Black Republicans: Why?
At the recent Detroit convention of Turning Point USA, led by Christian nationalist Charlie Kirk, a flag in the colors of the MAGA movement declared from the stage “White Boy Summer.” MAGA is a race war against America. So why are Black people, especially Brooklyn-born Byron Donalds, supporting a white supremacist movement?
This week on Gaslit Nation, Terrell Starr of the essential Black Diplomats Podcast & Substack joins Andrea to discuss the curious case of Black Republicans like Donalds and their support for Trump. Andrea and Terrell also discuss the recent Switzerland peace summit for Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris’s remarks there, and the long list of African nations standing up to Russia’s aggression, and many across Africa which have been infiltrated by Russian mercenaries and Chinese imperialism.
This week’s bonus show, available Saturday for Patreon subscribers at the Truth-tell level and higher, looks at the Caitlin Clark phenomenon, as well as the racism and misogyny targeting this golden age of women’s basketball. Thank you to everyone who supports the show – we could not make Gaslit Nation without you!
Reminder! Gaslit Nation’s first phone bank of the season is this Thursday at 7pm ET, in collaboration with our friends at Indivisible. If you haven’t already, make sure to RSVP using the link in the show notes! See you Thursday!
A very special shout-out to Gaslit Nation listener Leslie Nuss, who’s running for state senate in Indiana! Learn more about her campaign here.
Here are some of the exciting events we have coming up for our Patreon community:
Investigative Journalist Craig Unger Live-Taping - June 25th 12pm ET:
June 25th is George Orwell’s birthday! Come celebrate with us at a live taping of Gaslit Nation, featuring another fearless journalist, Craig Unger, the author of several bestselling books: House of Trump, House of Putin; House of Bush, House of Saud; and American Kompromat: How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, and Related Tales of Sex, Greed, Power, and Treachery (which features his reporting on Jeffrey Epstein's pedophile global crime syndicate). Joining the live-taping will be Russian mafia expert Olga Lautman and European analyst Monique Camarra of Kremlin File. Drop your questions in the chat! Be sure to subscribe at Patreon.com/Gaslit at the Truth-teller tier ($5/month) or higher to get your ticket. A zoom link will be sent out the morning of the event. Thank you to everyone who supports the show!
Cult Expert Dr. Janja Lalich Live-Taping - July 15 8pm ET
July 15th kicks off the Republican National Convention/Hitler rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. To help us cope with the mainstream media, especially the New York Times, continuing to normalize Trump and his MAGA cult, we’re producing a live taping with cult expert Dr. Janja Lalich. Bring your questions about how to navitage this perilous time of rampant disinformation and manipulation, learn the signs of cult grooming, and how to help loved ones who have fallen victim. This will be Dr. Lalich’s second time on the show. You can listen to the interview with her from April 2022 here.
In the Shadow of Stalin Book Launch - September
Gaslit Nation will host a live taping at a book launch in New York City for In the Shadow of Stalin, the graphic novel adaptation of Mr. Jones. It includes scenes that didn’t make it into the final cut of the film, or it would have been three hours long! The evening will include a special meet-up just for Patreon supporters. We look forward to sharing more details as we get closer. If you want a book event/live taping of Gaslit Nation in your town or city, let us know!
Indivisible x Gaslit Nation Phonebank Party! - June 20th 7pm ET
Open to all, Gaslit Nation and Indivisible are kicking things off early this year, really early! When there’s such a thing as Project 2025, there’s no time to waste. Come join us for our first phone bank party of the season, as we make calls to our fellow citizens in Republican hostage states, to refuse to abandon those on the frontlines of American authoritarianism, and to plant seeds of change. We’re going in!
RSVP here to join us! https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/628701/
Thank you to everyone who supports the show – we could not make Gaslit Nation without you!
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Show Notes:
CNN Data Reporter 'Speechless' By New Donald Trump-Joe Biden Poll: 'Holy Cow, Folks!'
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cnn-data-stunned-donald-trump-poll_n_6671266be4b08889dbe60168
Andrea Chalupa:
Welcome to Gaslit Nation. I am Andrea Chalupa, a journalist and filmmaker and the writer and producer of the journalistic thriller, Mr. Jones, about Stalin's genocide famine in Ukraine. A film the Kremlin is I want you to see, so be sure to watch it. And it was playing in Queens, New York this past weekend as part of Agnieszka Holland retrospective of all her work like The Secret Garden, Europe Europa, and so many other now classic films that she's made over her very long industrious career. And of course, Mr. Jones was there and I missed it for a very important reason and I forgot to tell you about it because I've just been busy, but I will get into that in a second. But a reminder, this Thursday, phone bank 7:00 PM Eastern with our friends at Indivisible. We're starting an hour earlier because of the demand we're now, this was supposed to be just a little Gaslit Nation phone bank and it's now expanded into an indivisible nationwide.
