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00:00Lead on the road again.
00:12President Trump will venture outside the warm bubble of the White House and his own resort properties this week when he heads to Pennsylvania this Tuesday to tout his economic agenda.
00:25Polling shows nearly two-thirds of Americans think the president hasn't made good on his promises to bring down prices and supercharge the economy.
00:37The president's fixation on fancy parties and big ballrooms have Americans wondering if Trump is out of touch.
00:45While his White House increasingly aggressive tactics toward perceived enemies, foreign and domestic, also have them worried the administration is spinning out of control.
00:58Joining me now is Maryland Congressman Kweisi Mfume.
01:03Thanks for being with us tonight, Congressman.
01:06Congressman, let me start with this.
01:08The president will be heading to northeastern Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
01:13He hasn't been in the states since July, and he hasn't really addressed voters there since the campaign.
01:20He's supposed to be laying the groundwork for an economic message that will carry his party through the midterms.
01:28But polling suggests many Americans have lost confidence.
01:33What are you expecting Tuesday?
01:35Well, I expect the same old dog and pony show that any other traveling salesman would try to put on to try to convince people that what they see is really not the truth.
01:46Most people know that they have been hurting under this president in terms of economics and affordability.
01:50When you look at the cost of electricity, when you look at the cost of electricity to heat homes, when you look at interest rates continuing to go up, most people know where their hurt is.
02:00Their hurt is in their pocket, and it's at their dinner table.
02:03So he'll run around Pennsylvania, you know, waving the flag and claiming to be a savior and really trying to tell people that things are not as bad as they are.
02:11But it's just falling short.
02:13It hasn't worked here recently for the president.
02:16It's really not working as we speak.
02:19The president seems to realize he needs a new message on the economy, but can't seem to decide whether affordability is his new buzzword or a democratic hoax.
02:31In the past few weeks, his administration has tried to highlight new policies like encouraging the production of tiny cars or baby barns.
02:42They floated ideas to cut prescription drug prices, but have no concrete plan to address affordable care.
02:50The Affordable Care Act premiums set to skyrocket when subsidies expire at the year's end, the end of this month.
02:58Now, is this a coherent economic platform?
03:02Well, it's not coherent to you and me and most balanced thinking Americans.
03:07It's not coherent at all.
03:09Many people in this country are already looking at a 13 percent increase in insurance rates.
03:13And when you put in the increases as a result of the ending of the subsidies through ACA, people are looking at 30, 40, 50 percent increases in their health care.
03:23And they've got to make decisions. Do I go without health care and hope that my my children, my spouse and I don't get ill?
03:30Or do I find a way to take money from someplace else and to pay these things down?
03:35So the president clearly is not in touch with where most people are economically.
03:40And he talks the way he does because he doesn't know what that pinch is like.
03:43He doesn't know what it's like to have to pay extra costs for health care or extra costs for groceries or the other things that we're all faced with.
03:50It's a dog and pony show. And he's a snake oil salesman in that regard.
03:57Do you think that there's real concern on behalf of the president or White House about the health costs at the end of the month going sky high?
04:08And how are you feeling about it?
04:11Well, I think they're starting to get concerned when you look at the recent elections that took place in New York and Pennsylvania and Virginia.
04:19Overwhelmingly, people are rejecting his message and the message of the Republican Party.
04:25That includes many Republicans as well as independents.
04:28It's just not playing well because he said he was going to do one thing on day one and hasn't done those sort of things.
04:35I think now the president realizes that this is an issue, that it is about pocketbooks and how much money is in a household and how you pay for things.
04:43And so he wants to try to change things, but he doesn't want to admit that he was wrong.
04:48In fact, he said just last week, affordability is a Democratic hoax.
04:52Well, we know it's not a hoax.
04:54We know that people are continuing to hurt.
04:55And we know that many people trusted him, particularly Republicans, who gave him the benefit of the doubt that he would do what he said he would do.
05:03And yet they just are starting to realize that Donald Trump is incapable of doing that.
05:07He's going to do what he feels is in his best interest, and that's the way it's been.
05:12Now, we will also be monitoring this week for any escalation in the tensions with Venezuela.
05:20Trump's defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, defending strikes against alleged drug votes in the Caribbean and Pacific.
