BREAKING: Republicans execute SHOCKING scheme to RIG election
We have the most dangerous update yet as. we head toward midterms and I need. everybody to pay attention to this. So, it took virtually zero time at all for. Republican officials to act in response. to the Supreme Court gutting what's left. of the Voting Rights Act and. unfortunately, albeit predictably, they. acted in the worst way possible. So, I'm. going to go through some of what that. looks like. In Louisiana, the governor. called a state of emergency and. immediately suspended primaries for. congressional races. A state of. emergency, not for a flood or a natural.
disaster or the sky-high poverty rate or. the high crime rate, but rather to make. sure that they can eliminate districts. with black representation. That's how. much weight they want to lend to this. idea of diluting black voting power in. Louisiana. It's apparently an emergency. The state will redraw its map and could. eliminate at least one, if not both. black districts. In Alabama, Governor. Kay Ivey called a special session of the. legislature to reinstate a gerrymandered. map that had previously been struck down.
by the Supreme Court. But obviously, with this new decision, that map may be. what may be able to stand. The state's. two black opportunity districts may be. eliminated. In Tennessee, Governor Lee. has convened a special session that. starts on Tuesday. He stated to. lawmakers, quote, "We owe it to. Tennesseans to ensure our congressional. districts accurately reflect the will of. Tennessee voters." They're seeking to. eliminate the state's only black. opportunity district. In South Carolina, Republicans are calling on the governor. to call a session to redraw the maps and. eliminate the one black opportunity.
district currently held by Jim Clyburn. In Florida, the state legislature. already passed a gerrymander last week. that's awaiting Ron DeSantis' signature. He may sign that map or there exists the. possibility that they might go back to. the drawing board if that map was in any. way constrained by Section 2 of the. Voting Rights Act. Um DeSantis and. Florida Republicans will seek to. eliminate at least four Democratic. seats, if not more now. And that all took place essentially in. the course of about a day. In one fell.
swoop, these Republicans not only sought. to eliminate all black representation. from their states, but simultaneously. proved why the Voting Rights Act was. necessary in the first place. And keep. in mind, the Voting Rights Act was. passed as a response to and an antidote. for the Jim Crow laws in the South. And. it took. not even days, but hours for those same. Southern states that had imposed those. laws 60 years ago to immediately move. back and eliminate black representation.
and black voting power from their. borders. So, here's where we stand on this. 60. years have gone by and conservatives. have not moved off this issue, which is. to say, they won't. We tell ourselves. that they will change at our own peril. If left to their own devices, they will. revert right back to who they've always. been. They're literally doing it as we. speak. It took no time at all. So, the answer here is not to. compromise. The answer is not to confer.
goodwill onto the other side in hopes of. some elusive reciprocation. The answer is that we have to fight. because we know who they are. And we have to fight at least as hard as. the other side that has been fighting. the same battle with no qualms for 60. years and frankly just landed a pretty. devastating blow. That's how committed. they are. So, the question becomes, will. we do what's required right now and. fight back harder? And I've spent a lot. of time thinking about this because the. reality is that even in an ideal world.
where Democrats retake the house, retake. the Senate, retake the White House and. actually manage to eliminate the. filibuster and actually manage to pass a. new Voting Rights Act, the reality is. that this Supreme Court will still be. there waiting in the wings to strike. that legislation down just like they did. this past week. So, it's not enough to. play Whac-A-Mole. It's not enough to do all the work. necessary so that we can pass what would. basically amount to a symbolic law that. would only remain intact so long as it.
takes the Supreme Court to get their. hands on this thing and strike it down. again. That's not good enough for me. Shouldn't be good enough for you. It. shouldn't be good enough for anyone. Which means that we have to go to the. root of this issue. To that end, I'm going to read a passage. from my new book, The Day After. Quote, "To restore democracy, to restore. integrity to the judicial system, we. urgently need to reform the Supreme. Court. Those reforms need to be based on. principle, not politics, to have any. legitimacy or public support. The first. order of a filibuster-free Congress.
should be reform of the Supreme Court, not the second or the third or the. fourth or it'll be too late to save the. Republic and our independent judiciary. If any subsequent reforms are to stand. the chance of surviving, we cannot leave. in place a rogue branch of government. with the power to strike down anything. that doesn't comport with its far-right. ideology. The first reform should be to. expand the court in line with the. principles that determined the number of. justices in the early years of the. Republic. The first Supreme Court had. six justices, reflecting the six federal.
court circuits. The court grew to seven justices in 1807. after a seventh circuit was added. It. grew again to nine after two new. circuits were added in 1837. Today, there are 13 federal court circuits, but. only nine Supreme Court justices. The. court should reflect the size of the. country and the scope of its legal. challenges as it did more than a century. ago. So, if the root of the problem is that. we have a rogue branch of government. that will always strike down any. progressive legislation, then we need to. stop being so precious about that branch. of government. Remember, nine justices.
is not in the Constitution. And. remember, if Republicans needed to. increase the number of justices for. themselves, they would do it in a. heartbeat. We will not win if we're only. responding, only reacting. We have to go. on offense because that's what. Republicans have done for nearly my. entire lifetime. And frankly, it is. about time we fight back while we still. have the chance. I'm going to ask that. if you haven't yet had the chance to. pre-order my new book, The Day After, in. which I discuss how Democrats need to. wield power in a post-Trump world, which.
I think is pretty apt for this moment, that you please click the link right. here on the screen or in the post. description or in the comments and. pre-order your copy today. And I'll be. also be going on tour in July. So, if. you live in or near New York, DC, Chicago, San Francisco, or LA and you. want to see me in person with guests, please grab a ticket at the same link. You're watching the No Lie podcast. Next. up are my interviews with Gavin Newsom, journalist Ari Berman, and legal. reporter Adam Classfeld. No Lie is. brought to you by DonorsChoose. Teachers.
are supporting students in their. classrooms every day, but how many. schools lack the resources to make sure. our kids reach their full potential? And. look, I have many teachers in my family, including my grandma who taught for. about 50 years. I myself taught for 2. years after college. I know how. underpaid teachers are, how underfunded. education is, and how important it is to. funnel dollars into classrooms. DonorsChoose is a national nonprofit. that makes it easy for anyone to donate. directly to a classroom. You can give. any amount and once the teacher's.
request meets its fundraising goal, DonorsChoose purchases the supplies and. sends them directly to that classroom. This model has earned DonorsChoose four. out of five stars on Charity Navigator. and inspired nine out of 10 public. schools to create specific requests for. their students, ranging from basic. supplies to social and emotional. learning resources and more. Every day. on donorschoose.org, teachers ask for. the books, supplies, and learning. materials their students need because. every day, teachers show up for their. students, but who's going to show up for.
