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  • 8 months ago
At his VoteVets Action Fund town hall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, former Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg responded to the Trump Administration possibly suspending Habeas Corpus.
Transcript
00:07One, let's see.
00:09Richard, just sit tight for a second.
00:12Mike will find his way to you.
00:14So, Stephen Miller is talking about getting rid of...
00:18Oh, please.
00:19Wait just a second.
00:20Mike's coming your way.
00:21Okay, Stephen Miller is talking about getting rid of habeas corpus.
00:26And this has been an onslaught since the beginning of the year.
00:30Do you think there's any line that he will cross that Congress is going to finally, like, do something like Republicans?
00:36Yeah, great question.
00:38I mean...
00:40Habeas corpus.
00:43This is some really basic foundational stuff about the rule of law, right?
00:48And that's what tells you this is not a normal Democrat-Republican fight.
00:54Matter of fact, when a senior White House official is seeking to end habeas corpus,
01:00I have a question from some people I know.
01:04Where the hell are the libertarians right now?
01:05I got libertarian or conservative friends who are against the Clean Air Act.
01:20And they actually have...
01:22There's a philosophy to this.
01:24They won't...
01:25They don't say they hate clean air, but they are so opposed to the idea of government doing too much
01:31that even making sure we can breathe air is still too much.
01:38Some of them even say it's tyranny.
01:40Well, if you think the Clean Air Act is tyranny, what do you have to say when they're talking about getting rid of habeas corpus?
01:48And once again, I am convinced that members of Congress in the President's party know that this is wrong.
01:58They also know where their bread is buttered, right?
02:03They live in an environment where they have more to fear from the President of the United States than the people of the United States.
02:10You can watch them do this math in their heads.
02:19I believe the most important thing is to change the math, to change the incentive,
02:25to make them more worried about how they're going to face their own constituents.
02:29If they're not going to town halls, there are other ways to get their attention.
02:34There are other peaceful means to get their attention.
02:37Peaceful but energetic means to get their attention.
02:39That might remind them that if not out of principle, then at least out of political self-preservation,
02:47they have an interest in standing up for what's right.
02:53I'm sorry to say it's not happening on its own.
02:55It should have by now.
02:57But you can tell, because they have been forced to back down on some of their most ridiculous proposals,
03:02that there is a line.
03:03Is there a line he wouldn't cross if he could?
03:05No.
03:06But are there lines that he can't cross?
03:09Yes.
03:09And it's up to us, we the people.
03:11And we don't have to wait for an election.
03:12It's up to we the people to draw those lines and make it clear that you can go this far but no further.
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