Musk tries to blame paid protesters for his wild unpopularity, collapse of Tesla

Summary

The Rachel Maddow Show: Episode Summary Title: "Musk tries to blame paid protesters for his wild unpopularity, collapse of Tesla" Release Date: April 23, 2025

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I. Tesla's Financial Decline and Elon Musk's Response

Overview: Rachel Maddow opens the episode by delving into the alarming financial downturn of Tesla, highlighting a significant 71% drop in profits for the first quarter compared to the previous year. This slump has been extensively covered across major news outlets, emphasizing Tesla's unique struggle amidst a generally stable automotive sector.

Key Points:

• Profit Breakdown: Tesla's reported $0.4 billion profit is juxtaposed against a potential $600 million loss absent interest earnings and government credits. This stark contrast underscores the company's precarious financial standing.

• Cybertruck Sales: The Cybertruck, Elon Musk's flagship vehicle, has seen a 50% decline in sales quarter-over-quarter, raising concerns about product viability and market reception.

Notable Quotes:

• "Tesla's newest vehicle, which consumed a lot of the company's resources while it was being developed, is looking increasingly like a flop." ([08:15])
• "They went from $1.4 billion in the first quarter of last year to $0.4 billion this quarter. Just, just a catastrophe." ([06:45])

II. Analyzing the Protests Against Elon Musk

Overview: Maddow explores Elon Musk's attempts to attribute Tesla's woes to paid protesters. She critically examines these claims, suggesting that the protests are genuine responses to Musk's political and business decisions rather than orchestrated campaigns.

Key Points:

• Nature of Protests: The protests are described as organized and growing in both number and intensity, challenging Musk's narrative of them being mere paid agitators.

• Musk's Accusations: Musk alleges that protesters are receiving fraudulent money to participate, a claim Maddow scrutinizes by highlighting the real grievances fueling the demonstrations.

Notable Quotes:

• "Are all of these people paid to be there, or are all of these people... all receiving fraudulent money?" ([09:30])
• "These are people who are receiving the waste and fraud. Really? All of these people, really?" ([10:05])

III. Public Opinion on Elon Musk and Donald Trump

Overview: The show presents recent polling data illustrating the declining public perception of both Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump. The data underscores a significant erosion of support across various demographics and policy areas.

Key Points:

• Negative View on Tesla and Musk: Polls indicate a substantial negative perception of Tesla and Elon Musk, particularly among younger demographics who otherwise support electric vehicles.

• Trump's Approval Ratings: Trump's approval ratings continue to plummet, with significant disapproval in areas such as his handling of the economy and adherence to court orders.

Notable Quotes:

• "Do you approve of Donald Trump's handling of inflation? No. By a 23 point margin." ([11:10])
• "Do you have a positive or negative view of Elon Musk? Negative minus 20." ([12:05])

IV. Higher Education Under the Trump Administration

Overview: Maddow transitions to the contentious involvement of Donald Trump in academic institutions, highlighting his announcement to deliver commencement speeches at West Point and the University of Alabama amidst ongoing governmental overreach.

Key Points:

• University Reactions: Institutions like the University of Alabama have lodged strong objections, with college Democrats expressing shock and disgust over Trump's involvement.

• Collective Defense: Leading academic figures, including Dr. Lynn Pascarella, emphasize the importance of collective action among universities to defend academic freedom and institutional autonomy.

Notable Quotes:

• "We are call[ing] for a collective action... to defend the core purposes of American higher education." ([25:13])
• "Our commitment is to uphold academic freedom, shared governance, and institutional autonomy." ([27:14])

V. Congressional Action on Immigration Enforcement

Overview: The episode covers a delegation of Democratic lawmakers visiting immigration facilities in Louisiana to investigate the Trump administration's detention practices. This action is part of a broader effort to address alleged abuses in immigration enforcement.

Key Points:

• Facility Conditions: Lawmakers observed substandard conditions, including inadequate provisions for detainees and prolonged detention without clear legal processes.

• Personal Stories: High-profile cases, such as those of Mahmoud Khalil and Rumesa Ozturk, are highlighted to illustrate the human impact of these policies.

Notable Quotes:

• "Ms. Ozturk... was snatched, literally snatched from the street and taken to multiple facilities before ultimately landing in Louisiana." ([35:52])
• "Their ability to exercise their First Amendment right, freedom of speech, is being challenged." ([40:17])

VI. FDA Staff Cuts and Public Health Implications

Overview: Maddow critiques the Trump administration's substantial staff reductions at the FDA, highlighting the resultant suspension of critical food safety programs. This reduction poses significant risks to public health and food security.