teachers? Because appreciation can't. stop at thank you, it means taking. action. That means books for the. classroom, supplies for students, and. support teachers can count on. For a. limited time, your gift will be matched. to help students and teachers who need. our support. Go to. donorschoose.org/briantylercohen, all one word, to find a classroom near. you and have your gift it matched today. Donorschoose.org/briantylercohen. No Lie is brought to you by ZBiotics. pre-alcohol. So, I have to tell you. about this game-changing product that I.
use before a night out with drinks. It's. called pre-alcohol. ZBiotics pre-alcohol. probiotic drink is the world's first. genetically engineered probiotic. It was. invented by PhD scientists to tackle. rough mornings after drinking. So, here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic. byproduct in the gut. It's a buildup of. this byproduct, not dehydration, that's. to blame for rough days after drinking. Pre-alcohol produces an enzyme to break. this byproduct down. Just remember to. make pre-alcohol your first drink of the. night. Drink responsibly and you'll feel.
your best tomorrow. I literally just. used pre-alcohol a week ago. I was in DC. for the White House Correspondents. Weekend and while I didn't go to the. dinner, I did go to some events. I made. pre-alcohol my first drink of the night. I legit felt completely fine the next. day and that is a pretty Herculean feat. as I approach 40. From the crack of the. bat at the stadium to the start of. wedding season and the roar of the. engines in Indy, May is packed with. back-to-back reasons to be out. Don't. let a rough morning after keep you on.
the sidelines. Drink pre-alcohol to stay. ahead of it and make the most of every. Saturday this month. Go to. zbiotics.com/btc. to learn more and get 15% off your first. order when you use BTC at checkout. ZBiotics is backed with a 100%. money-back guarantee. So, if you're. unsatisfied for any reason, they'll. refund your money, no questions asked. Remember to head to zbiotics.com/btc. and use code BTC at checkout for 15%. off. No Lie is sponsored by BetterHelp. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. A. reminder that whatever you're going.
through, you don't have to go through it. alone. We're all human. Some days feel. good, others feel overwhelming. Whatever's keeping you up at night, it's. easy to feel like you have to figure it. all out by yourself. But the truth is, no one has all the answers and no. journey should be alone. Having someone. with you to listen, to understand, and. to support you can make all the. difference. That's where BetterHelp. comes in. I trust BetterHelp because of. their quality therapists. BetterHelp. therapists work according to a strict. code of conduct and are fully licensed. in the US. Better help also has a.
therapist match commitment where they do. the initial matching work for you so you. can focus on your therapy goals. A short. questionnaire helps identify your needs. and preferences and their more than 12. years of experience and industry leading. match fulfillment rate means they. typically get it right the first time. If you aren't happy with your match, switch to a different therapist at any. time from their tailored. recommendations. With over 30,000. therapists, Better Help is the world's. largest online therapy platform having. served over 6 million people globally. and it works with an average rating of. 4.9 out of five for a live session based.
on over 1.7 million client reviews. You. don't have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you. in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at. betterhelp.com/nolie. That's betterhelp.com/nolie. I'm joined now by Governor Gavin Newsom. Governor, thanks for joining me. >> Good to be back with you. So obviously. in light of the Supreme Court decision. gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights. Act, we've now seen a swift kind of. avalanche from these Republican-led. states where governors are now.
calling special legislative sessions to. redraw their maps. Just today we've. heard from the governor of Alabama. We. also have heard from obviously the the. Republicans in Louisiana considering. they were one of the parties in this. case. All of which are going to redraw. their maps and so what do Democrats need. to do right now in light of you know. this wave of Republican states that are. basically going to draw out every black. opportunity district? Uh All of the but. look Brian I I it's so putting almost to. step back. This is all happening. I mean the Voting Rights Act just gutted.
in name only now. I mean we saw what. happened. uh to Roe. We we've seen what's. happening. I mean we talked about it. I. mean you and I how many conversations do. we have where and people say well. they're being a little hyperbolic. >> Yeah. That Trump and MAGA movement want. to bring us back to a pre-1960s world. That's what's happening. And at the time. we were debating issues around LGBTQ. rights and women's rights. But now we're. seeing on voting rights and civil rights. and they're succeeding. And so it's I. hope a big wake-up call. We can't be. rolled into any sort of you know it's.
none of this is normal is the. long-winded point. And so at old adage. for things to change you have to change. We have to change. So our approach has. to be even more aggressive than we even. could have imagined just days ago not. only weeks ago. So look going forward this is going to. have profound and consequential impact. on the map in this country. And obviously the impact to the black. communities off the charts. >> Yeah. Uh the reality is we don't know. yet how consequential it will be for the.
2026 election. But we do know with some. certainty that there is upwards of 19 or. so seats conceivably that they can take. back by 2028. But what Landry did to. your point is jaw-dropping. Talk about. not normal. The guy suspended the. election. He declared a state of emergency. to suspend an election where they. already sent the ballots out. >> Because God forbid black people get to. to vote for their preferred candidate in.
their district. >> So take one or two districts to get rid. of black minority district. Think about. that. In the south in 2025 not 19 or you. know 20. I mean 19 I mean this is literally two. districts conceivably Yeah. to eliminate. black representation, suspends the. election on May 16th after literally. ballots were sent overseas into the. military. People were starting to vote. They're starting this weekend more. formally at early voting. And. we're going on with the rest of our.
lives. None of this is normal and again. it's a preview. We keep saying it of. everything to come. And so we have got. to so redouble our efforts at the state. levels. We have upwards of 10 seats. looking at 2028. If we can win back. statehouses now the whole playing field. is about legislate legislative races. And we can get up to about 2022. to compete. But right now there's an. asymmetry. They've got about a. two-to-one advantage potentially going. into 2028. Is there any excuse for.
Democrats in in New Jersey, in New York, in Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Washington, Oregon not to move forward. in light of what we've seen in New York? >> Colorado, let's go. JB's saying the right thing in Illinois. Obviously Wes in Maryland. We got to go. I appreciate Hochul put out statement. Let's go. We just got to move. The whole thing's on the line. Um and uh. yeah we're redrawing lines. We got to. redraw the lines until we step down and.
step back and do the right thing. which is independent redistricting. nationwide. But we cannot have one hand. tied behind our back. These guys on the. other side are ruthless. You saw exactly. what we knew was going to happen happen. literally minutes after this decision in. Florida. And again they didn't go to the voters. It wasn't in a democratic and. transparent way. Uh it was done. literally he released the maps on Fox. That's how the maps I mean talk about we.
we joke about these maps being you know. colored in in Mar-a-Lago. I mean. literally Senator Ron Pavda. Uh and. that's how they were socialized and then. within minutes later on a special. session they certified those four seats. By the way which is unconstitutional on. the basis of the state constitution in. Florida. And God forbid uh that thing. actually is upheld. Uh but that one. clearly has got some real legal. questions. >> I mean that's the benefit for Ron. DeSantis of having six out of seven. state Supreme Court justices who he. himself appointed. These are the same.
