WEBVTT - Part Two: Why Trump Targeted Two Black Election Workers 0:00:01.080 --> 0:00:03.840 This week marks two years since the deadly insurrection on 0:00:03.920 --> 0:00:07.360 January Ray six, and last week, as the commission into 0:00:07.400 --> 0:00:09.799 the events of how that day unfolded came to a close, 0:00:10.160 --> 0:00:12.760 I was joined by Miles Gray of the podcast Daily 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:15.920 Zychides to explore how in the lead up to January six, 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:19.319 Trump and his allies weaponized the identities of two black 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:22.520 women election workers, Shaye and Ruby Freeman, in an attempt 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:25.880 to steal the election. Here's part two of that conversation, 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:28.160 where we do a deep dive into the Trump allies 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:30.480 who were doing his dirty work and what it means 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:34.199 for all of us. Let's talk a bit about some 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:38.600 of the people who were organizing this horrible campaign against 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:42.000 these women. It's already your mixed bag of like Trump crenies. 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:44.879 You've probably heard of, you know, Trump, Rudy Giuliani, these 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:47.720 media companies. But there are a couple of other folks 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:49.120 that I feel like I want to talk about. So 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:53.760 one is this woman, Trevanni Coutie. Shaye and Ruby Freeman 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:57.080 were also being harassed and threatened by Trevanni Coutie. Travanni 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:00.760 was formally a publicist for R and B singer Slash 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:06.320 convicted sex criminal. R Kelly is like a complete Google 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:11.559 contin complete Google. Is it? Is it trevy on or Trevanni? 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:16.520 I think I don't how how have y'all said it? 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:18.280 I've heard, I've heard it the way that you were 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:21.760 pronouncing it. But I'm just like, because when I Google it, 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:23.800 everything comes up as t R like the way you 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:27.240 spelled it. Okay, but I also have I got I 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:31.480 got the mild dyslexia too, And I'm like and I 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:36.280 but also I don't really care. I love I love 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:38.840 the cool zone media. That's the cool zone media. That's 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:40.880 a cool zone media. Way were like, are they? Are 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:42.920 they an awful human being? I don't care. How do 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:45.320 you pronounce your dad? Yeah, if you're a bastard, you 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:49.840 don't get proper pronunciation. And that's just what we do here. 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:56.360 We're like, sorry, I'm not sorry. I'm curious. Has she Sophie? 0:01:56.400 --> 0:02:00.960 Has she come up in an other reporting that y'all done? Um, 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:03.720 just like a little bit when we were talking about 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:07.080 some of the Kanye stuff, but not really not much. Um, 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:10.200 not a big enough player to come up in and 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:14.880 get like her own episode. So her relationship with Kanye 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:18.080 West is pretty weird to me. Um, folks, it's like 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:21.840 I don't fully get it. Um, she was some kind 0:02:21.880 --> 0:02:25.120 of an associate of Kanye West at some point. That's 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:28.520 like a documented thing. Um. According to NBC News, a 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:31.240 biography of her posted to a website for the website 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:34.760 of Women's Global Initiative, a business networking group, identified her 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:38.079 as a member of the Young Black Leadership Council under 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:41.480 Donald Trump, and that noted that in she was quote 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:44.600 secured as a publicist to Kanye West and now serves 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:48.480 as west Director of Operation. So somewhere, some somewhere down 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:50.760 the line, she did have that in her bio, but 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:53.760 Kanye's camp says that she is not associated with him, 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:55.799 and so it's just like one of those things where 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:57.280 it's like, well, who was telling the truth? Like that 0:02:57.320 --> 0:02:59.640 was in her bio. Kanye's camp says that they have 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:02.560 no s a station. So funny because people like you 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:05.000 were thinking Kanye if he had somebody that was willing 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:07.400 to claim him right now, he would be like okay. 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:13.680 But even even she's like whoa whoa, whoa who not her, 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.880 which says she's still posting picture like she I went 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:21.120 to her Instagram earlier today and she's still posting pictures 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:25.119 like cartoons of Kanye West as president. So I think 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:27.640 I think if he would have her, she would maybe 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:30.200 this might this might end with like a rekindling of 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:37.360 their scammy partnership. I like, I like immediately going to 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:40.960 see her instagram is wild if you want to, if 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:42.960 you want to, like look at someone's Instagram and you're like, wow, 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:45.600 you're just like kind of a wild person. Uh, she 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:49.800 recommended voice. That's what her That's what her bio says, Miles. 