all right, that's it for today, and this weekend. i'm julián castro, filling in for alicia menendez. alicia will be back next weekend for more american voices. for now, i handed over to mehdi hasan. hello, mehdi. >> hello, julián. you must be a popular man in iowa tonight, because if i remember, currently, you're one of the first democrats to call for iowa to lose its first in the nation status and at the democratic primaries. the dmz took your advice and booted iowa. it's now south carolina. so are you gonna be visiting iowa anytime soon?

>> you know, have not gotten invitations recently, mehdi, to get out to iowa. but i was happy to see the dmz finally make a change, and put south carolina first. >> i agree we should have a primary calendar that looks more like america, you are very bold at the time to go to iowa and talk about something other than ethanol. appreciate you, appreciate you show, have a great rest of your sunday night. >> thanks, mehdi. >> tonight, on the mehdi hasan show, a racing black history from our classrooms. ron desantis is leading the charge, but the effects will be felt across the country. when will liberals fight back? and, what we ever get any real, genuine reform of the police? i'll speak to new york congressman and squad member jamal bowman, who's himself a former victim of police violence. plus, new victims on that suspected chinese surveillance balloon, and this year it is -- idiocy of the responses from some republicans. ♪ ♪ ♪

>> good evening, welcome to the show, and congratulations on surviving another week in the life of our republic. another seven days of craziness, mainly from the republican party, and mainly -- i mean, nowhere is that more true these days than in the right wing state that has become the lid oratory for gop extremism, americas country within the country, florida, land of sunshine. and the leadership of that tropical autocrat in training, governor ron desantis. perhaps we could start calling florida america's very own mini hungary, -- narcissistic bully. because in only the last seven days, mind you, ron desantis and florida republicans have managed to, on monday, and she disabilities to make it illegal to carry a concealed weapon without your license, without a permit. i can see it now, the wild,

wild west palm beach, packing heat in boca. the florida gop started weighing that measure on the same day 11 people were injured after government opened fire in lakeland, florida, and pleat what police are calling a targeted attack. the republicans withdraw their bill as a result of the very serious injuries the victims suffered, including a man shot in the face? don't be ridiculous. of course, they didn't. but wait! there's more! on wednesday, orban want to be -- wants to burn your freedoms. take a listen. >> now tax, permanently, on gas stoves. they want your gas stove, and we're not gonna let that happen, and we're not even -- >> yes, he's fighting back against the war on gas stoves. who is the day of which he speaks, though? also on wednesday, journalists reported that the florida high school athletic association quietly updated its paperwork and a way that could force female student athletes to report their menstrual history.

critics point out that the policy could be a major challenge to transgender rights, it could play a role in tracking young women and post pro florida where abortion access is severely restricted now. and on friday, the desantis administration revoked the liquor license of an orlando -- holiday event was a drag show. there's still mad about drag shows. but now, let me tell you about one story from this week that should really, really make you set up and take notice. america's -- the new york times, quite ludicrous sly, in my opinion, described it as desantis taking on the education establishment. what a ridiculous and irresponsible way to describe what is in fact desantis is wrong in public education in florida on the teaching of certain topics. you know, the difficult stuff, especially for white people, to talk about. black history, for example, in the united states, restrictions for gay teachers in florida schools, on books that desantis doesn't like or wants to see band, to the point where

floyd's teaches this week revealed how they've had to remove or cover-up books that haven't been vetted. yes, vetted by the state. but the dissent is warren education in florida no longer effects just florida. because his latest attack has had a very negative national impact. so, two weeks ago, ron desantis gave a speech rejecting the advanced placement ap college credit courses on black history for florida high schools. take a listen. >> this course on black history -- what's one of the lessons about? queer theory. now, who would say that an important part of black history is queer theory? that is somebody pushing an agenda on our kids. we want education, not indoctrination. >> not indoctrination. page 243 -- not really -- of the republican party playbook. accuse your opponent of the very thing you ourself are guilty of, or want to do. to be clear, desantis is fine

with indoctrination. he just wants to be the one doing the indoctrinating. and yet, despite that, on wednesday, the college board announced major changes to its ap african-american studies chorus that include big cuts from its pilot course, along the lines that -- downgraded from the curriculum are topics that include black lives matter, mask incarceration, reparations for slavery, writers and scholars who will no longer be taught to america's brightest high school -- and guest on the show whose work has been described as foundational to critical race theory, also gone his project ferguson, whose written about queer social movements and -- pulitzer prize-winning author has made the case for reparations for slavery. gone to his bell hooks the writer who shaped discussions about race, feminism, and class. the college board has denied that florida and desantis's egyptians have anything to with her changes, telling msnbc that their changes have time span

records of provisions from december 22nd, which isn't the best offense, given the right have been attacking the ap african american studies course since at least last september. and, you know, announcing this purge of the curriculum just days after desantis's attack on it is, in my view, suspicious, to say the least. remember, when the democratic governors of illinois and california raised their own objections over the college board, saying they want to keep the ap's black history curriculum intact, their appeal was ignored, making it hard to disagree with california governor gavin newsom's description of the head of the college board as a desantis puppet. this is the same college board chief, by the way, who jeb bush once praised in 2013's time 100 issue of being the architect for the controversy. and -- now the failed to do -- that guy -- one republican florida governor seems to have now ruled over for another republican florida

governor. so, question. when will prominent and influential institutions and organizations in america stop trying to appease the bad faith authoritarian right? it's maddening. and it's why republicans keep winning. whether it's the liberal media, or liberal higher education, the republicans and especially ron desantis continue to work the rafts. they continue to get the results they want, while democrats look on seemingly helpless. it's time for liberals to stand up for, you know, liberalism. otherwise, the whole of america will keep going the way of desantis's florida. for more on all this, let's turn now to brandon wolf, but secretary for equality florida, jarred -- author of the new book the midnight kingdom, a history of power, paranoia, in the coming crisis, and karen -- author of the recent peace, florida is offering an advance lesson in anti-blackness. thank you all for joining me. kara, let me start with you in

