out vans for ice, vans for transporting their prisoners in Delaware. We've also just learned that a company that contracts with ice, a company called Daedalus Aviation, they will not be taking airplane hangar space at the Wilmington airport in Delaware. This is a company that makes their money from ice. Local residents and Democratic lawmakers had pushed hard, saying a company like that shouldn't be allowed to do business at our airport. Now, amid that pressure, that aviation company is pulling out. This comes after Delaware activists also played a key role in pressuring Avelo Airlines to stop its deportation flights for ICE or be kicked out of the Wilmington airport if they wouldn't. After that pressure in Delaware and around the country, that company, Avelo, has since stopped flying deportation flights for ice. This was today in New Jersey in Roxbury, New Jersey. Hundreds and hundreds of people standing outside in the cold along Route 10. According to local press, people lined both sides of the road for about half a mile. Literally hundreds of people there today, all protesting against a planned Trump prison camp in their town of Roxbury. One local councilman from a nearby town who was, who was among the protesters today in Roxbury, New Jersey, Insider reported that he told the crowd at this protest that someday he expects his grandchildren will ask will ask him what he did in this era to try to stop ICE from terrorizing immigrants. He told the crowd he wants to at least be able to tell his grandchildren, kids that he spoke out. This was El Paso, Texas, this weekend. People protesting, calling for all of the ICE prisons to be shut down, including especially the ones in Texas. They're also specifically calling for no new ones to be built. El Paso is another place in Texas where Trump is trying to build yet another of his big black site prison camps. There's a local company, or not, excuse me, a local company, but a real estate company called Flint Development that Oklahoma City actually talked out of doing a deal with ICE in Oklahoma City to put a prison camp in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City, county and city government got involved to talk Flint Development out of it in Oklahoma. But that same company, Flint Development, owns another property in El Paso. So now it is El Paso that is trying to stop Flint Development from selling their El Paso facility to ice. That fight is ongoing and people were out in numbers, in great numbers in El Paso this weekend protesting against it and saying there should be no new Trump prison camp in their town. The news outlet the Lever notes that Flint Development has, quote, recently stripped information about its executive team from its website. Amid this fight, it's a real sure sign that you're doing work you're proud of, right? When you try to make sure that nobody knows you're doing it because you can't come up with a way to defend what you're doing, so you try to do it anonymously. In Orange County, Florida, county commissioners say this week they're going to bring up a resolution in opposition to the plans to build a big Trump prison camp in East Orlando, Florida. In Baltimore County, Maryland, the Baltimore County Council is convening an emergency meeting tomorrow night to try to stop what they fear is going to be a new ICE facility in Baltimore County, Maryland as well. And look, this is actually just from tonight, within the last couple of hours. This is Hertford County Board of A Hertford County Board of Commissioners meeting in Winton, North Carolina. This is tonight. Winton, North Carolina is apparently another place where they want to put yet another Trump prison camp. Even though that item was not formally on the agenda at this Board of Commissioners meeting in North Carolina. Local folks packed the meeting tonight anyway to speak out against it. We just got this footage in in the last few minutes, but we're really seeing this everywhere. Everywhere from Texas to North Carolina, Oklahoma, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Oregon, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland, Georgia, everywhere. We can follow this story in every single place Trump is trying it. There is across the board nonpartisan opposition to any of these Trump prison camps being built. Anywhere you're seeing opposition, an action against it, from Republicans, from Democrats, from independents, from politically engaged people, from people who clearly have no politics at all. Just everywhere, literally everywhere that he is trying it. The American people are saying, no, they do not want this. They do not want a Trump prison camp in their town. And I mean, honestly, whatever you think about Donald Trump and the Trump administration, is there anyone among us who contends that this is the guy, this is the president, this is the sane, sober, measured leader to whom the American people want to entrust a multi billion dollar string of new, absolutely massive black site prison camps, specifically to hold civilians in huge numbers indefinitely without trial. Is that the kind of tool we want to give to this president in particular, in his infinite wisdom, in his restraint and modesty, how do you think a president like him will use such a tool? So we've got