← The Rachel Maddow Show
The Rachel Maddow Show
Trump is 'lustily booed' in New York City attending NBA Finals
00:43:24
Donald Trump was roundly booed in New York City outside of Madison Square Garden on his way to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. Trump was booed again once he was spotted inside the venue. Rachel Maddow shares footage of the booing and remarks on the way Trump has arranged to benefit financially from his other sports preoccupation, a UFC fight on the White House grounds.
Loading summary
Transcript44 lines
- [00:01]
VRBO Advertiser
You know what they say. Early Bird gets the ultimate vacation home. Book early and save over $120 with VRBO because early gets you closer to the action, whether it's waves lapping at the shore or snoozing in a hammock that overlooks. Well, whatever you want it to so you can all enjoy the payoff come summer with VRBO's early booking deals. Rise and shine. Average savings $141 select homes only Avoiding
- [00:31]
Thumbtack Advertiser
your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes so you don't have to don't know the difference between matte paint, finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro, you just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app. Download today.
- [00:50]
Rachel Maddow
Really happy to have you here. So much going on right now. Really busy night. Do you want to see the warm, warm welcome the President of the United States got tonight when he decided to pretend to be a basketball fan because he wanted to go to the NBA Finals in New York tonight? You want to see how much New Yorkers appreciated Donald Trump making them all come to the game hours early, forcing everyone to go through tons of extra screening, forcing New York City to cancel the public free viewing parties they had planned outside Madison Square Garden just specifically so Trump could be there in person, even though he's only ever talked to trash about the NBA and doesn't appear to have been an actual fan at all, at least for decades. Do you want to see the big, warm New York welcome that actual Knicks fans gave him when he arrived at the venue tonight? When they're waving at you with just one finger, it doesn't mean the same as another kind of wave. Big New York welcome tonight to President Donald Trump at the Knicks Spurs NBA Finals game. Trump likes to claim that New York loves him. New York does not. In Manhattan, for the record, Donald Trump and J.D. vance got 17% of the vote in the presidential election in 2024. Not 70%. 17%. Which means given the choice between Donald Trump and allowing yourself to be plooped upon by the big drops of greasy water that drip out of the back of window mounted air conditioners onto the sidewalk in the summer. I think New Yorkers would if the choice is, ah, have to think hard about it. Not sure which one seems worse. Do you want to see him arriving at the Garden one more time? Just one more Time. Here it is, Donald Trump being lustily booed when he arrived at the venue tonight in New York. This was him being booed inside the venue when people spotted him during the national anthem.
- [03:25]
Jacob Soboroff
Lose the stripes and bright star.
- [03:41]
Rachel Maddow
Just kind of smile through it. Let's, let's. Maybe they have a nickname for me that has an oo sound in the middle of it. Maybe that's what that is. That happened tonight. What a sports fan. What a man of the people. For his 80th birthday, which is this weekend, President Donald Trump's super PAC accepted a million dollar donation from the owner of an online casino that's considered in many states to be an illegal gambling operation. The President's PAC took that donation from the online casino. The President himself and the White House have since repeatedly promoted that legally iffy gambling operation. As part of this White House event, Trump is forcing taxpayers to pay for. For his birthday this weekend, the President bought stock in the parent company of ufc, the mixed martial arts company, and he bought that stock right before he's having the White House host a UFC match on the White House lawn for his birthday, from which UFC will obviously financially benefit and so will the President himself, since he just bought stock in the company. But you and I will all pay for it. The taxpayers of the country will have to pay to put it on so that he can personally financially benefit. I'll have more on that in a moment. This weekend was the anniversary of D Day, when US Troops braved impossible odds to launch the largest seaborne invasion in history. They stormed the beaches at Normandy so they could liberate France and ultimately liberate all of Western Europe from the Nazis. Turn the tide against the fascists in World War too. Here's how that anniversary looked this Weekend in Decatur, Alabama. June 6. D Day vets fought Fascism. Here's how it looked in Dallas, Texas. Honor D Day Vets resist fascism. Here's how it looked in Vancouver, Washington. Vets beat fascism. We can, too. Here's how it looked In Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. This is a good one. D Day Heroes, the OG Antifa. Similar idea in Lake Mary, Florida. World War II vets first anti fascists. Raleigh, North Carolina. D Day Heroes fought fascism. Here's Los Angeles. Honor D Day Fight fascism at home. Literally hundreds of communities across the country doing things like that this weekend for the anniversary of D Day. Also, we just saw another set of targeted protests, a whole day of targeted protests against Citizens bank for funding Trump's immigration prisons. Citizens bank, for its part, they say they follow the law and they apply their standards consistently to all their clients. But that bank, Citizens bank, is based in Rhode Island. They have branches all over the Northeast. And all over the Northeast. This weekend we saw protests in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Maryland, Massachusetts, all over the Northeast. People targeting Citizens bank for their