Supreme Court justices that failed to. uphold uh the Constitution with the. existing gerrymander. Like Florida's. current map is is a gerrymander that was. even to extreme for Florida's Republican. legislature. Ron DeSantis shoehorned. into curry favor with Trump. Now. obviously in light of of this decision. he's trying to do it even more. But this. is a a state Supreme Court that clearly. is not willing to lift a finger to defy. uh Ron DeSantis. >> No and that's I mean that's what they're. they're counting on and sort of gaming. out. And of course the courts move at.
such a slow speed and these elections. are around the corner. >> Yeah. And so again it has to just be a. dominant blue wave. That's how we get. out of this. We buy ourselves a little. bit of time and then those that don't. have backbones develop them. Period. Full stop. Again I mean it's about the. fight is how we take back the House of. Representatives. The fight is how we. repair the breach in 2028. But we have. to wake up. It's not about ideology. It's not about taking one part of our.
party and clipping their wings because. you don't like the on purity test. It's. about us aligning to what we binds us. together and that's what's happening. against this authoritarian regime. Okay. So let's say for example that Democrats. retake the house, retake the Senate. 2029 comes around. We have a Democratic. president. We're able to pass the. Freedom to Vote Act. We're able to pass. a new iteration of the Voting Rights. Act. That's all well and good. The fact. remains that we still have this 6-3. conservative court in place. And you.
know we can we can kind of play. whack-a-mole and keep passing Voting. Rights Act and they keep swatting it. down like they've done right now. So uh. that that raises the point that so long. as this court exists as it does right. now they're going to continue to do what. they just did this past week. Do you. think that the court needs to be. expanded so that we have some protection. as opposed to having a rogue branch of. government that's always there to push. back progress? >> No I get the instinct on this. My only. concern there'll be probably more. members of the Supreme Court in 50 years. than there are members of Congress if we.
continue to do this. Whoever then is in. the majority continues to expand on the. basis of their ideology. But your point. is spot on. I mean it goes to first. question though is filibuster. In order. to get to that threshold to order move. some of that legislation even if you. have all three branches. But the. question you're right is the court is. self-evident because this was. 1965 Voters Rights Act that was the. Congress that adopted it and they threw. it out. So the question A Congress that. that that that re-implemented it by 98. to nothing I believe in like 2006 or. signed into law by George W. Bush not. exactly some some you know some crunchy.
liberal. But that the question remains. then what do you do to actually entrench. some of these protections. >> No I I I think we get into a larger sort. of re-reform as it relates to ethics as. it relates more broadly which hardly is. the answer but is one of the strategies. for reform. And then obviously issues I. think that are appropriate to have. conversation around term limits in that. respect. But my fear sincerely is shoes. on the other foot. Uh we'll we'll go. from you know the current status to then. doubling it to doubling it again to.
doubling it again. And at a certain. point it loses. its purpose. And its purpose was to be. above politics. The course politics was. what drove this decision. Every member. of this court that voted in the majority. to overrule Section 2 or at least the. Voting Rights Act or at least gutted all. of them had promoted that point of view. were vetted for that point of view and. were brought through that process with. the expectation they. what they were going to do. But. I just I I'm a little more cautious. So.
I'm open to argument. I admit to being. open to argument on this. But right now. I'm a little more cautious about. continuing to expand that. Yeah. I mean. look the the argument I think is is. already beyond clear to you is that is. that you know so that we're not in a. situation where if we're if all the. stars align and we're able to pass some. of this legislation. which again requires winning the house, winning the Senate, winning the. presidency. only to see you know the Amy Coney. Barretts and and and Samuel Alitos and. and Clarence Thomases of the world do. exactly what they've done this week. You.
know that that that would be the. argument to at least take it into. consideration. >> Amen. Amen. And we'll see what what plays out. over the course of the next few years if. there is some changes, if there's some. retirements. And let's see if there's a. change in terms of the courage and the. backbone of members of our party, the. Democratic Party, that have been a. little too complicit in supporting some. of these Republican nominees knowing. full well they would not be the person. that they were in that interrogation, quote unquote, during the confirmation. hearings. So, on a similar point, there.
is the 2030 census that's coming up. In. that census, California is expected to. lose about four electoral votes, along. with a bunch of other traditionally blue. states that are going to be giving some. of those electoral votes to. traditionally red states. States like. Texas, states like Idaho are going to. gain. are going to gain electoral votes. States like California and New York are. going to lose them. And so, you know, it's it's only 2026 right now. We have. the opportunity to make sure we stave. off some of the departures, you know, the population loss from this state. And.
so, what. have you done? What should the next. governor of California do? We have a. mayoral election right here in Los. Angeles. What should they be doing. to make sure that homes could be built. here so that people can live here? To. make it as easy as possible so that. we're not kind of seeding all of this. ground, surrendering this population to. states that are only going to, you know, usher in Republican policies that that, you know, help dismantle, chip away at. our democracy. >> In some ways it it. it may be even more challenging because.
of legal immigration that's been. impacted by Trump and Trumpism. And. legal immigration has been one of the. sources of our population growth for. decades and decades in California. It's. one of the reasons California's economy. is so vibrant is we get the best and the. brightest first round draft choices from. around the rest of the world. That said, we had 3 years of population growth, 308,000 net new people in the state of. California between 2022 and 2025. Your. broader point, though, around housing is. at the core of the challenge not only.
California and Californians are feeling, but people all across this country. I. was just looking at some new data about. Florida and the fact they're starting to. lose folks because the cost of living. and housing affordability or lack. thereof, particularly as it relates to. homeowner insurance as well. That said, we are very very proud in. this state to have just passed some of. the most significant zoning reforms in. not only our state's history, but we. think are models for the rest of the. country.
It is all about zoning reform. It's all. about build, baby, build, not drill, baby, drill. It is about addressing those thickets. about time value of these investments. and money, dealing with NIMBYism. And. let me give you a proof point. When I. got here, there were 70,000 housing. units constructed. This last year, 111,000. 59%. improvement. We've also reduced the. entitlement time by 56%, which is a big. damn deal. So, in both counts, we're. moving in the right direction. We.
finally have the right housing policies. Now, it's all about application, implementation. And I continue to say. it, localism is determinative. Local. government at the end of the state. vision is realized locally. And the. biggest impediment to action, what. stands in the way, has been local. government. And we have a new local. housing accountability unit. We're suing. cities, Huntington Beach infamously. We. put 46 others on notice. We have. strategies to fast-track the litigation.
in terms of ultimately adjudicating. the merits of our assertions around the. lack of cooperation on housing. And so, it's a much much more muscular approach. It's about a liberalism that builds. And. that has to be front and center in terms. of the Democratic Party's mindset and. our policy making. We have to own this. space. We've been so damn consumed by. process. This paralysis has gotten in the way of. the kind of progress and a kind of proof. point that we need that Democrats can.
govern in an effective and efficient way. to address these tectonic challenges, particularly for young people of. affordability. It is a supply-demand. problem. And we need to build more damn. housing. Is there buy-in from the. legislature? Yeah, it was tough. Canada because everyone's, you know, and. it's not an indictment of any. individual. It's an indictment of the. system, which is just all these interest. groups. >> Yeah. And so, this paralysis because. people want, you know, we're so often we're accommodating.
