The Breakfast ClubINTERVIEW: Ashley Allison Talks 'Watering Hole Media,' Trump's Presidency Concerns, Federal Aid Freeze +More
The Breakfast Club Sits Down With Ashley Allison To Discuss 'Watering Hole Media,' Trump's Presidency Concerns, Federal Aid Freeze. Listen For More!
Wake that ass up in the morning. Breakfast Club.
Morning, everybody in stej Envy, Jess, Hilarious, Charlamagne, the gud We are the Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in the Bounty. Yes, indeed we have Ashley Allison.
Welcome. Yes, how are you feeling this morning?
Well that's a hard question. Eight days, nine days into Donald Trump's America.
But don't let us scratch you out. You can't think about it every day. You gotta remember your serenity prayer.
Okay, no, you know, Yeah, I'm good, but it's a lot on.
My mind right now.
What is your job to And I feel like I know you because I watch the ann all all the time, and it's your job, and you always have to talk about these things. But I feel like they always put you in the position against the white conservative male and cause conflict on purpose just to scratch you up.
No, telling the truth it doesn't stress me out.
And I feel like that's all I do on CNN is I'm gonna be a truth teller. I'm going to hold you accountable and and I'm gonna.
Call you out. And I literally like, people like, I don't know how you do it. I don't either.
But it's like my grandmother's spirit comes in me and I'm calm, cool, collected now sometimes like every once in a while, but most of the time, I'm just like, no, I'm not gonna I'm from you, soun Ohio.
So we just call a thing a thing.
Yeah, because it feels like they like the conflict makes good television.
Yeah, I mean, well, I think the important thing that they try and do is obviously a lot of people think what the conservatives think because they just voted for Donald Trump, right, and they're trying to get that viewpoint out. But I'm also like a lot of people still voted for Kamala Harris too, and so I'm gonna try and get that viewpoint out right.
A lot of people didn't vote at all, so we got to get that argument out too, like what happened there? Why did people stay home?
And I think there's still a lot of questions to be answered about what happened.
Is we can we go back a little bit and find out who Ashley Allison is and how you jumped into politics. So let's start off from what got you into politics.
I led my first protest when I.
Was in the second grade, second grade.
Wow, So I'm lactose intolerant. Me too, and most of us are.
We it should most people in the world are lactose intolerance, so we should change that name.
But and the nuns at my school used to make.
Us drink the milk a Catholic school.
Yes, I'm not Catholic, but went to Catholic school.
Most of us did, yes.
And I used to get sick every day after lunch. Wow, every day. And they used to say it's because I didn't like math. Now I don't like math and I'm not good at math, but I didn't make myself sick.
And so the first was like, let me drink juice at lunch and not. And so it was just like when something is doesn't make sense, do something about it, change it, fix it. And then my parents raised me like knocking on doors when I was a little kid, canvas and for candadis for city council. And then I just someone like when I see something that is not right, it just agitates my spirit.
That's why you like, don't let it stress you out. It's like part of who I am.
I cannot see something that is wrong and not say something. And I feel like Obama came through and I was like, Oh, how do you How do you work on a campaign?
How do you?
I was teaching at Boys and Girl High School actually at the time when Obama ran for president, and my students were engaged by him in a way I had never seen, and I was like, I want to work on his campaign.
And it was kind of like all she.
Wrote, do you think we'll ever see that again? Do you ever think we'll see you?
Because he's a once in a lifetime, a lifetime generation leader, and so is Donald Trump.
Yes, that's a fact. I've only seen three of my lifetime like that, Clinton, Obama and Trump.
Yeah. I don't know.
I don't I honestly, I don't know if we need a once in a lifetime generational leader.
I just think we need good leaders.
I think that the celebrity of it all is part of the problem. Is like people, I want somebody who cares about the quality of everybody's life and wants everybody's life to be better. I don't need you to be a reality show star. I don't need you to be super famous. I don't even need to really want to dinner with you. Honestly, I just need you to know what you're doing and want to help people and get this country in a better place.
So probably not.
Yeah, now he said something stressed you out? So what stresses you out the most? Because he said what he was going to do?
It's not like it's a surprise. He said, what exactly what he's going to do?
Right now? Right?
Did my eyes get real big? You know that's my tail? Normally what stresses me out? I think that we.
You know, I was one of those people, Charlot Mane who called Trumpet fascists, and I still think that, and I think that it is not Democracy doesn't die.
By one fatal blow.
It dies by a thousand little cuts. And I think the first day when he partoned January sixth folks, that was fifteen hundred little cuts to democracy. I think when Friday night when he fires inspector generals, that's another eighteen cuts to democracy.
