#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Ark. Voter Suppression Claims, Angela Alsobrooks, Remembering Cissy Houston

Episode Date: October 8, 2024

10.7.2024 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Ark. Voter Suppression Claims, Angela Alsobrooks, Remembering Cissy Houston An Arkansas town is screaming voter suppression after the  Crittenden County Board of Election Commissioners voted to eliminate an early voting location in West Memphis.  The Mayor of West Memphis is here to explain what is going on.  I talked to Angela Alsobrooks, Maryland's Democratic Nominee for the U.S. Senate. She discussed her plans to lower the cost of living and ensure women would be in control of their reproductive rights.  Vice President Kamala Harris commemorates the first anniversary of the Hamas attack.  And she addressed the "humbled" comment from Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The Supreme Court is back in session.  We'll tell you about some of the cases they will not hear.  Geogria's Supreme Court reinstates the state's abortion ban.  We'll give those who have a short memory a refresher on just how racist the orange convicted felon is.  And we'll remember Cissy Houston, who died today at 91.   Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox  http://www.blackstarnetwork.com The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Today is Monday, October 7, 2024, coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Blackstar Network. A black Arkansas town is screaming massive voter suppression after the County Board of Election Commissioners voted to eliminate an early voting location in West Memphis.

The mayor of West Memphis will be joining us to talk about this. Also, Angela also Brooks is trying to come to next down to say Senator from. Maryland, I'll show you our conversation. Vice President Kamala Harris commemorates the first anniversary of the Hamas attack against Israel. And she addressed the humbled comment from Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders when it came to her having children. The Supreme Court is back in session.

We'll tell you about some of the cases they will not hear. Also, the Georgia Supreme Court has reinstated the state's abortion ban. Plus, we'll give those of you who have a short memory a refresher on just how racist the orange convicted felon is. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin. I'm Phil Chitts. On the Black Star Network, let's go. He's got it.

Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the stupid, fat, the fine. network. Let's go. He's rolling, yeah, yeah It's Uncle Roro, yo Yeah, yeah It's rolling Martin, yeah Yeah, yeah Rolling with rolling now Yeah, yeah He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's rolling Martel Martel

Last week in Arkansas, the Crittenden County Board of Election Commissioners voted 2-1 not to have an early voting location in West Memphis this year and instead had that location move to the town of Marion. Some people call it voter suppression, including Mayor Mark Marco McLennan of West Memphis, Arkansas. He joins us right now. Mayor McLennan, glad to have you here

on Rolling Mark Unfiltered. So first and foremost, give us the distance. How far is Marion from West Memphis? Marion from West Memphis is around six miles difference. But it's our whole city. And, you know, we have smaller cities on the other side of West Memphis that depends on that West Memphis early voting site to be able to get there. And, of course, you know, those smaller cities are majority African-American cities. So trying to get those individuals as well as the people of West Memphis to marry into that city, it's going to be difficult. West Memphis is the biggest municipality

in the county. It has over the 50,000 population that the county has. The majority of the people live in West Memphis. Wait, wait, wait. Hold on, wait, wait. Hold on. I'm sorry.

So West Memphis got the Blackhawks. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on, wait, wait, hold on. I'm sorry. So, West Memphis got the most people. The majority of the most people. Yes. Okay, so, and no disrespect to Marion, but how many people are in Marion? I think the population around 13,000. So, 13,000 in Maryland, 50,000-plus in West Memphis, Arkansas. Well, let me say, it's over half. That's about 30,000 in West Memphis.

But all the smaller cities that's around West Memphis probably make up an ease of 45,000 people. So the West Memphis metro area, if you will, has close to 50,000. Marion has 13,000. What's the logic to moving to Marion? Well, let me say this. You know, the three of the election committee members,

they live in West Memphis. So they all live in West Memphis. I'm sorry. Hold up. It was a two-to-one vote, right? Yes. So all three of them live in West Memphis? Yes. But they voted to move it to Marion, which is smaller than West Memphis?

Yes. Well, let me give you some thinking behind that. I think two of the three are in the red state, you know, the red people, and the one is the Democrat individual. And then Marion is more of a more demographic place, higher income city that does well, but

yeah, it's smaller. So, when they had the hearing, what did they say? Well, actually what they did, they normally have two early vote sites, so they all, the move of poll, they take a unanimous vote. So, what they did, they normally have two early vote sites. So the move of poll, it takes a unanimous vote. So what they did, they all voted for Marion first. Then when it came up to West Memphis, that's when they threw a wrench into the plan.

And they didn't have a majority vote. So actually we went to court. And of course, two individuals went to court. The judge said that the voting poll need to go back in West Memphis. And now on the election committee, two to one voted to appeal the judge's decision.

And you know when it goes to Arkansas Supreme Court, I think you sort of know how this is going to turn out. So the judge said moving back, and so, but again, they haven't offered the logic of moving it, right? No. The logic of moving it is, well, this is what they say.

They agreed to have it in our library, which it was a library that you had to be 100 feet away from the pole, so it wouldn't have given a lot of the candidates opportunities to advertise that feet away from the polls. So it wouldn't have given a lot of the candidates opportunities to advertise that far away from the library. And the normal place that they always have early voting is at the Church of God. That's on 7th Street, which that's where the Democratic candidate wanted to go, where it has always been.

So they said, well, they're not voting for that. So they didn't have a unanimous vote to move it to the Church of God. And I keep telling people, this is the type of actions Republicans do all across the country. Yes, I mean, I never thought in 2024 that I'd be fighting now in the same battles

that my grandparents and other African Americans and women had to fight in the 50s and 60s. I never thought that I would be experiencing this right now. And you know something that's really hurting West Memphis because we have a major, we have some major referendums on that ballot. You know, we have what we're trying to build, an aquatic center to get by kids, a swimming pool,

give them something to do to keep them out of trouble, as well as a recreational center where they can shoot ball, volleyball, pickleball, whatever they want to do, as well as we have a fire department. Our last fire department, well, our main fire department, built in 1955, turned into a new fire department and a brand-new police department, which is housed in a bank, in an old bank building.

And then finally, the infrastructure of our city, which is a one-cent tax that will sunset and go away. But when you're talking about you taking this out and putting it out in Marion, you disenfranchise the individuals within the city that want to see this done, which is going to make it harder for our city to provide the public safety that they need, also get quality of life to new people that want to come here and the people that are already here and fix our infrastructure. Well, that's exactly how they do this. Mayor McClendon, keep up the fight.

We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. I'm going to stay in it. I'm going to stay in it. Yes, sir. We appreciate it. Thank you very much. We're going to have a panel.

Dr. Julian Malveaux, economist, president, emerita, Bennett College, author out of D.C. Dr. Avis Jones, DeWeaver political analyst, joining us from National Harbor, Maryland. Jelani Jones, Texas State representative and lawyer out of Houston. I'm going to start with you, Avis. So here's interesting. This is a story from one of the local TV stations. They wanted to move into early voting at the Memphis West Memphis Library, which I heard the mayor say. This article says, but apparently that that location was insufficient

due to traffic and parking. But Ava, this is exactly what they do. This is literally what they do. We've seen this in other places. They will literally move it to a smaller location, further out, so limited parking, because they want to create long

lines to frustrate people to keep them and say, you know what, line too long, I'm going home. This is what Republicans do. This is their strategy. This is the playbook, and as you mentioned, it's been their playbook for years. I mean, generally speaking, there have been studies that have shown that overall, black people just wait longer in lines to vote than their white counterparts, specifically because this is a plan that is

implemented all over the country. They want to make it inconvenient. They want to make it hard. They don't want you to vote. And this is the part of this that really, really annoys me, when I think about people who want to continually say, my vote doesn't matter. If your vote didn't matter, why do you think they'll be going to all of these lengths in order to stop you from voting, to discourage you from voting, to make it

that much more frustrating for you to be able to exercise your right to vote? They're doing this and they're specifically targeting those communities that are disproportionately African-American because they know our power and they're trying every way that they can to take it away from us. Indeed. I mean, so in the reality, Julianne, this was voter suppression on steroids after the 2013 Shelby v. Holder decision by the Supreme Court, which gutted Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. Absolutely. I mean, these people, Avis is absolutely right. These people have been plotting and planning to steal this election,

not through basic theft, but through all this gerrymandering and manipulation with voting places. You know, one of the things that the mayor did, and I'm not sure what the answer would be, but how difficult, more difficult, he said six miles. Six miles is a public trans. How do people get from point A to point B? So we're basically looking at a systematic plot

to deny black people the vote. And that systematic plot is being played out on a micro level and on a macro level. And I don't know where the playbook comes from, but what we do know is that people are being denied the right to vote. I'm thinking back, Roland, to Mississippi, 1964, 1968, when—for black people to vote, sometimes they had you look at a jellybean jar and ask you how many jellybeans were in the jellybean jar. All kind of craziness. And this is that same kind of craziness.

Now, it doesn't—it's not as bad as a jellybean jar, but, yes, again, it is, because people do not have the ability to easily vote. And the mathematics of this is clear. Forty-five thousand people, West Memphis, 13,000 in Mary. Come on. That is deliberate manipulation. Jolanda, you heard what the mayor said. Look, it's going to go to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Very conservative.

We'll be shocked to hear if they rule in favor of the folks there in West Memphis, Arkansas. But this is literally in the Republicans' playbook. And this is what they do in states all across the country. They have the control of the election boards. And in fact, in North Carolina, when the Democratic governor won, they changed, and in Wisconsin, they changed the law to strip him of being able to appoint members of the election board because they wanted to control those boards. And I guess the thing that frustrates me about my party is we're not thinking chess like they are.

