Speaker 1: Native Lampard is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with
Speaker 1: Reason Choice Media. You know, the other thing that I
Speaker 1: think is important to bring into this mix. We're talking
Speaker 1: about redistricting efforts in Virginia, of course, but we also
Speaker 1: can't turn a blind eye to some of the tactics
Speaker 1: that the Trump administration have turned to within the last
Speaker 1: couple of months. So we know in January, at the
Speaker 1: end of January, the FBI went to raid Fulton County's
Speaker 1: voting records from twenty twenty as if to give Donald
Speaker 1: Trump any credibility to what he was alleging. Then also
Speaker 1: seeking out votes, which we know Fannie, our dear sister
Speaker 1: Fannie Willis was working on trying to prosecute him for
Speaker 1: the election fraud he was actually committing. But at the
Speaker 1: end of January, authorities see seven hundred boxes, seven hundred
Speaker 1: boxes related to an election six years ago. There is
Speaker 1: nothing to look for from six years ago except for
Speaker 1: intimidation of voters in a very very important election in Georgia,
Speaker 1: as we know coming up. It's important everywhere, but it's
Speaker 1: particularly important in Georgia because we have the opportunity to hold.
Speaker 2: The Senate to elect a new governor or not.
Speaker 1: So seven hundred boxes related to this probe all in
Speaker 1: Fulton County.
Speaker 2: Who's in Fulton County? Y'all okay?
Speaker 1: And then the Homeland Security Oh, by the way, by
Speaker 1: the way, the FBI field agent in charge, his name
Speaker 1: was Paul Brown, I believe was fired for expressing concerns
Speaker 1: about this FBI raid. So I also want to be
Speaker 1: clear about that, if you're not a yes man or
Speaker 1: a yes woman for Trump, you gotta go. So then
Speaker 1: after that they went to Arizona. Guess where they went to, Arizona,
Speaker 1: Mara Copa, Maricopa County.
Speaker 2: Who's in Maricopa. So I just I want to point
Speaker 2: this out.
Speaker 1: This is over, you know again, the twenty twenty election
Speaker 1: results all from a debunked claim that there was, uh,
Speaker 1: there was election fraud happening there. The former attorney general
Speaker 1: in Arizona looking into this, and of course it's been
Speaker 1: a debunked, debunk claim.
Speaker 3: So anyway, Angela, I don't even think it's about I
Speaker 3: don't think it's a I don't think this is a
Speaker 3: rewind to the last election.
Speaker 4: I think you don't.
Speaker 3: This is pretext for this is them trying to push
Speaker 3: the limits of their authority, to show the American people
Speaker 3: what they have the capacity to do, what courts will
Speaker 3: step in to keep them from seizing ballots, What courts
Speaker 3: will keep, you know, stop them from going and so
Speaker 3: seizing voting machines on the evening of elections, when those
Speaker 3: machines should be counting votes and sending them directly to
Speaker 3: the headquarters and counties all across the country. I think
Speaker 3: they are here testing the limits of not their authority,
Speaker 3: because they don't have the authority to do this. They're
Speaker 3: testing the They're testing the limits of who gonna check me,
Speaker 3: who's gonna stop me? And with what military are they
Speaker 3: going to do it with. So I again, when we
Speaker 3: talk about the things that we should just anticipate, be
Speaker 3: prepared for Democrats, anyone who cared a Democrat, democracy loving person,
Speaker 3: please please please don't handle this like we might address
Speaker 3: the normal uh rigors of a of a of an
Speaker 3: inquisition reasonable in nature, even if we disagree with the outcomes.
Speaker 4: This is not what this is.
Speaker 3: This is authoritarianism at its at at its alphabet at
Speaker 3: its dictionary described level. Being persecuted by Trump in all
Speaker 3: of his SIKA fans. There are no check people to
Speaker 3: keep him from doing this. He wanted to seize the
Speaker 3: ballots last time, and fortunately there were people like Kelly
Speaker 3: in places said nah, we can't do that. The Attorney
Speaker 3: general of the country who did that. Now, who thinks
Speaker 3: Pam Bondy is going to stand in front of Donald
Speaker 3: Trump and say no to anything?
Speaker 4: Nobody know, nobody we.