Key Points:

• Program Suspensions: Essential programs aimed at improving bird flu testing and overall food safety quality checks have been halted due to limited workforce capacity.

• Consequences: The suspension of these programs increases the vulnerability of the food supply to contamination and disease outbreaks.

Notable Quotes:

• "FDA suspends milk quality tests amid workforce cuts." ([43:03])
• "The FDA is suspending a quality control program... due to reduced capacity in its food safety and nutrition division." ([43:29])

VII. Closing Thoughts

Rachel Maddow wraps up the episode by reiterating the interconnectedness of corporate governance, political influence, and public welfare. She underscores the necessity for accountability and transparency in both the private and public sectors to safeguard democratic principles and societal well-being.

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Conclusion: This episode of The Rachel Maddow Show presents a comprehensive analysis of Elon Musk's current challenges, the societal reactions to his leadership, and the broader political climate influenced by the Trump administration. Through incisive commentary and robust data, Maddow paints a vivid picture of the intricate web linking corporate instability, political maneuvering, and their ramifications on American society and institutions.

Transcript

[Rachel Maddow]

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[Rachel Maddow]

Really happy to have you here. One quick thing before we get started. I am coming to Maine. Portland, Maine. I mentioned a few days ago that I'm doing a little book tour thing around the paperback release of my book prequel. Paperback comes out on May 6th. I'm going to do just a handful of events were sold out already in St. Louis and in Miami, Florida. But there are two of these events that I'm doing, these live in person events that I'm doing where there are still some tickets right now, Wednesday, May 7th in Boston, there are still some tickets. That's a huge venue. I don't think we're gonna sell that out, but I know there's still some, some, some tickets there. Also Friday, May 9th in Long Island, New York, there are still some tickets, I'm told. But the, the new thing, the main thing I need to tell you is that we just added a whole new date and a Saturday, May 10, I will be in Portland, Maine and I would love to see you there. Come see me. It'll be fun. You can find out more about that new event in Maine and all the others on our website. MSNBC.com prequel you can just hold the camera function on your cell phone up to that QR code on your screen and that'll take you right there. Or you can just type it in yourself. MSNBC.com prequel to get tickets and all the details. All right, that's it. Business over. Let's get to it. So I think the protests are really starting to bug them. I don't know if it's the number of protests or the number of people protesting or the fact that the protests really aren't going away and they keep seeming to grow. I Don't know if it's the tenor and good humor and peaceful nature of the protest that's bugging them, but I think they, I think they are really getting bugged. I think it is really getting under their skin. And here's one way we can tell. So let's say you're the head of a big car company and then something happens to your car company and it's not happening to all car companies. It's not happening to the car sector, right? In fact, it's not happening to any other car company at all. It's only happening to your car company. And it's not good. Headline, cnn, Tesla Profits Plunge. Headline, Washington Post, Tesla Earnings Plunge. Headline, New York Times, Tesla's 71% drop in profit. USA Today, Tesla profits fall 71% headline Wall Street Journal, Tesla Profit Sinks. Headline, Reuters Tesla Sales Skid. If you are the head of a company that is having a day like that, how do you spend that day? How do you spend that day that that news breaks everywhere? Because I mean, headlines like that are bad enough, but you look at the details, it's even worse. I mean, Tesla was expected to earn $0.41 per share. They came in at $0.27 per share. That's like not only below market expectations, it's really, really below market expectations. The first quarter of last year, Tesla made $1.4 billion. The first quarter of this year, we learned today you can drop the billion off of that. They went from $1.4 billion in the first quarter of last year to $0.4 billion this quarter. And even that was less than it appears. Tesla not only had that 71% drop in profit off of what they did last year, the profit they did have is not from selling cars. Quote, Tesla would have actually lost hundreds of millions of dollars this quarter had it not earned $400 million in interest on cash and investments and had it not earned $595 million from selling credits to other carmakers which themselves failed to meet emissions regulations. So yeah, it looks like they made $0.4 billion. It looks like they made $400 million, but they would have been $600 million in the negative for this quarter. They would have lost $600 million this quarter if they hadn't had cash and investments, interest payments and credits that were paid to them from other car companies because of anti climate change government programs. That's what filled up their balance sheet. Just, just a catastrophe. And to add insult to injury, the CEO's favorite of all his vehicles, at least the one he really, really, really likes to talk about and show off as much as possible. That is turning out