2444 - Trumps Authoritarian Gambit w/ Heather Digby Parton

Happy Friday! Sam and Emma speak with Heather Digby Parton, contributing writer at Salon.com and proprietor of the blog Hullabaloo, to round up the week in news. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on Trump’s cuts to the Social Security Administration, Musk’s attacks on NOAA, the devastating effect of Trump’s gutting of USAID, FEMA’s struggles, Bird Flu, the Pentagon’s trans ban, Trump’s tariffs, and MAGA confusion about Trump releasing an edited Epstein file, before expanding on the GOP’s ongoing attacks on Medicaid and Social Security, highlighted by the obvious attempt to revamp the demonization of people who receive government benefits. Digby then joins, jumping right into the genuinely astonishing divide between federal and state-level Democrats’ ability to function as an opposition party, with Democrats in New York, California, and the Midwest embarrassing national leadership when it comes to preparing (or caring) to fight the Trump administration. Parton, Sam, and Emma also reflect on the coalescing of Big Tech and the Heritage Foundation, dissect some of Elon Musk’s deeper desires for collecting Americans’ data, and assess the chokehold the Musk-Trump regime has on the rest of the Republican Party – from the threat of a primary to the active disregard of their voters’ wishes. After touching once more on the impotence of national Democratic leadership (Hakeem Jeffries) in contrast with state-level leaders (Governor Walz), Digby and MR wrap up by diving deep into Trump’s insane authoritarian confrontation with Ukraine President Zelenskyy during a live press conference today. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma watch Kaitlan Collins stump Mike Johnson with confusing questions about “budgets” and “resolutions,” and cringe as Piers Morgan goes out of his way to rain shimmering showers of praise on Elon Musk (while just happening to defend his own wealth along the way), plus, your IMs! Follow Digby on Twitter here: https://x.com/digby56 Check out Digby's work at Salon here: https://www.salon.com/writer/heather_digby_parton Check out Hullabaloo here: https://digbysblog.net/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Follow us on TikTok here!: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here!: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here!: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport Check out our alt YouTube channel here!: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase! Check out today’s sponsors: Liquid IV: Embrace your ritual with extraordinary hydration from Liquid I.V. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid I.V. when you go to https://LiquidIV.com and use code MAJORITYREP at checkout. That’s 20% off your first order when you shop better hydration today using promo code MAJORITYREP at https://LiquidIV.com. Sunset Lake CBD: Sunsetlakecbd is a majority employee owned farm in Vermont, producing 100% pesticide free CBD products. Use code Leftisbest and get 20% off at http://www.sunsetlakecbd.com. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech @BradKAlsop Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon’s show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/