People's State of the Union

24:53mothers, kids, and our future generation who will become our caretaker, our lawyers, our

25:03Katie Phang:teachers, and our politicians. Our community members need safety and peace of mind to work.

25:17Katie Phang:leadership matters at the federal level we need real leaders we need a stable federal support for integration and mental and medical health services and we need policies rooted in dignity and education. As families can focus on building our shared community and future, when families feel secure, they build. When mothers feel safe, they live. When children feel stable, they dream. And when we protect our people, we estrain the entire nation.

26:18Katie Phang:This is not politics. This is humanity.

26:25Katie Phang:This is America.

26:42Joy Reid:All right, everybody. One note. We just want to do sort of one housekeeping note. Attention all MAGA trolls. And with apologies to the pastor who gave the invocation, your bullshit is not welcome here.

27:02Joy Reid:And to paraphrase one of my favorite actors in the world, Robert De Niro, I'm going to slightly paraphrase him. Fuck y 'all. We're here to hear the truth and to hear from impacted people, not to see or hear from you. So go back and pay attention to your orange lying friend. Now, coming to the stage is one of the reasons that we are finally getting some of those files released. Everybody say release the files. Release the files. Coming to the stage now is Pennsylvania's Fightin' 12 representative, Representative Summer Lee. She is one of the main reasons that we're getting some of those files. She's going to be reading a story from Monica Ruiz, the executive director of Casa San Jose, waiting to keep families together and reform our unjust immigration system, all while her family is now being impacted by ICE.

27:56Joy Reid:Representative Lee.

28:04Whew.

28:05Joy Reid:What a start to the evening. But good evening one way or another. I am Summer Lee representing Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district, and I'm proud to stand here this evening with Move On, with organizers, with workers, and with everyday people who refuse to sit quietly while our country is pushed to the brink. Right now, Donald Trump is preparing to deliver his made-up version of the State of the Union. He's going to tell a familiar story tonight, that the economy is booming, that our communities are safer, and that America is stronger than it's ever been, all because of him. But we know the truth.

28:45Joy Reid:We're living the truth. We know the fear that our families are facing of being hunted down by ICE. We know our neighbors are working two or three jobs to make ends meet, that their health care has been gutted and their federal jobs have been eliminated by the thousands. We know our education systems and unions are being targeted because they threaten authoritarian power and they want us fighting each other so we don't pay attention to what they're stealing from us. And I mean all of us, Democrats and Republicans and independents, young folks and old folks and black folks, whether you're in a red or a blue state, whether you're in rural towns or factory communities, because corruption doesn't check your voter registration before it robs you.

29:34Joy Reid:While they're terrorizing immigrant communities right now, they're cutting health care. They're gutting worker protection. They're union busting. They're handing tax breaks to billionaires and sending the bill to the rest of us. That's the con. That's the scam and working people are done falling for it.

29:54Joy Reid:Tonight, I was supposed to be joined by my good friend and neighbor, Monica Ruiz. Monica is a mother, a community organizer, and a powerful advocate for immigrants' rights. She was ready to bring that fight from Pittsburgh to D.C. to remind folks who and what she has been fighting for relentlessly. But right now, Monica's family is in crisis as it's being targeted by ICE. Her son-in-law, Victor, was followed by agents unprompted after he dropped his brother off at work. They pulled him over without cause. There was no traffic violation, no expired tag, just a man who looked brown enough to be dragged to one of the worst detention centers in the country.

30:38Joy Reid:Meanwhile, just the other day, Monica's daughter, Adriana, just gave birth to a baby girl who has yet to meet her father because he's been locked up by this lawless agency. Victor has been in the country for 18 years, 18 years of working to build a life for himself, his loved ones, and now his new family. That is the real state of our union, where families are being torn apart and traumatized, where corporations get more say in our democracy than the people we elect, where the government would rather protect powerful people and the Epstein files and the women and the girls who were sexually abused.

31:16Joy Reid:We live in a country where we have one reality for everyday people and another for the rich and the well-connected and the well-protected. We have to change that. We have to meet the moment with bold policies that level the playing field and deliver justice no matter how much money you have to your name. That's why earlier today I announced that I'll be introducing articles of impeachment against Pam Bondi. Trump's DOJ continues to obstruct justice and refusing to comply with our subpoena to release the full unredacted Epstein fouls. Bondi must be held accountable for that. And let's not forget, it was Trump who said it first, release the fouls.

32:01Joy Reid:So we'll keep that call up no matter what, because where I come from in Western Pennsylvania, we know what it means to be banned it by politicians who make big promises and lie and deliver nothing. We know what it's like when the factories close, when the hospitals cut services, when the schools can't afford to teach, when the corporations are given permission to poison our water, our air, and our communities without consequences. And we know that no matter what language you speak, what zip code you live in, we all feel that pain and we are all being squeezed by the same rigged system. So when Trump points the fingers at immigrants, our trans kids, our protestors, or journalists understand what he's doing.

32:37Joy Reid:He's trying to make sure we never point the finger where it belongs, at the billionaires and the corporations looting our economy, robbing our people, and buying our democracy right from address. But here's the truth that they're afraid of. Working people are waking up. Across this country, folks are organizing labor and their money. They're refusing to be silent in the face of authoritarianism. But we know fear is their weapon, but solidarity is our power. So tonight, while Trump paints his fantasy version of America, we're grounded in America, in reality, and we're building something better.

33:10Joy Reid:In America, where we have Medicare for all, every job that pays a living wage, where no one fears being ripped away from their family. That is the America we're fighting for. And later tonight, I'll be delivering the Working Families Party response to the State of the Union, laying out exactly what it will take to build an economy and a democracy that works for all of us not just the working few. So I'm asking you to stay engaged, stay fired up, and tune in tonight because this is about building a movement that is big enough to defeat authoritarianism, to stand up to corporate power, and root it in a simple belief that when working people come together across race, across geography, and across whatever lines they try to divide us by, we are unstoppable.

33:52Joy Reid:So all power to the people, and thank you all for being with us tonight.

34:06Katie Phang:Well, hell yeah, that's how we do it. Coming up next, a man who doesn't suffer fools from the great state of Arizona. We've got Senator Ruben Gallego. He's going to be talking about a man by the name of Steve Gomez. Steve is a father of three from Gilbert, Arizona. And for the last five years, Steve and his family have relied on the Affordable Care Act marketplace for their insurance. But let me be clear, because of Republicans and Donald Trump's big bullshit bill, now Steve has to decide what he's going to cut to be able to afford health care for his child. Senator Ruben Gallego.

34:58Joy Reid:Listen, you know how important this is? I'm from Arizona. This is cold.

35:05Joy Reid:But let's be clear what's happening there. They want to call that the State of the Union. It is the state of denial. Because what's going to happen under that capital is a bunch of lies, lies that Donald Trump, the Republicans are going to tell us about how great this country is doing right now. But what is true, what is happening right now is that Donald Trump, the Republicans, have made this country sicker, poorer, and less secure. Sicker, poorer, and less secure. How did it start? As soon as they got in there, what did they do? They went, they cut Medicaid, and they cut food stamps. Millions of Americans right now are without health care.

35:47Joy Reid:The poorest of our country are trying to figure out how to make ends meet and how to pay for that grocery bill because they needed an extra billion dollars for their billionaire friends. And when they had whatever money they had left over, then they used it to hire the most amount of ICE agents to have the massive amount of deportations we have now that are also targeting U.S. citizens, racial profiling Americans, arresting Latino veterans and telling them you are not part of this country and making them prove that they're Americans when nobody asked to prove our citizenship when they were sending us to war for this country.

36:22Joy Reid:Sicker, poorer, and more secure. Less secure. Let me tell you what else. Every day, every American is trying to figure out how to buy food, how to pay rent, how to pay that mortgage, how to get a car, and this president has done nothing to help that. $1 ,000 per average every American has to pay for his tax increases. and now the corporations are going to get all their money back. Is every American going to get a refund for the$1 ,000 mistake that this president did? No. Not only that, he's going to double down. He's going to say, screw you, Supreme Court. I want to do 15 % tax, and guess what?

37:01Joy Reid:All of you Americans are going to pay for it, and now we have to figure out again, how are we going to pay for our rent? How are we going to pay for electricity? How are we going to actually pay for everyday food? We are poorer because of Donald Trump and the Republicans. Let's talk about security. Let's talk about security. In two weeks, two Americans were gunned down by federal mass agents. In front of our eyes, in front of your eyes, and then they try to lie to you. You saw it with your own eyes. Two Americans expressing their First Amendment rights, and they said to you that they deserve to die.

37:38Joy Reid:Two Americans. 2 ,000 federal agents, mass federal agents, suppressing citizens in Minnesota, acting as if they are a military occupation. You do not military occupy anything in any part of this country. Those are U.S. citizens. They deserve the right to free speech. They deserve the right to say there is something wrong in that community. And they deserve the right to protect themselves and say, I will not stand for this. I will evoke my First Amendment rights and get out of my city. Let's be clear. No matter what they say, they are going to lie to you. And I'm not saying this just because I'm just another politician.

38:18Joy Reid:I'm telling you because I have heard it. We talked about Steve Gomez. Steve Gomez wanted to do everything he could not, not to have to accept subsidies for his kids. He wants to provide. He wants to continue to have his personal business. He wants to be a responsible citizen. Now he has to make that decision. He has to make a decision right now. Will I continue to pay for this very expensive health care or will I gamble? Will I pay for my health care or will I pay the mortgage? That decision was forced upon him by an uncaring Republican administration, by an uncaring Trump who only wants to find more and more money to give more and more tax cuts to the riches of the country that do not need it right now.

39:07Joy Reid:They're making us sicker, poorer, and less secure. Let's change that America. We are better than what is under that capital right now. We can make this country, again, the best country in the world where everyone is richer, where everyone is more secure, and we are proud of everyday work that we can say that America is getting better, will be better, and will one day be the best. Thank you so much. Stay in the fight.

39:43All right,

39:45Joy Reid:y 'all okay? You doing all right? How many of you remember Kilmar Abrego Garcia? How many of you guys remember Kilmar? Wave your hand if you remember. Well, coming to the stage is the man who had the courage, the cojones, to go and find him at Seacock. And, oh, look at that. My fans are back. What I always say is, you know who I am and I don't know who you are. That means you're a fan, you're a fan, you're a fan, you're a fan. Go ahead and keep on standing me. Keep on standing me because I don't know who the hell you are, but you know me. Hallelujah. Keep on being my fan. Coming to the stage is the great Chris Van Hollen, Senator Chris Van Hollen of the great state of Maryland.

40:26Joy Reid:He'll be joined by Jenna Norton, a public health scientist focused on health equity and data standards to improve health outcomes in kidney and urologic diseases. She was a lead organizer of the Bethesda Declaration, a whistleblower letter to the NIH director and members of Congress detailing this harm. In November 2025, she was placed on retaliatory administrative leave. So you're going to want to give her a major round of applause. Senator Van Hollen.

41:01Joy Reid:Hello, American patriots all. We are gathered here in this place because we love our country. And we know that our democracy is not on automatic pilot. And we know that we, the people, must mobilize to save it. Are you out here to save our democracy? Yes! And you're going to hear from a moment from my guest, who is a research scientist at NIH, who was able to stand up and speak truth to power, and you're going to hear her tonight tell that story. Thank you for being here, Dr. Norton. Now, we know the state of our union. We know it is under attack from a lawless president who is shredding our Constitution and who is attacking our democracy.

42:03Joy Reid:A president whose private ICE Army executes Americans and then calls the victims domestic That is what Donald Trump and his administration said. We are here because we know our country is being robbed by the most corrupt president in American history, who is exploiting the Oval Office to enrich himself, his families, and his billionaire buddies. buddies. A president who continues to hide portions of the Epstein files from both the survivors and the American people. When are they going to release the files?

42:51Joy Reid:A president who wants to erase our history. Are we going to let him erase America's history? A president who promised that on day one he would bring down the costs. But instead, ever since he was sworn in, we've seen prices and costs go up on the American people, even as he refuses to extend tax cuts, tax credits that help people afford their health care. We have a president who seeks not to build a more perfect union, but one who wants to tear it down. And a president who said he would stop wars, who said he would stop wars, but instead is responsible for war crimes, and as we speak, is threatening more wars.

43:44Joy Reid:We need to stop him. We are gathered here because we know that we cannot pretend that any of this is normal and that we will not and must not pretend that this is business as usual. We must get in the way of Donald Trump's march toward fascism. We cannot take our country down that road. And what Donald Trump wants to do is what we know all bullies do. All dictators do. He wants to intimidate all of us. He wants us to sit obediently and quietly while he lies and lies and lies to the American people. In other words, he wants us to shut up and sit down. So I have a question for all of you patriots.