All of us together hitting the phones into those. So-called Red States, or rather Republican hostage states like Ohio and Missouri. We're going to be reminding our fellow citizens who have been taken hostage by the Republican Party in the Midwest that they are not alone, that we have their back and that we are with them. And as part of that, I want to share a very special message from a longtime Gaslit Nation listener and Patreon supporter, a name that I'm very familiar with because she's been very engaging all these years with all her comments and feedbacks and questions and songs submitted for our Song of the Month feature. She's wonderful. A long time Ride or Die Gast Nation listener. And that is Leslie Nuss, and I'm going to read her message now, especially for you Gaslit Nation listeners. Hi Andrea. I'm running for Indiana State Senate.
It's such a red state that the national conversation seems to have written us off and yet still we run. My platform is public education and teachers, mental health, women's reproductive rights. We have an abortion ban now thanks to Trump and his court Packing, Unions, special needs. I have a son with multiple special needs and he got me to start advocating, and the environment, I'm doing everything that I've been told to do, canvassing, love it, meeting such great people. And I'm also using my art skills as a major part of my campaign. Designing and hand silk screening my union made T-shirts making fun buttons, free Democrat hugs, and eat a taco and be happy. Plus the classic vote November 5th. And I even did my first coloring sheet of one of my district's Wildlife, this Sandhill Crane, because I'm campaigning for all. Would you consider sharing my campaign with your audience?
Of course. You know I will. And that website is NUS because it's Leslie Nus and USS Nuss for us. Nussforus.com. And if people like what they see, a kind ask for campaign contributions, I'd love to be a Gaslit Nation win in November. Every little bit helps. Leslie Nuss, you have such strength and moral courage, I will absolutely personally be donating to your campaign. Thank you so much for running and for folks who want to join me listening, look for the link nusforus.com in the show notes for this week's episode. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all Who run for office. That is the solution to the times we're in. Now we are going to be celebrating George Orwell's birthday this coming Tuesday, June 25th with a live taping of the bestselling author of House of Trump, House of Putin and American Co.
Craig Unger, that's investigative journalist Craig Unger. And that's this coming Tuesday, June 25th at 12:00 PM Eastern. That's for our Patreon community that keeps our show going. Get your ticket to that live event and ask questions in the q and a by subscribing the show at the truth teller level or higher. A zoom link will go out the morning of the event on Tuesday. So excited for that. I've got a million questions for Craig Unger. Alright everyone, you may be listening to this on Wednesday, June 19th, otherwise known as Juneteenth, which commemorates, it's a federal holiday now, and it commemorates when the final, final enslaved people in Texas were notified of the abolition of slavery, the end of slavery, which had passed two years prior. But these people out in Texas, these enslaved folks did not get that news until two years later. That was all intentional, of course, to squeeze more money out of them.
White supremacy was just the monster at the end of the movie holding on to come back around and cause even greater destruction when you think you've got your happy ending. That's what Juneteenth is about. It's about white supremacy, breaking the law to maintain white supremacy. And we celebrate it now to remind how far our country has come and how much farther we have to go. Given that it's a federal holiday, you have the day off from work, except if you are racist, all racist and MAGA supporters, you need to show up for work. This is not your holiday. Okay, everyone, I want to just share now with you all listening and Terrell. So Olga Lautman, our dear friend Terrell. She has mentioned before on this show and elsewhere that the Kremlin is escalating their attacks against her. You have the same asshole in the Duma in the Russian parliament, Andrei Lugovoi, which a British inquiry, the chairman of a British inquiry found poisoned, Litvinenko with polonium tea on UK soil.
The Russians have been found to have murdered dozens of people on UK soil. And then they flee back to the murderers, go back to Russia and become Duma members to get immunity. And Lugovoi, the polonium murderer. He's been calling out Olga Lautman by name, calling her essentially a traitor of the motherland or whatever. Russia is amping up its attacks at Olga Lautman because she's so effective in exposing their weaponized corruption against democracy around the world. And recently she called them out on Twitter by saying wherever the far right made gains in the recent European elections, that's where Russia has had a strong spy presence and it's all connected. And a Russian official went after her sliding into her dimensions. So I said to Olga, I'm like, well, let's just get out of Dodge. Let's take a couple days to eat, pray, love. And she's like, yes, let's go to Maine.
And so we went on a girls' trip this past weekend to the state of Maine, which is like a storybook as soon as you cross over into the state border in Maine, Maine, which is known here, the state slogan is vacation land. It is absolutely vacation land. Everywhere you turn, you see cartoon bunnies and beavers sinking and cartoon birds landing on your finger. It's just this magical enchanting place of natural wonder of rivers and lakes and beautiful forests. And so we went there and had a grand old time and we met up with another enemy of Russia, the American historian Heather Cox Richardson, who we had here on Gaslit Nation last fall. Heather is the author of the bestselling book, Democracy Awakening Notes on the State of America, which Joe Biden was seen reading on vacation. So he's obviously a fan. So Heather is as Maine as it gets.