05:29Take a listen to the secretary speaking yesterday afternoon at the Reagan National Defense Forum.
05:38The days in which these narco-terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere are over.
05:45These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda.
05:56We are tracking them.
05:57We are killing them.
05:59And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons.
06:06Congressional Democrats who heard from Admiral Frank Bradley last week about attacks on survivors of boat strikes left the briefing shocked by the account they heard and video of the operation.
06:24This is a situation that is getting more dangerous by the day.
06:27Don't the American people deserve more accountability from an administration that seems to be positioning for war?
06:37Well, not only do Americans require and want and expect accountability, so are our allies all over the globe who are watching this.
06:45If he's comparing this to al-Qaeda, at least with al-Qaeda, they brought forth demonstrated evidence of what they were doing and why it was illegal and to justify any actions.
06:58There's not been any accounting or release of information on any of these people who are all now deceased that they are, in fact, guilty of something.
07:07That could be true.
07:08But if you've got the information, you've got to share it.
07:11So if you continue to strike these boats, as we've been doing, killing people, as we've been doing, as a country, refusing to take prisoners, as we have been doing, people just don't feel right.
07:22It's just not the same kind of accountability.
07:25And the United States has always held itself to a higher standard.
07:29Capture people when you can capture them, like the ones last week that they decided to kill anyway.
07:34Bring them into this country.
07:35We've done that over and over again, charge them, put them on trial and prove that what they're doing is, in fact, what you're alleging.
07:43They will not do that.
07:44And for some reason, Secretary Hexeth, as well as the president, continue this cover up, this big smokescreen that says, trust me, believe in me.
07:54I'm telling you the truth, even though I don't have any evidence.
07:57At the same time, he pardons the Honduran former president who was convicted in American courts for drug trafficking.
08:08But I'm out of time, but I must ask you this.
08:10I want to get your take on the Supreme Court announcing Friday it would rule on whether the administration has the power to end birthright citizenship.
08:20Now, some in our audience may not realize the birthright citizenship is not just an immigration issue.
08:29It's a civil right guaranteed by the 14th of the Amendment of the Constitution, which overturned the Dred Scott decision in 1857 denying citizenship to black people.
08:43Can you speak to what it could mean for our country if the Supreme Court should decide to mess with this?
08:51And how concerned are you about this case?
08:54Well, like you, Reverend, I'm very, very concerned because right now it may seem like it's not important.
09:02But anytime you do away with birthright citizenship, you're saying that any child, any child born in this country is not a citizen.
09:09We're not talking about immigrants.
09:10We could be talking about black babies being born who are not afforded citizenship.
09:16There's a devious plot behind this that goes along with this notion of a replacement theory where you have white races who are saying over and over again,
09:25we can't afford to be replaced by Jews or by immigrants or anybody else.
09:31And so we want to put in place certain guardrails.
09:34This goes hand in glove with that.
09:36You cannot deny citizenship to someone who was born in this country when that's been the law in the Constitution for over 160 years,
09:45unless you're trying to do something that's dark, dangerous and diabolical.
09:50All right.
09:51Thank you, Congressman Maryland, Congressman Kwaesi and Fumi.
09:55Let's turn now to Minnesota, where the Trump administration has stepped up immigration enforcement.
10:01This, as the president has amped up his criticism of the state's Somali community after the National Guard shooting in Washington, D.C.,
10:12even though no evidence whatsoever links the attack to Somali immigrants.
10:17Joining me now is Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat.
10:22Mayor, thank you for being with us.
10:24I want to play you some sound from Trump's Bordazar, Tom Homan, on the Sunday shows this morning,
10:32talking about why Somalis are being targeted in your city.
10:37Take a listen.
10:39Mr. Homan, the president said very clearly this week that he doesn't want Somali immigrants in America.
10:47He called them garbage.
10:48Is that the real reason this operation is happening in the Somali community?
10:54No, I think President Trump's referring to public safety threats as national security threats from Somali and every other country.
11:01Well, he didn't say that.
11:02He said the whole, he talked about the whole community.
11:09What's the mood in the city?
11:11What are people saying, Mr. Mayor?
11:13The audio that you just referenced, I think, makes the primary point.
11:21When somebody does something wrong in this country, they are held accountable as individuals.
11:28You don't hold the entire community accountable.
