Castles and carriage rides for Trump. Outside the castle gates: a poorer, more isolated post-Brexit Britain. The cautionary tale for the U.S.: stop ceding identity to demagogues—and deliver reform that actually helps people. #Velshi

In 2025, deadly diseases like smallpox and polio aren’t exactly a major fear. And that’s thanks to vaccine development. Historian Kyle Harper says vaccines are the innovation that “has done more than any other to contribute to human health” #Velshi

The oldest trick: keep workers mad at a “scary other” while nothing gets fixed. Trump’s U.K. spectacle can’t hide Britain’s warning, says @rhodesben.bsky.social. On making the "American Dream" real again: Democrats must "rebuild democracy"—attack corruption, remove barriers for people. #Velshi

Trump has long used one tactic to evade his critics: he calls any allegation against him a "witch hunt." Fmr. Inspector General Michael Missal & National Security Attorney @bradmossesq.bsky.social discuss how Trump's attacks lead to "less transparency, less oversight, and less accountability.”

The Intercept reports Google gave ICE investigators a student protestor's personal Gmail data. Roger McNamee ( @moonalice.com ) warns Americans: "We are going to be the victims." Immigration attorney @allenorr.bsky.social adds "we are behind" on digital privacy regulations. #Velshi

The role of teachers "is to teach kids how to think, not what to think,” says @rweingarten.bsky.social in response to the conservative push to influence school curriculum. She says students should be taught a variety of different perspectives so they can become “free thinkers.” #Velshi

ABC’s move to bench Jimmy Kimmel w/ an upcoming merger in the backdrop has sent chills across the media landscape. @linamkhan.bsky.social warns corps are choosing profit “over any type of commitment to democracy”—and that extreme concentration of economic power is fundamentally incompatible with it.

FCC chair warns ABC to “do this the easy way or the hard way.” Hours later, Jimmy Kimmel is benched from TV. Trump warns any critical coverage of his administration should be “illegal.” Are we still living in a democracy? #Velshi

The far-right "Great Replacement" conspiracy is now mainstream in the GOP. "It demonizes minorities, it demonizes immigrants" says @milleridriss.bsky.social, while Colin P. Clarke warns when politicians describe immigrants as invaders, "That should be where we draw the line." #Velshi

The “Great Replacement” theory was once relegated to the far-Right fringe, motivating violence like the 2018 Tree of Life shooting and the 2022 supermarket shooting in Buffalo. Now, rhetoric about “replacement” & immigrant “invasions” has become mainstream in the GOP. #Velshi

Why is “1984” so important to read today? “Because patterns repeat … It becomes relevant over and over again,” says @veronicarothbooks.com, author of the “Divergent” series #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub

“We’re living in the manifestation of Project 2025.” Just 8 months into Trump’s presidency, a significant amount of Project 2025’s policies are in effect. And now, “they’re gonna do it all over again” warns @goangelo.bsky.social in conversation with @davidpepperoh.bsky.social #Velshi

Brazil makes history by convicting & sentencing Bolsonaro for plotting a coup to remain in power. MSNBC analyst Ben Rhodes stresses the significance for democracies everywhere: “It’s important for us to do some soul-searching in this country…If you give authoritarians an inch, they take a mile.”

By convicting fmr. President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil is delivering a valuable lesson. And it sends a clear message to Americans: the fight for democracy is far from over. The question now: will America act? #Velshi

“One of the things that is most outrageous is the idea that DOGE and the Trump administration were eliminating or dramatically reducing humanitarian aid on the basis of efficiency and waste,” @nickkristof.bsky.social said in response to USAID cuts. “What they have created is waste and inefficiency.”

The Supreme Court just greenlit ICE racial profiling in LA. @profmmurray.bsky.social says we are moving “dangerously close” to “real tyranny” #Velshi

Racial profiling, court-approved. The Supreme Court just made your 4th Amendment rights depend on what you look like. Trump’s police state is here, courtesy of SCOTUS. #Velshi

President Trump is eyeing Memphis for his next National Guard troop deployment. @justinjpearson.bsky.social says the administration’s “main targets” are Black-led and Black majority cities and that “we should all be terrified by what we are seeing.”