She's from generations of Mainers, her husband buddies a lobster fisherman, and we got to get a site of buddy doing his thing fishing for those lobsters. And we enjoyed some delicious lobster rolls with Heather Cox Richardson and sat with her for an untaped unrecorded, totally off the record podcast Olga, Heather and I just chatting away about how we're going to win in November and save our democracy and plant seeds of change that are going to transform our democracy for generations to come for the better. And we asked Heather the question obviously because she's an American historian who covers a lot about the Civil War and times of polarization like the one we're in. And as we were walking back to our car, we just threw one last question and we're like, we're going to get through this, right? America's been here before and we'll be here again, but we're going to get through it this time.
And Heather said, every time there are these moments of progress like we had with the civil rights movement, the far right comes and has its nasty, spiteful, dangerous backlash. And that's a reminder of all the rights we've been taking for granted. And the rest of us just scrambled together in reaction and we unite to fight for our democracy and the progressives overcome again. And that's been the cycle. And I thought that was really interesting and it was very heartening to see her. And I also got to see longtime Gaslit Nation associate producer, Karlyn Daigle, who lives in the area as well and have dinner with her and her wife. And that was a lot of fun. And so it was just a Gaslit Nation vacation with Olga Lautman to escape Russian agents as one does on these girl trips. So I just want to share that with you, Terrell, and if you ever get the chance you need to go to Maine. If you're a university in Maine, invite Terrell to come and speak. He's an excellent speaker, especially for students to inspire them to get on the front lines of covering what's happening in the world. He's wonderful. So hopefully Terrell, you can experience Maine too because it's a dream.
Terrell Starr:
I wish I could go and I would like to go for the lobster. That's what I could say about Maine, but I'm pretty sure it's a very beautiful place as well, particularly during the summer. But damn, I mean, yeah, but Olga, wow, she's doing, if everyone doesn't know who she is, she's very good with researching criminal enterprises and Russia, particularly Russian criminals. That's what she's really good at because ultimately Russia is a criminal state, so that work is rewarded with harassment and threats as she's experienced right now. And so she is one of the best people to talk about kleptocracy, particularly from a context of Russia and really bringing it home to us about what it means here because that threat is not as foreign as people think that it is. And we saw that with Jared Kushner and the way that he operated in the White House during Trump's first term and hopefully his only term. And so the third kleptocracy is incredibly real. And just because we see it widespread and happening in Russia, it doesn't mean that that can't infect our politics as well.
Andrea Chalupa:
Yeah, no, absolutely. And when we were sitting in a coffee shop, we were flipping through a book in the coffee shop, an old book, it's like decades old, probably 50 years old, showing art coming out of Maine over the centuries. And one painting from the 18 hundreds showed a church on fire. And the caption was describing how this was a scene of what was then known as the Know Nothing party setting a church, I guess a Catholic church on fire. That was a reminder to us. So it was just so random that out of all the pages we turned to turned to the terrorist anti-immigrant movement, the know nothings setting a church on fire. And it was just a perfect, perfect reminder along with seeing Heather Cox Richardson, that we've always been up against MAGA before there was maga, before there was the KKK, before there was the John Birch Society, there was the know nothings.
And the know nothings were a group of white American men. And the reason why they were called the know nothings is because they relied on these terrorist tactics to try to come to power and build up a base and harass those in power. They try to keep their operations secret. So if you ask them, are you in the note? Are you in that party? Are you part of that group? They would have to respond, I know nothing. I know nothing because they're terrorists. So that's why they're being so secretive. So that gave them the nickname, the know nothings, and they did manage to build some power here and there, but it's just a reminder to us that MAGA has always been there. Whatever you call them, they've always been there and they're always going to be there because racism. Alright, Terrell, I want to get your thoughts on the 10 African nations that signed the Peace Document in Switzerland looking at the war of Russia and Ukraine, and I wanted to get your thoughts on that as well as Vice President Kamala Harris' speech at the Peace Summit,
Whit Johnson:
Vice President Harris joining other world leaders focusing on the war in Ukraine.
MaryAlice Parks:
Yeah, good morning. Vice President Kamala Harris just landed there in Switzerland. Heads of state and representatives from over 90 countries are planning to attend this summit to talk about what peace could look like for Ukraine and for all of Europe after this war. It's really a show of force in support of Ukraine. It is not yet about negotiating with Russia. The Russians will not be there. Now, a senior US official told us ahead of this summit that it is up to the Ukrainians to decide when to try to end this war, to try to begin talks with Russia. There is a hope that this summit could be the beginning of a process that leads to that, but yesterday Putin demanded that Ukraine cede all territory that Russia controls. Of course that is an absolute non-starter for Ukraine. That would mean abandoning entire cities. And as a part of this trip, vice President Harris is going to announce another 1.5 billion in US money to help Ukraine not only with refugees, but specifically to help rebuild their energy. We know that Russia has really targeted that Geo.