And for folks who don't know what.
An inspector general is, it's literally the people who are supposed to do the auditing of federal agencies to make sure there isn't waste and fraud.
Like they think they need doze for it.
And I think that no is talking about an inspector of general sexy and exciting. No, but is it the thing that is a backstop?
Yes?
And I worry people are not paying attention and people are just kind of not complacent but are so frustrated with everything that they're throwing their hands up and saying like I don't have anything to do. I can't engage. And apathy is how dictators thrive. Despair is how And I worry that people are becoming apathetic and finding this despair and feeling hopeless, and that that stresses me out because like, if we have the numbers, I think he did say what he was going to do. Some people are now surprised that he kept his word. We tried to tell him.
But it's the despair that makes me most nervous.
I'm sorry, I was.
I know you said it.
Stress is a big part of your job, and you don't mind, you don't care. You're gonna keep telling the truth, you know, because that's your job to do that. But at what point is the stress to the point, Like have you ever had a tipping point? Like all right, I'm not about to be doing this no more like throwing a child type.
Yeah, So okay, I'm a big yogi. I've been doing yoga for twenty five years, so I'm always breathing. I'm always staying grounded, connected like feet on the ground, making sure you're not gonna catch me off my balance. The thing about why this moment I'm okay with it is because eight years ago, the first time you got elected, it almost took me out, Like I was leaving the White House, the relationship I was in and did I felt like my whole identity I closed the White House down right.
I had no job.
My money was real funny, so you know, we don't make a lot of money in the government, and I was like, what do I doing? For six months, I was just kind of like I was in a depression. I was in a almost hit rock bottom. And every day since then, I was in therapy. You know, I did a lot of the self work. I got my practices back together, and every day since then, I've been building for this moment.
So it's not gonna.
I'm not going to get to the point where I like, I can't do this anymore, because I'm never gonna let somebody else take that much power away from me.
You know, did you ex vote for Trump?
I don't know my mom's listening, so I can't say what I was about to do.
You said something that's very interesting about democracy, right, and I agree with everything you said. But I was watching John Stewart last night and he presented a good point. He said that, you know, the thing that we need to remember about Trump is this is democracy because he was voted in and he has he has control of all branches of government. Now, so the things he's doing, we may not like it, but under the constitution, he has the right to do it.
Well, not all things.
The Constitution still exists for a reason, right, So you can sign an executive order, but democracy, we still have three branches of our government. Right, So you can sign an executive order, and the courts are actually supposed to be a checks and balances, right, So if it goes all the way up to the Supreme Court and the court says no, Donald Trump can't then just override it. Right. Well, that's the problem, right, That's the problem with is that we were supposed to have all these checks and balances. I think the thing that's on the front of my mind is this Fourteenth Amendment around birthright citizenship, and I'm like y'all better wake up, because this is not about birthright citizenship.
This is about being able to discriminate against all of us because of equal protection.
Okay, So I think almost every legal scholar except for like the five that Donald Trump is going to find to bring this case, have said that birthright citizenship is in the constitution and it's not a thing. But he's still on day one signed an executive order. He even said in his interview Behind the Resolute Death that I don't know if this is going to work, but we're gonna try it out. So it's trying to like press the levers of democracy to see. But the fourteenth Amendment also is the amendment that prevents from you to be able to be discriminated. It gives all rights to Americans in this country, so black, brown women, straight, gay, and it's bigger than just birthright citizenship. And so because immigration is such a big topic right now, they are introducing the fight through that lens as a foil, almost as a distraction, so that you focus on that and not on really what they're doing. And if you take one piece of the Constitution away, then it start again a thousand little cuts. It's a cut and so they're trying to knock it down. So that's why I'm like, don't get distracted, y'all. Don't be in pay attention. You know, like eight years ago was when stay woke. We made it like the thing that people said again and then they turned it on as it's like no, like wake up. You know, it's like Spike Lee when it's like what you know, it's like this is happening in front of our face. And now it's not the time to sit on a couch and be like not my.
Fao, school me on this tool. Because they say they're saying that his plan in birthright citizenship is like dred Scott too, right? Do you think so? Well?
I think I don't know.
I haven't heard them people articulate that argument, so I will want to hear a little bit more.
Again, I don't like.
To just say something because just sounds like the smartest person in the room.
But there's an article in the New York Times.
Okay, I think that the question is is that a lot of people birthright citizenship. They said it was brought through to give black people, black and save people the right of citizenship, but it doesn't it's not just about black people.
It's about all people. Again. I think that.
