In what I have no doubt was a sternly worded letter, Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader in the House, Hakeem Jeffries demanded a meeting with Donald as if that’s going to be effective.
We learned about this during Schumer’s interview this weekend with Dana Bash. She opened that interview with a question about something Donald posted on his failing social media site in which he urged Pam Bondi, the Attorney General of the United States of America, to use the Department of Justice to go after Donald's perceived political enemies. Schumer responded:
I think it's a real threat to democracy. This is our rule of law. This is fundamental to our democracy and we cannot let it stand. We're going to fight strongly as we can in every way.
What exactly is the meeting about going to be about? Is it about the Trump regime’s assault on the rule of law? Is it about Democrats drawing a line of the sand to stop the Trump regime’s assault on our civil liberties or to stop the assault to our Democratic way of life?
No. In fact, the goal of this meeting is to avoid a government shutdown. If you feel like you have deja vu, so do I. We were in exactly this place a few months ago. Once again, Democrats have real leverage because the Republicans need 60 to bring their funding bill to a vote. That means, if Democrats stand strong, the government will shut down. Who would be blamed for that? Well, the Republicans control Congress—both the Senate and the House; they control the executive branch, and they control the Supreme Court. Under those circumstance, who will be blamed if there's a government shutdown? The party out of power? That’s absurd, but it is exactly the calculation Schumer seems to be making here. When Bash asked him if he was going to vote no on the Republican's bill, in other words, allow a government shutdown, Schumer didn't even answer the question, which suggests that avoiding a government shutdown is more important to him than fighting for our democracy.
This is what Schumer said:
I hope and pray that Donald will sit down with us and negotiate a bipartisan bill. That's how it's always been done in the past. That's how shutdowns have been avoided in the past.
Here's the problem with that, though. This is not the “past.” The past that Democrats like Schumer continue to exist in is no longer prologue to the moment we currently find ourselves in. It literally sounds like once again, Schumer is going to give up all of his leverage, all of his advantages, squander it because he is afraid to be blamed for something that would obviously be the Republican’s fault. Schumer and the Democrats need to allow the government to shut down.
That’s exactly what The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest union representing federal workers, begged Senate Democrats to do a the last time. They made it clear that a shutdown would be better than allowing this corrupt fascist Trump regime to continue taking a sledgehammer to our institutions, our agencies, our civil service. Every single member of Democratic leadership—ten Democrats in total—in the Senate ignored them, and joined with the Republicans to keep the government open thinking they were going to avoid longer term harm.
How is that working out for us?
It isn't. I can't believe I have to say this. I can't believe this has to be said, but Democrats, please stop bringing politesse and 35-page white papers and a sternly-worded letter to a bazooka fight. This is not the way to get us out of this mess.
Is it because that Schumer and other democratic leadership are more afraid of people on the right into the imaginary middle than they are concerned about what their base wants and thinks? Are they still more concerned about bipartisanship, which is a concept that is no longer operative in our government because one of our two major parties no longer believes in such a thing? Is it because they still to this day do not understand that there are no rules anymore and that pretending there are and playing by them puts us at a massive disadvantage, making it nearly impossible to fight for our democracy?
As we have learned far too often over the last decade, the people who've had actual power to slow things down, to impede the destructive agenda of the Trump regime, or to stop Donald and his hideous movement have proven that they are the wrong people at the wrong time. And that includes Mitch McConnell, Merrick Garland, Chuck Schumer, and Hakeem Jeffries.
Too many Democrats continue to think they can work with a party that has no interest in working with them or for the American people. By doing so, the Democrats confer the benefit of the doubt on those who have repeatedly shown us they do not deserve it. They continue to confer legitimacy on a party that time and time again has explicitly shown itself to be the enemy of American democracy. This while the fascist Republican Party and the corrupt illegitimate super majority of the Supreme Court are systematically dismantling our institutions and curtailing our rights. We need to do better, we need better leaders. We need people who understand what is going on here, not just what we're fighting for, but how to fight the fight.
Let's dive in.
Hello everybody and welcome to tonight's episode of Mary Trump Live. It is wonderful to have you with me. Yeah, that's frustrating. I mean, especially if you put it in the context of what happened this weekend, which I'll get into at some point at greater length. Briefly, as I said, Donald asked Pam Bondi to sic the Department of Justice on his perceived political enemies. Emil Bove and Kash Patel threw away the FBI investigation into Tom Holman, the fascist thug who was literally caught in an FBI sting operation taking a $50,000 bribe to help people get contracts after Donald took office in January.
