The Rachel Maddow Show

Rachel Maddow remarks on Donald Trump's embrace of the January 6 rioters and the insurrectionist militias that have declared themselves for him, pointing out on this peaceful January 6th the new implicit threat of violence if Donald Trump and Republicans in league with him are not assured electoral victories.

Rachel Maddow marvels at the fact that even with a second chance at it, Donald Trump cannot manage to oversee a presidential transition that isn't chaotic and in poor order, including failing to get the proper paperwork done on his own Cabinet nominees.

Rachel Maddow explains why Donald Trump's family favors, grift, conflicts of interest, and uninhibited mix of money and politics are more than just inappropriate or in violation of some esoteric ethics code, but actually have real-world consequences for how government functions (or doesn't).

Rachel Maddow looks at the stammering and squirming by Republican members of Congress who are on record opposing the pardoning of January 6th rioters who were convicted of acts of violence against police, and who are now struggling to answer for Donald Trump doing exactly that.

Rachel Maddow talks with Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington about speaking from the pulpit directly to Donald Trump about showing mercy for the vulnerable people targeted by his policies, and what has happened since, as well as the role of the church in moral leadership in the United States.

A closer look at Trump defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth's, divorce papers from his second wife shows language forbidding them from saying disparaging things about each other in public, which matters right now because of recent claims that raise questions about Pete Hegseth's character. Rachel Maddow talks with MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin about this new reporting.

Senator Tammy Duckworth expresses her disappointment with her Republican colleagues for voting for Donald Trump's unqualified defense secretary nominee, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, with only Senators Murkowski and Collins voting "no" until, somewhat unexpectedly Senator Mitch McConnell also cast a vote against.

Rachel Maddow takes a closer look at Donald Trump's pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, who several of his past colleagues from the first Trump administration warn has a tendency to make stuff up.

In an exclusive interview, Rachel Maddow interviews Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, former Democratic nominee for vice president, in his first interview since the election, about how the Donald Trump administration's ill-advised freeze of federal funds exposes the role of Project 2025 in the Trump administration's plans, and Trump's ultimate goal of destroying the U.S. government.

Rachel Maddow looks at the myriad ways Donald Trump has not only humiliated himself with foolish statements ill-considered ideas, but also embarrassed the United States of America for electing a fool for president.

Rachel Maddow looks at the impressive list of accomplishments and credentials of former Secretary of Defense General Lloyd Austin, who served under President Biden, and the relatively meager experience of cable news personality Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's choice to replace him.

In an effort to not only rewrite the history of his January 6 insurrection but to exact revenge on the agents and lawyers who worked to hold his rioting supporters accountable, Donald Trump appears to be in the midst of a massive purge of the FBI and the DOJ, turning them into agencies that cater to his interests and concerns instead of the law. Rachel Maddow explains.

Rachel Maddow looks at examples of how Donald Trump and his allies are undermining news outlets, both local and national, by targeting revenue streams and exploiting oppressive legal strategies, while Trump embraces and rewards outlets that are politically loyal, building the basis of a state press. 

Rachel Maddow looks at how even on ideas that Donald Trump emphasized on the campaign trail he is doing a poor job executing or he is panicking and backpedaling when he realizes how many people he is upsetting, and the more his incompetence is exposed, the more his opponents are emboldened to find ways to stop him.

Rachel Maddow looks at how Donald Trump's attack on USAID has sparked a widespread backlash, including from within his own party, as people speak out for the agency's mission and workers, as well as the economic ties in some parts of American to specific USAID programs, all of which Trump appears to have assumed no one cares about.

Despite Donald Trump being accommodating to staffers whose views on race would be disqualifying in most administrations, a member of Elon Musk's team has reportedly resigned after the discovery of his past racist online statements. Rachel Maddow looks at new details that are coming to light about some of the other members of Musk's crew that will make people already uncomfortable with Musk's overreach feel even worse.

Rachel Maddow explains how the disclosure forms for Kash Patel, Donald Trump's pick to lead the FBI, show at $25,000 payment from a Russia-linked filmmaker for Patel's participation in a pro-Russia propaganda documentary attacking the FBI.

Rachel Maddow runs through a surprisingly lengthy list of people Donald Trump has chosen to work in his administration who had previously lost elections. Being rejected by voters did not disqualify them from serving in representative government, as far as Trump is concerned.