a lot of things to watch on that story this week. A lot of places fighting a lot of battles on that front right now as we speak. And I do think this week looks like it's going to be a crucial week. I think that Wednesday night in Chicago may be a very big deal. But again, we're seeing it everywhere. I mean, this was yesterday, Concord, New Hampshire, yet another protest against yet another planned Trump prison camp, one that is slated for the southern New Hampshire town of Merrimack. I gotta say that Merrimack Trump prison camp plan has turned into an absolute debacle for the Republican governor of New Hampshire, Kelly Ayotte. She has refused to say. Here's a brave one. She has refused to say whether she is for or against that prison camp in her state. The whole state is rising up against it. Merrimack is absolutely up on its hind legs, totally against it. And Governor Ayotte keeps trying to say that she doesn't have a position either way. And her way to try to get around this is to repeatedly say she just doesn't understand what's happening. She can't figure it out. She feels like she's out of the loop. It's an incredibly weak performance from a governor who's otherwise ambitious and has designs on national office. We're going to have an update in just a few minutes from New Hampshire on how Trump's effort to force one of his prison camps into southern New Hampshire is just turning into a political disaster for that otherwise ambitious Republican governor in that state. We're also going to get an update this hour from one of the journalists who's been arrested by the Trump administration is now facing federal charges just for reporting on a protest against ice. Georgia Fort is going to be arraigned in Minnesota. In that case, tomorrow. She's going to be here live with us tonight. This was Jacksonville, Florida, today. A protest to support efforts to ban Trump's federal agents from hiding their faces with masks. This was a big event in North Carolina this weekend. Protesters led by the Reverend William Barber marched 50 miles from Wilson, North Carolina, to Raleigh. They arrived Saturday in Raleigh. Several thousand people. Look at this. Came out in Raleigh to support them. This was Batavia, New York, this weekend, a march to the ICE detention facility, the immigrant prison there in Batavia, including a large and very solemn protest where they held in silence for 39 minutes to commemorate 39 people who have lost their lives in confrontation with ICE and CBP or in custody of ICE and CBP in the past year. This was Belvedere, Illinois, this weekend. An anti Trump, anti ICE protest there. Another protest here in Mishawaka, Indiana. Another protest here in South Sioux City, Nebraska. Another protest here in Minneapolis at Jackson Square park, where they want people to know that the immigration surge has not ended on the ground there. Another protest here in Concord, California. Another protest here in Mount Kisco, New York. This was Springdale, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The community of Springdale coming out in force to demand the return of two local dads who were just taken by Trump's agents. This protest was led by the parents of other kids at the school attended by their kids. This was Grand Rapids, Michigan, this weekend. It was a concert called Melt the Ice to raise money for immigrant families affected by ice. They raised nearly $50,000 in Grand Rapids at this event. More than 1,400 people turned out. The latest NBC News polling says a big majority of the country somewhat or strongly disapproves of Trump's actions on border security and immigration. 20 points underwater on that. 60% of the country somewhat are strongly disapproving. An even bigger majority of the country says that they want ICE to be reformed or abolished. In that same NBC poll, Trump's approval rating is 22 points underwater. But even at approval levels that bad, that low, Americans approval of ICE in that poll is even lower than their approval of Trump, which shows that as spectacularly, spectacularly unpopular and reviled as Trump is right now, his favorite issue, his pet issue of being cruel to immigrants is actually an anchor on his own poll numbers. It's actually bringing him down further. There's starting to be A question as to how far down he can go. In the Yahoo. YouGov poll, they've got Trump's approval 20 points underwater. Quinnipiac has him 19 points underwater with independence in the Quinnipiac poll. That number drops way further. He's 27 points underwater with independence in the Quinnipiac poll. I mean, if you want to kind of bottom line this, this means if we were a country dying of thirst on a desert island right now, and Donald Trump was the one selling water, we wouldn't buy it. We'd figure out some other way around it. I mean, this president's cruelty may be the point, but it is not working for him. He is reviled. He's more unpopular at this point in his presidency than any president in U.S. history. And it is not close. And it is his signature issues that are dragging him down further and further every week. And so you're now seeing him try to not talk about immigrants so much right now. You're seeing him trying to change the subject, not just with new controversies, but with new offerings to the public. You see him trying to throw up all these little gimmicks to try to get something good to happen politically. He has no idea how to govern, though. So they all just disappear as soon as they get floated. But he keeps trying them. Right. A 10% cap on credit card interest. Remember that? Yeah, that. That, it turns out, is not happening. A rebate check for you from all the tariff money. Yeah, it turns out that that is. That is not happening either. Just like you're also not getting a rebate check from all the Doge money. That's. That's not happening either. 