'This should be shocking': Judge torches Trump admin. for neglecting due process for deportees

Summary

Summary of "The Rachel Maddow Show" Episode: 'This should be shocking': Judge torches Trump admin. for neglecting due process for deportees

Release Date: April 18, 2025

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Introduction

In this impactful episode of The Rachel Maddow Show, host Rachel Maddow delves deep into the escalating tensions between the Trump administration and various facets of American society, particularly focusing on the administration's immigration policies and their implications on due process. The episode weaves through judicial decisions, widespread protests, institutional resistance, and shifting public opinion, painting a comprehensive picture of a nation grappling with perceived authoritarian overreach.

Judicial Critique of the Trump Administration

The episode opens with a detailed analysis of a recent ruling by the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals regarding the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Maddow reads the court's scathing critique of the Trump administration's immigration policies, highlighting the neglect of due process for deportees.

Notable Quote:

"The government asserts a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear."
[04:46]

This ruling mandates the administration to facilitate Garcia's return to the U.S. from El Salvador, emphasizing that due process cannot be circumvented even in matters of foreign detention. Maddow underscores the broader implications of this decision, suggesting it sets a precedent against authoritarian practices.

Widespread Protests Against Administration Policies

Maddow transitions to the nationwide uproar sparked by the Trump administration's immigration policies. She outlines numerous protests across all 50 states, drawing parallels to historical moments of resistance.

Notable Quote:

"Americans figuring out what they can do. And of course, we are seeing protests every day, every day."
[08:30]

From Augusta, Maine, where farmers protest cuts to USDA funding, to San Diego, California, where veterans rally against VA service reductions, the protests are diverse yet united in opposition to the administration's strategies. In South Dakota, demonstrators protest Senate leader John Thune's inaction, while in Washington D.C., symbolic coffins represent the lives lost due to policy decisions affecting HIV treatments globally.

Notable Quote:

"We're expecting thousands and thousands and thousands, likely hundreds of thousands of Americans to protest altogether this weekend in every state in the country."
[00:41]

Institutional Resistance: Harvard University as a Case Study

A significant portion of the episode focuses on Harvard University's defiance against the Trump administration's demands to deport international students. Maddow interviews Professor Steven Levitsky, co-author of How Democracies Die, who provides insightful commentary on the importance of institutional resistance in preserving democratic values.

Notable Quote:

"Harvard realized that that strategy was a dead end. I think also the public debate had begun to shift... institutions, a democratic institution of higher education. We cannot let the federal government dictate what we teach, how we hire, how we admit students, how we treat our students."
[34:20 - 36:33]

Professor Levitsky emphasizes the collective action required from prominent institutions to counteract authoritarian tendencies, noting that Harvard's stance may inspire similar actions across other universities and organizations.

Senator Chris Van Hollen's Intervention

The episode covers Senator Chris Van Hollen's recent intervention in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Despite initial resistance from El Salvadoran authorities, the Senator successfully met with Garcia, offering a glimmer of hope for his return to the United States.

Notable Quote:

"I looked forward to providing a full update upon my return... all of this together just might be enough, right?"
[40:35 - 45:07]

Maddow highlights the emotional testimony of Garcia's wife, who expresses gratitude for the community's support and prayers, underscoring the personal toll of the administration's policies.

Shifting Public Opinion

Maddow presents recent polling data illustrating a stark decline in Donald Trump's approval ratings across various policy areas, including federal workforce management, foreign policy, tariffs, and inflation control. Notably, even immigration—a traditionally strong support area for Trump—has seen significant disapproval.

Notable Quote:

"Voters disapprove of Trump's handling of inflation by a 23 point margin. The proportion of Americans who disapprove of Trump's handling of inflation is 60%."
[42:01]

These statistics reflect growing public dissatisfaction and reinforce the narrative of increasing resistance against the administration's initiatives.

Media's Role in Exposing Administrative Misconduct

Maddow underscores the crucial role of investigative journalism in holding the Trump administration accountable. Reports from the Boston Globe, NBC Channel 10, and USA Today have exposed cases of mistaken identity, administrative errors, and the flawed execution of deportation policies, further eroding public trust.

Notable Quote:

"This letter tells them they have to leave the United States. Your parole will terminate in seven days... It is inhumane for this group of neighbors in Mill Creek."
[21:10 - 22:39]

Conclusion: A Nation at a Crossroads

Rachel Maddow concludes the episode by drawing historical parallels to the American Revolution, framing the current resistance as a pivotal moment for democracy. She emphasizes the importance of collective action, institutional solidarity, and persistent public advocacy in countering perceived authoritarian measures.