Again every legal sult scholar, Republican conservative, even Scalia, most of his clerks, most of the people who are scaleites are like who in Scalia is one of the most conservative, Uh, Supreme Court justices we've ever had say that.
It shouldn't be able to pass a legal mustard.
I don't even know if the Supreme Court will hear the case, but we will find out. But again that's the distraction over there, because today he just stopped federal funding on programs like SNAP.
So I was gonna ask, so, what is your thoughts on the party right.
And all that?
So the way I mean, yeah, last night he rolled out starting today at five pm that federal funding and grants needs to be halted. Now that means money is to go to cancer nonprofits, all nonprofits, veteran services. And so again it happens in the middle of the night. You know, stop now today why she's gonna do some wild stuff. Don't focus on the distraction, Focus on the trick they're trying to play on you. So we're right now people are looking at it, looking at lawsuits, looking at litigation that they can file to halt this. You know, I woke up this morning to a text from my cousin was like, who literally just had a baby yesterday, and she was like.
Section eight.
My snap benefits that she's she runs a real estate thing and she's like, my tenants are section eight?
Are they gonna be able to pay? Am I gonna be able to? Like this is real light? You know what I mean?
Like I'm on CNN, but this is that's my first cousin that I'm talking about here, that is like, what what's happening?
And to truth be told, a lot of people who voted for.
Donald Trump are gonna now face that consequence as well, which is why when it's like there is in every crisis, there's opportunity if we actually could start having conversations with people about the economics that are happening in this country and the real working them working class people.
Sure, but that's what I was gonna ask. Do you think the pardons and things that he's doing that is making the press? He does that so you don't see the other.
Stuff that he's doing.
People are talking more about the pardons in the January sixth rise, and they're talking about all these other things. But like you said, the main things that he's doing, that he's doing that is affecting us the most, we don't see because we're more distracted with the pardons. We're more distracted with this. So do you think that's his way of doing this? Let me write this here so the press can go this way and I can fly under the radar and do this because like something I seen yesterday which was all over the place was Donald Trump is gonna get rid of taxes, right right, yes, the irs right. But people were like, really that was a talking point, But then he did all these other things under the radar that people are not talking about.
Yeah, the day, the first day he got inaugurated, you know, he was sharpying it up with all his executive orders and all these different locations, and everybody was talking about the parties. Let me be clear, the pardons were messed up, and I'm not trying to undermine them. Simultaneously, he rescind it seventy eight executive orders that Joe Biden did. Do you know what Some of those executive orders are capping the costs on prescription drugs, making the Affordable Care Act weaker, making Medicaid weaker, protecting workers safety and health.
But nobody was talking about that.
So I was like, wait a minute, Wait a minute, I got it. But I can do two things at once. So yeah, I do think that a lot of the things that he does. I mean, he is a master performer and executor of a show, and he is putting on a show right now.
But I want to see the credits.
I was reading this clause. There was a clause in one of the DEI initiatives that he said he signed the Executive Board of that only stops the federal government Supplier Diversity Program and removed their requess average for federal contracts to be addressing DEI issues. It includes a clause that federal contractors m was certify they are not running DEI programs to be eligible for government contracts. So any store that offers wick is considered a federal contract that any company that supplies products for whipsnap et cetera is a federal contractor is that true?
Again? I would want to do some research on that. But here's the thing.
This is not their first time at the rodeo, right, and so they as someone who worked at the White House, like I remember my first day and I was kind of like, what is happening?
Like what is up from down?
It is a massive institution, and that at that point Obama had been in office for five years, so people knew how it was going.
It does take a lot of time.
So when they are writing these executive orders, they're writing it so that the tentacles go in all spaces, all knooks and cranny. So when they say if you if you change a title, now tell on somebody that tells, and then if you don't then like then you can lose your job. It reminds me, honestly of what they did in Texas with the abortion laws, where it was like a woman can't have an abortion, and if you help her have an abortion, that can be against the law. If you are the uber driver. It's all to evoke fear. It's all to ask people to comply without needing to comply. That's another dangerous thing, is like if if you don't tell me I have to.
Do this because it's not the law, then I maybe shouldn't do it.
Like so to hear that, I wouldn't be surprised, because they want to get you tripped up and they just want you to be afraid.
So then you're like, I'm not.
Gonna do it.
It's too hard. I'm just gonna step away.
And what are the guardrails? Right? Because what can be done to keep these executive orders from becoming actual legislation?