We're accommodating cities. We're. accommodating counties. We're. accommodating particular interest groups. across the spectrum of issues, environmental, labor, maybe our own. instincts around localism and just. having neighborhoods decide for. themselves. And so, again, everybody, we're all complicit. Society becomes how. we behave. This has happened on our. watch over the last half century. It's. hardly new. What's shifted is we've been. more aggressive and every year we keep. coming back more aggressively still. But. last year was a breakthrough in. California. And I got to say, I got to.
give Ezra Klein a lot of credit. His. book on abundance abundance, not. scarcity mindset. And it allowed me, honestly, that conversation carried with. it this kind of weight that I did. something I'd never done before and no. other governor had. I literally was. going to veto the budget. I put the. housing bills in the budget. It's not. how how the sausage is made. >> Yeah. Because I said enough. I can't. keep dealing with this delay and denial. And we were able to push through. And. what's amazing, final point, is the.
mindset has shifted now. Once a mind is. stretched, it never goes back to. original. Now, people like, what else do. we have? Now, how do we deal with the. cost of construction? Modular, prefab, deal with productivity gains, address. the issue of impact fees, huge issue. that has to be addressed. We have a lot. of new ideas on that. In a couple weeks, we'll be introducing in the budget as. well. But this is I I just feel more optimism. looking out the. window. But obviously, in the rearview, my god,
this has been the original sin in. California. So, I want to. I want to talk one more one more topic. on California before we move on to to. national politics again. But. as it relates to the entertainment. industry, this is something that I that. I'm up your ass about every time every. time we speak. But what would you like. to see. given the fact that this budget will. pass, >> Yeah. there'll be a new governor of. California. What would you what would be. your parting words in terms of getting. more industry jobs back into this state? Because, you know, they haven't just.
left California. They have largely left. the United States, going to places like. the United Kingdom, going to places like. Canada, to Bulgaria has a thriving film. industry. And then even within the US, I. mean, Netflix just built. a huge sound stage in New Jersey, where. where I had initially come from. And so, what needs to be done to lure those jobs. back here? >> Well, number one, the president's talked. a good game, hasn't delivered. In terms. of a federal tax credit? >> Yeah, well, he originally talked about. tariffs, which is just, you know, as. dumb as he [clears throat] wants to be. I mean, just stuck on stupid.
But he's finally starting to talk at. least privately. I've had a number of. conversations. with folks that say he's opening more. and more, is more open to the idea of. some federal tax credit. So, that's. foundational in terms of keeping. American jobs and allowing this industry. to thrive in the United States. And. then, from a state-by-state. competitiveness frame, we have to deal. again with all these thickets as it. relates to just the mundane, which is. parking and traffic issues, the cost of. overtime and permitting, regulatory.
stuff at the local level. And then, yes, the states have to step up with their. tax credit program. We more than doubled. it last year. We've seen the fruits of. that. It's literally taking shape. We're. announcing almost on a weekly basis new. production, new economic opportunities, new economic development. But for the. next governor, the issue of above the. line has to come into it as it relates. to the opportunity to expand those tax. credits to get some of the larger films. done. But if we can get a federal tax. credit, I think we can start taking, with love and respect to my friends in. the UK, we can start taking those jobs.
back from the United Kingdom, take them. back from other parts of the globe that. have enjoyed the lack of investment in. this space. But look, you can't We. rested on our laurels. So typical, right? The world we invented. is now competing against us. And so, if. you want to do well in the future, you. got to invest in it. And we made the. mistake over that last few decades, but. we're making up for that now. We have. still new ideas that we'll be proposing. in the next few weeks. And the next governor administration, I.
think, need to continue to double down. on this. So, I want to switch gears here. About a week ago, there was the White. House Correspondents Dinner. The. shooting took place within, you know, 5. minutes. Trump took the opportunity to. both use it as a justification to build. his ballroom and to attack Jimmy Kimmel. for somehow inciting violence by making. a joke about how Trump is old. >> Older, yeah. And 25, you know, 25 years. older than Melania. And so, somehow that. is an incitement to violence. Both of. those obviously absurd on their face.
Can I have your reaction to to him using. this kind of as an opportunity to to. really push forward his pet projects, which are silencing comedians who commit. the the cardinal sin, the crime of of. criticizing him, and also trying to push. forward his ballroom so that, you know, he can, you know, have his let them eat. cake moment. Well, hell of a way to bring the country. together as his press secretary was. condemning Democrats for their rhetoric. Here's the president of the United. States who has an asymmetry. not It's not a partisan point. It's an.
institutional point. It's the president. of the United States and used it to not. only exploit the ballroom. and to direct Brendan Carr to try to. suppress continue to suppress free. speech, more on that in a moment, but. also to indict Comey. for a beach photo. That was the. aftermath of that moment, this evil act. at the White House Correspondents Dinner. that needs to be condemned. And by the. way,
violence rhetoric condemned on all. sides. I'm not going to all side both. sides, but you know what? It goes in. both directions, which means the. solution to this also goes with. accountability in both directions. >> Yeah. But the asymmetry of the. president, his ability to set the tone. for the nation. You contrast that to. what he did shortly after to your point, but here's the thing that I hope people. paying attention to. What's what Brendan Carr is doing at the. FCC? Because the henchman on this is Carr,
who was sent out to do what he did. prior, which was to celebrate and subtly. in directly. encourage Nexstar and Sinclair. to shut down Kimmel. for a period of time. Carr publicly. celebrated that. Carr then, in return for that, has just signed off on a waiver. for Nexstar in a merger, which is the.
largest broadcast merger in history, that he approved with a waiver that. takes a 39% TV household threshold. statute and allows for upwards now, if. this merger goes forward, Nexstar to. have 80% penetration in the market. That was the return. on that original investment of. suppressing free speech and free. expression with Kimmel. They're going. after comedians cuz comedians are. trusted. They're shutting down Colbert,
they attack Maher, they attack Stewart, they attack Kimmel. But they're. attacking free speech, and it's what's. not said. It's production segments that. are shut down. That's happening. I don't. think it, I know it. When I announced. the lawsuit against this merger, one of the major local TV stations in. the Sacramento market refused. to air the press conference. and to show what we were doing. That. suppression is already happening in the. United States of America. This is a big. damn deal. So, we're litigating. We had.
a good early judicial decision on it. We're not out of the woods. These guys. are not screwing around. Brendan Carr is. a disgrace, and what's happening in the. media space in this country is so much. bigger than the shiny object of what's. going on with Paramount and the Warner. Brothers merger. We have to focus on. what's happening at the local level, Sinclair, and focus on what's happening. Nexstar. Do you have confidence that. this could be unwound if and when we. have a Democratic administration that. actually takes antitrust seriously,
that's actually willing to push back on. the censorship, the consolidation in the. media space of these, you know, of of. right-wing voices, basically? >> It's difficult. I mean, it's, you know, the damage is done with Colbert. The damage is being done. in real time. Again, it's. There's just segment producers. There's. the chill of free speech and free. expression. I I don't think it we have. to know that comedians aren't going full. throttle right now. >> Yeah. Are throttling back. Yeah. Complete weaponization of the FCC. It's. total.