Terrell Starr:
So one of the things that people need to know is that there was a piece, something that took place in Switzerland that was convened by Ukraine. And the goal was to build a consistent and build unity with nations, particularly outside of Europe, to show that the rest of the world not only wants the war to end, but they are saying to Putin that your actions are impacting us as well. And so there was a lot of talk about the African countries that didn't show up, the African countries that did not sign on to this communique, and also the fact that out of roughly half of the countries that were invited actually attended, right? But here's the thing that we all need to pay attention to. There were 11 African countries that signed this draft communique. They basically called for a series of steps and it leads a pathway to peace and they'll assure at the end of Russia's invasion eventually.
And so those are 11 countries that were, that included, Gambia, Ghana, Rwanda, Somalia, and Benin. And then here are the main takeaways. So the main ones were to reaffirm the commitment to refraining from the use of force against country's territorial integrity, their political independence. That also said that any use of nuclear energy or the installations have to be safe and safeguarded and run by the sovereign nation. And that includes the Zaporizhzhiasion nuclear power plant, right? And then the main thing that really hits the continent of Africa countries there is global food security. And that's important because in order for Ukraine send a lot of grain around the world, particularly to the continent of Africa. And so this third commitment was food security depends on uninterrupted manufacturing and supply of food products and basically free full and safe commercial navigation as well as access to seaports.
And the black and dissolved seas are very important. And so the president of Ghana specifically said that because of this Russian invasion, that they are suffering tremendously because they're not getting critical aid that they need and they can ratchet up concerns of hunger if this continues and if courts are interrupted, right? And so another thing is that 19 other non-European countries signed on to this communique, including Korea, Japan, Singapore, Argentina, Chile, Dominica Republic. People are saying, well, this really didn't lead to anything and that the big players like South Africa for example, didn't show up or China didn't show up. I disagree with that. What Ukraine is doing is that they're building their own relationships with the world. Many of these countries that we know as the global south, because they don't know Ukraine, they don't understand Ukraine's story. And so any opportunity for President Zelensky and senior members of his administration to go anywhere and talk to people who are used to talking to Moscow but now have an opportunity to talk to representatives from Kiev is actually very essential.
And this is just the first step of many to get a coalition around the world to be on Ukraine side. So I think that any of those steps are very necessary. And I think that we spend so much time talking about what Africa isn't doing, and now African nations are stooges of Moscow, which I find the language I find to be very offensive because it ignores the complex history of Western imperialism on that continent as well, which is a whole 'nother conversation. But I think this is a really good opportunity for Ukraine. And if they were able to get 11 African countries to sign on, of the 80 people who actually attended and plus the other 19 that were there as well, that's basically a third of countries that are now European that signed on. I think that's a great success.
Andrea Chalupa:
Oh yeah, without question. I mean several of those African nations that you mentioned have been outspoken in the UN against Russia's war because they understand European imperialism and genocide very well. And what Russia has been doing the past 10 years or so has been sort of exploiting a lot of deep European imperial wounds to come right in and use disinformation campaigns, use their bot farms, use their terrorist operations through Wagner to infiltrate countries like CAR that have suffered under European colonialism and are just desperate for some sort of alternative, even if it's Russia. And so that's sort of the tension there. But the larger picture of what has been happening across Africa has to be noted is that since Russia successfully seized Syria through mass murder or Assad propping up the butcher, Mossad Mossad propping up, that's an interesting Freudian slip propping up Assad along with their close allies.
Iran, Iran and Russia have given Assad a lifeline. So he has been able to stay in power despite the Syrian resistance, despite the Syrian revolution, which is part of the Arab Spring. And thanks to that, Russia now has a major military base in Syria, right on the Mediterranean, and that is their base for launching further operations into Africa, across Africa like Sudan. And I have a map here at Mali, the Central African Republic as I mentioned earlier, and they also have a military presence in Libya and Mozambique and how they've been essentially operating across Africa is Russia has been the terrorist police squad for their partners, the Chinese, the Chinese coming in with their business propositions, with their land grabs, buying up land farmland across Africa and buying up mining operations in Africa and so on to further enrich China. And as part of that trade that they're doing with Africa, they're also exporting Chinese surveillance tech to some of these countries.
So as bad as European colonialism was, and it was certainly evil, especially by the French, by Belgium and so on, and the British and the Dutch, and on it goes those horror stories in the 21st century, the new wave of that unfortunately is the Russians and the Chinese. It's not prettier. If you look at what's happening in Sudan with the people cop in the middle of a Russian backed coup, and you have stories of drunken Wagner, Russian soldiers raping women who had just given birth in maternity hospital. I believe that report came out of CAR, the Central African Republic, and on and on it goes. And a lot of these bot farms that Wagner has set up have been coming out of Africa, the disinformation juggernaut that they wage against the rest of us no matter where we are. Africa obviously deserves better. I don't know how you fight back against how increasingly entrenched the Russians and the Chinese are becoming in Africa and what sort of alternative the US and its partners can present to these countries that would reassure them given their own history of feeling exploited by the West and being exploited by the west and so on.