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:56.840 Her bio says, the majority's voice, political sharp shooter, political 0:03:57.000 --> 0:04:03.200 sharp shooter. Okay, manipulator with the evil eye. Om o 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:08.440 g okay, okay. So she's like a bastard and proud. 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:14.160 I think, yeah, oh man, I don't Yeah, this is 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:17.080 oh no, I know. This is like I know people 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:21.479 who have instagrams that look like this, me too, and yeah, 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:23.520 I'm like no, I'm like, yo, you see a homeboy 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:25.560 from high schools Instagram? I'm like yeah. But the one 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:28.239 where he said that Mike Vick was actually herschel walker 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:34.719 in disguise. People there are people post their oh my god, 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:38.200 I can't even imagine what's in her draft, Like, oh 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:43.040 my god, you're so right, like, no, you don't have 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:48.080 drafts when you're like this kidding me straight? Come on now, 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:51.040 you're just like to post. Yeah. I was like, how 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:53.599 does she directly relate to what we're talking about besides 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:58.120 being terrified? Okay? So, in any event, she showed up 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:01.200 at Shaye and Ruby's store, and the way men understandably 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:03.120 called the police and they all end up going to 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:05.760 the police station together to talk. She tells them that 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:08.279 she is visiting at the direction of a quote high 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:11.720 profile individual who had warned her that if if Shay 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:15.160 and Ruby did not confess to these voter fraud allegations, 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:17.760 they would be arrested in forty eight hours. This is 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.719 where it gets a little bit weird. According to Rolling Stone, 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:23.880 the police body cam footage of this conversation shows her 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:27.400 telling the women, I cannot say specifically what will take place. 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:29.440 I just know it will disrupt your freedom and the 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:31.560 freedom of one or more of your family members. You 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:33.600 are a loose end for a party that needs to 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:36.560 tidy up. Um, So like pretty weird thing to say 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:40.800 to somebody. She then calls a man called Harrison Floyd 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:43.440 on speaker phone, who says that he can offer these 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.960 women protection. I realized earlier and when I was doing this, 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:48.760 I thought his name was Harrison Ford, but it was 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:53.279 Harrison Floyd, which is probably a very combination, like it's 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:56.360 got the familiarity of Harrison Ford and George Floyd who 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:59.599 had that name. Check to it sounds like lazy, made 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:05.080 up name, but totally sure Harrison Floyd, totally totally. So 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:09.640 he basically tells reiterates that he could offer her protection 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:13.000 but if she if she confesses to voter fraud, he 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:15.480 can offer her protection, but if she declines, she'll go 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:18.160 to jail. So it turns out that Floyd actually worked 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:21.120 for the Trump campaign, formally as a paid executive director 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:23.679 of Black Voices for Trump. But he told Rachel Maddow 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:26.320 that he sent this woman to Shay and Ruby's house 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:28.760 as a private citizen, not of an employee of the 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:32.400 Trump campaign. He said that he got calls from people 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.800 saying that they could keep Ruby and Shay safe if 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:39.520 they confessed. Side note, I don't really believe anything that 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:41.000 any of these people are saying. That this is just 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:43.000 what they're saying, and I'm just saying what they said. 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:45.600 They all sound like liars and grifters, but you know 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:48.800 that's what's going on here. For what it's worth. Could 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:51.400 he denies any wrongdoing. She said that it's a smear 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:54.840 campaign being organized by the news outlet Reuters, who did 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:56.640 a lot of reporting on this story. And if she 0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:59.400 also said on Twitter, Ruby told a chaplain that she 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:02.360 wanted to vide evidence in exchange for immunity for her 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:04.479 and her daughter, but didn't trust a white man to 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:07.000 help her as a black woman familiar in this arena, 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:10.120 I was contacted to provide Freeman with her requested information 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:13.280 on her options. Probably goes without saying that Ruby and 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:18.040 say are like that never fucking happened. That's a lie. Yeah, okay, 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:21.840 I do see why she claims to work for Kanye 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:28.200 because it's believable. Absolutely um. And so this all went down. 