Then there’s Donald's corrupt firing of an attorney who would not do his bidding by his failure or unwillingness to bring false charges against Letitia James. And of then there was the fascist pep rally masquerading as a memorial for Charlie Kirk that took place in Arizona. During his remarks, after declaring: “I hate my opponent and I don't want the best for them,” Donald said:
The Department of Justice is also investigating networks of radical-left maniacs who fund organized fuel and perpetrate political violence.
Stephen Miller took a more apocalyptic and fascistic approach:
The light will defeat the dark. We will prevail over the forces of wickedness and evil.
They cannot imagine what they have awakened. They cannot conceive of the army that they have arisen in all of us. Because we stand for what is good, what is virtuous, what is noble. And to those trying to incite violence against us, those trying to fment hatred against us, what do you have? You have nothing. You are nothing. You are wickedness. You are jealousy. You are envy. You are hatred. You are nothing. You can build nothing. You can produce nothing. You can create nothing. We are the ones who build. We are the ones who create. We are the ones who lift up humanity.
We are the enemy. There is no ambiguity here. Maybe the Democrats will learn something from this.
Today we're breaking news on a story that has become the face of one of the greatest assaults on our Constitution since Donald took office. In a statement released today, Disney has announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return to ABC. This is a report from ABC:
It's just been announced that Jimmy Kimmel live will return to our air tomorrow, the Walt Disney Company issuing a statement following this news about Jimmy Kimmel live returning. They just shared with us that just last Wednesday they had made that decision to suspend production on the show. This they said in order to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. The statement also reading it is a decision quote we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. They have said that they've spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy and after those conversations, that is where the Walt Disney Company says they reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.
Do we seriously think that the higher-ups at Disney had heartfelt conversations with Jimmy Kimmel and recognized the error of their ways? No. So many people were trying to cancel their Disney and Hulu subscriptions that the cancellation page crashed several times. That's why they reversed course—this was about the bottom line. It always is.
But what's the other message here? It was a demonstration of the kinds of change we can affect when we band together to fight for something. Maybe the Democrats can take a page out of that book because it's time to play hardball.
As I mentioned, on Saturday there was a quasi-memorial for Charlie Kirk in the wake of his murder. Donald used the occasion to tease the release of false medical information. Yes, that's actually what I said. Take a look:
It was Charlie who helped unite MAGA and you know what MAHA is? That's right. Make America healthy again and tomorrow we're going to have one of the biggest announcement really medically I think in the history of our country. We're going to be doing it with Bobby and Oz and all of the professionals. I think you're going to find it to be amazing. I think we found an answer to autism. How about that? Autism. Tomorrow we're going to be talking from the Oval Office in the White House about autism, how it happens, so we won't let it happen anymore.
The ease with which that man just spreads disinformation and the number of people in that audience who fall for it every time is something I still can’t get used to.
In advance of this bizarre announcement, sources like Politico reported that the Trump regime plans to link autism to the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy:
Acetaminophen, a pain reliever found in Tylenol and many other over-the-counter medications. Major medical groups still recommend acetaminophen during pregnancy. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says there is no clear evidence that acetaminophen use causes fetal developmental issues and cautions against leaving maternal fever or pain untreated.
That sounds like a good idea to me—maybe we should not allow pregnant women to suffer unnecessarily. Maybe we shouldn't allow their fevers to go unchecked because I imagine that isn’t good for a fetus.
At today’s announcement, Donald was flanked by Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and Robert Kennedy, Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy, as I must remind you, is an unqualified conman and sociopath who has no degree in science of any kind. He is not a medical professional. He is not a medical doctor. He is not an immunologist. He is not a virologist. He used to be an environmental attorney and now he seems to be hell bent on murdering as many American children as possible. Oz actually is a medical doctor, which makes his participation in this worse. He may be qualified, but he is a conman of the worst kind. Here’s Donald’s big announcement:
Tylenol during pregnancy can be associated with a very increased risk of autism, so taking Tylenol is not good. I'll say it. It's not good for this reason. They are strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary effective immediately. The FDA will be notifying physicians that the use of said, well, let's see how we say that acetaminophen. Acetaminophen is that okay?
All pregnant women should talk to their doctors for more information about limiting the use of this medication while pregnant. So ideally you don't take it at all, but if you have to can't tough it out or if there's a problem, you're going to end up doing it.
The other thing that I can tell you that I'll say that they will maybe say a little bit later date, but I think when you go for the shot, you do it over a five time period, take it over five times or four times, but you take it in smaller doses and you spread it out over a period of years and they pump so much stuff into those beautiful little babies. It's a disgrace. I don't see it. I think it has. I think it's very bad. They're pumping. It looks like they're pumping into a horse. You have a little child, little fragile child, and you get a vat of 80 different vaccines, I guess 80 different blends, and they pump it in.
