In short
The MeidasTouch Podcast Episode Summary
Episode Title
Trump Panics as Protests Kick Him Out…in Maine!!!
Hosts
- Ben Meiselas
- Brett Meiselas
- Jordy Meiselas
Episode Overview In this episode, Ben Meiselas discusses the recent protests in Maine against Donald Trump's administration, particularly focusing on the presence of ICE and Border Patrol in the state. The episode includes an interview with Troy Jackson, a candidate for governor of Maine, who provides insights on the impacts of Trump's policies on local communities and the economy.
Key Topics
- Protests in Maine
- Thousands of protesters gathered in Portland, Maine, opposing Trump's policies and the aggressive tactics of ICE and Border Patrol.
- Trump's approval ratings in Maine are notably low, at a net negative of 18%.
- The protests reflect the state's independent spirit and dissatisfaction with Trump's regime.
- Economic Impact
- Maine is facing a recession exacerbated by Trump's tariffs on Canada and his trade wars.
- The relationship between Maine and Canada is crucial, particularly for tourism, which lost approximately $139 million due to a Canadian boycott.
- The episode mentions increased prices on essentials, such as groceries, and overall economic strain felt by the residents.
- ICE and Immigration Issues
- Reports of aggressive ICE tactics are highlighted, including the unlawful detention of immigrants and harassment of legal observers.
- A key case discussed involves Francois Mukiza, an asylum seeker unlawfully detained without a warrant, illustrating the chaos surrounding immigration enforcement in Maine.
- Interview with Troy Jackson
- Troy Jackson, a candidate for governor, discusses the political climate in Maine and the need for immigration reform.
- He asserts that immigrants are not responsible for rising healthcare costs; instead, he blames the wealthy and corporate interests.
- Jackson emphasizes the importance of welcoming immigrants to Maine, especially given its aging population and economic needs.
- Calls for Political Change
- Jackson outlines his platform, focusing on:
- Economic justice
- Healthcare reform
- Affordable childcare
- Support for local industries, particularly logging and tourism
- He stresses the need for progressive leadership that prioritizes the interests of working-class Mainers over corporate donors.
Key Takeaways
- The episode underscores the significant unrest in Maine regarding Trump’s policies, particularly around immigration enforcement.
- It highlights the direct connection between federal policies and local economic challenges, emphasizing the need for political change.
- The discussion serves as a rallying cry for voters in Maine to support candidates who advocate for their rights and welfare.
Conclusion The episode combines poignant social commentary with a focus on local issues in Maine, calling for an informed and engaged electorate. Listeners are urged to consider the impacts of current policies and to support candidates like Troy Jackson who prioritize the needs of everyday citizens.
Additional Resources
- For more information about Troy Jackson's campaign, visit [JacksonForMaine.com](https://jacksonformaine.com).
- Subscribe to the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts for more political commentary and updates.
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This structured summary provides a comprehensive overview of the podcast episode, highlighting the main discussions and important insights shared by the hosts and guest.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOMaine's Discontent with Trump
0:45 to 4:30
Discussing the protests in Maine against Trump and his policies.
“Just look at Donald Trump's approval in some of these other states right here.”
The Impact of Trump's Policies on Maine
4:30 to 7:35
Exploring how Trump's tariffs and policies are affecting Maine's economy.
“Moody's lists Maine as one of 22 states facing recession right now.”
Immigration Issues in Maine
7:35 to 10:30
Examining the impact of ICE's actions on the immigrant community in Maine.
“that they, Susan Collins is saying, and also when you start with Susan Collins is saying, you also may have to have the caveat that it's probably a lie, but she's saying that ICE is retreating right now from Maine.”
Discussions on Local Economy and Healthcare
10:30 to 13:00
Analysis of healthcare costs and economic pressures faced by Maine residents.
“And that to me is also part of the thing that's pissing people off.”
Effects of U.S.-Canada Relations
13:00 to 14:00
Understanding how political tensions are affecting cross-border relations and local economies.
“And now we learn that the Trump regime is working with a separatist movement in Alberta, a la Putin working with separatist movements in the Donbass to try to get Alberta to secede from Canada.”
Impact of Tariffs on Maine's Economy
14:00 to 15:40
Explore how tariffs are affecting logging, farming, and tourism in Maine.
“And that's how close our country is to New Brunswick and Quebec up in St.”
