Trump’s secret EXPOSED in nightmare blow

I am joined now by a dear friend of. mine, Heather Cox Richardson. Heather, thank you so much for joining me. I. wanted to talk to you today because we. have seen the latest iteration of one of. Donald Trump's broken promises, and that. was with this housing bill, something. that Trump himself ran on in the 2024. election, handed to him on a silver. platter by his own Republican. colleagues, and now he's made an. announcement today that he's not. interested in signing it because he. wants to use it as a hostage to pass the. Save America Act. We'll get a little bit. into the attacks on voting in in a.

moment here, but can I have your. reaction to the fact that Donald Trump. had made these promises to people, not. just on housing, but certainly on. housing, and yet refuses to deliver on. his own campaign promises? >> First of all, it's great to see you. Um. I love your work, and I'm really glad to. be here, and we should do it more often. But second of all, uh. one of the things that jumped out to me. in 2024 was that Trump was promising. everything to everybody in a way that. made it very clear to me he didn't. really intend to go through with. anything that wasn't on his personal.

agenda, and I think that's exactly what. we have been seeing. This housing bill, though, is really interesting because it. passed on a bipartisan basis with very. large majorities, and it'd been in the. works for years. It's actually a really. popular bill, and his declaration that. he's not going to sign it until he gets. what he wants. I was trying to think about this. I think, at least in my experience, which is not, you know, small, I don't. think I can think of another president. who has refused to sign a bill because.

he is holding it hostage. And that, you know, when I looked at the. fact he wasn't going to sign this, or. says he's not going to sign it, it's really a larger picture of what. he's doing in that office, which has. very little to do with this traditional. sense of governance, you know, working. with Congress, working with the. executive branch, working with the you. know, with what can get through the. courts to actually do things that are. good for the American people. The fact. that he would take this and hold it. hostage is a really different concept of.

what it means to be an American. president that I think we've ever seen. before. I think it's bigger than just. him being a baby. I think it's his. declaration that he just does not care. what is good for the American people or. what Congress thinks is good for the. American people or what the executive. branch agencies might think is good for. the American people. He just wants to. stay in power. >> I think that's that's the perfect point. You know, a lot of people were saying, "Well, this is Donald Trump giving up on. the midterms because, you know, he won't.

sign this housing bill in very much the. same way that he promised lower prices, prices have surged. He promised cheaper. groceries, beef is more expensive. He. promised inflation would go down, inflation's up 30% since Biden left. office. He promised to release the. Epstein files, they've not been. released. He promised no new foreign. wars, of course we're engaged in a new. foreign war. So, this is him giving up. on the midterms, but in fact, I don't. think it's that. I think it's the total. opposite. I think this is him planting. his flag on trying to um. anti-democratically.

win the midterms by focusing solely not. on winning on the merits, but on winning. by virtue of trying to get the Save. America Act passed, by trying to engage. in this anti-democratic behavior where. he tries to ban mail-in voting, where he. tries to usurp federal control of the. state-run elections. All of these things. are him not giving up on the midterms. It's him giving up on winning on the. merits. >> Well, I agree with you and I would put. it less charitably than that. I don't. think he's ever been interested in the.

kind of governance that an American. president is supposed to do. He's trying. to steal the midterms. He's trying to. steal the next election as well. It's. not just that Save America Act that. we're talking about, which, you know, experts across the board say is going to. suppress the vote pretty dramatically. In the last week, he has had his. Department of Justice write to all 50. election officials in all 50 states plus. the District of Columbia warning them. that they that they run the risk of. criminal.

indictments if in fact any non-citizens. vote in their states or or in the in. Washington D.C. to which you know the. Lieutenant Governor of Utah who's a. Republican said this is so far out of. your lane and then and then it was it. yesterday he went ahead and. fired the top Democratic election. officials. in a non-partisan or a bipartisan. agency that's designed to oversee state.