to itself be the biggest disaster of all. Quote, the Cybertruck, Tesla's newest vehicle, which consumed a lot of the company's resources while it was being developed, is looking increasingly like a flop. Sales of the Cybertruck in the first quarter were down about 50% from the last quarter of last year, and they weren't all that good in the last quarter of last year. So if you're the guy who's head of this particular car company, today's just a disastrous day. And why is this only happening to your company? Can we just put up those same headlines we just saw? Can we just put up those headlines again? Let's put up that same list. Yeah. I mean, it's not a mystery, right? The reason this disaster has befallen this particular car company, the reason this disaster has befallen your car company, the reason this is happening to you and no one else is specifically because of you. Tesla profit sinks hurt by backlash over Elon Musk's political role Tesla profits fall 71% amid backlash backlash to Musk's role with the Trump administration. I mean, it's not a like business world secret why this is happening. This is happening because of the guy who's the head of the car company. The company is repulsed by Elon Musk. The company is repulsed by what the New York Times gently describes tonight as, quote, Mr. Musk's support of far right causes. The country really does appear to be just repulsed by President Donald Trump installing Musk, his top campaign donor, in a secretive, totally opaque, newly created pseudo agency in which his job appears to be to destroy as much of the US Government as possible. I mean, what do we think of when we think of Elon Musk now? We think of every fired park ranger, every line of old people and disabled people that's out the door at a totally beleaguered and no longer functional Social Security office. We think of every cancer researcher whose study was defunded midstream. We think of everybody who, who, you know, who's about to be handed over to the tender ministrations of a collection agency because of their student loans. We think of every HIV and tuberculosis and severe malnutrition miracle treatment program that was working great and saving millions of lives, but that inexplicably was cut off with no warning because of Elon Musk. I mean, all of these things that have come to pass over these past 90 days, when we think about these things. When we're confronted with these headlines and with these disasters one after another, everybody thinks not just of President Donald Trump, but of his top campaign donor who he has installed to do this stuff inside the US Government. And so, yeah, President Trump's top campaign donor, his car company just had a 71% plunge in profit year to year, and they were lucky to have that. So if you're Elon Musk, if you're Elon Musk today, on the day you get that kind of news, what are you focused on, right? What's top of mind? What are you today bringing up in conversation that nobody's asked you about? Turns out he's really bothered by those protests. Now, the protests that you'll see out there, they're very organized. They're paid for. They're obviously not going to say, admit that the reason that they're protesting is because they're receiving fraudulent money or that they're the recipients of wasteful largesse, but they're going to come up with some other reason. But that is the real reason for the protests. The actual reason is that receiving the ways and fraud wish to continue receiving it. That is the real thing that's going on here, obviously. Are you mad? Are you bothered just a little? You seem mad in your mind. Do you really think that, like, organically, naturally, everybody actually loves you and loves what you're doing and that all of this is people who do, in their heart of hearts, actually love you and love what you're doing? It's just that they're all out there in the streets because they're being paid to pretend otherwise. You think all of these people are people who love you, who are being paid to say they don't love you or what did he say? These are people who are receiving fraudulent money. They're receiving the waste and fraud. Really? All of these people, really? This was about 300 people in Cloquet, Minnesota, yesterday, silently picketing outside the Cloquet Public Library yesterday evening as Republican Congressman Pete Stauber spoke inside. Were all of these people paid to be there, or are all of these people in Cloquet, Minnesota, all lazy fraud fraudsters who don't want to get give up how rich they're getting off all the fraud money that they're taking from the government? Is that, is that what these folks are doing there? Is that who these folks are? In a totally different part of that same state, three and a half hours away in Austin, Minnesota, people yesterday protested to try to protect Social Security from Donald Trump and yes, from Elon Musk.

[Chris Hayes]

People protested in Austin against potential Social Security cuts and Elon Musk's comments calling the program a Ponzi scheme. The rally was in response to prior actions of the Trump administration.

[Rachel Maddow]

He has a tendency to, you know, shoot first and say, I'm sorry later. They make a lot of mistakes that they try to walk back later.

[Lynn Pascarella]

They say that they didn't have access.

[Troy Carter]

DOGE has access, access to our data.

[Lynn Pascarella]

I don't want them playing around with.

[Rachel Maddow]

My Social Security number.

[Chris Hayes]

Attendees also expressed concerns about SSA staffing cuts impacting service.

