The Manosphere Report

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0:5761 % of knowledge workers manage work more than doing it, switching apps 1 ,000

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3:33Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

4:55Thank you. Let's get started.

6:11Let's get started. Let's get started.

6:51Let's get started. Let's get started.

7:02Let's get started. Some of you may know that giving a State of the Union

7:11address, or at least a report, is part of the job of the president.

7:17It's constitutionally required. So in a great shift, Donald Trump is following the law tonight.

7:27Why are we boycotting? Why are we boycotting the State of the Union?

7:33We're boycotting because we know that Donald Trump's State of the Union will bear no

7:39resemblance to what's actually happening in this country today.

7:42He will lie, distort, and ignore the real stories.

7:48He's not going to talk about the killings of innocent people.

7:52He's not going to talk about the thousands of people who are afraid every day

7:58because of ice roaming their streets.

8:02He's not going to talk about the victims of Jeffrey Epstein.

8:05And he will not talk about the millions of people who have lost their health

8:10care on his watch. But move on, members, the millions of people who have been

8:16protesting at No Kings protests, the American people, we know the true state of our

8:22union. We've seen it, and we're living it, and it is not normal.

8:28We have asked our leaders this last year, don't treat this like business as usual.

8:34Fight for us. Folks, tonight, we're coming out swinging.

8:44And we're making history with the largest organized boycott of any State of the Union

8:50ever. Behind me on this stage are members of Congress and their guests who have

9:00all personally experienced the harms of the Trump administration.

9:04They represent millions more. They represent all of us.

9:08I want to personally thank our members of Congress here tonight for your act of

9:13defiance, for breaking a norm to stand up for our values.

9:18And I want to thank our special guests who you're going to hear from tonight

9:23for your courage. You represent the best of America.

9:27And you make us all want to be brave.

9:30This moment is only possible because of people's bravery.

9:35The first boycott of the State of the Union was conducted by the founders of

9:41the Congressional Black Caucus during the Nixon administration.

9:44We honor their example. We honor the millions of patriots who've turned out over the

9:52last year in marches across this country.

9:56And we honor every person who showed up, who's risked something, who's cared for a

10:03neighbor, even when it was safer to do nothing.

10:09That courage led the way to this moment, but we have to make sure that

10:14the road doesn't stop here.

10:16We need you, everybody joining us here on the Capitol Mall tonight, and everybody watching

10:22online, come to the March 28th No Kings protest and stand up for this country.

10:32Before I introduce our hosts for tonight, I just want to give a special thanks

10:37to all of the people behind the scenes.

10:39means who helped to make tonight happen.

10:41Move on staff, the staff who serve our congressional representatives and senators here tonight, our

10:47partners, thank you so much.

10:49This is no small task to put on a historic event to fight for our

10:54country. Thank you. And now I'd like to introduce you to our hosts, independent journalists

11:03Joy Reid and Katie Fang.

11:05And while they come to the stage, I want to thank you for being here.

11:10I want to thank you for being brave.

11:12And I want to thank you for being a part of building the America we

11:17can all be proud of.

11:19Thank you. Welcome. Well, hi.

11:31Well, hello there. Hello, everybody.

11:33Good evening, everyone. Are you guys excited to be here?

11:36Let's hear it. And not in there?

11:38That's right. Come on. I am Joy Reid, host of the Joy Reid Show.

11:42And I'm Katie Fang, host of the Katie Fang News Channel.

11:45And we are both exes of the artists formerly known as MSNBC.

11:49We are so excited to be here.

11:51Please give one more round of applause to these members.

11:55To our members of Congress.

11:56Yes. Let's hear it. They had the courage to not be here.

11:59So Katie, the reason that I am so excited to be here is that, as

12:04we just heard from the wonderful folks at MoveOn and Midas Touch, please give them

12:07a round of applause. Please.

12:10It takes courage to stand out.

12:13It does. And look, if you turn around and you look amongst us, it's not

12:18just the people that are here.

12:19It's hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people in the United States and across

12:24the world that are defending democracy, but they need the courage and the bravery of

12:28our members of Congress and our electeds to make sure that democracy is defended.

12:34Indeed. And so tonight we are not going to hear a false state of the

12:40union. We are going to hear the true state of our union from the people

12:45who are being impacted by the policies that are taking place at the hands of

12:51someone who has demonstrated no love for the constitution, for the truth, or for the

12:57care and concern of the American people.

12:59It's much more important to hear what people are truly facing and going through.

13:04That's what you're going to hear tonight.

13:05The American people deserve the truth.

13:08They do not need more lies from this regime.

13:13So tonight you are going to hear people that have been impacted directly by the

13:19bullshit of this administration. Amen.

13:23And because I'm also a church girl.

13:27Sorry, Joy, for my language.

13:28Oh no, I'm a cussing Christian, sis.

13:31It's all good. I'm a cussing Christian.

13:33But we want to start off this night by doing something that I think is

13:37so important, Katie. And that is reclaiming the Christian voice from white Christian nationalism.

13:45That's right. Which not only threatens our freedom, but also threatens a very important faith

13:52throughout this world. Christianity is not what you have been sold by Project 2025.

13:58So right now to do our invocation, meaning we're going to invoke the spirit of

14:03freedom, liberty, and justice. Please put your hands together for the reverend Paul Brandeis Rauschenbusch.

14:18Thank you, Joy and Katie.

14:21Hello, everybody. Hello, America. Let me start by saying that my soul is so glad

14:29to be here with the people's state of the union.

14:34I come to you as the president of interfaith alliance and as a Baptist minister

14:40with good news. We, the people, have the power.

14:48Is that good news? All across America, people of diverse faiths and beliefs are showing

14:57up, are speaking out, and are proving that love for our neighbors and commitment to

15:05our democracy will prevail against the cruelty, democracy, immorality, and authoritarianism of this administration.

15:17Let me speak plainly as an American and as a Baptist minister.

15:25The Trump administration is the most hostile to religious freedom in generations.

15:33elections. They attack any religious leader or community not in lockstep with their political agenda.

15:44The White House, the Pentagon, the Department of Justice, and ICE have weaponized religion for

15:54their white Christian nationalist crusade, which attempts to define who is a true American, conveniently

16:04made in their own image.

16:07and relegate all the rest of us to second -class status.

16:12While President Lincoln famously prayed to be on God's side, Trump instead blasphemously boasts that

16:25God is, in fact, on his side.

16:28In Trump's mind, God is little more than a divine mascot for his political team.

16:39But enough about that unpopular man.

16:43Tonight, we will focus and celebrate the we, the people of America.

16:52Tonight, we will recognize all those to whom harm has been done.

16:59But we will also give thanks for the brave witness of the faith and community

17:06leaders in Minnesota, in Chicago, in Charlotte, in Portland, and here in Washington, D .C.,

17:14and in towns large and small everywhere across America who are standing up against the

17:21abuse and inhumanity of ICE.

17:25We give thanks for every single person around this country who has put their faith

17:30or values into action by resisting government -sanctioned cruelty with moral courage and solidarity with

17:40our neighbors from every background.

17:43We give thanks to God for the power and the promise of love and what

17:53Dr. King called the beloved community that is both coming and present now if we

18:02choose to make it real in our democracy.

18:06I believe we are in the midst of the next great awakening in America, a

18:13spiritual movement dedicated to creating a nation where every person has dignity and value, where

18:20every community and faith tradition is treated equally, and nobody gets left behind this time.

18:28We, the people, have the power out of many through love.

18:33May we be one. My friends, the spiritual state of our union is strong.

18:43So help us, God. Amen.

18:48Amen. Amen. All right. Now, y 'all should be well in the spirit at this

18:58point. Is everybody in the spirit?

19:01That's what I'm talking about.

19:02That's right. We're going to call the spirit of our ancestors to make sure that

19:05we do justice on tonight.

19:06And we are going to start with one of the true fighters in the United

19:12States Senate and his very important guest.

19:15So please put your hands together for Senator Chris Murphy and...

19:18Farishtay Ghanjavi. Thank you. Good evening, America.

19:28I want you first to give a big round of applause to my guest, refugee

19:33and immigrant advocate from Connecticut, Farishtay Ghanjavi.

19:43...speech tonight because Donald Trump is making a mockery of this great institution and he

19:48doesn't deserve an audience. I'm not at the State of the Union speech tonight because

19:54these are not normal times and Democrats have to stop behaving normally.

20:02And I'm not at the State of the Union speech tonight because you're not going

20:05to hear about the State of the Union.

20:08You are going to hear lie after lie.

20:11You are going to hear attack after attack.

20:14You are going to see grandstanding.

20:16The true State of the Union is this.

20:19This union is in crisis right now.

20:23Our, by lawless law enforcement, our democracy is wilting under ceaseless attack from a president

20:32who wants to be a despot.

20:34Millions of Americans are losing their health care because the president has chosen corruption to

20:40pad the pockets of his billionaire friends instead of helping average Americans.

20:45You're not going to hear any of that in that speech tonight.

20:48But by being here for the People's State of the Union, you are going to

20:53hear the real story of America, a story of an America that is under siege,

20:58but a story of America that is not going to take it, that is going

21:02to fight back, and is going to reclaim this country for everything that is good

21:07and right about the United States of America.

21:12Ferris Day is going to talk to you tonight about the state of immigrant and

21:16refugee America. ICE is out of control.

21:20It is disappearing legal immigrants.

21:23It is tear -gassing elementary schools.

21:27It is murdering American citizens.

21:30Right now, as you know, the Department of Homeland...

21:34Security is shut down and I just want to be very clear with you about

21:39my position and I think the position of many others who will stand on this

21:42stage tonight. Not one more dime for the Department of Homeland Security until they start

21:49following the law in this country.

21:57Fairstay came to this country over a decade ago coming to the United States from

22:04a refugee camp. She told me just off stage that this is the moment.

22:11This is the reason that she came here to the United States to speak truth

22:17to power, to explain the trials and tribulations that every immigrant and every refugee goes

22:24through to get here and to press this country to the border.

22:29I stuck in the border.

22:30Go Trump. Go Trump. Thanks, man.

22:35Thanks, buddy. Listen, guys. Fairstay is here to lift us up to a common purpose

22:47and to a common goal to understand that the best of America lies in how

22:53we treat those who have arrived to this country fleeing terror and torture and desperation.

23:00We have work to do, guys.

23:02We have a mission that we need to complete and I want you to welcome

23:07to the podium my my friend, Fairstay Ganjave.

23:18Good evening, everyone. Since arriving in the United States as a refugee in 2011, I

23:29have educated more than 7 ,000 refugees.

23:35Especially women interning the workforce now thriving as educators, health workers, and essential service providers.

23:50Each becoming a lighthouse for others.

23:58Partnering with over 100 universities across the country and help young students launch career in

24:10embassies, public services, leadership programs, and enter to the top medical and law schools.

24:21For years, I advocated for immigration rights.

24:27I founded Elena's Light, an organization to support families in Connecticut.

24:36And I'm proud of work over the years that we did.

24:46Thank you. I'm here today, now standing next to my favorite senator, Senator Murphy, to

24:58speak with the voice I'm so proud of.

25:04Since the recent election, my phone has not stopped ringing.

25:15Mothers have called me asking it is safe to go to my child's appointment.

25:24Women have asked if they should cancel English classes.

25:32Afghan families and many immigrant families are confused about their legal stats and afraid to

25:43travel for work, even within their own states.

25:58Fear is not abstract. Fear is not abstract.

26:02It is in our classroom.

26:04It is in our clinics.

26:07It is in our homes.

26:10Families feel unstable. We are living in uncertain society these days.

26:21Because of this, advocacy in Connecticut has shifted.

26:27Organizations on the ground like ours are spending more time on Know Your Rights training.

26:38Policies are shifted quickly and we must help families with rapid response needs.

26:47Preparing families with documentation for when their family members get kidnapped.

26:57And working closely with legal and health policies.

27:02And working closely with legal and health policies.

27:02partners to support families struggling after Trump's health care cuts.

27:10But as hard as we try, we cannot replace health insurance.

27:19That our elderly, our children, our people with disabilities can no longer access.

27:27We cannot guarantee safety or peace of mind for the worker who keep our communities

27:37running every day. This administration needs to stop separating families, mothers, kids, and our future

27:52generation who will become our caretaker, our lawyers, our teachers, and our politicians.

28:02Our community members need safety and peace of mind to work.

28:13Leadership matters at the federal level.

28:17We need real leaders. We need a stable federal support for integration and mental and

28:30medical health services. And we need policies rooted in dignity and education.

28:40As families can focus on building our shared community and future.

28:48When families feel secure, they build.

28:53When mothers feel safe, they lead.

28:58When children feel stable, they dream.

29:02And when we protect our people, we estrain the entire nation.

29:13This is not politics, this is humanity.

29:20This is America. This is America.

29:24This is America. Thank you.

29:37All right, everybody. One note.

29:41We just want to do sort of one housekeeping note.

29:43Attention all MAGA Trolls. And with apologies to the pastor who gave the invocation, your

29:52bullshit is not welcome here.

29:57And to paraphrase one of my favorite actors in the world, Robert De Niro, I'm

30:02going to slightly paraphrase him.

30:04Fuck y 'all. We're here to hear the truth and to hear from impacted people,

30:10not to see or hear from you.

30:12So go back and pay attention to your orange lying friend.

30:16Now coming to the stage is one of the reasons that we are finally getting

30:21some of those files released.

30:23Everybody say release the files, release the files.

30:28Coming to the stage now is Pennsylvania's fighting 12 representative representative Summer Lee.

30:34She is one of the main reasons that we're getting some of those files.

30:37She's going to be reading a story from Monica Ruiz, the executive director of Casa

30:42San Jose, waiting to keep families together and reform our unjust immigration system, all while

30:48her family is now being impacted by ICE.

30:51Representative Lee. Whew. What a start to the evening.

31:02But good evening one way or another.

31:04I am Summer Lee, representing Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district.

31:08And I'm proud to stand here this evening with move on with organizers, with workers

31:13and with everyday people who refuse to sit quietly while our country is pushed to

31:18the brink. Right now. Donald Trump is preparing to deliver his made up version of

31:25the state of the union.

31:27He's going to tell a familiar story tonight that the economy is booming, that our

31:31communities are safer and that the America and that America is stronger than it's ever

31:36been all because of him.

31:38But we know the truth.

31:40We're living the truth. We know the fear that our families are facing of being

31:45hunted down by ICE. We know our neighbors are working two or three jobs to

31:50make ends meet, that their health care has been gutted and their federal jobs have

31:55been eliminated by the thousands.

31:56We know our education systems and unions are being targeted because they threaten authoritarian power

32:03and they want us fighting each other so we don't pay attention to what they're

32:08stealing from us. And I mean all of us, Democrats and Republicans and independents, young

32:15folks and old folks and black folks, whether you're in a red or a blue

32:18state, whether you're in rural towns or factory communities, because corruption doesn't check your voter

32:24registration before it robs you.

32:29And while they're taking all of us, their nation...

32:30Immigrant communities right now, they're cutting health care, they're gutting worker protection, they're union busting,

32:36they're handing tax breaks to billionaires and sending the bill to the rest of us.

32:41That's the con, that's the scam, and working people are done falling for it.

32:49Tonight, I was supposed to be joined by my good friend and neighbor, Monica Ruiz.

32:55Monica is a mother, a community organizer, and a powerful advocate for immigrants' rights.

33:01She was ready to bring that fight from Pittsburgh to D .C.

33:05to remind folks who and what she has been fighting for relentlessly.

33:10But right now, Monica's family is in crisis as it's being targeted by ICE.

33:16Her son -in -law, Victor, was followed by agents unprompted after he dropped his brother

33:20off at work. They pulled him over without cause.

33:24There was no traffic violation, no expire tag, just a man who looked brown enough

33:29to be dragged to one of the worst detention centers in the country.

33:33Meanwhile, just the other day, Monica's daughter, Adriana, just gave birth to a baby girl

33:39who has yet to meet her father because he's been locked up by this lawless

33:43agency. Victor has been in the country for 18 years, 18 years of working to

33:50build a life for himself, his loved ones, and now his new family.

33:55That is the real state of our union, where families are being torn apart and

34:00traumatized, where corporations get more say in our democracy than the people.

34:03We elect where the government would rather protect powerful people and the Epstein files than

34:08the women and the girls who were sexually abused.

34:11We live in a country where we have one reality for everyday people and another

34:15for the rich and the well -connected and the well -protected.

34:18We have to change that.

34:20We have to meet the moment with bold policies that level the playing field and

34:25deliver justice no matter how much money you have to your name.

34:29That's why earlier today, I announced that I'll be introducing articles of impeachment against Pam

34:36Bondi. Trump's DOJ continues to obstruct justice and refusing to comply with our subpoena to

34:45release the full, unredacted Epstein files.

34:49Bondi must be held accountable for that.

34:51And let's not forget, it was Trump who said it first, release the files.

34:55So we'll keep that call up no matter what, because where I come from in

34:59Western Pennsylvania, we know what it means to be abandoned by politicians who make big

35:04promises and lie and deliver nothing.