11:32And so if the Trump administration is looking to protect and serve, if they're looking out for people within our city trying to prevent narcotics from getting in,
11:42trying to prevent gun violence, well, hey, we're on board.
11:45But that's not what they're doing.
11:47What they are clearly doing is targeting an entire community, saying clearly that Somalis are garbage.
11:54And here's the thing.
11:54In Minneapolis, Somalis have been of great benefit to our city.
11:59They've been here for decades.
12:01They have started businesses.
12:02Their families are here.
12:03They're part of the fabric and the culture that makes Minneapolis make Minneapolis.
12:08And we're certainly proud to have them.
12:10And here's one of the biggest things.
12:12They're American citizens.
12:14And I don't know if somebody in the Trump administration gave some sort of order to start deporting Somalis based on their lack of documentation status.
12:23But they have documentation.
12:25They are legal.
12:26They are American citizens.
12:28And so the thing that these federal agents have been asked to carry out just isn't possible.
12:33It doesn't make sense.
12:34But that dynamic has certainly been commonplace for the Trump administration.
12:38Now, today, the Minneapolis police chief confirmed that there was ice activity in Augsburg University,
12:47but couldn't confirm if there had been any arrests.
12:50You've taken steps to get the city ready, such as signing an executive order,
12:55banning federal forces from staging in city-owned parking areas,
12:59and designating a template for local businesses and property owners to ban ICE from taking action on their property.
13:08Based on what you are seeing in other states, how do you expect this to play out?
13:13Is there more that can be done?
13:15The approach that the Trump administration is taking presently in Minneapolis seems to be scattered and chaotic at best.
13:28Certainly, it is terrorizing to the people and the communities that they are going after.
13:33And the message that we are sending to our Somali community, to our Latino community,
13:38to any community that is being targeted, is that we stand with you.
13:43Minneapolis is not backing down.
13:45Our police officers will not coordinate with any federal agency that is doing immigration law enforcement work.
13:53We stand with the community members that make Minneapolis the extraordinary place that it is,
13:59and we aren't backing down.
14:00We're rock solid in support of them.
14:02Now, I want to get back to why this is happening.
14:05Trump has been hurling insults at the Somali community long before the D.C. attack,
14:11which, of course, had nothing to do with them.
14:13You have been mocked online by right-wing accounts just for eating at a Somali restaurant
14:21and trying to connect culturally with your own constituents.
14:25What do you think that is actually, that this is actually all about?
14:29Is this just plain, simple racism against a black immigrant group?
14:36Well, Reverend, let's put it this way.
14:39If I was eating spaghetti at an Italian restaurant, would they be freaking out and losing it?
14:45If I was eating at a French restaurant or a Norwegian restaurant to connect with our Norwegian constituents,
14:53would they be freaking out?
14:54If I was speaking some language like French, for instance,
14:59to connect with certain communities that are within our city or our state,
15:04would these right-wing tinfoil hat-wearing people be losing it?
15:09The answer is, of course not.
15:11Of course it's about racism.
15:13I'm proud to eat some really good food, by the way,
15:17that the Somali community has got in our city.
15:21I'm proud to at least try to speak the language.
15:25I think you could give me a C-plus at best in my attempts.
15:29This is ways that you connect with people.
15:31You spread a message.
15:32They're obviously better able to understand you.
15:36And these are people, again, that have been in Minneapolis for longer than I have been here.
15:41I'm from the East Coast originally.
15:43And when I moved out here to Minneapolis, one of the first communities that embraced me,
15:48not as a politician but as a human being, as a person, was a Somali community.
15:54And so, yeah, we're standing by them.
15:56They add so significantly to the cultural fabric of Minneapolis, to our economy.
16:01I mean, you know, just for me individually, Somali persons are a banker.
16:07The Somali person is my bodyguard.
16:09We've got a Somali person babysitting our kids.
16:13We need them.
16:14We're proud to have them.
16:15And this narrative that the Trump administration is trying to push is wrongheaded.
16:20It's mean-spirited.
16:22And it's just not true.
16:24Now, I wanted to get your take on the fraud case that has created political shockwaves in
16:31your state.
16:32Federal prosecutors have charged dozens of people in connection with an alleged scheme
16:38to steal money from a food charity for children.
