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Trump is ‘re-envisioning America’ in a way that resembles North Korea: analysis
Many critics of President Donald Trump have been attacking his immigration policies — from mass deportations to foreign students being detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities because of their political statements — as a blatant assault on due process and the rule of law.
One of those critics is attorney Dean Obeidallah, host of "The Dean Obeidallah Show" on SiriusXM and an opinion columnist for MSNBC's website. During a Saturday, May 24 appearance on MSNBC, Obeidallah warned that Trump's draconian immigration policies are not only a threat to immigrants — they also have disturbing implications for lifelong U.S. citizens.
The New Jersey native told MSNBC's Ali Velshi, "This is not about immigration. Regardless of (what) you feel on that issue, Democrat or Republican, it's something bigger than that…. And that word is freedom…. Donald Trump is going after everything, freedom of speech, in ways we've never seen. I mean, a judge just ruled on Friday protecting the law firms, saying you're going after dissent, going after universities. I had professor Stephen Levinsky on my show, co-author of 'How Democracies Die,' saying: Every autocrat goes after universities because they are independent centers of dissent."
READ MORE: Nicolle Wallace reveals what may finally convince Trump to 'back away from the people'
Obeidallah continued, "He's going after media outlets. He's going after Democrats. They're arresting judges, the mayor of Newark —they dropped the charges, they had no case…. They opened up an investigation into Act Blue because it's a platform to help Democrats raise money. There's now an investigation of Media Matters."
The SiriusXM host described the Trump Administration's policies as a "re-envisioning of what America is about."
Obeidallah told Velshi, "This really is a push and pull between two competing visions of America. One: that we believe in is freedom, the United States of America, with due process — and their vision, which is an autocracy. And that really is what we're dealing with — or easier than that, a dictatorship. They want Trump as the dictator of the United States, and we all have to bow down to him."
Velshi noted that when "due process is taken away…. that's where your freedoms disappear" — to which Obeidallah responded, "Absolutely. It's the only thing that keeps us (from)…. being North Korea."
READ MORE: 'America First': Far-right MAGA Catholics declaring war against 'globalist' Pope Leo
GOP congressman pinpoints ‘staggering statistic’ that led him to tackle Medicaid
A Republican lawmaker on Saturday gave a "staggering statistic" about Medicaid from his home state.
Appearing on CNN over the weekend, Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) was asked about the Medicaid cuts in Donald Trump's big budget bill.
Specifically, the host asked if Murphy was worried those cuts would disproportionately hit his own constituents harder, since North Carolina has more than the average number of residents on Medicaid.
EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade
Murphy acknowledged that was the case, but seemed to imply that is more of a reason to slow the growth of the program.He noted that "52% of the births in the state of North Carolina are born to women on Medicaid."
"That's a staggering statistic," he added. "If you think and you follow that down the road, there has to be something done fundamentally to stop this from occurring and growing at such a rate."
Ex-Trump insider drops ‘behind the scenes’ news that’s ‘bigger than a lawsuit’
A former Donald Trump insider on Saturday flagged what he says is "bigger than a lawsuit" news about the president.
Author and former Trump associate Lev Parnas, who earlier in the day accused Trump of causing a "massacre" that took the lives of many people, published a post called, "Shhh… Behind Closed Doors, Trump Is Dismantling Free Speech."
"You’re not going to hear this on CNN. You’re not going to read this on the front page of The New York Times. And you definitely won’t find it on 60 Minutes. But let me break it down for you, because what’s happening right now is bigger than a lawsuit — this is an all-out war on the First Amendment," he wrote.
EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade
The ex-insider then flagged the news:
"Trump is suing Paramount for $20 billion, accusing 60 Minutes of deceptively editing an interview with Kamala Harris to damage his 2024 campaign. That’s right — the guy who bragged about grabbing women and incited an insurrection is now claiming he’s the victim of a 'hit piece.' And here’s where it gets even more dangerous: Paramount is reportedly considering settling," Parnas wrote. "But the Freedom of the Press Foundation just blew the lid off what could be a backdoor deal with massive consequences. They sent a scathing legal letter to Paramount chief Shari Redstone demanding document preservation and warning that any payout to Trump might constitute a 'bribe' — a quid pro quo to secure Trump’s blessing for a pending Hollywood merger."
He then added, "You read that right: A potential billion-dollar media merger could hinge on Trump’s personal approval."
Parnas also reports, "Behind the scenes, he is quietly but aggressively working to dismantle the free press. Any outlet, any journalist, any creator who speaks up or dares to challenge him becomes a target."
New video shows Trump may have violated federal law at crypto event: attorney
A criminal law attorney warned late Friday that a new video appears to show President Donald Trump ran afoul of federal laws when he took the stage at a private dinner event for investors of his meme coin.