And if you think about it, most people are used to voting where they vote, right? So how much sense does it make to make everyone from West Memphis have to drive six miles to go to a smaller facility. But the people that live in the small town, they don't have any—they have comfort to go vote where they're used to voting. I also don't think it was an accident that they voted on the white place first, where they got unanimity, because we always want to be fair. Democrats, Black folks, we always want to be fair. We always want to include everybody when they literally never want to include us. And this race is going to be a close race by what all the experts are saying. And so if you take away 5,000 votes here,

10,000 votes here, it adds up and it's going to make up the margin. So that's what Trump is doing. And they have literally changed the electors in all of the swing states where Republicans get to decide whether elections are certified. And so I'm concerned that they haven't placed the mechanism to steal this election. But this is just one example. It's the same thing here. The people in the white affluent areas here in Texas, in Houston proper, Montgomery County, they have a lot of places to vote and the black places don't. And so what we need to do as black people is we need to understand that we have to work harder, jump faster, no more, drive farther, wait longer lines,

and we cannot let that dissuade us. We need to do what we have to do regardless because I've been black all my life. So if y'all know we we have to do regardless because I've been black all my life. So have y'all. Y'all know we've got to do better. We've got to work harder. We just need to do that. And then when we take control, then we need to do the same kind of stuff they're doing

because all this, when they go low, we go high. Now, that ain't me. When they go low, we need to go lower. All right, folks. I've got to go to a break. We come back. We are going to talk about a lot of things happening politically, but also I get a chance.

I had a chance to talk to Angela also Brooks is running for the United States Senate in Maryland. We'll have that conversation for you. You're watching Roland Martin unfiltered on the Blackstone Network. In 2016, Donald Trump said he would choose only the best people to work in his White House. Now those people have a warning for America. Trump is not fit to be president again. Here's his vice president. Anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.

It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year. His defense secretary. Do you think Trump can be trusted with the nation's secrets ever again? No. I mean, it's just irresponsible action that places our service members at risk, places our nation's security at risk. His national security advisor. Donald Trump will cause a lot of damage. The only thing he cares about is Donald Trump. And the nation's highest-ranking military officer. We don't take an oath to a king or a queen or a tyrant or a dictator.

And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator. Take it from the people who knew him best. Donald Trump is a danger to our troops and our democracy. We can't let him lead our country again. I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message. He told us who he was. Should abortion be punished? There has to be some form

of punishment. Then he showed us. For 54 years they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated and I did it. And I'm proud to have done it. Now Donald Trump wants to go further with plans to restrict birth control, ban abortion nationwide, even monitor women's pregnancies. We know who Donald Trump is.

He'll take control. We'll pay the price. I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message. I get it. The cost of rent, groceries and utilities is too high. So here's what we're gonna do about it. We will lower housing costs by building more homes and crack down on landlords who are charging too much. We will lower your food and grocery bills by going after price gougers who are keeping the cost of everyday goods too high. I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message. Because you work hard.

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In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher.

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It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Your paycheck, you should get to keep more of it. As president, I'll make that my top priority. Bob and I both voted for Donald Trump. I voted for him twice. I won't vote for him again.

January 6th was a wake-up call for me. Donald Trump divides people. We've already seen what he has to bring. He didn't do anything to help us. Kamala Harris, she cares about the American people. I think she's got the wherewithal to make a difference. I've never voted for a Democrat. Yes, we're both lifelong Republicans. The choice is very simple. I'm voting for Kamala. I'm also from Coastal Pennsylvania. You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Stay right here. Supreme Court returned from their summer break on Monday and wasted no time rejecting a few cases. The justice refused to hear a challenge from Pennsylvania Republican state lawmakers about President Joe Biden's administration executive order intended to boost voter registration. The justices did not comment in rejecting an appeal from Republicans

who claimed the order was an unconstitutional attempt to interfere in the November election. Lower courts had dismissed the lawsuit. The justices also rejected two appeals stemming from baseless claims made by Republicans that voting machines and software of Dominion voting systems were responsible for Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election. In one case, the court turned away an appeal from Fulton County, Pennsylvania, questioning a Pennsylvania high court ruling involving voting machines. The other rejected appeal involved claims from people around the country.

A Denver-based Dominion tried to silence them. A Supreme Court refused to require doctors in Texas to perform certain emergency abortions when the procedure would conflict with the state's strict abortion ban. The justices left in place a lower court ruling that rejected the Biden administration's claim that federal law requires access to emergency abortion care even in the states that restrict the procedure. The order did not explain the justices' reasoning, nor were the dissents noted. The court's action comes just months after the justices intervened in a similar case in Ohio. In the Georgia Supreme Court, they have reinstated the state's controversial heartbeat abortion law

while an appeal from the Georgia Attorney General's office is being heard. Last week, Fulton County Superior Court Justice Robert McBurney issued an order overturning the law, calling it unconstitutional. The next day, Attorney General Chris Carr filed an appeal. Carr asked the Georgia Supreme Court to reinstate the law during the appeal process. Today, the Georgia Supreme Court granted a stay of the Superior Court order.

The order began at 5 p.m. Eastern. Doctors cannot legally perform abortions if they detect a fetal cardiac activity, which is usually seen at around six weeks. What we are seeing here, Julian, is the battle over reproductive rights. When you look at the conversation, that's what's dominating.

You've got reproductive rights. When you look at the conversation, that's what's dominating. You've got reproductive rights bills on the ballot in Florida. You've got Arkansas. You've got other states as well. And so much attention is being applied to this by Vice President Kamala Harris. She was on the very popular Call Me Daddy podcast, dropped yesterday. It gets 5 million downloads a week, but it's a very, very popular podcast for women that's really geared at younger women. And so this is continuing. We're seeing how this is going to be the dominant issue

this election season. And I keep saying this. Donald Trump got 52 percent of white women in 2016. He got 53 percent of white women in 2020. The Dobbs decision, if that if they are, if Vice President Kamala Harris is able to peel that number from 53 down to 50 or 49, that very well could be the winning margin. Absolutely. I mean, I think that while people have their racism and their biases, most women feel very strongly that we have the right to bodily autonomy, self-determination. And most women are repulsed by the notion that the orange man

would dictate their choices. We've seen commercial after commercial, article after article, people who are, as an example, wanting to do IVF and are afraid. There's one woman who, her husband is in the military, and she's worried that if they're transferred to a state that outlaws some of these things, that they may have to delay the starting of their family. And that's not the only case. There's so many other cases. But here's going to be the dilemma, Roland. Polling suggests that economic issues are the most important issues, even though for many women, reproductive rights are equally important. How are people going to balance that? What that many are saying, and I

wish the Harris-Walls campaign would talk a lot more about the way that the economic numbers are improving. Inflation is down. It's back down to pre-COVID days. Unemployment rates are low. So we need to talk about the fact that whatever Biden did with the economy, it's working, people. It's working. And so—but many are—you know, still, you go to the grocery store, and the prices are high and yada yada. So you still have people who are saying inflation is too high. But I think they're just repeating something that's in the hymn book, because inflation is under control right now. That's going to be a dilemma for many women, and especially for white women, because they're influenced, of course, by their spouses. And, you know, to get a white male vote for Kamala,

well, there are a few white women. We were white dudes. There are a few, but many white men are going to walk away from Vice President Harrison. So we have to figure out how to make the case that economic numbers are better. Avis?

Absolutely. So what's really tragic here is that this is happening in the very same state where we just recently learned of the deaths of two black women who could not get the reproductive care, just the health care that they needed when they were in distress, because the medical authorities on the one hand thought that, hey, we might go to jail if we do this too soon. We need to make sure that she is almost dead before we take appropriate action. And unfortunately, their timing was so bad that she actually died on the operating room table. And the other young lady was afraid about whether or not she would get some support and was just too late getting the help that she need. The challenge is that this is about having access to health care for women, period, point blank, end of sentence.

And this is not going to be the last women that will die as a result of this. We've seen maternal mortality rates, even it seems to me, I've read reports about them creeping up in places like Texas as well. You know, this is the beginning of a very, very dangerous time for women. If we're going to talk one more time about black women in particular, we know that black women are disproportionately likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth in America, even under their row when we had greater access to reproductive health care. I hate to think, I shudder to think what the maternal mortality rate will be for Black women if this specific movement towards the complete obliteration of access to abortion

in this nation continues and if it spreads. We cannot afford to roll the dice on another Trump term because that would definitely be deadly for many more women and particularly black women. Yolanda. So the Texas, so the United States Supreme Court, for the most part, said, hey, it doesn't even matter if the mother, if the health of the mother is an issue. If it violates the terms of Texas' ban on abortions, then it can stay in place. So more people are going to die. What I think is good, though, for Democrats and for Vice President Harris is that it has white women going nuts.

They are the reason that there is no right to abortion, because they chose Donald Trump over somebody like themselves, Hillary Clinton. So I think that that's going to help Democrats in Texas since the Supreme Court left that in play. So I'm going to say this for a second time. We need white women to try to reclaim their abortion rights back. And I believe that is going to help us because every state where abortion was on the ballot, abortion rights won out. And I think the Republicans are going to pay. All right, then. Listen, it is going to be, again, it's going to be a huge part of the election. But I think Julianne is right. Unless the economy is still a driving issue. But I just think right

now, to be perfectly honest, folk ain't, it's not about persuasion right now. It's literally about driving turnout. I just think that's just where we are. So I just think that, you know, you can sit here and you can spend lots of time going back and forth. But I mean, that's just where we are. Now let's talk about Michigan. The Muslim vote is going to be huge in that particular state. And of course, today is the first one-year anniversary of Hamas' attack against Israel that left 1,400 people dead.

VP Kamala Harris commemorated the anniversary of the attack by planting a tree along with her husband, second gentleman, of a naval observatory residence. The second gentleman is Doug Imhoff. And, of course, you know, they did this, and she did speak about this day and what took place one year ago.

