The Daily Wrap Up

20 October, 2025

[Transcript edited for clarity and flow]

It is always a joyous thing to be on the right side of history, and it is always a good thing to defy expectations. I am speaking, of course about Saturday’s No King’s protest. We know why we were there. More than 7 million Americans in over almost 3000 locations got out, stood up, and with one voice said, “This is America. This is a democracy. We refuse to capitulate to a petty tyrant who wants to undo 250 years of our constitutional order.” But Saturday wasn’t really about Donald at all, and that’s probably in part why it drove him so crazy.

Let’s get back to the expectations we defied on Saturday. Because the right is so terrified of the righteousness of our cause, they had to mislead Donald’s followers into believing that those of us showing up to protest against kings which, by the way, is as American a thing as you can do, are “pro Hamas terrorists;” “America haters;” “violent criminals and undocumented workers.”

Those are direct quotes from people like Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Donald, and of course, Baby JD Vance. These are the lies they told to convince anybody who would listen that those of us who showed up are not American; we are, rather, enemies of this country.

By now, we should be used to being called names by the other side—names that they can’t even define. We are socialists, communists, Marxists, Leninists, Maoists, what have you. They claim we’re all of those things at once, which is a meaningless and nonsensical. Painting us with a broad ideological brush serves their purpose because the people they’re talking to don’t know what socialism or communism or Leninism or Maoism or Marxism is. These have become scare words that are designed to trigger the base. Indeed, they have a Pavlovian response to those words. “OK,” they think, “we know now that we’re supposed to hate those people.” It is a very, very different thing, however, to call us terrorists, to call us American-hating violent criminals. If we are America-hating terrorists, the Republican base believes we’re trying to destroy their country and their way of life.

That puts a target on our backs because if you believe that somebody is really coming for your rights, your children, your country, that puts them outside the bounds of human protection. This has been one of the most frustrating ironies during this time in which we live. So much of what they say about us is true of them. The difference is, we are not coming after them: we are trying to protect our country. And in the process of that, we are trying to protect them. They, on the other hand, want people like us gone.

So how do you argue that the 7 million peaceful protestors who showed up yesterday with joy and enthusiasm and passion for the American experiment are scary? You can’t, can you? So what’s the solution to that problem? Well, you still call us illegitimate. You mock us by saying that practically nobody showed up and the people who protested were not representative of America I guess because they weren’t rich, white, straight Christian men.

Then you pivot and go from saying, as Donald did before the protests, “I’m not a king to, “You’re telling me I can’t be a king? Guess what? I’m going to become one whether you like it or not, especially because you don’t like it.” Donald reposted an AI generated video on his failing social media site of him dressed up as a fighter pilot—another grotesque act of cosplaying—wearing a little crown as he flies a fighter jet wearing his oxygen mask the wrong way. He flies over peaceful protestors and dumps tons of feces on his fellow American citizens, some of whom probably voted for him at least once.

That’s who Donald is. That’s the kind of behavior his followers still support. And then just to drive the point home, we another video was posted in which we see campaign signs that read Donald 2028, despite the fact he’s not allowed to run again. Then the signs change—Donald 2032, 2036, 2040, 2044, 2048, 2052, and on and on and on. These people are not setting Donald up to be a dictator for life—they’re setting him up to be a dictator in perpetuity. The last date on that campaign sign was the year 4,000 C.E. He’s not going to live that long, but that isn’t the point either. The point is there are no guardrails here. There are no limits. I’ve said it before and I will continue to say as long as it’s true, with Donald and with all of the members of the fascist Republican party, which includes the corrupt, illegitimate super-majority of the Supreme Court, there is no such thing as worst: there is only worse. And every day we see more and more evidence of just that.

Let’s dive in.

[Watch on Youtube HERE]

Hello, everybody and welcome to tonight’s episode of Mary Trump Live. It is wonderful to have you here, and it’s great to be back. Thank you so much for tuning in last week, even though I was out, and thank you so, so much to my friends and fellow Nerd Avengers, the most excellent Waj Brown Mary Ali, Brian Karem, and Tara Setmayer for knocking it out of the park. Thanks to all of you for showing up and supporting them. It meant a lot to us.

