The Breakfast Club - DONKEY: Ashley Allison Talks 'Watering Hole Media,' Trump's Presidency Concerns, Federal Aid Freeze +More

Episode Date: January 29, 2025

The Breakfast Club Sits Down With Ashley Allison To Discuss 'Watering Hole Media,' Trump's Presidency Concerns, Federal Aid Freeze. Listen For More!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III, and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King, and our dear friends, Mark and Craig Kilburger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Join us for heartfelt conversations with remarkable guests like David Oyelowo, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter.

Listen to My Legacy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is My Legacy. Wake that ass up. It's in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning everybody is DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne the guy. We are the Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in the building.

Yes indeed. We have Ashley Allison. Welcome. Yes. Hi. How are you feeling this morning? Well, that's a hard question. Eight days, nine days into Donald Trump's America.

But don't let it stress you out. You can't think about it every day. You gotta remember your serenity prayer. Okay, that's a word. No, you know, yeah, I'm good, but it's a lot on my mind right now. What is your job doing? I feel like I know you

because I watch CNN all the time. And it's your job, and you always have to talk about these things. But I feel like they always put you in the position against the white conservative male and cause conflict on purpose just to stress you out. No, telling the truth doesn't stress me out. And I feel like that's all I do on CNN

is I'm gonna be a truth teller, I'm gonna hold you accountable, and I'm gonna call you out. And I literally like people like, I don't know how you do it. I don't either, but it's like my grandmother spirit comes in me and I'm calm, cool, collected. Now sometimes I'm like every once in a while,

but most of the time I'm just like, no, I'm not going. I'm from Yaxon, Ohio. So we just call the thing a thing. Yeah. Cause it feels like they like the conflict. Makes for good television. Yeah. I mean, well, I think the important thing that they try and do is obviously a lot of people think what the conservatives think because they just voted for Donald Trump, right?

And they're trying to get that viewpoint out, but I'm also like a lot of people still voted for Kamala Harris, too. Yeah, so I'm gonna try and get that viewpoint out. And it's gotta be a good faith argument. Right, a lot of people didn't vote at all. So we gotta get that argument out too, like what happened there? Why did people stay home? And I think there's still a lot of questions to be answered about what happened this November.

Can we go back a little bit and find out who Ashley Allison is and how you jumped into politics? So let's start off from what got you into politics? I led my first protest when I was in the second grade. Second grade. Wow. What was it all for? Damn. So I'm in the second grade. Second grade. Wow. What was it all about? Damn.

So I'm lactose intolerant. Me too. And most of us are. Most people in the world are lactose intolerant, so we should change that name. And the nuns at my school used to make us drink the milk. You were Catholic school? Yes.

I'm not Catholic, but I went to Catholic school. Most of us did. Yes. And I used to get sick every day after lunch. Wow. Every day. And they used to say it's because I didn't like math. Now, I don't like math.

And I'm not good at math. But I didn't make myself sick. And so the first was like, let me drink juice at lunch and not. And so it was just like, when something doesn't make sense, do something about it. Change it. Fix it. And then my parents raised like, when something doesn't make sense, do something about it, change it, fix it. And then my parents raised me, like knocking on doors

when I was a little kid, canvassing for candidates for city council. And then I just am someone like when I see something that is not right, it just agitates my spirit. That's why you like, don't let it stress you out. It's like part of who I am. I cannot see something that is wrong and not say something. And I feel like Obama came through and I was like, I'm part of who I am. I cannot see something that is wrong and not say something. And I feel like Obama came through and I was like, oh, how do you work on a campaign?

I was teaching at Boys and Girls High School actually at the time when Obama ran for president. And my students were engaged by him in a way I had never seen. And I was like, I want to work on his campaign. And it was kind of like all she wrote. Do you think we'll ever see that again? Do you ever think we'll see, cause he's a once in a lifetime generational time. He is a once in a lifetime generation leader.

And so is Donald Trump. He is, that's a fact. I've only seen three in my lifetime like that. Clinton, Obama, and Trump. Yeah, I don't know. I don't, honestly, I don't know if we need a once in a lifetime generational leader. I just think we need good leaders.

I think that the celebrity of it all is part of the problem, is like people, I want somebody who cares about the quality of everybody's life and wants everybody's life to be better. I don't need you to be a reality show star, I don't need you to be super famous, I don't even need to really wanna have dinner with you. Quite honestly, I just need you to know what you're doing and want to help people and get this country in a better place.

So, probably not. Now you said something stressed you out. So what stresses you out the most? Because he said what he was going to do. It's not like it's a surprise. He said what exactly what he's going to do. She's taking a breath right now. Look at her, she's taking a breath right now.

Did my eyes get real big? That's my tell normally. What stresses me out? Look at the lipstick and breath right now. Did my eyes get real big? That's my tail normally. What stresses me out? I think that we, you know, I was one of those people, Charlamagne, who called Trump a fascist. And I still think that. And I think that it is not, democracy

doesn't die by one fatal blow. It dies by 1 thousand little cuts and I think the first day when he pardoned January 6 folks that was 1,500 little cuts to democracy. I think when Friday night when he fires Inspector Generals that's another 18 cuts to democracy and for folks who don't know what an Inspector General is, it's literally the people who are supposed to do the auditing of federal agencies to make sure there isn't waste and fraud like they think they need doge for. And I think that no, is talking about an inspector general sexy and exciting?