44:39Joy Reid:Are you going to shut up? Hell no. Are you going to sit down? Hell no. We're not going to stand down. We're going to stand up just like the people in Minneapolis. who have taken to the streets, who are blowing the whistle to protect their neighbors and to protect our Constitution, and who are getting in the way of the President's efforts to tear down our country. Now look, we know Donald Trump is unpopular, and we know he knows he's unpopular. So tonight, right up that hill in the United States Capitol, he's going to pretend that he really wants to help working Americans. He's going to pretend that he does want to bring down those prices.

45:40Joy Reid:And we know that that is not what he wants because just a few weeks ago when we talked about the affordability crisis, he said that was a big hoax. Do you remember? He said that was a hoax. Well, it's real. And we all need to make sure that we put forward ideas to deal with it. So in my view, it's not enough that we hold the line against Donald Trump. That we must do. But let's face it, we also need to show the American people that we are willing to stand up and fight against big corporate special interests to the benefit of all of the American people. Are we going to do that together?

46:28Joy Reid:Because we need to make sure that we unrig a tax code. A tax code that right now favors people who make money off of money over people who earn a check through their hard work. Are we going to change that? We need to make sure that all of you don't pay high electric bills so data centers that are owned by the richest corporations on the planet can make more money. Are we going to make sure that your electricity bills don't go up for them? And we need to make sure that big oil and the biggest polluters don't pass on the check to all of us because polluters should pay. And we need to make sure that big tech doesn't write all the rules, that we write the rules and we make sure that AI doesn't strip Americans of the dignity of work.

47:27Joy Reid:Are we going to do that? And we're going to make sure they can't snuff out the light on the Statue of Liberty. Are we right about that, my fellow Americans? So look, we have a lot of work to do. And I'm often asked by people, when's the Calvary coming? Where are they? And my message to you, and you know this because you're here, is you are the cavalry. You are we the people. I know all of you remember that right after he was sworn in, Donald Trump began his unlawful assault on hardworking federal employees, federal employees who work every day to deliver services to the American people. You remember he brought in Elon Musk, who took out his chainsaw not to make government more efficient, but to rig the government in favor of billionaires like him.

48:32One of the people who stood up and spoke out was Dr.

48:37Joy Reid:Jenna Norton, a career public health researcher at the National Institutes of health. Dr. Norton blew the whistle on the outrageous actions that threaten the health and well-being of the American people. And she has been retaliated against because she was willing to stand up and tell the truth. But here's what we all know. When the history of this moment is written, the politicians and the law firms and the universities and and the corporations who appease the bullies will be exposed as the cowards they are. And the people who are standing up to save our democracy, like all of you gathered here today and people like Dr.

49:27Norton, they will be remembered as those who preserved our Constitution

49:33Joy Reid:and our democracy. So, ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to Dr. Jenna Norton.

49:47Katie Phang:Thank you, Senator Van Hollen. I'm so honored to be here today speaking up with so many other brave people in my personal capacity. As Senator Van Hollen noted, in November of 2025, I was placed on administrative leave from the job that I loved at the National Institutes of Health because I blew the whistle on the wrongdoing that I saw there. The Trump administration put research participants and public health at risk by a... Is that better? So thank you Senator Van Hollen and thank you for letting me know that you couldn't hear me. I am very honored to be here today with all of the brave folks who have been speaking up and I am here in my personal capacity.

50:40So as Senator Van Hollen noted, I was placed on

50:44Katie Phang:administrative leave in November of last year because I spoke up about the wrongdoing that I was seeing in a job that I used to love at the National Institutes of Health until it was fundamentally changed. The Trump administration put research participants and public health at risk when they abruptly terminated NIH studies. By halting these studies they also wasted taxpayer resources. When you halt a study, a five-year study, a five million dollar study four years in, you don't save one million dollars you waste four million dollars and they continue to this day to censor research in violation of the courts erasing people from science who don't fit their vision black people Hispanic people immigrants LGBTQ plus people all Americans who deserve to have their unique research needs addressed.

51:47Katie Phang:They are creating a science that serves the few instead of a science that serves all of us.

52:01Katie Phang:When this began, I knew that speaking up was my right, but I also believed that it was my duty. I first spoke up inside the National Institutes of Health, but when When my concerns were not addressed by leadership at NIH, I felt that I had no choice but to join with hundreds of my colleagues at NIH to take those concerns to the public.

52:31Katie Phang:Tonight, you are hearing from those most affected by the Trump administration. But civil servants like me are not the only ones affected. The lawlessness at the National Institute of Health affects all of us. Last year, the Trump administration funded 24 % fewer new research studies with about the same amount of money. That means fewer future cures for all of us. The Trump administration also funded 20 % fewer early career researchers, creating a brain drain that will damage our economy and end American leadership in science exploration as our best and our brightest seek positions abroad. The Trump administration tried to silence us by putting me and other federal employees who have spoken up on retaliatory administrative leave.

53:30Katie Phang:They do not want you to know how they are destroying your government, our government. But we will not stop speaking up. Let's get loud together. This is our country and when we come together we are powerful. Thank you.

54:03Katie Phang:That's exactly what we need to be hearing tonight. Coming up next, we have a congressman from the state of Texas who's the chair of the Democratic Congressional Progressive Caucus. These days, people look at the word progressive and they think it means something, but it's not. What it is, is every basic human thing that we all deserve, we should get it. That means affordable health care. That means due process. That means basic human civil rights. Congressman Greg Kassar from the state of Texas is here with a woman by the name of Jill Kordick. Jill is a retiree from last year. Her premiums used to be$75 a month, courtesy of the enhanced premium tax credits.

54:55Katie Phang:But again, the Republicans and Donald Trump with a big bullshit bill didn't care about those enhanced tax credits and said, we're not giving it to Americans anymore. So now Jill's premiums have increased tenfold this year. So now it costs$800 a month for$9 ,600 a year for health care. Please welcome Congressman Greg Kassar and Jill Kordick.

55:31Joy Reid:Buenas noches, Washington, D.C. How are we doing tonight?

55:37Joy Reid:I'm not in the Capitol building tonight because I have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen. for an hour or two or three or four. A man who's made$4 billion off of being president is going to lecture you, the American people, about how good you have it. A man who is building himself a golden ballroom is going to tell you that if you're struggling to get by, that's your fault because he's killing it. A man who flies around in a$400 million palace in the sky is going to tell you how good the economy actually is. He's going to tell us that the state of the union is strong. Strong for who?

56:26Joy Reid:Donald Trump and his billionaire donors' bottom line might be strong. The Epstein class certainly is going strong. But the state of our union is about all of us. And everyone but Donald Trump's rich friends know that it's a disaster. Our union is not strong when millions of folks like Jill are seeing their health care premiums go up two times, four times, five times, ten times higher. Our union is not strong when Americans fear they could be killed or taken by masked agents in our streets. And now the latest news is that Trump is going to talk about in his speech tonight another tax cut for the richest people in this country and for big corporations.

57:19Joy Reid:17 million Americans are already paying for Donald Trump's last billionaire tax cut by losing their health care. Do we need another one? Read my lips. No new billionaire tax cuts. It's time for them to pay their fair share so that every man, woman, and child in this country can have a job that pays a living wage and affordable child care and health care as a basic human right for every single person. And while we're at it, we should get big money out of politics so that both parties answer to the people and not to the billionaires. not another cent to the billionaire class not another cent to the Epstein class we will fight this Trump proposal tonight tooth and nail and we will make sure that the Republicans that vote for it lose their jobs what do y 'all say y 'all we don't need to hear what Donald Trump says tonight because we see what he does.

58:25Joy Reid:He steals from working Americans to give to the rich. Donald Trump doesn't owe us a two-hour rambling speech. He owes the American people their money back.

58:53Thank you. Thank you.

59:33Thank you.

1:00:25Outro Music Thank you.

1:01:05Thank you.

1:01:29Katie Phang:I now pay just short of$10 ,000. So from$900 to$10 ,000. Affordability looks very different today. So now I find myself, you know, shopping a little different to the grocery store. I'm in Iowa, so yes, we do layer up and use blankets, all in an attempt not to raise my heat bill. And honestly, I am making choices to defer health care, just all in great fiscal caution as I'm looking at at least a$10 ,000 deductible. There are millions of Americans that are affected by the loss of the ACA credits. In Iowa specifically, there are around 100 ,000. 13 ,000 have opted not to sign up and be in the marketplace this year.

1:02:30Katie Phang:That's 13 ,000 Iowans trying to navigate the health care systems without coverage. This isn't abstract. These are real policy choices, errant policy choices, and they're harming real people like me. and these intentions and the intentions here that these leaders are supposed to be representing us too many syllables here yet they continue to disappoint us they've just shown us the Republicans and Donald Trump how out of touch they are with real Americans so when they choose tax breaks for the wealthy over affordability that dastardly word that Donald doesn't like. Affordability for Americans, they're turning their very back on the people that they are supposed to be representing.

1:03:26Katie Phang:So thank you for listening. Thank you for showing up tonight.

1:03:29Joy Reid:Thank you, Jill. Let's hear it for Jill. Let's hear it for each of you guys. Thank you guys very much.

1:03:45All right.

1:03:48Joy Reid:Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Y 'all good? Y 'all doing good? You doing okay? All right. Wonderful. Coming to the stage. Now, this is going to be an incredible tag team. This is a dynamic duo. All of these have been dynamic duos tonight. But coming to the stage right now, you're about to get a powerful message about change and hope and possibility. from California's Fighting 42. Yeah. Representative Robert Garcia and joining Representative Garcia is the Kelly Robinson, Executive Director of Human Rights Campaign. She is the ninth president of HRC and the first, the first black queer woman to lead the largest LGBTQ plus civil rights organization in the United States.

1:04:38Joy Reid:Give it up for Representative Garcia and Kelly Robinson.

1:04:49Joy Reid:Hey everyone, how are we doing tonight? It is so great for both Kelly and I to be here with all of you, two proud members of the LGBTQ plus community who are proud to be standing tonight with the people at the People's State of the Union. The single most powerful moment tonight is going to be when Donald Trump has to look up at the gallery of the U.S. House and see the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein looking straight back at him, demanding justice, demanding truth and demanding accountability.

1:05:42We should be crystal clear about right now what is happening in our country.

1:05:48Joy Reid:We have a president who is leading the single largest government cover-up in modern history. We have the single largest sex trafficking ring in modern history right now being covered up by Donald Trump and Pam Bondi in the Department of Justice? Why are we protecting powerful, wealthy men who have abused and raped women and children in this country? Why is our government protecting these men?

1:06:31At this very moment, in my place at the Capitol,

1:06:36Joy Reid:is a woman named Annie Farmer. Annie and her sister Maria both endured horrific abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. As we move forward in this investigation, always center the survivors. We are going to get justice for the survivors. And Donald Trump may call this investigation a hoax. He may try to deflect our work. But our message to him is very clear that our investigation is just getting started. And we will. We will get justice for these survivors. And tonight I am proud to be here with a true champion of equality. Because at this very moment, not only has HRC and Kelly stood up for survivors and the victims of abuse, but they stand up for our community, for gay people, for trans people, for queer people that are being attacked and whose rights are being moved back every single day.

1:07:40Joy Reid:So it is give a big welcome and it's proud. I'm proud to be here with the amazing Kelly Robinson.

1:07:48Katie Phang:Yes, yes.

1:07:50Joy Reid:One more time for Congressman Garcia. Can we thank him for being out here with us for the people state of the union and not in there with those lies? Come on, y 'all. Come on, y 'all. This is what leadership looks like. This is what queer leadership looks like, too. OK, I'm Kelly Robinson. I'm proud to be president of the Human Rights Campaign. We are the largest LGBTQ plus civil rights organization in the world. 3.6 million members strong and fighting every day. But today, I'm here for the people who are in same-sex marriages that are worried about their families. I'm here for the parents that are tossing and turning at night over the safety of their queer youth.

1:08:37Joy Reid:I'm here for every trans kid that just wants to feel seen, valued, and loved. I'm here for every trans person that's been kicked out of our military and every person living with HIV that's denied their PrEP medication, I'm here for our community tonight.

1:08:55Joy Reid:Because I've got to remind this country that lesbian, gay, bi, trans, and queer people, we've always been here and we're not going anywhere. This is our country too. This is our country too. We have paid for it in funerals, in freedom songs, in court cases, in classroom battles. When I say this is our country, I'm saying it with my whole chest and once again we are here to defend what is ours. Because my friends, these are not ordinary times. There's nothing ordinary about this president removing the pride flag from Stonewall. There's nothing ordinary about them cutting billions of dollars from HIV prevention and throwing it into building more ICE detention facilities.

1:09:45Joy Reid:We need health care. We need food. We don't need mass incarceration. And there's certainly nothing ordinary about this government murdering United States citizens. Renee Good should still be alive. Alex Preddy should still be alive. Ruben Ray Martinez, Dr. Linda, Keith Porter Jr., and all the other people who died in ICE custody should still be alive. These right here are serious times that require serious leadership. And if that leadership isn't going to come from the White House, it sure as hell is going to come from people like us, gathered like this to create change and fight for freedom and not give up on our country.