We dedicate this tree to the 1,200 innocent souls in an act of pure evil on October 7, 2023, who were massacred by Hamas terrorists. 46 of our fellow Americans were killed in this brutal terrorist attack, including a singer from Missouri who died shielding her son from bullets, an academic and peace activist who studied in Seattle and who was the grandson of Holocaust survivors, and a dancer from California who was killed alongside her fiancé while attending the Nova Music Festival. I am devastated by the pain and loss that occurred on October 7,

and Doug and I pray for the family and loved ones of all of those who were lost, and may their memories be a blessing. Today I know many Jews will be reciting and reflecting on the Jewish prayer for mourning, the Kaddish. The words of the prayer are not about death. It is a prayer about our enduring belief in God, even in our darkest moments. So as we reflect on the horrors of October 7, let us please be reminded that we cannot lose faith. I will never forget October 7, and the world must never forget.

What is asked of us? We must work to ensure nothing like the horrors of October 7 can ever happen again. And on this solemn day, I will restate my pledge to always ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and that I will always work to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish people here and around the world. What is asked of us? We must reunite the hostages held in Gaza with their families and I will never stop fighting for the release of all the hostages, including the American

citizens living and deceased. Omer, Idan, Sagi, Keith, Judy, God, and Ite. What is asked of us? We must uphold the commitment to repair the world. Now, folks, this is an election issue, obviously. And in Michigan, you see what the focus has been. And so this woman here was introducing Jill Stein. And if you want to understand, frankly, why third party vote is a waste of time,

just listen to this here. The election has already started. Absentee ballots have been sent. We need to catch up rapidly. We need everyone here to get active. We need to be clear about what our goals are. We are not in a position to win the White House. But we do have a real opportunity to win something historic. We could deny Kamala Harris the state of Michigan. And the polls show that most likely Harris cannot win the election without. All right. Also today, 25 imams endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. And in their endorsement, they talked about what the focus is, what the aim is.

And this actually took place on Sunday 25 Islamic religious leaders signed this particular giving one second this is the letter that they actually signed and as you see it it says a Muslim Imam and leaders led to the community and so they lay out in here it said we were taught by a beloved prophet Muhammad to resist becoming angry for it eats up goodness and overrides rational thinking. Our lives in the United States are not in a vacuum, and as such, the election choices, and as such, the election choices, the decisions that we make are not either. They don't just affect us, but all American citizens for years, maybe decades to come. We are to be future-oriented,

strategic, and rational rather than just focus on the present. Thus, it is imperative that we let leaders who have committed to a ceasefire and independent Palestine, stabilizing our democracy and who stand with our community. So here's the thing that is strange to me here, Jolanda. I totally understand the anger at President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, for standing with Israel. They demanded they call for a ceasefire. They've actually done that. But you have this battle between Netanyahu and Hamas. Will they actually want to go forward with that?

What I'm trying to understand is, the woman who was introducing Jill Stein, what do you actually gain if Vice President Kamala Harris loses Michigan and Donald Trump wins Michigan and Donald Trump actually said today in a radio interview that, oh, the Gaza Strip could be as beautiful as Monaco. The developers weren't thinking about it the right way. He let him, his Trump organization, they got no problem if everything in Gaza is wiped out and it becomes beachfront property.

So I'm just trying to understand what do you get by defeating Vice President Harris in Michigan and Trump wins? What do you want? You want to you want a ribbon? So I don't know why you're asking me that, because I agree with you. First of all, you want a three-pan list, and I'm asking all three of y'all. So what I don't, it's almost like they don't understand one of the two are going to win, right? And it's like they don't understand that Donald Trump is going to raise what's left of Gaza, and it is going to be beachfront property. And he's going to, I promise you, have a Trump business from somebody in his family that's going to make money off of a cleared Gaza.

So it's just really interesting when you start talking about third-party candidates who don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning. Why would you do that? You need to play in the game. You need to be on the side of somebody who can win. And so I don't understand. And I also don't understand why they're acting like Kamala Harris is the damn president. She's not the president. She is the vice president. And she was a good teammate to the president, Joe Biden. So I think it's not very well thought out. I think it shows that they are political novices. I think that Jill Stein wants to be a spoiler, but I think she's going to spoil

everything for America if, in fact, they get a number of Muslims to vote for Jill Stein to give Trump the victory. I have no clue why they're not looking at Trump and how dangerous he is. He literally cannot stand the Muslims. So no matter how mad you are at President Biden and Vice President Harris, Trump hates Muslims. He said he hates Muslims. He ain't trying to have no ceasefire. And so I think it's not very well thought out.

And I think it is dangerous for democracy. So, Avis, this is what their letter said, alluding to what Jelana just said there. First, in fact, go back to my iPad. First, in fact, what is happening is not on her, for she is not the president of these United States. Prior to serving in her current position, Vice President Harris has been regularly engaging with the Muslim community throughout her long and distinguished career. When Donald Trump passed the Muslim ban, it was then Senator Harris who filed a bill in the Senate seeking to provide access to legal counsel for our brothers and sisters caught in the Muslim ban. Vice President Harris held the first Eid al-Adha celebration in American history at her home, welcoming Muslim leaders from across America into her living room. This is beyond symbolism. It is an affirmation that Islam is an American religion.

So, and again, I totally understand pushing the administration as far and as hard as you can. But this idea of saying, yeah, vote for Jill Stein to keep Harris from winning Michigan, which means, and then to say, oh, we know Stein has no chance at becoming president, but we can keep Michigan from Kamala Harris, which means that it will go to Donald Trump.

Avis, I don't get it. I completely agree with you. And just as what was alluded to previously, it reeks of a lack of political sophistication and knowledge. It is completely ignorant. It makes you wonder, does she even really give a damn about the people that she's claiming to give a damn about?

Because all she has to do is look at what Trump did when he was in the White House the last time. I mean, you know, this is the person who is, you know, best buds with Netanyahu's expansion of settlements in the West Bank. This is the person who allowed the U.S. Embassy to be moved to Jerusalem, which was very controversial at the time, and likely is still very controversial. And I completely agree that if there's any hope of having some sort of serious efforts with regards to humanitarian aid and rebuilding of Gaza, it won't happen, seriously, in a Trump administration.

He's going to do a land grab and allow the Israelis to do whatever sort of land grab agenda that they have as well, completely unchecked. So if you can look past your nose and think about the future, it is an absolutely ignorant stance to take. I will say one other thing about Jill Stein specifically. She's exactly right when she's saying that Jill Stein won't win the presidency, because Jill Stein has never won any election that she's ever competed again ever in her life. She is a professional spoiler. She gets paid to lose. And when you think about this is the woman who was also pictured having dinner with Putin,

it does make you wonder, where else is she getting money from in order to be on her spoiler campaign that she continues to be on. I haven't forgotten about Michigan last time in regards to the Trump race against Hillary Clinton, where more people voted for Stein than was the margin of victory for Trump, for the margin that Hillary lost by in Michigan. So you can say that she was a very valuable asset for other people outside of this country that wanted to have control over that specific election. I am concerned not only with what I heard there, but also with the overall agenda of Jill Stein specifically and the Green Party and what their actual motivations are.

So, Julianne, when you talk about Trump and his views about Muslims and immigrants and you name it, he was on Hugh Hewitt's radio show today. Hugh Hewitt, conservative. And I want people to hear what this man actually said. Watch this. She wants to go into government housing. She wants to go into government feeding.

She wants to feed people. She wants to feed into government housing. She wants to go into government feeding. She wants to feed people. She wants to feed people governmentally. She wants to go into a communist party type system. When you look at the things that she proposes, they're so far off. She has no clue. How about allowing people? I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way.

In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This has kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher.

Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real.

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. To come to an open border,

13,000 of which were murderers, many of them murdered far more than one person. And they are now happily living in the United States. You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it's in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now. They left. They had 400. Um... Murderers, it's in their genes, and we've got a lot of bad genes in this country. I mean, I can think...

I mean, Julian, if we really want to have a fair and factual conversation, there's a lot of white people in America who have been murderers. I think we could ask the Native Americans that. I think we could talk about the Civil War. We could talk about the black people killed during slavery. We can talk about Jim Crow.

I mean, we are a war-loving, killing nation. Julianne, go ahead. It's interesting that he wants to talk about genetics. This country was founded,the people who built this country were criminals from England. They were sent here because they couldn't be held in English jails. They were sent here and turned into indentured servants. These were white folks who were stealing, killing, lying, doing all the things that the former president does. So for him to talk genes is to basically show his ignorance. But the whole

thing is ignorance. I mean, his racism, his biases, his hatred are replete. And, you know, you started out by talking about lies, talking about the lies that that man tells. And I always tell people, my grandma used to say about certain people, why tell the truth what a lie will do? And what she meant by that is you're just such a liar, you wouldn't know the truth. You wouldn't know the truth if it slept with you. I mean, you basically don't know truth. And so this nonsense that he keeps putting out there, especially the attacks on Kamala, and especially around the issue of being a communist, which is absurd. I mean, she is a basic neoliberal,

frankly. She's not even as left as some of us would like her to be. She is the preferred candidate for many of us because she's the best candidate. And even if she weren't the best candidate, Mr. Trump doesn't have any business being within spitting distance of the White House, not even being in it, within spitting distance. His ethics, his morals, everything are just so extraordinarily flawed. But again, he comes at her with all these buzzwords. And the problem is that some people believe that. Roland, I was at the L.A. train station on Friday just minding my business, waiting for someone to pick me up. And a lady sat down next to me and started chatting. And she told me she heard that Kamala was a communist. And I said, but where did you hear

that? And where do you watch the news? She said she watched Fox. I said, see, that explains it. You need to change her channel. Watch CNN, MSNBC, Southern, local news. Don't watch Fox. And she said, well, sometimes they say questionable things. This is an older black woman. Sometimes they say questionable things. I said, so sister, do your work, do your research.