Well, right now, the Republicans have the House and the Senate. But in the Senate they do not have a Philipprooster brust, so they can't. They don't have sixty votes, what you need in almost everything for something to become law. I hate to see, but like there is an election into There are elections every year actually, but there is an election to take back the House in twenty twenty six. One way to make sure that those things don't become law is to make sure that there are people who will not vote for them. But you still represented, whether you're a Republican or Democrat. You should still talk to your elected officials. Now, I think that a lot of times people just wait until the election. Is like, no, if you don't want that to become law, call your elected official now, have a conversation with it. A lot of states are going to have to make decisions now about accepting federal funding.
You know, people didn't vote for.
The infrastructure bill, But they sure are getting bridges built in their cities and towns from that infrastructure money. So call your mayor, call your state legislature, call your governor, and say, we do want these federal funds that go to our school to make our roads and improve better. I mean that is how they don't become law is to make sure that the elected officials don't vote for them.
Could Republicans get rid of shi? Yeah, they will, I mean will that they will? I mean I think they will.
They say they won't.
They will everything I wanted Democrats to do in order to properly govern, Republicans are going to do.
I yes, I am waiting for the day where I said I told you I would you know, because something will happen, and it might actually happen this year because right now, you know, the Republicans went down to Florida yesterday to have this conversation with Trump about what is his legislative package going to look like?
Right?
Is he gonna split up? Is he gonna do this one big thing? And it's it's hard to make laws right in this country. And Congress has the lowest approval rating because they don't make a lot of laws. But and there's gridlock right now in DC and it has been made for most of our lives, right. But the Republicans went down to have this conversation with Donald Trump and whether or not they're going to roll out this package that includes immigration, tax reform, the budget or they're gonna separate it. And I think you could see an opportunity where this is where he's like, get rid of it. I want it done, and if you don't, I'm gonna primary you act.
And they are.
I'm not saying where's the lt you know, it's like, I hear.
You, what's your biggest fear? What should our biggest fear be? You named nineteen thousand things that we should be fearful of, But what is the biggest fear that you're saying this is gonna be fucked up?
I don't.
I don't.
I The reason why I'm not answering that question is because I don't think we can only look at one thing. I think I think we have to have the discipline to look at multitask right. I think we cannot just be like I'm only going to activate when this happens because it might be too late. So what do we have like a top three.
Yeah, I mean I think if.
I think if they get rid of the filibuster, were already in trouble, right, that's good. That's so if that conversation really gets activated, we should be mindful of that. And for folks who don't know, the filibuster requires sixty votes to get something through the Senate the House, you only need a majority, and right now there's only fifty three Republican senators. And if there's a tie, the Vice President, which is jd Vance now would break the tie. So the filibuster is one. It's a backstop to make sure that like actually the will of the people.
Is becoming law.
I do think that if that birthright citizenship case is taken up and actually goes to the Supreme Court, and what's the third the secret in the night, we don't know, yeah, yeah, yeah, because like like let's just be armed. They wrote it all down like my biggest my biggest fear is twenty twenty five, just boom, like all nine hundred pages come in reality. But they already told us that it's like some stuff I know, we don't know.
You know, we always talk about the problems, right, what are the solutions. What can people do to you know, to try to stop this or to try to curve it? Like, what can people do because a lot of people are listening and be like, we know the problems. Yeah, we know, we got to deal with the next four years. We see it happened in the last eight nine days.
But what can we do to stop it? What's the solution?
Yeah?
I think being in community is the most important thing, right, Like sitting by yourself and spiraling and doom scrolling one of the things that the coolest thing that is happening right now, y'all y'all following him and talk tik talk. Okay, So this is why I love Black women, Like we the ninety two percent supposed to be sitting down chilling, and we done created a whole HBCU online on TikTok day. Yeah, so a black professor, she put a video out about African American studies class for her.
Thirty six students.
It is now a place where twenty plus PhDs, all black folks teaching African American studies, teaching the art of resistance, teaching economic power. That's self organizing, right, I think right now, one of the things we have Our people have been through many, many things, and one of the best things you can do right now is to educate yourself on how to sustain oppression.
Doctor Barlow, Yes, yes.
And so they're educating us on forms of resistance on so you don't just sit and say, like, well, how did you know the Civil rights movement survive? How did we get the Civil Rights Act? Like that did not happen overnight. We tell that a lot of times. Our country tells that during Black History Month. If they even tell that story, that was like a fifteen year struggle just to get that one piece of legislation. So find yourself in community and educate yourself. You know, I'm not gonna take a stance on the boycotts right now, but I do think our economic collective.
Buying power is very important. There's a lot of.
Conversation about boycotting, boycotting companies who are getting rid of de EI. I think boycotts are hard, but boycotts can be used strategically, and if we as a community really put some strategy behind it, it could be effective while we're still helping black businesses and entrepreneurs thrive. And then I think we we got to have some tough.