corruption. It's not the corruption in. Albania and Serbia. It's not the. corruption in Saudi Arabia and Dubai and. the UAE and the Vietnam and all the golf. courses and the deals that we see. It's. not the meme coin, the stable coin. It's. not the $400 million Qatari jet. It's. not the, you know, $100,000 watch or the. $60 Bible or the sneakers. It's not all. that. It's even somewhat more insidious. That's about personal benefit for Trump. This is about structurally and. institutionally. reducing the fabric of truth and trust.
and transparency in the United States of. America. So, I just I hope we put more. emphasis and focus on this. I've been a. little bit. peeved that people aren't more outraged. by what Carr is doing, not just what the. what Trump is doing on daily basis, but. what Carr is implementing and how he's. executing. On that point, as we talk about media. companies, can you give an update. because I'm sure that a lot of folks. don't know this. You have a lawsuit. against Fox that's actually moving. forward right now. Can you explain what. that lawsuit is? Well, I This was a big. deal.
Judge said that there's a reasonable. chance that Fox knowingly. 43-page ruling just a day ago. on a defamation lawsuit that I filed. about a year ago last June against Fox. for knowingly lying about a phone call I. had with Donald Trump and doing multiple. segments, but knowingly lying about it. Even by my standards with Fox, I was. shocked. They go after me 24/7, but this. even shocked me that they were knowingly.
willing to spew these lies, and they. were heard around the world, literally. around the world. They're picked up in. hundreds of different other. publications. I got phone calls about. this. People saying, "Boy, why are you. lying about this?" And so, I filed this. I didn't do it for petulant reasons. I. did it because enough. I mean, these guys are the impact. they're having in this country. I just I mean, I I refer to them as. Pravda. It is Pravda. But they need to be held to account. They didn't learn their lesson from.
Dominion. We thought they would learn. their lesson from Dominion. So, now. we're in discovery phase. They don't. want to be in discovery phase. And this. judge said there was enough evidence. that it's likely. that they knowingly. have defamed me, and they need to be. held to account. That's not just Trump. that can play that game. Again, fight. fire with fire. Enough. And so, I'm. pleased this went forward, and you know, it's not about the money. We said it was about the apology. Said,
"Just apologize. Own up to your lies.". And they refused. And so, hopefully now. could be about some accountability, and. I'm looking forward to discovery and the. transparency to understand how the. sausage is made over there. Well, you. know, when discovery happened in the. January 6th the the Dominion lawsuit, we. saw emails from all of these Fox. executives, Fox hosts, where it was. clear that they knew exactly what they. were talking about, but it was more. important for them to be able to lie to. the rubes who watched them, to the marks.
who watched them, than just to tell them. the truth. And so, these people, I mean, it would be bad enough if they were just. spewing dis- and misinformation, but. what's worse is that they knew the. truth. It was just more important for. them to manipulate the people who. trusted them, who who who, you know, made the mistake of trusting these. people so that they couldn't, you know, benefit benefit their their political. party, their preferred political party. >> This is what should This should. infuriate everyone that watches Fox. How. How they treat you. This is not about. the Fox viewer.
They They're dismissiveness. To your point, they're just a way of. making a quick buck. They You know, they. have another plane, another house in. Palm Beach, and hey, you know, a whole. thing. Yeah. I mean, this is just It's. It's And it's got to stop. And. again, Brendan Carr, what's happening. with that merger, what's happening. across the spectrum as it relates to all. the things that are happening in the. media space, consolidation we discussed, and some of it getting more attention. than than others, but you got to be. accountable on the air.
to truth. I I understand the. subjectivity. I understand their point. of view. But you can't knowingly defame someone. You can't knowingly lie. And if you do. and you get caught, you need to be held. to account in the most important court, and that's the court of public opinion. Last question here on that point, what. would you like to see. come out of this Fox lawsuit? Like what. what does success look like for you? What would be the the biggest benefit of. not just learning what we will learn in.
discovery, but of winning this lawsuit? >> Respect your viewers. Change. Truth, trust, decency, character. Some of the old values that, you know, I. thought would. >> But you know, but you know, you know. full well that none of those. >> Well, then you know, then it's then it's. about stone-cold accountability. You pay. the price for your lies and defamation. You pay the price for knowingly defaming. other people, and you pay a price, and. you should pay a huge They paid a big. price, $787 million for Dominion. Apparently, that was drop in the bucket,
chump change. So, they need to keep paying. that price until they change the way. they do business. So, I don't know if it's that complicated. I. just wanted a simple damn apology. Own. up to your lies. They refused. They. tried to hide them. They thought for. sure they'd get this thrown out, and. this judge in a 43-page thing said, "Hold on, boys and girls. Save your. emails. Lawyer up.
And let's get ready for discovery, and. we're going to discover a lot more about. how Fox is really run and the lies and. the mistruths and how it's organized and. how it's delivered and weaponized 24/7, and that is a very healthy thing for our. democracy." Perfect place to leave off. Governor Newsom, I appreciate the time. Good to be back. I'm joined now by. national voting rights correspondent at. Mother Jones and the author of the book. Minority Rule, Ari Berman. Ari, thanks. for joining me again. Hey, Brian. Great. to talk to you again.
So, obviously, we're talking in the. aftermath of the Supreme Court handing. down the Cale decision, which guts. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. So, I think, in large part, we anticipated. this move, but from your vantage as. somebody who is a long-time expert on. voting rights on. uh well, your aptly titled book Minority. Rule, how much of a blinking red light. is this for Democrats recognizing that. Republicans now have carte blanche to. redraw. um redraw any maps that have black. opportunity districts? It's a flashing red light for democracy.