This was a sister who was in her 70s, was working three jobs. She had to pay her mortgage. Her Social Security didn't cover it. So the economy was important to her. But somehow, whatever Fox is saying had her to the conclusion that Kamala was a communist. I gave her—I made a list for her. My friends are waiting for me. I'm like, give me a minute.

I made a list of her of some things she might want to read and take a look at. Because this is the more that they tell lies, the more people believe them. And that's probably here over and over and over again. And so this has to be fact checked. Yeah. I mean, listen,

we're not dealing with very smart and bright people. And we just not. And so we come back. I want to deal more with this. You got a bunch of brothers out here who are pissed off with Magic Johnson because he implored for black men to actually vote for Kamala Harris.

But y'all folk out there who keep trumping Trump, y'all do know how racist this fool is, right? We're going to unpack that when we come back as well. Folks, don't forget, we're right back at Roland Martin on the Blackstar Network. Support the work that we do. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. The goal is to get 20,000

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I said our donations are down 80% because of Cash App changing their procedures. So it's absolutely ridiculous. So please, y'all, let them know exactly how you feel. So matter of fact, move to the other platforms, okay? So if you want to be able to easily give to us us PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, because Cash App is a joke. Okay, they need to go back to the old rules because it's ridiculous what they've actually done. So PayPal is rmartinunfiltered. Venmo is rmunfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com.

Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. dot com. So again, PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, while we still deal with this nonsense with Cash App and all of their ridiculous new procedures. So all right, folks, we'll be right back. Of 100 Republicans who worked in national security for Presidents Reagan, both Bushes, and for President Trump, now endorsing Harris for president. She came up as a prosecutor, an attorney general, into the Senate. She has the kind of character that's going to be necessary in the presidency. Vice President Harris is standing in the breach at a critical moment in our nation's history. We have a shared commitment as Americans to do what's right for this country. This year, I am proudly casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Former generals, secretaries of defense, secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, CIA directors, and National Security Council leaders, under Democratic and Republican presidents, Republican members of Congress, and even former Trump administration officials agree, there's only one candidate fit to lead our nation, and that's Kamala Harris. I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this decision. Kamala Harris has never backed down from a challenge. She put cartel members and drug traffickers behind bars.

And she will secure our border. Here's her plan. Hire thousands more border agents. Enforce the law and step up technology. And stop fentanyl smuggling and human trafficking. We need a leader with a real plan to fix the border. And that's Kamala Harris. I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message.

The overturning of Roe almost killed me. I had a blood clot in my uterus that caused my labor to have to be induced because of the overturn of Roe v. Wade. I wasn't able to get life-saving treatment sooner. I almost died. And that's because of the decision that Donald Trump made. I was able to get Roe v. Wade terminated,

and I'm proud to have done it. The doctors and nurses were afraid that if they treated me in the incorrect way, that they would be prosecuted for that. And that's appalling. Donald Trump says that women should be punished. Do you believe in punishment for abortion? There has to be some form of punishment. For the woman?

Yeah. I believe that women should have reproductive freedom to make the choices about their own bodies. Four more years of Donald Trump means that women's rights will continue to be taken away one by one by one by one. This has to stop because women are dying. I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message.

Here's a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems. Oh, she had a big crowd. Oh, the crowd. This weird obsession with crowd sizes. It just goes on and on and on. America's ready for a new chapter. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris. I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message. Hey yo, what's up? It's Mr. Dalvin right here.

What's up? This is KC. Sitting here representing the J-O-D-E-C-I. That's Jodeci. Right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Thank you. All right, so let's not forget who we're dealing with, the kind of person we're dealing with. He got his career started refusing to rent apartments to black people. He wanted a centrified part to actually be executed. And so here's some other things that Trump

has actually said about black people. Wages too high. We have to leave it the way it is. I worked at Fast Food for over 30 years, and I had to support my kids off of that money. Minimum wage is still $7.25. It's rough. You've got to work two, three jobs just to make ends meet. You have to decide whether you're going to eat or pay your bills.

Look at how well the black community has been doing under this administration. And did y'all hear what he said about folks from the Congo? Watch this. Well, among the worst in the world, they come from the Congo and Africa. Many people from the Congo, I don't know what that is, but they come out of j worst in the world. They come from the Congo and Africa. Many people from the Congo. I don't know what that is, but they come out of jails in the Congo. You know, they're letting their jail population come into the United States. Their jails are being emptied into the United States.

Their gang members are being taken out of Caracas, Venezuela, and lots of other places, which was a rough city, rough, very dangerous city. And they're being delivered into the United States, their gang members. And these are tough gang members. You see what's happening in Aurora. So those are the things that this fool is out here saying. And let's just not mince words in terms of what we are dealing with. We are dealing here, Jolanda,

with a man who despises black people. He would rather have immigrants from Norway, from Switzerland, from the Netherlands, pick any white country. He would love for them to come. He is specifically appealing, appealing to white races. He is appealing to white fear.

I keep telling people this. You know, my book was about white fear. And I saw this guy, he's a vlogger, filmmaker, named Dixon White. And man, Dixon was on fire in this video. Now, I'm warning y'all right now, Dixon used some language. So if y'all got a problem with language,

y'all might wanna go ahead and turn. But here's a white man just speaking truth about Trump's appeal to white people. In 2016, we have a openly and overt white supremacist as our president elect, who is systematically hiring the most racist, vile human beings he can possibly get for an administration. These are people that are known to be associated with Nazis. These are not quiet, shy white supremacists. These are openly vocal white supremacists, just like Trump led his campaign.

He said, hey, I'm running for president, and yes, it's okay to be racist again. We can be open about it. Who needs to be politically correct? Trump said, I'm a racist, and I'm proud, and so can you be. And here we are. Jim Crow 2.0, motherfuckers. Thank you, white America. You did it once again.

Your apathy, your racial apathy, your ignorance, your callous, your complacency, your denial, your silence, your complicity racially has us right where you want us. And you think you're fucking helping yourself? You think this white supremacist motherfucker is going to care about your broke ass white America? They're not going to care. And you think, oh, well, I'm not broke. I'm rich.

I'm protecting my own. I'm a rich white man. You think you're helping yourself? You think you're helping yourself but living a lie? You think you're helping yourself with all the distrust, with all the racial strife that's happening and that's coming? You think you're helping yourself spiritually, morally? Do you really think this is good for our country? White supremacy, white nationalism, rampant for the next four years. God knows what this motherfucker's going to do and his racist cabinet. God knows how many years he's going to try to take us back.

He's got the Senate. He's got the House. He's going to try to affect the Supreme Court. Thank you, white America! You ignorant, racist motherfuckers who voted for Trump. You really think you're helping your cause. All your fear.

You're so threatened. You're so threatened by the Mexicans. By the illegal aliens. By the immigration, the immigrants. You're so scared. You're so scared of anything that's not white. You've been taught, oh, I've got to protect my whiteness. I've got to protect my privilege.

I've got to protect my status. I've got to remain on top. I've got to protect my status. I've got to remain on top. This country was made for me. I'm Mr. White. You're pathetic. You're disgusting. And you're a psychopath. It's social, psychological narcissism. That's what white supremacy is.

And it's systemic. And it's working very well. When will white America face the reality of what they've done, what they're doing, and where they're going? White America, you're taking us all to hell, straight to hell. You think you're just hurting people of color? You're destroying your very self and you're destroying your country. Until white America can come out of the now, face the white supremacist culture that we are, we will never know peace. Well, damn, Jolanda.

He laid it out in four minutes and nine seconds. Well, he certainly did. And you know what? This is what white people are terrified of. They are terrified that if black people get into power, we're going to do to them what they did to us. So

that's why they're trying to hold on to power. I'm going to do to them what they did to us. So that's why they're trying to hold on to power. I'm going to say that again for people who didn't understand. They are terrified that when we get in power, we're going to do to white people what white people have done to us. They are afraid we're going to stack the courts. They're also afraid that they're not making enough babies. And so they have to, while they still are in power, gerrymander and stack the courts and make anti-black laws in order to protect their superiority, because they do not—and let me be clear, it's superiority in their name only. It's not actual superiority. And so—and let's be clear. This country was founded on white supremacy.

They came and took land from the Native Americans and the Mexicans, and it was all about white people. Remember, the only people who could own land were white men who actually owned property. Women couldn't even do it. So this country was founded on white supremacy, and they're just trying to hold on to it. And what I don't understand about black people, one, is why we don't do our homework, because Donald Trump is racist. Donald Trump paid back with the Central Park Five. I believe they said he paid $75,000 for that ad. You know how much $75,000 is to say that they should be executed for a non-capital crime. So Donald Trump has always been racist. He always picks racist countries from Africa, Haiti, even in Venezuela. And he talks about black people in other states, in Aurora, Colorado, and wherever.

And that's what he does. So why anybody— let's say he did give us $1,200, which I'm not convinced that was under him, right? We're going to vote this country into hell for $1,200 when if we had better wages, we'd make way more than $1,200 over the course of a year. So we're not thinking, and I don't understand. But it's not just us, okay? I'm telling telling, listen,

this is what I keep trying to remind people, Avis, 69 to 70 percent of the total electorate is going to be white. The numbers are the numbers. And what we're facing, it is. It's white fear. Matthew Iglesias,

Dave, why did it escape me? He follows me It is. It's white fear. Matthew Iglesias. Dave. Why did it escape me? He follows me. Weigel. Twice in the last three days. Both of them tweeted. They were like, you know, Democrats

were the most pro-union. They gave them Everything they want. So maybe Democrats need to stop being so far left. And I said stop. Matter of fact, let me pull up the Iglesias tweet. Because it's amazing

how these folk they go a long way and don't want to say white. Mm-hmm. Let me find his tweet. Because I saw it, and I was like, bro, did you leave something out? I said, it seems like you left something out.