1:10:30Joy Reid:Isn't that right? So I want to say this. I pray that one day my children will grow up in a world where they feel just as safe surrounded by the American flag as they do when they are surrounded by pride flags. And the only way that that day will come is if we show out and vote this November. If we talk to our neighbors about things that matter. If we don't give up on one another and don't give up on this country. And I'm reminded by the words of the great Ella Baker, y 'all. She said, we who believe in freedom cannot rest. We who believe in freedom cannot rest. We who believe in freedom cannot rest.

1:11:14Joy Reid:And I'm not going to rest while our immigrant neighbors are under attack. I'm not going to rest while they keep coming for our queer and trans youth. I'm not going to rest while they try to unravel our democracy. Are you going to rest? Are you going to fight? Are you going to vote? then let's do the work and let's get free y 'all

1:11:47Katie Phang:I feel like she needs some walk-off music after that damn so a DJ you need a DJ alrighty so we all know that the convicted felon Donald Trump thought that he could test certain cities to see if they were made of the metal to crumble. One of the cities he picked was Portland, Oregon. And Portland said, hell no, I's got to go. Portland also said, hell no, National Guard is not going to happen here. Federal judges told this administration no. And what did Trump do? He called for their impeachment. He doesn't believe in the rule of law. But Senator Jeff Merkley is here to let us know and to let all of you know that the rule of law is still alive and well.

1:12:32Katie Phang:He's joined tonight by Nafisa Fai, Washington County Commissioner who made history as the first immigrant and refugee, the first black and the first Muslim commissioner in that county. She is outspoken because ICE and Trump's secret police are terrorizing our communities. Let's hear it for Senator Merkley and Nafisa Fai.

1:13:03Joy Reid:How are you all doing tonight? You know, Kelly Robinson, who just spoke from HRC, how about another hand of applause for her work leading the equality movement? And how about this? How about we pass the Equality Act so discrimination and bigotry is eliminated across the United States of America? Now, if the president was telling the truth tonight, he'd be saying, well, here I am one year in, and you know what I've done over the last year? made the billionaires a lot richer and everyone else sicker and poor. Is that the kind of America we want? You know, it's pretty incredible to see really the damage that can be done by a leader like Donald Trump.

1:13:56Joy Reid:And part of that damage is undermining the very core of our Constitution, the checks and balances of our Constitution. And he has really had a ten-part plan to be able to do that. And one of those parts of the plan, an incredibly dangerous plan, are troops in the street. It means federalizing the National Guard. Are we going to stop that? It means he wants to send the military out and surround the polling place in November. Are we going to allow that to happen? It means ICE operating as secret police. And I can tell you this, I never thought we'd see secret police here in the United States of America.

1:14:33Joy Reid:I mean, you read about it at some other country, about people who have no badges. They show up. They show up in an unmarked van. They have no judicial warrant. They knock down the doors. They grab people out of the house. They grab people out of the car. They proceed to disappear them. They don't let them reach an attorney. They don't let them reach family. Folks, we have secret police right now in the United States of America, and we've got to end it. And perhaps the most dangerous part of his 10-part plan is rigging the next election. Have you heard about this thing called the SAVE Act? What he means by save is he wants to save his authoritarian control and turn the presidency into a kingship.

1:15:25Joy Reid:Are we going to let that happen? Yeah. Yeah, the SAVE Act would say, well, we're going to take folks who generally might vote for the blue side and make it hard to register to vote. We're going to make it hard to actually vote. We're going to make it hard to do vote by mail. We're going to make it hard for women who have changed their name when they got married or men who changed their name when they got married, doesn't match their birth certificate, make it difficult for them to vote. You know what? But I think if you really believe in the Constitution of the United States of America, you want every single citizen to be at the ballot and able to cast their vote for how the direction of this country goes.

1:16:07Joy Reid:So tonight I am really pleased to introduce my guest, Nafisa Fai. Nafisa has broken a lot of boundaries. She came to the United States of America as a Somali refuge. She became a leader in her community, not just her Somali community, but her Washington County community. She proceeded to get elected to the county commission and to be a real fighter for the fundamentals for families to thrive, for health care, for housing, for education, for good-paying jobs. And you know what? I want to say this. when the president and his team attack any group resident in the United States, let's stand by their side.

1:16:51When he attacks our Muslim Americans, let's stand with our Muslim Americans.

1:16:58Joy Reid:When he attacks our Hispanic Americans, let's stand with our Hispanic Americans. When he attacks our Somali Americans, let's stand with our Somali Americans. Together, we are virtually all immigrants. Let's together make this nation stronger, embrace each other's talents. I say hell yes to diversity. I say hell yes to equity. I say hell yes to inclusion. And here is a champion doing the hard work at the county level, Nafissa Fine. Let's give her a big welcome.

1:17:36Katie Phang:I think the senators started a trend, so I'm just going to hold the mic as well. Hello, everyone. I think the secret is out. I am from Somalia, but don't share that with Donald Trump. My state had enough of him, so. My name is Nafisa Pai, and I serve as a Washington County Commissioner in Washington County, Oregon. I'm honored to be here in Washington, D.C. because policies passed in D.C. have real consequences for the people I represent back home in Oregon. I want to thank Senator Jeff Merkley for inviting me and for standing with communities in Oregon. In Washington County, residents are directly impacted every day.

1:18:33Katie Phang:Man, D.C., I thought Oregon was really cold, but D.C. is super cold. I tell you. It's been a while since I've been in Somalia, so I should be used to the cold weather, but D.C. is really cold. In Washington County, residents are directly impacted every day by the actions of ICE. But because we have leaders who are willing to listen and act, our residents are also empowered to speak up and even take ICE to court and prevail. How many of you? That's what happened when Victor Cruz, when ICE wrongfully detained him in Oregon. He didn't stay silent. With legal support and community backing, he challenged that detention in court and won.

1:19:35Katie Phang:His case didn't just change his life. It improved protection for others in Oregon as well. And then there is Polino Martin San Pedro. After being detained by ICE, he became seriously ill, was deported, and later died in Mexico. His family and community are still living without loss. His story is a painful reminder of the human cost when enforcement ignores dignity and due process. These stories matter because they show what's at stake and what's possible. With leaders and leadership like yours, Senator Merkley, residents are empowered to seek justice, and we are called to ensure tragedies like Polino are never repeated.

1:20:36Katie Phang:Thank you for this opportunity and for giving us a voice and for being here today. Thank you.

1:20:45Joy Reid:Nafisa, thank you so much. Thank you, patriots. Let's save our republic. That's our mission. Let's get it done.

1:20:56Thank you so much.

1:20:58Joy Reid:Thank you. Thank you. All right, y 'all. Thank you. You don't have to miss me. Just go ahead and subscribe at thejoyreadshow.com. No need to miss me at all. Now, we know that the great state of Minnesota has given us really the human image of the carnage of the Epstein class, the ICE domestic terrorism against American people, and the ruthlessness and cruelty of this regime. It's given us the face of Alex Preddy, of Renee Nicole Good, of that sweet little baby in his little blue hat being taken from school, Liam Kenejo Ramos. That is the image right now that this regime will have to take into history.

1:21:56Joy Reid:But the other image that will go into history is the resilience, the resilience of Minneapolis, the resilience of the people of Minnesota. The resilience of Ilhan Omar facing somebody trying to rush her on stage and being ready to throw hands. Don't come for her if she has not called you. The resilience and the kindness, the interfaith, interracial kindness and resilience of Minneapolis, of Minnesota will live on into history. And that is a sign of great leadership and great community. So I am so pleased right now to bring you one of the great ladies of the state of Minnesota. Their Senator, Tina Smith.

1:22:49Joy Reid:And she will be joined by Brenda Lewis, who is the superintendent of Fridley Public Schools. She's been working tirelessly to protect Fridley students and their families during the ongoing ice surge in Minnesota. Give them a Minnesota level round of applause.

1:23:16Katie Phang:Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Thank you to move on into Midas Touch and everyone, but especially thank you to the activists and the organizers that are here today. This is what a pro-democracy movement looks like. Look around.

1:23:38Katie Phang:And back behind me here is the United States Capitol. And inside that Capitol, I've got to say I'm so glad I'm out here with all of you instead of inside that Capitol right now. Inside the Capitol, Donald Trump is lying about the state of this nation. He is using division to drive us apart, to make us think that we are not one nation, one community. And that is why we are all gathered here today, because we are against the chaos and the corruption that he is spouting back there in that most precious capital of ours. But tonight we are outside and I'm here to tell you this feels like resistance weather to me.

1:24:26Katie Phang:because we want to tell the real story about what is happening in this country, what is really, really going on. And we're here to offer an alternative that is not about sticking up for the billionaires. It is about fighting for the working, the hardworking people in this country. And that is why I am so grateful to be here with my special guest today, Brenda Lewis. Give it up, Tal. Thank you, Brenda, for being here. Brenda is an educator. She was the superintendent of the Fridley Public Schools. This is a district of about 2 ,800 students. It is very, very diverse. It's a suburb of Minneapolis and St.

1:25:07Katie Phang:Paul. And when ICE came to Minnesota, Brenda sprang into action. I'm here to tell you folks, she is a badass.

1:25:17Katie Phang:Now you've seen, you've seen the searing images of what has happened in my state in our country people who have been arrested and detained and assaulted the killing of Alex pretty and Renee good you have seen the searing in the searing images of Liam Conejo Ramos and his dad ripped away from their home and sent off to Texas for no reason at all but I'm here to tell you that what you see in the pictures is what's really happening is so much worse than that. Because once you get past the incredible documentation that is happening by these eyewitness accounts in small towns all across Minnesota, this same thing is happening.

1:26:08Katie Phang:Restaurants and people have lost their livelihoods because of this secret police that has attacked our state. Families are torn apart and they will never be put back together again. The pain and the suffering and the damage is going to last for a very, very long time and this is what Donald Trump and Kristi Noem are doing to us right now. But we have seen something else in Minnesota. When they brought guns we had whistles.

1:26:44Katie Phang:People came out in their neighborhood and they stood up for people that they didn't even know. They brought diapers and they helped get prescriptions to families. They gathered together just out of the pure love of their neighbors, even the neighbors that they did not know. And when ICE came and started circling around schools and terrorizing families, people like Brenda stood up and fought for their kids because she knew that her most important job was to keep those kiddos safe. And so I want you all to thank Brenda for everything that she has done. I want to invite her up to talk about what it has really been like, what it has really been like in Minnesota.

1:27:28Katie Phang:So Brenda, can you tell us what happened? When did you first realize that this was happening with ICE and that you were going to have to spring into action. I first realized this in December when the temporary order was put through on our Somali families and we were told let's watch our attendance and our attendance immediately dropped. Then the day after the Renee Good murder we had more than a third of our students absent and that's when it began and at that time we thought we had seen the worst and i'm about to share with you tonight a story that happened that covers a 10-minute period of time on a morning i woke up that morning a little bit optimistic and we learned that 700 ice agents were leaving minnesota immediately little glimmer of hope our second glimmer of hope our lawsuit to keep ice out of Minnesota schools was trending really well in the media that morning on patrol all of a sudden I got a call saying there are six vehicles up and down up and down up and down right outside of one of our elementary schools they were then in a roundabout preventing our children from crossing to come to school they were yelling and screaming at our crossing guards then our principal was trying to help and trying to keep our students safe and four ICE agents posing as press with orange upper bicep bands were yelling and screaming at her and videoing her then a mother was followed who is legally in the United States by two vehicles full of ICE agents and she had to pull into our school so that she wouldn't be hurt a board member was followed by ICE agents with a three-year in the back of her car this is just a 10 minute period one day on one morning at an elementary school welcome so think about that Brenda and her her educators should be figuring out how to keep how our children can be learning and instead they are pressed into this relentless effort to keep our children safe but I want you to think as I wrap here about where the power is right now The power is with people like Brenda.

1:29:51Katie Phang:The power is with people like you, you and people like you all over this country. The power does not come from the United States Capitol, the power comes to the United States Capitol from all of you. And that is the work that we have ahead of us. That is the work before us. So thank you all so very, very much for being here to talk about what the people want to see in this country right now. And it is not what Donald Trump is talking about right behind us. So thank you all so very, very much. Thank you.

1:30:42Katie Phang:Love you guys too. Alrighty. Love you. Okay. Forget it. I don't know how to do this. So, not everybody gets to be from the amazing place called New Jersey. But they do have some pretty cool people like Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman. You know what she just did? She just introduced legislation to stop the bullshit of immigration arrests while people are going to court. Right? Because it never was about getting the quote unquote illegal aliens. It was never about getting the quote quote unquote criminal element out. It was making sure that we got rid of the people that didn't look like us. And that is what this administration is all about.