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:33.280 She's a black woman. So this all went down on 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:38.120 January four, just two days before January six, And it 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:40.960 sounds like what was going on here is that the 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:44.760 Trump associates wanted to get like a forced confession out 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:47.440 of these women and then use that as a means 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:50.680 to stop the transition of presidential power on the sixth. 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:52.400 That's what I think was going on that They were like, 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:54.720 if we can get them to confess and scare confession 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:58.280 out of them, then we got something exactly. On Januarray six, 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:01.600 when pro Trump coons were or storming the capital, they 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:05.480 also surrounded rebing SHA's home with bullhorns, but luckily they 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:09.120 had already fled for their safety. Um, which is bad enough, right, 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:11.400 having to flee your home for your safety is bad enough. 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:14.320 But here's where it gets even scarier. Trump supporters actually 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:17.800 tried to break into Shea's grandmother's home to make quote 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:22.400 a citizen's arrest. Here's how she describes that in her testimony. 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:28.520 I received a call from my grandmother. It's woman is 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:32.200 my everything. I've never even heard her or seeing her 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:37.560 cry ever in my life. And um, she called me 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:41.839 screaming at the top of her lungs like Shane, shame, 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:48.120 Oh my gosh, Shane just freaking me out, saying that, um, 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:52.520 there are people at her home and they, um, you know, 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:55.319 they knocked on the door, and of course she opened 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:58.320 it and seeing who was there, who it was, and 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:02.520 they just started pushing their way through, claiming that they 0:09:02.559 --> 0:09:06.839 were coming in to make a citizen's arrisk. They needed 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:12.480 to find me and my mom. They knew we were there, um, 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:18.480 and she was just screaming and didn't know what to do. 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:23.400 And I wasn't there, so you know, I just felt 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:28.599 so helpless and so horrible for her. So yeah, they 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:32.520 tried to break into a seventy something year old grandmother's 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:35.400 house to push their way in to make a citizen's arrest. 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:38.960 And honestly, I cannot even imagine how terrifying this must 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:41.679 have been to have this angry, potentially armed mob of 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:44.240 Trump supporters showing up at your house and trying to 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:46.920 force their way physically force their way into your home. 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:54.080 So hard to even like hear her say that she 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:58.280 had never heard her grandmother panicked in her life, you know, 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:01.480 And I think that's another I just think of, like 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:03.520 my own grandmother, right Like, I just think of how 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:06.680 strong like many of the people in my life have been, 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:10.760 and to have a moment where that's completely shattered, and you're, like, 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:13.960 I heard just terror in their voice saying I don't 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:17.800 know what to do. That's just man like, every every 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:22.120 single like their words are so chilling because I hope 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:24.240 most people could be able to are able to put 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:28.840 themselves in her position and think of like what what 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:31.319 that experience would be like for you if suddenly you 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:34.720 are doing something for the betterment that you believe for 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:38.679 your community and then it leads to your grandmother having 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:42.360 people trying to bust her door down. Yeah, it's it's 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:46.880 wild because I I I remember when they testified, and 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:50.320 I remember the a lot of like the highlights of 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:52.520 what they said, but clearly they gave you know, they 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:55.640 gave lengthy testimony, and so I didn't get I didn't 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:57.680 hear I haven't heard a lot of this other stuff. 0:10:57.720 --> 0:11:00.800 I knew that they were harassed. I knew that ship 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:04.000 was bad, as it always is, but it is it's 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:06.120 so different to actually hear what they're saying and also 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:08.559 to hear that like that may have been this pressure 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:12.440 point leading up to January six where a lot of 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:15.040 this energy was put on them because they felt they 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:18.079 could make them the smoking gun to completely steal the election, 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:21.640 and that to to to even even like with that idea, 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:24.199 to put to put yourself into place of like imagine 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:27.840 if you were the focal point for MAGA world to 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:31.400 say that these people are as what's getting in between 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:43.640 us and another Trump administration. Yeah, it's it's terrifying. I 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:48.680 agree with you. I think there's something about hearing them 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.840 tell their story in their own words that is really powerful, 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:53.760 because I read quite a bit about their case, and 0:11:53.760 --> 0:11:57.120 then when I watched the testimony, I was in tears. 