16:41According to the New York Times, some of them are linked to the Democratic Party, and others
16:46are members of the Somali community.
16:49The administration is seizing on the controversy to question the credibility of prominent lawmakers
16:55in the state, including Governor Tim Walz.
16:58What's your reaction to what's been coming out?
17:01The fraud that occurred is real.
17:05At this point, it's not just alleged.
17:07People have indeed been convicted.
17:10They were stealing money from kids that was supposed to go to food that would feed them.
17:16People were stealing money that should have gone towards housing stabilization.
17:21And when that happens, you prosecute, you charge, you hold the person accountable, and yeah,
17:27they go to jail.
17:29As individuals, they go to jail as individuals because you should rise based on your own merit.
17:37You should fall based on your own flaws.
17:40The entire community of Somalis or any other community should not be held accountable.
17:46You know, Reverend, I'm Jewish, but when Bernie Madoff got in big trouble for financial crimes,
17:52a Jew himself, nobody held me accountable for that.
17:56Ted Kaczynski, you know, the Unabomber, Polish.
17:59But nobody held all the Polish people in the United States accountable for what he did.
18:05And so in America, again, you have the freedom of choice.
18:10You make decisions.
18:11When those decisions are against the law, you get held accountable as an individual.
18:17The whole community, however, does not.
18:19Mayor Frey, five years ago, you and I found ourselves involved in the George Floyd case,
18:27and you were very fair and receptive to being fair with those that were charged
18:33and being fair with those of us that were protesting and those of us with the family.
18:38Five years later, how do you assess what is going on with policing and race relations in your city?
18:45Five years later, we are making great progress, and we aren't there yet.
18:53Our commitment was this.
18:55Our commitment following the murder of George Floyd, COVID-19,
19:00this hundred years in the making reckoning around racial justice,
19:03was not to get back to the old normal.
19:06It was to blow by the old normal, to see true transformation and change in our city,
19:13to make sure that the precision of our solutions matched the precision of the harm that was initially inflicted.
19:19And that harm was precise, not just to Mr. Floyd, but to so many people throughout our city
19:25and, indeed, throughout our country.
19:27And so we are making real change.
19:30Progress is afoot.
19:32And, yeah, we aren't there yet.
19:34The change is hard.
19:36And there are people in our police department, our chief of police,
19:40more broadly throughout our administration, that are really committed to doing the work.
19:45And so I'm optimistic.
19:47The work's afoot.
19:48We just got to keep our nose to the grindstone.
19:50All right.
19:52Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, thank you for being with us this evening.
19:56Coming up, Pennsylvania delivered for Trump in 2024 election,
20:01but Trump hasn't necessarily delivered for Pennsylvania as president.
20:06I've got some thoughts as the White House prepares for a return to the Keystone State
20:12when Politics Nation comes back on MS Now.
20:16On Tuesday, President Trump will travel to northeast Pennsylvania in an effort to sell his economic agenda ahead of the midterms.
20:30The Keystone State was critical to Trump's reelection, but he hasn't had a proper rally there since last year.
20:38He may soon find out that many things have changed dramatically in his absence because while Pennsylvania under Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro remains one of the only states in the northeast with a growing economy,
20:54According to the ratings firm Moody's, Pennsylvanians are feeling the economic strain of Trump's policies.
21:03Tariffs cost the state $1.6 billion in just the first five months of this year alone,
21:11according to the Economic Research Group Trade Partnership Worldwide.
21:15Meantime, the administration canceled tens of millions of dollars in funding for Pennsylvania farmers.
21:22Rising health care premiums and immigration rates are also negatively impacting Pennsylvania businesses.
21:30And President Trump's war on wind and solar is threatening one of the state's fastest growing industries.
21:38Clean energy jobs are growing at nearly five times the rate of the rest of Pennsylvania.
21:45Pennsylvania economy.
21:45And yet Trump and his allies are trying to kill the subsidies that keep American companies competitive in the space.
21:54Given all that, it's not surprising that according to the Quinnipiac polling, 54 percent of Pennsylvania's disapprove of the job President Trump is doing.
22:06And three quarters of the respondents say the economy is the same or worse since he took office.
22:13The politics nations continues.
22:16We'll talk to Pennsylvania's Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis about what's driving Trump's plunging poll numbers in Pennsylvania and what Democrats can do to win them over.