1:31:32Katie Phang:So Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman says, we're not doing that anymore in our courthouses. She's joined today by Nettia Morsi, the director of Make the Road New Jersey, one of the most fantastic community organizations in the state of New Jersey that is focusing on our communities of color. Please welcome them to the stage now.

1:32:01Katie Phang:I'm a black woman. I'm here with an Egyptian Peruvian woman. We're America. We belong here. This is our country. This is a government of, by, and for the people, and Minneapolis showed us what happens when the people say no more. I am here because I will not be there listening to lies, lies about what he thought he did, lies about what he's doing now, and lies about what he's going to promise in the future. We're entitled to safety, security, jobs, housing, and health care. And we demand that anybody that works for the United States government does so constitutionally and legally. So I got a special guest tonight for you because they're gearing up in New Jersey now.

1:33:05Katie Phang:But New Jersey is gearing up for ICE. We want you to know that we're going to be ready when you come here. So you think you saw something in Minneapolis? You come to New Jersey. We may be small, but we're frickin' mighty. I want to give Nettia an opportunity to talk to you about how we organize, get ready, and take care of one another. Give her a big round of applause so she's encouraged to come before you.

1:33:42Katie Phang:I'm going to ask if folks can repeat after me. I am somebody and I deserve full equality here and now. With your chest. I am somebody and I deserve full equality here and now. First, thank you to Congresswoman for the invitation tonight. Thank you for your service. A powerful example of a woman grounded in her purpose. My name is Nettia Morsi, and I'm the director of Make the Road Action New Jersey. And I'm here tonight on behalf of our nearly 7 ,000 working class and immigrant members across the beautiful state of New Jersey. This administration is one of the most violent and dangerous this country has ever seen.

1:34:38Katie Phang:It was the Sunday after the inauguration around 10 o 'clock in the morning, when we had begun to receive calls from members further down on South Broad Street in Elizabeth, New Jersey, that ICE was knocking doors and entering businesses. I remember when I got to South Broad, it was a ghost town. The bodega was closed. The T-Mobile was closed. The bakery was closed. The videos of what happened that morning started to circulate in WhatsApp chats and Facebook groups. I called the same members who had called me who I knew lived near South Broad. And we came together and we split up to knock on doors with Know Your Rights materials and to invite community members to our centers.

1:35:20Katie Phang:That's how you start. You just start. You set up a phone tree to check up on fellow Elizabeth members throughout the city and we organized a town hall the following evening. More than 300 people attended with less than 20 hours notice. What we came to see, what we always come to learn, is that people are searching for community. And we kept that way, shocked but organizing, organizing in shock, reminding ourselves that our liberation is not found in any administration but in our collective efforts. When the fight of our outcome, when the outcome of our fight has never been more important, I can say that the union is strong if we remain strong.

1:36:05Katie Phang:Every day I choose to organize and every day hundreds of thousands of people across America choose the same. And together, even in the midst of so much violence, we will win. Trump is making cuts to healthcare to funnel billions to ice to build concentration camps in our backyards. They're using commercial warehouses that have been converted into concentration camps with floor maps that look like slave ships. Concentration camps where they're holding children and adults who have been kidnapped, citizen or not, for the crime of being black or brown or poor or Palestinian. in Roxbury, New Jersey, in Social Circle, Georgia, in San Antonio, Texas, in Surprise, Arizona.

1:36:57Katie Phang:All across the country, in all of our backyards, fascism is rampant. And we have to ask ourselves the question, who are the puppet masters? They are the billionaires standing behind Donald Trump, pulling the strings and these billionaires they have names Peter Thiel Alex Karp Elon Musk and many more corporations like Palantir are beta testing their mass surveillance systems and immigrants and they are helping the administration compiled data on US residents across every government agency including the IRS and law enforcement. They won't stop until they build an algorithmic surveillance where they profit on all of us.

1:37:47Katie Phang:In the face of such blatant greed and hatred, the American people couldn't be more clear. We want an economy that delivers for all of us and a country where we protect our neighbors. From Dilley to Delaney, we are prepared to dismantle ICE. This is not the path we chose to take. But if the only way out is through, then the only way through is together as one people fighting for the ones we don't know yet. Presidents can come ago, but we we are here to stay.

1:38:25Katie Phang:And while we need to defund ICE, we need to deconstruct homeland security.

1:38:38Okay.

1:38:41Katie Phang:Amen.

1:38:42Joy Reid:Amen.

1:38:46Joy Reid:Let me get another round of applause for those queens. Deconstruct DHS. I think I could get down with that. if the funding runs out, I'm not sure it should come back. I realize Cash Patel needs to go to Italy on occasion for fun vacations to hang out with the hockey team on our dime. I realize that he likes to use the private jet and that deconstructing and defunding DHS would interrupt the fun that he's having on our dime. But I think it's worth it. Make him buy a regular ticket on an airline like the rest of us. Coming to the stage. Now, I want you all to say after me, all right? Say, okay. Say, you said that.

1:39:32Joy Reid:Say, you did that. All right? Okay. You said that. Oh, I know you didn't say that. The next person that I'm bringing to the stage made that kind of call and response normalized in Congress. The greatest hype woman any member ever had. The woman who's going to let you know when you said it and let you know when you failed to say it. The lady who is standing up for the Epstein survivors like nobody else. Coming to the stage from the great state of California. California's Fighting 37 representative. Sidney Kamlager. Duh. Give her a round of applause.

1:40:21Joy Reid:Give it up for Joy-ree, y 'all. My Hype Women, how are you all tonight? It is a little cold. I am from Chicago, but it's still cold. So I don't know about you, but my mother has always told me, don't let nobody come up in your house and disrespect you. Now, unfortunately, I share my house with Speaker Johnson. Exactly. And he's got somebody up in my house disrespecting all of us. So I decided that I would hang out with my people, with the people, with all of us, the people who have been in the streets day after day, demanding better from our government. But in my stead, I sent a survivor, Jenna Lisa Jones, who at the age of 14 endured something that no child should have to.

1:41:33Joy Reid:And she sent some words for me to share with you. As a survivor of the abuse and exploitation connected to Jeffrey Epstein, this invitation means far more to me than simply attending a historic address. It represents recognition that survivors' voices matter, that our experiences are not invisible, and that our resilience deserves to be seen and acknowledged in the very spaces where our nation's future is shaped. Moments like this remind me that we are not alone, that our stories have meaning, and that there are leaders who are willing to stand with us. I met and hung out with Jenna Lisa today.

1:42:32Joy Reid:And as I listened to her, I was struck by the extraordinary courage that it takes as a survivor to show up and stand up and look your oppressor in the eye and say, I will not be silenced. But sadly, this is a kind of courage that our president doesn't have. So as Donald Trump delivers his address and sees Jenna Lisa and her fellow survivors in the audience, he will be reminded what true leadership looks like. And it is not measured by applause from sycophants. It is measured by whether or not you stand by your word to fight against injustice. Or whether you want to shield the folks who should be held accountable.

1:43:44Joy Reid:But enough about Trump. I'm so tired of talking about this small man who is not worth any of our time. Because this people's state of the union is not about him. It's about us. And what is worth our time, our commitment, our work. And y 'all, let me tell you, up until November and for the next couple of years, it will be a lot of work. But what is worth our time is the future that we want to build. Every single one of us wants an America as good as her promise. and each of our dreams are different. That's what makes diversity so amazing. But there are some fundamentals, y 'all, that are just non-negotiable.

1:44:56Joy Reid:We have to take on the corporations and the monopolies that are squeezing every dollar out of our pockets and making us poorer. We have got to lower the cost of health care and everyday necessities. Nobody should be forced to make a decision about if they are going to pay the rent or stay alive. We have got to make the dream of home ownership real. It is not if you try to dream and work to own a home that it costs you a future and limits your future instead of allowing you to build a future. and we have got to build an education system that opens the doors for all of our young people rather than shutting them down and burying them in student loan debt.

1:46:01Joy Reid:And yes, we need an immigration system that lives up to the founding ideals of this country. Diversity is not the threat. But it is the very source of who we are as a nation, y 'all. And we have to empower our cities, our rural communities, with the resources they need to solve 21st and 22nd century problems. And above all, we must, and if you don't know it by now, then you have not been paying attention, But we must save and protect and defend and make more righteous our democracy. Because without it, absolutely none of this is possible. This weekend, I was back home in California in my district, and I was talking to one of my constituents, May.

1:47:08And May said,

1:47:11Joy Reid:I want to be able to trust my government again. I want elected officials who will be honest with me. I want to see courage. And real talk, y 'all, we have a government that is working harder to harm us than help us. real talk we have a government right now where justice goes to the highest bidder and the lowest kneeler and that is not what we've signed up for and that's not what we deserve it is time it is wait time it is past time in black history month and every other month of the year y 'all It is time for the moral goodness of this country to match our economic might. For our leaders to put people over profits, compassion over cruelty, and equity over evil.

1:48:20Joy Reid:This is our country. This is our moment. and just like Jenna Lisa said, we will not be silenced. The People's State of the Union starts tonight and we're going to keep it going every day of the week through November and to the end of this man's term until we get the country that we deserve. Thank you so much.

1:48:58Joy Reid:well done well done all right all right all right all right california love or maybe crim walk up in here because i'm i'm from that generation coming to the stage next from the great state of massachusetts how many of y 'all want to see the green new deal okay we like breathing we like clean air right we like clean water green new deal we like it Coming to the stage right now is the champion of the Green New Deal, a man who has fought for justice, for equality, and for a country we can actually breathe in. Give it up for Senator Ed Markey. He is going to be reading a story from Gladys Vega, the president and CEO of La Collaborativa in Chelsea, Massachusetts, which has been providing critical resources and support to Chelsea and the greater Boston region since the year of our Lord, 1990, by empowering Latino individuals and families, promoting educational opportunity, advocating for social justice, and fostering economic empowerment.

1:49:57Joy Reid:Give it up for Senator Ed Marquis.

1:50:02Katie Phang:Joy Reid, what a job she is doing tonight. Just absolutely incredible joy. Thank you. And thank you all for being out here this evening. Tonight, I am not in the U.S. Capitol, but Donald Trump stated the Union address. I am here with you at the People's State of the Union. Because the State of the Union should be a moment of truth, a reckoning with reality, a commitment to the common good. But under Donald Trump, it has become a liza palooza that goes on for hours. With him, if he was Pinocchio, his nose would stretch across the entire length of the floor of the Congress this evening. It's one big lie, a made-for-TV spectacle, a bogus sales pitch, and a slap in the face of the millions of Americans who are living through their struggles each and every day.

1:51:06Katie Phang:Trump will stand before Congress tonight and say that everything is fine. He will say the economy is the best ever while working families are drowning under the weight of health care bills and housing costs and food costs and Trump tariff taxes. He will say the system is working and that we need more corporate tax breaks while the billionaire CEO cronies loot this country under the cover of manufactured crisis. He will say the country is safer while immigrant communities live in fear of masked agents ripping parents from their children and innocent people are murdered in our streets at the hands of ICE thugs operating with impunity.

1:52:01Katie Phang:This is not a State of the Union address. I will legitimize. So tonight, I stand with you with an urgent message. We cannot agonize. We must organize against Donald Trump in 2026. And we must fight back because Donald Trump is doing to our country, and it is something that cannot be allowed to continue. Because I will not stand while this administration attacks immigrant families and uses ICE as his own private army to use a paramilitary force that terrorizes entire communities. I will not stand by while they gut our health care system undermining Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, our education system, our environmental justice funding, and looting all of that money to give tax rates to millionaires and to billionaires.

1:53:04Katie Phang:I will not stand by while they target transgender people, demonizing trans kids, banning them from schools and sports, and trying to erase their very existence from public life. Trans rights are human rights. They cannot be trampled. I will not stand by while they roll back civil rights protections, undermine reproductive freedom, rig our tax code so that billionaires pay less while the rest pay more. Every time I vote against a Trump nominee or a Trump budget, I draw a line for you. A line between democracy and authoritarianism. A line between justice and cruelty. A line between government that represents we the people and one that glorifies we the Epstein class.

1:54:06Katie Phang:And I will keep drawing that line every single day. But I know that voting no is not enough. Because what is at stake at this moment? It's not a single bill, or a single nominee, or even a single presidency. What is at stake is whether the United States of America remains a democracy that works for the many, or becomes a dictatorship that serves only the few. We are living in a critical moment, and we must fight back. Trump wants to scare us into submission. But when he rolls back our rights, we roll up our sleeves. And that means we must be louder. We must push back harder than ever before. So I'm here to ask every single person out in the crowd and online, will you fight for our future?

1:54:57Katie Phang:Will you fight for our democracy? Because we know that we must defund and abolish ICE. We must get ICE out of our cities. We must remove RFK Jr. from any public health position that puts lives at risk. We must say out loud that vaccines work. We must fire Kristi Noem and Kash Patel for their lawlessness and complicity in the crimes that we have seen committed right before our eyes. We must reverse Trump's disastrous tax cuts for the wealthy and instead invest that in relief for working families. And we must save Medicare and Social Security and expand funding for Medicaid. We don't need endless warfare.