Troy Jackson's Campaign for Governor
15:40 to 17:48
Troy Jackson discusses his political platform and goals if elected governor.
“and speaking to that kind of Bernie, you know, truth to power, fight the oligarchy.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00mc mc
0:06maine is furious maine is fuming what you saw right there were thousands of protesters in portland maine . protesting against Donald Trump's despicable regime and the ICE and Border Patrol Gestapo that are terrorizing the people of Maine and the rest of this country. We've seen Donald Trump's approval plummet across the country, but perhaps one of the areas where it is the worst and maybe surprisingly so, but not if you know Maine's independent streak in Maine, Donald Trump's approval right now is below net negative 18%. Just look at Donald Trump's approval in some of these other states right here.
0:53I mean, Georgia, he's negative 18.6. Maine right here, negative 18.4%. Even in Texas, Donald Trump's negative 17.2%. Now in Maine, they're going through a recession in the state induced by Donald Trump's tariffs against the world, Donald Trump's attack on Canada. You know, Maine and Canada's relations are so close that now that Canada's boycotting the United States, that's impacting Maine a ton, especially Canada's tourism boycott. The Trump regime has invaded Maine with ICE and Border Patrol, Gestapo, and it announced that invasion right around the same time as its surge with its invasion of Minneapolis.
1:41Now, the Trump regime claims it's pulling out of both Minneapolis and Portland, Maine, but the Trump regime lies about everything. And we've seen some horrifying images and the people of Portland, Maine and throughout Maine have experienced horrifying situations where ICE is absolutely terrorizing and torturing the community. I mean, just take a look at this story right here from this past week, where Maine's top federal judge, a chief judge, ordered ICE to release a woman arrested without a warrant. Francois Mukiza was detained by ICE, Gestapo, on January 23rd while leaving her neighborhood for work.
2:23And Maine's chief judge, U.S. District Court judge, told immigration officials this past Friday they had to release this asylum seeker, Francois Mukiza, who was arrested as she was leaving her house for work. Just listen to the story. Mukiza and her family lived in the country for more than a dozen years, having arrived on visas in 2011 from Colombia. They were refugees there from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is the mother of a 12-year-old U.S. citizen and works providing professional support to residents in an assisted living facility, according to court records. Mukiza has no criminal history, according to her lawyer, and has been waiting since a hearing last summer for an answer on her asylum application.
3:09I know that she and her family are ecstatic, attorney Christine Hanley said Friday. Even the week-long detention has been very trying for their family and very scary for the family. Now, Judge Lance Walker wrote in his order that Mukiza's status as an asylum seeker had no bearing on his order. Instead, he was more concerned with the lack of an administrative warrant. Quote, I have no difficulty appreciating the Department of Homeland Security or Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be permitted to effectuate the orderly application of federal immigration law prescribed by Congress. Walker, who was nominated by Donald Trump in 2018, wrote in the order.
3:51This is a Trump appointed judge, who's the chief judge in Maine. However, I question the notion that the activities that have brought petitioner and others to the court via habeas petitions have generally borne the hallmark of orderliness and meticulous observation of statutory details. Now, dozens, perhaps hundreds, perhaps thousands of other Maine immigrants arrested by ICE and Border Patrol Gestapo in the last year have filed similar petitions, alleging that they are being held unlawfully. And so whether you're talking about immigration or the economy, Maine is suffering. I mean, take a look at this.
4:31Moody's lists Maine as one of 22 states facing recession right now. Mounting job losses and rising prices are squeezing Maine's economy. If you're noticing your dollar isn't going as far as it used to be, you aren't alone. 13 WGME reports, Sure, hoping for grocery prices to come down, but those prices are not there. Eggs are still too high. Bread is still too high, is what you would expect given the general tenor of the country. $16 billion of Maine's economy comes from tourism, especially Canadian tourism. But Trump's trade war with Canada resulted in Canadians boycotting Maine this past summer.
5:10The Maine Office of Tourism reports the state likely lost 225 ,000 tourists this summer, And that corresponds to$139 million that stayed in Canada over the summer. And don't get me started on the tariffs against the world, which have increased input prices and increased prices on consumers dramatically. Then you have instances like this taking place in Maine, where ICE agents threatened to assault and illegally arrest a US citizen in Portland, Maine. In this video, a man is legally observing ICE activity in his own neighborhood and watch what the ICE Gestapo do. Here play this clip.