Rachel Maddow looks at the many ways Americans are obstructing Donald Trump's goal of dismantling the Department of Education, from street protests to lawsuits to acts of defiance by congressional Democrats, and notes that the response to the threat to the Department of Education is emblematic of the broader national opposition to Trump's agenda.

Rachel Maddow looks at growing public anger at Donald Trump's war on the U.S. government, and looks at how cuts in the federal workforce, slashed funding to the NIH for medical research, and the decimation of USAID is having a profoundly negative economic effect in places that were previously supportive of Trump.

Donald Trump was caught by surprise when Department of Justice prosecutors were too dedicated to the rule of law to go along with a deal to drop federal charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Rachel Maddow describes that drama that led to six protest resignations under new Trump attorney general, Pam Bondi.

Rachel Maddow looks at a series of unforced errors by Elon Musk and the DOGE team that calls into question the accuracy of their "tech genius" image and whether they have the competence to tinker with the systems that run the federal government.

Rachel Maddow follows the reporting on Donald Trump's reckless firing of federal employees who work in the nuclear industry, cleaning up nuclear waste, managing a nuclear power plant, and ensuring the safety of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, and the ridiculous situation of instantly regretting firing nuclear safety personnel but being unable to get in touch with them to rescind the dismissal.

Rachel Maddow looks at how principled resignations are not only slowing down Donald Trump's agenda to destroy the U.S. federal government, but are drawing attention to the sketchy stunts Trump and Elon Musk are trying to get away with.

Rachel Maddow emphasizes the importance of resistance by Republican legislators to Donald Trump's agenda, and points out that the unpopularity of Trump's actions may help that resistance politically, but also some senators, like Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, have enough expertise in their chosen field to know how destructive Trump and his Cabinet are, and may be vulnerable to pressure on those issues.

Rachel Maddow checks in on new polling data about how Americans are feeling about the first few weeks of the second Donald Trump administration and the numbers are not good for Trump.

Rachel Maddow notes that while Donald Trump golfs and performs stunts for TV cameras, Elon Musk is hard at work on the project of dismantling the U.S. government. And even though Musk's behavior is so poorly received it is hurting business for his car company, his business interests broadly are reaping rewards from the very government he is destroying.

Rachel Maddow reports on Republican legislators being confronted at town hall meetings by angry constituents who want them to resist Donald Trump's dismantling of the federal government. But Republicans aren't the only focus of voters' outrage as Democratic legislators are being confronted to be more aggressive in obstructing Trump. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, top Democrat in the House, talks with Rachel Maddow about what Democrats are doing to get in Trump's way.

Elon Musk's DOGE team removed key items from its "wall of receipts" after journalists fact-checked their boasts of billions in savings from cuts to federal programs and exposed sloppy errors and outright falsehoods. Rachel Maddow reports on the walk back taking place shortly after a withering rebuke from a federal judge for not complying with an order to allow funding to continue, all amid the embarrassment of having to un-fire federal workers recklessly let go without consideration for the necessity of their role.

The measles outbreak in Texas continues to grow and has now claimed the life of an unvaccinated child. In Washington, D.C., at a Cabinet meeting apparently assembled for TV cameras, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s statements about the outbreak were distressingly erroneous.

A bright red line before a country loses democracy entirely is when its government loses respect for the rule of law and feels free to ignore rulings by judges. So when some of Donald Trump's nominees to be senior DOJ officials gave soft answers on whether a president can ignore judges, alarms rang for many senators present, even Republicans. Senator Dick Durbin, leading Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, talks with Rachel Maddow about the peril Trump poses to the essence of America's identity.

Rachel Maddow looks at a string of peculiar behavior by Donald Trump and Trump administration policies that don't seem to have the welfare of the United States as their goal, and wonders who those policies are good for if they aren't good for the U.S.

Rachel Maddow surveys the varied and widespread protests in opposition to Donald Trump's wanton destruction of the federal government. From weather scientists to immigrants to LGBTQ+ and its allies to consumer advocates to park rangers, each round of firings or extremist executive orders brings a new collection of anti-Trump activists under an ever-widening tent.

Rachel Maddow reports on the number of Trump cuts, firings and other initiatives that have been reversed, blocked, walked back or reconsidered, and the variety of American institutions, from the courts to the streets, that have contributed to restraining Trump from asserting the full force of his will.