Trump hosted more than 200 top investors in his personal $TRUMP meme coin on Thursday night at an exclusive, high-profile dinner at his private golf club in Sterling, Virginia. The event rewarded the largest investors in his cryptocurrency venture, something that even ardent MAGA fans have raised concerns over.
A video surfaced late Friday, purportedly showing the president addressing attendees.
EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade
"The country is doing really well. We have no inflation. Costs are way down. Oil was just at $1.99, $1.98 a gallon, which we haven’t seen in years," he told guests in the video.
Tracey Beryl Gallagher, a public defender in California and former judge pro team, took to X to flag a small — yet important — detail in the video
"He is talking behind a podium bearing the Presidential Seal," she noted. "The Presidential Seal is governed by strict regulations under federal law, primarily 18 U.S.C. § 713 and Executive Order 11649."
Those rules, she said, limit its use to "official government purposes to preserve its symbolic integrity."
"Using the seal at a personal, for-profit event like a money-making speaking engagement or private fundraiser would likely violate these regulations, as it could imply official government endorsement of a private activity," she wrote. "The law prohibits using the seal in a manner that suggests government approval or affiliation for non-official events."
Gallagher pointed to cases including United States v. Sindel from 1995, where misuse of government insignia led to penalties. While some exceptions are allowed for certain ceremonial or educational uses, such as replicas at presidential libraries, "personal financial gain doesn’t qualify," she noted.
Jon Stewart fears Trump will ‘burn our country down for insurance money’
Comedian Jon Stewart had a grim outlook for what the endgame of President Donald Trump's second administration could be, in an interview on the Bill Simmons Podcast flagged by The Daily Beast on Friday evening.
The part that alarms Stewart most, in particular, is all the money that media outlets and tech companies are showering on the Trump family in the effort to curry favor.
"What you’re seeing now is, ‘All must pay tribute to the king.’ And the price of peace is different,” said Stewart. “ABC had to pay $15 million, Bezos had to pay $40 million for a documentary on Melania. Zuckerberg had to pay. They just put money into the pot."
He called it "protection money.”
“Ultimately at the end of this, does Trump burn our f------ country down for insurance money?" Stewart added. "Like, where are we headed?”
EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade
Media companies and tech are far from alone in coughing up money. Trump also struck a series of agreements with law firms to contribute millions of dollars in pro bono work and change their hiring and representation policies, to avoid getting slapped with executive orders locking them out of government contracts and even access to federal buildings. Judges have recently ruled several of those orders unconstitutional.
Stewart went on to discuss the internal turmoil at CBS News over whether to settle Trump's suit with them, widely considered frivolous by legal experts, and the parade of executives and editors who have left the network in protest of the intent to do so.
“The reason they all left is part of the deal is they have to apologize,” said Stewart. “And in that moment, these people who have built careers on their excellence and their integrity had to look and go like, ‘Alright, well I hope I’ve done well enough that I can weather this, but there’s no f------ way that I’m going to apologize for doing my job the way it’s supposed to be done, just because this one guy is offended by it.’”
‘He is not in charge’: Trump mocked for asking what’s in his executive orders
President Donald Trump has signed more than 150 executive orders, often with cameras rolling and staff looking on. The ritual rarely varies: seated at the desk in the Oval Office, the President listens as someone—typically the White House Staff Secretary—reads a brief summary of the order. On occasion, Trump interjects with a question, prompting speculation that he may not be fully familiar with the contents. He is seldom seen fully reading the orders themselves, which can span anywhere from a few pages to nearly 70.
On Friday, President Trump signed several executive orders, but according to The Daily Beast, one particularly revealing moment suggested he may not have known what he was signing—describing it as “a telling moment” that implied the president hadn’t read the order.
EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade
“Are we doing something about the regulatory in here?” Trump asked a business person attending the event.
“Several business leaders standing around him were quick to chime in that his order did address the regulations while Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also responded, ‘You are, sir,'” The Daily Beast also reported.
At the end, Trump asked, “Is that it?” and one of the attendees replied, “That’s all we have for you now, sir.”
Then, rather than asking if there were any questions for him about the executive orders, Trump asked if anyone had any questions for the guests in the room, whom he called “brilliant.”
Critics blasted the President.
Fred Wellman is a graduate of West Point and the Harvard Kennedy School, an Army veteran of 22 years who served four combat tours, and a political consultant.
“He is not in charge,” Wellman alleged.
MSNBC columnist Michael A. Cohen snarked, “It’s almost as if Trump has cognitive deficiencies, which from what I hear on CNN is a major scandal.”
“’Is that it?’ while signing orders he doesn’t understand, parroting talking points he didn’t write, and pretending it’s leadership,” wrote investment banker Evaristus Odinikaeze. “Peak performative confusion.”
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