Is nobody going to stand up and say something in response to this bizarre nonsense? Is nobody going to ask him how came by this information? Is nobody going to ask him to show his work. A medical doctor was standing right behind Donald when he told these lies and yet Oz let it go on. So did Kennedy, tragically responsible for the health of all Americans, who is the source of these lies.
I hope the company that makes Tylenol sues Donald Trump and the Trump regime. Do you know how many women are going to stop taking Tylenol because that grotesque person told them it wasn't safe?
Donald wants us to believe that he cares about medical breakthroughs. If that were true, he wouldn't have canceled or frozen six to ten billion dollar in medical research. The point of all of this dangerous pseudo-science and propaganda is to fire up his base at Robert Kennedy's behest. One question we should figure out how to answer is why would this fire up the base.
Donald is not the only consummate liar in the bunch—that’s a prerequisite to being in his inner circle at this point. But Karoline Leavitt is so practiced a liar, her mendacity comes to her so naturally that we, the American taxpayer pays her to lie to our faces every single day.
When she was asked today about Donald's promise not to persecute political opponents to promise Donald made during his inauguration, Leavitt gave a true masterclass in a double speak:
I want to point to something that the President said during his inaugural address. Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents. He will not allow that to happen. Is the President going back on his promise?
No. In fact, the President is fulfilling his promise to restore a Department of justice that demands accountability, and it is not weaponizing the Department of Justice to demand accountability for those who weaponized the Department of Justice. And nobody knows what that looks like more than President Trump. We are not going to tolerate gaslighting from anyone in the media or from anyone on the other side who is trying to say that it's the president who is weaponizing the DOJ. It was Joe Biden and his attorney general who weaponized the DOJ Joe Biden used this sacred American institution to go after his political opponent in the middle of an election year. And you look at people like Adam Schiff and like James Comey and like Letitia James, who the president is rightfully frustrated. He wants accountability for these corrupt fraudsters who abuse their power, who abuse their oath of office to target the former president and then candidate for the highest office in the land.
“We don't tolerate gaslighting” is quite a sentence coming from the second biggest gaslighter in the American government. How do we deal with their gaslighting?
This is the tricky part, because everything they say about Democrats, President Biden, the Biden’s DOJ is true of them.
What do we do when the language they use to describe us and our behaviors is accurately descriptive of them? Because it sounds like name-calling to those who aren’t paying close attention. It sounds like both sides are playing this game. They call us fascists, communists, Marxist, socialists without ever having to define those terms even though most of them are mutually exclusive.
We call them fascists because they are fascists and we can describe all of the ways in which that is the case. But if they call us fascists and we call them fascists, and no context is provided, it sounds like more name calling. Then what happens to the truth? What happens to facts?
This is another reason the Democrats have to get more serious about playing hardball because right now Donald has the biggest bully pulpit. He has the biggest bullhorn, and he has absolutely no compunction about using them for the most despicable ends.
In keeping with the theme of going after the first amendment rights of journalists, Donald is basically going after reporters at the Pentagon by taking major steps to limit not only journalists’ access, but what they're able to write about, which is not journalism. That's stenography. According to MSNBC:
The Pentagon meanwhile will limit journalists access to the building unless they agree to not publish certain information. Defense officials made that announcement on Friday saying journalists who do not sign a statement agreeing to the new rules will have their press credentials revoked. A memo sent to the in-house press Corps reads in part information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it's released. Even if it is unclassified, the change is set to take effect over the next two to three weeks and has led to widespread condemnation from press organizations
Hegseth posted the following on:
The press does not run the Pentagon, the people do.
Has anybody ever suggested that the press runs the Pentagon? I think we’d be better off if journalists were running the Pentagon, but that's not what we're talking about. Journalists report on what's going on at our government agencies. They get information from sources, sources that help the American people understand what's going on at these agencies. Hegseth wants to put an end to the access of useful information.
Journalists are warning that none of this is going to help Americans. It will simply leave them with less useful information.
National Press Club President Mike Almo said in a statement,
This is a direct assault on independent journalism at the very place where independent scrutiny matters most. The US military for generations, Pentagon reporters have provided the public with vital information about how wars are fought, how defense dollars are spent, and how decisions are made that put American lives at risk. That work has only been possible because reporters could seek out facts without needing government permission.
And if reporters start needing government permission, who do you think is going to get access? Who do you think is going to get the permission to give the interviews or to sift through documents? I'm pretty sure it's going to be the people at Fox, Newsmax, or any Rupert Murdoch owned entity. Real journalists will be ignored, slighted, and maligned. And we will be kept ignorant.