financial support of Trump's prison camps, trying to get Citizens bank to drop that support. In Los Angeles, people protested this weekend to mark one year since Trump's federal agents started attacking that city and particularly attacking immigrants in that city. In Charlotte, North Carolina, Bluffton, South Carolina, this weekend, we saw protests against ICE and against ICE prison camps. Tomorrow we're expecting another big protest in Hagerstown, Maryland, against a possible Trump prison camp they've been trying to put in just outside Hagerstown, in a big warehouse in Williamsport, Maryland, another big protest scheduled around that tomorrow morning, 9am in Hagerstown, Maryland. We're also expecting tomorrow at 10am in Chicago, a bit of a courtroom showdown. And this still unfolding debacle that's happening in the city of Chicago, in which Trump's appointed prosecutor in that city just absolutely botched an effort to bring federal felony charges against people who had protested in Chicago against ice. That federal prosecutor's office not only ended up having to drop all the charges, first they dropped all the felony charges, then they had to drop even misdemeanor charges they had tried to bring. They not only had to drop all the charges, they are now facing possible legal sanctions, sanctions as lawyers, because the judge in that case found out just how badly that U.S. attorney's office had broken the rules in their conduct before the federal grand jury. So that hearing's been called tomorrow by the judge in that case at 10am in Chicago. Lawyers for all the defendants and the prosecutor's office have been order to all be there in person tomorrow at 10am so, given what has happened in this case so far, everybody is sort of standing by for fireworks there. There's a real question as to whether or not that U.S. attorney is going to find himself either forced out of a job or potentially forced out of the legal profession, based on the debacle that has unfolded in Chicago. But, you know, it's not just Chicago. This is, this is turning out to be one of the most reliable, consistent and consequential fail of the Trump administration, of Trump being back in office. It turns out they just cannot lawyer their way out of a paper bag anywhere in the country. And that has bad consequences, and in some cases, I think, arguably good consequences for the country. It's just turning out to be a profoundly consequential thing. I'll give you an example. Just a few weeks ago in Wyoming, less than a month ago in Wyoming, there are three federal judges who sit in Wyoming. And those three federal judges had to go intervene in a whole bunch of Wyoming criminal cases that had not yet gone to trial. The judges had to intervene because Trump appointed as the top federal prosecutor in Wyoming a January 6th guy who had never before been a prosecutor. His main work experience was apparently working at a televangelist TV channel. And this guy, shockingly so botched the grand jury process in Wyoming for normal criminal cases that the federal judges who sit in that state had to wade in and intervene and throw out nine different felony indictments that had been screwed up by this guy. And these were on serious cases. This is everything from child pornography to first degree murder. They had to throw out all the cases because Trump's hand picked Prosecutor. Again, a January 6th guy so screwed up all of these cases and the entire process for getting people criminally charged in Wyoming. Incredibly, perhaps the most incredible thing about all of it is that Republican senators in the United States Senate then voted to confirm that guy as U.S. attorney. Right after all that happened. They didn't mind, apparently, child pornography and first degree murder. I'm just saying, just astonishing. But it's really happening everywhere. Rhode island, the Trump appointed federal prosecutor there just had attorneys referred for disciplinary proceedings for botching its cases in Rhode island, too. That referral was made on Friday and the referral was made by a federal judge who herself was appointed by Donald Trump. I mean, as I mentioned, Trump's appointed prosecutor in Chicago is the one who's going to be back in court tomorrow, potentially facing sanctions from the court after botching his attempted prosecutions in Chicago too. I mean, there have just been consistently really big problems and really big embarrassments from Trump's U.S. attorney picks from Trump's federal prosecutor picks all over the country, in Nevada, in Minnesota, I mean, everywhere. California has been a particular disaster for Trump right from the start. To get a prosecutor in California, Trump, it's not like, you know, California has any shortage of experienced lawyers, but Trump didn't want any of them. He instead took a MAGA guy from the state assembly. He had very little relevant experience. And almost immediately, this guy as the new U.S. attorney appointed by Trump, he was attracting headlines like this one in la, quote, trump's top federal prosecutor in LA struggles to secure indictments. Or this one, quote, amateur hour at the U.S. attorney's office. LA prosecutors face more losses. This was earlier this year. The Federal Public Defender's office in Los Angeles is 50 against the US Attorney's office winning every case brought to trial in the Central District of California. California, highly unusual for the perpetual underdogs. Again, this is about public defenders winning their cases, meaning public defenders getting acquittals. Quote, Fewer than 1% of federal criminal defendants were acquitted throughout the U.S. in fiscal year 2024. In a system where acquittals are statistical outliers, experts say the Federal Public Defender's Office's recent wins raise questions about prosecutorial decision making and the credibility of the cases being brought by federal prosecutors in Californ. Yeah, you think California has just been like a uniquely. Not even, I guess it's not uniquely because there's so