No, but is it the thing that is a backstop? Yes. And I worry people are not paying attention and people are just kind of, not complacent, but are so frustrated with everything that they're throwing their hands up and saying like, I don't have anything to do. I can't engage. And apathy is how dictators thrive.

Despair is how, and I worry that people are becoming apathetic and finding this despair and feeling hopeless. And that stresses me out. Because like we have the numbers. I think he did say what he was gonna do. Some people are now surprised that he kept his word. We tried to tell him.

But it's the despair that makes me most nervous. I agree with everything. I'm sorry, good. I know you said it stresses a big part of your job and you don't mind. You don't care, you gonna keep telling the truth. You know, big part of your job and and you don't mind you don't care You won't keep telling the truth, you know, cuz that's your job but at what point is

The stress to the point like have you ever had a tipping point? Like are you I'm not about to be doing this no more like throwing a towel tight. Yeah, so, okay I'm a big yogi. I've been doing yoga for 25 years. So I'm always breathing I'm always staying grounded connected like feet on the ground making sure you're not gonna catch me on my balance the thing about why This moment I'm okay with it is because eight years ago the first time he got elected it almost took me out Mmm, like I was leaving the White House the relationship I was in and it I felt like my whole identity, I closed the White House down, right? I had no job.

My money was real funny, because you know, we don't make a lot of money in the government. And I was like, what am I doing? For six months, I was just kind of like, I was in a depression. I was in a, I almost hit rock bottom. And every day since then, I was in therapy, you know, I did a lot of the self a, I almost hit rock bottom. And every day since then I was in therapy, you know, I did a lot of the self work. I got my practices back together. And every day since then I've been building for this moment.

So it's not gonna, I'm not gonna get to the point where I like, I can't do this anymore. Cause I'm never gonna let somebody else take that much power away from me, you know? Did your ex vote for Trump? I don't know. I don't know. I don't talk about that. My mom is listening, so I can't say what I was about to say.

I'm talking to that motherfucker. Exactly. You said something that's very interesting about democracy, right? And I agree with everything you said. But I was watching Jon Stewart last night, and he presented a good point. He said that the thing that we need to remember about Trump

is this is democracy, because he was voted in. Yeah. And he has control of all branches of government now. Yeah. So the things he's doing we may not like it, but under the Constitution he has the right to do it. Well, not all things. Okay. The Constitution still exists for a reason, right? So you can sign an executive order, but democracy, we still have three branches of our government, right? So you can sign an executive order and the courts are actually supposed to be a checks and balances, right? So if it goes all the way up to the Supreme Court and the court says no, Donald Trump

can't then just override it, right? That's his tool. Well, that's the problem. That's the problem with is that we were supposed to have all these checks and balances. I think the thing that's on the front of my mind is this 14th Amendment around birthright citizenship. And I'm like, y'all better wake up, because this is not about birthright citizenship.

This is about being able to discriminate against all of us because of equal protection. Break that down. OK. So I think almost every legal scholar, except for the five that Donald Trump is going to find to bring this case, have said that birthright citizenship is in the Constitution and is not a thing.

But he still, on day one, signed an executive order. He even said in his interview behind the Resolute Desk that, I don't know if this is gonna work, but we're gonna try it out. So he's trying to press the levers of democracy to see. But the 14th Amendment also is the amendment that prevents from you to be able to be discriminated. It gives all rights to Americans in this country.

So black, brown, women, straight, gay. And it's bigger than just birthright citizenship. And so because immigration is such a big topic right now, they are introducing the fight through that lens as a foil almost, as a distraction, so that you focus on that and not on really what they're doing. And if you take one piece of the Constitution away,

then it starts, again, a thousand little cuts. It's a cut. And so they're trying to knock it down. So that's why I'm like, don't get distracted, y'all. Don't be in despair. Pay attention, you know? Like, eight years ago was when Stay Woke, we made it like the thing that people said again,

and then they turned it on us. It's like, no, like, wake up. You know? like no like wake up you know it's like Spike Lee when it's like wake up you know it's like this is happening in front of our face and now it's not the time to sit on a couch and be like school me on this too because they say they're saying that his plan to end birthright citizenship is like Dred Scott too right do? Do you think so? Well, I think, I don't know. I haven't heard people articulate that argument,

so I wanna hear a little bit more. Again, I don't like to just say something because it just sound like the smartest person in the room. But- There was an article in the New York Times. Okay, I think that the question is, is that a lot of people, birthright citizenship, they said it was brought through to give black people,

black and safe people, the right of citizenship. But it doesn't, it's not just about black people, it's about all people. Again, I think that, again, every legal salt scholar, Republican, conservative, even Scalia, most of his clerks, most of people who are Scaliaites are like, and Scalia is one of the most conservative Supreme Court justices we've ever had say that it shouldn't be able to pass a legal muster. I don't even know if the Supreme Court will hear the case, but we will find out.

But again, that's the distraction over there because today he just stopped federal funding on programs like SNAP. So I was going to ask, so what is your thoughts on the parting? Right? All the parties that he's in. Nah, for real. Wake and all of that?