[Rachel Maddow]

We've got chainsaw wielding billionaires who are actively taking apart vital pieces of our government. We can't wait until it's too late. We need to be proactive. That was Austin, Minnesota yesterday. This was Palm Springs, California. This was people with disabilities and their families protesting against Trump and Musk's cuts to services for disabled people at the office of their Republican congressman, Ken Calvert. Were these people all paid to be there? ELON Musk these disabled people and their families are only protesting because they're enjoying so much fraud, because they're all criminals. They're all receiving fraudulent money. They want the waste and the fraud to continue. Really? Do you think so? Is this stuff getting to you? Is this stuff getting under your skin? It seems like you're slightly delusional about what's going on here. Do you want to see yesterday's protest yet again outside the Tesla dealership in Grand Rapids, Michigan? Those people are dedicated. Do you think they secretly love you, but they're being paid to pretend that they don't love you? You want to see the big crowd of really exasperated people who turned up in Normal, Illinois yesterday outside the office of their Republican congressman, Darren LaHood. Are these people all fraudsters? Only there because they love waste so much? Really? This was Finley, Ohio this weekend. First protest at age 93. Elon Musk. Is there somebody paying her to be there or she only there because she, she loves waste and fraud? Because why else would somebody be protesting against what you're doing? Here's San Diego, California this weekend. I fought another bully in 1945. World War II veteran. See a paid protester. Does seeing this bug you just keep you up? Kirkland, Washington, this weekend. My 401k's pronouns are was and were. I don't know. I don't really get the sense that these folks had to be paid to do this. Do you? Here's Boise on Saturday. Big grin. Furor around and find out. Here's Eugene, Oregon on Saturday. Another big grin. I'm so angry I drop the chiro in there so you can read this. I'm so angry I stitched this just so I could stab something 4,000 times. Big grin. This was Raleigh, North Carolina, on Saturday. First they came for the immigrants and we said, not today. A hole. This was Peoria, Illinois. Keep your tiny hands off our schools and our science. This was Redwood City, California. There will be hell. Toupee Elon Musk. You really think all these people are there because they were paid? All of them? They're all part of a criminal gang participating in a big fraud scheme. Right? And they just want to protect their waste and the fraud that's making them all so rich. Really? The president's top campaign donor is bothered by your protests. He said today, unasked on this disastrous earnings call about the cratering of his car company, the stock price of which, incidentally, is the basis for basically all his wealth. He said today on that call, volunteered that these protests, you know, they're all a hoax. But he also had to reassure investors that he is going to scale back his involvement in the Trump administration in coming weeks. And, and we shall see. But, you know, but if he thinks the protests against him in the streets are some kind of artificial trick, some kind of paid hoax, and people don't really dislike him, who's going to tell him about the polling? Because separate and apart from the protests, the polling in many ways is even worse. And it is bad for him and also for Trump. And for Trump. It just keeps getting worse and worse and worse with each new poll. For example, the new Reuters Ipsos poll that's out today. Do you approve of the job Donald Trump is doing as president? No. By an 11 point margin. Do you approve of Donald Trump's performance on the economy? No. By a 14 point margin. Should Donald Trump withhold funding from universities he'd disagrees with? No. By a 29 point margin. Should President Trump take control of national museums and theaters? No. By a 52 point margin. Should Donald Trump obey court orders that he disagrees with? Should President Trump obey court orders that he disagrees with? Yes, he should obey those court orders. 83% of Americans say yes, he should. Only 13% say no. That is a 70 point margin. That's Reuters Ipsos polling out today. New polling out today, also from cnbc. Do you approve of the job Donald Trump is doing as president? Nope. By a seven point margin. Do you approve of Donald Trump's handling of the economy? Nope. By a 12 point margin. Do you approve of Donald Trump's handling of tariffs? Nope. By a 16 point margin. Do you approve of Donald Trump's handling of inflation? No. By a 23 point margin. CNBC also asked, do you think we're going to have a recession in the next year? Americans say yes by an 8 point margin. Then they ask the follow up question, well, if we do have a recession in the next year, will you blame Trump for it? Yes. Yes we will, by a 20 point margin. But also look at this. This is not just for Trump. This is also for Musk. This is also from today's CNBC poll. Do you have a positive or negative view of the US auto industry as a whole? Positive+14. Do you have a positive or negative view of General Motors? GM very positive plus 23. Do you have a positive or negative view of Tesla? Negative minus 20. Wait, GM is plus 23. Tesla is minus 20. Do you have a positive or negative view of Elon Musk? Negative minus 20. And this is a nice crosstab for a man who likes to think he's big with the kids. Among young people age 18 to 34 in this CNBC poll, they say they are very positive on EVs on electric vehicles in general. Generally young people are positive plus 19 on electric vehicles. But on Tesla they are minus 23. All the people in that poll must be paid. They must be fraudsters who just love waste. Who's going to tell him? I think the protests are going to continue, including in some places that I don't think Trump or Musk are expecting incoming today for President Trump from one of the very, very reddest states in the country and also from some institutions that he has started targeting that I think he thought would be easy pickings. Some institutions he has recently targeted that I think he never thought would get it together to fight back against him as a group. But both of those things started to take shape today. We've got news on both of those ahead. Big night. Stay with us. Auto insurance can all seem the same until it comes time to use it. So don't get stuck paying more for less coverage. Switch to USA Auto Insurance and you could start saving money in no time. Get a quote today. Restrictions apply.