many of these jurisdictions where things are going so terribly wrong. But California has been sort of a paragon of failure in this category of failure where Trump has really been distinguishing himself in this term. And the U.S. attorney, the sort of failed prosecutor Trump put in charge in the Central District in California. His name is Bill Asale. This is the guy he pulled out of the State assembly to go get this job. And Bill Asale, I have to tell you, technically isn't even the US Attorney. Technically, what his job is, is he's, he's Robin to the US Attorney's Batman. He's the first Assistant to the US Attorney. The reason he's acting as if he's the US Attorney is because they've been holding the US Attorney job vacant so that he, as the First Assistant, can do the US Attorney's job instead. It's basically a ham handed workaround. So this gu. Bill Asale can hold this job on a de facto basis even though he has no chance of being officially confirmed to the position. It's a real vote of confidence from the start, right, that they have to like sneak him in the service elevator in order to get him in the place. But then, I mean, how's it been going? His time in office has basically been a series of press releases about all the real tough guy things he's doing. But then he just consistently then loses all of those cases in court, literally to the point where people are questioning whether it is even statistically possible that Bill Asale is losing so much. Well, now today said it's a busy day today. That signature failing, that signature categorical failure of the Trump administration meets the signature goal of the Trump administration, which is, as you know, to make sure that Donald Trump and Republicans stay in power even when they lose elections, California is a lot bigger than New York City. But California's elections kind of feel the same. In California, Donald Trump lost to Kamala Harris by more than 20 points. In Los Angeles county, specifically, Donald Trump lost to Kamala Harris by more than 30 points. But somehow, despite that track record that he himself has racked up in California, somehow, Donald Trump is now trying to convince Californians and the nation that it's somehow impossible, somehow unbelievable that a Republican has not made it to the runoff in the Los Angeles mayor's race. And it's somehow impossible that a Republican might not make it to the runoff in the governor's race either. Tonight, the Associated Press projected that in addition to the incumbent LA Mayor, Karen Bass, the other candidate who will advance to the runoff election in November for the mayor of Los Angeles will be the progressive City councilor, Nithya Raman, and not the right wing reality show guy endorsed by Trump, whose name is Spencer Pratt. Spencer Pratt will not make the runoff. Nithya Rahman and Karen Bass will. And Republicans are losing their minds over this. But they are not just complaining, and this is important. Trump and other Republicans are now trying to problematize that result. They are trying to tell you that result can't possibly be real. They're trying to undermine it and falsely claim that there must be fraud in this election somehow. And how are they doing it? They're doing it doing it by citing the authority of Bill Asali, Trump's appointed federal prosecutor in California, who isn't even technically the US Attorney. He's the first assistant who they want you to think of as de facto the U.S. attorney, and whose track record in that de facto job is best represented in a series of headlines of people exclaiming and wondering earnestly whether or not his unprecedented string of failures is even statistically possible. Once these Republican Trump endorsed candidates started looking like they could lose in California's marquee election contests this past week, it was Bill asale in that U.S. attorney's office who announced vaguely that his office had had multiple election fraud investigations open into looking into, you know, something, something, voting something, something, no specifics, no actual cases seen anywhere in terms of official legal proceedings, no even, like, less than vague allegations of anything that they could characterize, even for the press, let alone for the courts. But Trump and other Republicans are now citing these supposed federal criminal investigations as their justification for telling people that nobody should believe these election results. And again, just keep in mind the big picture here, right? I mean, the scandal here, as Trump would have you believe it the scandal here is that a city where he was barely able to clear 30% of the vote in that city, it's somehow unbelievable that they wouldn't be electing a Republican mayor right now. But look, Bill Asali has said there's going to be charges or something. There's a lot going on in the news right now. We are going to talk tonight with the member of Congress who may have saved the Kennedy Center. Thank you very much. We're going to talk with the lawyer who may block Trump from using the White House lawn for that UFC fight that he personally will benefit from this weekend if he's able to do that. But we're going to start tonight in Los Angeles where Trump and Republicans are raging because Trump's endorsed mayoral candidate in LA didn't win and where even though Trump's endorsed candidate for governor might yet advance to the general election in November, we don't know yet. They're nevertheless doing their best tonight, today and tonight to undermine the election results and say these election results shouldn't count unless Republicans win. Let's bring in our colleague Jacob Soboroff who joins us tonight from the LA County Ballot Processing Center. I should mention Jacob is the host of a new show launching this weekend, this Saturday, 10am on Ms. Now. It's called Connect with Jacob Soboroff. Jacob, congratulations on the new show. We're all super excited about it and thanks for doing double time and being here tonight. I really appreciate it.