Speaker 2: Know that's not happening.
Speaker 5: But I think it gets to what really is the
Speaker 5: soft spot in our democracy, and that is we continue
Speaker 5: to forget that the democracy only stands as much as
Speaker 5: the people are willing to actually protect it. And what
Speaker 5: we know, definitely knew from what happened previously, was that
Speaker 5: if not for Mike Pence, you know, by the thinnest
Speaker 5: finnest of margins, did things hold together. And so when
Speaker 5: you lose, or when the people who are supposed to
Speaker 5: protect the democracy no longer do, the institution is not
Speaker 5: going to defend itself. And many people knew that this
Speaker 5: version of Trump would be far more dangerous because he
Speaker 5: was going to have those sick of fans you talked
Speaker 5: about who do not believe in actual governance, who do
Speaker 5: not believe in the rule of law, who do not
Speaker 5: believe in a certain decorum that should be part of politics,
Speaker 5: because as much as I hated as last administration, this
Speaker 5: one is like this makes the last one look like
Speaker 5: child's play. And the difference is this time around they
Speaker 5: don't believe in those things that they're willing to do
Speaker 5: whatever the king wishes. And so I think what is
Speaker 5: frightening for me is that I don't think the American
Speaker 5: people are actually alarmed enough that I get it like
Speaker 5: a lot of people are dealing with shortbandwidth. They have
Speaker 5: already said their intention was the blood zone with hourly horrors,
Speaker 5: of which we're like what and to the point where
Speaker 5: you feel hopeless. But I think they're playing largely works
Speaker 5: because when I see things like what is embolding in
Speaker 5: Georgia and Arizona and that, yes, there's outrage among those
Speaker 5: who pay attention, but the people who really need to
Speaker 5: be outraged and paying attention are just kind of in
Speaker 5: this web of I don't even know what to do
Speaker 5: in this moment. That to me, it's the apathy that
Speaker 5: worries me.
Speaker 6: Sure three quick points. I think that we're overlooking the
Speaker 6: psychopathy of the President of the United States. So I
Speaker 6: disagree with Andrew just slightly because I do think that
Speaker 6: a lot of this is done because the president believes
Speaker 6: he won the election in twenty twenty, and so I
Speaker 6: think that he is asking people to go out and
Speaker 6: kind of do this excursion into finding him the votes,
Speaker 6: which we all know doesn't exist. But I also think
Speaker 6: that you're right, Andrew on the back part, because I
Speaker 6: do think that there are people around the president, the
Speaker 6: Stephen Miller's, the Bannons, et cetera, that want to exploit
Speaker 6: that underbelly. And what they're saying is, look, we are
Speaker 6: not going to wait until six years later. If we
Speaker 6: don't like the results of Arizona. We're going to take
Speaker 6: those ballots before their accountant or after their accountants, or
Speaker 6: whenever the hell we want to. Then were just going
Speaker 6: to figure out how to count them. We gonna count
Speaker 6: and one or basically, we'll ask Donald Trump how much
Speaker 6: you want to win by today?
Speaker 4: So I need you to find me y'ah eleven thousand.
Speaker 6: Right, I need you to I want to win by
Speaker 6: I want to win by twelve points, right. So I
Speaker 6: think that that's a part of it as well. And
Speaker 6: I don't I just don't think. I just don't think
Speaker 6: that we have the urgency one and people don't understand
Speaker 6: how to fight back two. And I'm it's hard because
Speaker 6: we don't have a fighter yet in the ring like this.
Speaker 6: I guess this is where Andrew would be like Macari,
Speaker 6: we don't need a fighter in the ring. This is
Speaker 6: about democracy.
Speaker 4: The people can do it. Hey, Minnesota showed us.
Speaker 6: In Minnesota showed us. You're right. I just think I
Speaker 6: wish we had a fighter in the ring too. But
Speaker 6: I guess that time will come soon that we're all
Speaker 6: going to have to rally around somebody who at the
Speaker 6: very fundamental portion of their life is pro democracy.
Speaker 4: It's not a person I really hope it is.