50 year mortgages. Yeah, that's. That's not gonna happen. Trump's gonna decertify all the planes made in Canada. Okay, yeah, that's not happening. That's not happening either. Ice is gonna be all over the Super Bowl. Remember when they announced again? Yeah. That we just had the Super Bowl. That didn't happen. These gimmicks are not happening. Nothing he says substantively is worth paying attention to because there's so rarely any connection between anything he says and A, the truth, or B, even anything he's planning to actually do. Watch what he does, not what he says, because what he is doing and what the American people are judging him for is brutalizing and killing people in the streets, sending his masked secret police storming into people's homes without a warrant, arresting and menacing peaceful protesters, arresting and prosecuting journalists, turning away priests and nuns at the door of the detention facility. He is now trying to build himself a huge new set of camps to hold tens of thousands of people indefinitely without trial. And what do the American people think about it? About what he's actually doing? Well, even ahead of the next big no Kings protest, which is going to happen on March 28, the American people are making clear that they are vociferously against basically everything he's doing and they are letting him know it every single day. And so, yes, happy President's Day indeed. I mean it. We got a lot to get to tonight. Stay with us. 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This is very strange, Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home [e-mail] this is from a new legal filing in federal court in Minnesota. Quote Riley Kellermeier, a 32 year old biologist, was in south Minneapolis to observe and document Homeland Security activity. Kellermeier saw an SUV that she believed to belong to immigration agents. She decided to follow the car to report its whereabouts and activities to the community. When Kellermeier got home, a Homeland Security vehicle was pulled up next to her house, suggesting that the agents were waiting for her. Afraid for her safety, she decided not to stop at her home and kept driving. The DHS vehicle began following her. She decided to drive to a public place for safety and went to a parking lot. The DHS vehicle pulled in front of her to block her path. An agent rolled down the driver's side window. The agent screamed at Keller Meyer to stop effing following them and that Keller Meyer would be arrested if she continued to observe them. Here's another from that same Minnesota case. Another account quote, Emily Belt, a 44 year old Adina resident, was observing DHS activity in her neighborhood and followed a Homeland Security SUV into a parking lot. The SUV stopped suddenly and Belts stopped behind it. Someone leaned out of the SUV and photographed Belts. Belts started to drive away. The SUV then spun around and sped at Belts car as if the SUV was going to run into Belts. Right before the SUV hit Belts, it braked hard. An agent leaned out of the SUV front passenger window and yelled, emily, Emily, we're going to take you home. The agent then stated Belt's home address. Belts drove in the opposite direction. After driving about a block, Belt noticed that the SUV was following her. Terrified, she went to a restaurant and waited several hours before finally driving home. Those are two of dozens of sworn declarations by people observing or protesting ICE in Minnesota. MSNL has not independently verified these claims, but the ACLU. ACLU collected more than 80 accounts like this from people who say Trump's federal agents violated their First Amendment rights. They systematically retaliated against people who were protesting against ICE or just trying to document what ICE or CBP was doing in Minnesota. That lawsuit includes a lot of just regular everyday Americans. It also includes journalists who they've been going after as well. Two weeks ago on this show you may remember us talking with an Emmy award winning independent journalist named Georgia Fort. She was arrested and charged in the same case where the federal government arrested and charged the former CNN anchor Don Lemon. You might remember us showing the dramatic and frankly disgusting footage of Trump's agents showing up at her house in the pre dawn hours in masks to menace her and terrify her kids and ultimately take her into custody. We asked Ms. Fort to stay in touch as her case moves forward. Tomorrow is her arraignment and we've asked her to be back with us tonight ahead of tomorrow's arraignment. Georgia Fort joins us once again here live now. Ms. Ford, thanks very much for joining us. I know tonight must be a pretty tense night for you.