- [19:35]
Jacob Soboroff
It's an absolute pleasure, Rachel. And there's no place I'd rather be, honestly, than inside this counting center here in the largest election jurisdiction in the country to show people what's actually going on.
- [19:45]
Rachel Maddow
So tell me about your ability to be there. You don't have special permission, as I understand it, as a member of the press. Literally anybody can go and watch what's happening, open space within the ballot processing facility so that people can observe it, right?
- [20:04]
Jacob Soboroff
That's exactly correct. And I guess that extends evidently, according to folks that work here at the LA County Registrar's Office, to the US Attorney Bill as Sale and Robert Renner, one of his deputies, who was evidently here again today. On Friday, the U.S. attorney's office walked exactly where I'm standing right now in the public area that is available for anyone to come and observe the elections here. And it is an extraordinarily transparent process that I will show you in a second. They showed up on Friday, they showed up again today. They have not taken documents for these so called investigations. They have not gone digging through Stacks of ballots. They have looked at publicly available data and stood exactly where I am standing and walked through this area, this hallway, to watch the process unfold. And what is that process, Rachel? Let me walk you through it. When I say it is transparent, it could not be more transparent. Here in the largest election jurisdiction in the country, when ballots come into this facility, they first enter, everything is labeled very clearly, Rachel. The incoming ballot area, they go through signature verification. And everyone who registers to vote signs a document that their signature is checked against when they vote in an election in Los Angeles county by the workers that are in this room. Let me show you that process. Once the signatures are verified, and by the way, if there are any problems, Rachel, with the ballot, they go to this area called remake, where they actually match vote by vote, the actual tally of the ballots, if a ballot is ripped, if a ballot is stained so that that vote can be counted. All of these folks, 300 or so of them, who are here at any given time, not quite around the clock, but in two shifts in the morning and in the evening, are extracting ballots from the envelopes that Donald Trump would like you to believe are not valid ballots. Those ballots are all being put through the regular process, which includes, by the way, Rachel, after they are extracted, did moved over from the extraction area into this room here. Again, literally transparent walls where anyone in Los Angeles, including Spencer Pratt or Donald Trump, if they want to come here, could come and look through the window to watch the ballots being tabulated. And the last thing that I want to show you, Rachel, is down at the end, there's a. There's a little marker that says Canvas. 1% of the ballots that come through here are randomly audited under state statute to make sure that the votes are what they are represented to be by the people who say they actually cast those ballots. There are cameras in here 247 that are live streaming to the Internet. Bipartisan election observers have been here around the clock. The idea that anything is anything other than transparent in this building is belied by anybody who wants to come in here and look at it with their own eyes.
- [22:36]
Rachel Maddow
And, Jacob, one of the. I mean, the thing that's happening in terms of the national discourse about this is that, you know, the expectation that California takes a long time to counter because a lot of people vote by mail, because you can postmark stuff to the day of election day, and then you got seven days when they can still come in. The way it works, the fact that they don't expect to certify the vote until 30 days after what counts as election Day, despite the fact that that's all, everybody knows that in advance nationally, Republicans from the president on down are now describing that as if that's a problem, as if that indicates that there's something wrong, there's some sort of glitch in the system that needs to be investigating. Is there anything that's happening in account in Los Angeles or in California more broadly that is going in a way that is unexpected or that has, that has indicated any sort of problem in the process?
