Trump's Crackdown on Dissent

The price of eggs is still high, the stock market is sinking, but
Donald Trump is fulfilling at least one campaign promise: using
the power of the government to punish those who disagree with
him. ICE arrests one of the leaders of the campus protests at
Columbia—a legal permanent resident—and sends him to a detention
facility, while the administration strips $400 million in grants
and contracts for the university itself. And, with a pair of
executive orders, Trump seeks to withhold student loan relief
from people who help undocumented immigrants, provide
gender-affirming care for minors, or run DEI programs—and he bans
a prominent Democratic-affiliated law firm from even entering
federal buildings. Meanwhile, Trump refuses to say whether we
should expect a recession, more juicy reporting emerges of the
Cabinet and Elon Musk meeting last week, and Democrats squabble
over how to respond to it all. Jon, Lovett, and Tommy discuss
Trump's crackdown on dissent, whether he can be swayed by
political pressure, and how Democrats should aim for authenticity
rather than the latest meme when making their case. Then, Lovett
catches up with Bernie Sanders on the Michigan leg of his "Fight
Oligarchy" tour.


Correction: an earlier version of this episode misattributed the
origin of the 2024 explosives attack on Hezbollah. It was an
Israeli operation; we were talking quickly and said the wrong
name. We're sorry!


For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here.
For a transcript of this episode, please email
transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.