So the way, I mean yeah, last night he rolled out starting today at 5 p.m. that federal funding and grants need to be halted. Now, that means monies that go to cancer nonprofits, all nonprofits, veteran services. And so, again, it happens in the middle of the night, you know, stop. Now, today, watch, you're going to do some wild stuff. To distract everybody. To distract everybody. Yeah, yeah, stop. Now today, watch, you're gonna do some wild stuff. To distract everybody from that. To distract everybody.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't focus on the distraction, focus on the trick they trying to play on you. So we're, right now, people are looking at it, looking at lawsuits, looking at litigation that they can file to halt this. You know, I woke up this morning to a text from my cousin who literally just had a baby yesterday and she

was like, Section 8, my SNAP benefits, she runs a real estate thing and she's like, my tenants are Section 8, are they going to be able to pay? Am I going to be able to pay? This is real life, you know what I mean? I'm on CNN, but that's my first cousin that I'm talking about here that is like what is what's happening and To truth be told a lot of people who voted for Donald Trump are gonna now face that consequence as well Which is why when it's like there is in every crisis There's opportunity if we actually could start having conversations with people About the economics that are happening in this country and the real working, them working class people. That's right.

But that's what I was going to ask. Do you think the pardon and things that he's doing that is making the press, he does that so you don't see the other stuff that he's doing? People are talking more about the pardons and the January 6th rise and they're talking about all these other things. But like you said, the main things that he's doing that is affecting us the most, we don't see because we're more distracted with the pardons. We're more distracted with this.

So do you think that's his way of doing this? Let me write this here so the press can go this way and I can fly under the radar and do this. Because like something I've seen yesterday, which was all over the place was Donald Trump is gonna get rid of taxes, right? Right, the IRS, yes. The IRS, right? But people were like, really?

Really? That was a talking point. But then he did all these other things under the radar that people are not talking about. Yeah, the first day he got inaugurated, he was sharpening it up with all his executive orders and all these different locations and everybody was talking about the pardons.

Now, let me be clear, the pardons were messed up. And I'm not trying to undermine them. Simultaneously, he rescinded 78 executive orders that Joe Biden did. Do you know what some of those executive orders are? Capping the cost on prescription drugs. Making the Affordable Care Act weaker. Making Medicaid weaker. Protecting workers' safety and health.

But nobody was talking about that. So I was like, wait a minute. That's what I was saying. It's. Wait a minute. I got it. But I can do two things at once. So yeah, I do think that a lot of the things that he does, I mean, he is a master performer and executor of a show and he is putting on a show right now But I want to I want to see the credits. I was reading this clause It was a clause in one of the DEI initiatives that he said He signed the executive order that only stops the federal government supplier diversity program and removes the requirements for federal contractors to be addressing DEI issues It includes a clause that federal contractors must certify they are not running DEI programs

to be eligible for government contracts. So any store that offers WIC is considered a federal contractor. Any company that supplies products for WIP SNAP, et cetera, is a federal contractor. Is that true? Again, I will want to do some research on that. But here's the thing. This is not their first time at the rodeo, right? And so they, as someone who worked at the White House,

like I remember my first day and I was kind of like, what is happening? Like what is up from down? It is a massive institution. And that, at that point, Obama had been in office for five years. So people knew how it was going. It does take a lot of time.

So when they are writing these executive orders, they're writing it so that the tentacles go in all spaces all nooks and crannies so when they say if you if you change a title now tell on somebody that tell and if you don't then like then you can lose your job it reminds me honestly of what they did in Texas with the abortion laws where it was like a Woman can't have an abortion and if you help her have an abortion that can be against the law if you are the uber driver It's all to invoke fear. It's all to ask people to comply without needing to comply That's another dangerous thing is like if you don't tell me I have to do this because it's not the law then I maybe shouldn't do it like so To hear that I wouldn't be surprised because they want to get you tripped up and they would just want you to be afraid

So then you're like, I'm not gonna do it. Mm-hmm. It's too hard. I'm just gonna step away And what are the guardrails right because what can be done to keep these executive orders from becoming actual legislation? Well right now, the Republicans have the House and the Senate. But in the Senate, they do not have a filipoosa breast, so they can't, they don't have 60 votes, which you need in almost everything for something to become law. I hate to say it, but like, there is an election into, there are elections every year, actually. But there is an election into there are elections every year actually, but there is an election to take back the house in 2026. One way to make sure that those things don't become law is to make sure that there are

people who will not vote for them. But you still are represented whether you're a Republican or Democrat, you should still talk to your elected officials now. I think that a lot of times people just wait until the election. It's like, no, if you don't want that to become law, call your elected official now. Have a conversation with them. Call your a lot of a lot of states are going to have to make decisions now about accepting federal funding. You know, people didn't vote for the infrastructure bill, but they sure are getting bridges built in their cities and towns from that infrastructure money

so call your your mayor call your state legislature call your Governor and say we do want these federal funds that go to our school to make our roads and improve better I mean that is how they don't become law is To make sure that the elected officials don't vote for them. Could Republicans get rid of the filibuster? Yeah. They will. I mean, well... They will. I mean, I think...

I think they will. They say they won't. They will. Everything I wanted Democrats to do in order to properly govern, Republicans are going to do. I, yes. I...

am waiting for the day where I say, I told you I would, you know, because something will happen and it might actually happen this year because right now, you know, the Republicans went down to Florida yesterday to have this conversation with Trump about what is his legislative packets going to look like, right? Is he going to split up? Is he going to do this one big thing?