Rachel Maddow talks with Hampton Dellinger, former chief of the Office of Special Counsel, about the importance of political independence for his watchdog agency, and his fight against Trump to restore the jobs of improperly fired federal workers.

As Donald Trump guts the programs and agencies behind some of America's greatest scientific achievements and fires the people responsible for those achievements and working on new ones, scientists across the country from every discipline took to the streets in protest to "stand up for science."

Rachel Maddow shows how the United States under Donald Trump is growing increasingly reliant on Elon Musk, and his Starlink program in particular. But Musk's words and deeds suggest he is not acting for the good of the United States.

Trump fires 1,300 at the Department of Education; programs expected to suffer with staff gutted. Plus, House Republicans literally alter time to avoid responsibility for Trump wrecking the economy

Rachel Maddow shares video of Rep. John Larson channeling the outrage of his constituents at the anticipation that Donald Trump's top donor, Elon Musk, is intending to destroy Social Security in order to privatize it. The Washington Post reported early Wednesday that Musk was planning cuts to Social Security's telephone customer service, but by the end of the day those plans had been cancelled. Between the public outcry and the exposure in the media, the pushback on Social Security cuts appears to have worked.

Rachel Maddow reads from the court transcript in which a federal judge blasts the Trump administration's defense of its firing of thousands of federal workers and orders that the jobs be restored, with some harsh words for Trump's lawyers to boot.

Rachel Maddow shares the amazing, historic story of how former Senator Alan Simpson and former Representative Norm Mineta partnered on hearings into the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, and why Donald Trump's reported plan to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which was used to justify Japanese internment, is raising alarm.

The U.S. Institute for Peace announced Monday that despite being independent of the executive branch and controlling its own building and the land it sits on, their objections to members of Elon Musk's DOGE team trespassing in their building were overridden by D.C. police. That came after an earlier confrontation in which DOGE was accompanied by the FBI. Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, who is suing the U.S. Marshals for information on DOGE after a similar raid, joins to discuss the unprecedented nature of DOGE leveraging the threat of armed law enforcement against another part of the government.

Rachel Maddow reports on yet another bad day in the courts for Donald Trump as he was made to restore jobs his top campaign donor, Elon Musk, had slashed, and was similarly made to restore USAID, another victim of Musk's DOGE, and lastly, had his anti-trans military policy rejected and was given a lesson in the language of the Declaration of Independence for good measure.

Rachel Maddow looks at recent acts of sabotage by Russia in countries that support Ukraine, including what is believed to be the planning stages of detonating a bomb in a cargo plane over the United States. Erin Banco, national security correspondent for Reuters, joins to discuss her new reporting that the U.S. is now taking steps to back away from its role in helping to counter Russian acts of sabotage.

Rachel Maddow reports on the ridiculous, bungled spectacle of the Trump administration's release of unredacted documents related to the JFK assassination. Donald Trump appears to have thoughtlessly announced the release of the documents, and the sycophants who serve him followed his order to the letter, apparently without thinking about what they were doing. The result was the unredacted publishing of the social security numbers of people who were involved in the investigation, including many people who are still alive, like Trump's own lawyer, Joe diGenova.

Rachel Maddow follows up on last night's breaking news that the Pentagon planned to brief Donald Trump's top campaign donor, Elon Musk, on top-secret U.S. plans for a potential war with China, with new reports that Trump says he only learned of the plan from the media and ordered that the briefing not take place. Trump's explanation is not especially reassuring as it raises new, unsettling questions.

Top officials in the Trump administration discussed a military operation in a group chat on a commercially available messaging platform with a random member of the media added to the chat without anyone bothering to look at who else was in the chat. Senator Mark Warner, top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, shares his reaction to the news with Rachel Maddow.

Rachel Maddow looks at Donald Trump's ridiculously poor track record of mishandling sensitive information, with the scandal of several of his top officials thoughtlessly discussing military plans in an insecure group text raising questions of criminality on top of the widespread outrage over the sheer sloppiness of their actions.

Donald Trump says the scandal over his top officials discussing secret military plans in an unsecured group chat is just a "glitch" in an otherwise perfect first two months in office. Rachel Maddow looks back to help Trump jog his memory and realize that "perfect" is probably not the best word for what has happened so far in Trump's second term.