1:55:48Katie Phang:We need universal health care. We need Medicare for all. The real security Americans need is a livable future. affordable housing, free college, clean air, clean water, clean energy, and a Green New Deal. That is what we need. And we must impeach Donald Trump. We are not going to allow him to steal this election. We are not going to allow him to terrorize black and brown voters from going to the polls. We are going to stand up. We are going to fight. If he puts the Marines and the Army out on the streets this October and November, we're going to come out by 10 million people, 20 million people, 30 million people onto the streets of this country and shut this country down for democracy, for our ability to have an election.

1:56:46Katie Phang:So this is not time to stay silent. This is a time to stand up and fight. When the minute men and minute women were taking on the most powerful military in the world, they were knocked down, they were not knocked out, they got up, they fought, they won. When the abolitionists fought, they were knocked down, they were not knocked out, they got up, they fought, and they won. When the suffragettes were out, they were knocked down, they were not knocked out, they got up, they fought and they won. When Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King began a movement. They were knocked down. They were not knocked out.

1:57:24Katie Phang:They got up. They fought. They won. Same-sex marriage, universal health care. They were knocked down. They fought and they won. And we are going to fight. And we are going to win. We are knocked down. We are not knocked out. This is a fight that we are going to win because we know in this country that progress has never come from silence. It has never come from surrender. It has never come from sitting on the sidelines. It comes because people get up and they fight and they win. So that is what tonight is all about. It has come from people, ordinary people, standing together and saying enough to corruption, enough to cruelty, enough to policies that sacrifice the vulnerable for the powerful because our power is not in the Oval Office.

1:58:18Katie Phang:It is not a billionaire CEO's bank account. It is not a corporate boardroom. Our power is in the movement. It's on the streets of this country. It's our voices. It's our votes. It's our willingness to stand together to fight for those who are most vulnerable in our society to fight for our democracy itself. So let's leave here tonight saying we're ready to organize. We're ready to galvanize. We are ready to fight, not just for ourselves, but for the generations to come, because we will stand together and we will win. So thank you all so much for being here. And I'm going to read briefly a statement from Gladys Vega from Chelsea, Massachusetts, whose plane was stranded on the runway of Logan Airport and could not be here tonight.

1:59:09Katie Phang:But she, this is her statement, as president of La Collaborativa, the largest Latin-led organization of Massachusetts, I'm grateful for the opportunity to address all of you tonight, even though I can't be there. Based in Chelsea, Massachusetts, we represent one of the communities hardest hit by the cruel, unjust tactics of ICE. In communities like Chelsea, the disappearance of loved ones is occurring every single day. Fear paralyzes the daily lives of countless residents, including those that protected us during COVID-19 and currently sustain the economy. In our cities downtown and storefronts, they are quiet and sidewalks are desolate with local businesses grinding to a halt.

2:00:00Katie Phang:The Chelsea School District reports a major decline in enrollment and widespread absences resulting in a budget deficit that will deprive children of education for future generations. Housing and infrastructure projects, a priority of Massachusetts, are collapsing, furthering unemployment and hardship. In communities like Chelsea, people are danishing into thin air. Quiet mornings are punctuated by jarring violence. Students are assaulted by ICE agents sitting outside the high school. Hardworking residents are torn from their vehicles in front of their children. Families hopelessly search for signs of their loved ones who have stopped answering their phones, stopped replying to texts.

2:00:45Katie Phang:They frantically call hospitals, scour social media, and come to La Collaboratia. This is the message of Gladys Vega to America tonight. It is that this must stop. This is un-American. It is illegal. It is unconstitutional. And the people are going to rise up and fight for Gladys Vega and all of those poor people who today need to know that the people's State of the Union is the beginning of a long fight that is going to result in the end of Republican control of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the United States of America in 2026. Thank all of you for being out here tonight. Thank you for your willingness to stand and fight.

2:01:31Katie Phang:Thank you. Oh, my goodness. Thank you. You're going to get us that tariff money too, aren't you? Where's my check? I know, where's my check? That's what the senator's doing. He's going to get us our money. Because otherwise, we don't get shit. All righty. So, there's a Shakespeare saying. It's a quote that I have in my social media profile. It says, though she may be little, she be fierce. And that's what we got with Congresswoman Becca Ballant from the state of Vermont. She put Pamela Jo in her place and then some just a week ago. And tonight she's joined by a very special guest, Mohsen Madhwadi.

2:02:16Katie Phang:Now, Mohsen showed up for an immigration appointment, a citizenship appointment, and then was illegally detained for at least two weeks. Why? Why? Because he dared to express a position that Donald Trump didn't like. And as we see our free speech, our journalists, our First Amendment under attack, the Trump administration is making one thing clear. It's only what he wants you to think and say, because everything else will result in you being arrested, thrown into detention. But what happens is the rule of law, when we've got judges in the rule of law doing what it's supposed to do, we have justice.

2:03:01Katie Phang:Please welcome Congresswoman Becca Ballant and Mohsen Marawi.

2:03:10Katie Phang:Hey, hey, hey! Nice to see you all out here tonight. We could not be more excited to be here with all of you. So I like to refer to myself as that scrappy little dyke from Vermont. But tonight, I'm America's scrappy little dyke. I'm a bare-knuckle brawler with a heart. And that's what we need right now. We need people who are both going to bring the fight. And they're going to do it with an open heart, with compassion for all people living in this country. So thank you for being here tonight. We are going to draw strength from each other. That's why we've come together tonight. Now, I know many people out here are feeling angry and you're feeling anxious and frustrated.

2:04:01Katie Phang:I get it. This administration is trying to break us. But they can't. Because in the words of June Jordan, we are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the ones. We are the ones we've been waiting for that are going to change the course, are going to turn the tide on this dark, dark time. It's us. It's not that man in the building behind me who spreads division and fear. It's us. It's in our hands. And it is our collective courage that it's going to make the difference. So I wanted to be out here tonight with people who are forward-looking, people who understand the stakes, and that we have to stand up for not just our individual rights, but for the rights of everyone across this country.

2:05:04Katie Phang:And we must be the light for each other. Don't lose heart. I am in the belly of the beast every day in Congress, and I have not lost heart. I have not lost heart. They will not break us. They will not break us because we understand that is our collective power that is much more powerful than any intimidation that this administration will bring to bear. And I wanted to bring my friend Mohsen Madawi with me today because he has a powerful story to tell about standing up, not just for his own First Amendment rights, but for all of us. So I'm going to turn the microphone over to Mohsen so he can tell you his story.

2:05:58Katie Phang:And you will understand why he is an inspiration for so many people, not just back in Vermont, but across this country. Mohsen, thank you for coming tonight. Please tell your story.

2:06:16Katie Phang:brothers and sisters dear friends my beloved community it's an honor to be in union with you here you the American people you are the people it's also my honor as a Palestinian refugee, a descendant of the Nakba survivors, to stand here in solidarity with and to carry the torch for justice and for peace with Congresswoman Becca Ballant, who is also a descendant of Holocaust survivors, a Jewish woman. If there is light, this is part of the light.

2:07:09Katie Phang:Twelve years ago, I came to this country carrying with me not only the experience of living under the Israeli occupation in a refugee camp without freedom, never tasted the freedom or the safety, but also I came carrying with me my inner child, a child that was deeply wounded by trauma. At the age of eight, I buried my brother. At the age of eleven, I saw my best friend getting shot and killed in front of my eyes. At the age of twelve, I witnessed an Israeli strike that killed several people and shattered them into pieces. I collected their body parts in my own hands, peeling off the skin of the wall and collecting fingers off the ground to put it in plastic bags to honor their lives.

2:08:11Katie Phang:But I'm not here to talk about the darkness of injustice. I am here to talk about the light of hope and the light of love. And this is something that America has shown me when I came here. In America, and for the first time in my life, not only I've experienced safety and love, but also I found the American people who hosted me, who guided me, who helped me to heal from my inner childhood trauma. In America, I learned that the human being is not the enemy. The enemy is the system that capitalizes on fear, on ignorance, and on segregation. The fear that divides Republicans and Democrats, the people.

2:09:05Katie Phang:The fear that divides citizens and immigrants, the people. The fear that creates monsters and create division in America. And in America, I also learned what MLK has said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Injustice everywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. And that is what we are witnessing here, that the injustice that this administration is causing, tearing communities apart, scaring people and inciting fear and intimidation, destroying the most sacred document in this country, which is the constitution of this country. and going and attacking us for practicing our First Amendment rights and our free speech is a form of injustice.

2:10:07Katie Phang:And that the fight for justice in America, the fight to save this democracy, is interconnected with the fight for justice in Palestine for the Palestinian people.

2:10:25Katie Phang:now about a year ago the Trump's administration came after me during my citizenship interview not for violating any law but for speaking my truth the truth from a place of love from a place of empathy from a place of compassion my truth that I don't want to see children in Palestine or Israel or America or anywhere else to suffer like I've suffered when I was a child. During my citizenship interview and after they asked me if I'm willing to take the pledge of allegiance to protect and defend this country and to protect the constitution of this country, they were the ones who betrayed it. They detained me and took me out of their handcuffs and threw me in prison.

2:11:22Katie Phang:They thought that they would make an example of me and that they would intimidate me. And they were wrong.

2:11:32Katie Phang:Because our fight is a just fight. Our fight in America and our fight for Palestinians and our fight elsewhere is a fight for humanity. And if we believe in justice, there is no power that can intimidate us. The tools of this administration is to scare us, to intimidate us, so we can lose sight, so we can lose vision. But if we continue to unite together and work out and connect and fight from a place of love, not a place of fear, they cannot do that. When I was released from my detention after spending 16 days, I came out and I sent a message to the president and his cabinet. And I told them that I will not be intimidated.

2:12:31Katie Phang:And if you are feeling like me, unafraid, repeat after me. We the people, say it loud and clear to President Trump and his cabinet. We are not afraid of you.

2:13:00Katie Phang:because the love that shines in our heart is much brighter and more powerful

2:13:14Katie Phang:than the darkness of fear that's blinding you.

2:13:21Katie Phang:The people united will never be defeated.

2:13:39Katie Phang:Everyone, onward with courage, every single one of us. Strive beyond what you think is possible. give other people hope and inspiration it is our collective courage that is going to get us through thank you so much for being out tonight

2:14:04Joy Reid:all right well done well done well done all right y 'all you guys got energy now listen Y 'all good? Now, just in case you are feeling a little bit of FOMO and want to know what's going on over there, let me give you a quick briefing. Representative, basically bullshit. Donald Trump is wearing a lot of makeup on his hand. Nobody knows why. Diapers are probably in place to make sure that he does not have an accident. He has cited the Dow reaching 50 ,000. One person applauded. People have their money on that being Pamela Joe Bondi. But before he even got a chance to speak, Representative Al Green of the great state of Texas.

2:14:50Joy Reid:Now, I am not in favor of people attending that State of the Union bullshit tonight. But the one man that I kind of wanted to be there was representative al green and he showed up and before donald trump could even get a word in edgewise or get to the stage he held up a sign reminding donald trump that black people are not apes something you had to tell donald trump because he's not too bright so what i will say to representative al green if al green if you can hear me i'm so in come on here keep it going Whatever you, it's all right with me. Do not demonetize us, YouTube. I know it's a song that's copywritten.

2:15:41Joy Reid:Let's now bring to the stage one of the strongest voices for justice from the progressive caucus, the emeritus leader of the progressive caucus, a sister, a woman that has fought for justice, for equality, for the people. from the other Washington, Washington State, please give a healthy round of applause for representative, and she does embody that word representative, Pramila Jayapal, and she is going to be, yes! And she is going to be joined by Lauren Hirsch, who is one of the leading legal voices fighting for the Epstein victims. Give them a round of applause.

2:16:29Katie Phang:That Joy Reid can sing too. Hey, everybody. It is so good to be with you. Thank you for being out here in the cold at the People State of the Union. I really appreciate MoveOn organizing this tonight and all the people that are on the live stream across the country because this matters. It matters that we are out here and that we are not in that chamber. Because when we look at the people, State of the Union, people in Minnesota, in Illinois, in California, Oregon,

2:17:09Joy Reid:who have stood up nonviolently and with tremendous risk to their own lives, to this authoritarian regime that murders its own citizens in the streets and then lies about it. They are saying not on our watch. People are saying not on our watch to an illegal and unconstitutional administration that kidnaps and disappears immigrants of every status who call this country home. an immoral administration that incarcerates tens of thousands of immigrants, including children, children in for-profit jails where 39 people have died in the one year that Donald Trump has been in office, we say not on our watch.

2:17:59Joy Reid:Working and poor Americans who watch while Donald Trump makes billions for himself and his billionaire buddies using grift and corruption and stealing from the American people, all the while stripping health care and housing from tens of millions of Americans and driving up costs everywhere, not on our watch.