So that's the challenge of Africa in the 21st century. But amidst those hardships, you have a lot of very strong democracies that are immune to that, that are determined to hold onto their sovereignty. And as part of that, they are strongly on Ukraine's side as a matter of helping Ukraine protect its sovereignty.
Terrell Starr:
They are. And so there are 57 countries on the continent of Africa, and they all each have their very complex histories, not only with the west, but just internally, right, with themselves and with their neighbors, and any opportunity for Ukraine to sit on the sidelines, dinners, breakfast, whatever the case may be, that gives Ukraine critical time to really learn about these countries. But also it gives these countries time to learn about Ukraine. And so going back to your main question in regards to what alternatives countries like America could provide or Europe can provide, they have to be better partners, they have to be better colleagues in the diplomatic space. And when you think about France, you think about Germany, Portugal, any other number of countries, none of these people have not only refuse to talk about reparations for these countries, they are really defiant in saying that there basically will not be any reparations to these countries more or less.
And so what you're saying is that for Ukraine, we need a Marshall plan. Here's the thing we do. I think Russia needs to pay Ukraine reparations for all the damage that caused not only physically but psychologically. I think that when Europe and when the United States doesn't reconcile its past through a reparations based means, then you're saying that the rules apply to these Africans, to these Asians and to these people who are in the global south, but it doesn't apply to us because we are above it. And so in order to really have legitimacy at the table, you're really going to have to be honest and forthcoming because with Russia, I think in the heart of hearts, these African nations know what Russia is. And so it's not like they see any fidelity and Russian friendship. I think that they're being shrewd. And so for us, we're looking at them and saying that, oh, the global south, they're just being tricked.
Whereas America has been the colonizer in the imperial power for so long that if you're looking at Africa as a stooge of Moscow, then you really need to think about many of the countries on the continent who America has turned a blind eye to all for the sake of using their natural resources and using their gas. And so the conversation could be both ways, and it's going to require all of us to be reflective about what true liberation looks like, and that's going to require a lot of honesty and self-critique that the west is nowhere near prepared to offer.
Andrea Chalupa:
Let's look at Trump making the rounds to black churches. That is who told him to do that? Who was like, this is a good idea, but went into these, of course, he went into these so-called black churches that had mostly white people did. I mean that's what you wrote to me. Donald Trump's visit to a black church had mostly white people. Is that true?
Terrell Starr:
Yes, it's absolutely true. So if you look at a wide shot of the video there, it was pretty much all white people. And so I grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and Detroit is the largest black city in the United States percentage wise, right? And so roughly 78, 80% of the population is black. It's not difficult to get black people into a black church. Detroit is full of black churches. But you have this particular pastor who I question his pastoral credentials, first of all, because even when they did the prayer towards the end, there were people, they didn't bow their heads, they didn't put their cap on. It's just stuff that's really blasphemous, just the culture of it. I wonder if they have deaconess. I mean, I think that many church, they have deacons, but church deacons, but black church, we have deaconess. And so the old church ladies, they run the church and that would not have gone down in the real black church.
So I just have a whole lot of questions. And then you also know that they have Byron Donalds there, and Byron Donalds is the congressman from Florida who is Trump's main black liar through lies of black people who lies about Trump's black accomplishments. But at this church, he was yelling off a whole bunch of lies, and there was a small group of black people who were there who I think probably were paid to be there. And so he's very good at using people as props because there are so many people who individually think that they can gain something from it. And so he is very keen to really attract those types of people. And so he can go to Detroit and say, well, I'm going to be dealing with crime, even though there's data that came out over the past week that shows that Detroit's homicide rate dropped by 18% from 2002 compared to 2023.
Also, crime is down across the country, but he looks at black people as criminals. And so you're going to push this pathology on people who are going to believe the lies because they want to. And that's why he does this. It's not we need to stop talking about the fact that Trump lies. We know that he lies. What we all need to be mindful of is why people choose to believe the lie, and they choose to believe the lies because they have their own preconceived notions of whether it be black people, whether it be who commits crime. And then you're talking about immigration, the people who are a threat to whiteness, all he has to do is create a lie that fits with people's racism because we know that racism is not logical. And so I'm not surprised at all they went to a black church because you're going to always have eight to 10% of black people who are going to vote Republican.
