EDITOR’S NOTE: This interview was recorded prior to the horrific mass shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis on August 27.
Since Donald Trump took office in January, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has filed or joined more than 30 lawsuits against the president and his administration. That includes challenging executive orders on birthright citizenship and voting restrictions to the freezing of billions in federal funding for Education Department programming and banning trans athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.
The veteran Democratic Party politician joins Mehdi to discuss his lawsuits against Trump, what happens if the president decides to send the military to Minneapolis, and ICE’s mass immigration crackdown across the country.
Ellison tells Mehdi that the US is in the midst of a “fascist authoritarian takeover … in the light of Hitler,” and noted that while he doesn’t have full faith in the courts to stop Trump’s lawlessness, “I do believe in us collectively as a nation, we can protect ourselves and advance our democracy.”
On Gaza, Ellison, who previously served as a Democratic member of the House, says it’s clear that what Israel is doing is a “genocide,” adding that “the world knows it” and “there is no reason for the Democratic Party to avoid saying what is obvious.”
When it comes to Trump floating the idea of an unconstitutional third term as president, Ellison says that “we should act like he’s not joking,” and warns of the potential for “a very powerful stream in American society … to manufacture some sort of a crisis” to postpone or outright cancel the 2028 presidential election.
“That is clearly the direction we’re heading, but we still have time and ability to stop,” he says.
Paid subscribers can watch the full interview above to hear Ellison discuss why he endorsed Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral primary, whether Hakeem Jeffries is the right person to lead the Democratic Party into the 2026 midterms, and his take on the state Democrats’ controversial rescission of an endorsement for democratic socialist Omar Fateh for Minneapolis mayor.
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