- [23:30]
Jacob Soboroff
No, it's going exactly by the book as it relates to the tally of the votes. As you've pointed out, we're three to one registration, Democrats to Republicans. And just like I saw online when I talked to you on Tuesday night, those late breaking voters were voting for Nithya Rahman. That's what they were telling me. So they showed up and maybe at the end of the process they filled out mail in ballots towards the end. As long as they were postmarked by election day and show up here by tomorrow, those ballots are going to be counted. And that sort of logic extends the entire process. This is exactly how all of this is supposed to work. When you hear that the vote count is happening too slowly, it's because there are a lot of voters in Los Angeles and in California. The idea that the vote center system that we use here in Los Angeles is somehow some Democratic plant. It was an idea that was pioneered by Scott Doyle, a Republican in Larimer county, Colorado in 2003 and exported to different jurisdictions around the country. Universal vote by mail, which is in more than a handful of states in this country. The only state with a disproportionate Democratic to Republican registration is California. Everywhere else breaks about even or in Utah there are more Republicans than Democrats. This constant drumbeat of vote by mail somehow favors Democrats is just not accurate. The electorate favors Democrats in California, not the process of the way that we count and tabulate the votes.
- [24:48]
Rachel Maddow
That's exactly right. Jacob Soboroff, it's great to have you there. It's great to see that process unfolding literally, in a literally transparent way, as you said. I really appreciate you being with us tonight, Jacob. I'm really looking forward to your show this weekend.
- [25:03]
Jacob Soboroff
Thank you so much, Rachel. Thanks as always.
- [25:06]
Rachel Maddow
All right, just a reminder to tune into his new show Connect with Jacob Sobroft. It's gonna air every Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 1pm it premieres this weekend. You will not want to miss it. All right, much more ahead here tonight.
- [25:19]
Jacob Soboroff
Stay with us
- [25:22]
Thumbtack Advertiser
avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte, paint, finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With Thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro. You just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app Download today.
- [25:43]
Sierra Miller
Hi, it's Sierra Miller. I can't wait for you to check out my new collection of shoes and accessories at Designer Sho Warehouse. If you love shoes as much as I do, then trust me, I got you. From cute sneakerinas to the perfect flip flops to stunning heels, these shoes are all style, no drama. It's a girls girl summer. And DSW has just the shoes. Shop the Sierra Miller Collection right Now at your DSW store or DSW.com I'm
- [26:14]
Kiana (Shopify User)
Kiana and I leveled up my business with Shopify. Once I figured out that Shopify was a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of us, you know, and it thinks about the customer more than anything. Every day I'm thinking about some other new business, but Shopify is doing it to me because it's so easy to use. It's like I can't stop. I'm addicted. Start your free trial@shopify.com.
- [26:45]
Rachel Maddow
I'm not sure I know what what things look like in the capital of Albania on a normal Monday, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't usually look like this. This was today.
- [26:55]
Jacob Soboroff
Look at that.
- [26:57]
Rachel Maddow
Thousands of people gathered outside the parliament building in the Albanian capital. This is the eighth consecutive day of huge protests in this country against the corruption of Donald Trump and his family.
- [27:11]
Jacob Soboroff
Wow.
- [27:12]
Rachel Maddow
For over a week, demonstrators have been gathering in massive numbers to protest a real estate project that's planned by Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner. Jared Kushner's private equity firm, which is mostly funded by the Saudi government. They plan to build a resort on the site of a national treasure ecological preserve in Albania. And it turns out the Albanian people feel quite protective of that. These protests started when barbed wire fences first started going up at the development site, cutting off public access to the local beaches. Then crowds started gathering at the coast, including using their bodies to spell out their protest about saving this ecological site. Protests in the capital city have been filled with images of flamingos because among the other things that Jared's project Threatens. It threatens flamingo habitat. So all the flamingos at the protest have got some people calling this the flamingo revolution. And oh my God, am I down with that. And you know, you might not think a protected ecological preserve and its flamingos would be the spark for a political revolution, but these protests are really about corruption. And they might turn out the government of Albania. The people of Albania want to know why their prime minister appears to be selling off their most beautiful coastline to the son in law of the American President and his Saudi investors.
- [28:40]
Brendan Ballew
It's our country. I don't want it to be sold to somebody else. It's dirty money. They discovered this island. What do you mean it's been discovered? It's ours. It's just, it's bullcrap, honestly.