And it's hard to make laws, right, in this country. And Congress has the lowest approval rating because they don't make a lot of laws. But, and there's gridlock right now in DC and it has been made for most of our lives, right? But the Republicans went down to have this conversation with Donald Trump and whether or not they're gonna roll out this big package that includes immigration, tax reform,

the budget, or they're gonna roll out this big package that includes immigration, tax reform, the budget, or they're gonna separate it. And I think you could see an opportunity where this is where he's like, get rid of it. I want it done. And if you don't, I'm gonna primary you. Ashley, you know he is. They are.

I'm not saying that. Where's the lie? You know, it's like, I hear you. What's your biggest fear? What should our biggest fear be? You named 19,000 things that we should be fearful of, but what is the biggest fear that you're saying this is gonna be fucked up?

I don't, I don't, I, the reason why I'm not answering that question is because I don't think we can only look at one thing. I think we have to have the discipline to look at it multitask, right? I think we cannot just be like I'm only gonna activate when this happens because it might be too late So what do we at least have like a top three? Yeah, I mean I think if I Think if they get rid of the filibuster

We already in trouble, right? That's not that's good. That's so if that conversation really gets activated We should be mindful of that and for folks who don't know the filibuster Require 60 votes to get something through the Senate The house you only need a majority. And right now, there's only 53 Republican senators. And if there's a tie, the vice president, which is JD Vance, now would break the tie. So the filibuster is one.

It's a backstop to make sure that, like, actually, the will of the people is becoming law. I do think that if that birthright citizenship case is taken up and actually goes to the Supreme Court and what's the third the secret in the night we don't know. Yeah yeah yeah, yeah. Cause like, let's just be honest, they wrote it all down. Like my biggest fear is 2025, just boom, like all 900 pages come to reality. But they already told us that.

It's like some stuff that I know we don't know. You know, we always talk about the problems, right? What are the solutions? What can people do to try to stop this or to try to curve it? What can people do? Because a lot of people listening are like, we know the problems.

We know we gotta deal with the next four years. We see it happen in the last eight, nine days. But what can we do to stop it? What's the solution? Yeah, I think being in community is the most important thing, right? Sitting by yourself and spiraling and doing scrolling. One of the things, the coolest thing

that is happening right now, y'all following Hillman talk? No. On TikTok? Okay, so this is why I love black women. Like we the 92% supposed to be sitting down chilling and we done created a whole HBCU online on TikTok in the last seven days. So a black professor, she put a video out

about African-American studies class for her 36 students. It is now a place where 20 plus PhDs, all black folks teaching African American Studies, teaching the art of resistance, teaching economic power. That's self-organizing, right? I think right now one of the things we have, our people have been through many, many things. And one of the best things you can do right now is to educate yourself on how to sustain oppression. You're saying Dr. Barlow is the name. Dr. Barlow, yes, yes.

And so they're educating us on forms of resistance, and on, so you don't just sit and say like, well, how did, you know, the civil rights movement survive? How did we get the Civil Rights Act? That did not happen overnight. We tell that. A lot of times our country tells that during Black History Month, if they even tell that story.

That was like a 15-year struggle just to get that one piece of legislation. So find yourself in community and educate yourself. I'm not going to take a stance on the boycotts right now, but I do think our economic collective buying power is very important. There's a lot of conversation about boycotting companies who are getting rid of DEI.

I think boycotts are hard, but boycotts can be used strategically. And if we as a community really put some strategy behind it, it could be effective while we're still helping black businesses and entrepreneurs thrive. And then I think we gotta have some tough conversations, y'all. Yeah, and the hardest part about it is like,

getting people motivated to do it and activating people to do it. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's like, I'm 32, and a lot of people in my generation, they don't care. You know what I'm saying? They lot of people in my generation, they don't care, you know what I'm saying? They care, but they don't care enough to like, if it don't affect them directly like right now,

they not doing nothing, you know, they just. I do know. And I know a whole bunch of people that's like, oh, Trump had money in the hood, so you know, we good. And then you sitting there telling me, snap is gone. You know, all the stuff in the night that's happening you only know half of them pregnant that's hitting me like cousins and the homegirls and by Trump gave us that check and he didn't get to you know man his name is on it but he ain't even because of him you got it you know and it's

just how do you properly educate properly activate people to listen and really care about? Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King, and our dear friends Mark and Craig Kilburger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Each week, we'll sit down with inspiring figures like David Oyelowo, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter. And their plus one, their ride or die,

as they share stories never heard before about their remarkable journey. Listen to My Legacy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. This is My Legacy. I'm so sick of hearing men talk about women's basketball. If only there were a professional WNBA player with her own podcast I could listen to.

Hey, this is Lexi Brown, WNBA player and professional yapper. And this is Mariah Rose. You may know me from spilling the tea on Hoops for Hotties on TikTok. And we've got a new podcast, Full Circle. Every Wednesday, we're catching you up on what's going on in women's basketball. And not just in the WNBA, but with Athletes Unlimited,

Unrivaled, and college basketball. We've got you with analysis, inside stories, and a little bit of tea. I know you guys have seen a lot of former and current basketball players telling their stories from their point of view. And I just think it's time for the girlies to tap in. We want to share all of the women's basketball stories that you won't see anywhere else.