35:07We know what it's like when the factories close, when the hospitals cut services, when

35:11the schools can't afford to teach, when the corporations are given permission to poison our

35:14water, our air and our communities without consequences.

35:17And we know that no matter what language you speak, what zip code you live

35:21in, we all feel that pain and we are all being squeezed by the same

35:25rigged system. So when Trump points the fingers at immigrants, our trans kids, our protesters,

35:29our journalists understand what he's doing.

35:32He's trying to make sure we never point the finger where it belongs, at the

35:36billionaires and the corporations looting our economy, robbing our people and buying our democracy right

35:42from address. But here's the truth that they're afraid of.

35:45Working people are waking up.

35:47Across this country, folks are organizing labor and their money.

35:51They're refusing to be silent in the face of authoritarianism.

35:53But we know fear is their weapon, but solidarity is our power.

35:57So tonight, while Trump paints his fantasy version of America, we're grounded in America, in

36:03reality, and we're building something better.

36:05In America where we have Medicare for all, every job that pays a living wage,

36:09where no one fears being ripped away from their family.

36:12That is the America we're fighting for.

36:14And later tonight, I'll be delivering the Working Families Party response to the State of

36:18the Union, laying out exactly what it will take to build an economy and a

36:23democracy that works for all of us, not just the working few.

36:26So I'm asking you to stay engaged, stay fired up and tune in tonight because

36:31this is about building a movement that is big enough to defeat authoritarianism, to stand

36:36up to corporate power and rooted in a simple belief that when working people come

36:40together across race, across geography and across whatever lines they try to divide us by,

36:46we are unstoppable. So all power to the people and thank you all for being

36:50with us tonight. Well, hell yeah, that's how we do it.

37:04Coming up next, a man who doesn't suffer fools from the great state of Arizona.

37:10We've got Senator Ruben Gallego.

37:12He's going to be talking about a man by the name of Steve Gomez.

37:16Steve is a father of three from Gilbert, Arizona, and for the last five years,

37:21Steve and his family have relied on the Affordable Care Act marketplace for their insurance.

37:28But let me be clear, because of Republicans and Donald Trump's big bullshit bill, now

37:36Steve has to decide what he's going to cut to be able to afford health

37:41care for his child. Senator Ruben Gallego.

37:52Listen, you know how important this is?

37:55I'm from Arizona. This is cold.

37:57So I'm from Arizona. I'm from Arizona.

37:57I'm here at Santa Cruz, Arizona, who's going to be at patience.

37:57Whenever we've beenotomous of Arizona, 30 to 11 to 11 to 12, go to San

37:57Antonio. but let's be clear what's happening there they want to call that the state

38:04of the union it is the state of denial because what's going to happen under

38:09that capital is a bunch of lies lies that Donald Trump the Republicans are going

38:14to tell us about how great this country is doing right now but what is

38:18true what is happening right now is that Donald Trump the Republicans have made this

38:22country sicker poor and less secure sicker poor and less secure how do it starts

38:30as soon as they got in there what did they do they went they cut

38:35Medicaid and they cut food stamps millions of Americans right now are without health care

38:41the poorest of our country are trying to figure out how to make ends meet

38:45and how to pay for that grocery bill because they needed an extra billion dollars

38:50for the billionaire friends and when they had whatever money they have left over then

38:55they used it to hire the most amount of ice agents to have the massive

38:59amount deportation we have now that are also targeting US citizens racial profiling Americans arresting

39:06Latino veterans and tell them you are not part of this country and make them

39:09prove that they're Americans when nobody asked to prove our citizenship when they were sending

39:14us to war for this country sicker poor and more secure less secure less secure

39:21let me tell you what else every day every American is trying to figure out

39:25how to buy food how to pay rent how to pay that mortgage how to

39:30get a car and this president has done nothing to help that a thousand dollars

39:35per average every American has to pay for his tax increases and now the corporations

39:42are going to get all their money back is every American going to get a

39:45refund for the $1 ,000 mistake that this president did no not only that he's

39:50going to double down he's going to say screw you Supreme Court I want to

39:54do 15 percent tax and guess what all of you Americans going to pay for

39:58it and now we have to figure out again how are we going to pay

40:01for our rent how are we going to pay for electricity how are we going

40:03to actually pay for everyday food we are poorer because of Donald Trump and the

40:09Republicans and let's talk about security let's talk about security in two weeks two Americans

40:16were gunned down by federal mass agents in front of our eyes in front of

40:22your eyes and then they try to lie to you you saw with your own

40:26eyes two Americans expressing their first amendment rights and they said to you that they

40:31deserve to die two Americans two thousand federal agents mass federal agents suppressing citizens in

40:40Minnesota acting as if they're a military occupation you do not military occupy anything in

40:47any part of this country those are US citizens they deserve the right to free

40:51speech they've served the right to say there's something wrong in that community and they

40:55deserve the right to protect themselves and say I will not stand for this I

40:59will evoke my first amendment rights and get out of my city let's be clear

41:04no matter what they say they are going to lie to you and I'm not

41:09saying this just because I'm just another politician I'm telling you because I have heard

41:14it we talked about Steve Gomez Steve Gomez wanted to do everything he could not

41:20not to have to accept subsidies for his kids he wants to provide he wants

41:26to continue to have his personal business he wants to be a responsible citizen now

41:32he has to make that decision he has to make a decision right now will

41:37I continue to pay for this very expensive health care or like gamble why pay

41:43for my health care or why pay the mortgage that decision was forced upon him

41:49by uncaring Republican administration by uncaring Trump who only wants to find more and more

41:56money to give more and more tax cuts to the riches of the country that

41:59do not eat it do not need it right now they're making us sicker poorer

42:04and less secure let's change that America we are better than what is under that

42:11capital right now we can make this country again the best country in the world

42:15where everyone is richer where everyone is more secure and we are proud of everyday

42:21work that we can say that America is getting better will be better and will

42:26one day be the best thank you so much stay in the fight all right

42:39all right y 'all okay you're doing all right how many of you remember Kilmar

42:44Abrego Garcia how many guys remember Kilmar wave your hand if you remember well coming

42:48to the stage is the man who had the courage the cojones to go and

42:52find him at Seacock and oh look at that the my fans are back what

42:58I always say is you know who I am and I don't know who you

43:03are that means you're a fan you're a fan you're a fan you're a fan

43:07go ahead and keep on standing me keep on standing me because I don't know

43:10who the hell you are but you know me hallelujah keep on being my fan

43:14uh coming to the stage is the great Chris Van Holland Senator Chris Van Hollen

43:18of the great state of Maryland he'll be joined by Jenna Norton a public health

43:23scientist focused on health equity and data standards to improve health outcomes in kidney and

43:29urologic diseases. She was a lead organizer of the Bethesda Declaration, a whistleblower letter to

43:35the NIH director and members of Congress detailing this harm.

43:39In November 2025, she was placed on retaliatory administrative leave.

43:44So you're going to want to give her a major round of applause.

43:47Senator Van Holland. Hello, American patriots all.

44:01We are gathered here in this place because we love our country.

44:09And we know that our democracy is not on automatic pilot.

44:15And we know that we the people must mobilize to save it.

44:19Are you out here to save our democracy?

44:23And you're going to hear from a moment from my guest, who is a research

44:28scientist at NIH, who was able to stand up and speak truth to power.

44:35And you're going to hear her tonight tell that story.

44:38Thank you for being here, Dr.

44:40Norton. Now we know the state of our union.

44:47We know it is under attack from a lawless president who is shredding our constitution

44:53and who is attacking our democracy.

44:57A president whose private ICE army executes Americans and then calls the victims of victims,

45:07domestic terrorists. That is what Donald Trump and his administration said.

45:12We are here because we know our country is being robbed by the most corrupt

45:18president in American history, who is exploiting the Oval Office to enrich himself, his families

45:26and his billionaire buddies. A president who continues to hide portions of the Epstein files

45:36from both the survivors and the American people.

45:39When are they going to release the files?

45:46A president who wants to erase our history.

45:50Are we going to let him erase America's history?

45:53No. A president who promised that on day one he would bring down the costs.

46:02But instead, ever since he was sworn in, we've seen prices and costs go up

46:08on the American people, even as he refuses to extend tax cuts, tax credits that

46:14help people afford their health care.

46:18We have a president who seeks not to build a more perfect union, but one

46:23who wants to tear it down.

46:26And a president who said he would stop wars, who said he would stop wars

46:31but instead is responsible for war crimes and as we speak is threatening more wars.

46:39We need to stop him.

46:41We are gathered here because we know that we cannot pretend that any of this

46:48is normal. And that we will not and must not pretend that this is business

46:54as usual. We must get in the way of Donald Trump's march toward fascism.

47:01We cannot take our country down that road.

47:06And what Donald Trump wants to do is what we know all bullies do.

47:12All dictators do. He wants to intimidate all of us.

47:17He wants us to sit obediently and quietly while he lies and lies and lies

47:25to the American people. In other words, he wants us to shut up and sit

47:30down. So I have a question for all of you patriots.

47:34Are you going to shut up?

47:36Hell no. Are you going to sit down?

47:41Hell no. We're not going to stand down.

47:44We're going to stand up just like the people in Minneapolis who have taken to

47:51the streets, who are blowing the whistle to protect their neighbors and to protect our

47:57constitution, and who are getting in the way of the president's efforts to tear down

48:02our country. Now, look, we know Donald Trump is unpopular and we know he knows

48:12he's unpopular. So tonight, right up that hill in the United States Capitol, he's going

48:19to pretend that he really wants to help working Americans.

48:26He's going to pretend that he does want to bring down those prices.

48:34And we know that that is not what he wants because just a few weeks

48:41ago, when we talked about the affordability crisis, he said that was a big hoax.

48:47Do you remember? He said that was a hoax.

48:51Well, it's real. It's real.

48:53It's real. And we all need to make sure that we put forward ideas to

48:57deal with it. So in my view, it's not enough that we hold the line

49:03against Donald Trump, that we must do.

49:06But let's face it, we also need to show the American people that we are

49:10willing to stand up and fight against big corporate special interests to the benefit of

49:16all of the American people.

49:18Are we going to do that together?

49:23Because we need to make sure that we unrig a tax code, a tax code

49:29that right now favors people who make money off of money over people who earn

49:36a check through their hard work.

49:38Are we going to change that?

49:40We need to make sure that all of you don't pay high electric bills so

49:47data centers that are owned by the richest corporations on the planet can make more

49:52money. Are we going to make sure that your electricity bills don't go up for

49:57them? And we need to make sure that big oil and the biggest polluters don't

50:04pass on the check to all of us because polluters should pay.

50:10And we need to make sure that big tech doesn't write all the rules, that

50:16we write the rules, and we make sure that AI doesn't strip Americans of the

50:21dignity of work. Are we going to do that?

50:25And we're going to make sure they can't snuff out the light on the Statue

50:29of Liberty. Are we right about that, my fellow Americans?

50:34So look, we have a lot of work to do.

50:38And I'm often asked by people, when's the Calvary coming?

50:44Where are they? And my message to you, and you know this because you're here,

50:49is you are the Calvary.

50:52You are we the people.

50:55I know all of you remember that right after he was sworn in, Donald Trump

51:00began his unlawful assault on hardworking federal employees.

51:06Federal employees who work every day to deliver services to the American people.

51:13You remember he brought in Elon Musk, who took out his chainsaw not to make

51:20government more efficient, but to rig the government in favor of billionaires like him.

51:27One of the people who stood up and spoke out was Dr.

51:32Jenna Norton. A career public health researcher at the National Institutes of Health.

51:41Dr. Norton blew the whistle on the outrageous actions that threaten the health and well

51:47-being of the American people.

51:49And she has been retaliated against because she was willing to stand up and tell

51:55the truth. But here's what we all know, when the history of this moment is

52:01written, the politicians and the law firms and the universities and the corporations who appease

52:08the bullies will be exposed as the cowards they are.

52:14And the people who are standing up to save our democracy like all of you

52:19gathered here today today, and people like Dr.

52:22Norton, they will be remembered as those who preserved our Constitution and our democracy.

52:30So, ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to Dr.

52:34Jenna Norton. Thank you, Senator Van Hollen.

52:44I'm so honored to be here today speaking up with so many other brave people

52:50in my personal capacity. As Senator Van Hollen noted, in November of 2025, I was

52:58placed on administrative leave from the job that I loved at the National Institutes of

53:03Health, because I blew the whistle on the wrongdoing that I saw there.

53:09The Trump administration put research participants and public health at risk by a… Is that

53:19better? So, thank you, Senator Van Hollen, and thank you for letting me know that

53:25you couldn't hear me. I am very honored to be here today with all of

53:30the brave folks who have been speaking up, and I am here in my personal

53:33capacity. So as Senator Van Hollen noted, I was placed on administrative leave in November

53:40of last year because I spoke up about the wrongdoing that I was seeing in

53:46a job that I used to love at the National Institutes of Health until it

53:50was fundamentally changed. The Trump administration put research participants and public health at risk when

53:58they abruptly terminated NIH studies.

54:02By halting these studies, they also wasted taxpayer resources.

54:06When you halt a study, a five -year study, a $5 million study, four years

54:13in, you don't save $1 million, you waste $4 million.

54:18Pat soldiers, two years in to 4 $2 million.

54:18Jeez! Thank you. and they continue to this day to censor research in violation of

54:26the courts erasing people from science who don't fit their vision black people hispanic people

54:33immigrants lgbtq plus people all americans who deserve to have their unique research needs addressed

54:41they are creating a science that serves the few instead of a science that serves

54:47all of us when this began i knew that speaking up was my right but

55:01i also believed that it was my duty i first spoke up inside the national

55:06institutes of health but when my concerns were not addressed by leadership at nih i

55:12felt that i had no choice but to join with hundreds of my colleagues at

55:17nih to take those concerns to the public tonight you are hearing from those most

55:29affected by the trump administration but civil servants like me are not the only ones

55:35affected the lawlessness at the national institute of health affects all of us last year

55:42the trump administration funded 24 percent fewer new research studies with about the same amount

55:50of money that means fewer future cures for all of us the trump administration also

55:58funded 20 percent fewer early career researchers creating a brain drain that that will damage

56:05our economy and end american leadership in science exploration as our best and our brightest

56:12seek positions abroad the trump administration tried to silence us by putting me and other

56:20federal employees who have spoken up on retaliatory administrative leave they do not want you

56:26to know how they are destroying your government our government but we will not stop

56:34speaking up let's get loud together this is our country and when we come together

56:43we are powerful thank you that's exactly what we need to be hearing tonight coming

57:02up next we have a congressman from the state of texas who's the chair of

57:07the democratic congressional progressive caucus these days people look at the word progressive and they

57:15think it means something but it's not what it is is every basic human thing

57:23that we all deserve we should get it that means affordable health care that means

57:29due process that means basic human civil rights congressman greg cassar from the state of

57:37texas is here with a woman by the name of jill cordick jill is a

57:41retiree from last year her premiums used to be 75 a month courtesy of the

57:48enhanced premium tax credits but again the republicans and donald trump with the big bullshit

57:55bill didn't care about those enhanced tax credits and said we're not giving it to

58:00americans anymore so now jill's premiums have increased ten fold this year so now it

58:10costs eight hundred dollars a month for nine thousand six hundred dollars a year for

58:17health care please welcome congressman greg cassar and jill cordick buenas noches washington dc how

58:28we doing tonight i'm not in the capitol building tonight because i have a pretty

58:36good idea of what's going to happen for an hour or two or three or

58:42four a man who's made four billion dollars off of being president is going to

58:50lecture you the american people about how good you have it a man who is

58:56building himself a golden ballroom is going to tell you that if you're struggling to

59:02get by that's your fault because he's killing it a man who flies around in

59:07a 400 million dollar palace in the sky is going to tell you how good

59:12the economy actually is he's going to tell us that the state of the union

59:17is strong strong for who donald trump and his billionaire donors bottom line might be

59:25strong the epstein class certainly is going strong but the state of our union is

59:32about all of us and everyone but donald trump's rich friends know that it's a

59:38disaster our union is not strong when millions of folks like jill are seeing their

59:47health care premiums go up Two times, four times, five times, ten times higher.

59:52Our union is not strong when Americans fear they could be killed or taken by

59:58masked agents in our streets.

1:00:00And now the latest news is that Trump is going to talk about in his

1:00:05speech tonight another tax cut for the richest people in this country and for big

1:00:10corporations. 17 million Americans are already paying for Donald Trump's last billionaire tax cut by

1:00:19losing their health care. Do we need another one?

1:00:24Read my lips. No new billionaire tax cuts.

1:00:28It's time for them to pay their fair share so that every man, woman and

1:00:32child in this country can have a job that pays a living wage and affordable

1:00:36child care and health care as a basic human right for every single person.

1:00:43And while we're at it, we should get big money out of politics so that

1:00:48both parties answer to the people and not to the billionaires.

1:00:54Not another cent to the billionaire class.

1:00:57Not another cent to the Epstein class.