22:30Welcome back to Politics Nation on MSNOW.
22:37President Trump is heading back to Pennsylvania Tuesday as the administration promises more domestic travel from Trump to talk about the economy ahead of next year's midterm.
22:50Joining me now is Pennsylvania's Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis.
22:53Thanks for being here with us, Lieutenant Governor.
22:57A lot has changed since Trump was crisscrossing your state in 2024 trying to win votes.
23:05Pennsylvanians have been feeling the effects of Trump's tariffs, budget cuts, immigration rates, and health care costs are set to skyrocket for many Obamacare recipients in the end of the year.
23:19What type of reception do you think Trump will get?
23:24Well, first, thank you for having me, Rev.
23:25It's great to be back with you.
23:27I think he's going to get an absolute chilly, downright cold reception when he comes to northeastern Pennsylvania.
23:34Look, from the beginning of his term, when he first ran for president for the second term, he said he was going to lower costs for Americans,
23:43that he was going to focus on putting more money in their pockets.
23:47And instead, one of the first things he did was pass the largest tax break for billionaires and millionaires in our country's history.
23:56And then on top of that, his tariff policy has been a massive tax increase to working class families all across this country and in particular here in Pennsylvania.
24:07And to take it even further, the Medicaid cuts that he is set to enact will put rural hospitals at risk.
24:17We'll double.
24:19We know that the expiration of the Affordable Care Act will double health costs for half of people who are covered here in Pennsylvania.
24:28So he's got his work cut out for him to convince people what they're seeing at the grocery store and in their electric bills and what they're feeling in their pockets isn't real.
24:40I think Pennsylvanians know better and they know that Donald Trump and his policies aren't working for them and their families.
24:46Now, Trump's planned tour for the next year seems to be in response to a recent New York Times reporting that is highlighting his public signs of aging while in office,
25:00including appearing to fall asleep in cabinet meetings and notably holding fewer public events.
25:06The public is taking notice of this and that the president seems more preoccupied with his White House ballroom project and winning peace prizes rather than strengthening the economy, creating jobs and fighting inflation.
25:22Have you been surprised how quickly Trump shifted away from his populist rhetoric Pennsylvanians heard during the 2024 campaign?
25:31You know, I can't say that I am surprised, but I think what we're seeing is clearly that Donald Trump is not interested in addressing the problems of working class people here in Pennsylvania or across America.
25:47And the White House ballroom situation just highlights that perfectly.
25:51He is more interested in creating a place to entertain his millionaire and billionaire friends than bringing down grocery costs, electric bills for working class people all across this country.
26:04And I think what we saw this past November, voters already have begun to send a message.
26:10But I think that message is going to be loud and clear as we enter the midterms, that they want people who are going to stand up and fight for them,
26:17people who are going to help lower costs and people who are going to get things done.
26:20That's what Governor Shapiro and I have done in Pennsylvania.
26:24We have cut taxes seven times since we've been in office, put more money back into folks' pockets, the largest senior tax break in over a decade here in Pennsylvania.
26:36So folks are going to recognize the elected officials who are fighting for them.
26:40And unfortunately, they know that Donald Trump and his allies in Congress aren't fighting for them and aren't fighting for their families.
26:46New polling from Politico finds almost half of Americans think the cost of living is the highest they can remember.
26:55That includes 37 percent of Trump 2024 voters.
27:01We all remember how much Trump talked about the price of eggs in your state during the campaign.
27:07What happened?
27:08You know, it's amazing that Democrats and Republicans agree Trump's policies and this economy aren't working for everyday Americans.
27:19And the fact that he continuously isn't focused, laser focused on those issues, voters, I think, are smart enough to know who's fighting for them.
27:29And they're going to they are going to hold him and the Republican Party accountable come November.
27:34But look, the reality is we have to make sure that as elected officials, as a party, we're doing everything we can to bring down costs.
27:41We are talking and championing the causes that everyday Americans are struggling with, whether it's rising electric bills, whether it's grocery costs or gas costs.
27:52We need to make sure that we are advocating for policies that are going to help move America forward.
27:57And I think the contrast right now with these economic policies could not be clearer.
28:02Now, while the state of the overall economy in the country hasn't been ideal in the first year of the Trump's second term, Pennsylvania is actually ahead of the curve.