And so they're going to vote for that Republican no matter what. But I think Donald Trump does not have the support of black people that a lot of these polls really show because if you look at the exit polling and the final numbers after the actual elections, they're much lower than the polling. And so every election cycle, you're going to hear these conversations about black voters going to Trump, but when the actual voting takes place, the polling numbers rarely match up to the exit pollings in the final tally of black people who do vote for Trump. And so I think that's important to keep in mind as well.
Andrea Chalupa:
So obviously I don't expect you to come on this show and speak on behalf of all black people everywhere, but lemme just ask you, if you were to take a guess, what do you think this republican darling, the new Candace Owens rep, Byron Donalds, what do you think he's thinking? Stumping for Trump?
Terrell Starr:
Byron Donalds, you're going to always have those types of people. He's
Andrea Chalupa:
That a Florida. He's Florida man, basically.
Terrell Starr:
He's a Florida man. I'll tell you what's something, what's interesting about that Michigan in the last midterm cycle, I believe it was the last midterm cycle or two cycles before that, they lost one of their last black representative from the city of Detroit. So Detroit doesn't have any black representation. That's another conversation about redistricting, et cetera. But Byron Donalds could be found in any community regardless of what the ethnicity is, basically somebody who's willing to sell out their people in order to advance themselves. When I talked to Ukrainians about this, I had an episode where I spoke with a Ukrainian journalist about, do you guys have a word in Ukrainian for sellout? And she said the word, and I forgot what it was, but we brought up Victor Jankovich who sold out Ukraine to Putin. Now that's something at a much higher level than what Byron Donald is doing, but Byron Donald is one of those people who he was elected in a district in Florida that was predominantly white, right?
So he doesn't have to speak to black issues simply because he doesn't represent black people. And I think he was actually strategic about that, to be quite frank. And because this guy would never make it in the Democratic party. So a lot of these Republicans that you see who are black and they are tap dancing for Trump, these are people who couldn't cut it in democratic politics. And I'll tell you another thing that there's a guy, John James, I believe he was also in attendance. He's a congressman from Michigan, the only black person. He's a Republican and he's a Trump puppet as well. But he comes from a predominantly white district. So none of these black elected officials who support Trump at the national level represent black people. And that's just a fact. And so I think the way that we all need to look at this is, one, they don't have the respect of black people because they don't need them.
In fact, Byron Donalds, he is not a part of the Black Congressional Caucus. They won't let him in because does, he's a very anti-black person, but he's very effective for white people because Byron Donalds makes white people feel happy. He is the happy negro. He is the docile negro who doesn't threaten him with all of this race stuff. And so he's the safe black man. And so those type of people are going to always have a place in the Republican party because the Republicans love tap dancing black people. And then you're going to find a small select group of people who are willing to sell their soul and their spirit and gladly put it on their tap dancing shoes because they will get something out of it.
Andrea Chalupa:
Yep. It's you're always going to find transactional folks in every group of people. And so what they do is they work. Republicans work hard to find somebody willing to sell their soul for power, for money. So Byron Donalds, he's got financial security probably. And unless Florida really shifts, he won't have that security much longer.
Terrell Starr:
But Andrea, here's the thing that really kind of bothers me about it, is that I could not under any circumstance sell myself out like that or pimp myself out like that maybe because I'm just so proud of myself as a black man that I could not do what he does. And this guy grew up in Brooklyn, New York, by the Way.
Terrell Starr:
He was born and raised in Bedford–Stuyvesant in my neighborhood. He went down to Florida for school and eventually stayed there. But I'm really curious about what steps were taken for him to go down that road. And I'm not chastising him because he's Republican. There are a lot of Republicans, black Republicans who don't mess with Trump at all, and they're in the party for their own particular reasons. And my favorite Republican was Colin Powell, who I think was a blue dog democrat. That's a whole nother thing. But when I think about Byron McDonald, again, I think about Victor Jankovich. These are the who literally asked for the Russian military to intervene in Ukraine in 2014. That's documented. So these sellouts, they are born into a place and their people and say that, Nope, I'm just going to go on the other side. And I think it takes a special type of pathology to do that. And I think it requires a psychiatrist or a psychologist to really break that down because I not only could not be that type of black person, I could not ever be friends with one or be remotely associated with one because that contrast is just too jarring for me to stomach.
Andrea Chalupa:
I have no doubt that if you were alone, we were alone with Byron Donalds, his Brooklyn side would come out and we would see a totally different side of him, and he would be like winking and nodding like, I'm doing it for the money. I'm doing it for the power. I'm doing it because the democratic field is so crowded. It's true. A black female friend of mine was saying that if she was a Republican, she would be making so much money if she crossed over and was one of theirs. And it's just very crowded on the democratic side. It's a big old, loud, messy tent. And there's limited seats at these tables to run for office to run primaries, to be on cable news. And so everyone's fighting for seats in the Titanic, lifeboat. And Byron McDonald's is like, you know what? It's infinitely easier for me to cross on over and sell out and make my mark that way. And I have no doubt he justifies it to himself in part that way.