and local elections make it easier for. them to run those elections doing things. like certifying the the voting machines. and then when he when he did that the. Republican who was still on the. committee is four-person committee the. other Republican resigned I think it was. back in April. when they when the two Democrats were. fired he resigned as well so now we have. lost that commission and that yeah this. this juggernaut toward I'm just going to. steal this election I think is building.

and I think we should take it. extraordinarily seriously because we. know he doesn't take no for an answer. we've had that demonstrated and I think. we're headed in exactly that direction. again in 2026. >> No I would be remiss to ask you while I. have you in particular is there any any. comparable. situation in history that we can look at. at this particular moment where we are. kind of teetering on the precipice of is. this upcoming election where Trump has. full control of government and is.

obviously un you know. unbridled in terms of what he's willing. to do. where we can see you know based on based. on historical precedent what's happened? >> Looks an awful lot like the American. South in 1874-1876. when the unreconstructed Southern. Democrats were determined to destroy the. possibility that Republicans, both black. and white, and these are all going to be. men in this 1870s, could vote in those. elections. And they did sort of voter.

suppression stuff like literally holding. target shoots next to Republican. political rallies. And you know, >> Yes, the the the modern iteration of. that is deploying ICE agents to the. polls, which Republicans refuse to rule. out. >> [snorts]. >> Yes, deploying ICE agents. Now, there's. an another piece of this though that. when you say do we have a precedent, and. one of the reasons I'm trying to to sort. of warn people and make sure they really. understand this is happening. And by the. way, people are fighting back in a. number of different places against this.

This is not like I've discovered. something nobody knew, right? Marc Elias. has been who's with Democracy Docket has. been fighting this forever. State. attorneys general are fighting it, Republicans as well as Democrats. There. are plenty of people whose get whose. skin is already in the game there. But. what this really reminds me of, do you. remember. I and I'm not going to have the date off. the top of my head, but in January, early January, or very late December of. uh 2020 or 2021, right there, right.

after the Christmas / New Year's. holiday, all living de- former defense. secretaries posted that letter in the. Washington Post warning uh the members. of the military that they must obey. their oaths to the Constitution. >> Yeah. >> And I remember seeing that and being. like, "What's getting all those people. together over the holidays? They know. something." And that every time I see. one of these, another one of these.

dominoes dropping, I think of those men. who were and I and I think they were all. men, maybe there was a woman in there as. well, but I think of them all coming. together and saying, "Listen, we know. this world well enough that we're seeing. stuff we really don't like and we're. calling it out. And you know, I sort of. feel like those of us who are doing that. now are walking in their footsteps and. with luck, people will look at us in. five months and say, "Hey, look, they. were all Chicken Littles. He was never. going to do anything and they all look. like weenies.". >> Yeah. >> I hereby volunteer.

>> just going to say that. >> weenie in chief on my concerns over. this. >> Yeah, I I I completely agree. Look, best. case scenario, we look alarmist because. the alternative is we're in a situation. where Trump has deployed further tools. to consolidate more power and undermined. our ability to have a free and fair. election. And we know, as you said, that. he's willing to go to any length. possible to make that happen. The fact. that he engaged in an insurrection, like. I I know that it becomes so normalized. because we've talked about it so much, but he there there are no lengths that. that will that he will not go to in.

order to consolidate power for himself. And I think that's a that that that is. an example of exactly that. Do you, you. know, when I'm I'm sure people ask you. this question and and again, you're the. right person to ask because I think it's. not just based on what's happening right. now, but on your extensive knowledge of. what's happened in the past, do you have. confidence, as we head toward November, um that we have the tools at our. disposal in the pro-democracy ecosystem. to prevent Trump from appealing to his. worst instincts?

>> Oh, I do. I I actually think that the. great advantage we have over the. American South in the 1870s and the. 1880s is that we have instantaneous. communications that enable us to call. out the things that are happening as. soon as they are happening, rather than. learning about it two months later after. the damage has already been done. You. know, I will say in this moment, though, as we're looking forward and you keep. talking about Trump, there's somethings. that are alarming and unprecedented that. I don't have any idea how to factor in.

