Thank you for watching! In the face of unrelenting disinformation and authoritarian actions, clear truth-telling and independent media are a necessity. If you value pro-democracy journalism, consider becoming a paid subscriber to my newsletter. Paid subscribers empower this work and gain access to exclusive benefits. Your support makes a difference.
The Trump administration is already splintering, and the new Congress hasn’t even been sworn in. I opened this week’s conversation with Don Lemon with a report from The Independent that Marco Rubio is expected to resign and potentially launch a 2028 bid.
Don noted that the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division just resigned, and he’s been told more departures are coming. Inside MAGA, the finger-pointing has started, and most of it is aimed at Trump himself. Don thinks Susie Wiles and Pete Hegseth should be next out the door. Nobody in that building told Trump the Iran War was a bad idea.
I had said we’re finally going to see real accountability, and Don wasn’t so sure. Some Democrats are already saying they won’t spend their time on impeachments and subpoenas. Don warned that if they don’t follow through on accountability, they’ll lose in 2028. I agree. I heard Hakeem Jeffries frame this as a choice between working on the issues and getting even. That’s a false choice. The margins were decisive. Voters delivered an unmistakable referendum on Trump’s corruption, his authoritarianism, and the costs he’s driven up. Democrats just got a mandate to cripple this administration.
Doing both means pushing back on tariffs and war powers while launching probes into Hegseth, RFK Jr., Todd Blanche, and other corrupt Cabinet members right out of the gate. I pointed out how much power the majority holds without Trump’s rubber stamp, starting with an end to judicial confirmations. This election also showed that when something isn’t about Trump personally, he doesn’t care. He shrugged off the losses as the Republicans’ problem and went back to his ballroom. That makes his Cabinet the softer target. Don reminded us of the limits. Trump keeps his majority for about two more months and has two more years after that, and removal takes two-thirds of the Senate. He thinks Hegseth could be the exception, because Republicans know this war is what cost them.
For Don, this is personal. I asked him how it felt to watch voters rank corruption, and the weaponization wrapped inside it, among their top issues after this administration targeted him. He said the American people understood the assignment. He also warned that Trump can still do real damage, including stacking new charges on people he’s already pursuing.
If Democrats don’t move immediately, Don said he’s going to blast them, because their hesitation puts his freedom, his livelihood, and his life in jeopardy, along with others’. He also put them on notice. Independent media, and Black media especially, may start saying no when Democratic lawmakers come asking for airtime.
The realignment is real, and Black voters drove it in the South. As Don put it, the party owes them gift baskets. I shared that I’m now Chief Media & Technology Officer at Common Power. We met with Scott Colom’s team on ballot curing in Mississippi, which could become an eighth Senate flip, with Alaska possibly a ninth.
Lindsey Graham once warned that Trump would destroy the party, and that Republicans would deserve it. It took ten years, but Trump finally did it, with some help from the voters.
We’ve done our part. Now it’s on all of us to make sure Democrats do theirs.
Support independent media and analysis that fearlessly tells the truth. If you have not yet become a paid subscriber to Ahmed Baba News, you can do that below. It truly means a lot.