Not only has the scandal over Trump officials discussing military plans in a group chat on an insecure commercial platform made the Trump administration look like fools to Americans paying attention, but overseas allies are drawing conclusions about the risk of sharing intelligence with America when its top officials are so careless with sensitive data. Alexander Ward, national security reporter for the Wall Street Journal, talks with Rachel Maddow about his reporting that it was actually an Israeli intelligence asset that was exposed by the sloppiness of the Trump officials' group chat.

Rufus Gifford, former U.S. ambassador to Denmark, talks with Rachel Maddow about the animosity and mistrust Donald Trump is sowing among even allied nations, and the shock of betrayal people around the world are feeling about Americans they'd previously held in high regard but who they do not see pushing back against Trump and standing up for long-term international friendships.

Rachel Maddow looks at a string of bizarre headlines about Donald Trump's secretary of defense, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, whose insistence on surrounding himself with close family while acting in his official capacity speaks poorly of his professionalism.

Senator Cory Booker talks with Rachel Maddow about holding the Senate floor for a record-breaking 25 hours and 4 minutes to raise attention to the perils of Donald Trump's agenda and inspire American activism against that agenda as many of his constituents have taken to regular public protests on their own.

Dr. David Kessler, former FDA commissioner and chief science officer of the White House Covid-19 Task Force, talks with Rachel Maddow about the devastating effects of Donald Trump's cuts to HHS, not only in dismantling important services, but compromising U.S. medical and scientific leadership to a degree that may not be recoverable for decades.

Betsey Stevenson, former chief economist for the U.S. Department of Labor, discusses the likely consequences for average American consumers of Donald Trumps ill-considered tariffs, and explains why, even in Trump's best case scenario, his tariff gambit is not worth the pain he is imposing on the U.S. economy.

Rachel Maddow looks at ways to understand the scope of the damage Donald Trump has done to the entire world economy, and reminds viewers where the tariff idea came from that has turned Donald Trump into a one-man global disaster.

From small towns to the largest cities, Rachel Maddow reports on the wide diversity of issues being protested in demonstrations across the United States on Saturday, as hundreds of thousands of Americans took to the streets to make their objections to Donald Trump's agenda heard.

Rachel Maddow looks at the bizarre, frivolous demands of members of Donald Trump's staff even as vital public services are being cut in the name of waste.

Even with new polling showing significant disapproval among Americans of Donald Trump's handling of the economy, Trump's indifference to tanking the stock market did not waver. But when his ill-considered tariff scheme began to affect the bond market, even Trump knew it was time to dial back his one-man global trade war.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder talks with Rachel Maddow about Donald Trump's efforts to intimidate the legal system in the United States and bend it to his will, and emphasizes the importance of the American legal community standing together and pushing back in defense of the rule of law. "The time is now to stand up and do all that we can to fight this administration."

From his cluelessness about critical cuts made to his agency, to his celebration of dangerous quackery, Robert. F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump's HHS secretary, is distinguishing himself as not only incompetent but dangerously so, leading a department with lives at stake. Rachel Maddow reports. 

Rachel Maddow looks at creative new ways activists are mocking and protesting Donald Trump's top campaign donor, Elon Musk, for his central role in butchering the staff and services of the U.S. government.

Trump administration lawyers are running out of excuses to avoid being accountable for the rights and whereabouts of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland immigrant father who was improperly deported and sentenced without due process to an indeterminate amount of time in a prison in El Salvador. Rina Gandhi, and attorney for Mr. Abrego Garcia, talks with Rachel Maddow about how the judge is pinning down the Trump lawyers for answers and accountability.

The judge hearing the case against Donald Trump's deportation flights is losing patience with the administration's excuses and stall tactics, and today raised the specter of holding members of the administration in contempt of court. Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, discusses with Rachel Maddow.

Rachel Maddow reads from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling against the Trump administration as it tries to avoid accountability for mistakenly deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia without the due process that is foundational to American values.

Did you know Donald Trump plans to eliminate  Head Start the preschool program? Did you know he gutted Americorps? Have you heard what he did to the National Weather Service? Rachel Maddow rounds up stories that would be huge news in normal times but may have slipped by unnoticed by many Americans in the shadow of Trump's daily wrecking ball spectacle.

Rachel Maddow surveys some of the many "No Kings" protests that took place in cities large and small across the United States against Donald Trump's push toward autocracy, and notes that unlike previous remarkable protest days, this one was given prominent attention by major news outlets.