What a weekend. Of course, I was on a plane during the marches on Saturday, but my city showed up and showed up big. New York probably had the biggest protest in the world and, according to local law enforcement, which quite frankly is the only law enforcement I trust at this point (with certain caveats) there was not one arrest.

To those Republicans who would have you believe that we were out for blood, that we were protesting to create violence and wreak havoc? No. Our goal was to protect our country and our fellow citizens because that is who we are.

So speaking of the opposite, Donald, who likes to refer to himself as law and order president, continues to mock our legal system and, even if it doesn’t ostensibly benefit him, he continues to help convicted criminals. This does not bode well for a reason I’ll get to in a second.

On Friday, Donald commuted the sentence of disgraced former-New York Congressman George Santos. If you don’t remember who he is, you’re about to be reminded and about to be sickened. Here’s how ABC news report characterized Donald’s latest abuse of his pardon power:

[Donald] has commuted the prison sentence of former New York Congressman George Santos.

George Santos was sentenced to seven years after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The former congressman admitting he lied to Congress and defrauded donors. During his brief political career, Santos was caught lying about where he went to college, his previous employment, and his charity endeavors. He even claimed his mother died on 9-11 and that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors.

This is not a person worthy of having his sentence commuted. Because Donald is a weak tiny man, the message is that as long as you can show him that you support him, no matter what, your loyalty will be rewarded. If you stand up against him, if you disagree with him, even if you just don’t vote for him, he punish you. That’s his entire credo right there. You could be, in his mind, his greatest enemy, but if you turn around and kiss his ass and bend the knee and capitulate, all will be forgiven. Don’t get me wrong—the reprieve will be temporary and it will not end well for you even if your only punishment is that you have revealed to the world that you have no human decency, integrity, or strength of character.

Why does this not bode well? Guess who else wants a pardon? Ghislaine Maxwell, somebody infinitely worse than the likes of George Santos. Maxwell, of course, was Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator, a woman who was indicted, tried, and convicted on multiple counts of the sex trafficking of girls and young women. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison. And she wants a pardon.

When Donald was asked about whether or not he would consider this, he said he didn’t know. He’d have to look into it. When a reporter reminded him that Maxwell was a convicted sex trafficker of girls and young women, he still claimed he didn’t know. He’d have to ask the DOJ. Which likely means he has every intention of pardoning her.

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Donald is also using the government shutdown as an excuse to lash out against federal workers and blue state voters. In a recent interview with Fox’s Maria Bartiromo, Donald said the quiet part out loud, which is something we need to get used to. That’s just the way it is now: it’s OK to be openly racist, homophobic, immigrant-hating, Islamophobic, misogynistic, pro-sex trafficking.

Donald admitted openly that he’s cutting a $16 billion New York train tunnel project to punish Democrats. Here is what he had to say.

What we’re doing is we’re cutting Democrat programs that we didn’t want because I mean, they made one mistake. They didn’t realize that that gives me the right to cut programs that republicans never wanted. Giveaways, welfare programs, et cetera. And we’re doing that and we’re cutting them permanently. We’re cutting a 20 billion project that Schumer fought for 15 years to get, and I’m cutting the project. The project is going to be dead. It just pretty much dead right now.

What a tough guy he is. Yeah, that’ll show you, Chuck Schumer. First of all, this is probably illegal. Secondly, is Schumer really the person who’s going to pay the price here? No. Who’s going to pay the price? According to Secret NYC:

The $16 billion undertaking will affect 200,000 daily travelers and create 100,000 jobs in the process.

That is the project Donald Trump is going to cancel out of petty vengeance. Two-hundre thousand daily travelers and 100,000 jobs created in the process, a massive investment in New York City infrastructure and Donald can pretend all he wants that this is about punishing Chuck Schumer. But, no, he is so much worse and pettier than that. This is about punishing a city that rejects him wholesale. We know who this man is. We have known for decades. We have known what a pathetic loser he is. What an unaccomplished trust fund baby he is, what a daddy’s boy.

