Rachel Maddow

Have you gone out and held a sign somewhere? And a lot of people, you know, plotted. Yeah, I did. And I was like, oh, wow, like a significant portion of people. And I said, and When you did that, how did it make you feel? And the roar of cheers and applause. Like, I'm getting tears thinking about it right now. Just this wave of, like, yes, this felt good. Yeah.

This was the thing that's happened to me over these hundred days that... felt great and made me want to do more of it. Like I, you know, standing up and holding a sign and being out in the rain and hoping for people to honk for you and have the honk not accompanied by a middle finger and all the rest of it. Some of it sounds good. Some of it doesn't.

This was the thing that's happened to me over these hundred days that... felt great and made me want to do more of it. Like I, you know, standing up and holding a sign and being out in the rain and hoping for people to honk for you and have the honk not accompanied by a middle finger and all the rest of it. Some of it sounds good. Some of it doesn't.

But like the overwhelming reaction from people who are saying like, I did, I put my body out there. I did something physically and it felt good and I want to do more of it. That human emotion around that to me is still, obviously, as you can see right now, very moving. And that, to me, is not just moving at a personal level.

But like the overwhelming reaction from people who are saying like, I did, I put my body out there. I did something physically and it felt good and I want to do more of it. That human emotion around that to me is still, obviously, as you can see right now, very moving. And that, to me, is not just moving at a personal level.

If you look at the political science around what it takes to stop a dictatorship, to stop an authoritarian takeover, to retrieve a democracy, the movement against the authoritarians has to be sustainable and has to grow over time.

If you look at the political science around what it takes to stop a dictatorship, to stop an authoritarian takeover, to retrieve a democracy, the movement against the authoritarians has to be sustainable and has to grow over time.

And the way you do that is you make protest and opposition not only expected and protected, but fun and satisfying and joyful and cathartic, more or less. I mean, cathartic can be good and bad, but I do think that we're seeing that. I think that people who are standing up against Trump and this movement are being rewarded for it both externally and internally.

And the way you do that is you make protest and opposition not only expected and protected, but fun and satisfying and joyful and cathartic, more or less. I mean, cathartic can be good and bad, but I do think that we're seeing that. I think that people who are standing up against Trump and this movement are being rewarded for it both externally and internally.

And I think that means that sort of all systems go in terms of how big the resistance can get, how sustained it can be, and how broad it might ultimately get. I mean, when we see protests in...

And I think that means that sort of all systems go in terms of how big the resistance can get, how sustained it can be, and how broad it might ultimately get. I mean, when we see protests in...

you know idaho and alabama and texas and little rock i saw them on your show yeah yeah yeah when you see that over and it's not just one it's over and over again that's telling you something about not only how big it is already but how big it might get we're gonna sneak in a quick break here when we come back we'll have more with rachel maddow back in a moment

you know idaho and alabama and texas and little rock i saw them on your show yeah yeah yeah when you see that over and it's not just one it's over and over again that's telling you something about not only how big it is already but how big it might get we're gonna sneak in a quick break here when we come back we'll have more with rachel maddow back in a moment

I mean, I guess you're right that you never know what effect... it has to know that other people are doing something. Like, does that make you more or less likely to do it? I don't know.

I mean, I guess you're right that you never know what effect... it has to know that other people are doing something. Like, does that make you more or less likely to do it? I don't know.

But for me, the reason that I started to cover the protests early on is that I felt like we need to do all we can to take the temperature of the people in this moment because it's not the Democratic Party and it's not Joe Biden and it's not, you know, the pundit class that's going to make the decision here about whether or not we accede to this takeover. Right. It's going to be the people.

But for me, the reason that I started to cover the protests early on is that I felt like we need to do all we can to take the temperature of the people in this moment because it's not the Democratic Party and it's not Joe Biden and it's not, you know, the pundit class that's going to make the decision here about whether or not we accede to this takeover. Right. It's going to be the people.

And where are the people at? Well, hey, look. Like, I think the very first thing I covered was that it was somewhere in New England and it was still snowy, like it was January still, I think. Like some, you know, it's always little old ladies who start it because they are the pulsing, beating heart of American democracy. Yes. Turned up at a Tesla charging station in some little town in New England.

And where are the people at? Well, hey, look. Like, I think the very first thing I covered was that it was somewhere in New England and it was still snowy, like it was January still, I think. Like some, you know, it's always little old ladies who start it because they are the pulsing, beating heart of American democracy. Yes. Turned up at a Tesla charging station in some little town in New England.

And it was the first protests that I think that we covered. The first thing that I think I'd seen, certainly the first one focused on Elon Musk and Tesla. And it made me wonder like, oh, right, there's Tesla infrastructure, Tesla charging stations and Tesla dealerships and stuff. everywhere, all over the country.