Background Briefing: June 25, 2018

On By gram

 

The Supreme Court Enables Suppression of Minority Votes

Then, after saying in a series of angry tweets between golf games on Sunday and President Trump’s day job at the White House today that “we cannot allow these people to invade our Country and that we must “bring them back from where they came”, we speak with Lindsay Nash who helped establish the nation’s first system of institutionally-provided counsel for detained non-citizens facing deportation. A Clinical Professor in the Immigration Justice Clinic at the Cardoza School of Law, she joins us to discuss how after appearing to show compassion for children separated from their parents, Trump is doubling down, blaming Democrats, vilifying immigrants and calling for even harsher treatment at the border by taking away immigrants’ constitutional rights to due process.

 

Trump Calls for Even Harsher Treatment of Immigrants

Then, after saying in a series of angry tweets between golf games on Sunday and President Trump’s day job at the White House today that “we cannot allow these people to invade our Country and that we must “bring them back from where they came”, we speak with Lindsay Nash who helped establish the nation’s first system of institutionally-provided counsel for detained non-citizens facing deportation. A Clinical Professor in the Immigration Justice Clinic at the Cardoza School of Law, she joins us to discuss how after appearing to show compassion for children separated from their parents, Trump is doubling down, blaming Democrats, vilifying immigrants and calling for even harsher treatment at the border by taking away immigrants’ constitutional rights to due process.

 

Trump Deliberately Stokes Polarization to Trap Democrats into Lowering the Rhetoric to His Level

Then finally, following Erdogan’s victory in yesterday’s election helped by his control of the press and the state of emergency he has imposed, we examine how autocrats like Erdogan, Maduro and Putin are using the trappings of democracy to claim legitimacy while undermining democracy. Daniel Ziblatt,a Professor of Government at Harvard University whose latest book is “How Democracies Die”, joins us to discuss how our President appears more comfortable with autocrats and, as Trump deliberately stokes the partisan divide to further polarize the country, the Democrats are being drawn into the trap of lowering the rhetoric to Trump’s level.