Republican gerrymandering is ramping up in several states. Missouri just passed a GOP-drawn map, and Kansas may be next. Kansas Rep. @davids.house.gov, whose district was redrawn in 2022, says: “it is outrageous…voters should be choosing their representatives and not the other way around.” #Velshi

There’s an organized anti-science movement that smears experts on climate change, vaccines, and more as "cartoon villains," says @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social. His co-author of the new book "Science Under Siege," @michaelemann.bsky.social, calls disinformation an "overriding crisis." #Velshi

Why are children’s books so important? Co-author of the “The 1619 Project: Born on the Water” Renée Watson has the answer. “Reading is a form of listening” and listening to others’ stories is crucial #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub

Since the U.S. struck a boat in int’l waters, top officials suggest they’re above the law, as long as they are doing Trump’s bidding. Ben Rhodes says this is "the war on terror and the multi-decade failed war on drugs merged together with Trump’s authoritarian militaristic impulses. And it’s scary.”

Oyster farmer and veteran @grahamformaine.bsky.social hopes that his economic populist campaign will make him the one to unseat Republican Susan Collins. “I just think that we need to send regular working people up to Washington to represent regular working people,” Platner explains. #Velshi

With Sen. Eric Schmitt’s recent speech defining America as a nation by and for white Christians, the GOP has gone mask-off. @nhannahjones.bsky.social says Schmitt’s vision is “very dangerous” and says "the truth of our history is just so inconvenient" for the MAGA crowd. #Velshi

@repgwenmoore.bsky.social says “Trump has taken a chainsaw to employment for Black people” as over 300k Black women have been eliminated from the workforce since Feb. @darrickhamilton.bsky.social says it’s part of Trump’s dismantling of public infrastructure “for the benefit of this administration.”

New Jersey’s @replamonica.bsky.social speaks out after Trump ally comes up short in attempt to kick her off House Homeland Security Committee. www.msnbc.com/ali-velshi/w...

President Trump wasn’t seen for several days last week & the internet assumed the worst; exploding with conspiracy theories about his health. The speculation could have been cleared up with a dose of transparency. But that’s not this administration’s strong suit. #Velshi

The great @stephenking.bsky.social has advice for every single member of the #VelshiBannedBookClub#Velshi “Run to the library or to the bookstore and find out what they don't want you to read.” #Velshi

You want to know what the king of horror thinks of humanity? @stephenking.bsky.social says, "You can call me a romantic if you want to, but I think that most people are inherently good, and they try to do their best.” #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub www.msnbc.com/ali-velshi/w...

“What independence means is that the technocrats at the Central Bank use economic reasoning, data” to achieve economic goals, says Fmr. Fed Chair & Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen‬. ‘Americans need to worry’ about political interference. It’s “a recipe for runaway inflation.” #Velshi

Trump's goals for the Fed are 'very dangerous,' warns Fmr. Fed Chair & Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen. The financial system is “like the plumbing in your house,” says Yellen. “You don’t think about it most of the time. It’s important that it works,” but you're very “aware of it when it’s broken” #Velshi

Resistance doesn’t require grand gestures, @elienyc.bsky.social‬ reminds us. But what you do now is what you would have done in history’s darkest hours. "So who do you want to be?" Trump wants to strip us of our humanity– making every act of kindness an act of defiance. "Do something." #Velshi

From bridges to town halls, ordinary people are resisting Trump, refusing to stay silent, and showing that democracy lives in our communities—not just in D.C. Every small act matters in the fight for our democracy. #Velshi

Appeasing a dictator doesn’t work, as Chamberlain’s failures in the leadup to World War II show us. Yet as Trump floats ceding Ukrainian territory to Putin, we need to remember the lessons of history. #Velshi

“The future of our party is going to be decided by who steps up and fights for this moment” @mallorymcmorrow.bsky.social says as Democratic voters press their leaders to fight Trump. “And then, by the way, when we take back power, we need a party who is not afraid to use it.” #Velshi