It's an emergency for democracy because. the Supreme Court not only gutted the. Voting Rights Act for the third time, I. might add, but they also did it in a way. that allows some states a very narrow to. redraw their districts for 2026. I. thought the justices would at least have. the decency to wait until this cycle of. redistricting is over, but as always, the Roberts Court showed how nakedly. partisan it is. So, they not just.
completely gutted the Voting Rights Act, they actually gave some states the. opportunity to redraw their maps this. cycle. And the the larger context of. this is Democrats had basically fought. Republicans to a draw in the. gerrymandering arms race that Trump. launched. Now, if all of these southern. states, at least some of them are able. to redraw and Democrats can't, that's. going to put Democrats at a disadvantage. heading into 2026. They might be able to. overcome it. Obviously, if there's a. wave election, they will be able to.
overcome it, but this decision just. shows how nakedly partisan the Roberts. Court has been. They basically say, "You. shouldn't change election laws in the. middle of an election." Then they. completely rewrite the Voting Rights Act. in the middle of an election season. So, what states are you looking at right. now? Obviously, in the immediate. aftermath of this move, Louisiana has. already called uh to cancel their. primaries so that they can redraw their. maps, but what other states are you. looking at right now? I'm looking at states where the. primaries haven't happened yet. So,
Louisiana is one of them. South. Carolina's another. Tennessee's another. Obviously, Florida already redrew, uh. but they feel like maybe they're on. firmer ground now with this decision. I'm not actually sure if it's true. So, I think maybe you're talking about four. to five seats potentially shifting. We'll see what happens. Um the the. Supreme Court's opinion was not a model. of clarity. And so, it made it clear. that drawing new districts uh to try to. advantage minority voters is. unconstitutional. Leave aside the fact.
they said it was legal in Alabama 2. years ago, and that's why Louisiana did. that. So, they're already contradicting. their own rulings from 2 years ago, but. it's also not clear if states can just. rush in and dismantle that have existed. for decades like in Mississippi, like in. South Carolina, like in Tennessee. So, this issue is headed before the courts. again. Uh certainly the lower court and. and potentially the Supreme Court before. the election. So, if you're the Democrats and you're. watching this take place right now, what. are the first moves that the left makes.
in response to this? Well, the left is going to have to have. a plan to redraw in 2028. It's going to. be hard for them to redraw in any more. states in in 2026, but uh certainly 2028. you're going to have to have the blue. states that didn't do it for one reason. or another. Um there are some states. that couldn't do it under their state. constitutions like New York and Colorado. that could redraw in 2028. There's other. states that could have done it like. Illinois, like Maryland that chose not. to. I think the pressure's going to be. on every single blue state to do this.
because if every red state redraws to. not just pick up seats for partisan. advantage, but to wipe away gains of. advances for minority voters in the. civil rights movement, then it's really. a moral imperative for blue states to. respond to level the playing field. Uh. in the immediate uh in in the immediate. though, I think that Democrats are going. to have to organize in some of these. states. Obviously, if you dismantle. districts that are held by black members. of Congress, black voters still have to. go somewhere. They can't just be. completely wiped off the map. And so,
that means that there has to be efforts. to contest these seats in southern. states, and there's some evidence. already that the gerrymandered maps that. were drawn in places like Texas, in. places like Florida, might not be as. secure as Republicans thought they would. be, and that there's also possibilities. for pick-up opportunities in some red. states like Tennessee, for example. And. so, Democrats need a long-term strategy. to try to counteract what Republicans. are doing, but in the short term, they. also just need to take advantage of a.
political climate in which Trump and. Republicans are unpopular to contest. every seat possible including in the. South and expand the map. So, on that point of Democrats taking a. long-term strategy, I've I've been. thinking about this a lot because you. know, I think from the activist front, we advocate for Democrats to to retake. control of the House, the Senate, the. White House, pass good voting rights. legislation, uh you know, the the John. R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, the Freedom. to Vote Act that was HR1 during the.
Biden era. Even if these laws get. passed, we now see that there is a rogue. branch of government that's always going. to strike it down. This Supreme Court. will not let um a voting rights act, whether it comes from 1965 or 2029, stand. Um at least under the the um the. ideological breakdown that they have. right now. And so, what is the solution longer term than. even just retaking full control of. government, recognizing that it's always.
just going to be a battle back and forth. where Democrats can pass voting rights. legislation, and then Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and the rest of these. right-wingers in the Supreme Court will. strike it down. And so, nothing is. permanent in that sense. Yeah, that's why reforming the Supreme. Court has to be the number one priority. of the progressive movement. Otherwise, basically every progressive idea is. going to die at court. And the court has. elevated itself other the over the other. branches of government. I mean, they. just completely in the Clairol decision, they completely overruled the 1982.
reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act. that was passed overwhelmingly by the. Congress. And normally, the courts are. supposed to defer to the Congress. And. they have basically said, "When it comes. to these kind of issues, we are the. final word." In some cases, they say. Congress can legislate. Not even clear. in this case Congress can legislate cuz. basically they're saying, "We're the. only people that can. enforce the 50th Amendment, the only. people that can understand the 50th. Amendment." No.
goes without saying they completely. turned the 50th Amendment on its head by. basically saying that a law that was. meant to give black men the right to. vote and to get rid of the vestiges of. slavery is now something where you can. find districts that were drawn to help. the descendants of slavery, that's. unconstitutional. So, they've completely. turned the 50th Amendment on its head. They've completely overruled the will of. Congress, and and that's why I think. it's not enough to ban partisan. gerrymandering or make it easier to vote. if you don't change the composition of.
the Supreme Court, which I believe was. illegally constructed in terms of how. they did it, in terms of stealing seats. and and other hardball measures they. used, um then really all of your other. priorities are are not going to. ultimately survive. Do you have. confidence that this Democratic Party or. or what new iteration comes, you know, in 2026 and 2028, will have the spine to. do that? Because this is not a. Democratic Party that's known for. upending norms, uh for making. uncomfortable the institutions of.
government. I mean, so often we see a. blind deference to the institutions as. they stand. I mean, the the filibuster. has the sacrosanctity. The. parliamentarian has the sacrosanctity. when it comes to uh when it comes to. Democrats who are largely. institutionalist, but the reality is, I. mean, you and I both just explained it. Like, no voting rights legislation, really no progressive legislation will. stand with the Supreme Court as it. stands right now. And so, everything uh. as it relates to the court is. foundational, but that's a big swing for.
a Democratic Party that will often let. the smallest roadblock stand in their. way when it comes to, you know, either. upending some norm versus actually. getting legislation through by any means. necessary ala Mitch McConnell. So, what. do you think about, you know, the the. stomach of this Democratic Party as we. move forward to actually get some of. this stuff done? Well, I think they have to have the. stomach for it. I think the people that. have the stomach for it are going to. emerge as the leaders of the party, uh. particularly in 2028. There's no way. there's going to be a Democratic nominee.
for president who doesn't support. strongly reforming the Supreme Court. Uh. this is not going to be Biden kind of. flirting with Supreme Court reform. They're going to have to tackle this. issue head-on and understand that the. Supreme Court is the greatest impediment. to progressive politics in America right. now. And so, I think that the. circumstances are changing uh in the. Democratic Party. Uh they understand. that the the court is going to just keep. going further and further and further in. terms of what they're going to do on the.