Tune into Full Circle, an iHeart Women's Sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Everyone's forgotten who runs this valley. Time to remind them. Yellowstone fans, step into the Yellowstone universe. Our family legacy is this rich.

And I'll protect it with my life. Hosted by Bobby Bones, the official Yellowstone podcast takes you deeper into the franchise that's captivated millions worldwide. Action! Explore untold behind-the-scenes stories, exclusive cast interviews, and in-depth discussions about the themes and legacy of Yellowstone. You know, the first stunt is to settle this valley fight and it was all they knew. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to the ranch... You know, the first studs to settle this valley fight was all they knew. Whether you're a long-time fan or new to the ranch, Welcome to the Yellowstone. Bobby Bones has everything you need to stay connected to the Yellowstone phenomenon. I look forward to it.

Listen to the official Yellowstone podcast now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's go to work. the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here at LifeKit and PR Self-Help Podcast, we love the idea of helping you make meaningful lifestyle changes. Our policy is to never be too punishing on yourself or too grand in your goals, which is why we've got shows on how to make little nudges to your behavior and create habits that stick. Listen to the LifeKit podcast on iHeartRadio. Their lives, why would you wait till something happened to you when you know you can do something, like you said, stand with a community to

like to help prevent it in any type of way? Yeah, I mean, I to help prevent it in any type of way. Yeah, I mean, I hear you. And you activate people. It's hard. If it was easy, like, we wouldn't be here. Yeah. Honest to goodness. And I think that people honestly deserve

to have a sense of like, it don't matter, right? I love Obama, but I know a lot of people whose lives haven't changed over the last 20 years under Democrat or Republican. So I get it. I think it's the responsibility. I don't actually think it's their responsibility to activate. I do think like elected officials need to activate them.

But I always say, you know, start with not me saying this is what you should care about. What do you actually care about? Like if you can tell me any topic just about and I can find a way to bring it back to like something you should care about. You know what I think a lot of times like what Jess said, you don't realize it until it affects you. That's right. Like you hear birthright citizenship right and let's say like if you're Dominican, you might be out of here. I'm not Dominican, I'm fully black. I'm fully black, stop it. But like, if you don't have a family member

that's from out of this country, it doesn't affect you. Same thing with the medicine and pills. If you don't need medicine right now, it's not affecting you that way. So you're not even thinking about those things. So it's hard to activate until something really affects you and you see it really hit close to home you know. And it does affect you. But at that point it's too late. But it's two steps removed right like half of the there are workforces right now in

California that are not showing up to harvest crops because they're afraid they're gonna get deported you think that's gonna make eggs and groceries go down? No. When they lose a whole crop and now they're out of their business for the season and they gotta hike it up next, that's not gonna- I've been hearing about it. I know Mexican truck drivers scared to drive. They think they're gonna get pulled over. Yeah. How you gonna get your Amazon? Yo, he's like-

He playing with you, Jess. He playing with you, Jess. He playing with you. He's Mexican. Don't put He playing with you, Jess. He playing with you. He is Mexican. No, I didn't hear that. He playing with you, Jess. Don't put me in the middle of this. He playing with me too, because you believe you thought I was Dominican for real.

I'm not, I'm not. He looked at me like, okay, I didn't know. I'm black. But I did hear that. He didn't hear that. It's okay if you are Dominican. I'm black though. It's okay, shout out to the Dominicans.

Hola, but I'm black. Ashley, you said something when you was answering, Justin, I totally agree with. It's not people's job to activate. It's elected officials' jobs to activate the people. And that's where I feel like Democrats have failed. Yeah. And you work for the Biden.

You work for the Obama-Biden administration and Biden-Harrison administration. But we were. So we activated them. But I think that, yes, it is the responsibility of elected officials. It is the responsibility to do that all the time. I'm not stupid.

If somebody came to me like, if you hear I won the lottery and then you wanna be my friend, catch me later, right? That's sometimes how people run political campaigns. So we are not stupid. We know when people are being sometimes, we know when people are playing in our face and coming to just get a vote.

I'm not saying that's what the vice president did. I do not actually think that's what vice president Harris did at all. I think she has probably been one of the most consistent folks who have showed up in our community. But like, you should be in communities now knocking on people's doors saying, what do you want from me?

I agree. I am your public official, I am your public servant. What do you want from me? And then listen. Don't do it as like a fake, listen to what them, and then go sit and think about how you can do something Gavin Newsom did that and I thought that was dope but he uh, you know, he went and spoke to the counties that flipped red Yeah, and I just thought that was smart

Like just go listen to people because if you literally if democrats had just been listening to people the last four years None of this stuff would have surprised them the way people felt about the border wouldn't surprise them The way people felt about the economy wouldn't surprise them. None of this stuff would have surprised them. The way people felt about the border wouldn't have surprised them. The way people felt about the economy wouldn't have surprised them. None of this stuff would have surprised them. I agree. I agree. And I think, like I always say, I

was allowed to have hope and believe that the vice president can win. Like, I'm allowed to dream of something better than what we currently have. But we also have to live in reality. And people, you know, I'm one of those people where I do think racism and sexism played a huge role in this election cycle, particularly when she became the nominee. But I also think like some people really are struggling in this country and really are just looking for an alternative.