1:00:59We will fight this Trump proposal tonight tooth and nail and we will make sure

1:01:05that the Republicans that vote for it lose their jobs.

1:01:08What do y 'all say?

1:01:13Y 'all, we don't need to hear what Donald Trump says tonight because we see

1:01:19what he does. He steals from working Americans to give to the rich.

1:01:23Donald Trump doesn't owe us a two -hour rambling speech.

1:01:27He owes the American people their money back.

1:01:34He owes the American people her money back to pulpit at the tea's bottom.

1:01:39But he hooked up and he saw each other'sken The reason I dealt with him

1:01:40is, why didn't he get fertilizer money in the United States?

1:02:04Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

1:03:44Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

1:04:37So now I find myself, you know, shopping a little different to the grocery store.

1:04:42I'm in Iowa, so yes, we do layer up and use blankets all in an

1:04:49attempt not to raise my heat bill.

1:04:52And honestly, I am making choices to defer healthcare, just all in, you know, great

1:05:00fiscal caution, as I'm looking at at least a $10 ,000 deductible.

1:05:06There are millions of Americans that are affected by the loss of the ACA credits

1:05:13in Iowa specifically. But you've such etc.

1:05:15Thank you. Thank you. We'll be right back.

1:05:16There are around 100 ,000.

1:05:1813 ,000 have opted not to sign up and be in the marketplace this year.

1:05:25That's 13 ,000 Iowans trying to navigate the health care systems without coverage.

1:05:32This isn't abstract. These are real policy choices, errant policy choices, and they're harming real

1:05:40people like me. And these intentions, and the intentions here that these leaders are supposed,

1:05:49these guys are supposed to be representing us, too many syllables here.

1:05:56Yet, and they continue to disappoint us.

1:05:59They've just shown us, the Republicans and Donald Trump, how out of touch they are

1:06:03with real Americans. So when they choose tax breaks for the wealthy over affordability, that

1:06:11dastardly word that Donald doesn't like.

1:06:15Affordability for Americans, they're turning their very back on the people that they are supposed

1:06:19to be representing. So thank you for listening.

1:06:23Thank you for showing up tonight.

1:06:25Let's hear it for Jill.

1:06:26Let's hear it for each of you guys.

1:06:28Thank you guys very much.

1:06:43Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

1:06:45Y 'all good? Y 'all doing good?

1:06:47You doing okay? All right.

1:06:49Wonderful. Coming to the stage.

1:06:51Now this is going to be an incredible tag team.

1:06:54This is a dynamic duo.

1:06:56All of these have been dynamic duos tonight.

1:06:58But coming to the stage right now, you're about to get a powerful message about

1:07:03change and hope and possibility.

1:07:06From California's fighting 42. Yeah.

1:07:11Representative Robert Garcia and joining representative Garcia is the Kelly Robinson, executive director of human

1:07:20rights campaign. She is the ninth president of HRC and the first, the first black

1:07:28queer woman to lead the largest LGBTQ plus civil rights organization in the United States.

1:07:33Give it up for representative Garcia and Kelly Robinson.

1:07:44Hey everyone. How are we doing tonight?

1:07:47It is, it is so, it is so great for both Kelly and I to

1:07:52be here with all of you, two proud members of the LGBTQ plus community who

1:07:59are proud to be standing tonight with the people at the people's state of the

1:08:04union. The single most powerful moment tonight is going to be when Donald Trump has

1:08:14to look up at the gallery of the U S house and see the survivors

1:08:22of Jeffrey Epstein looking straight back at him, demanding justice, demanding truth and demanding accountability.

1:08:37We should be crystal clear about right now.

1:08:41What is happening in our country?

1:08:43We have a president who is leading the single largest government cover up in modern

1:08:51history. We have the single largest sex trafficking ring in modern history right now, being

1:09:02covered up by Donald Trump and Pam Bondi in the department of justice.

1:09:08Why are we protecting powerful, wealthy men who have abused and raped women and children

1:09:18in this country? Why is our government protecting these men at this very moment in

1:09:29my place at the Capitol is a woman named Annie Farmer, Annie and her sister,

1:09:36Maria both endured horrific abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

1:09:43As we move forward in this investigation.

1:09:46Always center the survivors. We are going to get justice for the survivors and Donald

1:09:54Trump may call this investigation a hoax.

1:09:58He may try to deflect our work, but our message to him is very clear

1:10:03that our investigation is just getting started and we will.

1:10:08We will get justice for these survivors and tonight I am proud to be here

1:10:15with a true champion of equality because at this very moment, not only has HRC

1:10:21and Kelly stood up for survivors and the victims of abuse, but they stand up

1:10:25for our community, for gay people, for trans people, for queer people that are being

1:10:31attacked and whose rights are being moved back every single day.

1:10:35So it is give a big welcome and it's proud.

1:10:38I'm proud to be here with the amazing Kelly Robinson.

1:10:43Yes. Yes. Yes. One more time for Congressman Garcia, y 'all.

1:10:49Can we thank him for being out here with us for the People's State of

1:10:54the Union and not in there with those lies?

1:10:56Come on, y 'all. Come on, y 'all.

1:10:59This is what leadership looks like.

1:11:02This is what queer leadership looks like, too, okay?

1:11:05I'm Kelly Robinson. I'm proud to be president of the Human Rights Campaign.

1:11:09We are the largest LGBTQ plus civil rights organization in the world.

1:11:143 .6 million members strong and fighting every day.

1:11:19But today, I'm here for the people who are in same -sex marriages that are

1:11:24worried about their families. I'm here for the parents that are tossing and turning at

1:11:29night over the safety of their queer youth.

1:11:32I'm here for every trans kid that just wants to feel seen, valued, and loved.

1:11:38I'm here for every trans person that's been kicked out of our military and every

1:11:42person living with HIV that's denied their PrEP medication.

1:11:45I'm here for our community tonight.

1:11:50Because I've got to remind this country that lesbian, gay, bi, trans, and queer people,

1:11:56we've always been here, and we're not going anywhere.

1:12:00This is our country, too.

1:12:03This is our country, too.

1:12:05We have paid for it in funerals, in freedom songs, in court cases, in classroom

1:12:09battles. When I say this is our country, I'm saying it with my whole chest,

1:12:15and once again, we are here to defend what is ours.

1:12:18Because, my friends, these are not ordinary times.

1:12:21There's nothing ordinary about this president removing the pride flag from Stonewall.

1:12:31There's nothing ordinary about them cutting billions of dollars from HIV prevention and throwing it

1:12:38into building more ICE detention facilities.

1:12:40We need health care. We need food.

1:12:43We don't need mass incarceration.

1:12:45And there's certainly nothing ordinary about this government murdering United States citizens.

1:12:52Renee Goode should still be alive.

1:12:55Alex Preddy should still be alive.

1:12:58Ruben Ray Martinez, Dr. Linda, Keith Porter Jr., and all the other people who died

1:13:06in ICE custody should still be alive.

1:13:11These right here are serious times that require serious leadership.

1:13:15And if that leadership isn't going to come from the White House, it sure as

1:13:18hell is going to come from people like us, gathered like this to create change

1:13:22and fight for freedom and not give up on our country.

1:13:25Isn't that right? So I want to say this.

1:13:30I pray that one day my children will grow up in a world where they

1:13:35feel just as safe surrounded by the American flag as they do when they are

1:13:39surrounded by pride flags. And the only way that that day will come is if

1:13:45we show out and vote this November.

1:13:47If we talk to our neighbors about things that matter, if we don't give up

1:13:51on one another and don't give up on this country.

1:13:54And I'm reminded by the words of the great Ella Baker, y 'all.

1:13:57She said, we who believe in freedom cannot rest.

1:14:01We who believe in freedom cannot rest.

1:14:05We who believe in freedom cannot rest.

1:14:09And I'm not going to rest while our immigrant neighbors are under attack.

1:14:13I'm not going to rest while they keep coming for our queer and trans youth.

1:14:17I'm not going to rest while they try to unravel our democracy.

1:14:20Are you going to rest?

1:14:22Are you going to fight?

1:14:24Are you going to vote?

1:14:26Then let's do the work and let's get free, y 'all.

1:14:42I feel like she needs some walk -off music after that.

1:14:44Damn. So, a DJ. You need a DJ?

1:14:50Alrighty. So, we all know that the convicted felon, Donald Trump, thought that he could

1:14:55test certain cities to see if they were made of the metal to crumble.

1:14:59One of the cities he picked was Portland, Oregon.

1:15:02And Portland said, hell no, I's got to go.

1:15:06Portland also said, hell no, National Guard is not going to happen here.

1:15:10Federal judges told this administration no.

1:15:13And what did Trump do?

1:15:15He called for their impeachment.

1:15:17He doesn't believe in the rule of law.

1:15:19But Senator Jeff Merkley is here to let us know and to let all of

1:15:23you know that the rule of law is still alive and well.

1:15:26He's joined tonight by Nafisa Fai, Washington County Commissioner who made history as the first

1:15:34immigrant and refugee, the first black and the first Muslim commissioner in that county.

1:15:42She is outspoken because ICE and Trump's secret police are terrorizing our communities.

1:15:51Let's hear it for Senator Merkley and Nafisa Fai.

1:15:58How are y 'all doing tonight?

1:16:01You know, Kelly Robinson, who just spoke from HRC, how about another hand of applause

1:16:06for her work leading the equality movement?

1:16:09And how about this? How about we?

1:16:11Pass the Equality Act, so discrimination and bigotry is eliminated across the United States of

1:16:18America. Now, now if the president was telling the truth tonight, he'd be saying, well,

1:16:28here I am one year in, and you know what I've done over the last

1:16:31year? Made the billionaires a lot richer and everyone else sicker and poorer.

1:16:39Is that the kind of America we want?

1:16:42You know, it's pretty incredible to see really the damage that can be done by

1:16:49a leader like Donald Trump.

1:16:51And part of that damage is undermining the very core of our Constitution, the checks

1:16:55and balances of our Constitution.

1:16:58And he has really had a ten -part plan to be able to do that.

1:17:03And one of those parts of the plan, an incredibly dangerous plan, are troops in

1:17:07the street. It means federalizing the National Guard.

1:17:10Are we going to stop that?

1:17:12It means he wants to send the military out and surround the polling place in

1:17:16November. Are we going to allow that to happen?

1:17:19It means ICE operating as secret police.

1:17:23And I can tell you this, I never thought we'd see secret police here in

1:17:27the United States of America.

1:17:28I mean, you read about it at some other country, about people who have no

1:17:33badges. They show up, they show up, they show up in an unmarked van, they

1:17:39have no judicial warrant, they knock down the doors, they grab people out of the

1:17:44house, they grab people out of the car, they proceed to disappear them.

1:17:48They don't let them reach an attorney, they don't let them reach an attorney, they

1:17:51don't let them reach family.

1:17:51Folks, we have secret police right now in the United States of America, and we've

1:17:56got to end it. And perhaps the most dangerous part of his 10 -part plan

1:18:03is rigging the next election.

1:18:06Have you heard about this thing called the SAVE Act?

1:18:11What he means by SAVE is he wants to save his authoritarian control and turn

1:18:18the presidency into a kingship.

1:18:20Are we going to let that happen?

1:18:21Yes! Yeah, the SAVE Act would say, well, we're going to take folks who generally

1:18:28might vote for the blue side and make it hard to register to vote.

1:18:32We're going to make it hard to actually vote.

1:18:35We're going to make it hard to do vote by mail.

1:18:38We're going to make it hard for women who have changed their name when they

1:18:41got married, or men who changed their name when they got married, doesn't match their

1:18:44birth certificate, make it difficult for them to vote.

1:18:48You know what? I think if you really believe in the Constitution of the United

1:18:52States of America, you want every single citizen to be at the ballot and able

1:18:57to cast their vote for how the direction of this country goes.

1:19:02So tonight, I am really pleased to introduce my guest, Nafisa Fai.

1:19:08Nafisa has broken a lot of boundaries.

1:19:11She came to the United States of America as a Somali refuge.

1:19:15She became a leader in her community, not just her Somali community, but her Washington

1:19:20County community. She proceeded to get elected to the County Commission and to be a

1:19:26real fighter for the fundamentals for families to thrive, for health care, for housing, for

1:19:32education, for good paying jobs.

1:19:34And you know what? I want to say this.

1:19:38When the president and his team attack any group resident in the United States, let's

1:19:45stand by their side. When he attacks our Muslim Americans, let's stand with our Muslim

1:19:52Americans. When he attacks our Hispanic Americans, let's stand with our Hispanic Americans.

1:19:59When he attacks our Somali Americans, let's stand with our Somali Americans.

1:20:03Together, we are virtually all immigrants.

1:20:06Let's together make this nation stronger, embrace each other's talents.

1:20:10I say hell yes to diversity.

1:20:14I say hell yes to equity.

1:20:16I say hell yes to inclusion.

1:20:18And here is a champion doing the hard work at the county level, Nafisa Fai.

1:20:22Let's give her a big welcome.

1:20:31I think that senators started a trend, so I'm just going to hold the mic

1:20:35as well. Hello, everyone. I think the secret is out.

1:20:40I am from Somalia, but don't share that with Donald Trump.

1:20:45My state had enough of him.

1:20:48My name is Nafisa Fai, and I serve as a Washington County Commissioner in Washington

1:20:56County, Oregon. I am honored to be here in Washington, D .C., because policies passed

1:21:05in D .C. have real consequences for the people I represent back home in Oregon.

1:21:13I want to thank Senator Jeff Merkley for inviting me and for standing with communities

1:21:19in Oregon. In Washington County, residents are directly impacted every day.

1:21:28Man, D .C., I thought Oregon was really cold, but D .C.

1:21:32is super cold. I tell ya.

1:21:36It's been a while since I've been in Somalia, so I...

1:21:39Should be used to the cold weather, but DC is really cold.

1:21:44In Washington County, residents are directly impacted every day by the actions of ICE.

1:21:52But because we have leaders who are willing to listen and act, our residents are

1:21:59also empowered to speak up and even take ICE to court and prevail.

1:22:06How many of you? That's what happened when Victor Cruz, when ICE wrongfully detained him

1:22:17in Oregon. He didn't stay silent.

1:22:20With legal support and community backing, he challenged that detention in court and won.

1:22:30His case didn't just change his life, it improved protection for others in Oregon as

1:22:38well. And then there is Paulino Martin San Pedro.

1:22:43After being detained by ICE, he became seriously ill, was deported and later died in

1:22:52Mexico. His family and community are still living without loss.

1:22:59His story is painful reminder of the human cost when enforcement ignores dignity and due

1:23:07process. His stories matter because they show what's at stake and what's possible.

1:23:16With leaders and leadership like yours, Senator Merkley, residents are empowered to seek justice, and

1:23:25we are called to ensure tragedies like Paulino are never repeated.

1:23:30Thank you for this opportunity and for giving us a voice and for being here

1:23:36today. Thank you. Thank you so much.

1:23:42Thank you, Patriots. Let's save our republic.

1:23:44That's our mission. Let's get it done.

1:23:51Thank you so much. Thank you.

1:23:53Thank you. Thank you. All right, y 'all.

1:23:58Thank you. You don't have to miss me.

1:23:59Just go ahead and subscribe at thejoyreadshow .com.

1:24:04No need to miss me at all.

1:24:06Now, we know that the great state of Minnesota has given us really the human

1:24:14image of the carnage of the Epstein class, the ICE domestic terrorism against American people.

1:24:27And the ruthlessness and cruelty of this regime.

1:24:32It's given us the face of Alex pretty of Renee Nicole good of that sweet

1:24:38little baby in his little blue hat being taken from school.

1:24:43Liam Canejo Ramos. That is the image right now that this regime will have to

1:24:50take into history. But the other image that will go into history is the resilience,

1:24:56the resilience of Minneapolis, the resilience of the people of Minnesota.

1:25:03The resilience of Ilhan Omar facing somebody trying to rush her on stage and being

1:25:07ready to throw hands. Don't come for her if she has not called you.

1:25:12The resilience and the kindness, the interfaith interracial kindness and resilience of Minneapolis, of Minnesota

1:25:22will live on into history.

1:25:25And that is a sign of great leadership and great community.

1:25:29So I am so pleased right now to bring you one of the great ladies

1:25:35of the state of Minnesota.

1:25:37Minnesota. There's Senator Tina Smith.

1:25:45And she will be joined by Brenda Lewis, who is the superintendent of Fridley Public

1:25:51Schools. She's been working tirelessly to protect Finley for a Fridley students and their families

1:25:59during the ongoing ice surge in Minnesota.

1:26:01Give them a Minnesota level round of applause.

1:26:11Good evening, everyone. Good evening.

1:26:14Thank you to move on and to Midas Touch and everyone, but especially thank you

1:26:19to the activists and the organizers that are here today.

1:26:23This is what a pro -democracy movement looks like.

1:26:26Look around. And back behind me here is the United States Capitol.

1:26:38And inside that Capitol, I've got to say, I'm so glad I am out here

1:26:41with all of you instead of inside that Capitol right now.