2:18:24Katie Phang:And yes, our trans kids across this country who are sick and tired of being bullied

2:18:31Joy Reid:because it's not trans kids driving up your rent. It is the billionaires doing that. We are standing up for our trans kids across the country. And of course, the survivors. The survivors who are showing us exactly what courage and resilience looks like. My official guest for State of the Union is a constituent of mine who is an Epstein survivor who is in that building right now, showing the strength and the face of courage to be in that building with Donald Trump speaking because they don't want him to not see them. They are demanding that they be seen because the survivors of this horrific global sex trafficking ring of Jeffrey Epstein's, the predators and the pedophiles who need to be brought to justice will be brought to justice because of the courage and the resilience and the voices of these brave survivors.

2:19:42Joy Reid:So yes, Donald Trump, we are out here instead of in there because our state of the union is strong because the people of this country are strong and we will not sit down, shut up, move on or be silenced. We demand that all the predators, the pedophiles, the grifters, the lawless agents and you, Donald Trump, be brought to justice. It has been the honor of my life to work with real survivors in every single realm that we're talking about tonight. And tonight I have the honor to introduce a woman who has been an indispensable part of our Epstein survivor movement, who has been working with the survivors to demand that the United States hold these predators accountable.

2:20:42Joy Reid:Yes, we should lock them up. And to make sure that we prosecute them, that we bring them down, that we hold them accountable, just like we see in the UK and around the world.

2:20:58Joy Reid:Tonight, inside the chamber, Donald Trump will have to face those survivors the same damn way that I forced Pam Bondi to face those survivors in the Judiciary Committee. And so please join me in welcoming the amazing, the strategic, the remarkable Lauren Hirsch, who is the co-director of World Without Exploitation. Lauren Hirsch, give it up for her.

2:21:30Katie Phang:well that is a tough act to follow i am so honored to be here tonight with you and especially with you representative jayapal this is one amazing woman who has stood beside these survivors through thick and thin and we will make sure that every single file is released And I know that they're over there making sure that every file is released, and you have exhibited extraordinary leadership. So thank you. For 30 years, Jeffrey Epstein operated one of the largest sex trafficking rings in the world. It was a vast web of powerful men committing horrific acts of violence against women and girls. and it was in plain sight.

2:22:25Katie Phang:For decades, our government didn't just look away, but they buried the truth. While survivors were forced to carry unimaginable pain in silence. But this summer, everything changed. In September, Epstein survivors came together and made something unmistakably clear. The days of powerful men operating with impunity are officially over. And it has been a wild six months. But now we are in a serious moment of reckoning. Every day we're witnessing the untouchables collapse before our eyes. Prince Andrew is no longer a prince. He is no longer shielded by a royal title. And he faces criminal charges.

2:23:29Katie Phang:Around the globe, exploiters who once hid behind wealth and influence and institutions are beginning to fall like a giant game of dominoes. we aren't quite seeing that here just yet but i'm pretty sure i heard you it's coming and in this moment when we're being told and they're being told to move on and there's nothing to see survivors are doubling down and they are reclaiming their power they are at the state of the union tonight and they are facing an administration who has betrayed them time and time again. To every survivor out there who refuses to disappear, you are changing history. Keep speaking your truth because the earth is shaking.

2:24:34Joy Reid:Give it up for Lauren Hirsch and the survivors across this country. We will bring justice. Keep standing up. Keep speaking out. Keep building our movement because this is our democracy. Thank you, everybody. Have a great night.

2:25:01Katie Phang:We even got a mic drop from the Congresswoman. So there's one thing that we've always demanded as Americans, we want consistency in the fighters that we have that are in DC. And the next speaker is someone who did that for us when he was in the house. He's doing that for us as a senator. Once upon a time, there was a time when people had the courage they could have convicted Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial, and we wouldn't have to deal with this now. And the man who led that charge was a congressman from California by the name of Adam Schiff. And if there's anybody who understands what the rule of law is and the power of norms and institutions, it's Adam Schiff.

2:25:53Katie Phang:And now as a senator, even though felon Trump, because look, you can be a draft dodging, bone spurs convicted felon and still be in the Oval Office, Adam Schiff is now being targeted by the weaponized Pamela Jo DOJ. And yet Senator Schiff says, hell no, I'm not going to do it. Janine Pirro, hell no too. We have Senator Schiff here tonight. He has a letter and it's from Alejandro Barranco. He is one of the three Marine sons, right? He is a veteran and a son of a landscaper that we saw on video working hard because only in In Trump's America, can you be working hard on a Saturday as a landscaper, get chased down by federal agents, and get your ass beaten?

2:26:50Right?

2:26:51Katie Phang:Only in Trump's America. But Senator Schiff is here. He has a letter from Alejandro Barranco, one of three Marines in that family, who have given everything in service of this country to only in turn see their father be punished. Please welcome a true fighter to our stage, Senator Adam Schiff.

2:27:18Joy Reid:Thank you. Thank you.

2:27:25Joy Reid:Thank you for being out here in the cold. Thank you for speaking truth to power. I am very proud to join you. Tonight, the president stands under the Capitol Dome, claiming that our union is stronger than ever. Of all the lies that he will tell in his long and rambling address, this may be the most painfully false. Due to his hate, his cruelty, and his indecency, we are more divided now than at any time since the Civil War. Trump's promises have all been broken. He promised to bring down costs, but inflation is up. He promised to bring back jobs, but manufacturing has fled. He promised to end trade deficits, but they have reached all-time highs.

2:28:18But no failure is more glaring, more significant, or more damning

2:28:24Joy Reid:than his failure to bring our country together. In January of 2017, Donald Trump stood just a couple hundred yards from this place and took the oath of office for the first time, swearing to uphold the Constitution. As you recall, he painted a dystopian portrait of the country, which he described as American carnage. Little could we know at the time, it was less a portrait of the country as it existed then, as much as a prophecy of what he would seek to bring about in the future. For he has created chaos in our streets. Masked, heavily armed, and poorly trained ICE agents and Border Patrol forces sweep through major cities, demanding to see people's papers.

2:29:14Joy Reid:In the United States of America, they are demanding to see people's papers. They have detained citizens and non-citizens alike, shot people dead through their windshields and while laying face down in the street.

2:29:35Joy Reid:When the courts have ruled against this administration's lawless conduct of its administration raids, their opinions have been ignored. When universities dare to protest, their federal funding has been cut. When law firms represent clients whose interests are adverse to the administration, they are punished. When media organizations speak truth to power, they are forced to pay him millions. Personally, all of this violates the oath the president took to faithfully administer the laws, to vigorously defend the Constitution. Thankfully, our founders gave us the tools to fight back against a man who would be king.

2:30:19Joy Reid:And chief among those tools is one more powerful than all the rest, and that is the right to vote. And this November, this November, my friends, we must use that tool. We must vote. One man's story tells us why. On a Saturday afternoon in June in Orange County, California, a landscaper named Narciso Barranco was working outside an IHOP. He'd lived in the United States since the 1990s, undocumented, yes, but no criminal record. American in every way except for in his papers. In that time, he'd raised three sons, all U.S. Marines. That Saturday in June, a group of men approached, masked, in tactical gear, guns drawn.

2:31:17Joy Reid:They tackled him, pepper sprayed him, beat him violently, dislocating his shoulder.

2:31:30Joy Reid:they detained him no food, no water, no medical treatment for 24 hours when he was finally able to get in touch with his family over the phone he had one request of his sons he asked them to retrieve his landscaping tools and finish the job he was doing

2:31:55I wish just a few of my colleagues in that building on the other side of the aisle had the same dedication to their jobs, to their oath of office, to the Constitution of the United

2:32:10Joy Reid:States. Narcisco Barranco asked his sons to finish the job. his son marine corps veteran alajandro barranco couldn't be here tonight but he sent me this to read to you what happened he said didn't just happen to an immigrant it happened to an american family families across this country are living in fear separated by a system that has lost It's humanity. We can protect our laws without abandoning our values. We are here because America must be better, fairer, safer, and worthy of the people who believe in it. Now, just a few weeks ago, Narciso Barranco thankfully had his deportation case dismissed by a federal judge.

2:33:10Joy Reid:but tonight we must all heed the words of Narciso Barranco. We must take up the tools our founders have given us to protect our democracy and finish the job. Between now and November, the president will make every effort to discourage Americans from voting. He will make it harder to register and turn out. He may send ICE agents to polling places to intimidate our citizens. He will cast doubt on the results when his party loses.

2:33:51Joy Reid:Our response must be to work harder, organize better, turn out higher than ever before. We must view every obstacle placed in our way as a challenge to be overcome with resilience, with defiance, as a gauntlet throw down that we must pick up. The fight for our democracy is a fight worth having, for it is democracy that makes all progress possible. And it is a struggle we can win if we pick up the tools we have been given and finish the job. In November, are you ready to finish the job? Yes! In November, are you ready to throw the bums out? Yes! In November, are you ready to defend our democracy?

2:34:38Yes!

2:34:39Joy Reid:In November, are you ready to push back, to fight back, and to save this country? Yes! Let us pick up the tools our founders gave us and let us finish the job. Thank you, and God bless you for being here. Thank you so much.

2:34:59Joy Reid:Thank you.

2:35:05All right.

2:35:06Joy Reid:One more time for the senator from the great state, California. We love the Californians, but we now are going to turn to the great state of Illinois, which was one of the earliest cities to see the absolute terrorism being unleashed upon Americans and immigrants alike by ICE, by the secret police being deployed by this regime. And one of the stalwarts in the great state of Illinois who has been fighting for the rights of people, for the humanity of the American people and our immigrant neighbors is one representative Delia Ramirez. And she is going to be here from the great third district in Illinois.

2:35:47Joy Reid:Come on. and she is going to be speaking tonight in honor of silveryo keith renee alex linda ruben and the 38 lives that we have lost at the hands of dhs including illinois resident nenko gancher please give it up for representative delia ramirez

2:36:15Katie Phang:folks in five months you're going to be really hot just remember that okay i'm trying to remind myself of that well hi everyone buenas noches as you heard i'm la congresista delia catalina ramirez and i

2:36:49Katie Phang:Yes, I said it in Spanish. Because even as the fascists seek to diminish, to divide and dehumanize us, we must remain powerful and defiant to fascists. You know, I talk a lot about the authoritarian playbook and how this administration cast the other as enemies, weaponize fear, perpetrate corruption and reward cruelty and abuse executive power. But tonight I want to talk to you about the Trump and his administration and their abuse. They're abusing the power of government to persecute dissent. They're abusing immigration enforcement to terrorize us. They're abusing detention to punish our neighbors.

2:37:29Katie Phang:They're abusing the military to occupy our cities. They're abusing federal resources to enrich their donors or campaign donors. They're abusing the justice system to silence survivors, discredit victims, and avoid accountability. We need to see that everything that Donald Trump and his cronies are doing are interconnected abuse intended to intimidate us, to control us, and to try to destroy us. They want us small and they want us silent. And they've tried to silence us by chokeholds, by full body restraints, by criminal charges, by care withheld, by reckless chases, by people disappeared and even executed.

2:38:15Katie Phang:But let me tell you, today in that gallery, my seat is empty. representing more than the 40 lives we have lost to the violence of the trump administration who want our resources our freedoms our lives to advance our imperialistic fascist authoritarian agendas but here's the thing they can try to persecute us they're going to try to terrorize us punish us occupy and discredit us but they will never ever silence us am i right because el pueblo unido jamás será vencido we are the legacy of the leaders who look at abusers in the eyes and refuse to be silent and we fight back so tonight i'm calling us to remember who we are we are being targeted by a regime that wants to break our resistance make an example of us because in fact we are strong we are powerful and we are unafraid we persist and we lift our voices we defy their control because our resistance defies the state of the union and here i can tell you that the state of the resistance is strong so look tonight i'm not interested in moments of silence i'm not willing to sit there silently while the abuser in chief lies manipulates and gaslights the american people i stand with the Pueblo with the people that finally speaking the names of Silverio, Keith, Renee, Alex, Linda, Ruben, and the 38 people who have died in ICE detention since the start of 2025.

2:39:57Katie Phang:I'm talking about lores ever victor paradis luis heraldo luis nenko delvin far jean shiraz pete francisco kai gabriel hassan leo miguel who being norland ismael santos oscar lorenzo chufang my fingers one moment

2:40:32Katie Phang:cn isidro johnny jesus abelardo marie non bran juan maskeem sarah witt and henry tonight i ask you to be as loud as you can and say with me we demand justice say it with me We demand justice. We demand justice. And that is why we will melt ice and dismantle the Department of Homeland Security. We will defend our democracy from authoritarians, fascists, and those who believe it's for sale. We will uphold our shared humanity from Chicago to Palestine to Congo. And that is just the beginning because we're going to build a future, a future where we're free from being priced out, defrauded, displaced, or expelled.