[C]

Yeah, absolutely. And thank you for having me back.

[B]

Rachel, what should we expect to see at tomorrow's hearing and in the coming days? What are you, what are you preparing for?

[C]

Well, I've been told from my attorneys that tomorrow's hearing is going to be pretty procedural. I will have the opportunity to enter my plea and I think it's going to move fairly quickly. But you know, this is the week of my birthday. And so instead of focusing on creating, you know, plans to celebrate with my family and friends, our focus is on getting through tomorrow.

[B]

I know that there has been a lot of outcry over your arrest, the arrest of Don Lemon, who's obviously a very high profile journalist. And there's a lot of concern. And one of the things we talked about when you were last here was whether or not that's translated materially into support for you in terms of weathering the legal cost and in terms of just handling the stress and the pressure of what this has meant. I wonder if that's changed at all over the last couple of weeks or if you still feel like you're being sustained by people sympathizing with you and being angered by the way you're being targeted here.

[C]

Well, Rachel, I want to send a huge thank you to you and your viewers. After I was on last was it two weeks ago, there was an outpouring of support. And so my concern honestly remains with those of the people who are charged in this situation who are now in the media just becoming, you know, Don Lemon and others. There's other people who are affected by this. And you read stories of two other individuals who have been, who have claims of their First Amendment right being impeded on. Right. And so as a journalist, those were the stories that I was here in Minnesotawhere I'm from that I was attempting to document over the period of, I would say, three weeks, very intensively since the fatal shooting of Renee Good. And now it does feel in a lot of ways like we are being muzzled. It is extremely difficult to continue reporting on something when you're listed as a defendant on the very story that you're reporting. Right. And as a journalist, you would consider that to be an ethical dilemma. But there are only two people who can factually and objectively say what happened on that day. And now we're facing charges.

[B]

Georgia Fort, you are known for your aggressive and even handed reporting in Minneapolis, your comprehensive knowledge of the politics and sort of nooks and crannies of the Minneapolis and Minnesota news environment. The journalistic community misses you while you were having to contend with these other challenges. But we know you'll be back to good luck tomorrow.

[C]

Thank you so much.

[B]

Independent journalist George Fort. All right, we got more news ahead. Stay with us.

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Visit betterhelp.com for 10% off this was Concord, New Hampshire yesterday at the state Capitol. We the people say no ICE in Merrimack. No ice in Merrimack. Also, good people never built concentration camps. This is a protest over the weekend against a Trump prison camp that they're trying to build in Merrimack, about a half hour south of the state Capitol in New Hampshire. Amid all the pushback they're seeing against this in the state, the Trumpet administration sent over to the New Hampshire state government some reading material all about how actually nobody should oppose this. This is going to be great for the people of New Hampshire. What they sent over said, quote, the Department of Homeland Security plans to make a major economic investment in a new detention facility in Merrimack, New Hampshire. They didn't dot the I in Merrimack with a smiley face, but it kind of seemed like they were trying to. They brag about how the camp will this prison camp will bring a ton of jobs to the state, to New Hampshire. They write about all the positive ripple effects this Trump prison camp will have on the, quote, Oklahoma economy. Wait a minute. This new prison camp in southern New Hampshire is going to be a boon for the great people of Oklahoma. Why does it say that on the document they sent to the state government in New Hampshire? To try to get them all psyched about this Trump prison camp. They not only placed Merrimack, New Hampshire, somehow in Oklahoma, they also forgot to remove the comments. The internal comments ICE officials sent back and forth among themselves when they were putting this thing together. After people started pointing out what a mess this thing was, the White House apparently sent over to New Hampshire a revised copy of the same document, and it at least had some corrections that had the right to state name on it. That's nice. They also got rid of the internal comments from Homeland Security officials, but it was still filled with other mistakes. The document brags about how this Trump prison camp is going to bring millions of dollars to New Hampshire by way of state income taxes and state sales taxes, despite the fact that New Hampshire does not have either of those taxes. The document also references all the tax benefit that's going to flow to the county government in New Hampshire, despite the fact that the New Hampshire government doesn't work that way. It's not a county government, it's a town government. What are you talking about? But as much of an embarrassment as this is for the Trump administration, which apparently can't even spell New Hampshire, let alone lie to it with a straight face, the person for whom this has become a real political debacle turns out to be the New Hampshire governor because she is a Republican. Her name is Kelly Ayotte, and she has botched this thing in about 30 different ways. When the AC you published documents earlier this year showing that the Trump administration had talked to at least some officials in New Hampshire about this forthcoming prison camp, Governor Ayotte said, well, she didn't know anything about it. She blamed a state agency under her purview for failing to tell her about these discussions that ultimately led to the resignation of one of her cabinet officials. The governor said she had tried to get the Trump administration to answer questions about their plans for this prison camp at Merrimack, but they wouldn't answer her. That became a problem for Governor Ayotte. When the head of ICE was asked about it at a Senate hearing a few days ago, he not only confirmed that the Merrimack Trump prison camp was a go, he said his agency had specifically spoken with Governor Ayotte about it. They talked to her personally. He said, quote, dhs has worked with Governor Ayotte. We've spoken to the governor about the facility. Governor Ayotte immediately denied that was true. She once again claimed that she had no idea what any of this was about. She said the Trump administration had sent her no details about their plans for Merrimack, which is why the White House promptly sent over those typo riddled plans for the prison in her state and how great they'd be for Oklahoma. Meanwhile, as we've seen everywhere. ICE wants to put one of these prison camps. The pressure against doing any such thing is growing and growing. Voters in New Hampshire, local residents continue to protest it. New Hampshire's entire congressional delegation, both the Senate and the House, is demanding answers about it. Even the governor next to next door in Massachusetts has called on Kelly Ayotte to oppose it. For her part, Governor Ayotte won't say whether she's for it or against it. She's just proclaiming to be profoundly confused, which is getting to be a political catastrophe for Kelly Ayotte as the people of New Hampshire stand up against this thing. More on that ahead. Stay with us. This is a headline from the Concord Monitor out of New Hampshire. Quote, if the governor truly did not know about the ICE prison being built in her state, then New Hampshire has a governor who is not paying attention to critical developments. If she did know and chose not to engage publicly, that is even worse. Either way, the result is the same, a failure of leadership at a moment when clarity and accountability are essential. That very tough wording in an op ed from New Hampshire State Rep. Wendy Thomas, who represents the town of Merrimack, where ICE wants to turn a warehouse into a huge Trump prison camp. Joining us now is State Rep. Wendy Thomas of New Hampshire. Representative Thomas, it's a pleasure to have you here. Thank you for making time.