Conversations, y'all.
Yeah, And the hardest part about it is like getting people motivated to do it and activating people to do it, you know what I'm saying, Like is like like I'm thirty two, and a lot of people in my generation they don't care.
You know what I'm saying.
They care, but they don't care enough to like if it don't affect them directly, like right now, they're not doing nothing, you know.
They just I know, and I know a whole bunch of people.
Say, oh, Trump had money in the hood, so you know, we good, And then you sitting here telling me Snap is gone. You know, it's you know, all the stuff in the night that's happening. You don't even know half of them pregnant. That's hitting me up right, Like my cousins and homegirls in Barima. Trump gave us that check. He ain't even get to you, you know what I mean, his name anything.
Because of him, You got it, you know.
And it's just how do you properly educate, properly activate people to listen and really care about their lives.
Why would you wait till.
Something happen to you when you know you can do something like you said, stand with a community to like to help prevent it in any.
Type of way. Yeah, I mean I hear you and you activate people. It's hard.
If it was easy, like we wouldn't be here. Yeah, honestly, goodness, like if it was. And I think that people honestly deserve to have a sense of like it don't matter, right.
I love Obama, but I know a lot.
Of people whose lives haven't changed over the last twenty years under Democrat or Republican. So I get it. I think it's the responsibility. I don't actually think it's the responsibility to activate. I do think like elected officials need to activate them. But I always say, you know, start with not me saying this is what you should care about.
What do you actually care about?
Like if you can tell me any topic just about and I can find a way to bring it back to like something you should care about.
And I think a lot of times, like what Jess said, you don't realize it until it affects you.
It's like you hear birthright, citizenship right and let's.
Say I'm fully black stopping, but like you, if you don't have a family member that's from out of this country.
It doesn't affect you. You know, same thing with the.
Medicine and pills. If you don't need medicine right now, it's not affecting you that way. So you're not even thinking about those things. So it's hard to activate until something really affects you and you see it really hit close to home.
You know them, but it does affect you, right, but it's two steps removed, right, Like half of the there are workforces right now in California that are not showing up to harvest crops because they're afraid they're going to get deported.
You think that's gonna make eggs and groceries go down?
Right when they when they lose a whole crop and now they're out of their business for the season and they got to hike it up next.
That's not gonna I know, truck I know Mexican truck driver scared to drive, get pulled over?
Yeah, how are you gonna get your Amazon?
Yo?
They playing with you, playing with you, playing with me too, because you believe Dominican for real, I'm black, but I'm black though it's okay, shout to Dominicans, but I'm black.
You said someone you was answering justice, I totally agree with It's not people's job to activate it's elected officials jobs to activate the people. And that's what I feel like Democrats have failed. Yeah, and you worked for the Biden You worked for Biden administration, and Biden has but we.
Was so we activated them.
But you know, I think that, Yes, it is the responsibility of elected officials.
It is the responsibility to do that all the time. I'm not stupid.
If somebody came to me, like if you hear I win the lottery and then you want to be my friend, catch me later, right, that's sometimes how people run political campaign So we are not stupid. We know when people are being some timing. We know when people are playing in our face and coming and just get a vote. I'm not saying that's what the Vice president did. I do not actually think that's what Vice President Harris did at all. I think she has probably been one of the most consistent folks who have showed up in our community. But like you should be in communities now knocking on people's doors saying what did what did we not?
What what do you want from me?
I agree, I am your serv I am your public official.
I am your public servant. What do you want from me?
And then listen, don't do it as like a listen to what them and then go sit and think about how you can do something.
Gavin Newsom did that and I thought that was dope. But he, you know, he went and spoke to the counties that flipped red Trump, and I just thought that was smart, Like, you just go listen to people because if you literally, if Democrats had just been listening to people the last four years, none of this stuff would surprise them. The way people felt about the border wouldn't have surprised them, the way people felt about the economy wouldn't surprive them. None of this stuff would a surprise them.
I agree, I agree, and I think, like I always say, I was allowed to have hope and believe that the vice president can win, like I'm allowed to dream of something better than what we currently have, but we also have to live in reality and people. You know, I'm one of those people where I do think racism and sexism played a huge role in this selection cycle, particularly when she became the nominee. But I also think, like some people really are struggling in this country and really are just looking for.
An alternative and a lot of people.
And I used to be one of those people who never talk to Republicans like it was a part of my like hi, I'm Ashley or you a Republican because I will walk away? And once Donald Trump when I was like, I gotta change this. How do I call myself a political strategist? And I don't even know what my opponent is doing? Like if you play sports, you study tape, you watch them, you go watch them play, you scout them out.
