Mayor Barbara Lee Discusses Her Lawsuit against Trump for J6

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2:10Ben Meiselas:Treat yourself to the flavor and nutrition your body craves. Go to cachava.com and use code NEWS. New customers get 15 % off their first order. That's K-A-C-H-A-V-A dot com, code NEWS. Donald Trump's poll numbers are absolutely plunging. He's getting a rude awakening, as it's obviously clear that the American people despise him. I mean, contrast Donald Trump's polling numbers, negative 14, to President Zelensky's favorability in the United States, anywhere from plus 10, plus 12, plus 14. I mean, then take a look at Donald Trump's polling in America like Vladimir Putin is polling in America. Take a look right here of Donald Trump's polling compared to Zoran Mamdani, for example, the new mayor of New York City.

2:58Ben Meiselas:Just watch this clip as they discuss how unpopular Trump is in New York versus how popular Zoran Mamdani is. Here, play this clip. Per Democrats statewide, what are you seeing when it comes to that? Yeah, okay, so right now, you know, we're talking about the honeymoon period, right, for Zoran Mamdani, very much in the Jackie Gleason state of mind. Another show that was based in New York City. net favorable rating let's look at new york state right you have new york city and then you wind it out to new york state right a lot of republican statewide we're hoping to run against zaramondani but look at this zaramondani plus 15 points on the net favorable rating statewide that's i believe the highest it's ever been the much bigger drag the much bigger drag is donald trump heading into 2026 statewide we're talking about look at that 30 points underwater if zaramondani were something he'd be the Empire State Building, way up there in the clouds in terms of popularity compared to other politicians in the state of New York.

3:52Ben Meiselas:And Donald Trump, well, he would be like a garbage dump out on Staten Island. Wow, that's pretty strong words there. That's a 45-point difference. That's strong words. But you know what? They're true words. Waiting for the truth social on that one. No, there's a lot of reasons why Donald Trump is deeply unpopular from all of his promises that have been broken to covering up child sex trafficking rings. to just the day-to-day chaos and the lack of normalcy, his assault on democracy, the ICE Gestapo raiding our streets. I mean, it's absolutely horrific. And all the guy wants to talk about over and over again is lie and whine about the 2020 election.

4:31Ben Meiselas:The 2020 election was rigged, the 2020. Dude, just shut up and stop whining like a little baby. I mean, the guy was there with Zelensky, standing next to President Zelensky. Donald Trump is whining about the 2020 election. Here, play this clip. If the election weren't rigged and stolen, 2020, you wouldn't have had this war. It would have never happened. And it didn't happen for four years. Never was even thought to happen. And I spoke with President Putin. I got along with him very well, despite the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, which was a total hoax. And then in the recent interviews Donald Trump's been giving, he's been saying, look, Putin told me that the 2020 election was rigged.

5:10Ben Meiselas:So the fact that Trump is so easy to manipulate that our entire geopolitical global world order and safety and the idea that we're getting pushed closer and closer to world wars because it's so easy for Putin to pick up the phone and to say, hey, Donald, your 2020 election was rigged. Just watch what he's saying there. Here, play this clip. Vladimir Putin said something. One of the most interesting things, he said, your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting. He said mail-in voting every election. He said no country has mail-in voting. It's impossible to have mail-in voting and have honest elections.

5:50Ben Meiselas:And he said that to me. It was very interesting because we talked about 2020. He said you won that election by so much. And that's how he got it. He said, and if you would have won, we wouldn't have had a war. You'd have all these millions of people alive now instead of dead. And he said, and you lost it because of mail-in voting. It was a rigged election, but mail-in voting, Sean. And he keeps on saying, oh, it's a rigged election. It's a rigged election. I'm going to bring out the evidence. This was his big interview that just recently took place with Politico. Were you supposed to talk about, well, are you ripping away healthcare from 20 million Americans?