[D]

Thank you. Thank you for having me here.

[B]

So I should just tell you, my office, we reached out to Governor Ayotte in New Hampshire today. We haven't yet heard back. But can I just get your take your read on what's going on here with your governor? She's refusing to say whether or not she wants this Trump prison camp or not in Merrimack. And she's professing to be basically confused and unaware that it's happening. It's very hard to follow from the outside.

[D]

Well, to me, that smacks of either incompetence or lying. As I wrote in the op ed, there are all sorts of things that are happening simultaneously. One is that the owner of the warehouse, turns out, is a large financial donor to Kelly Ayotte campaigns. So we've got that, that problem. And the fact that she keeps saying that it's up to the towns, it's up to the towns. I'm going to let the towns decide. Well, our town has already decided we don't want this. We have a town council, government, seven members. They sent a letter down to Washington that said we don't want this in our town. And Ayat is still dragging her Heels on this. She's, she's just, you know, I saw what you were saying earlier about, you know, the ICE facilities that are being closed down and being stopped, and that's not going to happen in Merrimack. The warehouse has been sold. We are going to have an ICE detention center in our town. And this is the same town that a couple weeks ago, the biggest discussion in our town was a rooster noise ordinance. You know, we. We are just, you know, we're not a big. A big town. We're a little town. We're a town. We've got 30,000 people.

[B]

I know that you led a community. Zoom. Community meeting over Zoom on this yesterday with a couple of your fellow Democratic lawmakers, some other local leaders too, from Merrimack. And from what I understand, you got a really big turnout for that. And your constituents have been pretty up in arms about this. What came out of that meeting. What are you hearing from your constituents? What other options people feel like they might have at this point?

[D]

Well, about 80 people attended that Zoom, which was pretty amazing for a Sunday night Zoom in New Hampshire. People are terrified. I'm hearing from constituents that are people of color that if ICE is in our town, they don't want to leave their homes, they're not going to send their kids to school. I mean, we're seeing what's happening in Minnesota. You know, we're not blind. We can see the illegality, the violence, the disregard for human life. Really, that's what it comes down to. So people are terrified. The other thing around this facility that they have purchased, now, the deed has not been registered, so we don't know exactly who bought it yet. But the longer they take to file the deed, the more it looks like the government has gotten it. And trucks are going in with supplies and setting up equipment. So it's pretty clear what's happening. But there's a child care facility that's very close to this detention center. It's the Merrimack ymca. And they just expanded their childcare facility. So that's very close by. And a butter to the land that this facility will be located in is the Nashua Gun and Nashua Gun Club. So they. They use it to. To do target practice, you know, and so you're gonna have target practice right next to this facility. This facility is also located on contaminated PFAS land. And. And that's something that. That is an issue.

[B]

Well, somewhere in America right now, there is a lawyer who has expertise in this matters and matters like these who is wondering whether or not, they should stick their hand up and try to volunteer to help the people of Merrimack. State Representative Wendy Thomas, thank you for being here tonight. I appreciate it. Stay in touch with us as this moves forward.

[C]

All right.

[B]

We'll be right back. Stay with us. All right. That's going to do it for me tonight.

[A]

Why have I asked my electrician I found on Angie.com to bury my pet hamster? I was so moved by how carefully he buried my electrical wires, I knew I could trust him to bury my sweet nibbles after his untimely end.

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This is very strange, Angie. The one you trust. Define the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home [e-mail].