Notable Quote:

"We, for example, over the last few days have been tracking efforts that we've been noticing at other universities around the country... we know what to do."
[40:10 - 41:27]

Maddow leaves viewers with a call to action, urging continued vigilance and participation to safeguard democratic principles.

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Transcript

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[Historian or Political Commentator]

USA very, very happy to have you here. Today is April 17th. This is the Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts. When I say it is the Old North Church, I mean really old. The Old North Church is famous for something that happened in 1775. But in 1775, when that thing happened, the Old North Church was already old then. It was already more than 50 years old by that point. It was the venerable old landmark and importantly, very tall building where the rebels had arranged in advance to use their code. They had arranged in advance that at the Old North Church they would hoist either one or two lanterns into the steeple of that church. And that would be the code. That would be the coded signal. If it was one lantern, that would mean the British troops were coming by land. If it was two lanterns, that would mean they were coming by sea or at least by water. On the night of April 18, 1775, they hung two lanterns in that steeple. That was the signal that the British troops were indeed on the move and that they were not moving their troops into position for an attack by land. They were instead taking the more direct route toward Lexington and Concord. By sea or by water, they were crossing the Charles river in boats. That's what the two lanterns meant. Once the rebels had figured out what the British were up to, once that two lantern warning was hoisted, those in the know knew that it was time to move. Paul Revere and William Dawes and later Samuel Prescott, they rode off into the night, pell mell on fast horses because it was their job to go sound the alarm, to go convey the warning, to stand up the defense. And when the dawn arrived, when the next morning arrived, when the British troops arrived in Lexington, Massachusetts, that next morning, there was a welcoming party. There was the American militia, forewarned, forearmed, and ready to fight them. And what happened at Lexington and Concord were, of course, the first shots, right? And that was the start. And on that first day, the forewarned forearmed, prepared militia's success against the British, that first day, it soon swelled the ranks of the militia to thousands and thousands and thousands of Americans who literally took up arms to throw off the tyrant king. And of course, they won. And that's how we got here. And tomorrow marks 250 years to the day since the two lantern signal was hoisted into the steeple of the Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts at 6pm Eastern tomorrow, Old North Church in Boston, and churches and other houses of worship all over the country. And just regular people, regular Americans are going to ring bells 6pm Eastern tomorrow to mark this moment in our history. The day after tomorrow on Saturday. That, of course, is the anniversary of what happened at dawn the morning after Paul Revere's ride, right? That is this Saturday is the 250th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, where America took its first radical, literally revolutionary steps to free ourselves from tyranny and establish ourselves as a democracy. This Saturday, this Saturday, April 19th, on that 250th anniversary, we are expecting another day with potentially thousands of peaceful protests at state capitals all over the country. We're expecting protests this Saturday very much along the lines of what we saw two weeks ago on Saturday, April 5th. And you might remember the theme, the sort of banner under which those protests were organized two weeks ago. That was hands off. This weekend, this Saturday, perhaps inevitably, given the anniversary of the start of the American Revolutionary War, this Saturday, the banner for this weekend's peaceful protests will be no Kings. No Kings. National protest, April 19th. No kings. Protests are expected, I believe, in all 50 states this weekend. Yet again, yet again, we are expecting thousands and thousands and thousands, likely hundreds of thousands of Americans to protest altogether this weekend in every state in the country, yet again, against our century's old North Church moment, right? Organizing our own efforts against the attempted authoritarian takeover of the United States government in our century. Americans figuring out what they can do. And of course, we are seeing protests every day, every day. I mean, these big days of protest like April 5th and this weekend, April 19th. But this was Augusta, Maine, yesterday, just on Wednesday. This was Augusta, Maine. Farmers protesting against Trump's massive cuts to USDA funding and programs. And you know, you know, farmers are busy, very busy people, particularly this time of year. Anytime farmers are protesting, it's kind of a thing. You can see that tractor there. The sign on the front of it says, weed out the fascists. Support farmers, not billionaires. That was Augusta, Maine. This was San Diego, California, yesterday. People protesting against cuts to the va, cuts to services for veterans, including lots of nurses out there protesting cuts to the VA from the Trump administration. This was South Dakota yesterday outside an event where South Dakota Republican Senate leader John Thune was speaking. People had tape over their mouths at this protest protesting John Thune's silence in the face of Donald Trump's destruction of the U.S. government and increasing defiance of the U.S. constitution. Red State, South Dakota yesterday, this was today in Washington. This was very dramatic. These are coffins, full size black coffins being piled up outside the headquarters of the US State Department. They brought 200 adult sized coffins and six baby sized coffins, each of which represents 100,000 people who may die because of what Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump did to the decades old, wildly successful PEPFAR program which was providing HIV medications to literally 20 million people around the world. And you know you can live a long full life while HIV positive if you receive antiretroviral drugs to keep the virus suppressed in your body. But President Donald Trump ended those treatments mid course for 20 million HIV positive people by cutting off that program with no warning. And there's no substitution for pepfar. There's nothing like pepfar except pepfar. And Trump and Marco Rubio killed it even while trying to say they weren't. And those antiretroviral medications have been cut off all over the world. And so these coffins today represent the death toll of this decision that they have made of what they have done. Legendary US AIDS activist Peter Staley conceived this protest today.