1:26:46Inside the Capitol, Donald Trump is lying about the state of this nation.

1:26:52He is using division to drive us apart, to make us think that we are

1:26:58not one nation, one community.

1:27:01And that is why we are all gathered here today, because we are against the

1:27:06... The chaos and the corruption that he is spouting back there in that most

1:27:11precious capital of ours. But tonight we are outside and I'm here to tell you

1:27:16this feels like resistance weather to me.

1:27:21Because we want to tell the real story about what is happening in this country.

1:27:25What is really, really going on.

1:27:27And we're here to offer an alternative that is not about sticking up for the

1:27:31billionaires. It is about fighting for the working, the hard -working people in this country.

1:27:37And that is why I am so grateful to be here with my special guest

1:27:42today, Brenda Lewis. Give it up, Tal.

1:27:46Thank you, Brenda, for being here.

1:27:50Brenda is an educator. She was the superintendent of the Fridley Public Schools.

1:27:55This is a district of about 2 ,800 students.

1:27:57It is very, very diverse.

1:27:59It's a suburb of Minneapolis and St.

1:28:02Paul. And when ICE came to Minnesota, Brenda sprang into action.

1:28:06And I'm here to tell you folks, she is a badass.

1:28:12Now you've seen, you've seen the searing images of what has happened in my state,

1:28:18in our country. People who have been arrested and detained and assaulted.

1:28:24The killing of Alex Preddy and Renee Goode.

1:28:29You have seen the searing images of Liam Conejo -Ramos and his dad ripped away

1:28:36from their home and sent off to Texas for no reason at all.

1:28:41But I'm here to tell you that what you see in the pictures is, what's

1:28:48really happening is so much worse than that.

1:28:51Because once you get past the incredible documentation that is happening by these eyewitness accounts

1:28:57in small towns all across Minnesota, this same thing is happening.

1:29:02Restaurants and people have lost their livelihoods because of this secret police that has attacked

1:29:08our state. The families are torn apart and they will never be put back together

1:29:15again. The pain and the suffering and the damage is going to last for a

1:29:20very, very long time. And this is what Donald Trump and Kristi Noem are doing

1:29:25to us right now. But we have seen something else in Minnesota.

1:29:33When they brought guns, we had whistles.

1:29:39People came out in their neighborhood and they stood up for people that they didn't

1:29:43even know. They brought diapers and they helped get prescriptions to families.

1:29:47They gathered together just out of the pure love of their neighbors, even the neighbors

1:29:52that they did not know.

1:29:53And when ICE came and started circling around schools and terrorizing families, people like Brenda

1:30:01stood up and fought for their kids because she knew that her most important job

1:30:06was to keep those kiddos safe.

1:30:10And so I want you all to thank Brenda for everything that she has done.

1:30:14And I want to invite her up to talk about what it has really been

1:30:19like, what it has really been like in Minnesota.

1:30:23So Brenda, can you tell us what happened?

1:30:26When did you first realize that this was happening with ICE and that you were

1:30:31going to have to spring into action?

1:30:33Sure. I first realized this in December when the temporary order was put through on

1:30:39our Somali families. And we were told, let's watch our attendance.

1:30:47And our attendance immediately dropped.

1:30:49Then the day after the Renee Good murder, we had more than a third of

1:30:53our students absent. And that's when it began.

1:30:56And at that time, we thought we had seen the worst.

1:30:59And I'm about to share with you tonight a story that happened that covers a

1:31:0310 -minute period of time on a morning.

1:31:06I woke up that morning a little bit optimistic, and we learned that 700 ICE

1:31:12agents were leaving Minnesota immediately.

1:31:15A little glimmer of hope.

1:31:16Our second glimmer of hope, our lawsuit to keep ICE out of Minnesota schools, was

1:31:22trending really well in the media.

1:31:25That morning on patrol, all of a sudden, I got a call saying there are

1:31:30six vehicles up and down, up and down, up and down, right outside of one

1:31:34of our elementary schools. They were then in a roundabout preventing our children from crossing

1:31:40to come to school. They were yelling and screaming at our crossing guards.

1:31:44Then our principal was trying to help and trying to keep our students safe.

1:31:49And four ICE agents posing as press with orange upper bicep bands were yelling and

1:31:55screaming at her and videoing her.

1:31:57Then a mother was followed who was legally in the United States by two vehicles

1:32:04full of ICE agents, and she had to pull into our school so that she

1:32:08wouldn't be hurt. A board member was followed by ICE agents with a three -year

1:32:12-old in the back of her car.

1:32:14This is just a ten -minute period on one morning at an elementary school welcome.

1:32:21So, think about that. Brenda and her educators should be figuring out how to keep,

1:32:28how our children can be learning.

1:32:31And instead, they are pressed into this relentless...

1:32:34effort to keep our children safe.

1:32:37But I want you to think as I wrap here about where the power is

1:32:42right now. The power is with people like Brenda.

1:32:46The power is with people like you, you and people like you all over this

1:32:52country. The power does not come from the United States Capitol.

1:32:56The power comes to the United States Capitol from all of you.

1:33:00And that is the work that we have ahead of us.

1:33:03That is the work before us.

1:33:04So thank you all so very, very much for being here to talk about what

1:33:09the people want to see in this country right now.

1:33:12And it is not what Donald Trump is talking about right behind us.

1:33:15So thank you all so very, very much.

1:33:18Thank you. Love you guys too.

1:33:38Alrighty. Love you. Okay. Forget it.

1:33:44I don't know how to do this.

1:33:45So not everybody gets to be from the amazing place called New Jersey.

1:33:53But they do have some pretty cool people like Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman.

1:33:57You know what she just did?

1:33:59She just introduced legislation to stop the bullshit of immigration arrests while people are going

1:34:06to court. Right? Because it never was about getting the quote unquote illegal aliens.

1:34:15It was about getting the quote unquote criminal element out.

1:34:19It was making sure that we got rid of the people that didn't look like

1:34:23us. And that is what this administration is all about.

1:34:26So Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman says we're not doing that anymore in our courthouses.

1:34:31She's joined today by Nettia Morsi, the director of Make the Road New Jersey, one

1:34:36of the most fantastic community organizations in the state of New Jersey that is focusing

1:34:41on our communities of color.

1:34:43Please welcome them to the stage now.

1:34:56I'm a black woman. I'm here with an Egyptian Peruvian woman.

1:35:02We're America. We belong here.

1:35:06This is our country. This is a government of buying for the people and Minneapolis

1:35:14showed us what happens when the people say no more.

1:35:20I am here because I will not be there listening to lies lies about what

1:35:26he thought he did lies about what he's doing now and lies about what he's

1:35:32going to promise in the future.

1:35:33We're entitled to safety, security, jobs, housing, and health care.

1:35:41And we demand that anybody that works for the United States government does so constitutionally

1:35:51and legally. So I got a special guest tonight for you because they're gearing up

1:35:58in New Jersey now, but New Jersey is gearing up for ice.

1:36:04We want you to know that we're going to be ready when you come here.

1:36:09So you think you saw something in Minneapolis, you come to New Jersey.

1:36:14We may be small, but we're freaking mighty.

1:36:19I want to give Nettie an opportunity to talk to you about how we organize,

1:36:26get ready, and take care of one another.

1:36:29Give her a big round of applause so she's encouraged to come before you.

1:36:37I'm going to ask if folks can repeat after me.

1:36:40I am somebody and I deserve full equality here and now.

1:37:02First, thank you to Congresswoman for the invitation tonight.

1:37:08Thank you for your service.

1:37:10A powerful example of a woman grounded in her purpose.

1:37:14My name is Nettie Amorsi, and I'm the director of Make the Road Action, New

1:37:17Jersey. And I'm here tonight on behalf of our nearly 7 ,000 working class and

1:37:23immigrant members across the beautiful state of New Jersey.

1:37:27This administration is one of the most violent and dangerous this country has ever seen.

1:37:33It was the Sunday after the inauguration around 10 o 'clock in the morning, when

1:37:37we had begun to receive calls from members further down on South Broad Street in

1:37:42Elizabeth, New Jersey, that ice was knocking doors and entering businesses.

1:37:47I remember when I got to South Broad, it was a ghost town.

1:37:51The bodega was closed. The T -Mobile was closed.

1:37:54The bakery was closed. The videos of what happened that morning started to circulate in

1:37:59WhatsApp chats and Facebook groups.

1:38:01the飯 russell was coming around 0 tigers.

1:38:02I called the same members who had called me, who I knew live near South

1:38:06Broad, and we came together and we split up to knock on doors with Know

1:38:10Your Rights materials and to invite community members to our centers.

1:38:15That's how you start. You just start.

1:38:18You set up a phone tree to check up on fellow Elizabeth members throughout the

1:38:23city, and we organized a town hall the following evening.

1:38:26More than 300 people attended with less than 20 hours' notice.

1:38:29What we came to see, what we always come to learn, is that people are

1:38:35searching for community. And we kept that way.

1:38:38Shocked, but organizing. Organizing in shock.

1:38:42Reminding ourselves that our liberation is not found in any administration, but in our collective

1:38:47efforts. When the fight of our outcome, when the outcome of our fight has never

1:38:54been more important, I can say that the union is strong, if we remain strong.

1:39:00Every day, I choose to organize.

1:39:03And every day, hundreds of thousands of people across America choose the same.

1:39:08And together, even in the midst of so much violence, we will win.

1:39:12Trump is making cuts to health care to funnel billions to ice to build concentration

1:39:18camps in our backyards. They're using commercial warehouses that have been converted into concentration camps

1:39:28with floor maps that look like slave ships.

1:39:31Concentration camps where they're holding children and adults who have been kidnapped, citizen or not,

1:39:37for the crime of being black or brown or poor or Palestinian.

1:39:42In Roxbury, New Jersey. In Social Circle, Georgia.

1:39:47In San Antonio, Texas. In Surprise, Arizona.

1:39:51All across the country, in all of our backyards, fascism is rampant.

1:39:57And we have to ask ourselves the question, who are the puppet masters?

1:40:03They are the billionaires standing behind Donald Trump, pulling the strings.

1:40:07And these billionaires, they have names.

1:40:10Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, Elon Musk, and many more.

1:40:21Corporations like Palantir are beta testing their mass surveillance systems on immigrants.

1:40:27And they are helping the administration compile data on U .S.

1:40:30residents across every government agency, including the IRS and law enforcement.

1:40:35They won't stop until they build an algorithmic surveillance where they profit on all of

1:40:41us. In the face of such blatant greed and hatred, the American people couldn't be

1:40:47more clear. We want an economy that delivers for all of us and a country

1:40:52where we protect our neighbors.

1:40:54From Dilley to Delaney, we are prepared to dismantle ICE.

1:40:59This is not the path we chose to take.

1:41:02But if the only way out is through, then the only way through is together.

1:41:07As one people, fighting for the ones we don't know yet.

1:41:12Presidents can come and go.

1:41:14But we, we are here to stay.

1:41:20And while we need to defund ICE, we need to deconstruct Homeland Security.

1:41:41Let me get another round of applause for those queens.

1:41:47Deconstruct DHS. I think I could get down with that.

1:41:51If the, if the funding runs out, I'm not sure it should come back.

1:41:54I realize Cash Patel needs to go to Italy on occasion for fun vacations to

1:42:00hang out with the hockey team on our dime.

1:42:01I realize that he likes to use the private jet.

1:42:05And that deconstructing and defunding DHS would interrupt the fun that he's having on our

1:42:09dime. But I think it's worth it.

1:42:13Make him buy a regular ticket on an airline like the rest of us.

1:42:18Coming to the stage. Coming to the stage.

1:42:19Now, I want you all to say after me.

1:42:22All right. Say, okay. So you said that.

1:42:27So you did that. All right.

1:42:30Okay. You said that. Oh, I know you didn't say that.

1:42:35The next person that I'm bringing to the stage made that kind of call and

1:42:41response normalized in Congress. The greatest hype woman any member ever had.

1:42:50The woman who's going to let you know when you said it and let you

1:42:55know when you failed to say it.

1:42:56The lady who is standing up for the Epstein survivors like nobody else.

1:43:03Coming to the stage from the great state of California.

1:43:05California's fighting 37. Representative Sidney Camlogger.

1:43:10Dumb. Give her a round of applause.

1:43:16Give it up for Joy Re, y 'all.

1:43:20My hype women. How are you all tonight?

1:43:23It is a little cold.

1:43:24I am from Chicago, but it's still cold.

1:43:27So I don't know about you, but my.

1:43:30My mother has always told me, don't let nobody come up in your house and

1:43:36disrespect you. Now, unfortunately, I share my house with Speaker Johnson.

1:43:45Exactly. And he's got somebody up in my house disrespecting all of us.

1:43:52So I decided that I would hang out with my people, with the people, with

1:44:00all of us, the people who have been in the streets day after day, demanding

1:44:07better from our government. But in my stead, I sent a survivor, Jenna Lisa Jones,

1:44:20who at the age of 14 endured something that no child should have to.

1:44:28And she sent some words for me to share with you.

1:44:32As a survivor of the abuse and exploitation connected to Jeffrey Epstein, this invitation means

1:44:41far more to me than simply attending a historic address.

1:44:46It represents recognition that survivors' voices matter, that our experiences are not invisible, and that

1:44:59our resilience deserves to be seen and acknowledged in the very spaces where our nation's

1:45:05future is shaped. Moments like this remind me that we are not alone, that our

1:45:13stories have meaning. Moments like this remind me that we are not alone, and that

1:45:17there are leaders who are willing to stand with us.

1:45:21I met and hung out with Jenna Lisa today.

1:45:27And as I listened to her, I was struck by the extraordinary courage that it

1:45:34takes as a survivor to show up and stand up and look your oppressor in

1:45:42the eye and say, I will not be silenced.

1:45:49But sadly, this is a kind of courage that our president doesn't have.

1:45:58So as Donald Trump delivers his address and sees Jenna Lisa and her fellow survivors

1:46:07in the audience, he will be reminded what true leadership looks like.

1:46:15And it is not measured by applause from sycophants.

1:46:21It is measured by whether or not you stand by your word to fight against

1:46:30injustice or whether you want to shield the folks who should be held accountable.

1:46:40But enough about Trump. I'm so tired of talking about this small man who is

1:46:46not worth any of our time.

1:46:51Because this people's state of the union is not about him.

1:46:57It's about us. And what is worth our time, our commitment, our work.

1:47:09And y 'all, let me tell you, up until November and for the next couple

1:47:13of years, it will be a lot of work.

1:47:17But what is worth our time is the future that we want to build.

1:47:25Every single one of us wants an America as good as her promise.

1:47:34And each of our dreams are different.

1:47:39That's what makes diversity so amazing.

1:47:44But there are some fundamentals, y 'all, that are just non -negotiable.

1:47:51We have to take on the corporations and the monopolies that are squeezing every dollar

1:47:59out of our pockets and making us poorer.

1:48:02We have got to lower the cost of health care and everyday necessities.

1:48:10Nobody should be forced to make a decision about if they are going to pay

1:48:15the rent or stay alive.

1:48:18We have got to make the dream of home ownership real.

1:48:25It is not if you try to dream and work to own a home that

1:48:32it costs you a future and limits your future instead of allowing you to build

1:48:39a future. And we have got to build an education system that opens the doors

1:48:47for all of our young people rather than shutting them down and burying them in

1:48:53student loan debt. And yet.

1:48:57And yet. We need an immigration system that lives up to the founding ideals of

1:49:05this country. Diversity is not the threat.

1:49:09It is the very source of who we are as a nation, y 'all.

1:49:15And we have to empower our cities, our rural communities, with the resources they need

1:49:23to solve 21st and 22nd century problems.

1:49:29And above all, we must, and if you don't know it by now, then you

1:49:34have not been paying attention, but we must save and protect and defend and make

1:49:42more righteous our democracy. Because without it, absolutely none of this is possible.

1:49:54This weekend, I was back home in California in my district, and I was talking

1:50:00to one of my constituents, May.

1:50:04And May said, I want to be able to trust my government again.

1:50:09I want elected officials who will be honest with me.

1:50:14I want to see courage.

1:50:18And real talk, y 'all, we have a government that is working harder to harm

1:50:26us than help us. Real talk, we have a government right now where justice goes

1:50:33to the highest bidder and the lowest kneeler.

1:50:38And that is not what we've signed up for, and that's not what we deserve.

1:50:45It is time. It is wait time.

1:50:48It is past time. In Black History Month and every other month of the year,

1:50:53y 'all, it is time for the moral goodness of this country to match our

1:51:00economic might. For our leaders to put people over profits, compassion over cruelty, and equity

1:51:12over evil. This is our country.

1:51:18This is our moment. And just like Jenna Lisa said, we will not be silenced.

1:51:28The People's State of the Union starts tonight.

1:51:34And we're going to keep it going every day of the week through November and

1:51:40to the end of this man's term until we get the country that we deserve.

1:51:46Thank you so much. Well done, well done.

1:51:54All right, all right, all right, all right.

1:51:57California love. Or maybe Crip walk up in here because I'm from that generation.