So I'm not gonna have an interaction with you.
I'm gonna be you are so much my enemy that I can't even have a conversation. And then I started having a conversation. I was like, oh, we actually agree on some things. Let me see if I can actually talk to you about why you're voting.
And I don't think we do that.
I'm not just saying Democrats Republicans don't do it either. We are at a place in our lives where if you say something that I disagree with, we just walk away. We don't know how to have conversations. We don't know how to engage with somebody, We don't know how to talk to one another. We don't know how to you know, coexist, and that's a real problem.
I agree with that, and I actually believe Republicans did study Democrats and they realized how cowards Democrats are, and they realized that there's a lot they realized they can just run over them, and they realized they wouldn't do anything about it. And I think that's where that's Democrats have not learned how to treat Republicans the way Republicans, you know, treat them because when you look at it just on the surface, sometimes it looks like Republicans and I don't want to say good guy, bad guy, because it's just politics, but sometimes it looks like Republicans are the ones that are doing the right thing and Democrats are the ones that are, you know, fighting for the wrong things. Give me an example, Oh man, I'll give you an example. The example to me is is the border issue, right, because I remember, you know, back in January, just having conversations with who I believe became the new hypothetical swingboater, right, which was just us black people and brown people, and there was black people in Chicago, activists in Chicago telling me about the issues that were going on into the border. They they weren't anti immigrant, they were more pro resources. Like they felt like, Yo, these people are getting way more resources than us. Then you had people here in New York telling me about crime that was going on in their communities. These were white people, these were black people, spanning people telling me about MS thirteen and everybody running, you know, ramp it through their neighborhoods. And so when I would come on the air and just have those conversations on that day when Mayor Adams shut the school down to let the migrants stand for the day, and everybody was calling in mad as hell. So when I would get on the radio and have these conversations and just tell people what black and brown people were saying about the border, MSNBC ran the headline charlamage and God is spreading maga messaging. I'm like, how the hell is this maga messaging and it's coming from our community.
Yeah, I think everything has to be put in contact. I agree.
I think that there are things that happened in this selection cycle that we missed. And I'm never going to say, like on the borders, I don't really see how the Republicans are doing the right thing because they.
Also like they're just speaking with feeling. Yes, they are democratic, like, it's not a problem.
They are hitting the emotion that people are feeling, and fear and anger can be the best activator for people, and that was tapped into this election cycle in various different ways.
I do think Republicans study people.
I don't know if they study Republicans, but they studied the potential or Democrats, but they studied their voters and they were like, there is some there's an emotional reaction once you get triggered, you know how hard want you just trigger to come back down. And they seized on it and they captivated. And one of my friends, he always says, Democrats are making a documentary and Republicans are making a blockbuster movie because we're like fact facs fax facts and they're like, I can't put food on my table, and if like, if I can't put foot on my table, I don't care about your facts because it's not equating.
And we did.
We missed the mark on it.
And sometimes just being seen is enough.
It's right, we know that. Just listen to me.
That's it, sne just see me, just like, sit down, have a conversation with me.
That is so validating.
But I do want I want to be to be more than a conversation. I want you to hear, I want you to listen. Then I want you to take some action if you've been put in office to do so.
Now you work for the Harris.
Campaign, No, no, no, I worked for Biden Harris Biden Harris can yeah, yeah, not this go around there?
Do you think that Harris should run again?
I think that black woman should do whatever she want to do.
And if she never wants to give one more day of public service to this country, she has already done enough. And I think she should be given the time to think about what she wants to do, and the time to dream about what she wants to do, and then the time to actually do it.
You talked about sexism and racism. Do you think this world and this country's ready for that, because we've seen what happened here?
Well, if they were, we've already have a female president facts I mean.
And the reason I say that is because we can do after factor things like the electoral college. In two thousand and sixty, there's no electoral college. Hillary Clinton is the President of the United States America. And we also have the fact that white president Kamalahara did get the second most votes of any Democratic nominee aver seventy two million votes. That's that's a big deal, you know, and going up against a superstar like Donald Trump, that's a big deal. I think that America is more than ready. I really do.
Well you are, I mean I said what I said. If they was ready, we would we would have maybe even had a Republican female president. We just haven't.
I think that there are still so many biases, conscious and unconscious biases that we don't even know exists in this country. And until we have some real tough conversations, I think we're going to be stuck.
Can Trump go for a third term? And how could he make that happen?
No?
And he is? He is turned out. I'm going to everything.
Everything has context. There is the twenty second Amendment of the Constitution. There's currently a piece of legislation that has been introduced that would allow any president to run for a third term. Now, you said, how do we make sure these things don't become law?
