Trump opposition finds its footing, from streets to courts to Congress
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What is the focus of the protests in Washington D.C.?
But ahead of that storm, this was Washington today. Tons of people in the streets. People turned out just outside the U.S. Capitol, Upper Senate Park. to protest, to support the civil service, support the people who work for the government, to protest our government being dismantled by President Trump and, of course, by his top campaign donor.
This administration maintains that they're going to boost efficiency, but they are doing the most inefficient things imaginable. And I'm not just saying that quite literally. The most inefficient thing you could possibly do is take American taxpayer dollars and pay people not to work.
Who is Reverend William Barber and what is his message?
They are afraid of you. Trump and Musk and the oligarchs they work for, they are scared of your power. But they are betting that you will be afraid of them. So afraid that you will accept a buyout or comply in advance with their assertion of absolute power. But we know a president is not a king unless we bow. A dictator is not a dictator unless we bow. Our knees, your knees are not made for bowing to power drunk neofascists. We bow only to God. Yeah! To everybody else, we stand and speak truth to power. We stand tall. When they attack workers, we stand tall because whenever wannabe dictators have tried to take over throughout history, they always start with workers. Yeah! Hear me now, they always start with government workers who are committed to a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And they know as long as workers stay together and fight, haters can't win.
Reverend William Barber, civil rights leader, also speaking there, Kenny Robertson, the national vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees. But this is a big protest today in Washington, D.C., in support of federal civil servants, the people who work in the U.S. government, a support for them and also a protest in defiance of what we're seeing from the Trump administration to try to effectively destroy as much as they can of the federal government. This follows an equally large and energetic protest yesterday, also in D.C., this one outside the headquarters of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, one of the agencies that Trump is trying to just unilaterally shut down, even though that legally does not appear to be within his power.
How are protests targeting Elon Musk and the Trump administration?
This protest yesterday at the CFPB noted, among other things, people at that protest noted that this agency, for example, is handling hundreds of consumer complaints about Tesla, the car company owned by Elon Musk. This is an agency that would be overseeing the new thing Elon Musk just announced about his social media company, which used to be called Twitter. He wants you now to be able to use that social media platform, not just for all your needs for posting about weird Nazi race science and threats against reporters or whatever. He now also wants you to be able to use that social media platform as the place where you do all your banking and keep all your money. Because, yeah, trust him, what could possibly go wrong?
He announced that just weeks ago before he went to war against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is the government agency that would be overseeing and regulating that genius use Twitter as a payment service idea, which Musk just announced. Now he's announced that he's killed that agency himself, effectively unilaterally, thanks to the power vested in him as the president's top campaign donor. That's not how the law works. He doesn't get a unilateral say in what government agencies we have in America. And these people doorstopping the CFPB's headquarters yesterday in Washington, including lots of elected officials and lots of people who weren't elected officials. That was all part of telling him that he does not necessarily get his way here. You see some of the signs here. Hands off our CFPB. Elon is stealing your data. Thanks, federal workers. Stay strong. CFPB protects Americans.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the focus of the protests in Washington D.C.?
0:20–1:03
2
Who is Reverend William Barber and what is his message?
1:03–2:57
3
How are protests targeting Elon Musk and the Trump administration?
2:57–9:30
4
What legal challenges is the Trump administration facing?
9:30–14:57
5
How are congressional members responding to concerns about Musk?
14:57–21:20
6
What actions are being taken against the dismantling of government agencies?
21:20–46:36
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Rachel Maddow Show
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