6:22Ben Meiselas:Do you have a healthcare plan? The 2020 election was rigged. What are you going to do to make things more affordable? The 2020 election was rigged. What are you going to do to make people's lives better? the 2020 election was rigged. What are you gonna do to make housing more affordable? Here's what he said to Politico. Here, play this clip. ...a lot of land. I think that - You know, think of it, if our election wasn't rigged, it was a rigged election, now everyone knows. It's gonna come out over the next couple of months too loud and clear, because we have all the information. But if the election wasn't rigged and stolen, you wouldn't even be talking about Ukraine right now.

6:56Ben Meiselas:And I think it's important to note that throughout the courts, throughout this country right now, in these lawsuits that have been filed against Donald Trump for his conduct on January 6th. Trump's out there blocking document productions, asserting executive privilege. So while he goes and says it's rigged, he's concealing the documents during discovery. And he's even arguing right now in court, in court just this past week or two, he went into a federal court and he says, oh, you know, I'm entitled to absolute immunity for everything that went down on January 6th. It wasn't me campaigning on January 6th, 2021.

7:33Ben Meiselas:If you think you did nothing wrong, then what are you claiming even immunity for? I mean, how utterly pathetic is that? Can we talk about that case for a moment? I want to bring in Mayor Barbara Lee, Mayor Barbara Lee of Oakland's mayor. She used to be a Congress member, used to be a Congresswoman, and she was there on January 6th. She, along with the NAACP, brought that lawsuit, Lee versus Trump, about Donald Trump's conduct on January 6th. At the one hand, Trump wants to say the election was rigged. And then on the other hand, Donald Trump wants to claim he's entitled to immunity for his conduct on January 6th, 2021.

8:11Ben Meiselas:He doesn't want to put in any evidence. He just wants to say it's rigged. And there was just a hearing that took place where Donald Trump has been asserting absolute immunity and saying, I don't want to participate in this case in federal court. I know there's so many things going on, but this just took place. Why don't we bring her in? Let's bring in Mayor Barbara Lee, the mayor of Oakland, who was a congresswoman at that time. Great to see you, Mayor. You're the lead plaintiff in this case. Seems like Trump's regurgitating the same arguments that have been previously rejected. But I think it's notable to our audience that here we are.

8:46Ben Meiselas:This case was filed like five years ago at this point. We're approaching 2026. And here he is again, just continuing to try to drag this out with rejected arguments. Talk to us about your role as the plaintiff being a mayor now of a major city that also is under attack by Trump while you're a plaintiff in this case and what you observed during the hearing. Sure. Thanks a lot for having me for a few minutes. And first of all, let me just say this is a lawsuit which, of course, Mr. Sellers and the NAACP has put forward based on what took place on January 6th. And yes, I was sitting right on the floor of Congress.

9:25There were a few of us there. And let me just take a moment to salute the Capitol Police officers, because so many of them are still in many ways traumatized. And so many tried to save not only lives of the workers, employees, members of Congress, everyone at the Capitol, but also to save our democracy. And this attempted coup almost did thwart the peaceful transfer of power, but it didn't, and our democracy stood. And so the Capitol Police officers were really key in this. And so we always have to remember, and I always think about around January 6th, their heroism and what they did. Secondly, this lawsuit is a civil lawsuit.

10:08I'm the lead plaintiff. It's Lee versus Trump, the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys. We have, I think it's eight other plaintiffs. And in fact, our basic tenet is that no one is above the law. This is a civil suit. And in fact, he was acting as a candidate and in his personal capacity, not as an office holder. And we know that. And so it's important that we hold those responsible for attempting to thwart the peaceful transfer of power and causing damage to those who were on the floor as well as to our democracy, that we hold them accountable. And that's what this is about. Yes, I was a member of Congress when I first led this lawsuit.

10:51And we're continuing with this. We went to court a couple of weeks ago, the D.C. District Court. and in fact, we're waiting for a decision.

11:04Ben Meiselas:So justice delayed is justice denied is a famous expression. I mean, think about it. Since the period of time where this lawsuit was initiated, you've gone from being a member of Congress to the mayor of Oakland, yet this lawsuit still persists as Donald Trump throws mud against the wall and sees what sticks. This seems to be kind of his MO generally, which is stretch things out, maybe exhaust people, People move on with their lives. They take on different. And this seems to be part of a broader strategy that he deploys. But you're not backing down in this lawsuit. No, absolutely not. And as mayor of a city, we have a large immigrant community.