6:12I'm not impeding you. I'm observing you. It is impeding. No, it's actually not. After one warning, keep doing it. We'll pull you back out and arrest you. Yeah, okay, thanks.
6:25Then there was this clip that went viral out of Portland, Maine, and South Portland, where ICE take a photo of a peaceful protester and observer of their terrorism. They take a photo and say, we have a nice little database, and we're putting you on that database now. So let's play this clip right here. What are you doing here? Yeah, yeah. Look at them. Look at them. The ice is here, guys. Be careful, be careful. Be over here. It's not illegal to record. Exactly. Yeah. That's what we're doing. Yeah, why are you taking my information down? Because we have a nice little database. Oh, good. And now you're considered domestic terrorists.
7:08We're videotaping you? Are you crazy?
7:39that they, Susan Collins is saying, and also when you start with Susan Collins is saying, you also may have to have the caveat that it's probably a lie, but she's saying that ICE is retreating right now from Maine. We've seen some horrific videos of ICE doing terrible things to people in Maine. I don't think it was getting enough attention nationally, but they were doing horrible things to people in Maine. And so they say that, but they say a lot of things. Why don't we start there, Troy? Troy, I get to see you, by the way. Yeah, well, thanks, Ben. Appreciate being on again. Yeah, well, that's the thing.
8:13I mean, obviously, what's been happening in Minnesota has been horrific, and, you know, that's been taking up everything. What's been going on in Maine is bad, but not compared to there, but we've certainly been dealing with a lot. You know, Susan Collins has been making promises and saying things throughout my entire life, and what we know is, you know, they've been going around doing all kinds of crazy stuff here in Maine, hauling people out of vehicles, you know, violating their Fourth Amendment rights, using kids as bait, you know, and it's just been insane what's been happening here in Maine.
8:51And yeah, exactly. I mean, they don't let facts get in the way at all of what's been happening. And, you know, it's just something that shouldn't be. It's not the way that Maine has been. And, you know, we're 47th as far as immigration here in Maine. We're the whitest state in the nation. And, you know, they're just going around targeting people for no good reason at all. And it's hurting our economy. It's certainly scaring the people in the state. It's hurting the hospitals. It's hurting the schools. It's hurting everything. and if anything, Maine needs to welcome immigrants to the state. I mean, we're an older state.
9:31We need people to come to it. Certainly, if there's anyone that's violated any law, we want to make sure that that's taken care of, but that's not the case here. They're just going around targeting anyone that doesn't look like me or you, and that's not the way Maine should be. That's not the way anywhere in the United States should be, and there's no place for it in Maine. Yeah, I mean, you mentioned the economy and how a state like Maine and places throughout this country need some injections of people who want to contribute to this economy because things are things are rough. And, you know, you put out a video before earlier in January that things were rough before Trump and things were were getting rough and, you know, getting more rough over the years.
10:16You know, the thing is, is that Trump, though, said that I am going to fix this. I'm going to make it better. He's made it worse. But worse yet, he's claimed he's fixed it right now. Now, as we're heading into February 2026, he's doing the victory lap as though what just took place over the last year has saved the people of Maine and the rest of this country, that everybody should be grateful and that this is a mission accomplished. And that to me is also part of the thing that's pissing people off. It's like you made it worse and now you're spiking the football. We're not stupid, right? I mean, there's a component of that.
11:00Absolutely. I mean, the thing about, I mean, you're exactly right. I mean, they treat voters like they are idiots. And that is not the case. I mean, we know better. And here in Maine, I mean, our health care costs are going through the roof once again. I mean, they're going up even more dramatically. And people know that people can feel it. Food prices are out of control. you know, our health care, our prescription drugs. And those are all things that, you know, people have been feeling for a long time. And like I said in that video, you know, Democrats have to own that too. And Trump said he was going to make all those things cheaper, and he hasn't.
11:38And that's why people are frustrated with all political parties. And I get that very well. And that's the things that, you know, we need to fight on. We need to, Democrats need to step up and fight for health care, prescription drugs, child care, nursing homes. Housing has certainly become a huge issue. And what I've been saying, you know, so people across the state understand is that, you know, the Somalians and other immigrants here in Maine are not my oppressors. They're not the ones that have been driving my health care costs up. Wall Street has been the ones that have drive my health care costs up.