1:52:04Coming to the stage next from the great state of Massachusetts.

1:52:07How many of y 'all want to see the Green New Deal?

1:52:12Okay. We like breathing. We like clean air, right?

1:52:14We like clean water. Green New Deal.

1:52:16We like it. Coming to the stage right now is the champion of the Green

1:52:19New Deal, a man who has fought for justice, for equality, and for a country

1:52:24we can actually breathe in.

1:52:26Give it up for Senator Ed Markey.

1:52:28He is going to be reading a story from Gladys Vega, the president and CEO

1:52:32of La Colaborativa in Chelsea, Massachusetts, which has been providing critical resources and support to

1:52:40Chelsea and the greater Boston region since the year of our Lord, 1990, by empowering

1:52:45Latino individuals and families, promoting educational opportunity, advocating for social justice, and fostering economic empowerment.

1:52:52Give it up for Senator Ed Markey.

1:52:55Well, Joy Reid, what a job she is doing tonight.

1:52:59Just absolutely incredible joy. Thank you.

1:53:03Thank you, and thank you all for being out here this evening.

1:53:08Tonight, I am not in the U .S.

1:53:10Capitol, but Donald Trump stated the Union address.

1:53:13I am here with you at the People State of the Union because the State

1:53:19of the Union should be a moment of truth, a reckoning with reality, a commitment

1:53:27to the common good. But under Donald Trump, it has become a liza palooza that

1:53:34goes on for hours. With him, if he was Pinocchio, his nose would stretch across

1:53:41the entire length of the floor of the Congress this evening.

1:53:45It's one big lie, a made -for -TV spectacle, a bogus sales pitch, and a

1:53:52slap in the face of the millions of Americans who are living through their struggles

1:53:58each and every day. Trump will stand before Congress tonight and say that everything is

1:54:05fine. He will say the economy is the best ever, while working families are drowning

1:54:12under the weight of health care bills, and housing costs, and food costs, and Trump

1:54:19tariff taxes. He will say the system is working and that we...

1:54:25need more corporate tax breaks while the billionaire CEO cronies loot this country under the

1:54:35cover of manufactured crisis. He will say the country is safer while immigrant communities live

1:54:42in fear of masked agents ripping parents from their children and innocent people are murdered

1:54:49in our streets at the hands of ICE thugs operating with impunity.

1:54:56This is not a State of the Union address.

1:55:00I will legitimize. So tonight I stand with you with an urgent message.

1:55:07We cannot agonize. We must organize against Donald Trump in 2026.

1:55:14And we must fight back because Donald Trump is doing to our country and it

1:55:22is something that cannot be allowed to continue.

1:55:26Because I will not stand while this administration attacks immigrant families and uses ICE as

1:55:33his own private army to use a paramilitary force that terrorizes entire communities.

1:55:41I will not stand by while they gut our healthcare system undermining Medicaid, Medicare, the

1:55:49Affordable Care Act, our education system, our environmental justice funding and looting all of that

1:55:55money to give tax rates to millionaires and to billionaires.

1:55:59I will not stand by while they target transgender people, demonizing trans kids, banning them

1:56:07from schools and sports and trying to erase their very existence from public life.

1:56:13Trans rights are human rights.

1:56:16They cannot. They cannot be trampled.

1:56:21I will not stand by while they roll back civil rights protections, undermine reproductive freedom,

1:56:27rig our tax code so that billionaires pay less while the rest pay more.

1:56:35Every time I vote against a Trump nominee or a Trump budget, I draw a

1:56:42line for you. A line between democracy and authoritarianism.

1:56:50A line between justice and cruelty.

1:56:53A line between government that represents we the people and one that glorifies we the

1:57:00Epstein class. And I will keep drawing that line every single day.

1:57:05But I know that voting no is not enough.

1:57:09Because what is at stake at this moment?

1:57:11It's not a single bill or a single nominee or even a single presidency.

1:57:17What is at stake is whether the United States of America remains a democracy that

1:57:22works for the many or becomes a dictatorship that serves only the few.

1:57:27We are living in a critical moment.

1:57:29And we must fight back.

1:57:31Trump wants to scare us into submission.

1:57:34But when he rolls back our rights, we roll up our sleeves.

1:57:39And that means we must be louder.

1:57:42We must push back harder than ever before.

1:57:45So I'm here to ask every single person out in the crowd and online, will

1:57:50you fight for our future?

1:57:52Will you fight for our democracy?

1:57:54Because we know that we must defund and abolish ICE.

1:58:00We must get ICE out of our cities.

1:58:03We must remove RFK Jr.

1:58:06from any public health position that puts lives at risk.

1:58:11We must say out loud that vaccines work.

1:58:14We must fire Kristi Noem and Kash Patel for their lawlessness and complicity in the

1:58:22crimes that we have seen committed right before our eyes.

1:58:26We must reverse Trump's disastrous tax cuts for the wealthy and instead invest that in

1:58:32relief for working families. And we must save Medicare and Social Security and expand funding

1:58:39for Medicaid. We don't need endless warfare.

1:58:42We need universal health care.

1:58:45Medicare. We need Medicare for all.

1:58:48The real security Americans need is a livable future.

1:58:52Affordable housing, free college, clean air, clean water, clean energy, and a Green New Deal.

1:59:00That is what we need.

1:59:01And we must impeach Donald Trump.

1:59:04We are not going to allow him to steal this election.

1:59:11We are not going to allow him to terrorize black and brown voters from going

1:59:17to the polls. We are going to stand up.

1:59:20We are going to fight.

1:59:21If he puts the Marines and the Army out on the streets this October and

1:59:25November, we're going to come out by 10 million people, 20 million people, 30 million

1:59:31people onto the streets of this country and shut this country down for democracy, for

1:59:38our ability to have an election.

1:59:41So this is not time to stay silent.

1:59:44This is a time to stand up and fight.

1:59:47When the minute men and minute women were taking on the most powerful military in

1:59:52the world, Get us indicted give to Canada, thank you.

1:59:52Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. They were knocked down, they were not knocked out, they got up,

1:59:56they fought, they won. When the abolitionists fought, they were knocked down, they were not

2:00:01knocked out, they got up, they fought, and they won.

2:00:05When the suffragettes were out, they were knocked down, they were not knocked out, they

2:00:10got up, they fought, and they won.

2:00:12When Martin Luther King Jr.

2:00:13and Coretta Scott King began a movement, they were knocked down, they were not knocked

2:00:18out, they got up, they fought, they won.

2:00:21same -sex marriage, universal healthcare.

2:00:24They were knocked down, they fought, and they won.

2:00:27And we are going to fight, and we are going to win.

2:00:31We are knocked down, we are not knocked out.

2:00:33This is a fight that we are going to win because we know in this

2:00:38country that progress has never come from silence.

2:00:43It has never come from surrender.

2:00:46It has never come from sitting on the sidelines.

2:00:50It comes because people get up, and they fight, and they win.

2:00:55So that is what tonight is all about.

2:00:58It has come from people, ordinary people, standing together and saying, enough to corruption, enough

2:01:04to cruelty, enough to policies that sacrifice the vulnerable for the powerful, because our power

2:01:11is not in the Oval Office.

2:01:13It is not a billionaire CEO's bank account.

2:01:17It is not a corporate boardroom.

2:01:19Our power is in the movement.

2:01:21It's on the streets of this country.

2:01:23It's our voices. It's our votes.

2:01:25It's our willingness to stand together, to fight for those who are most vulnerable in

2:01:30our society, to fight for our democracy itself.

2:01:35So let's leave here tonight saying we're ready to organize.

2:01:39We're ready to galvanize. We are ready to fight, not just for ourselves, but for

2:01:43the generations to come, because we will stand together, and we will win.

2:01:49So thank you all so much for being here.

2:01:53And I'm going to read briefly a statement from Gladys Vega from Chelsea, Massachusetts, whose

2:01:58plane was stranded on the runway of Logan Airport and could not be here tonight.

2:02:04But she, this is her statement.

2:02:08As president of La Collaborativa, the largest Latin -led organization of Massachusetts, I'm grateful for

2:02:16the opportunity to address all of you tonight, even though I can't be there.

2:02:21Based in Chelsea, Massachusetts, we represent one of the communities hardest hit by the cruel,

2:02:27unjust tactics of ICE. In communities like Chelsea, the disappearance of loved ones is occurring

2:02:35every single day. Fear paralyzes the daily lives of countless residents, including those that protected

2:02:43us during COVID -19 and currently sustain the economy.

2:02:46In our city's downtown and storefronts, they are quiet, and sidewalks are desolate, with local

2:02:53businesses grinding to a halt.

2:02:55The Chelsea School District reports a major decline in enrollment and widespread absences resulting in

2:03:02a budget deficit that will deprive children of education for future generations.

2:03:07Housing and infrastructure projects, a priority of Massachusetts, are collapsing, furthering unemployment and hardship.

2:03:15In communities like Chelsea, people are danishing into thin air.

2:03:19Quiet mornings are punctuated by jarring violence.

2:03:23Students are assaulted by ICE agents sitting outside the high school.

2:03:28Hard -working residents are torn from their vehicles in front of their children.

2:03:32Families hopelessly search for signs of their loved ones who have stopped answering their phones,

2:03:38stopped replying to texts. They frantically call hospitals, scour social media, and come to La

2:03:44Collaboratia. This is the message of Gladys Vega to America tonight.

2:03:50It is that this must stop.

2:03:53This is un -American. It is illegal.

2:03:56It is unconstitutional. And the people are going to rise up and fight for Gladys

2:04:00Vega and all of those poor people who today need to know that the People's

2:04:07State of the Union is the beginning of a long fight that is going to

2:04:11result in the end of Republican control of the House of Representatives and the Senate

2:04:17in the United States of America in 2026.

2:04:20Thank all of you for being out here tonight.

2:04:23Thank you for your willingness to stand and fight.

2:04:26Thank you. Oh my goodness.

2:04:30Thank you. You're going to get us that tariff money too, aren't you?

2:04:35Where's my check? I know.

2:04:38Where's my check? That's what the senator's doing.

2:04:40He's going to get us our money because otherwise you don't get shit.

2:04:44All righty. So there's a Shakespeare saying, it's a quote that I have in my

2:04:49social media profile. It says, though she may be little, she be fierce.

2:04:55And that's what we got with Congresswoman Becca Ballant from the state of Vermont.

2:04:59She put Pamela Jo in her place and then some just a week ago.

2:05:06And tonight she's joined by a very special guest, Mohsen Madhwadi.

2:05:11Now Mohsen showed up for an immigration appointment, a citizenship appointment, and then was illegally

2:05:19detained for - at least two weeks.

2:05:22Why? Because he dared to express a position that Donald Trump didn't like.

2:05:30And as we see our free speech, our journalists, our First Amendment under attack, the

2:05:37Trump administration is making one thing clear.

2:05:40It's only what he wants you to think and say, because everything else will result

2:05:45in you being arrested, thrown into detention.

2:05:48But what happens is the rule of law, when we've got judges in the rule

2:05:52of law doing what it's supposed to do, we have justice.

2:05:56Please welcome Congresswoman Becca Ballant and Mohsen Marawi.

2:06:04Hey, hey, hey! Nice to see you all out here tonight.

2:06:09We could not be more excited to be here with all of you.

2:06:13So I like to refer to myself as that scrappy little dyke from Vermont.

2:06:19But tonight, I'm America's scrappy little dyke.

2:06:25I'm a bare knuckle brawler with a heart.

2:06:28And that's what we need right now.

2:06:30We need people who are both going to bring the fight, and they're going to

2:06:34do it with an open heart, with compassion for all people living in this country.

2:06:40So thank you for being here tonight.

2:06:42We are going to draw strength from each other.

2:06:45That's why we've come together tonight.

2:06:48Now, I know many people out here are feeling angry, and you're feeling anxious and

2:06:54frustrated. I get it. This administration is trying to break us.

2:07:02But they can't. Because in the words of June Jordan, we are the ones we've

2:07:10been waiting for. We are the ones.

2:07:15We are the ones we've been waiting for that are going to change the course,

2:07:19are going to turn the tide on this dark, dark time.

2:07:25It's us. It's not that man in the building behind me who spreads division and

2:07:32fear. It's us. It's in our hands.

2:07:36And it is our collective courage that it's going to make the difference.

2:07:42So I wanted to be out here tonight with people who are forward looking, people

2:07:47who understand the stakes, and that we have to stand up for not just our

2:07:54individual rights, but for the rights of everyone across this country.

2:07:59And we must be the light for each other.

2:08:03Don't lose heart. I am in the belly of the beast every day in Congress.

2:08:08And I have not lost heart.

2:08:11I have not lost heart.

2:08:13They will not break us.

2:08:15They will not break us.

2:08:18Because we understand that is our collective power that is much more powerful than any

2:08:27intimidation that this administration will bring to bear.

2:08:31And I wanted to bring my friend Mohsen Madawi with me today because he has

2:08:37a powerful story to tell about standing up, not just for his own first amendment

2:08:44rights, but for all of us.

2:08:46So I'm going to turn the microphone over to Mohsen so we can tell you

2:08:51his story and you will understand why he is an inspiration for so many people,

2:08:58not just back in Vermont, but across his country.

2:09:02Mohsen, thank you for coming tonight.

2:09:05Please tell your story. Mohsen Madawi with me today.

2:09:12Brothers and sisters, dear friends, my beloved community, it's an honor to be in union

2:09:22with you here. You, you, the American people, you are the people.

2:09:30It's also my honor as a Palestinian refugee, a descendant of the Nakba survivors, to

2:09:40stand here in solidarity with and to carry the torch for justice and for peace

2:09:47with Congresswoman Becca Ballant, who is also a descendant of Holocaust survivors, a Jewish woman.

2:09:57If there is light, this is part of the light.

2:10:04Twelve years ago, I came to this country carrying with me not only the experience

2:10:12of living under the Israeli occupation in a refugee camp without freedom, never tasted the

2:10:20freedom or the safety, but also I came carrying with me my inner child, a

2:10:26child that was deeply wounded by trauma.

2:10:29At the age of eight, I buried my brother.

2:10:35At the age of 11, I saw my best friend getting shot and killed in

2:10:42front of my eyes. At the age of 12, I witnessed an Israeli strike.

2:10:47... ... ... It killed several people and shattered them into pieces.

2:10:52I collected their body parts in my own hands, peeling off the skin of the

2:10:59wall and collecting fingers off the ground to put it in plastic bags to honor

2:11:05their lives. But I'm not here to talk about the darkness of injustice.

2:11:10I am here to talk about the light of hope and the light of love.

2:11:16And this is something that America has shown me when I came here.

2:11:23In America, and for the first time in my life, not only I've experienced safety

2:11:29and love, but also I found the American people who hosted me, who guided me,

2:11:37who helped me to heal from my inner childhood trauma.

2:11:41In America, I learned that the human being is not the enemy.

2:11:47The enemy is the system that capitalized on fear, on ignorance, and on segregation.

2:11:55The fear that divides Republicans and Democrats, the people.

2:12:00The fear that divides citizens and immigrants, the people.

2:12:06The fear that creates monsters and create division in America.

2:12:12And in America, I also learned what MLK has said, injustice anywhere is a threat

2:12:21to justice everywhere. Injustice everywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

2:12:29And that, that is what we are witnessing here.

2:12:33That the injustice that this administration is causing tearing communities apart, scaring people and inciting

2:12:42fear and intimidation, destroying the most sacred document in this country, which is the constitution

2:12:50of this country. And going and attacking us for practicing our First Amendment rights and

2:12:58our free speech, is a form of injustice.

2:13:02And that the fight for justice in America, the fight to save this democracy, is

2:13:08interconnected with the fight for justice in Palestine, for the Palestinian people.

2:13:20Now, about a year ago, the Trump's administration came after me during my citizenship interview,

2:13:28not for violating any law, but for speaking my truth, the truth from a place

2:13:36of love, from a place of empathy, from a place of compassion.

2:13:41My truth that I don't want to see children in Palestine or Israel or in

2:13:47America or anywhere else to suffer like I've suffered when I was a child.

2:13:52During my citizenship interview and after they asked me if I'm willing to take the

2:13:58pledge of allegiance to protect and defend this country and to protect the constitution of

2:14:06this country, they were the ones who betrayed it.

2:14:10They detained me and took me out of their handcuffs and threw me in a

2:14:16prison. They thought that they would make an example of me and that they would

2:14:20intimidate me. And they were wrong.

2:14:27Because our fight is a just fight.

2:14:30Our fight in America and our fight for Palestinians and our fight elsewhere is a

2:14:39fight for humanity. And if we believe in justice, there is no power that can

2:14:45intimidate us. The tools of this administration is to scare us, to intimidate us, so

2:14:52we can lose sight, so we can lose vision.

2:14:56But if we continue to unite together and work out and connect and fight from

2:15:04a place of love, not a place of fear, they cannot do that.

2:15:08When I was released from my detention after spending 16 days, I came out and

2:15:15I sent a message to the president and his cabinet and I told them that

2:15:22I will not be intimidated.