After Tesla showed a steep drop in profits and a sliding stock price, Elon Musk was quick to blame fake protesters for manipulating public opinion against him. Rachel Maddow takes a look at the very real protesters and polls of public opinion that suggest that Musk should reconsider the public appetite for destroying the U.S. government and firing public workers.

Rachel Maddow reviews the main lesson of the first 100 Days of the second Trump administration and highlights how the administration's overall incompetence has made screw-ups and reversals the hallmark of their governing. "Just because they're trying to do really, really bad things doesn't change the fact that they're also just really bad at everything they try to do."

Donald Trump's second term is not even 100 days old and already his standing with Americans has soured, with polls showing opposition on major themes as well as specific issues, and the numbers only get worse as time passes. Rachel Maddow reviews the results of several major polls that show Donald Trump's second term is already falling apart.

Rachel Maddow reports on the ongoing parade of terrible polling numbers for Donald Trump, and talks with Rep. Jamie Raskin about the Trump administration arresting a judge. Rep. Robert Garcia also joins to discuss deportations, including breaking news that the Trump administration has deported several U.S. citizen children.

Rachel Maddow shares another collection of polls of Americans about the first 100 days of Donald Trump's second term, with results showing a shocking gap between people who approve versus disapprove. By wide margins, Americans do not like what Donald Trump is doing.

Rachel Maddow reports on examples of American citizens caught up in Donald Trump's attacks on immigrants in the U.S., some by accident, some by malicious negligence, and some apparently targeted on purpose.

Rachel Maddow reviews the many ways in which Donald Trump has made history with the first 100 days of his second term, though none of these achievements are anything to be proud of, and Americans are growing increasingly vocal about their displeasure.

Donald Trump is eager to fill out his autocratic profile with a display of military might in the form of a military parade. Anti-Trump activists are planning mass protests across the United States to make sure Trump  Ezra Levin, co-executive director of Indivisible, talks with Rachel Maddow about the effects protests are having on the Trump administration and the importance of local activism.

Dr. David Kessler had previously described for Rachel Maddow how Donald Trump benefitted from the federal medical establishment in surviving a sever case of Covid, only to make drastic cuts to that institution, including firing the doctor responsible for Trump being able to receive his Covid treatment. Now Dr. Kessler returns to point out that Trump's medical records show another benefit of the federal medical system, and again he is cutting the very thing that has helped improve his health.

Rachel Maddow considers how the history of the Trump era will be written and how the defense of democracy and resistance to Trump authoritarianism will be seen as having a wide range of motivations, reflecting the breadth of Trump's catastrophe but also the consistency of America's defenders across demographics and interests.

Rachel Maddow looks at fresh examples of communities across the United States rallying in defense of local immigrants being hunted by ICE agents, and notes that while Trump was open during the campaign about his policy of cruelty to immigrants, his expectation that Americans would support him in that cruelty was clearly misplaced.

Rachel Maddow points out that the most important story of our era is not what Donald Trump is trying to do, but what the American people will allow him to do. Maddow notes that pushback works against Trump's authoritarian overreach, and the fact that Trump skipped ahead to the last resort of calling in the military against protesters in Los Angeles is a sign of his weakness, his lack of ideas, and his lack of political skills to turn his plummeting popularity around.

Rachel Maddow shows that despite Donald Trump's admonitions against protesting, and despite physical threats from local law enforcement, and despite genuine public safety concerns, Americans would not be denied their right to protest against Donald Trump and came out by the millions on Saturday for "No Kings" marches and rallies.

Rachel Maddow reviews the cast of characters that staff important national security roles in the Trump administration, and whose lack of qualifications for their jobs matters even more now that Donald Trump's bombing of Iran has raised the threat level for Americans everywhere in the world.

As the death toll continues to rise and search and rescue teams continue to look for victims, the devastating flood in Kerr County, Texas show not only the vital role of weather forecasters, but also climate researchers who help make more accurate predictive models, and the coordinators and other administrators with the experience to make sure the right people are working with the right information. Eric Holthaus, meteorologist and climate journalist, talks with Rachel Maddow about the challenges weather officials face with climate change and staffing cuts under the Trump administration.