Terrell Starr:
If he were not here in, I'm in Kyiv, by the way. But if he were to meet with us, I bet you he would put his white wife in front of you in order to impress you.
Andrea Chalupa:
And I'd be like, I'd roll out a long list of white women. I cannot stand. I think visibility matters. Representation matters, but we have to draw the line. I much rather have a progressive straight white man in power than Kyrsten Sinema. I
Terrell Starr:
Agree. We agree. Yeah. I just think that the reason why I brought up Byron Donald's wife is that it's not anything about interracial marriages. Listen, I live in Ukraine, so speak no more that the point of it is that there are signatures that these guys do in order to make themselves look comfortable and safe. And with him, I'm pretty sure if it's the three of us, and I know this because people do it, people be like, Hey, bring my wife in. Because see, by the fact, he look at you and Chalupa and be like, Hey, bring my wife in and you all can talk because you both are naturally supposed to get along. He tried to break your in to the book, tried to break you in. That's one of their tricks.
Andrea Chalupa:
Oh my God. And I'd be like, I wrote a screenplay about you starring Walter Duranty, another guy that sold his soul. But the good news about Florida, I do want to share. So basically Democrats gave up Florida, they didn't fight, they didn't invest, they basically just gave it up. And Florida at the time, Democrats were seating Florida politically Republicans were driving in. A lot of it was because they all have their tax dodging shell companies in the Caribbeans. So I guess they want to be close to that. And plus Florida is a famously low tax state. They don't want to pay taxes. So they move down to Florida and it's all old money down there that in Palm Beach and so on that they want to be close to. And plus you have a lot of Cuban exiles who tend to be Republican because they see the Kennedy brothers as fucking things up for Cuba and so on.
And plus they got pretty mad at Obama with normalizing relations with Cuba. So there's been that as well playing into this. So the Republicans have steadily taken over Florida making it a red state, but for the first time, and God knows how long Democrats now are running a candidate in every single district of Florida, a state and house candidate. And as we've been saying on this show for a million years, those state local races drive votes up the ballot to the congressional and presidential race. So I'm not saying Florida is in play because Florida is deeply wounded and it's going to take many election cycles to build back up what was lost. I think the environmental issue is going to be strong. I think the abortion ban is going to be strong. I think the fact that the Florida voters themselves voted to give people with felonies the right to vote, and DeSantis has been denying that referendum by the people and on the list goes, and DeSantis being anti-human rights, DeSantis being a wannabe Orbán with his anti-gay laws. I think all of that does add up to an opportunity to bring Florida back into the blue state fold. It's just going to take persistence and investment and the grassroots engine there, which is doing phenomenal work this year, phenomenal work. God bless you all. They need a lot of encouragement and investment and support, and hopefully in time Florida can be free and Byron Donald's can suddenly find its black side if he needs to in order to stay in power.
Terrell Starr:
That's not going to happened Chalupa. And so look, just a quick note about the voting for people who were convicted of felonies, and I know I covered that race. What ended up happening was that the Florida legislature said that in order for these people to get their voting rights restored, they must pay all their court fees. And so the law does allow them people who are convicted of felons to vote, but the technicality that the courts that the legislature passed through at the state and Senate levels and then DeSantis signed, is that they have to pay these court fees, which is essentially a poll tax.
Andrea Chalupa:
Exactly right. That's their workaround that the Republicans found to try to suppress the vote. We'll see you election night, man. I hope we're together. I hope we're somewhere maybe we'll be in Florida covering it.
Terrell Starr:
This is going to be really an election that it is going to be a generational defining election because Trump can not only do his own damage with another term in the White House, but just think about a possible Supreme Court justice. Forget about the Supreme Court, even just federal judges at various levels that he can appoint all of the kleptocratic theft that he can engage in all of these maga far right extremists that he can empower at the local and state levels, and then the relationships that he can build with this burgeoning far right in Europe. And so I think people, we really need to drive home how consequential our votes are going to be and what they're going to represent not only for us, but our children in great grandchildren years down
Andrea Chalupa:
Without question. And just to remind everyone, the ages of the Supreme Court justices that are trying to rule like a dictatorship with their unchecked greed and corruption, justice Thomas 75 years old, so he might be up for retirement if he's not pushed off the court by all of this scandalous reporting that's going on him. Justice Alito 73, and then you have the youngest after that Justice Sotomayor. There's already Democrats pushing for her to retire, but I think that's way too soon. My point is this is way too soon. Leave Sotomayor alone. This is not a Ruth Bader Ginsburg situation at all. We need to focus.
Terrell Starr:
People know why it's about her health,
Andrea Chalupa:
Right? They're speculating about her health, but we don't know anything for sure as far as I've seen in the reporting.