Ninety percent of people in Manhattan voted against him. He knows that. He knows we hate him. He’s not punishing Chuck Schumer. He’s punishing everyday New Yorkers who desperately need this investment in infrastructure which would create a subway line that goes much farther north of the east side of Manhattan. This project would increase property values. Canceling this project will destroy wealth as well as erasing 100,000 jobs and negatively impacting over 200,000 New Yorkers. That’s who Donald is, and he’s not just going to stop there. He will do this in any blue city that has hurt his fragile little ego.

Meanwhile, NPR reports that the Trump regime has said it will proceed with government layoffs despite its temporary restraining order blocking them. Andrea Chu and Steven Fowler write that, “The administration has made it clear that most of the employees who have already received layoff notices or expected to in the near future are not covered by the court order, which only applies to programs or offices where the union plaintiffs have members or bargaining units. Meanwhile, the US district judge in this case, Susan Illston, has said she thinks the federal layoff should be a hundred percent stopped while the order is in effect.”

What is the chance that Donald and his regime comply with that order? I imagine it’s pretty low, and I am sorry to repeat myself, but this is the problem. When fixing problems or stopping them is left up to the judiciary, it’s not always very effective. The damage is done and then the court takes its time to render a decision, and, in the meantime, more damage is done. And then even when the court renders a decision, there’s an appeal. And that takes time because justice grinds slow, but fine. Then we have to wait to see if the Trump regime will comply with the judicial order or continue its illegal and unconstitutional activity. They will appeal again and the incursions will continue and our country will continue to be degraded. The backstop to all of this is the corrupt, illegitimate super-majority of the Supreme Court, which is gunning for the Voting Rights Act, marriage equality, LGBTQ plus rights, anything that gets in the way with creating the imperial presidency John Roberts so desperately wants.

That’s all the more reason that what happened on Saturday was not just important but monumental. This wasn’t just a country-wide protest against the Trump regime; it was a cri du couer, and a call to aciton. It was drawing of the line that we cannot allow this anymore. So, yes, it was indeed a message to the Trump regime, which in keeping with the maturity of its leader, stuck its fingers in its ear and hummed loudly to block it all out. This was also a very clear message to the Democratic Party and anybody who’s in any position to do something. Millions of Americans turned out to stand up the fascism, the illegal takeover of our cities, the horrors and the cruelty of ICE, and the degradation of our constitutional order.

There was no violence at Saturday’s rallies. Again, one of the most brilliant things about it, is that this wasn’t about Donald. Instead, it was about who we are and what kind of country we want to live in. We want to keep living in the kind of country we’ve always lived in, except better. We know we need to make things better. The only way to do that is to hang on to the shreds of whatever’s left of our democracy. These protests are reflecting real change.

Donald’s approval rating is down to 37% and it’s getting lower by the week. MSNBC had this to report:

Trump’s approval rating, if we can pull these up quickly, is diminishing. It’s according to an AP NORC poll. October nine to 13th, 37% approved, 61% disapproved another approval rating when you break it down by party, 93% of Democrats disapproved and only 22% of Republicans disapprove.

7% of Democrats approve of this shit? Come on guys, wake up. Seriously, wake up. Here’s the thing though: about 7 million people showed up for No Kings. It may well be more, but a couple of important data points. That’s 2 million more than showed up in June for the last no kings. That’s a significant increase and comprises about 2.1% of the entire population of the United States of America.

There’s something called the 3.5 rule which postulates that if you can get 3.5% of a country’s population out in the streets doing what we did on Saturday, you can affect real change. So did Saturday matter in and of itself? Absolutely it did. But if we don’t keep doing it, it will have been for naught. We need to build on that momentum. Just as we went from 5 million to 7 million, we need to go from 7 million to 10 million, and then from 10 million to 15 million, and so on.

And I continue to believe that it is going to be necessary, as Donald is literally taking a wrecking ball to the facade of the East Wing of the White House, and fantasizing about dropping loads of shit on the American people, that we are going to need to shut it all down.

[Watch on Youtube HERE]