Rachel Maddow introduces viewers to the unfamiliar image of Donald Trump's pick to lead FEMA, David Richardson, who finally made an appearance in Texas more than a week after flooding killed scores of people.

Rachel Maddow takes a look at the sudden flood of artificial intelligence-generated fake stories on social media, using false stories with her at the center as examples. These false stories have her doing everything from rescuing Texas flood victims, to having a baby, to starting her own news network, none of which are true. The lesson is that now, more than ever, it is important to check the source of anything you see or read.

In an election year of astronomically high stakes, in the absolutely crucial Senate race in North Carolina, Democrats got their wish with popular former Governor Roy Cooper entering the race. Fresh from announcing his candidacy, Cooper talks with Rachel Maddow about his accomplishments leading North Carolina, and what he hopes to bring to Washington, D.C.

Rachel Maddow points out that the thing most Americans were dreading has come to pass, and the United States has changed profoundly in only six months of authoritarian rule. "We have a consolidating dictatorship in our country." With freedoms likely to continue to be curtailed in deference to Donald Trump's power, that means Americans have the most tools for democratic resistance right now.

Rachel Maddow cites example after example of Donald Trump going out of his way to help criminals, including some really terrible ones, so the idea that Trump's concerns about crime are behind his deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C. does not seem to hold water. Looking more closely at what Donald Trump has done instead of what he has said points to the more likely explanation that Trump really likes pointing the U.S. military at the American people.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump and his health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for mRNA vaccine research, a move that has been widely panned by health experts across the political spectrum, including members of Trump's first administration.

Donald Trump seems to move from one unpopular catastrophe to another. With people still in the streets protesting his military take-over of Washington, D.C., his disgraceful capitulation to Putin in Alaska prompted even deeper disapproval, with a new Pew poll showing his numbers steadily worsening. Meanwhile, in Texas, state Democrats have returned, enabling Republicans to restart their gerrymandering effort, another facet in Trump's effort to manipulate the upcoming midterms to preserve his hold on power.

Rachel Maddow highlights the difference between Donald Trump's rhetoric and his actions and notes that taking the big picture of Trump's actions can illuminate significant trends. For example, moving an individual out of one position in the administration into another may not seem particularly noteworthy until it becomes clear that Trump is moving people into ambassadorships instead of firing them. Similarly, a pattern appears to be taking shape as high-level military and national security leaders are being dismissed from service.

Donald Trump is acting as though he has the authority to fire members of the Federal Reserve Board and had attempted to do so with Governor Lisa Cook. Paul Krugman joins to explain the disaster Trump is courting.

Constantly making a mess of the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case hasn't stopped the Trump administration from continuing to do so. Today a judge prevented his deportation to Uganda.

And red states that have sent National Guard troops to serve in Trump's military occupation of Washington, D.C. have cities with higher crime rates than D.C., exposing the lie that these deployments have anything to do with fighting crime.

The estate of Jeffrey Epstein released materials today to the House Oversight Committee, including the "birthday book" that Donald Trump disputed (and continues to dispute) includes a crude drawing and note he submitted with his signature. Rachel Maddow looks at this and other new revelations and how much energy Trump is putting into denying what seems plain about Trump's role in a disgusting scandal of historic scale. 

Donald Trump's poor choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his HHS secretary has cost him a leadership role in public health as Kennedy dismantles key departments and agencies, cuts funding and fires experts, leaving state leaders to take charge of vaccine availability and other health issues. Dr. Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett, chief science officer for the Washington State Department of Health, joins Rachel Maddow to discuss.

Rachel Maddow points out that Donald Trump is following the "strongman" playbook so closely, and with such a lack of originality, that his behavior in his second term has become entirely predictable. And yet, for all of his aspirations to be a strongman, his leadership suffers from some profound weaknesses, from the economy to healthcare to criminal justice to immigration. 

Rachel Maddow talks with Jonathan Mahler, staff writer for the New York Times Magazine, about his reporting on the concerted effort by the Trump administration to destroy America's global leadership in cancer research. What constituency supports Donald Trump sabotaging work that not only saves lives but supports countless American jobs?

Former CDC director Susan Monarez is set to testify before the Senate this week as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy is stacking the vaccine advisory board with vaccine skeptics.

And the Trump administration claimed to have burned a massive quanitity of contraceptives meant to be distributed in developing countries, with the false explanation that the contraceptives are abortifacients, only for it to be discovered that the contraceptives are still sitting in storage.

