Senator Brian Schatz didn’t mince words when assessing Trump’s first week back in office: “It was exactly as expected,” meaning cruel, chaotic, and filled with executive orders that do nothing to help working Americans. In a new exclusive interview with MeidasTouch co-founder Ben Meiselas, Schatz called out Trump’s moves, from freezing FEMA hiring and cancer research to launching mass deportation raids and pushing legally dubious policies like ending birthright citizenship. “There’s nothing in these executive orders that lowers prices for anyone,” he said, making it clear that Trump’s focus is on power, not prosperity.
One of the biggest dangers Schatz highlighted is RFK Jr.'s nomination to lead Health and Human Services, calling him a threat to public health given his history of promoting vaccine conspiracies. “This guy has raw power to tank vaccines,” Schatz warned, citing new reports on RFK Jr.'s role in a measles outbreak that killed dozens in Samoa. Meanwhile, Trump is floating distractions like annexing Canada and getting rid of FEMA—ideas that are legally impossible but serve to keep the public from focusing on his failures. “He’s not king,” Schatz said. “But where he has raw authority, like on tariffs and immigration, we should be very worried.”
Schatz emphasized that while the fight will be tough, Democrats and the public aren’t powerless. “We have to pick our battles and make Trump’s losses political losses,” he said. “This is going to be rough, but we’re not rolling over.”
Watch the full interview with Senator Schatz ad-free exclusively here on the Meidas+ Substack! To support content like this and more, consider joining as a paid subscriber today.
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