A lot of and a lot of people. And. I used to be one of those people who never talked to Republicans, like it was it was a part of my like, hi, I'm Ashley, are you Republican? Because I will walk away. And once Donald Trump went, I was like, I got to change this. How do I call myself a political strategist and I don't even know what my opponent is doing. Like, if you play sports, you study tape, you watch them, you go watch them play, you scout them out.

So I'm not going to have an interaction with you. I'm gonna be, you are so much my enemy that I can't even have a conversation. And then I started having conversations. I was like, oh, we actually agree on some things. Let me see if I can actually talk to you about why you're voting. And I don't think we do that.

I'm not just saying Democrats, Republicans don't do it either. We are at a place in our lives where if you say something that I disagree with, we just walk away. We don't know how to have conversations. We don't know how to engage with somebody. We don't know how to talk to one another.

We don't know how to coexist. And that's a real problem. I agree with that. And I actually believe Republicans did study Democrats. And they realized how cowardice Democrats are. And they realized that there's a lot, they realized they can just run over them. And they realized they wouldn't do anything about it. And I think that's where,

Democrats have not learned how to treat Republicans the way Republicans treat them. Because when you look at it just on the surface, sometimes it looks like Republicans, and I don't wanna say good guy, bad guy, because it's just politics, but sometimes it looks like Republicans are the ones that are doing the right thing,

and Democrats are the ones that are fighting for right thing and Democrats are the ones that are you know fighting for the wrong thing. Give me an example. Oh man I'll give you an example the example to me is the border issue right because I remember you know back in January just having conversations with who I believe became the new hypothetical swing voter right which was just us black people and brown people and there was black people in Chicago activists in Chicago telling me about the issues that were going on at the border they weren't anti-immigrant they were more pro-resources like they felt like yo these people are getting way more resources than us then you had people here in New York telling me about crime that was going on in

their communities these weren't white people these were black people spanish people telling me about ms13 and everybody running you know know, ramping through their neighborhoods. And so when I would come on the air and just have those conversations, like that day when Mayor Adams shut the school down, he's electing migrants staying for the day, and everybody was calling in mad as hell. So when I would get on the radio and have these conversations and just tell people what black and brown people were saying about the border, MSNBC ran a headline, Shalimeen Agad is spreading MAGA messaging.

I'm like, how the hell is this MAGA messaging? And it's coming from our community. Yeah, I think everything has to be put in context. I agree, I think that there are things that happened this election cycle that we missed. And I'm never gonna say, like, on the border issue, I don't really see how the Republicans are doing the right thing because they also like

They're just speaking what people are feeling. Yes. Yes They are like it's not a problem. They are hitting the emotion that people are feeling right and Fear and anger can be the best activator. That's right people and that was tapped into this election cycle in Various different ways. I do think Republicans study people. I don't know if they study Republicans, but they study the potential, or Democrats, but they study their voters and they were like, there is some, there's an emotional reaction once you get triggered. You know how hard once you just triggered to come back down and they seized on it and they captivated. And one of my friends, he always says,

Democrats are making a documentary and Republicans are making a blockbuster movie. Because we're like facts, facts, facts, facts. And they're like, I can't put food on my table. And if like, if I can't put food on my table, I don't care about your facts, because it's not equating. And we missed the mark on it.

And sometimes just being seen is enough. It's right. Like we know that. We're black. We know that too. Just listen to me. That's it, just see me. Just see me, just like sit down, have a conversation with me.

That is so validating, but I do want, I want to be more than a conversation. I want you to hear, I want you to listen, then I want you to take some action if you've been put in office to do so. Now you worked for the Harris campaign. No, no, no. I worked for Biden Harris. Biden Harris campaign. Yeah, no, no. I worked for Biden-Harris.

Biden-Harris campaign. Yeah, yeah, not this go around though. Do you think that Harris should run again? I think that black woman should do whatever she wanna do. And if she never wants to give one more day of public service to this country, she has already done enough. And I think she should be given the time

to think about what she wants to do, and the time to dream about what she wants to do and the time to dream about what she wants to do and then the time to actually do it. You talked about sexism and racism. Do you think this world and this country's ready for that? Because we've seen what happened here. Well, if they were, we would already have a female president.

Facts. I mean. I think they are. And the reason I say that is because we do have to factor things like the Electoral College in 2016. There's no Electoral College. Hillary have to factor things like the electoral college in 2006. There's no electoral college. Hillary Clinton is the president of the United States of America. And we also have to factor in, Vice President Kamala Harris did get the second most votes of any Democratic nominee ever. 72 million votes. That's a big deal. And going up against a superstar like Donald Trump, that's a big deal.

I think that America is more than ready. I really do. Well, you are more, I mean, I said what I said. If they was ready, we would, we would maybe even had a Republican female president. We just haven't. I think that there are still so many biases, conscious and unconscious biases

that we don't even know exists in this country. And until we have some real tough conversations, I think we're going to be stuck. Can Trump go for a third term? And how could he make that happen? No! He is termed out! Everything has context! The 22nd Amendment of the Constitution. There's currently a piece of legislation that has been introduced that would allow any president to run for a third term.