[Chris Hayes]

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[Troy Carter]

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[Rachel Maddow]

President Trump announced late last night that he's planning on giving commencement addresses at two graduations this year. One of them's West Point. And that, of course, is a little bit of an awkward announcement right now given NBC News is reporting today that those airstrike details that Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth texted to his wife and his brother and his personal lawyer and like 10 other people, those detailed down to the minute plans for a forthcoming military operation in Yemen had been shared with him by a top general in centcom who sent Pete Hegseth those details on a secure government system. Hegseth then turned around and took those highly sensitive details about a forthcoming operation that he had just received on a secure government system. And he texted them to his wife and all these other people using his personal phone and a commercial messaging apparently. So if you are graduating from West Point this year, thinking about your soon to start military career, potentially doing, I don't know, dangerous missions under CENTCOM command. President Trump coming to give your graduation speech while saying there's nothing wrong with a defense secretary doing stuff like that ahead of military operations in centcom might make for an awkward graduation day. But don't sleep on the other graduation speech that he announced as well. Don't sleep on Alabama as well because I don't know if this got wide play today, but the response to Trump saying he was going to give the graduation address at the University of Alabama this year elicited quite the response from Alabama's College Democrats. They said in response to this news, quote, we are shocked and disgusted to learn that our unpopular, divisive and authoritarian president will be involved in commencement for the graduating class of 2025. This insult not go unanswered. The last time the disgraced criminal visited campus, he was able to turn the Alabama Georgia game the biggest college football game on our campus in years into a political sideshow. We cannot allow this to happen with our commencement ceremonies. For all his meddling in University of Alabama affairs, Trump lost our campus to former Vice President Kamala Harris last semester. UA is not a fascist playground. The Trump administration kidnapped one of our PhD students for no reason a few weeks ago and is holding him without bond at an ice black site in Louisiana. There is no greater insult than this. We simply don't want UA to be turned into a backdrop for MAGA propaganda. UA College Democrats and its partners are actively mobilizing in response to last night's news. We will have more updates in the next few days. Alabama College Democrats saying this insult will not go unanswered as Harvard University sues the Trump administration to stop Trump targeting them, bringing a lawsuit against Trump in federal court. That seems quite Strong. Today, nearly 250 presidents of other colleges and universities signed a public statement that they called a call for constructive engagement. As leaders of America's colleges, universities and scholarly societies, we speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education. We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight. However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live and work on our campuses. We will always seek effective and fair financial practices, but we must reject the coercive use of public research funding. American institutions of higher learning have in common the essential freedom to determine on academic grounds whom to admit and what is taught how, and by whom. Our colleges and universities share a commitment to serve as centers of open inquiry where, in their pursuit of truth, faculty, students and staff are free to exchange ideas and opinions across a full range of viewpoints without fear of retribution, censorship or deportation. Joining us now is Lynn Pascarella. She is the president of the American association of Colleges and Universities. She's also the former president of a wonderful institution called Mount Holyoke College. She's one of the 237 academic leaders and counting who has signed the statement against Trump's, quote, unprecedented overreach. Pascarella, thanks very much for joining us. I really appreciate your time.

[Lynn Pascarella]

My pleasure.

[Rachel Maddow]

This statement is gaining some momentum. Can I ask about the origins of this, the strategic thinking that went behind trying to pull this together?

[Lynn Pascarella]

Yes. As of 9:00, we had 269 signatories. The impetus for this was to determine whether there was a will to engage in collective action at this moment of enormity for American higher education. The strength of American higher education is our diversity of institutional types from community colleges to research ones, HBCUs, small liberal arts colleges, faith based institutions. And the widespread support that this statement has received demonstrates that despite the differences in our mission and the students we serve, there's a willingness to speak collectively and to act in solidarity to defend the core purposes of American higher education, those principles of academic freedom, shared governance and institutional autonomy that are not only foundational to American higher education, but to our nation's historic mission of educating for democracy.