0:11:57.480 --> 0:11:59.760 And I think part of it is because it's so 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.880 easy to think of, like on like online abuse, online harassment, 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:06.560 these kinds of threats as just an internet thing. But 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:10.199 then you hear this sixtiesothing year old woman explain how 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:12.640 it impacted her life and robbed her of her sense 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:15.079 of self and her joy and her identity, and you're like, oh, 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:17.880 this is this is a real thing. I think that 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:21.199 I don't know that I've ever seen a better or 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:25.560 more clear example of the impact and the threat and 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:28.800 what's at stake than when these women so bravely testified. 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:35.320 And all of this is really like because of lies, 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.920 and we know that that Trump knew that he was 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:43.040 knowingly lying about the fact that he lost the election. 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:46.720 During this hearing, the d o J said that they 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:50.960 briefed Trump explicitly about the false claims that were being 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:53.960 touted around Ruby and Shay in that video, so he 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:56.760 knew that these claims were false. He knew that specifically, 0:12:56.800 --> 0:13:00.560 this video did not show vote vote hampering and that 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:03.880 these women did nothing wrong, but he still knowingly did 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:06.920 it anyway, And that really brings us to today. So 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:09.000 today it actually seems like the state of Georgia is 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:11.720 kind of trying to get to the bottom of who 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:14.880 was behind this intimidation and harassment campaign against these women. 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:16.880 According to a piece in The New York Times published 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:19.320 last month, Coody and Floyd, the people who tried to 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:22.080 get Shay and Ruby to confess, have been summoned to testify, 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:24.920 and the Fulton County District Attorney has indicated that her 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:28.160 investigation into these efforts to overturn Trump's defeat in Georgia 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:33.200 could result in a multidefendant racketeering and conspiracy case. Um. However, 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:35.320 they have not yet been charged with a crime, and 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:37.600 I think that I think that they The deadline for 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:41.920 them to testify is like tomorrow. So I'm actually very 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:45.040 curious like where this would where this will go and 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:48.599 if there will be any kind of accountability or consequences 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:52.160 for people who you know, works to ruin these women's 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:56.640 lives for no reason. Yeah, I mean, bring the rico on. 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:00.320 And it's not just Ruby and Shay. The kind of 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:03.079 harassment and abuse and intimidation of women like Ruby and 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:06.160 Shay um for who are just simply doing their jobs 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:10.199 as election as election workers, has become terrifyingly common, um 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:12.760 And it is women that we're talking about. The vast 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:16.760 majority more than of election workers are women. According to 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:19.880 research from the Brennan Center, nearly one in three local 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:23.040 election officials no at least one election worker who has 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:26.920 left the job because of safety concerns, increased threats, or intimidation. 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:29.520 Sha herself said that she could never see herself doing 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:32.560 election work ever again. And you know, in this most 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:36.000 recent election, we actually did have a shortage of poll workers, 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:39.920 which leads to like pretty anti democratic outcomes for all 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:43.000 of us, like short staffed polling precincts that force people 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:46.840 to weight in like wild ridiculous long lines just to 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:49.600 be able to vote. Shortages of poll workers could also 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:52.600 cause polling locations to close or have to consolidate with 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.080 other locations, and it makes it even more challenging for 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:57.080 people to get to their new their new polling place. 0:14:57.280 --> 0:15:01.040 And we already know that like this directly impact marginalized 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:05.080 voters who already faced pretty big barriers to voting, and 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:07.600 so it's it's horrible for the women who are the 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:10.200 targets of this kind of harassment, but it's horrible for 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:12.960 all of us because it just it threatens our democracy. 