28:14Recent data from Moody Analytics names Pennsylvania as the only state in the Northeast with a growing economy.
28:23I would assume you attribute much of that success to the policies you and Governor Josh Shapiro have enacted in cooperation with the democratically controlled legislature.
28:36Can you talk about what is what you think has been working in your state?
28:41Well, you know, Rev, I think Pennsylvania is a real model and we are one of the few states that has a divided legislature.
28:49We have a House of Representatives controlled by Democrats, a state Senate controlled by Republicans.
28:54We have been able to bring Democrats and Republicans together to pass budgets that cut taxes seven times, as I said earlier, that invest in bringing down our energy costs, that put more money back in people's pockets, that make historic investments in our public school systems.
29:13And I think we have been able to succeed and thrive because of the leadership of Governor Shapiro, despite not having partners in Washington and despite the chaos that we see coming out daily, we've been able to continue to build Pennsylvania.
29:29And as we like to say, Pennsylvania is on the rise. And this is just the beginning of the great things that's going to come in the months and years to come.
29:37But we need leadership in Washington to help us move our economy forward and to make sure we're creating ladders of opportunity for every person to succeed and live the American dream, whatever that looks like for them.
29:49We are less than a year away from the midterm elections.
29:53And as the economy is of concern and it would even be something more of concern to American citizens, if at the end of this month, which is the end of the year, we see the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, not extended.
30:11What do you forecast the midterm elections will be like in the state of Pennsylvania?
30:18You have you and Governor Shapiro and many elected officials are taking certain positions.
30:24You have your Senator Fetterman that some feel goes back and forth.
30:28What do you think would look into your crystal ball, political crystal ball?
30:34What do you predict?
30:36Well, you know, look, I will say Pennsylvania is one of the swingiest swing states in the country, and it is not a place that we can take anything for granted.
30:45And so Governor Shapiro and I are going to run a strong 67-county campaign.
30:50You're running next year.
30:51Governor Shapiro is running next year.
30:53Is that right?
30:54Yes, we are running for—we are—our re-election year is next year.
30:59We're going to be having an announcement on our re-election plans in the coming weeks.
31:03And so—but yes, the gubernatorial race is next year.
31:06And we're going to have a real contrast of how we've moved Pennsylvania forward, what we have done, and how Donald Trump and his policies and that of the GOP really seeks to move us backwards.
31:20We have, I think, demonstrated how we can bring people together, and it has served as a model for how folks should run all across the country.
31:29Well, I think you said that you'll be announcing you and Governor Shapiro in the coming weeks.
31:35But for the record, Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis just announced on Politics Nation that they are running again.
31:42Thank you very much for being with us tonight.
31:45Coming up, Cancel Culture Magazine—Magastyle.
31:50Cancel Culture Magazine—Magastyle.
31:52Now, we'll talk to a student journalist whose magazine was suspended to comply with the administration's anti-diversity crackdowns.
32:07Welcome back to Politics Nation on MS Now.
32:10Trump's crackdown on DEI and the press has made its way to student-led publications on college campuses as they rush to comply with a July memo from Pam Bondi's Department of Justice that shifts federal policy on DEI programs.
32:30The latest victims are two student-led magazines at the University of Alabama, Alice Magazine, which focuses on health, wellness, fashion, and women's issues, and 1956 Magazine, which centered on black culture and life on the university's campus.
32:51The editor-in-chief of Alice Magazine, Gabrielle Gunter, joins me now.
32:57Gabrielle, tell us what happened here.
32:59How did you find out that the university was moving to shutter the magazine, and what has been your experience since learning it was happening?
33:10So they decided to tell us this past week on Monday during Dead Week, which is the week before finals.
33:16Dr. Hood, who is our vice president of Student Life, told us in person in the office of the media on Monday that both magazines are unlawful proxies, according to the attorney general's memo.
33:29And since then, we have been fighting back by telling all the press outlets we can.
33:37We've also been doing student-led demonstrations to try to push back on the university's decision.
33:43And we are devastated, but we're also angry and ready to change things.
33:48Now, in a statement earlier this week, the university said it's required to, quote,
33:54ensure all members of our community feel welcome to participate in programs that receive university funding from the Office of Student Media, end of quote.