[Activist or AIDS Advocate]

When I heard that just two weeks after Trump became president, that Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, decided to shut down USAID and pepfar.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

The.

[Activist or AIDS Advocate]

Best international foreign aid program ever Launched by the US since we rebuilt Europe after World War II, I knew that 20 million lives were now at risk. 20 million people with HIV around the world who were showing up to get their HIV meds refilled and finding the clinic door shut, which happened immediately. And I just couldn't sleep. And I thought, how does President Trump realize what Musk is about to do to his legacy? That he's going to relaunch the AIDS crisis around the world with millions and millions of more infections and deaths. I'm not still not sure he does. And we're already seeing those deaths. And they're now estimated that it'll be 5 million deaths for 20, 35 million deaths in five years. That's a holocaust. It's just mind numbingly frightening.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

That was today in Washington again, those hundreds of coffins brought and stacked up outside the US State Department in protest of what the Trump administration has done to that program. That was today in Washington. This was from the federal courthouse today in Richmond, Virginia, the 4th U.S. circuit Court of Appeals. I will read to you from this ruling. Quote, it is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter, but in this case, it is not hard at all. The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims, in essence, that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear. The government asserts that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a terrorist and a member of MS.13. Perhaps, but perhaps not. Regardless, he is still entitled to due process. If the government is confident of its position, it should be assured that that position will prevail in proceedings to terminate the withholding of removal order. Moreover, the government has conceded that Abrego Garcia was wrongly or, quote, mistakenly deported. Why then should it not make what was wrong right? Quote. The Supreme Court's decision remains, as always, our guidepost. The decision rightly requires the lower federal courts to give due regard for the deference owed to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs. The Supreme Court's decision does not, however, allow the government to do essentially nothing. It requires the government to, quote, facilitate Mr. Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent there. Facilitate is an active verb. It requires that steps be taken. As the Supreme Court has made perfectly clear, facilitation does not permit the admittedly erroneous deportation of an individual in disregard of a court order that the government not so subtly spurns. Facilitation does not sanction the abrogation of habeas corpus through the transfer of custody to foreign detention centers in the manner attempted here. Allowing this would facilitate foreign detention more than it would domestic return. It would reduce the rule of law to lawlessness and tarnish the very values for which Americans of diverse views and persuasions have always stood. The government is obviously frustrated and displeased with the rulings of the court. Let one thing be Court rulings are not above criticism. Criticism keeps us on our toes and helps us do a better Job Court rulings can overtake step, and they can further intrude upon the prerogatives of other branches. Courts thus speak with the knowledge of their imperfections, but also with a sense that they instill a fidelity to law that would be sorely missed in their absence. If today the Executive branch claims the right to deport without due process and in disregard of court orders, what assurance will there be tomorrow that it will not deport American citizens and then disclaim responsibility to bring them home? And what assurance shall there be that the Executive will not train its broad discretionary powers upon its political enemies? The threat, even if not the actuality, would always be present, and the Executive's obligation to take care that the laws be faithfully executed would lose its meaning. Today both the US And El Salvadoran governments disclaim any authority and or responsibility to return Mr. Abrego Garcia. We are told that neither government has the power to act. The result will be to leave matters generally, and Mr. Abrego Garcia specifically, in an interminable limbo, without recourse to law of any sort. The basic differences between the branches mandate a serious effort at mutual respect. The respect that courts must accord the Executive must be reciprocated by the Executive's respect for the courts. Too often today this has not been the case, as calls for impeachment of judges for decisions the Executive disfavors and exhortations to disregard court orders sadly illustrated now the branches come too close to grinding irrevocably against one another in a conflict that promises to diminish both. This is a losing proposition all around. The judiciary will lose much from the constant intimations of its illegitimacy, to which, by dint of custom and detachment, we can only sparingly reply. But the Executive will lose much from a public perception of its lawlessness and all of its attendant contagions. The Executive may succeed for a time in weakening the courts, but over time, history will script the tragic gap between what was and all that might have been. And Law in Time will sign its epitaph. It is, as we have noted, all too possible to see in this case an incipient crisis. But it may present an opportunity as well. We yet cling to the hope that it is not naive to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branc perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos. This case presents their unique chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time. While there is still time that Ruling today written by a high profile conservative