Budget cuts made it “challenging to do my work,” says Dr. Jennifer Layden, a fmr. CDC official who resigned this week. “The work of public health often goes unnoticed until there is a major outbreak,” says Layden, which makes Trump and RFK Jr’s undermining of the CDC so risky. #Velshi

Americans are begging for Democratic leadership to get off the mat and back into the fight. If you’re a political leader in this country and are not prepared to fight with both hands, not prepared to make “good trouble”, then perhaps you should step aside and make space for those who will. #Velshi.

It’s “theological malpractice” to "pray for something you have the power to change" said @brotherjones.bsky.social‬ in response to lawmakers offering prayers after the MN shooting. Facts from @gregoryjacksonjr.bsky.social: “There are more gun stores than there are McDonald's in our country"

What could be better than a #VelshiBannedBookClub meeting with the singular @egangoonsquad.bsky.social? A #VelshiBannedBookClub meeting on Gothic classic “Rebecca” by Daphne Du Maurier *with* @egangoonsquad.bsky.social#VelshiBannedBookClub#VelshiBannedBookClub#VelshiVelshi 📚

PragerU's "conservative" alternative to PBS has hit classrooms in 10 states, but ‘they have a 50 state strategy,' warns ‪@msnbc.com’s @ahylton26.bsky.social. What these videos present is "not just a little wrong -- it's really insidious." #Velshi

"We need serious leadership," @hartmannreport.com responds to the naval-gazing from Dems as the GOP gets a head start on 2026. "Most of what we're doing is just defense," adds @davidpepperoh.bsky.social, urging more Dems to run for office. "26% of [TX races] weren't opposed last November." #Velshi

It's a Catch-22 at immigration courts across the country. “If they don’t show up, they’ll be deported. If they do show up, ICE is going to take them away,” says @deanobeidallah.bsky.social‬. @bradlander.bsky.social says, “They are abiding by the law, and it’s our government that’s breaking it.”

“We are going to drag the party kicking and screaming to meet this moment," @walshfreedom.bsky.social says of the Democratic party needing to fight as Trump's authoritarian slide intensifies. “Wake up. Democracy is more important." #Velshi

“I think people want a party that meets the moment,” says @repsummerlee.bsky.social in response to criticism of the Democratic Party since November. “We’re facing authoritarianism. Period.” and need a party “that shows up every day. That shows other people how to fight.” #VELSHI

America has had “50 years in which we did not make the right decisions” economically, says @rbreich.bsky.social‬. ‘Trickle-down economics is a hoax’ #Velshi

For years we’ve been told that if the rich get richer, the benefits would trickle down to the rest of the population. How’s that going for everyone? Ali explains how U.S. economic policy rewards the elite at the expense of the working class. #Velshi

“Why is it the case that whenever they attack ‘wokeness,’ they attack our story?” @esglaude.bsky.social‬ asks in response to Trump’s complaints that the Smithsonian Institution overemphasizes slavery. “We cannot become passive participants in this destruction,” warns @imaniperry.bsky.social‬.

Trump claims to have “solved” between 6 and 10 world conflicts, a claim that, to put it lightly, doesn’t check out. @anamariecox.bsky.social says Trump is ill-suited to diplomacy because he, "does not believe in win-win," approaching it in terms of "deals with a winner and a loser." #Velshi

Why is fantasy such an important and popular genre? “Cemetery Boys” author @aidenschmaiden.bsky.social says when “we’re talking about heavy stuff [...] it eases it a little bit with a little magic and mystery and mayhem.” #VelshiBannedBookClub #Velshi www.msnbc.com/ali-velshi/w...

Watching Trump and Putin’s summit, one could wonder if it was 1938 or 2025, says @vkaramurza.bsky.social. He draws parallels to past dictators and wars, warning that we should learn from history that "you cannot achieve peace by appeasing an aggressor." #Velshi www.msnbc.com/ali-velshi/w...