34:05Adding that university, quote, will never restrict our students' freedom of expression.
34:14Are you buying this?
34:15Was your staff exclusively female?
34:19Did you have a rule that banned male staff members or contributors?
34:23Was it only distributed to those who identify as women?
34:26No, sir.
34:29We allow everyone to join Alice, and I can say the same for 1956.
34:33We're both equal opportunity employers.
34:36Anyone can be on our staff.
34:37Anyone can be contributors.
34:38And also, we distribute our magazine to everyone on campus.
34:42So we've never excluded anyone based on any protected characteristics.
34:46Now, Alice magazine is an award-winning publication of the University of Alabama,
34:52previously bragging on its website that Alice magazine won the Pacemaker Award from the Associated Collegiate Press,
35:01which is considered to be the college equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize.
35:06And you've won other regional awards.
35:09What are students missing out on if your publication is shuttered?
35:14Students are missing out on two publications that share diverse perspectives, diverse voices,
35:22and also publications that allow for marginalized students to speak about their experiences.
35:29The university is claiming that the new magazine that they're creating will be for everyone,
35:33which is honestly offensive because our magazines are for everyone.
35:37We're trying to share all these important topics and everything that now the university is censoring.
35:42Now, the university has said it plans to fund a new student magazine project with a broader scope.
35:52Is that something you'd be interested in participating in?
35:55And if not, what's next for you?
35:58I do not plan in participating in it.
36:01It is honestly offensive to be told that my magazine isn't for everyone.
36:06So I don't plan to work on the new magazine.
36:09And I know a lot of my staff doesn't plan on it either.
36:12But we are planning on producing an indie publication that has nothing to do with Alice
36:18and will be funded by alumni this spring while we fight for the university to reinstate the magazines.
36:27So you're going to continue to fight and publish an independent magazine at the same time.
36:35Are you going to be able to get funding for this?
36:39Yes, sir.
36:40Alumni are helping us.
36:41And so you're determined, both you and the other magazine, that they're accusing of just dealing with black students.
36:52You're tending to continue this fight and not roll over.
36:56Are you personally surprised that, at this point, winning so many awards for your magazine,
37:05that because the women is in the title or the subtitle, that they would come down with this DEI rule to defund and shutter you?
37:15Did this surprise you and your colleagues at your magazine?
37:20It did surprise us.
37:21We were under the impression that we were safe because of the First Amendment right to freedom of the press.
37:28And also, in 2024, Senate Bill 129 in Alabama did pass and was enacted on campuses that closed programs
37:37and repurposed programs that were made for marginalized students.
37:43So we honestly thought we got through that and that we survived.
37:48So it is surprising that they are cracking down on us now.
37:52But we are worried about what will come next and what programs will come after next as well.
37:59And I might add, you said that your magazine was open to everybody.
38:04Your staff was open to everybody, as well as the other magazine was not.
38:09They talked about black life on campus, but it was open to everybody.
38:12And people on staff with everybody was not just excluding non-black.
38:17So I just wanted to make that clear to our audience.
38:20Gabrielle Gunter, thank you for being with us tonight.
38:23Keep us informed.
38:24Thank you so much, sir.
38:25Up next, up next, the National Park Service just updated its admission policies for next year.
38:31And you're not going to believe on what day you can enter for free.
38:37I'll tell you after a short break.
38:42The National Park Service just updated its admission policies for next year.
38:48And the details might or might not surprise you.
38:52You can now visit our America's Park for free on President Trump's birthday, which just happens to fall on Flag Day.
39:03But if you're planning a picnic on Juneteenth or a hike on Martin Luther King Day, you're going to have to pay.
39:10The petty policy change tells you everything you need to know about this president.
39:16It's not enough for Trump to merely puff himself in ways that would have made our past leaders cringe and embarrassment.
39:25He must also undermine the gains and achievements of others, especially black and brown Americans.
39:31What he does not understand is that America's natural grandeur can never be beholden to one man or one political party.
39:41It is a source of divine greatness we all share.
39:45As the song says, this land is your land.
39:48This land is my land.
39:51This land was made for you and me.
39:54That does it for me.
39:55Thanks for watching.
39:56I'll see you back here next weekend at 5 p.m. Eastern.
39:59The weekend primetime starts right here on MS Now at the top of the hour.
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