Give me a second. Hold on. Let's see here. And I've seen several of these tweets. These white journalists just don't want to call out whiteness. What they do is they want to dance and hop, skip around every single thing, but they don't want to just say white. So every time they keep talking about union workers, they keep saying, well, you know, the Democrats

and you know, the union worker, and I'm like, no! The white union workers! The white Teamsters, the white union workers, the white teamsters, the white firefighters. If you have union workers that are turning their back on the most pro-union administration ever to back Donald Trump, they are supporting whiteness

and not their pocketbook, Avis. Absolutely. A thousand percent true. I mean, here's one of the reasons why the right wants to demonize critical race theory, because a critical race theorist would tell you that the power behind this form of racism, of not naming it, of not naming it, is that you are normalizing and centering whiteness as it is such the normal thing that you don't have to mention it, right? And so then when you make it invisible, the insidious nature of what it does then goes unchecked. Okay. So you're, you're exactly right. It's not just union members. And there's a reason why you have a lot of white women who will vote against what one would think is their interest. There's a lot of reason why you would have poor white people

vote against what you would think is their interest. It's because they're not in those moments prioritizing their rights. They're not in those moments prioritizing their economic possibilities. In those moments, they are protecting whiteness, and they are protecting the invisible benefits that we all know they get that are institutionalized, that are built into the system, and just this false sense of superiority that Donald Trump strokes so well for them, right? They're voting to protect whiteness, even if it makes no logical sense with regards to their economic well-being, with regards to their ability to have dominion over their own bodies, with regards to all of those things, whiteness in this country has value.

And nobody knows that better than white people, even if they don't want to name it and claim it. I'm sitting here looking at this here, Julianne. Go to my iPad. So this is what Matthew Iglesias tweeted. Biden-era Democrats have been more supportive than ever of blue-collar unions, but gotten less support than ever from blue-collar union members. Probably better to just be more moderate on cultural issues and environmental stuff and labor. So I actually responded by saying, Matthew, did you leave out something?

I think you left out white. And if you go, now go back to my iPad. I just want you all to go. So when you start going down here and looking at all these responses and, oh, this is reasonable and fair enough. A center-left coalition whose base is suburban, well-educated white women is not key to long-term success. But they still missed the white, they got the wrong white part.

Demo and far-left and alien, you know, yeah, you all on the far-left have been pretty successful in alienating us suburban women. Good job. Well, that's a lie. They've been attracting them. So then you keep going, and the old-class warfare, oh, here we go,

keep old moderates in the environment, oh, it's the education. Education, polarization, overrides material interest in this new information age. Democrats should adopt all of my preferred policy positions. You keep going to cultural issues,

and moderate and moderate and all these people, they just keep... But they're just ignoring, ignoring, ignoring, ignoring, and they don't want to... And then this person said, just go ahead and say black folks and LGBTQ folks and cut the bullshit. The way y'all will dance around the truth to appease racists as white folks is so American

and more so than apple pie. This is why black folks have a deep distrust of politics and side eye Democratic Party. Okay, that's that person. Okay, so then you keep going and looking at all this content. You just keep going and looking at, they don't want to confront the elephant in the room, Julian, and that is massive numbers of working class people who are in unions are black and Latino. Who are they supporting in huge numbers? Vice President Kamala Harris. You look at the Teamsters. The black caucus in the Teamsters came out before the Teamsters made their decision saying we're down with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Okay? You look at firefighters are racist and sexist. Damn firefighters endorsed Democrats going back to the 60s. The two Democrats they refused to endorse have been, was Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris. Well, what the hell do they have in common? Anatomy. I mean, we go on and onala Harris. Well, what the hell do they have in common? Anatomy. I mean, we go on and on and on.

The fact of the matter is these white journalists, print, broadcast, digital, whatever, they don't want to confront whiteness because if they do, they got to look in the mirror, Julian. This is the fundamental problem. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time.

Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is.

Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corps vet. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. This is why political journalists keep missing the story, and it's sitting right in front of you. How can Biden-Harris be the most pro-union administration in more than 50 years,

and these white, these union workers are not supporting her. They're white male union workers. And Julianne, guess what? Unions are overwhelmingly comprised of, especially trades and others, white men. Well, the trades are primarily comprised of white men. But if you look at SEIU, you look at some of the other unions, they are heavily black and brown. Indeed, when you look at the Teamsters, what a disappointment that they refused to endorse Harris, although President Biden, you know, basically took the

chestnuts off the open fire with legislation to help settle some of their differences with their employers. I mean, he went on a limb for them. And for her not to get that endorsement really does speak to, as you say, their racism, underlying racism. They'll never say it was racism. They'll have some other reasons. But that's exactly what it is. The challenge is that—and by the way, there's a very good article in The New Yorker this week, talks about the worker revolt and tries to explain why workers have tilted away from the Democratic Party. The author alleges that there's this elitism among—coastal elitism among Democrats.

But Democrats are all over the place. It's not coastal elitism. When you look at how the Detroit Teamsters did support Vice President Harris. I believe that Pennsylvania also did. Many key Teamster unions who are in urban areas did support Vice President Harris. And the mistake that the Teamsters made, they claimed they took a strong poll or something. I know a whole lot of people claim they took a strong poll or something. I know a whole lot of people said they never got the poll. So this might have been a selective poll that

went to certain people to justify what is a poor decision. But back to the whiteness thing, I mean, you're right, they have to deny it. But you don't have to, they don't have to say, right, just look at Project 2025, anti-DEI. No, no, no. The reason I've got to stay on that and the workers is because if you keep running from it, then you get this trash analysis on the air. Andrea Mitchell. Well, I think, you know, commas need to do more interviews with major press because I was talking to business leaders and they say they don't know what her economic policies are.

And so they don't know her positions. Hillary Clinton had policies coming out the wazoo. See, so that's all that's all nonsense. The reality is you have to put it on the table. And that is Donald Trump is pressing the buttons of white fear. They don't even want to deal with it. Remember 2016, oh, economic anxiety. I was like, black and brown people are the brokest damn people in the country. So if there's anybody who should be anxious about the economy, it's black and brown people. Nope, they're in the country. So if there's anybody who should be anxious about the economy, it's black and brown people. Nope, they're in the case.

What we are facing constantly is a white media infrastructure that simply is ill-prepared to deal with the realities on the ground and calling a thing a thing. It is whiteness. It is, and see the problem is, they don't want, see, they keep using the phrases, oh, well, you know, that's, you know, no, that's, we don't like appealing to that kind of politics. We don't want to appeal to gender-based politics. We don't want to deal with race-based politics.

We don't want to deal with identity politics. Whiteness in America is an identity. Absolutely it is. But what happens is what's dangerous about not addressing it specifically, it's the same thing as what raises the hair on the back of my neck when I hear somebody say, I don't see color, right? When someone wants to say that they want to be racially blind. The reality is that you see color. I see color. Unless literally you

are colorblind, you see color, okay? But when you claim to not see color, what you are doing are two things. Number one, you're erasing seeing me in my hold is my history, my reality. But at the same time, you are also allowing the normalcy of built in advantages, built in institutionalized racism to continue to go unchecked. That is the benefit of not naming it, because when it becomes the status quo, then it's never challenged. Then it's just reality. And no one wants to admit that that reality needs to be changed. If you were to name it, if you were to name it, then a moral country would require that you address it. But not naming it allows the power to remain entrenched, unchecked, unchallenged, and unchanged. And so that's exactly what is happening in this reality, where the normalcy is not naming a thing when a thing is a thing.

And when you do that, then you never address the thing. There are advantages to not addressing it institutionally thing. There are advantages to not addressing it institutionally, and there's advantages to not addressing it personally. And that's exactly what we're seeing in terms of not only the white vote itself, when certain segments are clearly voting against their self-interest, but also with certain institutions, like what you're mentioning here, Roland, because there are advantages to not naming a thing. If you want to have access to the same power, the same financial resources,

those things that you need in order to continue to get your ambitions fulfilled. Yeah, I mean, I just, again, and there are a couple of anchors on cable news. I've been hitting them in the last three or four years, and I'm like, what are y'all going to do with whiteness? What are you going to do with whiteness? What are you going to do with whiteness? They don't want to deal with whiteness.

And it keeps happening. All right, folks, hold on one second. When we come back, I want to play for you my interview with Angela also. Brooks will talk about that. Huge U.S. Senate race in Maryland. That's next. Roland Martin on the Blackstone Network. He told us who he was.

Should abortion be punished? There has to be some form of punishment. Then he showed us. For 54 years, they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it. And I'm proud to have done it. Now Donald Trump wants to go further with plans to restrict birth control, ban abortion nationwide, even monitor women's pregnancies. We know who Donald Trump is.

He'll take control. We'll pay the price. I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message. In 2016, Donald Trump said he would choose only the best people to work in his White House. Now those people have a warning for America. Trump is not fit to be president again. Here's his vice president.

Anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States. It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year. His defense secretary. Do you think Trump can be trusted with the nation's secrets ever again? No. I mean, it's just irresponsible action that places our service members at risk, places our nation's security at risk. His national security advisor. Donald Trump will cause a lot of damage. The only thing he cares about is Donald Trump. And the nation's highest ranking military officer. We don't take

an oath to a king or queen or a tyrant or a dictator. And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator. Take it from the people who knew him best. Donald Trump is a danger to our troops and our democracy. We can't let him lead our country again. I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message. I get it. The cost of rent, groceries, and utilities is too high. So here's what we're gonna do about it. We will lower housing costs by building more homes

and crack down on landlords who are charging too much. We will lower housing costs by building more homes and crack down on landlords who are charging too much. We will lower your food and grocery bills by going after price gougers who are keeping the cost of everyday goods too high. I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message because you work hard for your paycheck. You should get to keep more of it. As president, I'll make that my top priority. Bob and I both voted for Donald Trump. I voted for him twice. I won't vote for him again. January 6th was a wake-up call for me.

