So much for loyalty: Red states ‘devastated’ by Trump cuts

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The Briefing with Jen Psaki 41 min 2 speakers 3 chapters transcribed
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What does Jen Psaki think about Democratic leadership?

Jen Psaki 0:09
OK, I was out last week. I stored up a lot of thoughts about all sorts of things. I did watch the whole government funding debacle from afar. It feels to me like it's about time for a really honest conversation about Democratic leadership in Washington right now and what the heck is going on there. So we're definitely going to have that conversation tonight. I have my own thoughts I'm going to share with you, too. There are also some good things happening out there, no doubt. I mean, we're going to talk about those, too. Democrats like Tim Walz held town hall meetings in red districts over the weekend. That's great. Senator Ruben Gallego held a town hall in Phoenix, Arizona, today. He's going to join me later tonight to talk about how that went.
Jen Psaki 0:46
We're also going to talk about the hearing tonight over deportations that just wrapped up. Ryan Riley was in the courtroom. He's hustling over here to the studio, and he's going to tell us about everything that happened in that room and what the judge had to say. But I wanted to start tonight with what I kind of think is one of the unifying principles of this administration. And that is basically their myopic view on owning the libs, as they call it. They love to own the libs. To the extent that they have one goal, owning the libs seems to be that goal. And by that, they mean doing anything they can to offend, humiliate, or destroy things that anyone left of Sean Hannity may possibly care about.
Jen Psaki 1:25
I mean, Donald Trump visited the Kennedy Center for a board meeting today after seizing control of it and making himself the new chair. What a good use of time for a president. The Kennedy Center now, I think all of you probably know what it is, but it's been an arts institution here in Washington, D.C. for over 50 years. Lots of people perform there. All sorts. They're not political. But to Trump, it was too woke and needed to be straightened out. So yes, to own the libs, Trump is basically destroying the Kennedy Center. People are refusing to perform there anymore. And he basically said so himself today.
Host 1:58
We'll make it great again, but it is so much like what I'm witnessing in other places. We have open borders. We have men playing in women's sports. It's all the same thing. It's all the same mentality and thinking.
Jen Psaki 2:11
I mean, it's all the same mentality and thinking. The Kennedy Center, the culture wars, actual policy of any sort, it's all the same thinking to Trump. And it's exactly the same thinking when it comes to the way he and Elon Musk are gutting the federal government. I mean, take NOAA, which is the agency responsible for things like forecasting our weather and tracking climate trends and responding to extreme weather events. Most people accurately see it as an apolitical tool for knowing what the weather is going to be outside, which, hey, we all rely on. A place where a bunch of science nerds prepare for natural disasters. That's what happens in that building. But Project 2025 labeled it as, quote, one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry. Think about how absurd that statement is. This is an agency made up of scientists, scientists who are literally measuring and predicting weather patterns, some of which are caused by, yes, the climate crisis. And they're destroying that agency. That's the goal.
Jen Psaki 3:11
That's front and center for the Trump team. That's what they're trying to do. Now, over the past few weeks, the Trump administration has slashed hundreds of NOAA staff, including people responsible for producing critical weather forecasts and maintaining radar systems, and they're not done. The agency is tasked with cutting an additional 1,000 jobs, which means 10% of its workforce. See, to Donald Trump and his buddy Elon Musk, NOAA is just another woke agency that stirs up climate hysteria. And so it's one of the agencies that has found itself in their crosshairs. But here's the thing. When devastating tornadoes swept across the country this week, it actually wasn't coastal Democrats in their path at all.

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