Watch The ReidOut With Joy Reid Highlights: July 17

and we begin tonight with a terrifying concept that is currently our reality right now the Republican party's presidential front-runner are twice impeached twice indicted liable for sexual abuse former president is openly running a campaign on autocracy new reporting from The New York Times today breaks down all the ways Donald Trump and his allies are planning to expand Presidential Power if he's elected in 2024 and that goes beyond just using the justice department to go after his political enemies as he has already promised to do the times rights that Trump and his associates have a broader goal to alter the balance of power by increasing the president's authority over every part of the federal government that now operates by either law or tradition with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House that includes bringing independent agencies like the Federal Communications Commission which regulates the media and the Federal Trade Commission under direct presidential control Reviving The Practice of impounding funds refusing to spend money Congress has appropriated for programs a president doesn't like and stripping employment protections from tens of thousands of career civil servants making it easier to replace them if they are deemed obstacles to his agenda now all this is not a secret it's happening not behind closed doors they've been openly broadcasting this planet rallies and on Trump's campaign website but now some of these some of those directly involved in this multi-million dollar operation have been saying the quiet part out loud Russell Vaught who ran the Office of Management and budget in the Trump White House told the times quote what we're trying to do is identify the pockets of Independence and seize them while John mcentee a former White House Personnel Chief said our current executive branch was conceived by liberals for the purpose of promulgating liberal policies there is no way to make the existing structure function in a conservative manner it's not enough to get the Personnel right what's necessary is a complete system overhaul and it's not just Trump's Campaign shop there's a network of conservative groups who are backing this effort like the Heritage Foundation the organization that's been shaping Republican policies since the Reagan Administration not to mention the Supreme Court and if you're asking yourself why they're doing this I have three words for you power money and deregulation the times rights the agenda being pursued has deep roots in the decades-long effort by conservative legal thinkers to undercut what has become known as the administrative state agencies that enact regulations aimed at keeping the air and water clean and food drugs and consumer products safe but that cut into business profits and their plan to dramatically increase Presidential Power is all under the legal guise of the unitary executive Theory which should sound familiar is this idea that because the executive branch is headed by a single person that person the president is the ultimate policy maker supporters of this Theory believe Article 2 of The Constitution makes it so that the president is essentially immune to checks and balances from Congress and can as Donald Trump has said do anything he wants within the executive branch and no one can stop him this is not a novel concept Reagan administration lawyers developed the theory to advance their deregulatory agenda and George W Bush's Administration floated it after 9 11. what Donald Trump is vowing to do is to take that to the next level with the help of conservative billionaires he's essentially running for office on the idea of turning the presidency into a dictatorship well none of this is surprising it is incredibly alarming especially considering that Trump Remains the Republican party's front-runner which very well means that the 2024 presidential election May determine whether or not the United States of America remains a democracy join me now is Michael best floss MSNBC presidential historian and Joshua Stanton president of the defense of dignity Center and council at Perry Law thank you both for being here and I will start with you Michael bechlas um you've covered the presidency for a very long time this concept that they've created of essentially unitary uh president who cannot be stopped by Congress or anyone in the executive branch what do you make of it it's ridiculous there is no such thing this is an invention if we brought James Madison back who did much to invent the system that we're talking about his whole thing was balance of power you know checks and balances between three branches co-equal a president a supreme court a Congress and so what we've got now is and he's telling us 16 months before the next presidential election Donald Trump is the first person the only person in all of American History who has said if you elect me my intention is to establish just as you're saying Joy a presidential dictatorship telling you the American people your family everyone you know your friends others every private aspect of your life if you're running a business there's not going to be an independent Federal Trade Commission Donald Trump will tell your business what to do if you're part of a media organization as we are there will not be for instance a an independent Federal Communications Commission Donald Trump if he hears something on MSNBC or another Network or doesn't like something he reads in the New York Times which is probably pretty likely he can do a lot to have you know what we do what all of us do uh still and perhaps even those organizations abolished we've never seen anything like this in American history all I'm saying to our friends who are watching us tonight take this very seriously don't think this is a joke right and Mr stanson I struggled to find the liberals who created the executive branch I struggled to find them in the people such as Mr Madison and Jefferson Etc they weren't liberals but the second part of what Mr vote said I think is the point you can't create conservative outcomes unless the president and it's a president we like has complete control so just from a legal standpoint talk a little bit about um this idea I want to read let me let me first before you do that let me read a little thing from The Economist as Republicans believe that they will be able to enact their program only if they first defang the so-called deep state by making tens of thousands of top civil servants sackable these changes were given over and over Mighty president Direct Control of the Department of Justice by being able to sack all the support the purported dissenters the administration would obliterate the norm of League of legal Independence if so trumpian resentment would be channeled into concrete Vengeance the prospect should concern all Americans it's essentially Victor orbitalism or putinism in America that's right this is a an extreme and dangerous theory that even fairly right-wing legal thinkers generally have not subscribed to and just have some understanding of how Fringe this is when Justice Alito was up for confirmation for his Supreme Court seat and more recently when Amy Cody Barrett was up for a confirmation on her Supreme Court seat both of them uh responded in relation to uh the probably the most significant Supreme Court case governing the powers of the presidency which is Youngstown sheet uh tube and sheet and Tube which governs uh specifically what the president can and cannot do and what Congress can regulate and legislate and prevent the president from doing in each of them Alito Ian Coney Barrett suggested that they thought that that was the right law so what we're talking about when we think about a fringe Theory this is a theory that's to the right of further right of what Alito and Coney Barrett have already said so yes this is a dangerous