12:12People like Donald Trump that are making sure that his friends that are getting more and more money are the ones that are driving my health care costs up, not the immigrants that have come to Maine that are trying to do everything they can to fight for their families. And that's why we have to band together to try and do whatever we can to push back on this, you know, 1 % that are, you know, just killing all of us. You know, then, of course, there are the attacks on Canada that happen every day by this Trump regime. He wakes up. He says, now I'm thinking about 100 % tariffs on Canada. If Canada enters into a trade pact with China after Trump said, I'm fine with the trade pact with China.
12:51And the only reason that Canada did that is because they've been attacked by the United States. So they're just trying to find somebody else because their traditional ally keeps attacking them over and over again. And now we learn that the Trump regime is working with a separatist movement in Alberta, a la Putin working with separatist movements in the Donbass to try to get Alberta to secede from Canada. And you think about the close relationship between Maine and Canada and also how this impacts the economy there. And it's like, to your point, it's like, what are we doing here? Why are you – what's the endgame other than to really harm America?
13:33Yeah, well, I mean, that's really close to me where I live in St. John Valley. I mean, they literally made the St. John River the boundary and split families. You know, one day the people were – you know, both sides of the river were Maine, and then one day they just split – the St. John River became the boundary, and people went from Maine and Canada being split like that. And so we have people on both sides of the river that are family members that are divided like that. And that's how close our country is to New Brunswick and Quebec up in St. John Valley. Our countries are very well connected.
14:16And, you know, I've had, you know, issues with in the past in the logging industry, but it wasn't the Canadian workers. What it was was the big landowners that were using Canadian workers to drive down wages over here in the United States. We've always had that similarity that, you know, working across the borders, that trade. And now it's become a real problem. It's really challenging for logging. It's really challenging for farming, things like that. You know, people are really feeling the effects of the tariffs across this state. And, you know, we're seeing real challenges of people, tourism, things like that, that, you know, these tariffs are hurting the state big time.
15:06And something's got to change. I mean, it's not working and they can say whatever they want. But but these tariffs are not something that's been good for the state. And I don't believe they're good for this country. Troy, talk to us about your platform. If you were to become the governor of Maine, tell us what you're focused on. And as many people will may recall, we had you on about maybe six to nine months ago. A lot of excitement behind your campaign as well. And there still is. You know, there are lots of it's part of the fight the oligarchy tour, AOC and Bernie and you and Plattner kind of representing a generation of Democrats fighting for the people, not fighting for Wall Street.
15:54and speaking to that kind of Bernie, you know, truth to power, fight the oligarchy. But obviously, you know, with so much going on and all of the chaos taking place, you know, sustaining that momentum and reminding people every day that the oligarchy is still here and we still need to fight them. And that's the tough part of a job like yours. And that's the tough part about politics, because, you know, people in this day and age, and this is by design by the oligarchs of Trump, people get distracted. And it's like we got to remind people who you are and what you're fighting for and what people like like Plattner and Bernie and AOC are fighting for.
16:35So talk to us before we go. Yeah, well, there's no doubt. I mean, you know, when all these ice raids start happening and people start getting hauled off, I mean, you got to stand up for that. and other things go to the back seat. But, I mean, for us, it's always been about economic justice for people. I mean, you know, I started my career, you know, blocking the Canadian border, fighting for people in northern Maine to get better opportunities. And, you know, this campaign is about, you know, people getting better health care, prescription drug coverage, nursing homes, child care, you know, housing.
17:08These are the things I've been fighting for. economic justice, like I said, we're going to take on big farmer. We're going to take on the big landowners here in Maine that have been holding back the logging industry. We're going to provide better childcare for people that deserve it. There's a lot of things that in my time as Maine state senator, I've passed bills that unfortunately have been vetoed by our current governor. That's why I'm running for governor. I'm not having the big lobby veto my bills anymore. I'm going to to become governor so that we can pass bills that actually help Mainers out across the state because working class people deserve somebody in the Blaine house that's actually gonna fight for them for a change.
17:50Where can people learn more about your campaign, Troy? JacksonforMaine.com. Check it out, Troy Jackson, running for governor of Maine, logger, just hardworking Maine guy. Great to see you. Same here, Ben. Thanks so much, man. Absolutely. Everybody hit subscribe. let's get to 6 million subscribers.
From the publisher
MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Donald Trump panicking as the mass protests in Maine have caused him potential retreat from his ICE and Border Patrol invasion of the State. Ben interviews Troy Jackson, who is running for governor of Maine.
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