2:41:24Katie Phang:A future where we're free from exploitation, trafficking, deportation, detention, occupation, and genocide. A free day from economic exploitation, poverty, slavery, income inequality, wage abuse, discrimination, and intimidation. A day where we are free from the oppression and the inequity that have defined our community's experience of being American. So my ask for you today, America neighbors, constituents is that we demand more together a future in which our rights and freedoms mean working people have every single thing they need to thrive. And are we ready for that kind of world? Are we ready for that kind of America?

2:42:16Katie Phang:Are we going to fight like hell for it? Because listen to me and listen to me loud and clear. We have the power to organize, to build coalition, to practice solidarity, to shift the narrative and to take care of one another because we're already doing it together in the people's state of the union. Because the people and the power of the people is greater than the weapons that they would wield against us. So together, together, juntos, we will create a more just and more peaceful and loving world. And the key is together, juntos, let's go.

2:43:05Katie Phang:And let's apologize while we're at it, huh?

2:43:12Katie Phang:Muchas gracias. Alrighty, so those of you guys may remember that Donald Trump promised a lot of shit when he ran. One of them was what? No more wars. And yet, in the time that this guy's been in office, he's done some wackadoo stuff when it comes to our military. And no, it's not just DUI Hegseth that we're looking at. We're talking about felon Trump. There is a congressman from Connecticut. His name is Jim Himes. And he's on House Permanent Select Intel. And when I tell you that this is the man that is standing in the breach, that is making sure that Americans get transparency when it comes to this type of operations, it's Congressman Jim Himes.

2:44:03Katie Phang:Tonight, he is joined by Madeline Beckett, who's based in Lansing, Michigan, and she lives in a mobile home park that's been bought out by private equity, of course. profits over people. Since that takeover, she's had unbelievable, horrible experiences, including huge unexpected fees, undrinkable water, and an end to necessary maintenance. How are we supposed to live? Please welcome to our stage, Congressman Jim Himes and Madeline

2:44:42Joy Reid:Thank you, Katie, and thank you all. Thank you, America. Thank you, resistors. Thank you for people of goodwill. Katie's exactly right. I spent a lot of time on national security, but what does it mean to have national security if we don't have housing security, if we don't have economic security, if we don't have dignity? What does national security mean? I am so happy to be with you tonight because I caught the very beginning of that speech. And I heard President Trump say that we're the hottest country, that everything is fine, that people are richer and better and bigger than ever before. I don't know who he was talking about.

2:45:18Joy Reid:Maybe he was talking about Ivanka. Maybe he was talking about Jared. Maybe he was talking about his billionaire cabinet members. But you know what? He wasn't talking about us. He certainly wasn't talking about Madeline. He wasn't talking about the tens of millions of people like Madeline Beckett of Lansing, Michigan, who, like so many Americans, worked 45 years, day in and day out, showing up for the job, raised a daughter, and now struggles to make ends meet in this richest, hottest country in the world. How does that work? work. You can't do much in this country if you can't afford a home, if you can't pay the rent.

2:46:02Joy Reid:Too many of my constituents have given up on the idea that their kids might live in the communities in which they grew up. They have given up on the idea that they might advance and maybe save a little something for retirement or to educate their kids because we have a housing crisis in this country. We've got to build five million units just to get back to a place where Americans can afford housing. And in the meantime, hardworking, middle class, true Americans, and by true Americans I mean people who go to work every single day and who at the end of the week worry a little bit about those bills who are coming in the coming week.

2:46:41Joy Reid:Real Americans who understand what it is to live in this country and to work hard and to live with dignity are getting squeezed out. There have been a lot of politicians up here tonight, but we got to never lose sight of who it is that we're fighting for. And so for that reason, it is my profound honor to introduce you to Madeline Beckett of Lansing, Michigan. Madeline, thank you so much for being with us here tonight. Thank you.

2:47:06Katie Phang:Thank you.

2:47:07Joy Reid:This, by the way, is the first time that Madeline Beckett has spoken in front of a crowd. So we're going to help her along. Big round of applause for Madeline Beckett. Thank you.

2:47:23There you go.

2:47:24Katie Phang:That's fine. Thank you. Yes, I'm nervous. My name is Madeline Beckett. I'd like to thank all of you for having me here tonight. I'm very honored. I live in Windsor State's sub-interfactured home community in Diamonddale, Michigan, just outside of Lansing. I'm here tonight because private equity has stolen my retirement, turned my life upside down and soon will leave me homeless. I spent 45 years working as a bookkeeper. I traveled a lot for my job so living in manufactured communities has always been convenient and affordable. They were good places to live. They were safe. Neighbors looked out for one another.

2:48:11Katie Phang:upkeep was easy, then we could count on maintenance by the park owners. The best park I lived in was Windsor Estates, which convinced me that's where I would go back to buy my last home, last home that I'd get to pick. I made a financial plan to determine what I could afford, and I bought my last house in Windsor. And it was great. It was exactly what I hoped for. And it was a good, good neighborhood. Then the private equities came along. And the first place they bought was only there for six months. Then they bought, just sold it to another firm, another private equity. and they took advantage of the fact that we're trapped.

2:49:06Katie Phang:We can't move our homes. They raised the rent. They added all kinds of fees. They reduced their staffing.

2:49:19Katie Phang:And they bleed people like me dry.

2:49:25Katie Phang:They're now charging us water, which used to be included in the rent. and that's over$100 a month. Plus, we get to pay them an administration fee and pay for our trash, which also was included already. Thank you. The best thing about it is we paid... Excuse me. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, the government subsidized the buying of our park with a loan from Freddie Mac. My tax dollars helped steal my retirement.

2:50:17Katie Phang:After all the added costs, I am now on the verge of being homeless. I don't have anywhere to go. I started going to meetings of the local homelessness coalition to figure out what to do when I lose my home. I've had to take on a roommate at my age. Seriously? Every month I have to borrow money from a friend. I now owe her over$5 ,000, and I don't know how I'll ever pay her back. I don't even know how to properly thank her. without her, I would be on the street right now. But I'm not going to sit back and take it, and neither are other people in the mobile home community parks all over Michigan and the country.

2:51:07If I can stand up now and fight back at my age, in my condition, living on the edge of homelessness,

2:51:15Katie Phang:you can too. Yeah! Yeah! Thank you!

2:51:25Katie Phang:We need all of you here to put limits on how much these corporate landlords can raise our rents, and we need it now. We need to stop shoveling tax dollars to the predators, and we need to stop it now. And we need elected officials to grow a pair and stand up for us. We deserve better.

2:51:54Katie Phang:Thank you for listening.

2:51:59Joy Reid:Thank you, Madeline. Do we think that Donald Trump knows about Madeline? Do we think he cares about Madeline? America is Madeline Beckett. That's who we're fighting for. Thank you, everybody.

2:52:21Thank you.

2:52:22Joy Reid:Thank you so much. One more time for the senator and for Madeline. That is who we elect people to fight for, right? Okay, now, because all of you guys are just, you guys are stalwart being out here in the cold. First of all, can I big up that cat over there? Can we please acknowledge bringing a little of the Portland magic? We love a fairy tale creature. I just want to thank you for being creative and being in this space. please give a round of applause to the yellow cat everybody please no king's cat no king's kitty over there we appreciate it um there was a person over here who had a toilet sort of setup that was very creative as well big it up to all the creative people in the house now i want to take you all to the great state of arizona wouldn't you rather be in arizona right now just pretend like you feel it feel arizona in your spirit feel the warmth of the sun right okay we're gonna be warm in our spirits because we as cold as hell out here right now but that's okay because coming to the stage are two people who you are really going to want to hear from representative yasemin ansari representing arizona's great third district and she is here with sonia almares and sonia sonia almaraz i should say sonia almaraz is the partner of yari marquez who has leukemia and who has suffered severe medical neglect for more than a year at the Eloy Detention Center in Central Arizona.

2:53:51Joy Reid:These are literally the kinds of stories and nightmares that are taking place in the Trump-Epstein era of the United States. So please give a warm round of applause and show some love to Representative Ansari and to Sonia Alvarez.

2:54:11Thank you.

2:54:13Joy Reid:Oh, I'm going to give you that. All right.

2:54:16Katie Phang:Good evening, America. I'm Congresswoman Yasemin Ansari. I'm proud to represent Phoenix, Glendale and Guadalupe in the U.S. House of Representatives. And tonight it is my absolute honor to be standing here with Sonia Almeres. Sonia's loved one is Yadi. Yari is a lawful permanent resident, a green card holder who was stripped of her legal status by Donald Trump's racist mass deportation agenda. For over a year, Yari has been locked up at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona. Yari has leukemia. When I visited her, she was too weak to stand. When I sat with her, I watched her vomit blood. And tonight, while Yaddy suffers in detention, Donald Trump stands before Congress and lies to the American people.

2:55:14Katie Phang:Donald Trump claims he is going after the worst of the worst, and that is a lie. Yaddy has no criminal record. Meanwhile, this administration and the Republican enablers in Congress handed ICE a$75 billion slush fund to terrorize our communities with no accountability. And let's be clear about who built this machine. Stephen Miller built Stephen Miller, the most awful human being. architected this cruel immigration agenda from the ground up. It is an agenda rooted in fear, rooted in hatred, and the belief that some people simply do not belong. Mass agents, violent raids without transparency, communities living in fear, that is not public safety.

2:56:15Katie Phang:That is authoritarianism. And the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, oversees all of this. If a cabinet official allows this level of neglect under her watch, then she should be impeached. Authoritarianism is when the government cages the sick, it is when cruelty becomes policy, and it is when federal power is turned inward against our own people. My parents fled an authoritarian regime in Iran. They came to this country because America was supposed to be different. This country welcomed them. It allowed them to work hard and to build a better life. And in one generation, they watched their daughter become the first Iranian American Democrat ever elected to Congress.

2:57:13Katie Phang:That is the promise of America and I refuse to let it be dismantled. The real state of our union is whether people like Yadi are safe, whether the sick receive care and whether human dignity still matters. So tonight we say together, free Yadi. Free Yadi. Because she belongs here. She deserves care. She deserves dignity. And she deserves freedom. Now I want to turn it over to Sonia, who I've gotten to know through this horrific experience to share your and Yadi's story.

2:58:03Joy Reid:Thank you, Congresswoman Ansari. I'm honored to stand with you tonight to expose Transreal State of the Union. Yari is not a criminal. And for a year now, I have had to watch my health, hear her healthy. I am so sorry.

2:58:32Joy Reid:For a year now, I have had to watch her health deteriorate at the hands of ice. Daddy has lost over 70 pounds. She's been coughing up blood for months on daily basis now.

2:59:00Joy Reid:she's too weak to stand she has been diagnosed with lymphedema and arthritis on top of her cancer and I realized in a walker just to move

2:59:22Her suffering is preventable, yet ICE has denied the basic medical care.

2:59:31Joy Reid:Yaddy es una compañera amorosa, amiga y miembro de la comunidad que merece dignidad humana. We demand her medical release immediately.

2:59:46Joy Reid:Exigimos su libertad inmediata para su cuidado médico. Let us get her back to hell so she can continue to fight her immigration case.

3:00:03Katie Phang:Thank you, Sonia. We will never stop fighting for Yadi. Give Sonia a round of applause and free Yadi. Free Yadi. Free Yadi. Thank you so much everyone. Have a great evening.

3:00:49Katie Phang:We appreciate all of you still being out here. We know it's cold, but this mission is very important. We now have the privilege of being able to listen to Charlene Rochard, a model and actress, and perhaps in her most important role, an advocate. She is a survivor of the horrors of Jeffrey Epstein. She has bravely spoken publicly about her experiences of being trafficked as a child, sustaining and suffering from the sexual abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein, and the exploitation of her, and I want to underscore, as a child. And yet the Republicans continue to want to hide from the American people and from the world the transparency that Charlene and the other Epstein survivors deserve.

3:01:42Charlene, this is your time.

3:01:45Katie Phang:Thank you. Thank you.

3:01:53Katie Phang:I am grateful to Congresswoman Randall for welcoming me as her guest for the State of the Union and I appreciate all of you for giving me the opportunity to share my voice tonight thank you my name is Charlene Rochard and I stand before you not just as a survivor but as a mother a woman and a citizen who believes deeply in protecting the next generation people often ask how I found the courage to speak publicly about something so painful. The truth is, I didn't find that courage alone. For years, I carried the weight of my experience in silence. And then a longtime friend, someone who remembered the vivid details of my past interactions with Jeffrey Epstein, encouraged me to reclaim my voice.

3:02:54Katie Phang:When I finally stepped forward to tell my truth, I found myself surrounded by a sisterhood of survivors who lifted me up and reminded me that none of us walk this path alone. But I want to be honest about something that rarely gets said out loud. What happened to us didn't end when the abuse ended. Epstein's manipulation and coercive control changed the trajectory of many of our lives. Some of us went from thriving, working hard, building careers, feeling hopeful to being unable to work at all. Some fell into depression. Some carried shame that was never ours to carry. For many of us, it has taken decades to overcome the impact of what happened, decades to heal, and decades to speak.