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:15.880 It threatens our ability to make our voices heard. Yeah, 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:18.600 and it's the same thing I mean this is we 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:21.520 see this across so many arenas, Like with the right, 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:25.040 they want to pressure all of the decent human beings 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:28.840 out of these positions where having decent human beings is 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:31.920 the difference, you know what I mean, Like we see 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:35.160 it with teachers and that these school board meetings and 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:38.320 harassing teachers that are like, I'm trying to like educate 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:40.440 them and they're like, no, you're trying to poison their 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:45.440 minds and just see our three crap um. And it's 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:49.040 scaring people away from doing a thing which is too 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:55.840 or two volunteer their time so elections can occur or 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:59.280 these other things. And it's it's difficult to see because 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:01.920 you see how the these pressure campaigns do work and 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:06.040 it erodes these sort of institutions at the margins and 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:08.200 then it allows for this like rot to really set in. 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:13.040 And it's a shame that she's been completely, you know, 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:18.040 dissuaded from doing something that she really looked exactly. That's 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:20.360 that's such a good point that you made about how 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:22.240 kind of the I do think the point of a 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:26.560 lot of these these intimidation campaigns is to pressure normal 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.040 regular people who want to do a civic good or 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:32.360 a public good out of these positions and fill them 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:37.800 with partisan extremists. And so if it only extremists feel 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:41.960 comfortable serving the public as teachers, as school board members, 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:46.320 as administrators, as poll workers, that's a real problem. Like 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:49.360 we are all in big fucking trouble if that's the 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:53.040 reality that we're gonna face. Yeah, and and and they're smart. 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:57.720 I mean you saw after the six all of the 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:00.200 extremists on the right they had to figure at a 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:03.640 new plan. And that's on a lot of like the 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:05.920 Q people too, are like, you know, what, we can 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:09.359 we can really be going for these little elected positions 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:12.760 like school board or controller or these other things. People 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:14.679 are just like, I don't know, vote for this person, 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:18.520 because yeah, to your point, that's how you know, they 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:20.280 have to learn from the last one. They're like, man, 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:24.280 what's Brad Rathnsburger doing over here? Like respecting the Constitution. 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:27.080 Even though that guy's such a like big are Republican, 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:29.399 you look at his politics, like he's not crossing Trump 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:31.000 in any way aside from the fact that he's like, 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:34.320 I'm not gonna lie about the votes though, like, other 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:36.960 than that, love what you're doing, man, Love everything else, 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:39.920 including the racism. I personally don't want to go to 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:43.800 jail over this, but love everything else. Yeah, exactly, and 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:46.960 like and so they know, they're like, man, for next time, 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:49.440 we can't have these people who are like, well are 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:52.240 we supposed to be lying? They're like, get those people 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.040 out of here. We need more people who know what 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:56.320 time it is, who can stick to the script. So 0:17:56.359 --> 0:18:00.000 when it's time to just up end everything, boom boom boom, 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:02.600 own boom, there's not gonna be any you know, stifling 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:04.600 of the momentum because it comes to a point where 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:06.800 it crosses someone's desk quest to make a decision, who 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:10.120 like actually has a spine or a sense of decency. 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:12.960 And yeah, it's been that's a very like. I think 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:15.800 if they keep at it will pay off in the 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:18.760 long run, if they're able to freak out and scare 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:22.040 away these kinds of people who again like are truly 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:26.119 are like a line of defense between falling into a 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:30.600 completely ignorant backwards country. I mean, we're already kind of there, 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:32.800 but like fully, you know what I mean, and then 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:35.840 that's going to be even scarier. And I think it's 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:39.000 it's a lesson for like all of us, you know, 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:41.280 really about like that we need to be we really 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:45.400 have to have these people's backs, because that's another thing 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:48.960 we we we leave a lot of especially Black women, 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:51.639 we don't. We don't we don't take up for them 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:53.840 as a as a culture. I mean, I would say 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:56.199 that people are in a minority who are really vocal 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:58.920 about saying you can't just turn your back on black women. 