Well, you know that was like for New York with Bloomberg.
Bloomberg was only supposed to run, right, Yes, he ran like fault, Yes, yes, chase it up.
So you can.
Nobody said nothing.
You can.
You can amend the constitution, and it is extremely hard to amend the constitution of.
That what you need true now, when you got that political white supremacist will.
Right, So when you talk about how do you make sure these things don't become law, that's what I'm like you that should never even see the light of day now. Truth be told, if Trump can run for a third term, so can Obama, so can Clinton, so can all the other presidents that are alive that they will. But currently now in the constitution their Trump could not run for.
But the problem, the problem with that is they're not going to use that power when they get it. That's what pisces me off about Democrats. That's why I stink on democrats neck they're not going to use the power even if they get it. They want to do everything they want, all these political norms when things have not been politically normal since twenty sixteen.
I agree, I agree, we are in a new normal and we have to recalibrate to that new normal, like we are not operating. That's why, when you know, my famous line is when they go low.
I'm at energy, like that's that's my thing, Like I don't, I don't stay high?
Are you mad? Michelle hasn't said anything yet. Because the reason I say that is Michelle kind of said the tone right when she said when they go low, we go high. But then she decided to not even go at all. Not.
I think she sometimes actually speak louder than words, that's true.
Felt like Obama shouldn't should have shot out of the inauguration, or at least not have been cracking jokes behind.
I was like, what is happening? I understand why he went.
I don't.
I know you don't, but I.
Will say I don't think I would have been there about I mean, but that's why I'll probably never run for office, because I match energy.
You know what I'm saying, Like, that's not how I rock.
So I understand why Democrats felt like it was important to go. Here's what I will say. I think that because they went, you can't just then disappear. You have to provide context to people who you were ringing the five alarm fire to about why you went. Because I think you know, you know, you have a massive platform, right, and so you do stay on democrats.
I think you also stay on Republicans.
And I think though sometimes people you know how social media works, people take a clip and flip it and put it out there commercials. Yeah, right, And so you always just want to make sure people can't use your words against you, people can't use your actions against you, particularly when you're the first like a President Obama. So I think that you probably will hear more from him about why he felt it was we're in for him to show up and be the bigger person. But I think you also didn't have to still hold Trump accountable, like I would not be up there, keykey and with Donald Trump, though.
Even if I was just sitting there, I.
Got questions.
Sorry, I think you can con see the election, but you shouldn't concede the constitution. And when when you call somebody, when you liken somebody the hitler, when you call somebody a fascists, when you stay there and threat to democracy, you just simply got to act like it. Trump acted like it. When Trump said the election was stolen, I'm no peaceful transfer power. I'm not going to the inauguration still stolen. That's right, that's right. So it's just like I don't know. It just makes I always say Republicans are more sinsarre about their lives and Democrats are about their truth. When Republicans lie, sounds like they're telling the truth. When Democrats are staying in the truth or even trying to stand on integrity, it just looks like they follishit. That is my first Yeah, I.
Mean, we are in a new normal, and I guess my question I always have is like do we want to go.
Back to what we used to have?
I think it's over.
It's over. Yeah, I think it is too.
But I wonder if when Donald Trump, if and when Donald Trump goes away, what that means, because I do think a lot of this is.
Wrapped around him.
And to your point like will there ever be another Obama? Part of the challenges I think that like, if you try and replicate Trump, you can't because you're not Trump. If you're trying to replicate Obama, you can't because you're not Obama. So who is gonna start? Who's gonna step up on both sides? Right?
If he can't run again, who's gonna be in the field?
Is it jd Vance or somebody else? Jd Vance is not gonna be able to hold hold it like Trump.
But if Trump changes all this legislation, if you like you're ready to feel a buster, it's gonna be. It's gonna come a time. I remember I said the Constitution is gonna be worse as much as this this paper holes in my hand. I see all of that happening. So when he does that, it don't matter.
Who's I think it could happen.
I think we have to figure out how to act people so it doesn't happen. The only thing that will stop this is the will of the people. And I think people are misreading Donald Trump's election is that people don't want a democracy because he won. No, I don't think that's what people are saying. People are saying I had to prioritize issues and democracy wasn't the first one on my issue on my list, right, So we cannot let them forget that. We cannot let this new normal just become. It still has to feel like we're in a different age. Everything still needs to feel disoriented, agitate, like. We can't just be like, oh, yeah, like that's Donald Trump. No, we can never allow that to happen. That's why whenever I'm on television I'm not just going to sit back and just let a lie be told to him and just not check it. We can't and all of us have to. I can't do it by myself. You can't do it by yourself.