judge on the Fourth Circuit U.S. court of Appeals. In case it's not obvious, the point of that ruling is to deny the Trump administration what it was asking for, which was an emergency stay to let them avoid what the courts have thus far very plainly ordered them to do. This ruling on the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case, in which the Trump administration has been ordered to bring him back to the US this, that I just read you, this comes on the heels, of course, of yesterday's ruling that it's not just Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The Trump administration has been ordered to retake US Custody of all these guys, of the hundreds of men who the Trump administration sent to El Salvador for potentially life imprisonment without any court's adjudication as to their fate inside the United States. Remarkable, remarkable rulings these last two days, particularly this ruling tonight from the Fourth Circuit. But I just want to say, in the spirit of Paul Revere tonight, I just want to note that the courts are not rioting alone here. This stuff does not happen in a vacuum. You ask scholars of authoritarianism and dictatorship and they will tell you that it's never just one thing that works in terms of resistance. It's everything together. And in our country specifically on this issue, at the sort of sharp end of the stick here on immigration, we really are seeing all kinds of resistance and strategic refusal and sounding the alarm all happening all at once. And it is mutually reinforcing. When you start seeing it come from all directions, it feeds on itself, it gains momentum, it gets bigger. And right now, it is everywhere. It is in the courts, it is also in communities, it is in civic life, it is in political life, it is in the press and it is in the streets. And I mean that all very specifically and literally. This is St. Paul, Minnesota, yesterday outside the consulate of el Salvador in St. Paul. People in the streets lining both sides of the road demanding that the Trump administration follow the court's orders and bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia and bring back these men who they have shipped to that foreign prison. This was Santa Rosa, California, yesterday. Local clergy leading a rally in support of immigrants and against what Trump is doing. This was Denver, Colorado yesterday. Again, local clergy leading a protest, a rally in support of immigrants and against the Trump administration's treatment of immigrants. This was Grand Rapids, Michigan yesterday. Local people protesting against Trump administration plans to open an immigration prison, a so called detention facility in their community. This was New Orleans yesterday. People protesting at ICE headquarters in New Orleans, Louisiana. These students yesterday protesting against how they're going against immigrants and international students at Kennesaw State in Cobb County, Georgia, and in Newark, Delaware, at the University of Delaware. When the Trump administration took a young man who's a legal permanent resident named Mohsen Madawi in Vermont this week, the community where he lives, where he is absolutely integrated into that community, they sprung into action. They were worried that Trump's agents were going to come for him. His friends and supporters had created a text group called Mohsin just in case, to prepare a support plan, a network, a communication in case it happened. They were with him when the arrest happened. They made sure to film it, to make sure that it was posted on social media, that they alerted the press. They had prepared for the worst with lawyers who had prepped in advance legal motions to stop him being removed from Vermont and flown to one of these immigration dungeons, for lack of a better word, a thousand miles away in Louisiana or somewhere. And because they had those prepped in time, those motions worked. A judge was able to order him kept in Vermont while he was still in Vermont before they had time to spirit him off elsewhere. Vermonters have since been protesting at the prison where he is being held in their state. Mr. Madawi is Palestinian. He was born and raised in the West Bank. They brought Palestinian flags to show their support for him, and they banged drums and yelled as loud as they could in the hopes that he could hear them inside the prison. Now in Vermont, the Democratic leadership in the state legislature says they want to terminate their state's contract with the federal government to keep immigration, prisoners, immigration, so called detainees, in the state's prisons, in their own facilities. That's Vermont. In Raleigh, North Carolina, the Trump administration has just sent notice to two dozen Christians who fled Afghanistan when the Taliban took that country back over. They are legally here in this country. They were given legal permission to stay here for obvious reasons, for not obvious reasons. Donald Trump is now taking that away and telling these Afghan Christians that they have to return immediately to the tender mercies of the Taliban. Right now. This week, it is a Christian church in Raleigh, North Carolina, that's advocating for them. At the Apostles Church in Raleigh, there's a community of Afghans, many going through the same thing. Pastor Nick Comiskey says the church has organized resources to help asylum seekers navigate the process. It's a very personal issue. These are individuals, men, women, children that we know and have come to know and love. That's Raleigh, North Carolina, in Utah, it's people who are legally here. Legally here from Haiti and Venezuela, who are part of the community that they live in in Utah, who are beloved there. Their neighbors in Utah are stepping up to help them and also to sound the alarm. It's time for you to leave the United States. That's the first line of a letter from the Department of Homeland Security to several refugee families here in Utah, legally. News specialist Dan Rascone is covering this story and joins us live. Dan, this has left neighbors shocked and upset.