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:01.880 You just can't and do that. That's that's the beginning 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:04.359 of the end. If you allow if you allow black 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:08.960 women to be easy prey, the game's over or anyone. Honestly, 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:11.200 I think that's why it's really important to really stay 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:14.360 informed about what's happening with like the harassment of lgbt 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:16.800 Q plus people right now and all that, because that's 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:19.199 what they wanted. Like the more we allow people to 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:21.480 hit us at the margins or what they perceived to 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:24.760 be these weak spots, it will bring everything down and 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:26.920 if we're not able to say, you know what, no, no no, no, no, no, no, 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:28.600 no, no no, you're not doing that. We're not doing that. 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:30.639 I don't care if I'm not part of this group, 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:32.840 but I know what you're trying to do, which is 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:35.439 you're eventually coming for all of us. And you know, 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:38.680 how intersectional can we be here, you know, to take 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:40.600 up for each other. But I think it's it's this 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:43.200 kind of ship you see, and you're like, it's so 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:46.520 easy for people to have their life completely upended because 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:48.680 of hate, and and how easy it is for things 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:52.159 to get momentum if enough people don't say, ah, stop, no, 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:56.439 that's not happening. And unfortunately they were in a position 0:19:56.440 --> 0:19:58.199 where they could take advantage of the fact that not 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:04.560 there wasn't enough you know, uh resolve within our culture 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:06.800 to like just call it dead in the water for 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:09.480 what it was. It just you know, I was able 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:12.760 to proliferate pretty quickly. Yeah, and I absolutely agreed that. 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:16.080 I think that it really goes to show how imperative 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:18.960 it is that we all vocally stand up and push 0:20:19.040 --> 0:20:23.280 back against attacks on margin people who are marginalized. Yeah, transpolkes, 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:28.359 queer folks, black, women. All of our oppression is linked 0:20:28.359 --> 0:20:30.960 and so is our liberation. And so you know, it 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:33.399 is imperative for me, as somebody who is marginalized, to 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:36.320 stick up or speak up when someone else was marginalized, 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:39.000 albeit in different ways than I am, is also attacked. 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:41.119 Like it like we we have to really be I 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:45.439 think create allowed pushback to say this will not be tolerated. 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:47.919 We are going to vocally support this person when it happens, 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:50.160 and it's I think it's a strategy right now where 0:20:50.560 --> 0:20:54.240 folks are being I think so many different kinds of 0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:58.159 folks who are traditionally marginalized are currently being attacked. Anti 0:20:58.160 --> 0:21:03.960 Semitism is rampant right now. Trans legislation. I I think 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:07.520 it's a state strategic tactic to overwhelm whereas like I 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:09.800 guess we've lost I guess I guess we've you know, 0:21:10.000 --> 0:21:12.320 seated too much ground and it's just too hard to 0:21:12.520 --> 0:21:15.000 to you know, I think it's a strategic tactic that 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:17.959 we really have to be mindful of and stay vocal 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:21.399 in the face of. If well that the because the 0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:24.040 thing being is, if you can become desensitized to watching 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:29.080 a community get just dismantled or attacked like this and 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:34.520 you're like, well, that ain't me. It's you're not gonna 0:21:34.520 --> 0:21:37.480 want to be around for the that world that is 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:39.760 slowly evolving in front of your eyes. And I think 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:43.000 that's that's a really important thing to remember, is you can't. 0:21:43.920 --> 0:21:47.960 The whole point is for especially for these extremists, a 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:49.679 lot of it is for them to feel that they 0:21:49.720 --> 0:21:52.040 are in touch with their power on some level. That's 0:21:52.040 --> 0:21:55.560 why they go after people they think are soft targets 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:59.200 because they're not gonna pull up to something where there's 0:21:59.200 --> 0:22:01.520 a bunch of end you know what I mean, they're 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:06.159 like cisshet men and no, because they know because of 0:22:06.240 --> 0:22:09.080 their they're like, you know, they live in a patriarchical 0:22:09.560 --> 0:22:13.040 white supremacist nations are like, well, you know what, maybe 0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:18.600 this is an easier target um. And this is like 0:22:18.640 --> 0:22:21.439 just too this momentum that they're trying to build for 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:23.920