We have to keep telling the truth. We have to tell the whole story.
We have to have some tough conversations, but I can we cannot allow. The Constitution can have power as long as the people demand it have power.
You said something else that made me think too, because you know, yeah, people can't do Trump, but people can't do Obama either, And I think that's the problem with the Democrats. I look at you exactly. I look at Barack Obama like Steph Curt meaning that he changed the game. But Steph changed the way people actually play. And everybody thinks they can play like that, but they cannot play like that. And I think you got a bunch of Democrats who have been trying to do Obama and it does not work.
I agree. I think you have this in a lot of industries.
People people try and emulate something that they are not, and instead of finding out who they really are, and the thing about it is finding out who you really are.
Is a lot of work.
It's a lot of work because you got to look at the good, bad, and the ugly right and you got to do the work to heal and be able to say, like, what have I done wrong?
How can I grow? How can I You got to like evaluate all all the traumas.
In your life so you can ascend to a higher level. That is not easy work. That is scary work for a lot of people. But I think if more people did it, we would have a lot more options out there for leaders in general, political leaders in this world right now, and people who are sitting on the sideline that probably have the potential to change the trajectory of this country and they don't even know it yet.
Is it tough working in news media right now with Trump in office? Because I'm I mean, I don't know, but I feel like there might be mandates coming down and people saying, hey, man, watch what you say here, watch what you say that? Because you see ABC settled, CBS is talking about settling this guy is he's a too hungry guy. Does any fear about that?
I've never you know, I've been at seeing it now almost four years. I've never been told what to say, what not to say, I think we've only been in Donald Trump's America for eight years or eight days, and.
It feels like years. Yeah.
Yeah, And it's not about people telling you what to say. It is about the fear of being sued, the fear of the hate mail, the fear of the attacks.
Like the Internet is like awful. People are mean, you know.
But again, if you don't know who you are, then you listen it and let you rock you No, So yeah, I think that, you know. I actually have at the beginning of the year, did a lot of prayer meditation about like how can you show up and stand on truth and.
Not become afraid, not become a shrinking violet.
Like the seat I have I hold with great honor and privilege. I don't own the seat, but I and I'm sitting in it right now, and I feel like I have a responsibility to people to speak the truth. And so the moment I used to say this when I worked at the White House, the moment I walk through those doors and I don't feel like it's an honor and privilege to serve this country, I need to stop coming.
Through those doors.
And the day I go to CNN or sit here or anything, and I can't tell the truth. I need to stop going because I need to pass the tors to somebody who can. Because I can't, it doesn't mean I failed, It doesn't mean I just it's not my time any time.
What stories do you want to tell? What Wateringhole media?
Oh? Yeah, you know.
I just started in two thousand and nine during Obama because I saw this wave of social media. I want to tell the story I want to give people in democracized democratized microphones. You know, there are a lot of creators out there who do amazing things.
I start.
I re started Watering Hole after the infamous of Montgomery Uprising with the folding chair, right, and I'll tell the story.
In twenty four hours.
I saw the trajectory of that story change in the morning. I saw news media outlets starting to cover it with a tint of vigilanteism and whatnot. And I saw black Twitter activate, the creators activate, and we turned a moment that could have been very dangerous for black people, and I really sad outcome.
We brought joy to it, we bought.
A strong political analysis to it, and by the end of that night, the story was being told. So I'm saying how do I take how do I find those talented people and give them a platform, give them money to do that. That I think is how we make sure some things like that don't become laws because we tell we have good messengers, we have good storytellers. I want to go at politics not through like, well, your snap benefits and it's like no, let's talk about how it really is impacting you and get you to be more engaged.
So I think there's a lot of opportunity. I think Republicans did it really really well.
Everyone's like, we need our own Joe Rogan and no, we don't know, We actually don't. We need We need to empower people who know how to connect with real people and tell real stories and empower them just to do it.
That's what we're doing there.
And Jo exists right right, don't try and coffee, don't be a copycat, be be an original, Like just just find out who you are and we got you.
Please know, we got the Black Mothership. That's what we call a breakast club, the Black Mothership. Come to the Black Mothership. Thank you for.
Coming at Alice, Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us.
You appreciate you want to check on CNN.
What ten pm?
So hard every time you go on the panel.
Who's on tonight? Okay, go hand for tomorrow?
Right, yeah, yeah, this is tomorrow. This is tomorrow.
I don't know. It'll be some Republican. I'm sure Emmy.
Down all right, Well, there you have it. It's the Breakfast Club. It's Ashley Allison.
Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club.