And one of those is that Trump is. increasingly mentally unstable. And I don't think you have to look any. farther than, well, whatever he did a. minute and a half ago, but really what. he did in Ankara, Turkey, that whole. experience with the NATO summit at the. beginning of this week. That was. somebody who should not be in charge of. anything, let alone the United States of. America. But that suggests that he is. not the only one who is making these. moves toward consolidating power. And.

watching him act, uh, almost sometimes makes me feel as if he. is cover, not not knowingly, but he is. cover for somebody else making sure. those things are in power. And I don't. know quite how we deal with that as well. going forward. So there is that that. weirdness of how much is this Trump and. how much of it is this particular moment. and the people who are surrounding him. And and of course we've never had this. before. It's very hard to know how this. is going to play out except maybe if you.

look like at Woodrow Wilson, but rather. than holding on to power so he could. pass it on, he made sure there was. nobody who came after him. >> I mean, he himself came out and said if. he's able to pass the legislation that. he's trying to shoehorn through that. Republicans will never lose another. election for a hundred years. And I. understand he he makes these statements. purposefully to give himself a little. bit of plausible deniability. And he can. say, "Oh, well, the reason I said that. is because Democrats are cheating and we. had five million. undocumented immigrants who've voted in.

California and if not for that, the. entire country would have had 50 states. that would have voted for Trump and. Republicans." But the reality of what. he's saying is that there is some truth. Like he he lets slip some truth in what. he's saying in the sense that he's. looking to consolidate power from the. states into the federal government so. that they can. interfere enough so that they can can. consolidate power and so that there. aren't the ability for Democrats to be. able to win. Trump and Republicans don't think that.

Democrats have the right to win. elections and and they let slip the. truth sometimes because they've just. become so accustomed to committing. corruption or criminality in broad. daylight. >> You know, that's a that is a really good. point. And you know, in the past I've. really looked at how the Republicans. constructed this idea that Democrats. were illegitimate and it's actually a. really interesting study. But there was. a wonderful write-up a number of days. ago now and maybe you can remember who. did it. Unfortunately, I can't. That.

about the degree to which the American. media assumes that the Republicans have. the right to rule and that the Democrats. are upstarts who don't. And their real. comparison was the idea that even though. former President Joe Biden was as. somebody said a gaffe machine from the. time he first sprang onto the scene of. American politics, any words that he. messed up became an instant examination. into his into his cognitive health. Whereas Trump is out there talking about.

the. Islamic Republic of Japan and you know, calling Volodymyr Zelensky President. Putin and and nobody's calling it out. I. shouldn't say nobody, but they're acting. as if this is okay and that is in part. as this person analyzed because there's. this assumption. that the Republicans are in power. naturally and should be there and so. their bar is significantly lower than. the Republican than the Democrats who. have to get into that position and.

overcome that sense that they shouldn't. be there. >> Right. And I think that's I think that's. such a smart point. I should also note. that in terms of the normalization of. Trump's deteriorating mental state, the. fact that the guy is announcing, forget. going, but announcing that he is going. for these cognitive exams which are just. basically dementia tests three times a. year being administered by 22 doctors, first of all, to go that many times. signals that perhaps there's a problem. on the horizon here. But second of all,

to brag that you are dementia that you. are passing said dementia test is not. exactly I think is is indicative of why. the dementia test is needed in the first. place. So, I will say that, but I think. that is a very smart point about. Republicans feeling like they are. entitled to power and so the bar is that. much lower. And and we have seen that at. play. not just in terms of how they govern, but also how the media treats them. And. I think that's owed in large parts of. the fact that, you know, there is so.

much. avowedly right-wing media and they're. perfectly content to serve as propaganda. arms for the GOP. And then we have a. quote-unquote liberal media or we had. for so long only a liberal media, mainstream media that viewed their role. as being neutral arbiters. And so, they. would engage in both sidesism. So, inherently, when right-wing media. presented some idea, they felt an. obligation to cover it and treat it with. good faith. And because we didn't have. avowedly progressive media for so long,