Rachel Maddow hosts former Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic nominiee for president, on the eve of the publication of her new book, "107 Days," to revisit some of the decisions and circumstances that shaped the 2024 election, and to discuss politics and activism in the second Trump term.

Rachel shares her impressions of the interview with Lawrence O'Donnell at the end of the hour.

Rachel Maddow covers Trump posting an AI generated video promising to deliver a fake medical device that has been part of a long running conspiracy theory.

Rachel Maddow then reviews how the Trump administration has made a practice of weaponizing access to personal data in order to attack people Donald Trump doesn't like, and talks with Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic candidate running for governor in New Jersey who had her full, private military personnel record released to an ally of her Republican opponent without the proper procedure, nor the necessary redactions.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek talks with Rachel Maddow about Donald Trump's bizarre impression that the city of Portland is a war zone that requires U.S. military occupation, and her frustrating efforts to dispel Trump of this wrongheaded notion. 

Donald Trump continues to terrorize urban populations with militarized ICE raids while trying every loophole he can find to justify using the actual military in U.S. cities.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker talks with Rachel Maddow about his threat to leave the National Governors Association of the group won't speak out against Donald Trump's use of the National Guard against U.S. cities. Pritzker explains how he sees the militarization of ICE and Border Patrol agents as a normalizing precursor to establishing a military presence in cities in time to interfere with the 2026 election. 

And as individuals find ways to assert peaceful resistance against the Trump regime, major corporations, like Apple, are giving up without a fight. Apple removed from its app store an app called ICEBlock that allowed people to flag where ICE raids were taking place. The app's creator, Joshua Aaron, talks with Rachel.

Rachel Maddow points out the exceptional and unusually effusive praise and thanks that Donald Trump heaped on Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the president of Egypt, at an event tied to the Israel-Gaza ceasefire, in which Trump bizarrely mentioned his race against Hillary Clinton. The episode calls to mind a mysterious $10 million and a related investigation's questions left open-ended after Trump was inaugurated the first time.

Rachel Maddow looks at recent examples of Donald Trump using the power of American taxpayers to cut deals for himself and his friends and family, and focuses on the especially galling case of Trump and his Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, sending an extraordinary $20 billion to bail out Argentina at a time when the U.S. government is closed for lack of funding.

Rachel Maddow reports that the number of events planned for the "No Kings" day of protest on Saturday, October 18 already exceeds the previous "No Kings" protests that drew millions of Americans to voice their opposition to Donald Trump's overreach and attacks on democracy in the United States. Ezra Levin, co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible, joins to discuss the planning and organizing taking place.

Rachel Maddow looks at Donald Trump's position of extreme weakness ahead of what are expected to be massive "No Kings" protests, with Trump's agenda running into resistance from everyone from students and universities to members of the media to sitting judges to everyday people on grand juries and in public polling.

As Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is set to keep the federal government closed for a fifth week, Rachel Maddow shares new reporting from the New York Times on information published by individual states showing the cost increase in raw dollars if Republicans succeed in making changes to subsidies, the very changes Democrats have taken a stand against in the shutdown fight.

Bill McKibben, veteran climate organizer and founder of Third Act, talks with Rachel Maddow about the strong representation of older Americans among anti-Trump protesters and how the combination of personal experience and roots in civic activism has energized the older generation to speak out about the abuses and backsliding in the Trump era.

Not even a year into his new term and Donald Trump is already seeing people take to the streets by the millions to voice their objections how he is approaching his job as president of the United States. Rachel Maddow gives each state, plus Washington, D.C., its due and highlights just a small portion of the No Kings protests that took place in each state on Saturday.

Plus, Rachel talks with Erica Chenoweth about what it takes for a movement like No Kings to to become politically potent.

Rachel Maddow explains that while much of Donald Trump's abuse of power is typical of authoritarians, Trump has a new tool that no authoritarian before him has had: extremely advanced spyware. Trump is already deploying this new weapon through ICE, which intends to use this surveillance technology against immigrants but also against Americans who protest against ICE, and anyone they might snare with an extremely loose definition of "anti-fascist."

Rachel Maddow considers reasons why protesting against authoritarians is important, from feeling empowered to ensuring that important rights don't atrophy or get taken away when they're not in use. But another important use for protest is to send a message to the people and entities that would capitulate and become accomplices in the authoritarian's abuses.