Donald Trump divides people. We've already seen what he has to bring. He didn't do anything to help us. Kamala Harris, she cares about the American people. I think she's got the wherewithal to make a difference. I've never voted for a Democrat. Yes, we're both lifelong Republicans. The choice is very simple. I think she's got the wherewithal to make a difference. I've never voted for a Democrat. Yes, we're both lifelong Republicans. The choice is very simple. I'm voting for Kamala.

I am voting for Kamala Harris. IVF is a miracle for us because it allowed us to have our family. After having my daughter, I wanted more children, but my embryo transfer was canceled eight days before the procedure. Donald Trump overturning Roe v. Wade stopped us from growing the family that we wanted. I don't want politicians telling me how or when I can have a baby. We need a president that will protect our rights, and that's Kamala Harris. I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message. What's up, everybody? It's your girl Latasha from the A.

And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened

when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes sir, we are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch.

What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. So the Democrats thought they would have a fairly safe seat in Maryland. That is until

Larry Hogan, former governor, jumped in on the Republican side. And so it is a battle between him and Angela also Brooks, of course, the county executive in Prince George's County earlier today had an opportunity to finally have a conversation with her. And here is our discussion.

Let's jump right into it. Obviously the United States Senate is extremely narrow when it comes to the control of the Senate. When you look at this election, depending upon what happens in a couple of states, Republicans could be in control of it. And so for African-Americans out there who are watching, explain how critical each one of these races are when it comes to the agenda that black folks actually care about. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me on the show. And I think we all recognize that this is such a consequential election. Maryland, for the first time that any of us can remember, really is at the center of this race, determining the majority in the Senate. What that means is so many of the issues that we care about, everything from reproductive freedom

to the freedoms that our foreparents fought for. Those freedoms include voting rights, includes also the opportunity for us to have an economy that is fair, that addresses the needs of working class and middle class families, an agenda that focuses on ensuring that our children will be able to live better than their parents. So that's what we're talking about in this election. Gun violence, which has, of course, also disproportionately impacted our community. We know that in America, the number one way that our children die is by gun violence. So also having sensible gun legislation is going to be really important. But key to all of that is maintaining Democrats in the majority in the Senate,

because we recognize that the Republican Party has already made their agenda clear. They've declared war on the reproductive freedoms of women. They have, for the most part, allowed the NRA to write gun laws in our country and hand it over that to them. We know as well that their policies favor big corporations who, in so many instances, pay fewer taxes than average hardworking people, teachers and nurses and others. So this is the reason that this is going to be most important. And we know we're going to elect Vice President Harris as president. I'm already claiming that. And she's going to need to have a majority in the Senate to ensure that she's able to get her agenda passed, that she can have

her cabinet picks and other things. So it's a critically important election. You mentioned middle class workers. And Reverend William Barber and I talk about this all the time. It's rare candidates or politicians will mention poor and lowincome workers or the working poor, the people who are out there who are on the front lines. And so how does your agenda help those folks? Well, those are the people I grew up with. So I'm the daughter of a receptionist and a car salesman. And everything I've ever done has been focused on elevating the lives of the people like the ones I grew up with. And that agenda includes things like the tax credit cut for the permanent child tax credit. It includes making sure that people can afford the cost of prescription drug medications,

capping. You've seen that the Inflation Reduction Act that capped insulin at $35 and allows Medicare to negotiate with big pharmaceutical companies. That's huge for the average family, for poor families, for middle class families. It's huge because we recognize that many families are really one medical crisis away from complete financial disruption. So keeping down the cost of health care. And again, these are areas where the positions of the two parties couldn't be any different. The Republicans, when they were in control of the Senate, tried to overturn the Affordable Care Act 67 different times. This is the one that allows people like me to keep my 19-year-old daughter on my insurance

until she's 26. And that Inflation Reduction Act, which capped the out-of-pocket cost of prescription drugs like insulin, they attempted to overturn 30 different times. Every single Republican voted against it. So it has been the Democratic Party that has really centered affordability in health care and health care costs. And we're going to have to maintain the majority in the Senate to really make sure that our policies are favoring the hardworking, as you put in people in the middle and lower income families, that's going to be really important. One of the areas that people are focused on, high cost of rent, a lack of housing in this country, what often does not get talked about is the fact that after the housing foreclosure crisis of 2008,

we built the fewest number of homes in 2010, 2020, since the 1940s. Prince George's County was greatly impacted by the housing foreclosure crisis. Significant amounts of black wealth was wiped out as a result of that. And so what is your housing plan in terms of the federal government incentivizing developers to actually build housing? Because that really is the problem that we have. We did not build enough in 2010, 2020, and here we are four years into this decade, and we still have not kept up as well. That is a huge part of the housing issue. The second point is also private equity is will own about 40 percent of single family homes by 2030. And so how do you also propose in dealing with that?

Because if Wall Street is owning 40 percent of all single family homes, they have no incentive to sell. They want people to remain renters. Well, I mean, you're right. We have a huge housing crisis in our country. It's happening all across the country. It's definitely also happening here in Maryland, where I talk to families who are concerned about housing affordability. You know, the reality is, as you've mentioned, we've gone backwards in some regards. You know, my parents who married at 22 and 23, and neither of my parents had the opportunity to go to college and to reach the levels that we're talking about. But they, after five years, could afford to buy a modest home. That's no longer the expectation of so many of our kids. What I've done here in Prince George's

is to really prioritize growing the stock of affordable workforce housing. In fact, we have preserved or created 5,000 units of workforce and affordable homes just since 2020. Now, what we've done is to do that through some creative tools. We've created here a housing investment trust fund. We've also done the right of first refusal. You mentioned developers. Part of what we've done is to ensure that in the areas where we see growth and investment, we've worked with developers to cap the increase in rents in certain properties to ensure that people can continue to afford to live in those areas, even as we make additional economic investments. I agree, as we talk about moving forward with what Vice President Harris

has proposed in terms of offering also incentives, $25,000 incentives she's proposed to help first time home buyers. But I have to tell you that the, I think that one of the areas we have to also really focus on is just increasing income. You know, economic opportunity is going to be a priority for me. It has been as county executive. It's the reason that I worked hard to attract the national FBI headquarters to Prince George's County so we could have cybersecurity and technology jobs and really make sure that we're growing wealth in our communities. I think that's going to be critically important. It's going to be creating the housing stock.

And I think we also just have to continue to focus on creating jobs. And Prince George is here and this is something I'll do across the state. We have created more businesses than any county in this in the state of Maryland. We've also created more jobs. economy is going to be most important. Not only to helping people afford the cost of living, but that's the way that we grow wealth and help us to be able to afford the cost of assuming homeownership. We want people to be home owners. That's the point. And working to make sure that that happens means we have to continue to work to really increase the bottom line for most families. For more and more.

Thomas, you talked about the issue of wages. The economics is a huge issue. When you look at Baltimore, when you look at other cities around the country, you see folks who are left out of this particular economy as well. We hear this a lot in terms of young black men and others. comes to public policy to help spur not only investment, but really growth in these areas that are largely forgotten. People are complaining about gentrification. They complain that, you know, even if you look at these opportunity zones, developers come in, get tax breaks, but they really don't actually help the people who live there. And so speak to that again, creating those opportunities as a U.S. senator. Yeah, well, you know, so I first of all, I'm really glad that I'm going to have some good partners here. Governor Westmore is a really great partner.

Our other federal representatives are really great partners. And talking about what we must do is, again, to attract the kind of infrastructure dollars here that help us to grow the economy. And I'll give you a great example. This is the reason we cannot elect, for example, my opponent, who sent back $900 million, if you can believe this, to the federal government. Those dollars have been designated for the red line in Baltimore to create the kind of transit hub that would have allowed us to not only attract business, but to also help people get to economic opportunity. And in the former governor, he literally sent back $900 million to the federal government and

canceled the red line project. That's what I will not do. I'll be instead working with Governor Moore, working with Senator Van Hollen and our other delegates, Congressman and Fumay to continue to bring to our state the kinds of investments that will allow us to attract business and to grow it. So that's how how how how was that red line going to actually help workers? Because, again, when people hear that, it's like, okay, they hear the project, but what would that have done for regular ordinary folk? Well, what workers need are jobs. And having the red line helps to attract businesses. And businesses come to places where they see the, in other words, what happens is the public investment spurs private investment and causes the businesses that we want to come to us to come. And it furthermore allows the workforce the opportunity

to access those opportunities as well. And that's what the red line would have done is to create the kind of transit that would have allowed people to gain accessibility to places where the jobs are and would have also encouraged businesses to come. That's what we want, is that kind of public investment that then encourages also private investment. We want companies to be bringing their jobs and opportunities to Maryland. When we talk about HBCUs, a lot of people, we look at the investment HBCUs, people just look at the institution themselves, not realizing it's also impacting the areas around those HBCUs. You've got four in Maryland. We know, of course, the settlement that wasBCUs really need greater assistance with is research and development, federal grants, you know, a lot of those dollars. And so what is your plan to drive more of those federal R&D projects to the four HBCUs in Maryland?

