Tuesday, October 21, 2025 |
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Akayla Gardner: Pardoner-in-Chief
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Disgraced former Rep. George Santos had served just three months of a seven-year prison sentence for fraud when President Donald Trump gave him a commutation last week. The news was a shock to the disabled Navy veteran he defrauded, but not surprising to legal experts who have been tracking Trump's expansive use of the pardon power. At this stage in his second term, Trump has far exceeded the clemency record of his first stint in the Oval Office, and he has front-loaded these actions compared to past presidents, who typically issued pardons and commutations in their final days in office. So far, less than a year into his second term, the president has granted clemency to more than 1,600 people, according to the Justice Department's website, far exceeding the level of most presidents in a full four-year term. The bulk of those actions went to Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot offenders. Those offenders protested the results of the 2020 election, which Trump continues to falsely claim was stolen due to widespread voter fraud. Read Akayla Gardner's full analysis here. |
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Did you attend a 'No Kings' event on Saturday? |
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| Nearly 7 million people attended a "No Kings" protest against the Trump administration in over 2,700 cities on Saturday, according to organizers, making it the largest one-day political protest ever, according to data journalist G. Elliott Morris. (He did not count the 1970 Earth Day events as politically oriented.) |
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Here are some highlights of the president's actions over the last seven days: |
- Began tearing down part of the White House to build a $250 million ballroom despite pledging construction would not affect the existing structure.
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The news can feel overwhelming. But each week, we pause to highlight a person, organization or movement sticking up for their principles or their fellow Americans. This week's challengers are "No Kings" protesters. In the days leading up to the "No Kings" protests on Saturday, Oct. 18, the president and his allies sought to denigrate them. Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said it was a "hate America" rally featuring the "the pro-Hamas crowd." House Republican Whip Tom Emmer claimed that "you'll see the hate for America all over this thing." Sen. Roger Marshall claimed protesters were being paid. Protesters undermined those wild claims with largely peaceful demonstrations in which they wore goofy costumes, waved American flags and sang and danced. There were only a handful of incidents of violence reported, almost all of which involved someone attacking protesters, including a hit-and-run in Ohio and the flashing of a gun in Pennsylvania. Learn more. |
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Last week, Trump proclaimed that "prices are down," having said the same about grocery prices last month. That might be news for anyone shopping these days. Prices are up nearly 21% for coffee and 13% for ground beef. The president has said he'll get beef prices down (which undermines his own comments) and suggested on Sunday that Argentine beef could be a solution (no word about chimichurri). Inflation has been rising every month since May. In August, it was 2.9% compared to a year earlier. It's easier to declare "inflation has been defeated" when there aren't official numbers, thanks to the government shutdown. But this Friday, that changes. Government workers were called back to crunch September's report because without it, millions of Social Security recipients might see their annual cost-of-living increase delayed. Learn more. |
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— Stephanie Ruhle, host of "The 11th Hour"
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This week on "The Best People," Nicolle Wallace speaks with radio host Charlamagne Tha God to discuss speaking truth to power for politicians on both sides, sounding the alarm about the rule of law and our "fragile" constitution, and why Democrats should never stop asking about the Epstein files. Subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for early access, ad-free listening, and bonus content, or watch the interview on YouTube. |
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30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112 | |
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