Now you say, how do we make sure these things don't become law? Well, you know what I was like for New York with Bloomberg. Bloomberg was only supposed to run two, and he ran like four. Yes, yes. Changed it up. So you can. And nobody said nothing. You can amend the Constitution. And it I do. He ran like full. Yes. Yes. Changed it up. So you can. Nobody said nothing. You can't you can amend the constitution. It is extremely hard to amend the

constitution. I think you need. Not when you got that political white supremacist will. Right. So when you talk about how you make sure these things don't become law, that's what I'm talking. Like you that should never even see the the light of day. Now, truth be told, if Trump can run for a third term, so can Obama, so can Clinton, so can all the other presidents that are alive, if they will. But currently now in the Constitution, Trump could not run for a third term. The problem with that is they're not going to use that power when they get it. That's what pisses me off about Democrats. That's why I stay on Democrats' neck. They're not going to use the power even if they get it. They want what pisses me off about Democrats. That's why I stay on Democrats and that they're not going to use the power even if they get it. They

want to do everything. They want to do all these political norms when things have not been politically normal since 2016. I agree. I agree. We are in a new normal and we have to recalibrate to that new normal. Like we are not operating. That's why when you know my famous line is when they go low I match normal. Like, we are not operating. That's why when, you know, my famous line is, when they go low, I match energy. Like, I don't know. That's my thing. Like, I don't stay high.

Are you mad Michelle hasn't said anything yet? Because the reason I say that is because Michelle kind of set the tone, right? When she said, when they go low, we go high. But then she decided to not even go at all. Not to the federal, not to the inauguration. I think she's, sometimes actions speak louder than words. That's true.

Do you feel like Obama should have set out of the inauguration? Or at least not have been cracking jokes behind coming. I was like, what is happening? I understand why he went. I don't. I know you don't. I've heard you.

It wasn't to the inauguration? But I will say, I don't think I would have been there. How about that? I mean, but that's why I'll probably never run for office because I match energy. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's not how I rock. So I understand why Democrats felt like it was important to go. Here's what I will say. I think that because they went, you can't just then disappear. You have to provide context to people who you were ringing the five alarm fire to about why you went. Because I think, you know, you know you have a massive platform, right? And so you do stay on Democrats. I think you also stay on Republicans.

And I think though, sometimes people, you know how social media works, people take a clip and flip it and put it out there. Oh, we seen it in a bunch of Trump commercials. Yeah, right. Them too. Right? Them too. And so you always just wanna make sure

people can't use your words against you, people can't use your actions against you, particularly when you're the first, like a President Obama. So I think that you probably will hear more from him about why he felt it was important for him to show up and be the bigger person. But I think you also then have to still hold Trump accountable. I would not be up there kee keeing with Donald Trump though.

I don't know what they were saying. Even if I was just sitting there chilling, all right, cool. I don't know what they were saying, but I got questions, sir. I think you can concede the election, but you shouldn't concede the Constitution. I agree. And when you call somebody, when you liken somebody to Hitler, when you call somebody a fascist, when you say they're a threat to democracy, you just simply got to act like it.

Trump acted like it. When Trump said the election was stolen, I'm no peaceful transfer power. I'm not going to an inauguration. He still thinks it was stolen. That's right. That's right. So it's just like, I don't know, it just makes, I always say Republicans are most sincere about their lies

and Democrats are about their truth. When Republicans lie, it sounds like they're telling the truth. When Democrats are standing in truth or even trying to stand on integrity, it just looks like they're full of shit. That's just my personal opinion. Yeah, I mean, we are in a new normal. And I guess my question I always have is like,

do we want to go back to what we used to have? I think it's over. It's over. Yeah, I think it is too. But I wonder if when Donald Trump, if and when Donald Trump goes away, what that means. Because I do think a lot of this is wrapped around him.

And to your point, like, will there ever be another Obama? Part of the challenge is I think point, like, will there ever be another Obama? Part of the challenge is I think that, like, if you try and replicate Trump, you can't, because you're not Trump. If you try and replicate Obama, you can't, because you're not Obama. So who's gonna step up on both sides, right?

If he can't run again, who's gonna be in the field? Is it JD Vance or somebody else? JD Vance is not gonna be able to hold in the field is it JD Vance or somebody else JD Vance is not going to be able to hold hold it like Trump hold it but if Trump changes all this legislation if you don't think like you're ready to filibuster it's gonna be it's gonna come a time it's gonna come remember I said the constitution is gonna be about worth as much as this this paper I'm holding in my hand I see all of that happening so when he does that it don't matter who's I the top of the table. I think it could happen. I think we have to figure out how to activate people so it doesn't happen.

The only thing that will stop this is the will of the people. And I think people are misreading Donald Trump's election in that people don't want a democracy because he won. No, I don't think that's what people are saying. People are saying I had to prioritize issues and democracy wasn't the first one on my list, right? So we cannot let them forget that. We cannot let this new normal just become, it still has to feel like we're in a different age. Everything still needs to feel disoriented, agitated. Like we can't just be like, oh yeah, that's Donald Trump.

No, we can never allow that to happen. That's why whenever I'm on television, I'm not just gonna sit back and just let a lie be told and just not check it. We can't, and all of us have to, I can't do it by myself, you can't do it by yourself. We have to keep telling the truth, we have to tell the whole story,

we have to have some tough conversations, but we cannot allow, the Constitution can have power as long as the people demand it have power. You said something else that made me think too, because yeah, people can't do Trump, but yeah, people can't do Obama either. Right. And I think that's the problem with the Democratic Party.