2:15:26And if you are feeling like me, unafraid, repeat after me, we the people, say

2:15:37it loud and clear to president Trump and his cabinet, we are not afraid of

2:15:50you. Because the love that shines in our heart is much brighter and more powerful

2:16:09than the darkness of fear that's blinding you.

2:16:16The people united will never be defeated.

2:16:21The people united will never be defeated.

2:16:25The people united will never be defeated.

2:16:30The people united will never be defeated.

2:16:34Everyone, onward with courage, every single one of us.

2:16:38Strive beyond what you think is possible.

2:16:41Give other people hope and inspiration.

2:16:44It is our collective courage that is going to get us through.

2:16:47Thank you so much for being out tonight.

2:16:50Thank you. All right, well done, well done, well done.

2:17:02All right, y 'all. You guys got energy.

2:17:05Now, listen. Y 'all good?

2:17:08Now, just in case you are feeling a little bit of FOMO and want to

2:17:12know what's going on over there.

2:17:14Let me give you a quick briefing.

2:17:17Representative basically bullshit. Donald Trump is wearing a lot of makeup on his hand.

2:17:23Nobody knows why. Diapers are probably in place to make sure that he does not

2:17:30have an accident. He has cited the Dow reaching 50 ,000.

2:17:35One person applauded. People have their money on that being Pamela Joe Bondi.

2:17:41But before he even got a chance to speak, Representative Al Green of the great

2:17:45state of Texas. Now, I am not in favor of people attending that State of

2:17:49the Union bullshit tonight. But the one man that I kind of wanted to be

2:17:53there was Representative Al Green.

2:17:56And he showed up. And before Donald Trump could even get a word in edgewise

2:18:00or get to the stage, he held up a sign reminding Donald Trump that black

2:18:04people are not apes. Something you had to tell Donald Trump because he's not too

2:18:10bright. So what I will say to Representative Al Green, if Al Green, if you

2:18:14can hear me, I'm sowing.

2:18:21Come on. Hear it. Keep it going.

2:18:24Whatever you, it's all right with me.

2:18:32Do not demonetize us, YouTube.

2:18:34I know it's a song that's copywritten.

2:18:35Let's now bring to the stage one of the strongest voices for justice from the

2:18:42Progressive Caucus, the Emeritus leader of the Progressive Caucus, a sister, a woman that has

2:18:48fought for justice, for equality, for the people from the other Washington, Washington State.

2:18:56Please give a healthy round of applause for Representative, and she does embody that word

2:19:03representative, Pramila Jayapal. And she is going to be, yes.

2:19:10And she is going to be joined by Lauren Hirsch, who is one of the

2:19:14leading legal voices fighting for the Epstein victims.

2:19:19Give them a round of applause.

2:19:24That Joy Reid can sing, too.

2:19:29Hey, everybody. It is so good to be with you.

2:19:32Thank you for being out here in the cold at the People State of the

2:19:36Union. I really appreciate MoveOn organizing this tonight and all the people that are on

2:19:44the livestream across the country, because this matters.

2:19:48It matters that we are out here and that we are not in that chamber.

2:19:55Because when we look at the People State of the Union, people in Minnesota, in

2:20:01Illinois, in California, Oregon, who have stood up nonviolently and with tremendous risk to their

2:20:08own lives, to this authoritarian regime that murders its own citizens in the streets and

2:20:17then lies about it. They are saying not on our watch.

2:20:21People are saying not on our watch to an illegal and unconstitutional administration that kidnaps

2:20:28and disappears immigrants of every status who call this country home.

2:20:34An immoral administration that incarcerates tens of thousands of immigrants, including children.

2:20:41Children in for -profit jails where 39 people have died in the one year that

2:20:48Donald Trump has been in office.

2:20:49We say not on our watch.

2:20:52Not on our watch. Working and poor Americans who watch while Donald Trump makes billions

2:20:58for himself and his billionaire buddies, using grift and corruption and stealing from the American

2:21:06people, all the while stripping healthcare and housing from tens of millions of Americans and

2:21:13driving up costs everywhere. Not on our watch.

2:21:18And yes, our trans kids across this country who are sick and tired of being

2:21:25bullied because it's not trans kids driving up your rent.

2:21:29It is the billionaires doing that.

2:21:32We are standing up for our trans kids across the country.

2:21:37And of course, the survivors.

2:21:40The survivors who are showing us exactly what are inside.

2:21:43what courage and resilience looks like.

2:21:47My official guest for State of the Union is a constituent of mine who is

2:21:53an Epstein survivor who is in that building right now showing the strength and the

2:21:59face of courage to be in that building with Donald Trump speaking because they don't

2:22:05want him to not see them.

2:22:08They are demanding that they be seen because the survivors of this horrific global sex

2:22:16trafficking ring of Jeffrey Epstein's, the predators and the pedophiles who need to be brought

2:22:23to justice will be brought to justice because of the courage and the resilience and

2:22:29the voices of these brave survivors.

2:22:37So yes, Donald Trump, we are out here instead of in there because our State

2:22:43of the Union is strong, because the people of this country are strong and we

2:22:48will not sit down, shut up, move on or be silenced.

2:22:55We demand that all the predators, the pedophiles, the grifters, the lawless agents and you,

2:23:02Donald Trump, be brought to justice.

2:23:08It has been the honor of my life to work with real survivors in every

2:23:13single realm that we're talking about tonight.

2:23:15And tonight, I have the honor to introduce a woman who has been an indispensable

2:23:22part of our Epstein survivor movement, who has been working with the survivors to demand

2:23:30that the United States hold these predators accountable.

2:23:36Yes, we should lock them up.

2:23:39And to make sure that we prosecute them, that we bring them down, that we

2:23:44hold them accountable, just like we see in the UK and around the world.

2:23:52Tonight, inside the chamber, Donald Trump will have to face those survivors the same damn

2:23:59way that I forced Pam Bondi to face those survivors in the Judiciary Committee.

2:24:07And so please join me in welcoming the amazing, the strategic, the remarkable Lauren Hirsch,

2:24:14who is the co -director of World Without Exploitation.

2:24:18Lauren Hirsch, give it up for her.

2:24:25Well, that is a tough act to follow.

2:24:28I am so honored to be here tonight with you, and especially with you, Representative

2:24:35Jayapal. This is one amazing woman who has stood beside these survivors through thick and

2:24:44thin. And we will make sure that every single file is released.

2:24:50And I know that they're over there making sure that every file is released.

2:24:55And you have exhibited extraordinary leadership.

2:24:59So thank you. For 30 years, Jeffrey Epstein operated one of the largest sex trafficking

2:25:07rings in the world. It was a vast web of powerful men committing horrific acts

2:25:15of violence against women and girls.

2:25:18And it was in plain sight.

2:25:20For decades, our government didn't just look away, but they buried the truth.

2:25:28While survivors were forced to carry unimaginable pain in silence.

2:25:35But this summer, everything changed.

2:25:38In September, Epstein survivors came together and made something unmistakably clear.

2:25:45The days of powerful men operating with impunity are officially over.

2:25:54And it has been a wild six months.

2:26:00But now, we are in a serious moment of reckoning.

2:26:05Every day, we're witnessing the untouchables collapse before our eyes.

2:26:11Prince Andrew is no longer a prince.

2:26:15He is no longer shielded by a royal title.

2:26:20And he faces criminal charges.

2:26:24Around the globe, exploiters who once hid behind wealth and influence and institutions are beginning

2:26:31to fall like a giant game of dominoes.

2:26:37We aren't quite seeing that here just yet.

2:26:41But I'm pretty sure, I heard you, it's coming.

2:26:48And in this moment, when we're being told, and they're being told to move on,

2:26:54and there's nothing to see, survivors are doubling down, and they are reclaiming their power.

2:27:01They are at the State of the Union tonight, and they are facing an administration

2:27:07who has betrayed them. I'm tired.

2:27:11Time and time again, to every survivor out there who refuses to disappear, you are

2:27:19changing history. Keep speaking your truth because the earth is shaking.

2:27:29Give it up for Lauren Hirsch and the survivors across this country.

2:27:34We will bring justice. Keep standing up.

2:27:37Keep speaking out. Keep building our movement because this is our democracy.

2:27:43Thank you, everybody. Have a great night.

2:27:56We even got a mic drop from the Congresswoman.

2:27:59So there's one thing that we've always demanded as Americans.

2:28:03We want consistency in the fighters that we have that are in D .C.

2:28:07And the next speaker is someone who did that for us when he was in

2:28:12the House. He's doing that for us as a senator.

2:28:15Once upon a time, there was a time when people had the courage they could

2:28:23have convicted Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial.

2:28:26And we wouldn't have to deal with this now.

2:28:30And the man who led that charge was a congressman from California by the name

2:28:36of Adam Schiff. And if there's anybody who understands what the rule of law is

2:28:44and the power of norms and institutions, it's Adam Schiff.

2:28:48And now as a senator, even though felon Trump, because look, you can be a

2:28:55draft dodging bone spurs convicted felon and still be in the Oval Office.

2:29:01Adam Schiff is now being targeted by the weaponized Pamela Jo DOJ.

2:29:08And yet Senator Schiff says, hell no, I'm not going to do it.

2:29:13Janine Pirro, hell no, too.

2:29:16We have Senator Schiff here tonight.

2:29:18He has a letter and it's from Alejandro Barranco.

2:29:22He is one of the three Marine sons.

2:29:28Right. He is a veteran and a son of a landscaper that we saw on

2:29:34video working hard because only in Trump's America can you be working hard on a

2:29:39Saturday as a landscaper, get chased down by federal agents and get your ass beaten.

2:29:45Right. Only in Trump's America.

2:29:48But Senator Schiff is here.

2:29:50He has a letter from Alejandro Barranco, one of three Marines in that family who

2:29:55have given everything in service of this country to only in turn see their father

2:30:01be punished. Please welcome a true fighter to our stage.

2:30:05Senator Adam Schiff. Thank you.

2:30:19Thank you. Thank you for being out here in the cold.

2:30:22Thank you for speaking truth to power.

2:30:26I am very proud to join you tonight.

2:30:30The president stands under the Capitol dome claiming that our union is stronger than ever.

2:30:37Of all the lies that he will tell in his long and rambling address.

2:30:42This may be the most painfully false.

2:30:46Due to his hate, his cruelty and his indecency, we are more divided now than

2:30:53at any time since the Civil War.

2:30:56Trump's promises have all been broken.

2:30:58He promised to bring down costs, but inflation is up.

2:31:02He promised to bring back jobs, but manufacturing has fled.

2:31:07He promised to end trade deficits, but they have reached all time highs.

2:31:13But no failure is more glaring, more significant or more damning than his failure to

2:31:20bring our country together. In January of 2017, Donald Trump stood just a couple hundred

2:31:27yards from this place and took the oath of office for the first time, swearing

2:31:33to uphold the Constitution. As you recall, he painted a dystopian portrait of the country,

2:31:40which he described as American carnage.

2:31:44Little could we know at the time, it was less a portrait of the country

2:31:49as it existed then, as much as a prophecy of what he would seek to

2:31:53bring about in the future.

2:31:55For he has created chaos in our streets.

2:31:59Masked, heavily armed, and poorly trained ICE agents and Border Patrol forces sweep through major

2:32:05cities, demanding to see people's papers.

2:32:09In the United States of America, they are demanding to see people's papers.

2:32:15They have detained citizens and non -citizens alike, shot people dead through their windshields, and

2:32:22while laying face down in the street.

2:32:30When the courts have ruled against this administration's lawless conduct of its administration raids, their

2:32:36opinions have been ignored. When… Universities dare to protest.

2:32:41Their federal funding has been cut.

2:32:43When law firms represent clients whose interests are adverse to the administration, they are punished.

2:32:49When media organizations speak truth to power, they are forced to pay him millions.

2:32:57Personally, all of this violates the oath the president took to faithfully administer the laws,

2:33:03to vigorously defend the Constitution.

2:33:06Thankfully, our founders gave us the tools to fight back against a man who would

2:33:12be king. And chief among those tools is one more powerful than all the rest,

2:33:19and that is the right to vote.

2:33:21And this November, this November, my friends, we must use that tool.

2:33:30We must vote. One man's story tells us why.

2:33:36On a Saturday afternoon in June, in Orange County, California, a landscaper named Narciso Barranco

2:33:43was working outside an IHOP.

2:33:46He'd lived in the United States since the 1990s, undocumented, yes, but no criminal record.

2:33:52American in every way except for in his papers.

2:33:57In that time, he'd raised three sons, all U .S.

2:34:02Marines. That Saturday in June, a group of men approached, masked, in tactical gear, guns

2:34:11drawn. They tackled him, pepper sprayed him, beat him violently, dislocating his shoulder.

2:34:26They detained him, no food, no water, no medical treatment for 24 hours.

2:34:31When he was finally able to get in touch with his family over the phone,

2:34:36he had one request of his sons.

2:34:40He asked them to retrieve his landscaping tools and finish the job he was doing.

2:34:50I wish just a few of my colleagues in that building on the other side

2:34:56of the aisle had the same dedication to their jobs, to their oath of office,

2:35:03to the Constitution of the United States.

2:35:08Narciso Barranco asked his sons to finish the job.

2:35:14His son, Marine Corps veteran Alejandro Barranco, couldn't be here tonight, but he sent me

2:35:19this to read to you.

2:35:22What happened, he said, didn't just happen to an immigrant.

2:35:26It happened to an American family.

2:35:29Families across this country are living in fear, separated by a system that has lost

2:35:35its humanity. We can protect our laws without abandoning our values.

2:35:42We are here because America must be better, fairer, safer, and worthy of the people

2:35:50who believe in it. Now, just a few weeks ago, Narciso Barranco thankfully had his

2:35:58deportation case dismissed by a federal judge.

2:36:04But tonight, we must all heed the words of Narciso Barranco.

2:36:10We must take up the tools our founders have given us to protect our democracy

2:36:16and finish the job. Between now and November, the president will make every effort to

2:36:24discourage Americans from voting. He will make it harder to register and turn out.

2:36:29He may send ICE agents to polling places to intimidate our citizens.

2:36:33He will cast doubt on the results when his party loses.

2:36:46Our response must be to work harder, organize better, turn out higher than ever before.

2:36:52We must view every obstacle placed in our way as a challenge to be overcome

2:36:58with resilience, with defiance, as a gauntlet throwdown that we must pick up.

2:37:04The fight for our democracy is a fight worth having, for it is democracy that

2:37:09makes all progress possible. And it is a struggle we can win if we pick

2:37:15up the tools we have been given and finish the job.

2:37:20In November, are you ready to finish the job?

2:37:24In November, are you ready to throw the bums out?

2:37:29In November, are you ready to defend our democracy?

2:37:33In November, are you ready to push back, to fight back, and to save this

2:37:38country? Let us pick up the tools our founders gave us, and let us finish

2:37:44the job. Thank you, and God bless you for being here.

2:37:48Thank you so much. Thank you.

2:37:55All right. One more time for the senator from the great state, California.

2:38:06We love the... Californians, but we now are going to turn to the great state

2:38:09of Illinois, which was one of the earliest cities to see the absolute terrorism being

2:38:15unleashed upon Americans and immigrants alike by ICE, by the secret police being deployed by

2:38:24this regime. And one of the stalwarts in the great state of Illinois who has

2:38:29been fighting for the rights of people, for the humanity of the American people and

2:38:34our immigrant neighbors is one representative Delia Ramirez.

2:38:38And she is going to be here from the great third district in Illinois.

2:38:43Come on. And she is going to be speaking tonight in honor of Silverio, Keith,

2:38:49Renee, Alex, Linda, Ruben, and the 38 lives that we have lost at the hands

2:38:54of DHS, including Illinois resident Nanko Gantel.

2:38:59Please give it up for representative Delia Ramirez folks in five months.

2:39:12You're going to be really hot.

2:39:13Just remember that. Okay. I'm trying to remind myself of that.

2:39:18Well, hi everyone. Buenas noches.

2:39:22As you heard, I'm la congresista Delia Catalina Ramirez, and I, y soy la hija

2:39:30orgullosa de padres guatemaltecos, ciudadana de nacimiento por derecho, y representante del distrito tres, una

2:39:38comunidad que está en la calle luchando contra los fascistas todos los dias.

2:39:43Yes. I said it in Spanish because even as a fascist seek to diminish, to

2:39:49divide and dehumanize us, we must remain powerful and defiant to fascists.

2:39:54You know, I talk a lot about the authoritarian playbook and how this administration cast

2:39:59the other as enemies, weaponized fear, perpetrate corruption and reward cruelty and abuse executive power.

2:40:07But tonight I want to talk to you about the Trump and his administration and

2:40:11their abuse, they're abusing the power of government to persecute dissent.

2:40:18They're abusing immigration enforcement to terrorize us.

2:40:21They're abusing detention to punish our neighbors.

2:40:25They're abusing the military to occupy our cities.

2:40:28They're abusing federal resources to enrich their donors or campaign donors.