- [28:56]
Rachel Maddow
Albania's special anti corruption prosecutor's office has now opened an investigation into this development. The European Union is now warning that if the country moves forward with Jared's project, it could put applic Albania's application to join the EU in jeopardy. I mean, if the protesters are right, if Albania's prime minister has done this to try to curry favor with Donald Trump by pushing through Trump's son in law's real estate project, I mean, he would have good reason to think that would work. For example, here's a headline. Quote, ballroom donors won $50 billion in contracts after giving to Trump projects. More than half of the publicly identified donors to President Trump's White House ballroom project have won new or expanded federal contracts during the past six months worth more than $50 billion in taxpayer money. The nonprofit group Public Citizen found that several of those same companies have had federal enforcement actions over alleged wrongdoing suspended by the Trump administration since the start of Trump's second term. Yeah, kicking some money to the President's pet project getting get taxpayer funded contracts and magically you find that investigations into your business disappear. I mean, that's what it looks like. The White House of course denies any impropriety. They're calling the allegations, quote, fake conflicts of interest. I don't know, kind of look just like conflicts of interest. But there's an obvious pattern here. Right there was the tobacco company that really wanted the FDA to approve fruit flavored nicotine vapes. They gave $5 million to a Trump aligned super PA. Two days later they got a meeting with Trump during which he called the top health officials in the federal government to push the company's complaints. Just over a week later, the FDA changed its process and approved the fruit flavored nicotine vapes. Days after that The FDA commissioner himself was ousted. There was also the banker facing felony bribery charges, who was pardoned by Trump after the banker's daughter gave millions to the same Trump super pac. There was also the nursing home industry, which opposed a federal rule that would have required increased staffing at nursing homes to prevent neglect of patients. Nursing home executives wrote millions of dollars in checks to that same Trump super pac. And then, wouldn't you know it, soon afterwards, the White House dropped support for the rule. There was the time when President Trump suddenly reversed his longtime support for a new bridge between the US And Canada. Why did he reverse his support? I don't know, but it happened shortly after an opponent of the new bridge, you guessed it, donated a million dollars to that same Trump super pac. Then there were the revelations that Trump appeared to be buy in companies that he was then publicly boosting as president, buying some of these stocks on the same day he publicly praised the companies. And there was the nearly $10 billion defense contract awarded to Dell Computers right after Trump personally purchased more than a million dollars of Dell stock. The White House says Trump's stocks are in a trust and that of course, all his policies are only for the good of the American people. When has he ever done anything that's for anything other than the good American people? None of this has anything to do with anybody paying any money. But while we're on the subject of stock purchases, there's also this quote. President Donald Trump purchased between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of stock in the parent company of UFC and wwe. He did so weeks ahead of a White House UFC event. Trump's financial disclosures, quote, do not specify how much stock Trump purchased, but say he acquired it March 25, a little more than two weeks after the Free Fights 250 fight card was publicly revealed and which he has been promoting non stop. Meanwhile, ufc, which is helmed by Trump donor Dana White, UFC has been selling ticket packages to the event at the White House for a million dollars or more. Trump Super PAC is now hosting a fundraiser the night before at a million dollars per person. That's not to mention the fees that Paramount Skydance will collect for streaming the event. Paramount Skydance, a media company owned by 2L other executives with ties to Trump, Larry and David Ellison and all those potential financial gains for Trump himself and for all those Trump allies. Those are part of the reason an anti corruption organization has now filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the UFC cage match on the White House grounds. It's scheduled to be less than a week away. So if this is gonna happen, it's gonna happen soon. Joining us now is former federal prosecutor Brendan Ballou. He's founder of the Public Integrity Project, which is the group leading to stop this UFC fight on the White House lawn. Mr. Ballew, thank you very much for joining us. I know this is a busy few days for you.
- [33:57]
Brendan Ballew
Thank you for having me.
- [33:59]
Rachel Maddow
What are the grounds on which you're asking a court to intervene here?
- [34:03]
Brendan Ballew
Well, so it goes to the fundamental corruption that you were just talking about. You know, let's walk through what is going to happen here. You know, you mentioned the $1 million sponsorship packages for individuals who will undoubtedly get access to the president, the exclusive streaming rights that Paramount is going to receive. Paramount, obviously, very closely allied to Donald, the individual advertisements that are gonna be possible both at the White House. And don't forget, there is actually gonna be an event with a press conference with the fighters at the Lincoln Memorial with the potential for advertisements there for companies like crypto.com and others. And then obviously the stock that Donald Trump himself has bought in the company. This is fundamentally the private profiteering of our national monuments. And that is ultimately what's violating the law here and why we're pursuing.
- [34:56]
Rachel Maddow
When they put up this gigantic multi hundred ton steel structure on the White House lawn, should they have had to ask somebody's permission for that?