11:44We know, and I know his playbook probably better than anyone in Oakland. And it's up to us to protect our democracy, protect our immigrant community, protect justice. And this is a fight for justice. No person is above the law. And in fact, we're moving forward. I truly believe that the judiciary is the last resort of our democracy. And so there's no way I would not continue with this because this is about exercising our rights as citizens of this country to make sure that there's equal justice under the law. And so we're going to continue. And this is another step in that process.

12:32Ben Meiselas:Talk to us about that playbook as well, because you have multifaceted roles. You know, it's it's it's interesting, right? I mean, you mean member of Congress to being a lead plaintiff, working with the great lawyers at the NAACP and those other plaintiffs, of course, now mayor of Oakland. And you talk about just now what Trump's doing to the city. You know, Oakland is often used by Donald Trump the same way he uses L.A., the same way he uses Portland, the same way he uses you name it as a way to try to attack who he views as his political enemies. You know his playbook. How has Oakland reacted?

13:13Ben Meiselas:How have you been able to be resilient in the face of everything they've thrown your way? Sure. Well, we very clearly know, first of all, that our police, we have an ordinance. They do not cooperate with ICE. Secondly, the White House knows that we work with them if they help us with our health care needs, with our employment, with our Department of Violence Prevention, with our Oakland Police Department, with housing. There are many, many infrastructure needs that we have here in Oakland. And so as a former federal official and now as a mayor of a city, we want to make sure our federal government responds to the city.

13:52And so at the same time, we have to push back on the attempts to militarize our city like is being done around the country, although the Supreme Court, the courts are really ruling that that's unconstitutional. but also making sure that we understand that this is to try to provoke chaos in our city, if in fact that these threats continue. And so we're doing both, wanting to work to make life better for everyone in Oakland. People in Oakland care about our democracy. They care about not allowing our city to be occupied and militarized. At the same time, you know, we have to work to make sure that the quality of life is what it should be here in Oakland, such as making sure illegal dumping is addressed, our public safety issues, our crime rates are going down.

14:45But if you're a victim of crime, you don't feel it, you don't see it. And so we have to make sure that people understand we're working very hard on public safety issues. And it is coming down. Our ceasefire Department of Violence Prevention, Oakland Police Department working together to stop crimes and to prosecute those responsible. We're working on, of course, affordable housing, our unsheltered population. We're working on jobs and economic development, charter review. So we're continuing with the work of the city each and every day. At the same time, we're saying no to military occupation of our city and protecting our immigrants.

15:22We have strategies and safety measures in place to make sure we protect our immigrants. I'm raising money to help with their daily needs because many are afraid to go to the doctors, to schools, to churches, to places, home depots, to shop. And so we have to protect our immigrant community. And we're doing that at the same time that we're working on all these other issues. So it's all hands on deck. But believe you me, I'm battle tested. And the city is moving forward. And we are going to continue to say no one is above the law.

15:56Ben Meiselas:Mayor, before we go, you still feel that there's hope right now heading into 2026? Oh, yes. Listen, as a black woman, there's no way I don't have hope. I've seen a lot in my life. And we have these moments of backwards types of steps. But we have hope. I see hope. I see our young people. They have hope. I see them fighting hard for our democracy and for a better life. I see what's taking place here in Oakland with our artists and our cultural people who are working to try to make sure that the heart and soul of Oakland is preserved and increased in terms of the economic activity that they bring to the city.

16:41Also, you know, Oakland has been designated for the second year as the top restaurant city in the country. We were one of the top 10 cities on the list of cities to visit. And so we're moving forward. And so, yes, I have a lot of hope. And it's important that people have hope, because if not, we know what can happen in these challenged moments when those that want to erode our democracy have an opening. And we're not going to let that happen here in Oakland.

17:08Ben Meiselas:Mayor Barbara Lee, Mayor of Oakland, former Congresswoman and lead plaintiff in Lee v. Trump. Thanks for joining us, Mayor. Thank you very much. Nice being with you. Everybody hit subscribe and let's get to 6 million subscribers.