[Rachel Maddow]

In recent days, we have been tracking a story here, sort of emerging story in which some colleges and universities, particularly like their faculty bodies, the faculty senates and so on, have been expressing a desire to form sort of formal mutual defense compacts to defend universities collectively as Trump tries to individually sort of pick them off. And I feel like when you're talking about the collective action impulse behind this, it's getting at some of those same strategic imperatives. Can you help us understand how that that collective action principle might work in practice? As Trump continues to go after one university after another, one research funding stream after another? How does universities and colleges banding together help each of them withstand those attacks better?

[Lynn Pascarella]

Well, we must work together against the threats and governmental overreach into every aspect of college and university operations. It's not enough for an institution to defend itself when an institution is attacked like Harvard, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, we all need to defend those core purposes of higher education. The components of the statement that talk about the right of universities to determine who gets admitted, what is taught, how it is taught, and by whom are not something we came up with. They are enshrined in Supreme Court court decisions. The 1957 case in Sweezy vs. New Hampshire. Ten years later, the Keshian vs. Board of Regents case, in which the justices ruled that academic freedom is of transcendent value not only to the integrity and strength of higher education, but to national security and to democracy itself. And so now more than ever, each of us has to act with moral courage so that as someone on our call yesterday, as we gathered 193 presidents in talking about next steps, said, so that no one has to be a hero. We each have to make sure that we are defending our fundamental principles every single day.

[Rachel Maddow]

What are things that members of the public, regular citizens, or indeed elected officials can do to help shore up universities and colleges? To help them fight these attacks from the Trump administration, to try to defend academic freedom, we're very eager to partner.

[Lynn Pascarella]

With business, industry K through 12 and citizens in our communities. We need to now more than ever demonstrate that we are anchor institutions in our communities. We are not only the primary drivers for socioeconomic advancement for individuals, but economic catalysts for our communities and our nation. And so we need to show that our success is inextricably linked to the psychological, social, educational, economic well being of those in the communities in which we're located and those we seek to serve. We must ask our communities, what do you need from us as opposed to telling people what we're good at? And that will go a long way in restoring public trust in the promise of American Higher Education.

[Rachel Maddow]

Dr. Lynn Pascarella, President of the American association of Colleges and Universities, which spearheaded this letter, again now 269 college universities, college and university presidents and leaders standing up collectively to say that what the Trump administration is doing is wrong and damaging. Really appreciate you helping us understand it tonight. Stay in touch. Thank you.

[Lynn Pascarella]

Thank you so much.

[Rachel Maddow]

All right, we'll be right back. Stay with us.

[Chris Hayes]

Imagine what's possible in your business career when learning doesn't get in the way of life at Capella University. Our game changing Flexpath learning format is available in select business programs and lets you learn at a time and pace that works for you. That means you don't have to put your life on hold while earning your business degree. Instead, enjoy learning your way and earn your degree without missing a beat. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at capella.edu.

[Rachel Maddow]

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[Rachel Maddow]

I've told the Vice President of El Salvador that I may be the first senator member of Congress to be in El Salvador to come down to El Salvador, but I won't be the last. That was Maryland US Senator Chris Van Hollen after returning from El Salvador just a few days ago. During that trip, he was able to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man the administration sent to a Salvadoran prison because of what they called an administrative error. They have since been refusing to get him back, despite courts essentially telling him that they must. Senator Van Hollen said when he was on that trip to El Salvador that other members of Congress would be coming behind him. You saw him there, say upon his return, I may be the first, but I won't be the last. He has turned out to be. Write about that in more ways than one. And this is interesting. Yesterday we saw four Democratic members of Congress, four up and coming young Democrats, Robert Garcia, Maxwell Frost, Maxine Dexter, and Yassamine Ansari, all themselves traveled to El Salvador to demand answers about the people Trump has sent to that country to be held potentially forever in that Salvadoran prison. But we're also seeing other Democratic members of Congress show up on this issue bodily, show up in other ways as well. We've talked on this show about the case of a man named Mohsen Madawi. He's a legal permanent resident. He's got a green card. He was summoned to appear for his citizenship test to take the final step to becoming a citizen. They then arrested him. When he turned up for that test, his friends had feared that something like that might happen to him. Mr. Madawi's friends in Vermont, they had made plans to respond in case he was taken. That's why we have footage of them taking him. They had lined up legal representation for him, made a communications plan. They basically strategized about the best ways to support Mr. Abdoulaye if Trump's agents, in fact, came and got him, which they did. Since his arrest, Vermonters have been protesting outside the immigration jail where he's being held. And now Vermont's junior US Senator, Peter Welch, has showed up bodily to go meet with him. He showed up at that immigration jail to meet with his constituent.