- [35:05]
Brendan Ballew
They certainly were supposed to. There's any number of National Park Service regulations that they were supposed to comply with. There's an environmental review process that they were supposed to comply with. They did none of these things. And so that gives you the basic cause of action here. And it's what the sort of black letter violation of the law is here. But I really want to make clear to your viewers that the problem here isn't having an event on the White House lawn. It's not even having a sporting event or MMA on the White House lawn, an event at the Lincoln Memorial. It's the private profit that is going to be derived from this. And I think I just want to make clear, if this is allowed to go forward and you have a press conference with ads for companies like Crypto.com, at the Lincoln Memorial, those pictures are going to be in every AP history textbook for a generation to symbolize the corruption that we're experiencing right now. So that's why it's so important that we try to stop this event.
- [36:00]
Rachel Maddow
Brendan Malou, founder of the Public Integrity Project, which has brought this lawsuit to try to stop this event this weekend, thank you very much for your time. Keep us a prize this week. I know it's going to be an intense time between now and then in the courts. Thank you. All right, we've got more news ahead tonight. Stay with us.
- [36:19]
Thumbtack Advertiser
Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes so you don't have to don't know the difference between matte, paint, finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With Thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro, you just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app.
- [36:39]
Rachel Maddow
Download Today Parents, have you heard your
- [36:41]
Mathnasium Advertiser
kids say I'm not a math kid? Well, with Mathnasium, every kid can be a math kid. They customize their math instruction so kids who are struggling are able to catch up and get ahead. And advanced kids are challenged to reach higher. Mathnasium makes math fun, so kids learn to love it. Parents say that Mathnasium has not only improved their kids grades, it's given them a new level of confidence in math and in school overall. Visit mathnasium.com to find a location near you.
- [37:12]
DSW Advertiser
At DSW, we ask the important questions like what shoes are you going to wear? Whether you're prepping for wedding season, festival season, or just planning the ultimate vacay, the right shoes can make or break an rsvp. So own the moment. You've got big plans and we've got just the shoes at the perfect, perfect price, of course. Get ready to get ready with Designer Shoe Warehouse. Head to your DSW store or dsw.com today and let us surprise you.
- [37:44]
Rachel Maddow
One of the things the historian Timothy Snyder has written about is that if you want to preserve democracy against its enemies, one of the things you can do is choose an institution to defend. And defend, defend it. That, in fact, is lesson 2 out of 20 from on tyranny, his classic guide to stopping authoritarianism. On tyranny 20 lessons from the 20th century. Lesson two is defend institutions. Tim Snyder writes, quote, choose an institution you care about, a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union, and take its side. Well, this year, in our time time, one veteran member of Congress decided that the institution she would side with, she would stand by, was the John F. Kennedy center for the Performing Arts. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty is a Democrat from Ohio. Along with her work as a legislator, Congresswoman Beatty sits on the board of the Kennedy Center. And when Donald Trump forced a vote to add his own name to that center, Congresswoman Beatty says she found herself repeatedly muted, literally muted, to keep her from registering her opposition. Even though they wouldn't let her speak to stop the vote, Congresswoman Beatty decided she would nevertheless keep fighting. She would find another way to defend the institution. She'd do it in court. She sued and she won. A federal judge has now set a deadline of Friday, this Friday, for Donald Trump's name to come down from every part of the John F. Kennedy center for the Performing Arts. Today, Trump's name was officially removed from the website of the Kennedy Center. And now the whole country is watching for his name to get chipped off the side of the building, too. All because one member of Congress decided she was going to pick an institution and defend it. And the country is benefiting from the fact that that was Ohio Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beatty. Congresswoman Beatty, thank you so much for joining us tonight. I really appreciate you being here.
- [39:44]
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty
Thank you. It's my honor to be here. And as you said, fighting for an institution, but also fighting against someone who did something that was unlawful. And that's the number one thing. This is for the American people. It's for the arts. And it's also because it was an unlawful act. And the best way to fight an unlawful act is to take it to the courts. And that's just what I did. And it's been a long journey.
- [40:14]
Rachel Maddow
I think a lot of people who feel thankful for your fight are wondering if they'd have the same courage, the sort of same foresight that you had in terms of waging this very much alone when you set out to challenge this, when you decided that you had to go to the courts to do it, did you have confidence that you would win? Or did you know that you'd have to fight it regardless of whether or not you had a good shot?
- [40:36]
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty
I think it was the latter because it was against Donald Trump, and we know he doesn't play by the rules of law or the Constitution. But I felt it was worth it. It was worth it because only the Congress could rename the institution. And in 1958, when it was first established, it was just two months after the assassination of John F. Kennedy that the Congress renamed it to the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts. And so I knew it was a fight that was worth it, and I was going to take the fight to the court courts. And while it was a journey, I'm very pleased that, as you mentioned today, we've seen his name come off of letterhead, we've seen it removed from the website. We have until January 12th for him to comply with removing his name, actually from this cultural institution.
