LEMON DROP | Rep. Ayanna Pressley on Fighting the Trump Agenda
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Today, I'm grateful to be chatting with one of the brightest stars within the Democratic Party, and that is, you see her on the screen, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. She's represented Massachusetts' 7th District since 2019, a proud member of the squad, and a good friend to this show. How are you?
It's good to be with you.
Thank you. It's good to have you. It's good to see you. Congresswoman, can we talk about start with what's just happened with the Supreme Court and specifically this 6-3 ruling relating to nationwide injunctions and birthright citizenship?
How did Rep. Ayanna Pressley react to the Supreme Court ruling on nationwide injunctions and birthright citizenship?
What was your reaction when this decision was dropped?
It's deeply disturbing. You know, in order to be disappointed, you have to be surprised. And I'm not surprised. You know, the Supreme Court has been enlisted really as co-conspirators. This far-right Supreme Court enlisted as co-conspirators and accomplices in this extremist far-right march. But it's a harmful ruling. It's going to undermine the judiciary's ability to really rein in Trump's lawless agenda and to hold him accountable. And they've really just become nothing more than a rubber stamp for his extreme agenda. And I think Justice Sotomayor really said it best. I'll paraphrase. I think essentially what she was saying is like, no right is safe under this new legal regime for the courts.
It seems that this administration is really flouting the authority of, well, the Supreme Court is in his pocket, obviously, but flouting even the authority of the legislative branch, the judicial branch, et cetera. It's got to be concerning for you as a member of Congress and especially looking at this today and your comments that you just made that this is, I mean, he thinks he's a king and that he can just say and do whatever he wants.
Yeah, that's the problem. And the courts are supposed to be a check on the president. But again, they've been enlisted as co-conspirators and accomplices in this march towards authoritarianism. So it's deeply disturbing. I hope they ultimately strike down the constitutional executive order on birthright citizenship and uphold the 14th Amendment. But these days, whenever we know that a number of rulings are going to be coming out, we're all sort of holding our breath, embracing for impact.
What do you say to members in your district who are concerned about this?
Well, you know, I'm somebody that in order to chart a path forward, I like to look back. And what history has shown us is that appeasement does not work. So what I need people to understand is that like what Audre Lorde said, your silence will not save you. And so they're flooding the zone. We have to match their energy. Everything they're doing is unprecedented, unconstitutional. And we have to match that energy with unprecedented organizing, mobilizing, litigation, legislation. But we cannot just accept this dark reality. dystopian view for our country, this make America Jim Crow and then some vision for our country as an inevitability. And then the final thing I would just say, since occupant Trump, you know, I never call him
president. He's occupying the Oval Office. You know, he's a dictator. And so, Don, what does a dictator want? They want a citizenry that is ignorant and uninformed. That's why I'm so grateful for your platform. They want a citizenry that's indifferent to the suffering of their neighbors, which is why I've been so heartened by the outcry of people trying to, like me, to stop this reconciliation bill from becoming law because they know the harm it'll cause for themselves and their neighbors. I've been so heartened by the outcry of people rallying around members of our community being disappeared without any due process. And finally, a dictator wants a citizenry that's inactive. So again, they want us to be ignorant and uninformed.
They want us to be indifferent to the suffering of our neighbors, and they want us to be inactive. So you have to counter all of that.
Yeah. Thank you for that. Another decision that made waves today was is Mahmoud versus Taylor. The court ruled that public schools in Maryland must allow parents with religious objections to withdraw their children from classes in which books with LGBTQ themes are discussed.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:13–0:43
2
How did Rep. Ayanna Pressley react to the Supreme Court ruling on nationwide injunctions and birthright citizenship?
0:43–5:55
3
What does Rep. Pressley say about the courts' role in checking presidential power?
5:55–11:47
4
How should constituents respond to perceived threats to civil rights and democracy?
11:47–21:20
5
Why does Rep. Pressley argue 'books save lives' and how is she fighting book bans?
21:20–33:04
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Don Lemon Show
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