[Local News Reporter]

It really has, Deanie. That's exactly right. Shocked, upset, angry, and also heartbroken that several of these families got this letter from the Department of Homeland Security telling them they gotta be out of this country by the end of the week.

[Community Organizer]

I'm angry, I'm sad, I'm embarrassed.

[Local News Reporter]

Emotions running high.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

It's not right.

[Local News Reporter]

It's inhumane for this group of neighbors in Mill Creek.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

We love them and they love us.

[Local News Reporter]

Gathered together to fight for three refugee families.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

I feel sad, really sad.

[Local News Reporter]

That arrived in the US and in their area not long ago. All of them getting this letter from the Department of Homeland Security saying, quote, it's time for you to leave the United States. Your parole will terminate in seven days.

[Activist or AIDS Advocate]

Unimaginable.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

The government that we love would do this to people we love.

[Local News Reporter]

Honestly feel like family to us. Two of the families are from Venezuela, the other from Haiti, all too scared to identify themselves.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

The letter said that I was supposed to leave.

[Local News Reporter]

This mother from Haiti has a two year old daughter.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

I was in shock because I wasn't expecting something like that to happen because I came here legally.

[Local News Reporter]

Attorney Jim McConkie with the refugee Justice League is helping the families get representation.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

We're dealing with a group of people that are here legally. And the letters that were sent intentionally.

[Local News Reporter]

Are designed to bully and mislead these.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