[Peter Welch]

How is it you're staying so positive despite your circumstances?

[Rachel Maddow]

Thank you for the visitors. It really means a lot, and it reassures me of the support that I have from you and from the Vermonters as well. My people, the people of Vermont. I'm staying positive by reassuring myself in the inevitability of justice and in the deep belief of democracy. The reason Senator Peter Welch was able to Visit his constituent, Mr. Madawi in Vermont is because there was that swift reaction to Mr. Madawi's arrest that allowed for very fast legal intervention in which a court was able to stop the Trump administration from taking him out of Vermont and shipping him to another state. Most other people have not been as lucky. Many of the other people who've been snatched off the street by Trump's agents have been shipped to other immigration prisons like the ones they've got set up in Louisiana. That includes people like Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student who had a green card. He was in the US Legally, but he was arrested by ICE and imprisoned and slated for deportation because he participated in campus protests. Also in a Louisiana immigration prison is rumesa Ozturk, the PhD student and Fulbright scholar who was snatched off the street in Massachusetts by masked agents who then stuffed her into an unmarked car. They flew her to multiple immigration prisons and jails before sending her ultimately to Louisiana as well. Well, today, yet another group of Democratic members of Congress and senators decided to bodily show up and try to do something about this. They went to Louisiana to go meet with Mahmoud Khalil and Ramesa Osterk, among others. The lawmakers on that trip included U.S. senator Ed Markey, Congressman Bennie Thompson, Congresswoman Ayanna pressley, Congressman Jim McGovern. They were all led by Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter.

[Peter Welch]

From our communications with these individuals, they're frightened, they're concerned. They want to go home. They're happy to see that members of Congress are here to listen, to take good notes, to go back to Washington to ensure that due process is granted, health care is provided, and fairness is the rule of day.

[Rachel Maddow]

Joining us now from Louisiana is Democratic Congressman Troy Carter. He sits on the Homeland Security Committee. He led this delegation today to these immigration facilities. Congress. McCarter, thank you very much for being here tonight. I really appreciate your time.

[Peter Welch]

Thank you very much for having me.

[Rachel Maddow]

Can you tell me more about this delegation that you led today, what you were able to see, who you were able to meet with, what you learned?

[Peter Welch]

We're very fortunate to have a bicameral delegation of members, along with the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, Betty Thompson, United States Senator Edward Markey, Ayanna Presley, and Jim McGovern, the three from Massachusetts, of course, the ranking member, Thompson is from Mississippi. We had an opportunity to visit both the facility in Gina and in Basile. We had an opportunity to meet with Mahmoud Khalil, to sit with him for just about an hour and to talk about the concerns that he has, to talk about the atrocities that he's dealing with. He was very clear to share with us that his past, his present and all of his work definitely is demonstrative of the fact that he is not anti Semitic, that in fact he was working for peace in advancing the causes of a two state solution where Palestinians and those in Israel could get along and live separately in peace. He also was very clear that he is absolutely against Hamas in any terrorist acts. So the fact that he is being charged with these trumped up charges, that our Secretary of State seems to have attempted to use him as a scapegoat, to use him as an example, is ridiculous, unfair and unconscionable. Clearly, this individual's ability to exercise his First Amendment right, freedom of speech, is being challenged. Listen, in America, just because we disagree with you, you may not like what a person says, you may find their comments to be opposite of your philosophies, but in America, we're protected by free speech. And Mr. Khalil clearly is a victim of having his First Amendment denied and his Fifth Amendment of due process. This has been a process where these individuals were not even told why they were arrested. There was no warrant given for their arrest. Same thing with Roomesa and with Wendy Brito, both of these. Wendy Brito from my home state of Louisiana is a mother of three, married to an American citizen. She's been here for 17 years. Her children are all American citizens. She serves as a volunteer in the public school system. She went for her routine checkup with ISIS and she never made it home. Rumesa wrote an op ed. She did nothing else. She wrote an op ed that someone didn't like and was snatched, literally snatched from the street and taken to multiple facilities before ultimately landing in Louisiana. We had an opportunity to visit with her to talk about her fears, to talk about her concerns, to look at the facilities where they're clearly, while they appear to be healthy, there are a lot of challenges at these facilities that require immediate attention. I'm proud that my members of Congress joined me today to not only shed light, but to also give hope that they are not forgotten and that we're going to continue to fight for the rule of law and for the tenets of our Constitution that suggest that we're all free and that our freedom of speech should not be taken lightly.