Theory you know and you know Michael it strikes me that it is also a it's an admission of defeat in terms of the culture in terms of them admitting that the outcomes they want and that his fans want the reason they love Trump is that he's promising to bypass democracy to implement the things they want that a vast majority of Americans don't want it's Nixon but much much much much much worse much much much much worse exactly joy and here's a situation where they're gaming the existing system they're not talking about doing things that are illegal interestingly enough and there's a parallel for that in Germany in 1933 Hitler and I'm not comparing Donald Trump to Hitler but in terms of a system Hitler basically used the existing system in Germany in 1933 so that the will of an angry minority right was translated into power and dictatorship exactly the same thing happening here if we had asked all Americans in a fair pool do you love democracy I would say probably you know 70 would say I do you know do you think that there should be abortion rights do you think that the Press should not be intimidated do you think businesses should not be dictated to I would say probably 65 70 percent of Americans would say no I'm terrified by those things but what the Trump people are doing is they're taking advantage of a defect of flaw a weakness in our system that goes all the way back to 1787 which says that if you game it if you manipulate it if you appoint certain people in Supreme Court which is owned one-third by Donald Trump appointed and people who like him Congress may be dominated by Republicans 16 months from now if all that happens the will of an angry 30 percent minority or maybe a little bit more than that can be made to rule all of us and Donald Trump will be made into our dictator right and there'll be nothing to ever remove or stop him you know Megaland is struggling to connect with younger more diverse Americans when they think it's a good idea to put this out into the world boom reporters [Music] Jesus Take the Wheel do it I'm so sorry I'm sorry I'm flicked that on y'all joining me now with all my apologies this is Matthew Bodie professor at the University of North Georgia who was written extensively about Charlie Kirk at Turning Point USA Amara gay member of the New York Times editorial board and MSNBC political analyst and the unfortunate soul who has to respond to that first you're the millennial so what's what you think is that making you want to be a Republican uh well I just I they seem a little confused it's almost it's like traveling back in time to 1990 but like in their imagination I don't know like what what they think is going to happen here it's remarkable um obviously it's also we have to say that it's offensive because of course the message is simply young people are too stupid to know the difference uh all you need to do to appeal to um younger people who happen to be a population in a generation that is more racially diverse is simply put some uh faces of color in an ad and maybe rap as though that's what rap or art or music or young well is it is about I mean the whole thing it's kind of hard to know where to start it's not gonna work so you know and then of course the question here is did they talk to any young people clearly no clearly no I mean this was like up in in some kind of a political consultant shop that should be fired but um if it's a lot to take in it's a lot to take in you are both in Georgia uh and you understand turning points USA what is the point what do do they genuinely because they have this Urban engagement kit and tomorrow's point they seem to be trying to sort of do like fake Blackness but they also hate black people and Charlie Kirk says so like every day so your thoughts I think it's two things one um Mars writes the power of nostalgia so it's taking back to the 90s but also how things were when Millennials parents uh were in college or even before that that's what Charlie Kirk talks about is returning America to a simpler time but I do think also it treats non-white cultural whatever uh culture you want to think about as exotic as some sort of thing you want to be a part of but you don't want to learn about right I mean you have these Mega celebrities who are black showing up to Turning Point conferences and doing selfie stands with all the older white voters who show up so it's an exotic thing I want to be a part of it I want to be excited but I really don't want anything to do with it or understand it yeah I mean look I I listen I I lived through the 90s I'm Generation X and I can tell you that was not what the 90s were like at all hip-hop was actually high quality and it wasn't like that but let me let's talk about this because what they're trying to do is appeal to young people but they keep doing policies Mara that young people hate um if you look at what how people feel about things like abortion age 18 to 29 83 percent want abortion to be legal you can go through anything climate all these other issues but then you actually look at who young people are the median age of white Americans is 43. the median age of Latinos African-Americans um Asian Americans is under 35 or in their 20s African-Americans are one of the youngest groups in the country only 19 percent of white Americans are under 18 but and 20 of Asians 25 of blacks are under 18. 27 of indigenous of Native American um do you keep going native Hawaiian 28 but it's multi-racial who are the biggest group of under 18s so isn't their problem they despise the people who they think they're trying to attract well I think their problem is that their main uh vehicle at this point their main plan to win elections um is to is really based on a very extreme group of Voters appeasing those extreme Maga voters and then um suppressing the vote elsewhere and so until um until they're ready to let go of that and and actually legislate again and take part in Democratic Society um by being focused on winning elections instead of uh suppressing voters uh that's not really going to change so it's hard to look at this any other way than you know Republicans know they're not going to win young voters overall the best they can do is you know shave a little bit off the edges maybe uh throw something against the wall see if that sticks this is a Hail Mary and then also um hope that many voters don't turn out don't show up you know that's I think what this is about but there is an underlying um lack of understanding I believe about what many Americans not just Young Americans but the majority of Americans who do support abortion rights who are worried about climate change and down the list the world that we live in is not the world that today's Republican party yeah and Mr Matthew Bodie who is funding this who funds them well Turning Point as you know is a 501c3 so they kind of reveal their donors every now and then I mean we would get a general idea they do call themselves a grass roots organization so there are small donors uh but the people that are funding the conference this weekend are are Mega donors uh people who want to see Trump on stage and there's people who show up to those conferences are paying you know several hundred dollars to do that so it's a Grassroots but there's also uh you know Mega donors it's any uh conservative group has but I think that the the rhetoric they point out tries to show that they think they have a movement going with young voters and they don't they're not they haven't changed young voters voting uh patterns in in the years that turning Point's been around so really they're attacking higher education attacking college degrees attacking things that young voters are into to get more money from those donors thank you [Music]

Channel: MSNBC

Views: 65,878

Keywords: msnbc, MSNBC, Specials

Id: a9BEJ_MGmT0

Length: 17min 34sec (1054 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 18 2023