People into believing that they don't have rights. That's Utah. That's Mill Creek, Utah. Those neighbors standing up for their neighbors who have been taken. It's protests. It's community life. It's also civic life. These students at Harvard today rallying to support international students at Harvard who the Trump administration is threatening as a group, threatening en masse as their own university, one of the highest profile and most prestigious universities in the world, takes a firm stand against the administration and says they will not accede to Trump's demands. We're going to have more on that coming up in just a moment. But you know what? If you look just outside Harvard Yard, if you look at the hometown press in Boston, you will see not only standing ovation level support for Harvard choosing to wage that fight. You will also see in the biggest local paper, the Boston Globe. You'll see them today leading with a brand new investigative piece into these vigilante groups that have been claiming credit for feeding individual student names to the Trump administration, for the administration to then target those people for arrest and deportation. The Globe's investigation today reviewed a so called students deport list from one of these groups. Quote, it sometimes placed students at the wrong universities or featured people who were not even in the United States. One woman on the list was pictured wearing a hijab and identified as a Harvard student from Nigeria who had already been detained in Massachusetts. The group claimed she should be deported because her visa had been revoked in March for a pro Hamas rally speech. Contacted by the Globe, the woman said she has never attended a pro Hamas rally, she has never attended Harvard, and in fact, she has never visited the United States. An hour south in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the local NBC station Channel 10 has dug into this horrifying video in which ICE agents smashed through the window of a car to drag a man and a woman out of the vehicle. They report that the ICE agents repeatedly while they were doing this, referred to the man in the car as Antonio. They insisted that that was what his name and it was Antonio who they were looking for. Nobody in that car was named Antonio. It really does appear to be a case of mistaken identity. Local press has been covering it intensely while ICE is defending its conduct by saying whether or not he's Antonio, the man was not in the country legally. And so you know, the New Republic was first to report that one of the police officers responsible for the disputed gang designation for Kilmar Abreco Garcia appears to have himself been soon thereafter suspended from the police force for serious misconduct in an unrelated matter, which of course goes to a police officer's credibility on a matter like this. USA Today was first to report that in the case of the gay makeup artist who the Trump administration sent to El Salvador potentially for life in prison, his supposed supposed gang affiliation was due to a single officer with a history of serious credibility and disciplinary problems, including driving his car into a family's home while intoxicated, after which he was summarily fired. Now we've got increasing press coverage of the Trump administration sending get out of the country immediately letters to at least three US Citizens, two of whom are lawyers in Massachusetts and one of whom is a random doctor in Connecticut, all of them American citizens, all inexplicably told by the Trump administration that they must get out of the country within a week. And all of this press coverage, while it's depressing because of the subject matter, it is also incisive investigative press coverage. And it does have the effect of exposing the shambolic and slapdash and utterly incompetent behavior of the Trump administration as it embarks on this cruel and unconstitutional adventure for which it wants to be feared and respected. And instead, they look ridiculous and cruel in equal measure. And that has the effect of shaping public opinion about what they're doing. And that fuels not just protests and lots of them, but also lawsuits. Reuters reporting that on Tuesday alone this week, federal judges in at least seven states issued orders blocking the Trump administration from acting against international students that it is trying to arrest. Lawsuits in Massachusetts, Montana, Wisconsin, Washington, D.C. new Hampshire, Michigan, everywhere. And more filed every single day. Those legal roadblocks tend to turn up information. The tide of incisive investigative press about what the administration is doing turns up yet more information about what Trump is doing and who he's hurting. And all of that information builds the public case, further galvanizes more public opinion against them and more protest against them. And you know what? If you keep eventually going like this, this stuff snowballs and it builds on its essentially, you are going to embolden elected officials to make them believe that it is time they better take action. And eventually you are going to end up with a US Senator in El Salvador himself trying to get his constituent out of there. And on that front, we have breaking news tonight. Just as we are getting on the air tonight, we have learned that Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, has been able to meet with imprisoned Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The government of el Salvador posting three photos online of the senator meeting with Mr. Abrego Garcia. A short time later, Senator Van Hollen confirming that he did have a chance to meet with his constituent. He said, quote, I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar tonight. I had that chance. I've called his wife Jennifer to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return. It is unclear where that meeting took place. It is unclear what Mr. Abrego Garcia's current status is. We are working on getting more information from Senator Van Halen office. We will bring it to you as we get it. But note, you know, none of these things on their own is enough. But all of them together, really something. And all of them together just might be enough, right? One of my land two of by sea fast horses, a relay of riders to alert everybody along the way. Everybody ready to do their part. We've had 250 years of training for this. We know what to do.

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[Historian or Political Commentator]

The Trump administration has now sent Harvard University a letter threatening every single international student who attends Harvard. There are thousands of them. The University responded by acknowledging receipt of the letter and saying that it quotes follows on the heels of our statement that Harvard will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. We continue to stand by that statement, we will continue to comply with the law, and we expect the administration to do the same. Joining us now is Professor Steven Levitsky of Harvard. He's the co author of Tyranny of the why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point. He's also co author of the sadly topical blockbuster bestseller How Democracies Die. Professor Levitsky, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate you making time.

[Harvard Professor or Political Analyst]

Thanks for having me.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

So, on the eve of the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution, I feel like Americans are feeling like we're in our own revolutionary or counter revolutionary moment right now. One of the things that was implicit in your book, How Democracies Die was the sort of counter narrative of how democracies can survive, how they can fight and stay alive against an authoritarian attempted takeover. Right now, in the midst of this, where we are, what you're going through at Harvard and what we're going through as a country, how do you think we're doing in terms of the fight?

[Harvard Professor or Political Analyst]

I'm hopeful that we're getting there. Rachel. We've been a little slow to respond. I think in part that's because most Americans don't have any memory or experience, experience of living under authoritarian rule. We have. Luckily, we don't have the same collective memory of authoritarianism that Brazilians and Argentines and Chileans and South Koreans and Germans have. And so we, we just don't know how to react. And also, 21st century authoritarianism looks a lot different than old fashioned authoritarianism. There aren't tanks in the streets. There are going to, they're not going to be tanks in the streets. These are often elected government who weaponize the government and use government agencies as weapons to punish rivals. But it's done often in a fairly legalistic manner. And so citizens are often slow to realize what's going on, to realize that they are in fact living in an authoritarian situation. So I think civil society was pretty slow these first few months. There's kind of an expectation that Trump 2.0 would be like Trump 1.0, which from my perspective was pretty bad. But there was a general sense that while we muddled through and we'll muddle through again, but this is obviously much worse. But in recent weeks, and what happened at Harvard I think is a sign of that we're beginning to wake up.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

Well, let me ask you about the Harvard decision. I feel like Americans all across the country, whether they've got any connection to Harvard or even any connection to higher higher education at all, I think people have been buoyed by Harvard' it's been described in the national press as potentially the start of a sort of tipping point in terms of the way that people are positing themselves as either acceding to what Trump is doing or willing to fight it. Can you give us any insight into how the decision was made at Harvard? I know you very publicly were part of trying to encourage the institution to take the kind of stance that they did. Can you help us understand how the decision was made and what was compelling to the powers that be there to convince them to take the stake?