Voting Rights Act. I mean, just think. about this, Brian. The Supreme Court. gutted the heart of the Voting Rights. Act in 2013 by ruling that states with. long history of discrimination no longer. had to approve their voting changes with. the federal government. But they said, "Oh, we're not touching that other part. of the Voting Rights Act, Section 2 of. the Voting Rights Act." Then, 8 years. later, they severely weakened Section 2. of the Voting Rights Act and made it. very hard to strike down discriminatory. voting laws. Then, 5 years after that, they gutted the Voting Rights Act again. and basically say that you can no longer. police racial gerrymandering in.
redistricting, that you can no longer. protect decades of advances for minority. voters. So, they're not stopping. The. point is is they're not moderating. Yeah, they moderate on some cases where. the Federalist Society opposes things. that Trump does like on tariffs. They're. not even taking an an anti-conservative. position. They're just taking a position. where there are some factions of the. Republican Party that don't like what. Trump is doing. But when it comes to. things like the advances of the civil. rights movement, um progressive policies. more broadly, this is a court that is.
extremely hostile uh to basically the. civil rights revolution of the 1960s. Uh. and I don't know how you legislate. against that other than changing the. composition of the court itself. And and it makes sense to do so. I mean, the first Supreme Court had six. justices. There were six federal court. circuits. Uh after that, the court grew. to seven when there was another uh court. circuit that was added. So, it has. always been in line with the number of. federal court circuits, but it stopped at nine. And now we have.
13 federal court circuits. And so, it. would make sense even unto itself. Like, if you want to defer to norms, this is. actually the norm that the number of. Supreme Court seats um is is compliant. with the number of federal court. circuits. Yeah, and of course, there's no there are certain things that. are built into the Constitution in terms. of the Supreme Court, but there's lots of things that you. could do that are different with the. Supreme Court. There's also courts that. function other ways. I think we like to. think that the Supreme Court every court.
functions like the Supreme Court. There. are lots of state Supreme Courts that, for example, justices are elected. They. have term limits. They have strict. ethics codes. They're beholden to the. public in ways that this current Supreme. Court is not. And I mean, you had a. situation where the majority decision in. Clay was written by Samuel Alito. The. night before that decision, he was at a. Trump state dinner. This is a guy whose. wife flew an insurrection flag, okay? I. mean, there are a lot of red flags here.
in terms of just the actions of Alito, not to mention how Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett were put on the court in the. first place, right? I mean, you have one. justice who occupies a current a stolen. seat. Another justice who had a FBI. investigation swept totally under the. rug. Another justice who was confirmed. eight days before the election when they. blocked someone eight months before the.
election. I mean, so there's there's so. many irregularities in terms of. democratic norms that this court has. been constituted, not to mention then. it's a product of. a lot of anti-democratic actions and. then through its opinions, it then. deepens the crisis in democracy by doing. things like gutting the Voting Rights. Act. All right, your book is called Minority. Rule. It was It was an excellent read, but as we look at the moment that we're. in right now, it's hard to feel like.
that exact phenomenon isn't being. entrenched when you have a Republican. Party that despite its unpopularity, despite the fact that they're actually. losing elections when when when voters. have the ability to vote directly on. those representatives or on those. candidates, um we are seeing a. consolidation of power on on the right. Um and and frankly, as we move forward, a lot of things have to go perfectly for. the left. Like the left has to get full. control of government uh to be able to. push anything forward. The left has to.
have a big enough margin that the. filibuster is eliminated. Then the left. has to have the stomach to do something. that they've not had the stomach to do, which is uh to actually expand the court. to get it done, technically speaking, uh. so that they can actually see this thing. through. And then they have to pass this. legislation, um pass these uh processes. to expand the court. So, everything has. to go perfectly. What level of confidence do you have um. you know, as somebody who's been talking. about the issue of minority rule for so. long, that in this subsequent Congress,
if Democrats do have full control, they. can get it done and kind of stem this. this tidal wave of anti-democratic. authoritarian moves by Republican Party. that relies on entrenching minority. rule? Well, there's going to have to be a lot. of pressure on them to do so. And and. just I I take the example of the. gerrymandering arms race. When Texas. redrew its districts uh based on. pressure from Trump, there was the. expectation that Republicans would just. go state by state by state and do this. and Democrats wouldn't be able to fight.
back cuz they were too invested in good. government or they were too hamstrung by. laws in their states. And the fact that. you had California fight back, you had. Virginia fight back. I mean, that gave. Democrats a spine. Yeah. And things that. seemed impossible suddenly became. possible. And then we need that same. kind of thing here. Um it's not just. about winning elections and the. Democratic Party is in a much better. position to win elections in 2026 than. they were before, but then it's. following through on winning those. elections. And that's why I think we. need a popular movement uh to do this.
And Supreme Court reform has to go. beyond just the circle of good. government types in Washington, D.C. It. has to be a mobilizing issue for people. That you know, whatever issue you care. about, it is threatened by this current. iteration of the Supreme Court. I do. think that is happening more and more. though. Dobbs really was a breaking. point for a lot of people. There have. been a series of decisions since Dobbs. Um I think the VRA decision has really. crystallized the threat to democracy uh.
that we're facing. And so, I think more. and more people. care about reforming the Supreme Court. More and more people have a negative. opinion of the Supreme Court. More and. more people realize how nakedly partisan. this court is. Uh and I believe that. Democratic activists, the Democratic. base, people in general just have to. keep pushing um Democratic leaders on. this. Very rarely does change happen. from the top in the Democratic Party. It. happens with with people pushing. Um and. this is an issue that people are going.
to have to continue to push on. Well, look, you have been um a champion for. this issue for years and years and years. before it was, you know, the thing that. we're talking about right now. So, highly recommend for everybody who's. watching and listening, if you haven't. yet had the opportunity to grab a copy. of Minority Rule, I'm going to put that. link right here on the screen and also. in the post description. If you're. listening on the podcast, I'm going to. throw it into the show notes. Ari, as as. always, thanks for the work you're. doing. Thanks for taking the time today. Always great to talk to you, Brian. Keep. up the great work as well. I'm joined. now by All Rise News's Adam Classfeld. Adam, we have major news that's going to.
impact the entire country as it relates. to mifepristone, which is the abortion. drug, which had been available by mail. Can you explain what this ruling is? The Fifth Circuit, one of the most. conservative judicial circuits in the. country, an all-Republican panel, uh. essentially blocked uh regulations by. the Biden administration that made. mifepristone available to anyone by mail. through telemedicine. It essentially, in. a pausing a regulation, reverts to the.
old regulation where you had to arrive. in person. And to give a little bit of. uh perspective here, mifepristone is. used in 2/3 of abortions in the United. States. So, this is a ruling with. widespread nationwide ramifications. It's not only a ruling that in a case. This particular case was brought by. Louisiana, but it doesn't affect. Louisiana only. It affects the whole. country. So, is there an impact on. states, for example, where abortion is.
still legal? Does this just impact the. states where abortion is illegal? I'm. just trying to like suss out who's going. to be most impacted here. Or is it. everybody? And even if you're trying to. order mifepristone via mail in. California, you'll be impacted. It. That's exactly right, Brian. It affects. the entire country because it in. reimposes the restrictions that the. medication needs to be picked up in. person. So, if you're in a rural county. in California and it's not so easy to go.