Marc Elias, attorney and founder of Democracy Docket, talks with Rachel Maddow about the fight he expects Donald Trump to put up as Trump's unpopularity makes a clean election victory less likely. Even as Trump will abuse the power and credibility of the Justice Department to serve his ends, his past bad faith in making bogus election fraud accusations gives his legal opponents an advantage.

Rachel Maddow shares the results of several new polls, all showing the deepening descent of Donald Trump's popularity with the American people. Not only are Trump's actions being met with displeasure, but a remarkable number of people are supportive of the No Kings movement as MAGA's popularity fades.

MSNBC's Carol Leonnig joins Rachel to discuss her new book about how the prosecution of Donald Trump in the classified documents case fell apart.

And Rachel Maddow salutes the bravery and resourcefulness of people of Evanston, Illinois, who have not only activated to help protect their neighbors against the abuses of Donald Trump's ICE agents, but have rallied to collect food to help struggling neighbors as Trump's Republicans try leverage food assistance to force their budget to pass. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss talks with Rachel Maddow about his community's activism and pushing back against federal agents going too far.

Rachel Maddow looks at the powerful political momentum Democrats had built, including massive nationwide protests and a wildly successful election, only to have their unity falter on the shutdown fight with Republicans, resulting in capitulation that leaves many Americans who'd been encouraging Democrats to stand up and fight feeling hopeless and dispirited. Senator Bernie Sanders talks with Maddow about his objections to vote, Democratic plans going forward, and why "the Democratic establishment" should be the target of primarying.

Rachel Maddow reports on a new set of dubious pardons from Donald Trump, this time of people involved in his schemes to overturn his 2020 election loss, on top of previous pardons of January 6 insurrectionists, and several with whom he has business conflicts. From these pardons a pattern is emerging that law-breaking is permissible when it's done in the service of Trump. Former DOJ pardon attorney Liz Oyer joins to discuss. 

Rachel Maddow relays a series of stories that in any normal administration would be a shattering cascade of scandals, but in the perpetually disgraced Trump administration is merely a string of ordinary headlines of entirely typical waste, corruption and incompetence.

As Donald Trump's anti-immigrant operations spread to new cities, residents are learning new lessons in how to resist and help protect their neighbors. MS NOW's Jacob Soboroff reports on a community training event in Charlotte, North Carolina where residents learned protest and resistance tactics to respond to ICE raids and arrests taking place in their city.

Rachel Maddow shares the story of the small town of Newport, Oregon figuring out that the Trump administration was planning to install an ICE prison at their airport, turning out residents in droves to protest and demand answers. Oregon State Rep. David Gomberg joins to talk about the effort to find out exactly what is going on.

Senator Mark Kelly, in an interview with Rachel Maddow, emphasized his view that "it's almost comical" that Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are calling it a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that he cited part of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in a recent video. Kelly explained his participation in the video in the context of protecting members of the military from a president who "doesn't seem to care about the Constitution, the rule of law."

Rachel Maddow shares reporting on bizarre behavior by former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who tampered with his ankle monitor while on house arrest and was sent to jail. Donald Trump subsequently boasted of speaking with Bolsonaro and expecting to see him soon, apparently unaware of Bolsonaro's incarceration. Did Trump accidentally reveal too much about why Bolsonaro was tampering with his ankle monitor?

While there were questions at the start of the Trump administration about whether court rulings would be obeyed, it wasn't seen as a certainty that Donald Trump's representatives in court would lie so much to judges. Former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade talks with Rachel Maddow about what the likely fallout will be for Trump's legal lackeys. 

Rachel Maddow relays the details of a new Washington Post report that Donald Trump's secretary of defense, former weekend cable news host Pete Hegseth, gave orders to kill everyone on board a boat he accused of running drugs to the United States, which meant finishing off the survivors of an initial strike that destroyed the boat — the literal textbook definition of an illegal order. Rep. Adam Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee joins to discuss a new, bipartisan push to investigate Hegseth's orders.

Rachel Maddow talks with Nadya Tolokonnikova, founding member of Russian dissident activism group Pussy Riot, about what it means that the Putin administration has declared her a member of an "extremist" organization, and the parallels to Donald Trump using a similar tactic to give himself the tools for targeting people he doesn't like.