Speaker 3: And I honestly think Minnesota is a blueprint in the
Speaker 3: sense that when people see the threat at their doorstep,
Speaker 3: there's a red line and they're saying, you're not going
Speaker 3: to cross it here. So if it's in my community,
Speaker 3: this is not some esoteric I believe the talking points
Speaker 3: that he's looking back sixty years to see whether or
Speaker 3: not he won or not. This is me saying no,
Speaker 3: right now, this man is trying to take say it again.
Speaker 5: Isn't that bad Because by the time it gets to
Speaker 5: your doorstep, it is too late.
Speaker 3: No. I think this is going to be real time shit.
Speaker 3: I think that they I think we're going to be
Speaker 3: traumatized by the swiftness and by the audacity of what
Speaker 3: they're going to attempt on election day and the ten
Speaker 3: days leading up to election day for early voting states,
Speaker 3: and in the way in which they're going to assault
Speaker 3: the court courts, but mostly they're going to assault public opinion.
Speaker 3: They're going to get out there and they're going to say, rembermember,
Speaker 3: back then when the cab County stole all those votes
Speaker 3: and we had to take those ballots. Remember when the
Speaker 3: Latinos allowed fifty thousand immigrants across the border so they
Speaker 3: could vote that day. I think this is going to
Speaker 3: be head on a swivel type stuff, and it's going
Speaker 3: to require us to have not a knee jerk, but
Speaker 3: I mean unprecedented levels of response to them stealing.
Speaker 6: What is that lection? That's the question.
Speaker 3: Well, two thousand in Florida. I was here for that.
Speaker 3: I mean, you couldn't keep us down. We were down
Speaker 3: at that we were down at the capitol and at
Speaker 3: the Secretier State's office.
Speaker 4: It was mayhem complete in total Mayhem narrator states we
Speaker 4: still lost, and I think that.
Speaker 3: We lost a five to four, we lost a five
Speaker 3: to six or what was it, seventh four subquor.
Speaker 1: I think here's the here's the point that I want
Speaker 1: to raise in this moment. What is scary to me
Speaker 1: is that during the country's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary year,
Speaker 1: we are now at a place we are fighting for
Speaker 1: the fundamental right to vote, fundamental access to the ballot box,
Speaker 1: whether or not our ballot should be counted, who is
Speaker 1: making a very partial determination about who gets to have
Speaker 1: their say, And we've.
Speaker 2: Already had that battle.
Speaker 1: We had it in the Constitution, there's an amendment for that,
Speaker 1: we had it in the nineteen sixty five Voting Rights Act,
Speaker 1: in every reauthorization after that. So I'm just saying that
Speaker 1: at some point, the law of the land should stand,
Speaker 1: whether you're mad about a black president winning the election
Speaker 1: or not. All of this shifted again to partisanship after
Speaker 1: Barack Obama won the election, and I think that until
Speaker 1: this country is willing to come to terms with its
Speaker 1: ugly history, the fact that the vestiges of slavery are
Speaker 1: alive well and present, we are going to continue to
Speaker 1: repeat this. And so yes, we should fight, but also
Speaker 1: we do need fighters. Fighters need to show up. This
Speaker 1: should be something that is talked about consistently. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: tell y'all because I started talking about Reverend Jackson at
Speaker 1: the beginning. I used to get so mad sometimes when
Speaker 1: no matter what we were talking about, somewhere Reverend Jackson
Speaker 1: got on the stage and he always brought up the
Speaker 1: right to vote, and I'd be like, we're fine, we're voting.
Speaker 1: We just voughted, we could, you know, And this is now,
Speaker 1: this is pre two thousand and eight. By the time
Speaker 1: twenty ten and the tea party rode around, I was like, well,
Speaker 1: he might be onto something. When voter ID and all
Speaker 1: the suppressive measures that they introduced in state legislatures all
Speaker 1: throughout the country, cutting back early voting days, figuring out
Speaker 1: how to have voter ID. It's just an ID. You
Speaker 1: have to have IDA to get on a plane. Everybody
Speaker 1: don't fly right. Everybody don't Everybody don't live right down
Speaker 1: the street from a Department of Licensing or a DMV.