[Rachel Maddow]

What can you tell us about the conditions of confinement both at Basile and at Gina? These facilities are really far from where some of these people were arrested and where they've lived. I think part of the administration's thinking is that this is a far flung area, most people. And so it's kind of out of sight, out of mind. Were you and your colleagues today able to discern anything about the conditions in which people are being held?

[Peter Welch]

Well, there are multiple reasons why I think they're at this particular facility. One, it is in Louisiana where there will be have to be heard by the most conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana, 5th Circuit Court rather, which is one of the most conservative benches in our country. Number two is that this facility, unlike the other facilities across the country country have a 72 max day hour stay, rather 72 hours. In Louisiana, the stay can go up to a week, a month, multiple months. And so they are sent here in a facility that's very difficult to get to. Very challenging for any lawyers or advocates to be able to access our family members. The facility itself appeared to be clean, in fact, suspiciously clean, like perhaps there was some sprucing up before we got there. The other thing that was noted is that all of the detainees we spoke to indicated that it is very cold, that they aren't allowed to have blankets. The temperature is very uncomfortable for them. Many of the women in the facility indicated that they were not given proper feminine products products as regularly as needed. In some cases not even given toilet paper. That is absolutely unacceptable. They share with us that they are frightened, many of which have not been given dates when their court hearing will be. They're there. Many said they don't know why they're there and were not able to share with us what the next steps are. Some now have lawyers, although many of them said that they asked for lawyers for days before finally being granted an opportunity to speak to counsel.

[Rachel Maddow]

Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter, thank you for leading this delegation and for talking to us about it tonight. This is a really, really, really important part of this system that has not had enough eyes on it, particularly people doing the kind of oversight and reporting back that you are doing. I expect that this will be the first of many such delegations. But thank you for helping us understand this first one today. Really appreciate it, sir.

[Peter Welch]

Thank you very much. We're committed to staying on top of this, keep the lights on to protect freedom of speech. Rather it's with these four people who are well known, these names that you've heard, but there's so many others that we don't know their names, we don't know their faces. But they likewise deserve the kind of attention to protect their freedom of speech, protect their civil liberties. Rather it's walking down the street or on Any college campus.

[Rachel Maddow]

That's exactly right. Thank you, sir. Congressman Troy Carter from Louisiana. We'll be right back. Stay with us. The news organization Reuters, I think, has not been getting enough credit for really good, really granular, dedicated, steady work that they've been doing tracking the consequences of the huge cuts and the thousands of firings that Trump has made at the fda, the Food and Drug Administration. Here, for example, is one Reuters headline. This one from April 3rd, quote, FDA suspends program to improve bird flu testing due to staff cuts. The FDA pulling back a new program that would improve bird flu testing of milk, cheese and pet food, suspending that new program due to the massive staff cuts at the agency. Oh, good, good. Here's another Reuters headline. April 17, US FDA suspends food safety quality checks after staff cuts again. Oh, good. This time they cut the quality control program that is, quote, designed to ensure consistency and accuracy across the agency's network of 170 labs that test food for pathogens and contaminants to prevent foodborne illness. So first they cut the program that's designed to improve the testing for this new outbreak of bird flu. Then they cut the program that makes sure we're testing accurately for all the old diseases and contaminants from which we get, you know, outbreaks of food poisoning, all the stuff we'd like to keep out of our food supply. Ready for the latest Reuters headline. Too bad. Here it is anyway. US FDA suspends milk quality tests amid workforce cuts. The FDA is suspending a quality control program for the testing of fluid milk and other dairy products due to reduced capacity in its food safety and nutrition division, according to an internal email seen by Reuters. Reduced capacity in its food safety and nutrition. Why so much reduced capacity? This is, I should mention, the same HHS where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Has already asked a raw milk producer with a history of fighting regulators and a history of his products being subject to massive recalls, RFK Jr. Has asked him to be an advisor to the FDA. So just in case you're feeling a little nudgey about the milk testing, we got to get rid of that because of the staff cuts. Reduced capacity in our food safety divisions. Who voted for this? Who voted for this? Watch this space. All right, that's gonna do it for me for now, but I will see you again tomorrow.

[Chris Hayes]

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