You know, I think we have such a great opportunity. As you mentioned, we have some wonderful HBCUs in Maryland who are doing great things. You know, I think about Bowie State University and the innovation hub that they have developed. Dr. Brough has done a beautiful job there. We'll be working to attract both state and federal dollars to help grow the innovation hub that they're building at Bowie State University. I was recently last week at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where they have a tremendous aviation program. And we continue working with them to create the kind of partnerships. We have so many opportunities. We have in the state of Maryland, NASA and other federal agencies where I think we

can have wonderful partnerships to help grow. Morgan State University have been on that campus working as well. So we have lots of opportunities. So our HBCUs are doing great work and just working to make sure that we are attracting the kind of funding back both from the federal government and again working with our state partners to grow it is going to be important. And it's something that, again, I had experience doing. I'm bringing back federal dollars. I've had great experience doing that here. The FBI is one example of it, but also just, you know, increasing funding around transit and other things I've done here at the New Carrollton Metro, about a hundred million in new dollars in just the last two years but working with our hbcus and universities around maryland to grow things like quantum computing

is going to be um you know a part of what i'll be really centering again it's all around creating economic opportunity but creating that pathway for for all of our universities and our hbcus are a big part of that been watching um i was, obviously, NFL season and been looking at several games. And I swear the airwaves have been inundated by PAC commercials criticizing you regarding taxes. You have responded to that, these attack ads. And so for the public, you know, what do you tell the public when they see these commercials? And then, of course, there's no response to it. Again, somewhere from 18 to 20 million dollars the PACs are dumping into Maryland to bring you down. And so how do you address that particular issue? I mean, I think the public can see that these are very misleading ads.

The fact of the matter is I've always paid my taxes. Now, I also stepped up to help a family member when my grandmother needed to move out of her home. I took over her mortgage, did not know that she had applied for tax credits and had those on her home and was just notified of it just a few weeks ago. So making arrangements to to pay it back. But I think that people can see through this. Billionaires have come into Maryland, as you mentioned, 18 million dollars because they share a goal with former Governor Hogan. They want to get a majority in the Senate. And these billionaires have come in and really flooded the airways in an attempt to help him because, you know what, he shares their agenda. And what they know is if they have control of the Senate, they will control that agenda. And we already have seen what that agenda is. It is an agenda that that hopes to roll back the rights and freedoms of women.

It's an agenda that does not support voting rights. It does not support sensible gun legislation that will help us to stem gun violence. But we know, as a matter of fact, that unlike what my opponent says, he's not an independent. He's on their team, which is why they are spending these billionaires who are not only spending in Maryland, but they are also spending millions of dollars in places like Pennsylvania and all across the country hoping to defeat Democrats. And they have come to attack me because they realize that Maryland is a critical seat that will help to determine the majority in the Senate. And the Marylanders are savvy, and I think they can see through it. Last question for you. Education is a topic that people say they care about, but when it comes to campaigns, gets brought up uh and as i'm somebody who supports school choice parental choice uh but i believe i believe that if

there are public charter schools that are working hey that's great if there are those that are not they gotta go same with traditional schools and so uh are you supportive of uh public charter schools and and and what do you see what do you want to see done to improve the educational outcomes in Maryland, especially among black kids who were greatly impacted, and the data is in, by COVID and what happened from 2020 to present day? You know, I think obviously education is the great equalizer in our country. I've always said that, and I've been a huge proponent of supporting investments in education. One of the areas that I'm really interested in continuing to work is to make sure that all of our children have an equal

opportunity to succeed. We know, unfortunately, since so many of our schools are funded by local property taxes, your zip code generally determines the quality of your education. So I'll be working as a senator to make sure that we are funding Title I. I think it's also going to be important to make sure we're increasing funding for things like Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act so that all of our kids will have that opportunity and we recognize it of varying abilities to succeed. I'm also going to be just continuing to work to make sure that we are funding education throughout, making sure we keep down the cost of college. I think we're going to have to do things like investing in

Pell Grants to ensure that our kids continue their education. But these are issues that I have worked on as county executive, and I'll continue to do so as a senator, is to really make sure that we are funding education and creating the opportunity across a wide spectrum for all of our students. But what about public charters, especially those after the march? Yeah, you know what, I think that public funds really should be the public schools, that we should use public funding for public schools. I do understand that families... But public charters are public schools. Right. I understand that families do need choices, you know, and I can totally,

I'm supportive of that, but I think that public funds should be used for public education. And not, but public charters are public. So you're saying. But I do, but I support public schools first is what I support. Public schools first, but I do understand that we, and we have some charter schools here that have done very well also. Right. Right.

Okay. All right. Angela also Brooks, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. All right. Thank you so much. Obviously, this is a hugely important Senate seat. And, you know, Avis, it's really tighter than what Democrats had hoped. And again, Republican PACs are dumping a lot of money. You can't watch a football game without seeing 5, 10 ads constantly. So I saw one report where

Republican PACs are pumping anywhere from $18 to $20 million into the state in attack ads in this final month. Absolutely. Well, they're trying to make sure that the Republicans are able to get control of the Senate again. I mean, this is, you know, in many ways, as it relates to the Senate, who knows? Maryland might be this year's Georgia, right? We might be that state that really makes the consequential difference with regards to whether or not the Democrats can at least in some way maintain control of the Senate. And we know how important that is in terms of judicial appointments, in terms of if we definitely get Vice President Harris across the finish line, the bottom line

is that she's going to need to have a Congress that allows her policies to get put into place. And so we can't just focus on the presidential election only, as important as that is. We also need to make sure that we vote down the ballot. And in Maryland specifically, we need to make sure that we get that system in the Senate. It is going to be, I mean, again, I look at several different polls, Julian, showing also Brooks up by four to five points. Again, that is a margin that Democrats would prefer to see anywhere from eight to ten points, definitely double digits. You know, Maryland has always been Democratic.

And Larry Hogan, on the other hand, is a very popular kind of bipartisan figure. Now, people have to look at what he actually says, what he does, not what he says. You know, he flip-flops on choice. He's turned back, as Angela said, he turned back money from the federal government. He's a typical conservative, but he covers it up with nice. He covers it up with nice. So, Mitch McConnell is the one who recruited him to run for this seat. That should give everybody pause. This is going to be a very tight race.

And it just means that it's not only—it's down ballot. People are excited about the presidency. It's down ballot. But it's also turnout. I mean, turnout in this case is going to be absolutely critical. And I think a lot of people—I hate these polls, Roland, where they say she's leading, because some people will just stay home because they trifling, and then once she's leading, it doesn't matter. It does of course it matters so as I

said tear it out there's gonna be critical eyes I'm a big also looks fair I think the world I think she's doing very well but I don't anyone can take her victory for granted we can never take victories for granted especially we've got quite frankly a snake like Hogan who talks one thing and does another. But to that particular point there, Jolanda, look, he was a two-term governor, got significant black support. And if you're the Democrat, that's a reason Mitch McConnell recruited him to run in this race.

And so this is one of those races where we always say you got to run through the tape. You can't just sit here and just, oh, you know, OK, fine. Democratic state. We know we got it. We got it. We got it. No. I mean, you got to run hard, which means her campaign has to fight back, has to keep raising money, keep keep putting out ads, responding to the attack ads, but also pounding the pavement in Maryland to ensure that her voters turn out. Because again, because again, listen, they're expecting Vice President Kamala Harris to win Maryland by anywhere from 18 to 20 points. And so if she's winning by 18 to 20 points, there's no reason why this should be a four to five point race. It shouldn't be. But I also know that Republicans are instigating everywhere ways to steal votes

from Democrats. This is a Democratic Senate seat. We need to, at a minimum, maintain it. She needs to run through the finish line. At the end of the day, we need to make sure that the Senate stays Democratic, because the Senate are the ones who help with Supreme Court appointments. And we know that we want Vice President Harris to win the presidency. But if for some reason she doesn't, we need to make sure that the Senate is Democratic so that we don't get three more Republican Supreme Court justices, because we see what the Republican Supreme Court justices have done. They've turned back the hands of time and put us back into Jim Crow, women's rights

gone, black folks—it's against the law to talk about the impact of racial segregation and racial discrimination. So we've, at a minimum, got to do that. to talk about the impact of racial segregation and racial discrimination. So we've, at a minimum, got to do that. So we need to work hard to get also Brooks elected, because we need to maintain that seat. And then we need to take some others in some other places. But we don't need to take anything for granted,

because the Republicans are much more unified than us. And what I'm looking to see is if we are going to fight as hard to win the presidency, the House and the Senate. Right. Or do the Republicans. And I mean voting all the way down ballot. Yeah. All the way down ballot to the local dog catcher, if that's on the ballot. Because this country is going to be determined, the future of it, by this election. It's the most important election in my lifetime, probably a lot of people's lifetimes, because we

now have six Supreme Court justices who absolutely will again. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about

what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz

Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. It's the black people. And again, and again. No, who against the black people? Right, and again here, the reason the Senate is so important because whoever controls the United States Senate,

that's where you confirm you can confirm a presidential appointees. And what we're looking at here is that you've got the test race in Montana. He's down by about six points. Of course, Manchin chose not to run in West Virginia. So the bottom line is Republicans will win West Virginia. And so if they pick up one more, they control the United States Senate, which is also why Democrats said, hey, could we possibly win Texas? Could we win Florida? You know, that's those going to be tough, tough wins there. And so that's why the map is very, very difficult. Democrats are leading in Nevada, leading in Arizona. Sherrod Brown is up four or five points in Ohio. So that's why the Maryland race is so important. Hold tight one second.

Got to go to break. We come back. A little bit more on Roland Martin Unfiltered, including Sissy Houston becoming an ancestor. Folks, we'll talk about that in one more story. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Support the work that we do. Join our Bring the Funk fan club.

You can join, see your contribution to, of course, PO Box 571. Check some money order at PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. PayPal is rmartinunfiltered. Venmo is rmunfiltered. Zelle, roland at rolandsmartin.com. Roland at rolandmartinunfiltered.com. We'll be right back. Of 100 Republicans who worked in national security for Presidents Reagan, both Bushes and for President Trump, now endorsing Harris for president. She came up as a prosecutor, an attorney general into the Senate.

She has the kind of character that's going to be necessary in the presidency. Vice President Harris is standing in the breach at a critical moment in our nation's history. We have a shared commitment as Americans to do what's right for this country. This year, I am proudly casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. Former generals, secretaries of defense, secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force,

CIA directors, and National Security Council leaders, under Democratic and Republican presidents, Republican members of Congress, and even former Trump administration officials agree, there's only one candidate fit to lead our nation and that's Kamala Harris. I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message. Kamala Harris has never backed down from a challenge. She put cartel members and drug traffickers behind bars and she will secure our border. Here's her plan. Hire thousands more border agents, enforce the law and step up technology, and stop fentanyl smuggling and human trafficking.