2:40:34They're abusing the justice system to silence survivors, discredit victims and avoid accountability.

2:40:41We need to see that everything that Donald Trump and his cronies are doing are

2:40:46interconnected abuse intended to intimidate us, to control us and to try to destroy us.

2:40:52They want a small and they want a silent and they've tried to silence us

2:40:58by chokeholds, by full body restraints, by criminal charges, by care withheld, by reckless chases,

2:41:06by people disappeared and even executed.

2:41:10But let me tell you today in that gallery, my seat is empty representing more

2:41:16than the 40 lives we have lost to the violence of the Trump administration who

2:41:20want our resources, our freedoms, our lives to advance our imperialistic fascist authoritarian agendas.

2:41:28But here's the thing. They can try to persecute us.

2:41:32They're going to try to terrorize us, punish us, occupy and discredit us, but they

2:41:37will never ever silence us.

2:41:40Am I right? Because We are the legacy of the leaders who look at abusers

2:41:50in the eyes and refuse to be silent and we fight back.

2:41:54So tonight I'm calling us to remember who we are.

2:41:57We are being targeted by a regime that wants to break our resistance, make an

2:42:01example of us because in fact we are strong.

2:42:04We are powerful and we are unafraid.

2:42:08We persist and we lift our voices.

2:42:11We defy their control because our resistance defies the state of the state of the

2:42:16union. And here I can tell you that the state of the resistance is strong.

2:42:24So look, tonight I'm not interested in moments of silence.

2:42:28I'm not willing to sit there silently while the abuser in chief lies, manipulates and

2:42:34gaslights the American people. I stand with the pueblo, with the people that finally speaking

2:42:39the names of silverio, Keith, Renee, Alex, Linda, Ruben, and the 38 people who have

2:42:49died in ICE detention since the start of 2025.

2:42:52I'm talking about my fingers.

2:43:23One moment. seven moments. seven a seed row Johnny huss newsivil hour doll Marie non

2:43:33Bret. Juan, Mesquim, Sarah Witt, and Henry.

2:43:39Tonight, I ask you to be as loud as you can and say with me,

2:43:44we demand justice. Say it with me.

2:43:48We demand justice. We demand justice.

2:43:53And that is why we will melt ice and dismantle the Department of Homeland Security.

2:43:58We will defend our democracy from authoritarians, fascists, and those who believe it's for sale.

2:44:05We will uphold our shared humanity from Chicago to Palestine to Congo.

2:44:10And that is just the beginning because we're going to build a future.

2:44:13A future where we're free from being priced out, defrauded, displaced, or expelled.

2:44:19A future where we're free from exploitation, trafficking, deportation, detention, occupation, and genocide.

2:44:26A free day from economic exploitation, poverty, slavery, income inequality, wage abuse, discrimination, and intimidation.

2:44:37A day where we are free from the oppression and the inequity that have defined

2:44:42our community's experience of being American.

2:44:45So my ask for you today, America, neighbors, constituents, is that we demand more together.

2:44:53A future in which our rights and freedoms mean working people have every single thing

2:45:00they need to thrive. And are we ready for that kind of world?

2:45:08Are we ready for that kind of America?

2:45:11Are we going to fight like hell for it?

2:45:14Because listen to me and listen to me loud and clear.

2:45:18We have the power to organize, to build coalition, to practice solidarity, to shift the

2:45:24narrative, and to take care of one another.

2:45:26Because we're already doing it together in the people's state of the union.

2:45:32Because the people and the power of the people is greater than the weapons that

2:45:37they would wield against us.

2:45:39So together, together, juntos, we will create a more just, a more peaceful, and loving

2:45:47world. And the key is, together, juntos, let's go.

2:46:00And let's polish ice while we're at it, huh?

2:46:07Muchas gracias. Alrighty, so those of you guys may remember that Donald Trump promised a

2:46:14lot of shit when he ran.

2:46:16One of them was, what?

2:46:18No more wars. And yet, in the time that this guy's been in office, he's

2:46:25done some wackadoo stuff when it comes to our military.

2:46:30And no, it's not just DUI Hegseth that we're looking at.

2:46:34We're talking about felon Trump.

2:46:36There is a congressman from Connecticut.

2:46:38His name is Jim Himes.

2:46:41And he's on House Permanent Select Intel.

2:46:44And when I tell you that this is the man that is standing in the

2:46:47breach, that is making sure that Americans get transparency when it comes to this type

2:46:55of operations, it's congressman Jim Himes.

2:46:58Tonight, he is joined by Madeline Beckett, who's based in Lansing, Michigan.

2:47:05And she lives in a mobile home park that's been bought out by private equity,

2:47:10of course. Profits over people.

2:47:14Since that takeover, she's had unbelievable, horrible experiences, including huge, unexpected fees, undrinkable water, and

2:47:24an end to necessary maintenance.

2:47:26How are we supposed to live?

2:47:29Please welcome to our stage congressmen Jim Himes and Madeline Beckett.

2:47:37Thank you, Katie, and thank you all.

2:47:39Thank you, America. Thank you, resistors.

2:47:41Thank you for people of goodwill.

2:47:44Katie's exactly right. I spent a lot of time on national security.

2:47:47But what does it mean to have national security if we don't have housing security,

2:47:50if we don't have economic security, if we don't have dignity?

2:47:54What does national security mean?

2:47:56I am so happy to be with you tonight because I caught the very beginning

2:48:00of that speech. And I heard President Trump say that we're the hottest country, that

2:48:06everything is fine, that people are richer and better and bigger than ever before.

2:48:11I don't know who he was talking about.

2:48:13Maybe he was talking about Ivanka.

2:48:15Maybe he was talking about Jared.

2:48:17Maybe he was talking about his billionaire cabinet members.

2:48:21But you know what? He wasn't talking about us.

2:48:24He certainly wasn't talking about Madeline.

2:48:26He wasn't talking about the tens of millions of people like Madeline Beckett of Lansing,

2:48:33Michigan, who, like so many Americans, worked 45 years, day in and day out, showing

2:48:39up for the job, raised a daughter, and now struggles to make ends meet in

2:48:45this richest, hottest country in the world.

2:48:48How does that work? You can't do much in this country if you can't afford

2:48:54a home, if you can't pay the rent.

2:48:57Too many of my constituents have given up on the idea that their kids might

2:49:01live. in the communities in which they grew up.

2:49:04They have given up on the idea that they might advance and maybe save a

2:49:07little something for retirement or to educate their kids because we have a housing crisis

2:49:13in this country. We've got to build five million units just to get back to

2:49:18a place where Americans can afford housing.

2:49:20And in the meantime, hard -working, middle -class, true Americans, and by true Americans, I

2:49:27mean people who go to work every single day and who at the end of

2:49:30the week worry a little bit about those bills who are coming in the coming

2:49:35week. Real Americans who understand what it is to live in this country and to

2:49:40work hard and to live with dignity are getting squeezed out.

2:49:44There have been a lot of politicians up here tonight, but we got to never

2:49:47lose sight of who it is that we're fighting for.

2:49:50And so for that reason, it is my profound honor to introduce you to Madeline

2:49:56Beckett of Lansing, Michigan. Madeline, thank you so much for being with us here tonight.

2:50:01Thank you. This, by the way, is the first time that Madeline Beckett has spoken

2:50:05in front of a crowd.

2:50:06So we're going to help her along.

2:50:08Big round of applause for Madeline Beckett.

2:50:13Thank you. There you go.

2:50:19That's fine. Thank you. Yes, I'm nervous.

2:50:24My name is Madeline Beckett.

2:50:26I'd like to thank all of you for having me here tonight.

2:50:29I'm very honored. I live in Windsor State's manufactured home community in Diamonddale, Michigan, just

2:50:37outside of Lansing. I'm here tonight because private equity has stolen my retirement, turned my

2:50:44life upside down, and soon will leave me homeless.

2:50:48I spent 45 years working as a bookkeeper.

2:50:51I traveled a lot for my job, so living in manufactured communities has always been

2:50:58convenient and affordable. They were good places to live.

2:51:02They were safe. Neighbors looked out for one another.

2:51:06Upkeep was easy, and we could count on maintenance by the park owners.

2:51:12The best park I lived in was Windsor Estates, which convinced me that's where I

2:51:18would go back to buy my last home, the last home that I'd get to

2:51:22pick. I made a financial plan to determine what I could afford, and I bought

2:51:28my last house in Windsor.

2:51:32And it was great. It was exactly what I hoped for, and it was a

2:51:38good, good neighborhood. Then the private equities came along, and the first place they bought

2:51:48was only there for six months.

2:51:51Then they bought, just sold it to another firm, another private equity, and they took

2:51:58advantage of the fact that we're trapped.

2:52:01We can't move our homes.

2:52:03They raised the rent. They added all kinds of fees.

2:52:09They reduced their staffing. And they bleed people like me dry.

2:52:20They're now charging us water, which used to be included in the rent, and that's

2:52:27over $100 a month. Plus, we get to pay them an administration fee and pay

2:52:35for our trash, which also was included in our rent.

2:52:41Thank you. The best thing about it is we paid, excuse me.

2:52:52Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, the government subsidized the buying of our park with a loan

2:53:01from Freddie Mac. My tax dollars helped steal my retirement.

2:53:12After all the added costs, I am now on the verge of being homeless.

2:53:17I don't have anywhere to go.

2:53:19I started going to meetings of the local homelessness coalition to figure out what to

2:53:26do when I lose my home.

2:53:29I've had to take on a roommate at my age.

2:53:33Seriously? Every month, I have to borrow money from a friend.

2:53:39I now owe her over $5 ,000, and I don't know how I'll ever pay

2:53:44her back. I don't even know how to properly thank her.

2:53:49Without her, I would be on the street right now.

2:53:53But I'm not going to sit back and take it.

2:53:56And neither are other people in the mobile home community parks all over Michigan and

2:54:00the country. If I can stand up now and fight back at my age, in

2:54:06my condition, living on the edge of homelessness, you can too.

2:54:12Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Thank you!

2:54:19Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

2:54:20We need all of you here to put limits on how much these corporate landlords

2:54:25can raise our rents. And we need it now.

2:54:28We need to stop. shoveling tax dollars to the predators and we need to stop

2:54:35it now and we need elected officials to grow up here and stand up for

2:54:43us. We deserve better. Thank you for listening.

2:54:54Thank you, Madeline. Do we think that Donald Trump knows about Madeline?

2:54:58Do we think he cares about Madeline?

2:55:02America is Madeline Beckett. That's who we're fighting for.

2:55:06Thank you, everybody. Thank you.

2:55:17Thank you so much. One more time for the senator and for Madeline.

2:55:21That is who we elect people to fight for, right?

2:55:26Okay. Now, because all of you guys are just, you guys are stalwart being out

2:55:32here in the cold. First of all, can I big up that cat over there?

2:55:35Can we please acknowledge bringing a little of the Portland magic?

2:55:39We love a fairy tale creature.

2:55:41I just want to thank you for being creative and being in this space.

2:55:45Please give a round of applause to the yellow cat, everybody, please.

2:55:48No king's cat. No king's kitty over there.

2:55:51We appreciate it. There was a person over here who had a toilet sort of

2:55:54set up that was very creative as well.

2:55:56Big it up to all the creative people in the house.

2:55:58Now, I want to take you all to the great state of Arizona.

2:56:01Wouldn't you rather be in Arizona right now?

2:56:03Just pretend like you feel it.

2:56:05Feel Arizona in your spirit.

2:56:06Feel the warmth of the sun, right?

2:56:09Okay. We're going to be warm in our spirits because we as cold as hell

2:56:13out here right now. But that's okay.

2:56:15Because coming to the stage are two people who you are really going to want

2:56:20to hear from. Representative Yasemin Ansari, representing Arizona's great third district.

2:56:26And she is here with Sonia Almares.

2:56:30And Sonia Almaraz, I should say.

2:56:34Sonia Almaraz is the partner of Yari Marquez, who has leukemia and who has suffered

2:56:40severe medical neglect for more than a year at the Eloy Detention Center in Central

2:56:46Arizona. These are literally the kinds of stories and nightmares that are taking place in

2:56:52the Trump Epstein era of the United States.

2:56:55So please give a warm round of applause and show some love to Representative Ansari

2:57:01and to Sonia Almaraz. Thank you.

2:57:08Oh, I'm going to give you that.

2:57:10All right. Good evening, America.

2:57:13I'm Congresswoman Yasemin Ansari. I'm proud to represent Phoenix, Glendale, and Guadalupe in the U

2:57:19.S. House of Representatives. And tonight, it is my absolute honor to be standing here

2:57:24with Sonia Almaraz. Sonia's loved one is Yari.

2:57:29Yari is a lawful permanent resident, a green card holder who was stripped of her

2:57:35legal status by Donald Trump's racist mass deportation agenda.

2:57:40For over a year, Yari has been locked up at the Eloy Detention Center in

2:57:47Arizona. Yari has leukemia. When I visited her, she was too weak to stand.

2:57:54When I sat with her, I watched her vomit blood.

2:57:58And tonight, while Yari suffers in detention, Donald Trump stands before Congress and lies to

2:58:05the American people. Donald Trump claims he is going after the worst of the worst.

2:58:13And that is a lie.

2:58:16Yari has no criminal record.

2:58:20Meanwhile, this administration and the Republican enablers in Congress handed ICE a $75 billion slush

2:58:30fund to terrorize our communities with no accountability.

2:58:36And let's be clear about who built this machine.

2:58:39Stephen Miller built Stephen Miller, the most awful human being, architected this cruel immigration agenda

2:58:52from the ground up. It is an agenda rooted in fear, rooted in hatred, and

2:58:57the belief that some people simply do not belong.

2:59:01Mass agents, violent raids without transparency, communities living in fear, that is not public safety.

2:59:10That is authoritarianism. And the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, oversees all of this.

2:59:19If a cabinet official allows this level of neglect under her watch, then she should

2:59:26be impeached. Authoritarianism is when the government cages the sick, it is when cruelty becomes

2:59:35policy, and it is when federal power is turned inward against our own people.

2:59:41My parents fled an authoritarian regime in Iran.

2:59:46They came to this country because America was supposed to be different.

2:59:51This country welcomed them. It allowed them to work hard and to build a better

2:59:56life. And in one generation, they watch their daughter become the first Iranian -American Democrat

3:00:04ever elected to Congress. That is the promise of America, and I refuse to let

3:00:14it be dismantled. The real state of our union is whether people like Yadi are

3:00:20safe, whether the sick receive care, and whether human dignity still matters.

3:00:26So tonight, we say together, Free Yadi!

3:00:31Free Yadi! Because she belongs here.

3:00:39She deserves care, she deserves dignity, and she deserves freedom.

3:00:43Now I want to turn it over to Sonia, who I've gotten to know through

3:00:48this horrific experience to share your and Yadi's story.

3:00:57Thank you, Congresswoman Ansari. I'm honored to stand with you tonight to expose Transreal State

3:01:05of the Union. Yadi is not a criminal.

3:01:10And for a year now, I have had to watch my health, her health, I

3:01:18am so sorry. For a year now, I have had to watch her health deteriorate

3:01:33at the hands of ICE.

3:01:36Yadi has lost over 70 pounds.

3:01:41She's been coughing up blood for months on a daily basis now.

3:01:55She's too weak to stand.

3:01:57She has been diagnosed with lymphedema and arthritis on top of her cancer.

3:02:05And I'll rely on a walker just to move.

3:02:17Her suffering is preventable. Yet ICE has denied the basic medical care.

3:02:25Yadi is una compañera amorosa, amiga, y miembro de la comunidad, que merece dignidad humana.

3:02:34We demand her medical release immediately.

3:02:41Exigimos su libertad inmediata para su cuidado médico.

3:02:46Let us get her back to hell so she can continue to fight her immigration

3:02:52case. Thank you, Sonia. We will never stop fighting for Yadi.

3:03:03Give Sonia a round of applause.

3:03:05And free Yadi! Free Yadi!

3:03:13Free Yadi! Free Yadi! Thank you so much, everyone.

3:03:19Have a great evening. Thank you.

3:03:37Thank you. Thank you. You ready?

3:03:43We appreciate all of you still being out here.

3:03:46We know it's cold. But this mission is very important.

3:03:51We now have the privilege of being able to listen to Charlene Rochard, a model

3:03:58and actress, and perhaps in her most important role, an advocate.

3:04:03She is a survivor of the horrors of Jeffrey Epstein.

3:04:06She has bravely spoken publicly about her experiences of being trafficked as a child, sustaining

3:04:16and suffering from the sexual abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein, and the exploitation

3:04:21of her, and I want to underscore, as a child.

3:04:25And yet the Republicans continue to want to hide from the American people and from

3:04:31the world the transparency that Charlene and the other Epstein survivors deserve.

3:04:37Charlene, this is your time.

3:04:45I am grateful to Congresswoman Randall for welcoming me as her guest for the State

3:04:54of the Union, and I appreciate all of you for giving me the opportunity to

3:05:00share my voice tonight. Thank you.