[Harvard Professor or Political Analyst]

Well, I wasn't in the room, so I can only speculate I think, for one, Harvard's leadership looked at what happened to Colombia. Colombia effectively rolled over and got nothing out of it. All it got was more demands and didn't even get their. The money released. So that's what happens when you negotiate, make concessions to an authoritarian extortioner. And so Harvard realized that that strategy was a dead end. I think also the public debate had begun to shift, as you know very well the first few months. It's not just an attack on universities, it's an attack on law firms, it's an attack on the media, it's an attack on politicians, on public critics of Trump foundations, NGOs. And the initial response across the board was, was unfortunately among the most powerful law firms, most powerful billionaires in this country, was to get on their knees. But the public conversation has begun to shift. People have become very critical of that, and there's been a growing sense, I think, across the country that we need to do better, that we need to respond, we need to get off the sidelines, and that it has to be be our most privileged and most powerful civic leaders who do it first. We can't just rely on little old ladies in front of Tesla dealerships, God love them, but those with the power and the resources to withstand the blows have got to take leadership. And that public debate, I think, eventually prevailed at Harvard. In addition, the list of demands was so excessive, so authoritarian, that if Harvard were to accept it, it would have been the end of Harvard as a free university, as an institution, a democratic institution of higher education. We cannot let the federal government dictate what we teach, how we hire, how we admit students, how we treat our students. I mean, it's only in totalitarian regimes do universities allow that.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

Hmm. I got to say, those little ladies, little old ladies in front of the Tesla dealership, I feel like, A, I wouldn't mess with them, and B, I feel like what they're doing is putting the steel in the spines of a lot of other people who haven't been willing to stand out there in the sleep. There is an element of all these decisions being interlinked. We, for example, over the last few days have been tracking efforts that we've been noticing at other universities around the country. Universities making efforts, efforts to band together. Senate faculty is voting in the big ten, to name one example. They're debating and voting on and potentially trying to set up kind of mutual defense compact. I think there's been some discussion about law firms that have entered into these deals with Donald Trump now recognizing maybe those Weren't good faith deals. They may want to get out of those. Those law firms may want to band together to jump out of those deals, to stand up together. Can you talk just from your academic perspective in terms of talking about the way other have dealt with this in other times and in other places, other contexts? Can you talk about the value of fighting together, of not fighting alone, and whether or not that makes you not just a bigger target, whether that makes you more effective and more resilient?

[Harvard Professor or Political Analyst]

It definitely makes you more effective and more resilient. But it's difficult. As you know very well, Rachel, collective action problems are notoriously difficult to overcome because every CEO has to worry about his or her shareholders. Every university president has got to worry about their organization, every NGOs got to be worried, has to worry about being able to pay their staff. And when they get taken on individually, there's a strong incentive to be very pragmatic, to lay low, to not act, to make concessions, to do what is necessary to preserve oneself. The problem is if every individual university, every individual media outlet, every individual CEO, every individual law firm does that, acts out of self preservation, then our entire civil society ends up on the sideline and we end up where we've been the last few months. So overcoming that is really tough. One way to do it, the way that we've been recommending, is that society's most prominent and best endowed leaders have to act first. It's got to be precisely the people who got on their knees in December and January should be the people out there leading the way. And I think we're hopeful that Harvard setting this example will in fact empower other people that collectively. So what happens when we act collectively? They don't have the capacity to punish hundreds of universities simultaneously. This is a way of sharing risk, risk. And it's a way of communicating to society that first of all that there's a fight on. This isn't a one way steamroller, but two, that there is a serious crisis that we have to respond to. And we've gotten to the point where even David Brooks is calling on society to rise up in civic mobilization. So acting collective universities acting collectively can send a signal to others that it's possible. And it's a way of sharing the risk and sharing the cost so that no individual organization is likely to take such a heavy blow.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

Yeah, and there's a lot of sort of elite organizing to be done soon to go to those elites who previously bent down, bent the knee and decided to try to ride this wave to pull them back over to the other side. It's a really, really, really important point. Professor Stephen Levitsky, partner, thank you very much. Much. Yeah. Yes. Thank you for being with us tonight, sir. Appreciate it. All right, much more news ahead here tonight. Stay with us.