We need a leader with a real plan to fix the border. And that's Kamala Harris. I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message. The overturning of Roe almost killed me. I had a blood clot in my uterus that caused my labor to have to be induced because of the overturn of Roe v. Wade. I wasn't able to get life-saving treatment sooner. I almost died.

And that's because of the decision that Donald Trump made. I was able to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I'm proud to have done it. The doctors and nurses were afraid that if they treated me in the incorrect way, that they would be prosecuted for that. And that's appalling. Donald Trump says that women should be punished. Do you believe in punishment for abortion?

There has to be some form of punishment. For the woman? Yeah. I believe that women should have reproductive freedom to make the choices about their own bodies. Four more years of Donald Trump means that women's rights will continue to be taken away one by one by one by one. This has to stop because women are dying. I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message. Here's a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems.

Oh, she had a big crowd. Oh, the crowd. This weird obsession with crowd sizes. It just goes on and on and on. America's ready for a new chapter. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris. I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message. Hello, I'm Marissa Mitchell, a news anchor at Fox 5 DC. Hey, what's up? It's Sammy Roman, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, President Kamala Harris' interview with Alex Cooper,

the host of the Call Her Daddy podcast, dropped yesterday. During the interview, Cooper asked Harris about comments made by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders regarding her and being humble and, you know, because she don't have biological children. Oh, I just love this clap back. I want to ask you a question because there, again, in speaking about women, there has been a very big fixation on biological children, stepchildren, women that have children versus women that don't have children. It's like a huge point somehow of this entire election, right? I saw the governor of Arkansas said,

my kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn't have anything keeping her humble. How did that make you feel? I don't think she understands that there are a whole lot of women out here who, one, are not aspiring to be humble. Two, a whole lot of women out here who have a lot of love in their life, family in their life, and children in their life. And I think it's really important for women to lift each other up. You know, I'll tell you, Alex, one of the things that I have really enjoyed about where the discussion has gone, one of the places it's

gone, we have our family by blood, and then we have our family by love. And I have both. And I consider it to be a real blessing. And I have two beautiful children, Cole and Ella, who call me Mamala. We have a very modern family. My husband's ex-wife is a friend of mine, you know, and also I'll tell you, look, I'm a child of divorced parents. And when I started dating Doug, my husband, I was very thoughtful and sensitive to making sure that until I knew that our relationship was something that was going to be real. I didn't want to form a relationship with the kids and then walk away from that relationship. My own experience tells me that, you know, children form attachments

and you really want to be thoughtful about it. And so I waited to meet the kids. And they are my children. And I love those kids to death. And family comes in many forms. And I think that increasingly, you know, all of us understand that, you know, this is not the 1950s anymore. Families come in all kinds of shapes and forms. All right, folks. That's the full clip? Or did it just freeze?

What happened? Y'all talk to me. Okay, all right. So, first of all, so I'm wearing my color of change voting while black shirt. But I might need to get a new t-shirt saying, I'm not aspiring to be humble.

See, that comment by Sarah Huckabee Sanders is what we call bullshit. And so let me speak to this because I think the problem that people seem to have is this is often spoken about to women. Women not having children. Well, if you married, you and your husband don't have children.

I don't have biological children. I ain't got no kid running around nowhere in the world. Now, not having biological children also allowed me to be in the position to be able to raise six of my nieces. Different nieces at different times. At first it was two, then later it was four, then later it was six, then it was back to two, then it was back to four, then it was back to six.

All of that took place over some 20-plus year period. And so I remember a friend of mine actually had asked me, hey, what about adopting? I said, well, God ain't never told me to adopt. And literally it was a few weeks later when my sister and her two children fled to my home, leaving an abusive marriage. I say that because I think it's beyond idiotic for these people who are stuck on stupid, questioning somebody, you don't have any children?

No. Not everybody wants to have children or it just don't happen for whatever reason. There's nothing wrong with that. But it shows you the sheer ignorance of a Sarah Huckabee Sanders and a J.D. Vance when they thumb their noses at people because they look at, frankly, women as procreation vehicles. Hold on. That literally is the state of mind of many of these Republicans. See, many of these white conservatives,

the reason they are so anti-abortion because they can't stand the fact that white people stop having kids. Right. That is a large part of this whole conversation so they are so angry about the great replacement theory well you can't put that on black people because y'all stop screwing that's not on black people

but I really wish people would chill with this antagonistic view towards women and couples who opt not to have children. There are people who some have grown up and they've had very difficult experiences with their biological parents. Others have said, you know what? I want to live my life the way I want it. And so therefore, I don't want to have kids. That's your business. If you choose not to.

But as you heard the vice president say, they are in a co-parenting relationship. So I just think it's shameful what Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. And dishonest, pathetic, and she really, she really, Ava should just shut her damn mouth. Yes, she should. Absolutely. As, you know, Coach Walls would say,

mind your own damn business, right? But I have to say what you're saying here is hitting the nail on the head. People have the right to make the choices in their lives that they want to make. And it's very interesting that J.D. Walls, J.D. Vance, for example, I never hear him critiquing men who choose not to have children. I only hear him critiquing women who choose not to have children. And, you know, I think it's completely tied to this great replacement theory because the challenge for them might not be necessarily that white women are only having less children. It might be that the black women, white women are only, are having less children with white men

because when they have children with other men they are no longer white okay so i'm just saying all that to say um mind your own damn business and people have the right to choose or not to choose to have children and that is their say julian you know You know, I call myself the other mother. I don't have children. I didn't want children. I'm too mean to have children. I know that. But I have nephews who spend time

with me, who I fly all over the country when I'm here, there, or everywhere. I think you met one of them one time, Anya. I have godchildren. Many of them. Who's here in D.C. hangs out with me from time to time, you know, basically. And I've got, you know, so many young ladies who went to Bennett and our president.

Young lady just named her child after me, Julianne White in Houston, Texas. So, you know, we nurture in the ways that we're comfortable nurturing. But it should not be about politics. This should not be raised in a political context. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has always been a little off. And clearly, I mean, you know, without even going to go through her record, it raised our eyebrows all over the place. You know, one of the first things she did was attempt to abolish critical race theory in Arkansas when she became governor. That girl is not wrapped too tight, as far as I'm concerned.

Look at her record as press secretary with the Orange Man and some of the things that occurred with her. So she needs to, like, you know, mind your damn business, keep your mouth shut, and, you know, put a bag over your head and just go away. She really is disgusting. But someone's marital status, children, that should not be a part of a policy conversation, period. Well, this is what you get, Jolanda, where you have these judgmental folks on the right, like somebody on YouTube says Sarah Suckabee Sanders, and the likes of J.D. Vance and others. So what I was going to say, you know, you talked about them stop screwing. They also having abortions, which is why they stopped abortion, because this is about white

women not keeping their babies. True story. But also, Sarah Huckabee's statement actually is the polar opposite of humility. It's actually arrogance, because she is patriarchal. I mean, if you listen to her, we should all be barefoot and pregnant, which is a whole other story. The days of that, the days of women not having options, is over. If we want to have kids, we can. If we don't want to have kids, we can. And it's our choice. But as you mentioned,

Roland, many of us have been parent-like to children who are not biologically ours. And we have played just as an important role as their biological parents in some instances. So family is not always about biology. And this whole notion that you have to have four children is craziness. I literally have one child because I had a very difficult pregnancy, and I'm surprised I didn't die during pregnancy. So I only have the one. And had I known, and I love my child, I wouldn't trade him for anything.

I had no idea that childbirth was so difficult or that carrying a child is so difficult. So Sarah Huckabee is buying into the Republican line, and she's saying things that absolutely does not take into consideration people who choose not to have kids, whether by choice or otherwise. And she needs to go somewhere because the 50s, the 40s, the 30s and those days are over. We're going to do what we want when I want and when we want. And this has to do with body autonomy, family autonomy. And we don't need the government deciding what we should do as a family. So she needs to find somebody else's business to get into. In fact, let me give her a penny so she can go buy her own business and get out of mine. Well, she need to go answer questions about who the hell bought that $17,000 podium in Arkansas

if they can't seem to figure out who paid for it. That's what she need to do. So appreciate it, folks. Thanks a lot. Appreciate it, Julianne, Jolanda, as well as Avis. Thanks a bunch. Folks, that is it for us. Tomorrow, tomorrow, I am on the road, folks.

We're going to be broadcasting live from Philadelphia. Y'all wrong. Guys, that's wrong graphic, y'all. That's Wednesday. Y'all, tomorrow. Thank you very much. That's Wednesday. Y'all, tomorrow. Thank you very much. That's Tuesday. So tomorrow, I'll be at Mount Carmel Baptist Church, 5732 Ray Street, Philadelphia,

broadcasting at 6 to 8. We want to pack the joint out. We want to see y'all there. So please come on out. That's going to be on Wednesday. Excuse me, on Tuesday with Mount Carmel. On Wednesday, we're going to be still in Philadelphia. We'll be broadcasting from another church on Wednesday, Sharon Baptist Church.

So look forward to you there. So tomorrow, again, we're going to be tomorrow at church with Pastor Moore. Going back to the other graphic. So this is tomorrow, Mount Carmel Baptist Church. That is tomorrow. We'll be there. And then Wednesday as well.

And then on Thursday, we'll be broadcasting live from Lincoln University, talking politics and looking forward to it. So, folks, that's it. Support the work that we do, y'all. Going on the road ain't cheap. How we bring staff and all our equipment and all this little stuff along those lines. So your support is crucial to our work. You can join our Bring the Funk fan club.

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