- [41:34]
Rachel Maddow
What do you think will happen in terms of Trump's plan for supposed renovations for the Kennedy center, which I think after we saw the way he renovated the East Wing of the White House by bulldozing it, a lot of people worried might mean the total destruction of the Kennedy Center. I know the judge also temporarily halted his plans to close it for those renovations, but what do you expect to happen there?
- [41:59]
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty
Well, I took the tour when Donald Trump's the board's operation director. I posed the question specifically to him, can we do the renovations? And renovations need to take place, but can we do it and continue to keep the Kennedy center open? And operations director said, absolutely, we could do this, Rachel. We kept the United States Capitol open and did not close it for major renovations. So I am very confident that we can do it. Now, that was the second part of the judge's court order to say that the center needed to have the renovations, but it also also need it to stay open. We have until January 12th on the naming. We also filed another motion with the court that we're seeking assistance in making sure that there is a compliance declaration that the board outlines how we plan to keep the center open, how we plan to do the constructions. There has been a special meeting of the board called for June 11, one day before June 12, when his name must come off of the facility.
- [43:16]
Rachel Maddow
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty of Ohio, thank you for your service in Congress, but thank you also for fighting this defense of this American institution. You were in a singular position to do it, and you changed history with what you've done. I know it's not over yet. Please keep us applause as this fight continues. But thank you for joining us us tonight.
- [43:36]
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty
Thank you so much.
- [43:38]
Rachel Maddow
All right, we'll be right back. Stay with us. All right. I sort of can't believe this story, but Here we go. March 5, which is a long time ago now. A New Jersey Republican congressman named Tom Kane appeared on the House floor to take a vote March 5. He has not been seen since. Since. Tom Kane has not been seen in public in the last 95 days. He released a statement in April saying he's been dealing with a personal medical issue. Last week, he followed that up with another written statement saying he will be back, quote, within a matter of weeks. But I will say we're now well into June still nobody has seen him. We certainly hope Congressman Kaine is okay. We wish him all the best with whatever it is that he's contending with. But that said in the meantime, there's kind of a Weekend at Bernie's thing that's going on with the missing congressman, at least if you look online. Here, for example, is a Facebook post from this weekend of Team Kane's booth at a block party in Berkeley Heights. That is not Tom Kane. Here's one from the last week promoting a chance to meet with Team Kane in Bridgewater, New Jersey. That is not Tom Kane. Here's Team Kane at the Hunterdon County Senior Center. Again, not Tom Kane. Oh, and this looks like a fun day with Team Kane at Bernard's Township Charter Day. Now I'm saying Team Kane and not Tom Kane. I'm. Are they hoping nobody will notice that the congressman is not actually there? None of the guys in any of those pictures is Tom Kane. Team Kane yes. Tom Kane no. Tom Kane's constituents are making their dissatisfaction known in the comments on these posts. Things like Invisible Kane gets around. And at this point, should this guy just run? This guy in the pictures, he's the one showing up for every event. Is Tom Kane Jr. Running for re election or is Team Kane running for Congress? Also the obvious one. There's no Tom in team. I do have to give a shout out to Tom Kane's bearded staffer guy. Like this one dude in Constituent Services who's he's Team Kane everywhere. This guy takes a good selfie but has been put in kind of an impossible position. Congressman Tom Kaine's unexplained absence just keeps dragging on his Democratic opponent, Navy pilot Rebecca Bennett, has the field all to herself, basically in a seat that the Cook Political Report deems a to. Obviously, we all truly hope that whatever Congressman Tom Kaine is going through, he gets well soon. But having your members of staff pretend they're you out in the world isn't going to cut it. And the longer this goes on, the weirder it gets. Be right back. Stay with us. All right, that's going to do it for me tonight. By the time I'm back here next week, I'm going to try to find the rest of my vlog.
- [46:53]
Zepbound Advertiser
Voice snoring, Gasping during sleep? Feeling fatigued? Ask your doctor about Zepbound Tirzepatide, the first and only FDA approved prescription medicine for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea and obesity to improve their OSA. Zepbound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5 or 15mg injection. Zepbound contains Tirzepatide and should not be used with other tirzepatide containing products or any GLP1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepbound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pins or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid thyroid cancer or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, stop Zepbound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia. If you're nursing pregnant, plan to be or taking birth control pills. Taking Zepbound with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low biological blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor, call 1-800-545-5979 or visit zepbound.lilly.com.