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[Harvard Professor or Political Analyst]

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[Historian or Political Commentator]

New poll out today from CNBC Heart Research. Do you approve of the job that Donald Trump is doing as president? No. No, we do not. Donald Trump's overall approval rating underwater by seven points. That is even lower than it was last month in this same poll when they had him underwater by four points. But things get much worse for him when you start asking about Trump's handling of specific issues. Do you approve of Donald Trump's handling of the federal government workforce? No. No, we do not. By a nine point margin. We do not approve of his handling of that. Do you approve of Donald Trump's handling of foreign policy? No. No, we do not, as a country approve of Donald Trump's handling of foreign policy by an 11 point margin. We disapprove of him on that. On tariffs, the thing Trump calls the most beautiful word in the English language. Do you approve of Donald Trump's handling of tariffs? No. No, we do not approve of that by a whopping 16 point margin. On inflation, which is, you know, prices, the issue that arguably did more than anything else to get Donald Trump elected president. Do you approve of Donald Trump's handling of prices? No. Of inflation? No. Voters disapprove of Trump's handling of inflation by a 23 point margin. The proportion of Americans who disapprove of Trump's handling of inflation is 60%. The proportion who approve it is just 37%. And it's not just this one poll where he's doing so terribly. Another poll this week from The Economist and YouGov shows basically the same thing. That poll has Donald Trump's overall approval rating underwater by 10 points. In that same poll, Americans are asked if they approve or disapprove of Trump's handling of foreign trade, including that is tariffs. Americans say no. By a 16 point margin, they disapprove. When voters are asked if they think Trump's tariffs will increase or decrease the prices they pay for the things that they buy, the proportion of Americans who say Trump's tariffs are going to increase the price on stuff they buy is 75%. Three in four Americans think that Trump's policies are are deliberately driving up prices. Throughout Donald Trump's entire life as a political figure, the one issue where he has almost always enjoyed, to my mind, inexplicable, but nevertheless net positive support from the American public is on the issue of immigration. But even on that, not anymore. Look at this. A Quinnipiac poll from this month now shows that Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of his signature issue of immigration by a five point margin. That's supposed to be his best thing, right? He's underwater on all of it. Trump has been back in office for less than 100 days. The American people are quite disapproving of his agenda. The American people are protesting what he's doing more and more. And he's losing every single day in court on almost everything that gets him into court. How was your Thursday, Morehead? Stay with us.

[Harvard Professor or Political Analyst]

Us.

[Historian or Political Commentator]

I hope to meet with representatives of the government. I hope to have the chance to actually see Kilmar and see what his condition is. That was Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen when he was on his way to El Salvador yesterday, saying one of the main goals of his visit was to essentially do a wellness check on this constituent of his that the Trump administration said it mistakenly shipped to El Salvador and then said they couldn't or wouldn't try to get him back. Well, earlier in the show tonight, we had the breaking news that Senator Van Hollen has accomplished at least that stated goal. He was initially turned away from this prison in El Salvador today, but then hours later, the El Salvadoran government arranged for Mr. Abrego Garcia to get out of the prison in order to meet Senator Van Hollen, somewhat bizarrely, in civilian clothes at a hotel in San Salvador. Now, we do not have a sense of what this is going to mean for Mr. Abrego Garcia overall. His lawyer tells us tonight he's just learning this meeting happened from social media like the rest of us are learning it. El Salvador's president just posted online that Mr. Abrego Garcia will now stay in El Salvador's custody. But again, it is the US government that has been ordered by US courts to get Mr. Abrego Garcia back to the United States. So we shall see. We did just obtain this statement from Mr. Abrego Garcia's wife. She says, quote, my children and my prayers have been answered. The efforts of my family and community in fighting for justice are being heard because I now know that my husband is alive. God is listening and the community is standing strong. We still have so many questions, hopes and fears. I will continue praying and fighting for Kilmar's return home. Thank you to everyone, including Senator Van Hollen, my CASA family, all our unions, faith leaders and community for continuing this fight for my family to be reunited. We are just learning about this situation as it unfolds. This hour, we'll bring you whatever new information we get as we get it. Stay with us. This hour feels like it was about 4 seconds long, but apparently it's done. That does it for me tonight. I will see you again tomorrow at 9pm Eastern.

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