I mean just now is when it's getting its. its feet off the ground and and you. know, you and the work you do is a. testament to that. But but for so long. that asymmetry existed where everything. that they put forward, propaganda. even false though it may be, was treated. as legitimate by a liberal media that. felt like it needed to bend over. backwards to confer some goodwill to the. other side. >> So, do we have time for me to give you. the history of that idea of liberal. media? >> Absolutely. >> So, there really was never.

the the kind of media that the. right-wing described. The argument that. the media was liberal, and I'm going to. put a capital L on that, actually really. comes out of the 1950s and especially. from a characterization that's put in a. book called McCarthy and His Enemies in. 1954 written by L. Brent Bozell and. William F. Buckley Jr. And what they. argued in that book was that everybody. who thought that the government had a. role to play in regulating business and. providing a basic social safety net and.

promoting infrastructure and protecting. civil rights and underpinning a. rules-based international order. Everybody, so that would be Republicans, independents, and Democrats all, the. vast majority of Americans were capital. L liberals. They tried to turn it into. the idea that it was a slippery slope. from them to capital C communists. And. the only people who were true Americans. were the people that they called. conservatives, who became known as. movement conservatives because they were.

a political movement that called. themselves conservative. They actually. weren't ideologically conservative at. all, they were quite radical. But what. happens is that characterization of. everybody but the far right as some sort. of liberal bad thing becomes an article. of faith among that radical right. And. they keep insisting that anybody who. exercises fact-based evidence, like the. Enlightenment calls for, was their own. kind of group that was really dangerous.

And so in 1971, you get the Powell memo, which is where the man who goes on to. become Justice Powell writes for the. Chamber of Commerce the idea that the. only way that radical right is going to. get power back is to take over the. universities and the media. And from. that idea that the liberal media is. somehow on the left, which it never was, it was always fact-based, that that. that's the that's a bad thing, you get by the 1990s.

the rise of the Fox News Channel with. the idea that it is fair and balanced. And what they mean by that is that. everybody else, Republicans, independents, Democrats, are going to. have their their media that is. fact-based. But the right-wing has to have its. media, too, which is ideologically. based. It was explicitly not fact-based. But, they constantly pressured that. liberal media to include their point of. view. And now, as you say, they have.

become a both sides thing where they. will prevent present, you know, this is. the facts of the case, but here's the. ideology coming from the radical right. saying, for example, that climate change. isn't real. And we're stuck in this. moment, and we finally have gotten the. rise of independent media, which I I. don't like being called on the left at. all. I am not on the left. What I am is. fact-based. You know, and the facts say climate. change is real. And here the you know, here are the things we need to adjust.

And the facts say that Donald Trump is. corrupt, you know, and that is not a a. political position, that is fact-based. in the facts. And so, that whole idea of. you know, the liberal media being a. negative thing, it was really just a. smear from the radical right to say, well, they're based in facts. >> And I think the fact that there is a. distinction between fact-based media and. right-wing media that is actually. inherently an indictment of right-wing. media, that you can call fact-based.

media the liberal media or the antidote. to what they had. But, I think that is. as big an indictment of what they're. doing as you could possibly find. But, look, I think in terms of fact-based. media, um nobody does it better than. you, and and uh you know, it's it's been. an honor and a pleasure to be able to. speak with you today. And for folks who. are uh just learning who you are, few. though those may be, uh where can they. see and hear more from you? >> Letters from an American is on Substack. and Facebook, and I've got a YouTube. channel, and I'm on Instagram. Sort of.

all the usual places. >> All right. Well, I'm going to link those. in the post description of this video. I'm going to link the YouTube channel. right here on the screen. So, if you're. watching this, please go ahead, click. right now, subscribe to Heather's uh. YouTube channel, and let's help grow. this fact-based ecosystem. Heather, as. always, thank you so much for taking the. time. >> Always a pleasure. >> [music].