Terrell Starr:
We don't. No,
Andrea Chalupa:
No. Okay, so let her stay, leave her alone. But the next two presidential races are absolutely critical because what we're doing is we're fighting for getting our Supreme Court back because you know the Democratic establishment, they don't have it in them to expand this court. Obama came out against it for whatever dumb reason, because Democrats or famously, they bring a baguette to a gunfight. And so what we have going on here is we got to cling on, hold on for dear life on November 5th, 2024. Then we have to hold on again for dear life in 2028. In 2028, if we can win the next two presidential elections, we will transform the Supreme Court and transform our very country as we know it. So stay in the fight, stay in the game, fight urgently, locally, and think long-term. Okay? Because we have so many critical battles up ahead and we will win.
This election is here, and it's happening and it's bigger than Biden. We have the chance to hack away at corruption at the root by building our power at the all important state level where crucial quality of life issues from voting rights to environmental protections to lgbtq plus rights and more are decided. Carl Rove ran the same strategy for the GOP during the Obama years laying the groundwork for Trump to come to power in 2016. Now we're reversing this dangerous trend, securing key victories in swing states to protect our elections and advance progressive laws in states like Michigan and Wisconsin. Yes, even Wisconsin. Another world is possible when we unite and build together. Here's how. Join me, Andrea at State Fair, a giving circle that collects small dollar donations among friends and family to build big power in key states. If 1000 Gaslit Nation listeners set up a $5 recurring monthly donation, that's $5,000 we're sending to turn.
So-called Red States Purple, and so-called Purple States Blue. Some of the races we've supported won by only a few votes, and we flipped the house in Pennsylvania, flipped the entire house, elected like 12 new people, massive, and they have a crazy extra crazy Republican party in Pennsylvania. And that's what we did together through States Project. Thank you. Your $5 monthly donation will make a huge difference. Join me and my friends at State Fair today. You can sign up at gaslitnationpod.com. Just click on the 2024 Survival Guide on our homepage. Step number two, are there any young people in your life, gen Z or younger, give them the gift of the excellent book Run for something, a real taught guide to fixing the system yourself. It helps people of all ages run for office. So if you are thinking of running for office, be sure to read this inspiring and practical guide, both the book and the organization.
Run for Something, encourage, recruit, and train young people to run for office and flex their power. Inspire a young person and anyone you love and trust with empathy in their hearts and science in their minds to run for office today. Number three, help the Helpers. State Bridges is a Sister District Action Network program in which volunteers from across the country fundraise for organizations doing year round power building in key battleground states like Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. State Bridges supports organizations engaging communities underrepresented at the polls like Mothers of Color, rule voters and Latinx voters. Sign up to attend a virtual fundraiser and donate to help the helpers at state bridges. Number four, write letters to voters in swing districts with a vote forward. Check out any of their easy letter writing campaigns that have already started and write letters as you listen to Gaslit Nation. We'll be keeping you company. Most importantly. Number five, check your own voter registration now at Election Protection site vote.org. Make sure you're registered and check in with your family and friends to confirm their voter registration too. Commit to helping five people in your life make a plan to vote and bring them along to a Gaslit Nation phone bank this fall, because the only ones coming to save us is us. Grassroots power is the most reliable power we have left.
Our discussion continues, and you can get access to that by setting up at the Truth to our level and higher on Patreon at patreon.com/gas. It's Pride Month. On behalf of everyone here at Gaslit Nation, we extend a happy pride to all of our listeners in the LGBTQ plus community. You and your loved ones are not alone in this time of genocidal hate. The Gaslit Nation community has your back and wherever you are listening, we love you. You're perfect. We're going to get through these dark times together to help us do that. Let's all come together and support these worthy organizations doing extremely important work for human rights. Lambda Legal is committed to achieving full recognition of civil rights for L-G-B-T-Q plus people and everyone living with HIV. To ensure legal protections and to end discrimination, donate at lambdalegal.org. That's lambda legal.org and Lambda Legal also provides free services from those impacted who need the support.
Trans Lifeline provides trans peer support that's been divested from police since day one. The run by and more trans people donate at translifeline.org. That's trans lifeline.org. The Audra Lorde project is a lesbian, gay, bisexual, two-spirit, trans and gender non-conforming people of color. Community Organizing Center. Focusing on the New York City area, donate alp.org. That's alp.org. The US has the highest rate of maternal mortality than any other developed country. Christian nationalists backed by the oil and coal lobby worsened this crisis with their authoritarian abortion Bans donate to the Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project that provides support to those who need an abortion or emergency contraceptives. donate at wrrap.org. That's wrrap.org. To help get Ukraine urgently needed humanitarian aid. Join me in donating to Raza for ukraine at razaforukraine.org to help civilians and refugees in conflict zones donate to Doctors Without borders at doctorswithoutborders.org. And if you want to help critically endangered orangutans, yes, that's how you say it already under pressure from the palm oil industry. Donate to the Orangutan project at theorangutanproject.org