3:05:02My name is Charlene Rochard, and I stand before you not just as a survivor,

3:05:11but as a mother, a woman, and a citizen who believes deeply in protecting the

3:05:17next generation. People often ask how I found the courage to speak publicly about something

3:05:24so... painful. The truth is, I didn't find that courage alone.

3:05:31For years, I carried the weight of my experience in silence.

3:05:36And then a longtime friend, someone who remembered the vivid details of my past interactions

3:05:43with Jeffrey Epstein, encouraged me to reclaim my voice.

3:05:49When I finally stepped forward to tell my truth, I found myself surrounded by a

3:05:55sisterhood of survivors who lifted me up and reminded me that none of us walk

3:06:03this path alone. But I want to be honest about something that rarely gets said

3:06:11out loud. What happened to us didn't end when the abuse ended.

3:06:18Epstein's manipulation and coercive control changed the trajectory of many of our lives.

3:06:27Some of us went from thriving, working hard, building careers, feeling hopeful to being unable

3:06:35to work at all. Some fell into depression, some carried shame that was never ours

3:06:42to carry. For many of us, it has taken decades to overcome the impact of

3:06:49what happened. Decades to heal and decades to speak.

3:06:55And that is why I'm here tonight.

3:06:57I am speaking out because the next generation deserves better.

3:07:02Our children deserve a world where powerful people cannot harm others without consequence.

3:07:09They deserve a world where survivors are protected, not punished for telling the truth.

3:07:18They deserve a world where silence is not the price of safety.

3:07:24I also want to say something that often gets lost in the noise.

3:07:31I believe that most of humanity are good people.

3:07:36Compassion, love and peace are not abstract ideals, but are lived values.

3:07:42I've seen them in the survivors who hold each other up.

3:07:47I've seen them in the advocates who refuse to look away.

3:07:51I've seen them in the people who quietly reach out and say, we believe you.

3:07:58Tonight, as we gather for the People State of the Union, we are reminded that

3:08:04protecting children is not a partisan issue.

3:08:08It's a human one. And it requires all of us, including every community, every family,

3:08:17every survivor, every ally, to all stand together in unity.

3:08:24My hope is simple, that by sharing my story, I help create a space for

3:08:31others to share theirs. And that together we build a future where no child's life

3:08:36is derailed by someone else's abuse of power.

3:08:41And no survivor has to wait decades to be heard.

3:08:47Thank you for listening. Thank you for believing in survivors.

3:08:52And thank you for standing with us as we fight to protect the next generation.

3:09:06Please, everybody, let's please support Charlene right now.

3:09:10And please just show her a round of applause for the courage.

3:09:14This is why we're fighting.

3:09:16Thank you, Charlene. Look, it got real on this stage, right?

3:09:41I mean, I think a lot of the time, Katie, people feel like politics is,

3:09:47it's just theoretical. It's just people giving speeches.

3:09:52It's just people talking. But these stories that you've heard tonight, this is the reason

3:09:59that we elect people to office, because these are not theoretical problems.

3:10:04These are human tragedies, and they're all manmade, orange manmade, specifically.

3:10:12And what's happened to some of these, these folks, it is criminal.

3:10:18And somebody ought to go to prison for it.

3:10:21That's right. For abusing. Absolutely.

3:10:26It is unbelievable that we live in a country that has a justice department.

3:10:33And so much injustice is being done under its nose.

3:10:38This is shameful. These stories that we've heard tonight, this should not be happening in

3:10:43the United States of America.

3:10:45And so this is not about speeches.

3:10:49This is about changes. This is about change.

3:10:51We have to stop this.

3:10:52regime. We have to stop this regime.

3:10:58Joining us now, we are going to introduce four really important guests because we really

3:11:04want you all to take these stories in.

3:11:06Okay? Exactly. Other countries are managing to hold people accountable and the United States of

3:11:15America is not capable of holding people accountable.

3:11:19We are creating concentration camps and letting people suffer and die incarcerated for no reason

3:11:26other than being brown. Come on now.

3:11:31Come on now. If we can't do better than that, I don't even know what

3:11:37to tell you. Let's introduce these guests, my friend.

3:11:42These are the voices and this is why we're here tonight at the People's State

3:11:49of the Union, the People's State of the Union.

3:11:51Dr. Troy Jacobs worked on maternal fetal health along with vaccines.

3:11:58You know the important stuff.

3:12:00Originally from Ethiopia, Dr. Jacobs came to the United States to improve our health outcomes

3:12:07for mothers and children. Fired by the Trump administration during the doge cuts after the

3:12:15dismantling of USAID. We're also joined by Yvonne Rodriguez.

3:12:25And Alice Goldberg, a music teacher who owns her own small business, whose premiums jolted

3:12:33after Trump's big bullshit bill.

3:12:35And Marlon Ricardo Camejo, whose citizenship appointments were canceled.

3:12:42By whom? By Kristi Noem, because she's too busy flying around in her kajillion dollar

3:12:47jets. These are the guests.

3:12:51These are the people that you're supposed to be hearing from tonight, not from convicted

3:12:55felon, Donald Trump. It's called y 'all.

3:13:08Good evening, everyone. My name is Yvonne Rodriguez.

3:13:12I work at the intersection of immigration advocacy and storytelling.

3:13:17And I'm here on behalf of Annie Lucia Lopez -Bellosa.

3:13:21Annie was wrongfully deported while on her way to surprise her family for Thanksgiving.

3:13:26She was standing in the airport lobby waiting to board when agents scanned her ticket

3:13:32twice and claimed there was an error.

3:13:35Moments later, two ICE agents approached a handcuffter and took her away.

3:13:41She spent the night in detention and less than 24 hours later, she was deported

3:13:47to Honduras, a country facing deep instability in a place she has not called home

3:13:52since she was eight years old.

3:13:56Annie is a dreamer. She's a 19 -year -old student pursuing a business degree at

3:14:01Babson College. She dreams of building a future, not just for herself, but for others,

3:14:07opening her own business, uplifting her community, and supporting her family.

3:14:11Instead, she has been met with retaliation, fear, and attempts by the Trump administration and

3:14:18his vigilance to deport her loved ones and separate her family simply because she dared

3:14:23to speak out. Two weeks ago, a federal judge ordered the government to facilitate Annie's

3:14:30return to the United States by this Friday.

3:14:33The deadline is now just 72 hours away.

3:14:37And what has the government done?

3:14:39Only a request of a copy of her passport.

3:14:42No clear plan, no urgency, and no guarantee that she will be allowed to return

3:14:48safely to her family without being detained again.

3:14:52Annie is not a case number.

3:14:54She is a daughter, a student, a leader, and a young woman whose future is

3:14:58being held hostage by the Trump administration's regime and cowardice.

3:15:03Annie asked me to share this statement with you all tonight.

3:15:06I'm going to read it first in English and then in Spanish.

3:15:08I want to come home.

3:15:10I want to return to my school, to my family, and to the life I

3:15:14have worked so hard to build.

3:15:16I have done everything asked of me, followed every rule, and still I was treated

3:15:20as if I did not belong.

3:15:21I refuse to give up on my dreams, and I refuse to be silent.

3:15:26I am asking for fairness, for dignity, and for the chance to continue the future

3:15:30I started in the only country I truly know as home.

3:15:33Now in Spanish. Quiero volver a casa.

3:15:36Quiero regresar a mi escuela, a mi familia, y a la vida que he trabajado

3:15:40tan duro para construir. He hecho todo lo que se me ha pedido, he seguido

3:15:45cada regla, y aún así fui tratada como algo desechable.

3:15:49Me niego a renunciar a mis sueños y me niego a guardar silencio.

3:15:53Estoy pidiendo justicia, dignidad y la oportunidad de continuar el futuro que comencé en el

3:15:59único país que es mi hogar.

3:16:01The government has a court order.

3:16:04The clock is ticking. 72 hours.

3:16:07And we will not stop speaking until Annie is brought home.

3:16:11Thank you. Good evening, Washington, D .C.

3:16:19Good evening. We'll be right back.

3:16:20I'm Marlon. I'm coming from the great state of Connecticut.

3:16:25I'm son and also I'm an immigrant, I'm Cuban immigrant that came to this country

3:16:31three years ago. I'm here talking to my dad, Moses Ricardo.

3:16:36He came to this country 17 years ago, escaping from a dictatorship in Cuba, which

3:16:44is crazy. So tough regime, and now 17 years later, my dad has to face

3:16:51another authoritarian regime in the U .S.

3:16:55So it's crazy. So 17 years later, my dad has been here working so hard,

3:17:03doing his best, fighting with the fire in California, helping people in the hurricane in

3:17:09North Carolina. Now the administration, this Trump administration, told him that he's a threat for

3:17:17this country. And he cannot become a citizen because he's a threat.

3:17:21There is nothing that can prove more that somebody's not a threat than 17 years

3:17:26working and supporting the country that he loves.

3:17:31I came to this country, he was the one that taught me to love the

3:17:35greatest nation on earth, but that's not what we're seeing.

3:17:39As I said, I'm coming from a regime.

3:17:44It's so important to remark this.

3:17:47So Castro and so many other dictators, they were elected.

3:17:53So those that said, okay, this guy is not a dictator, he's not going to

3:17:57be a dictator because people are elected.

3:17:59No, that's not the point.

3:18:01He can do it. We are not going to let him.

3:18:04That's for sure. We are not going to let this guy be a dictator.

3:18:10All right? We have two really good people behind us that are going to fight

3:18:15him. And we have to support him too.

3:18:17All right? How are we going to do that?

3:18:19First of all, go on voting.

3:18:21So we're going to vote and we're going to take all these people, haters, out

3:18:27of the Congress. And how else are we going to continue fighting doing this?

3:18:34Standing up. No regrets. Just push forward.

3:18:37Push forward. We got this.

3:18:40And I want to make sure that you guys understand all the people that talk

3:18:45about this is about criminals.

3:18:46This is about illegals. My dad is a green card holder for 17 years.

3:18:53He came here legally. No criminal records.

3:18:56But I don't want him to become a citizen because he's a threat.

3:19:00This is not about nothing like security or nothing like that.

3:19:06This is about racism. If my dad would be white, he's okay.

3:19:11But he's not. He came from a poor country that just was seeking happiness like

3:19:16so many other people. And that made him a criminal, maybe.

3:19:23So, you know, I'm so happy and glad to be here being part of this

3:19:27great event because we are the people of the State of the Union.

3:19:32We are the people. That's the most important part of this.

3:19:34We are the people. The people is America.

3:19:38America is not a president.

3:19:41America is not an administration.

3:19:42You guys are America. We are America.

3:19:53Hello. Good evening, people. It's been quite a marathon, right?

3:20:02I am Dr. Troy Jacobs.

3:20:05I am a pediatrician. I have had the joy and honor of being a pediatrician

3:20:13for 30 years, providing high -quality care, primary health care, to children in the United

3:20:19States and around the world.

3:20:21I have also been doubly lucky for 17 of those years to work as a

3:20:29medical doctor at the U .S.

3:20:31Agency for International Development, working in both disasters and regular times, improving health care efficiency

3:20:40and effectiveness around the world.

3:20:42Unfortunately, this all came to an abrupt end in February of 2025, when I was

3:20:50in Ethiopia, while ensuring that life -saving child health care occurred.

3:20:59Things like vaccinations, sick care, nutrition, water, and sanitation.

3:21:05What I have witnessed over the last year here in the United States is the

3:21:13impact of the current administration's added burden on families in terms of stresses, in terms

3:21:21of fears, and in terms of costs.

3:21:24It's really a Trump health confusion tax on families.

3:21:30I see these disruptions and what they mean to families, including my own.

3:21:36People struggle with greater uncertainty, more fear, more red tape, more bureaucracy.

3:21:43Their care is fragmented. Children missen ağ llam hey?

3:21:48Well child visits, vaccinations, and routine care, things that are wanted by their parents and

3:21:54deemed necessary by vetted science and best practices.

3:21:58Families struggle deciding the right place and the right time for health care, whether they

3:22:04should take their wheezing child to a grocery store clinic, urgent care clinic, their doctor's

3:22:12office, hospital emergency department, or sadly too often they are dealing with these issues at

3:22:20home alone without any help.

3:22:23We shouldn't have to have a doctor or nurse in our family to be able

3:22:29to navigate the complexities of Medicaid, Medicare, or our health plans, but increasingly this is

3:22:36what the current administration expects of American families.

3:22:41We need to come out of the cold and darkness of the last year and

3:22:46double down on eliminating the administration's health confusion tax.

3:22:51We need to return to good science, evidence -based guidance, and good practice.

3:22:59And this includes including humans in the loop, people like parents, pediatricians, nurses, and other

3:23:07child health providers. So that we have a place where pediatricians, nurses, and parents are

3:23:13not overburdened with the administration's health confusion tax.

3:23:18Thank you. Hey, I'm Alice.

3:23:24My artist's name is Melting Virgo.

3:23:27And I find myself here on stage tonight because my health care that I purchased

3:23:32through the Maryland Exchange went from $28 a month to $248 a month.

3:23:41Last fall, before the federal subsidies were cut, I was beginning to look into buying

3:23:46my first home that could double as a lesson studio, but that is just not

3:23:50a viable option anymore. But let me rewind.

3:23:54I earned my master's degree in energy and environmental public policy from the University of

3:23:59Maryland, College Park. Go Terps!

3:24:03So, naturally, I ended up becoming a self -employed piano and voice teacher.

3:24:09Since I work on the weekend and during after -school hours, I spend a lot

3:24:13of time advocating for these policies that I care so much about.

3:24:16And sometimes my students take notice when I come back a little sweaty.

3:24:20And one of them said to me one time, wait, we can do something about

3:24:25climate change? She's 12. And she didn't know.

3:24:29And that made my blood boil.

3:24:31A six -year -old just the other day turned to me and said, people are

3:24:35bad for the planet. I had to tell her, no.

3:24:41People aren't bad for the planet.

3:24:43But there are some people who are bad for the planet.

3:24:46And that is the billionaires who profit off of keeping us sick.

3:24:52They pollute our communities, predominantly black and brown communities.

3:24:57And then they make us pay the price.

3:25:00This administration is removing every single safety net imaginable just to turn around and give

3:25:08corporate welfare to the Epstein class.

3:25:11Every time federal lawmakers say that we don't have money to fund public services like

3:25:17health care, they are lying.

3:25:19We can make high -quality health care, education, transportation, and housing accessible for everybody.

3:25:26We can balance our relationship with our environment through indigenous leadership.

3:25:31And we must liberate everyone who's been abducted by ICE.

3:25:38This takes revolutionary optimism, and it also needs real -world organizing, which is why I

3:25:45recently joined my local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

3:25:49No more doom -scrolling. We must show up and create hope.

3:25:54One of the best ways I've found to create hope is to sing.

3:25:58I have a song that I wrote last summer in solidarity with our neighbors who

3:26:03are being abducted by ICE.

3:26:04It is in English and Spanish at the same time, and it needs some crowd

3:26:09participation, so I hope that you'll join me.

3:26:11And I'll also invite Joy up quickly to get this song going.

3:26:15And I'm putting her on the spot.

3:26:17She's never heard this song before.

3:26:18Okay, so I need you to hold down the underlying chant.

3:26:22We're going to do that in English, okay?

3:26:25It goes, They cannot imprison us all.

3:26:29They cannot imprison us all.

3:26:31Everybody! They cannot imprison us all.

3:26:34They cannot imprison us all.

3:26:44They cannot imprison us all.

3:26:45They cannot imprison us all.

3:26:49They cannot imprison us all.

3:26:52They cannot imprison us all.

3:26:54They cannot imprison us all.

3:26:55They cannot imprison us all.

3:26:56They cannot imprison us all.

3:26:58They cannot imprison us all.

3:27:00They cannot imprison us all.

3:27:04They cannot imprison us all.

3:27:06They cannot imprison us all.

3:27:10In prison us all they cannot, in prison us all they cannot, in prison us

3:27:14all they cannot. you did amazing yes you get an a i don't give grades

3:27:34though we just go on vibes and the vibes were immaculate thank you so much

3:27:40thank you thank you very much let's give another round of applause to all of

3:27:44these amazing assets to the community of the united states of america this is what

3:27:51we want here's my suggestion maybe we should deport donald trump what do you think

3:27:57keep all of these beautiful people and deport trump katie fang how are we going

3:28:03to end this beautiful wonderful evening we're telling everybody who's here well first of all

3:28:08joy and i want to say the following we want to say thank you to

3:28:12the members of the press that are here yes that have been here yes in

3:28:15the cold documenting this this is important so we appreciate all of you that are

3:28:21here that have been here we also appreciate all of you diehards that have stayed

3:28:25here and everybody who's watching us on the live streams go to so to s

3:28:31o t u dot org for what no king's day 3 .0 march 28th thank

3:28:38you for being here i'm katie fang i'm joy ann reed and this is the

3:28:43people's state of the union good night everybody thank you for being here we love

3:28:48you and good night and thanks to the midas touch and move on dot org

3:28:53amen get around thank you thank you good night good night good night We'll see

3:29:34you next time.