Yes, who are you? Exactly, I look at Barack Obama like Steph Curry, meaning that he changed the game. I would have said LeBron, but okay. But Steph changed the way people actually play. Yeah. And everybody thinks they can play like that, but they cannot play like that. And I think you got a bunch of Democrats who have been trying to do Obama and it does not

work. I agree. I think you have this in a lot of industries. People try and emulate something that they are not instead of finding out who they really are. And the thing about it is finding out who you really are is a lot of work. It's a lot of work because you got to look at the good, bad, and the ugly. That's right.

And you got to do the work to heal and be able to say, what have I done wrong? How can I grow? How can I... you got to like evaluate all the traumas in your life so you can ascend to a higher level. That is not easy work. That is scary work for a lot of people. But I think if more people did it, we would have a lot more options out there for leaders in general. Political leaders in this world right now and people who are sitting on the sideline that probably have the potential to change

the trajectory of this country and they don't even know it yet. Is it tough working in news media right now with Trump in office? Because I mean, I don't know, but I feel like there might be mandates coming down of people saying, hey man, watch what you say here, watch what you say there

because you see ABC settled, CBS is talking about settling. This guy is, he's a so hungry guy. Is there any fear about that? I've never, you know, I've been at CNN now almost four years, I've never been told what to say, what not to say. I think we've only been in Donald Trump's America

for eight years, or eight days, and it feels like eight years. It has been. Yeah. He's really been Trump's America for eight years or eight days and feels like eight years. It's really been a stroke of America for eight years. Yeah, and it's not about people telling you what to say. It is about the fear of being sued, the fear of the hate mail, the fear of the attacks. Like, the internet is, like, awful. People are mean, you know? But again, if you don't know who you are,

then you listen to it and it actually rock you. No. So, yeah, I think that, you know, but again, if you don't know who you are then you listen to it and let's it like she rock you No, so yeah, I think that you know I actually have the beginning of the year did a lot of prayer meditation about like how can you show up and stand on truth and not become afraid not become a shrinking violet like I The the seat I have I hold with great honor and privilege I don't own the seat but I but I'm sitting in it right now, and I feel like I have a responsibility

to people to speak the truth. And so the moment, I used to say this when I worked at the White House, the moment I walk through those doors and I don't feel like it's an honor and privilege to serve this country, I need to stop coming through those doors. And the day I go to CNN or sit here or anything

and I can't tell the truth, I need to stop going. Because I need to pass the torch to somebody who can. Because I can't, it doesn't mean I failed, it doesn't mean I just, it's not my time anymore. Time is up. What stories do you want to tell with Water and Whole Media? That you're the CEO of.

Oh, yeah, you know. I just started in 2009 during Obama because I saw this wave of social media. I want to tell the story. I want to give people in democratized microphones. You know, there are a lot of creators out there who do amazing things. I restarted Watering Hole after the infamous Montgomery

uprising with the folding chair, right? And I'll tell this story in 24 hours. I saw the trajectory of that story change in the morning I saw news media outlets starting to cover it with a tint of Vigilanteism and whatnot and I saw black Twitter activate the creators activate and we turned a Moment that could have been very dangerous for black people and a really sad outcome. We brought joy to it. We brought a strong political analysis to it.

And by the end of that night, the story was being told. So I'm saying, how do I find those talented people and give them a platform, give them money to do that? That I think is how we make sure some things like that don't become laws, because we have good messengers. We have good storytellers. I want to go at politics not through, like, well, your SNAP benefits and da-da-da.

It's like, no, let's talk about how it really is impacting you and get you to be more engaged. So I think there's a lot of opportunity. I think Republicans did it really, really well. Everyone's like, we need our own Joe Rogan. No, we don't. No, we don't. We actually don't.

We need to empower people who know how to connect with real people and tell real stories and empower them just to do it. That's what we're doing there. And Joe Rogan exists. Just go on Joe Rogan. Right, right. It's not like Joe Rogan doesn't want people

from real life homes. Again, don't try and copy. Don't be a copycat. Be an original. Like, just find out who you are and we got you. Please no. I know. We got the black mothership. That's what we call the Brex Club, the black mothership.

Come to the black mothership. Thank you for coming, Ashley. Yes, enjoy this time. Thank you for having me. Alison, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate you. You on tonight?

Check her on CNN. What time? I am 10 p.m. On Abby Phillips. She breathes so hard every time she goes. I know. You know who's going tonight? You know who's going to the panel? Who's on tonight? Can't tell you yet. Okay. Can't dispense. What's your answer tomorrow? This is tomorrow.

He's still like, I'm not telling you. I ain't trust you. I ain't trust you. I mean, I don't know. It'll be some Republican, I'm sure. Yeah. And me standing ten toes down. All right. Well, there you have it. It's the Breakfast Club.

It's Ashley Allison. Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Here at LifeKit, NPR's self-help podcast, we love the idea of helping you make meaningful lifestyle changes. Our policy is to never be too punishing on yourself or too grand in your goals, which is why we've got shows on how to make little nudges to your behavior and create habits that stick. Listen to the LifeKit podcast on iHeartRadio.

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