Speaker 1: Everybody can't afford a passport or to get a new
Speaker 1: birth certificate. Like we have a privileged way of thinking
Speaker 1: about this, and it is suppressive and harmful to our
Speaker 1: elders who fought the very fight for us. And yes,
Speaker 1: it is frustrating to have to have this fundamental conversation,
Speaker 1: especially when there are people in our communities who are
Speaker 1: like I would love to talk to you about voting,
Speaker 1: but I can't feed my kids tomorrow. We have to
Speaker 1: be able to walk in chew gum at the same time,
Speaker 1: hell chew something. We got to be able to meet
Speaker 1: people's basic needs. But also, this is a basic and
Speaker 1: fundamental right. It should be constitutionally protected in ways that
Speaker 1: it's clearly not because our Supreme Court is willing to
Speaker 1: throw everything in the balance.
Speaker 6: So Andrew, you preach, we need to clip that, because
Speaker 6: that's that's fire being fair and true. But let me
Speaker 6: also tell you why we in this situation. The reason
Speaker 6: we're in this situation is because we never punish the Confederates.
Speaker 6: I remind amen, because Amen, I remind people of that
Speaker 6: all the time. The most treason this group of people
Speaker 6: we've ever had walked the country, we never punish them.
Speaker 6: The same people who brought us Jim Crow, who brought
Speaker 6: us the black Codes, we never punished them. Those are
Speaker 6: the same people who on January sixth showed us that
Speaker 6: they were going to storm the capitol. We never punished him.
Speaker 6: Now those people are running government, so and Merrick Garland
Speaker 6: didn't help us. I always say that the reason we're
Speaker 6: in this situation is this country never punished the Confederates,
Speaker 6: and now we're stuck here. We're dealing with one hundred
Speaker 6: and Angela. The reason it's so hard is we're dealing
Speaker 6: with one hundred and twenty years, one hundred and more
Speaker 6: than one hundred and thirty plus years of that entrenched
Speaker 6: history of having individuals who don't believe in the very
Speaker 6: essence of what this country should be still running government today.
Speaker 3: I think it predates them. For instance, Americans don't want
Speaker 3: to reckon with the fact that we didn't allow all
Speaker 3: people to vote. We alloted white men who were landowners
Speaker 3: to vote, and guess what else, they did not have
Speaker 3: to be citizens of the United States of America to vote.
Speaker 3: That has not always been a condition of voting in
Speaker 3: federal elections or local elections in the United States of
Speaker 3: America over its history. It did not begin that way.
Speaker 3: This country has always prioritized the most powerful, the most
Speaker 3: well connected, the most well constituted individuals and quite frankly,
Speaker 3: if they had it their way. And this is why
Speaker 3: Donald Trump doesn't face as much resistance within his party
Speaker 3: as he should trying to be not just a kleptocrat,
Speaker 3: but quite frankly, to return this nation to some kind
Speaker 3: of aristocracy or worse. Is because they fundamentally don't believe
Speaker 3: that the proletariat should have access direct access to the
Speaker 3: ballot box.
Speaker 4: And by the way, the Framers didn't believe that either.
Speaker 3: We did not have direct elections to House members, to
Speaker 3: Senate members, to the presidency, and we still don't have
Speaker 3: direct elections to the presidency. We were electing people to
Speaker 3: go and then hopefully speak for US and conventions and
Speaker 3: as Electoral College voters and as US senators. But we
Speaker 3: were not supposed to have this much direct proximity to
Speaker 3: one the vote and then to what is supposed to
Speaker 3: be inured from it, which is power. They don't believe
Speaker 3: we should. So they really want to return to a
Speaker 3: foundational premise where the most powerful, the most well connected,
Speaker 3: the most well yield, even if they are not US citizens,
Speaker 3: are the ones who basically get to control.
Speaker 2: Things absolutely well.
Speaker 1: We will continue to be following all the redistricting efforts,
Speaker 1: the midterm mid term redistricting efforts, by the way, and
Speaker 1: all of what's happening as we lead into the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty six midterms, and efforts by the Trump administration to
Speaker 1: still kill and destroy the midterms, and all of our efforts,
Speaker 1: our collective efforts to fight back. So thank you all,
Speaker 1: so much. Native Lampard is a production of iHeartRadio and
Speaker 1: partnership with re and Choice Media. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.