3:04:00Katie Phang:And that is why I'm here tonight. I am speaking out because the next generation deserves better. Our children deserve a world where powerful people cannot harm others without consequence. They deserve a world where survivors are protected, not punished for telling the truth. They deserve a world where silence is not the price of safety. I also want to say something that often gets lost in the noise. I believe that most of humanity are good people. Compassion, love, and peace are not abstract ideals, but are lived values. I've seen them in the survivors who hold each other up. I've seen them in the advocates who refuse to look away.

3:04:56Katie Phang:I've seen them in the people who quietly reach out and say, we believe you. Tonight, as we gather for the People's State of the Union, we are reminded that protecting children is not a partisan issue. It's a human one. And it requires all of us, including every community, every family, every survivor, every ally, to all stand together in unity. My hope is simple. that by sharing my story, I help create a space for others to share theirs, and that together we build a future where no child's life is derailed by someone else's abuse of power, and no survivor has to wait decades to be heard. Thank you for listening.

3:05:54Katie Phang:Thank you for believing in survivors. and thank you for standing with us as we fight to protect the next generation.

3:06:11Katie Phang:Please, everybody, let's please support Charlene right now and please just show her a round of applause for the courage. This is why we're fighting. Thank you, Charlene.

3:06:42Joy Reid:Look, it got real on this stage, right? I mean, I think a lot of the time, Katie, people feel like politics is, it's just theoretical. It's just people giving speeches. It's just people talking. But these stories that you've heard tonight, this is the reason that we elect people to office, because these are not theoretical problems. These are human tragedies, and they're all man-made. Orange man-made, specifically. And what's happened to some of these folks, it is criminal. And somebody ought to go to prison for it. For abusing, it is unbelievable that we live in a country that has a justice department and so much injustice is being done under its nose.

3:07:43Joy Reid:This is shameful. These stories that we've heard tonight, this should not be happening in the United States of America. And so this is not about speeches. This is about change. We have to stop this regime. We have to stop this regime. Joining us now, we are going to introduce four really important guests, because we really want you all to take these stories in. Okay? Exactly. Other countries are managing to hold people accountable and the United States of America is not capable of holding people accountable. We are creating concentration camps and letting people suffer and die incarcerated for no reason other than being brown.

3:08:33Joy Reid:Come on now. Come on now. If we can't do better than that, I don't even know what to tell you. Let's introduce these guests, my friend.

3:08:47Katie Phang:These are the voices, and this is why we're here tonight at the People's State of the Union. The People's State of the Union. Dr. Troy Jacobs worked on maternal fetal health along with vaccines. You know, the important stuff. Originally from Ethiopia, Dr. Jacobs came to the United States to improve our health outcomes for mothers and children. Fired by the Trump administration during the doge cuts after the dismantling of USAID. We're also joined by Yvonne Rodriguez and Alice Goldberg, a music teacher who owns her own small business, whose premiums jolted after Trump's big bullshit bill. and Marlon Ricardo Camejo, whose citizenship appointments were canceled by whom?

3:09:48Katie Phang:By Kristi Noem, because she's too busy flying around in her kajillion dollar jets. These are the guests. These are the people that you're supposed to be hearing from tonight, not from convicted felon Donald Trump.

3:10:10Okay.

3:10:11Katie Phang:It's called, y 'all. Good evening, everyone. My name is Yvonne Rodriguez. I work at the intersection of immigration advocacy and storytelling, and I'm here on behalf of Annie Lucia Lopez-Villosa. Annie was wrongfully deported while on her way to surprise her family for Thanksgiving. She was standing in the airport lobby, waiting to board, when agents scanned her ticket twice and claimed there was an error. Moments later, two ICE agents approached a handcuffter and took her away. She spent the night in detention, and less than 24 hours later, she was deported to Honduras, a country facing deep instability in a place she has not called home since she was 8 years old.

3:11:01Katie Phang:Ani is a dreamer. She's a 19-year-old student pursuing a business degree at Babson College. She dreams of building a future not just for herself, but for others, opening her own business, uplifting her community, and supporting her family. Instead, she has been met with retaliation, fear, and attempts by the Trump administration and his vigilance to deport her loved ones and separate her family simply because she dared to speak out. Two weeks ago, a federal judge ordered the government to facilitate Annie's return to the United States by this Friday. The deadline is now just 72 hours away. And what has the government done?

3:11:44Katie Phang:Only a request of a copy of her passport. No clear plan, no urgency, and no guarantee that she will be allowed to return safely to her family without being detained again. Annie is not a case number. She is a daughter, a student, a leader, and a young woman whose future is being held hostage by the Trump administration's regime and cowardice. Annie asked me to share this statement with you all tonight. I'm going to read it first in English and then in Spanish. I want to come home. I want to return to my school, to my family, and to the life I have worked so hard to build. I have done everything asked of me, followed every rule, and still I was treated as if I did not belong.

3:12:26Katie Phang:I refuse to give up on my dreams and I refuse to be silent. I am asking for fairness, for dignity, and for the chance to continue the future I started in the only country I truly know as home. Now in Spanish.

3:12:56Katie Phang:and I'm begging for silence. I'm asking justice, dignity, and the opportunity to continue the future that I started in the only country that is my home. The government has a court order. The clock is ticking, 72 hours. And we will not stop speaking until Annie is brought home. Thank you.

3:13:22Katie Phang:Good evening, Washington, D.C. I'm Marlon. I'm coming from the great state of Connecticut. I'm son and also I'm an immigrant. I'm Cuban immigrant that came to this country three years ago. I'm here talking to my dad, Moses Ricardo. He came to this country 17 years ago escaping from a dictatorship in Cuba, which is crazy. It was a tough regime. And now, 17 years later, my dad has to face another authoritarian regime in the U.S. So it's crazy. So 17 years later, my dad has been here working so hard, doing his best, fighting with the fire in California, helping people in the hurricane in North Carolina.

3:14:15Katie Phang:Now the administration, this Trump administration told him that he's a threat for this country. And he cannot become a citizen because he's a threat. There is nothing that can prove more that somebody's not afraid than 17 years working and supporting the country that he loves. I came to this country, he was the one that taught me to love the greatest nation on earth, but that's not what we're seeing. As I said, I'm coming from a regime. It's so important to remark this. So Castro and so many other dictators, they were elected. So those that said, okay, this guy is not a dictator, he's not going to be a dictator because people were elected.

3:15:04No, that's not the point.

3:15:06Katie Phang:He can do it. We are not going to let him. That's for sure. We are not going to let this guy be a dictator. All right? We have two really good people behind us that are going to fight him. And we have to support him, too. All right? How are we going to do that? First of all, go and vote him. So we're going to vote, and we're going to take all these people, haters, out of the Congress. And how else are we going to continue fighting doing this? standing up, no regrets, just push forward, push forward, we got this. And I want to make sure that you guys understand all the people that talk about this is about criminals, this is about illegals.

3:15:55Katie Phang:My dad is a green card holder for 17 years, he came here legally, no criminal records, but I don't want him to become a citizen because he's a threat. This is not about nothing like security or nothing like that. This is about racism. If my dad would be white, he's okay. But he's not. He came from a poor country that just was seeking happiness like so many other people. And that made him a criminal, maybe. So, you know, I'm so happy and glad to be here being part of this great event. because we are the people of the State of the Union. We are the people. That's the most important part of this.

3:16:39Katie Phang:We are the people. The people is America. America is not a president. America is not an administration. You guys are America. We are America. America.

3:16:59Hello.

3:17:01Joy Reid:Good evening, people. I, it's been quite a marathon, right? I am Dr. Troy Jacobs. I am a pediatrician. I have had the joy and honor of being a pediatrician for 30 years, providing high-quality care, primary health care to children in the United States and around the world. I have also been doubly lucky for 17 of those years to work as a medical doctor at the U.S. Agency for International Development, working in both disasters and regular times, improving health care efficiency and effectiveness around the world. Unfortunately, this all came to an abrupt end in February of 2025 when I was in Ethiopia.

3:17:57Joy Reid:while ensuring that life-saving child health care occurred. Things like vaccinations, sick care, nutrition, water, and sanitation. What I have witnessed over the last year here in the United States is the impact of the current administration's added burden on families in terms of stresses, in terms of fears, and in terms of costs. Really a trump health confusion tax on families. I see these disruptions and what they mean to families, including my own. People struggle with greater uncertainty, more fear, more red tape, more bureaucracy. Their care is fragmented. Children miss well child visits, vaccinations and routine care, things that are wanted by their parents and deemed necessary by vetted science and best practices.

3:19:03Joy Reid:Families struggle deciding the right place and the right time for health care, whether they should take their wheezing child to a grocery store clinic, urgent care clinic, their doctor's office, hospital emergency department, or sadly too often they are dealing with these issues at home alone without any help. We shouldn't have to have a doctor or nurse in our family to be able to navigate the complexities of Medicaid, Medicare, or our health plans. But increasingly, this is what the current administration expects of American families. We need to come out of the cold and darkness of the last year and double down on eliminating the administration's health confusion tax.

3:19:56Joy Reid:we need to return to good science, evidence-based guidance, and good practice. And this includes including humans in the loop, people like parents, pediatricians, nurses, and other child health providers, so that we have a place where pediatricians, nurses, and parents are not overburdened with the administration's health confusion tax. Thank you.

3:20:27Joy Reid:Hey, I'm Alice. My artist's name is Melting Virgo. And I find myself here on stage tonight because my health care that I purchased through the Maryland Exchange went from$28 a month to$248 a month. Last fall, before the federal subsidies were cut, I was beginning to look into buying my first home that could double as a lesson studio, but that is just not a viable option anymore. But let me rewind. I earned my master's degree in energy and environmental public policy from the University of Maryland, College Park. Go Terps! So naturally, I ended up becoming a self-employed piano and voice teacher.

3:21:14Joy Reid:Since I work on the weekend and during after-school hours, I spend a lot of time advocating for these policies that I care so much about. And sometimes my students take notice when I come back a little sweaty. And one of them said to me one time, wait, we can do something about climate change? She's 12. And she didn't know. And that made my blood boil. A six-year-old just the other day turned to me and said, people are bad for the planet. I had to tell her, no. People aren't bad for the planet. But there are some people who are bad for the planet, and that is the billionaires who profit off of keeping us sick.

3:21:57Joy Reid:They pollute our communities, predominantly black and brown communities, and then they make us pay the price. This administration is removing every single safety net imaginable just to turn around and give corporate welfare to the Epstein class. Every time federal lawmakers say that we don't have money to fund public services like health care, they are lying. We can make high quality health care, education, transportation, and housing accessible for everybody. We can balance our relationship with our environment through indigenous leadership. And we must liberate everyone who's been abducted by ICE.

3:22:43Joy Reid:This takes revolutionary optimism and it also needs real world organizing, which is why I recently joined my local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. No more doom scrolling. We must show up and create hope. One of the best ways I've found to create hope is to sing. I have a song that I wrote last summer in solidarity with our neighbors who are being abducted by ICE. It is in English and Spanish at the same time, and it needs some crowd participation. So I hope that you'll join me, and I'll also invite Joy up quickly to get this song going. And I'm putting her on the spot. She's never heard this song before.

3:23:23Joy Reid:Okay, so I need you to hold down the underlying chant. We're going to do that in English, okay? It goes, they cannot imprison us all. They cannot imprison us all. they cannot imprison us all they cannot imprison us all they cannot imprison us all they cannot no pueden inferceld inferc Kazuya

3:24:10Joy Reid:No pueden encarcerlarnos a todas

3:24:31Joy Reid:You did amazing. Yes, you get an A. I don't give grades though. We just go on vibes and the vibes were immaculate. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Let's give another round of applause to all of these amazing assets to the community of the United States of America. This is what we want. Here's my suggestion. Maybe we should deport Donald Trump. What do you think? Keep all of these beautiful people and deport Trump. Katie Fang, how are we going to end this beautiful, wonderful evening?

3:25:10Katie Phang:We're telling everybody who's here, well, first of all, Joy and I want to say the following. We want to say thank you to the members of the press that are here, that have been here in the cold, documenting this. This is important. So we appreciate all of you that are here, that have been here. We also appreciate all of you diehards that have stayed here and everybody who's watching us on the live streams. Go to so to S O T U.org for what? No Kings day 3.0 March 28th. Thank you for being here. I'm Katie Fang. I'm joy and read. And this is the people's state of the union.

3:25:51Joy Reid:Good night, everybody. Thank you for being here.

3:25:53Katie Phang:And thanks to the Midas touch and move on.org. Amen. Give it around. Thank you.

3:26:00Joy Reid:Thank you. Good night.

3:26:07Thank you.

3:26:32Thank you.