somewhere in person, or if you're a. victim of domestic violence and you it's. not uh it's not easy to go some place. where you have to go face-to-face with a. doctor, um and you don't have the option. as a result of this ruling to go by. mail. So, can you explain why, if this. is a ruling that's contained within the. Fifth Circuit, it has nationwide. implications? Because this is a ruling that's.
attacking the underlying regulation. You. had essentially the state of Louisiana. filing a lawsuit in the wake of the. Dobbs ruling saying that Louisiana, for. folks who don't know, has one of the. most restrictive abortion bans that have. been on the books since Roe v. Wade was. overturned. So, they sued uh the state. sued to block access to mifepristone by. mail saying that that was being used to. circumvent their ban. And the this was a.
three-judge panel the as I said earlier, uh it was a three-judge panel of all. Republican appointees, two Trump. appointees, written by a Trump. appointee, and it was a unanimous ruling. by that court. Now, how quickly do you. anticipate there is going to be an. appeal up to the US Supreme Court? And. the follow-up to that, is there anything. that you can read from the tea leaves. that might suggest where the US Supreme. Court's position is on this issue other.
than the fact that this is a 6-3. ideologically aligned with the. Republican Party bench full of justices. who sit on the court? Well, I would expect this is going to be. appealed quite quickly just because of. the fact that as we went over, this has. nationwide impact. It's a major ruling. that's going to affect the entire. country. Uh but it. as you said, this is a 6-3 ideologically. aligned court. We've seen that in very. recent rulings. Uh in the mifepristone.
case in particular, um we do have to. remember it wasn't that long ago that. there was a 9-0 ruling of the Supreme. Court uh upholding access to. mifepristone, but that particular legal. challenge was thrown out on standing. grounds. It was a ruling that was. authored by Brett Kavanaugh. So, it was. a recent ruling where we could see, well, the court did preserve in that. case access to the drug, but this is a.
very different set of facts. This is the. state bringing the case. In the other. Supreme Court case, you had uh certain. uh anti-abortion. oriented doctors challenging it and they. didn't have standing to go up against. the FDA. Uh it could be a very difficult. uh you know, I wouldn't bet on the. courts to protect access to this drug. right now, but we'll see what happens. It's hard to predict.
Adam, [snorts] what kind of an impact is. this going to have on Americans who are. seeking to exercise some autonomy over. their reproductive rights? This is going to have a huge effect. This is a major victory for. anti-abortion. uh movement in the United States because. it is a blow against access to a drug. used in 2/3 of abortions in the United. States. And that percentage went up. dramatically after the overturning of. Roe v. Wade. So, the impacts are going.
to be deep. If you live in a rural area, as I said a little bit earlier, if. you're the victim of domestic violence. and you and telemedicine is a way that. you can avoid detection in abusive. relationship, this is a type of thing. where this ruling could have a dramatic. impact. Is there any way to circumvent. this ruling if, for example, you are a. legislator or a governor in a blue state. who recognizes the importance of making. sure that women have access to this type.
of medication? You know, one of the things that's. interesting to note here is that I. believe. the Republicans understand that this is. a very unpopular policy to restrict. access to this drug. This was something. and there's signs of it even in this. litigation. Right now, you have Trump's. FDA doing a review of mifepristone and.
undoubtedly this review by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s. Department of Health and Human Services. and within that the FDA. is going to kind is going to come up. with some excuse to put some. restrictions on this medication, but it it's interesting because in this. case. the Trump Department of Justice wanted. to pause this litigation. We are in a. midterm season. >> Yeah. And it might be worth noting that.
it it's that perhaps the administration. is slow walking this, trying to kick the. can down the road. because they understand that this is a. political loser. Correct. And I mean, we. have seen this on top of other political. losers as of late. We have a failure to. release the Epstein files despite. repeated calls [snorts] by virtually. everybody who who makes up this. administration in the campaign. We have seen an engagement in, you know, a degree of foreign adventurism that we.
haven't seen in quite a long time. including an ongoing war in Iran and. this is at the hands of people who beat. their chest about no new foreign wars, no new wars in the Middle East. We also. were told that this administration was. going to be America first. Meanwhile, we've seen Medicaid cut from 17 million. Americans. We've seen ACA subsidies cut. from 24 million Americans. We've seen. food assistance cut to the tune of 186. billion dollars. Thanks to Trump's trade. war, the cost of everything has surged. We have gas now at its highest price in. years, virtually at its highest price.
ever. And and this administration keeps. piling on this stuff onto Americans, which would be bad enough onto itself, but even worse given the fact that they. came into office under this pretext that. they would be looking out for Americans. They would promote this America first. agenda. And we've got. an administration full of people who. can't stop raising prices, can't stop. taking health care away from people, can't stop taking food assistance away. from people, can't stop siding with this. criminal cabal of pedophiles. And and.
this now would be just the latest the. latest iteration, the latest blow on top. of all of that where yet again. they're engaging in this political loser. where they attack reproductive rights. and abortion rights. Absolutely. I mean, this could wind up. being a dog that caught the car. That. after. succeeding in overturning Roe v. Wade, you have certain parts of the country. that have supported Trump demanding. policies that are vastly unpopular. And.
it seems like this is happening now and. I think that this case and the fact that. this has this ruling has been put out by. one of the most conservative. circuits in the country by a two Trump. appointee, all conservative appointee. panel, it really ratchets up the stakes. It. casts things into stark relief and. people can see that potentially, at. least on this issue, yes, this is going to be appealed very.
likely to the Supreme Court. The Supreme. Court will have to issue a ruling, but. the court might not particularly save. access to this drug that is relied upon. by people across the country. And so it. it shows the limits of that and the. importance of political engagement and. engagement writ large. All right, one. last question here, Adam. I want to take. like a 30,000 foot view of this. Let's. say the Democrats are able to retake the.
White House in the 2028 election, take. office in 2029. We have a Democratic FDA. administrator in place. Is there a world. where this could be undone? This action. could be rolled back if we have someone. in that position who recognizes the. importance of mailing mifepristone or. abortion medication? Absolutely, Brian. I mean, if in that. world that you're describing, we could. have codified protections for abortion. access. In that world that you're. describing, one could have a different.
FDA there who are conducting studies. based on sound science that put together. regulations that's based on that science. rather than this preordained conclusion. So, that's a very different world. It's. a very different set of facts and it's. less dependent on what happens on a. certain court on a certain day. All. right, well, we will of course stay on. top of this issue. For those of you. watching right now, if you're looking to. support fearless independent media,
there is no better outlet than All Rise. News. That is Adam's outlet. Covers all. of these legal ins and outs on a daily. basis on his own dime, often flying. around the country. So, if you're. looking again to support an independent. media outlet that you can trust 100%, there's again no better choice than All. Rise News. So, I'm going to put that. link right here on the screen and also. in the post description of this video. Adam, as always, thanks so much for the. time. Thank you so much, Brian. To. listen to the audio version of this. episode, click the link right here on. the screen and make sure to subscribe.
And of course, to see more video. content, that subscribe button's on the. screen as well. >> [music].