your post op-ed. you see the role of these recent bills and laws targeting wokeness and critical race theory were always about, you say, quote, anti-blackness. if that's the case, what do you think the college board is going along with it? are they endorsing anti-blackness in their purge of this ap african american studies course? >> yeah. i mean, i think that's the big question. and i think this is a question that a lot of us journalists need to be having on the college board in the next few days, to be honest. i think it's a lesson in a lot of ways and how racist fascism has always worked in the south, in the sense that anti-blackness hasn't just been about, you know, lynching and slavery, being cruel to black people. it also requires bite people intimidating other white institutions from even, you know, giving a semblance of help or being allies to black

people. which, i think -- the college boy did garner praise and support in announcing that this was a course. but now, it's unfortunate that they have, given the appearance of rolling over and participating in what is essentially whitewashing, and what is essentially, frankly, just caving to authoritarianism and perpetuating anti-blackness in our education system. >> jared, why does this dispute over an ap course and high school matter so much to the future of the -- ongoing battle over the survival of literally american democracy? >> well, first of all, we have to point out that anybody who is banning history is trying to hide history. a lot of what the republican party at this point is trying to conceal, how we've arrived at this point, including the white suppress assist ideas and patterns that have played a role in both our history and

also the status quo that we have now. and, you know, the run desantis problem in all of this is that he has shown an ability to go beyond what donald trump has done. these cartoonish, buffoonish antics, and to put a serious face on this. and what we've seen left and right is not the type of things that ron desantis and people like him push forward, supposedly serious republicans, is that people will cave towards the pressure. because what happens anytime that spotlight is shown on them, is that they get harassed, and eventually they will cave, particularly when it comes to anything that is controversial or makes white people uncomfortable. >> the caving is what kills me. brandon, whether we like it or not, ron desantis is winning, isn't he? he's exporting the florida illiberal model bit by bit, week by week. was the feedback from liberals who are not named gavin newsom? >> well, that's the question right now. where the democratic governors? where are the blue state leaders?

who is setting the national tone around what is possible if we reject ron desantis's brand of authoritarianism? that's been my question as we've been battling this ap african's american studies issue. where are -- whitewashing propagandized to massage the feelings of a narcissist in florida? and i'm like that you rightly point out that this is not just a florida problem. because i see the memes. i see bugs bunny sinus off and sending us into the atlantic ocean. that's cute, but that's not how politics work. and it's worth saying atlanta that ron desantis is animated by a desperation to be president of the united states. so if you're made on comfortable by the way in which books are being banned in florida, imagine giving him the keys to the united states department of education. if you're made uncomfortable by his racism and xenophobic, imagine him with an unlimited resource to traffic migrants across the country, or whitewashing propagandized black history not just in

florida, but in all 50 states. what desantis is not just a florida problem. he is a national crisis that is threatening freedom and democracy, and the question, as you post, is when is someone going to finally stand up, push back against him, and organize a resistance that says, this is what's possible if we choose the path forward instead of the regressive path back? >> god help us if around santa 's is in charge of the republic of homeland security. just deal with the argument, though, from desantis and his apologists that this isn't a don't say black approach. that black history is still being taught in florida schools, but they're just getting rid of the, quote unquote, political bits. the bits about prison abolition, we are very. how do you personally respond to that line of argument? >> as i said on twitter, it's very interesting that we are exposed to all sorts of vile and incorrect and wrong theories and philosophy is coming from the white western world.

we had to learn about manifest destiny. we have to learn about the civilizing mission for the poor savages in africa. that was called history. now, for us to learn about black resistance to these ideas, and not just black resistance to whiteness, but honestly, just black fought. black creativity. black -- particularly, black feminist scholars. what are they so afraid of? it is a cowardly move. and i think what was that was correct. i'm from texas, and i'm looking at what's happening in florida, and it's just a matter of time before this spreads. right? and so, again, to compare this to an authoritarian country in europe, or far away, in the far past -- the south has always been like this. the south has always been fascist. racism is fascism. it's just now, we have an opportunity to see it naked lee. but, if we failed to fight back,

if democrats and people at the grassroots level failed to fight back, at this point, if they don't -- it's almost complicity. almost. it's right in front of our faces. and we have no choice but to fight back with everything we've got. >> jarred, just sticking to what karen was saying about, you know, manifest destiny -- is that not propaganda or politics or indoctrination? he says it's education, not indoctrination. he's got a point. we should opt for education over indoctrination. but what do you draw the line, how much of this is just projection from the gop and the right? >> well, what desantis has shown us is that there is such an appetite within the republican party for this. but also within the republican party of america. i mean, this isn't just his doing. there's an incredible amount of money behind people like desantis. we have institutions that are using these ideas in order to push their agendas, in order to attack public education, in order to attack curriculums,

and also to go ahead and push this whitewashed type of propaganda history. what's going on in florida right now is absolutely when you set. it's a laboratory for what can be done at the larger federal and national level. i think it isn't farfetched to say that this looks a lot like what viktor orban was able to do in hungary. we need to understand that society, even when we -- society can be controlled. >> one last question to you. at what point to floridians who are liberals, or people of color, with kids in the public school system, saying, you know, this is not the place for me to bring up a family or educate my kids. i'm out of here! are we near that point? what do you think? >> well, i think it's an unfortunate question pat to ask. because florida's beautiful. i'm not for it in by birth, floridian by choice, and i love my state. i love the city of orlando. i fallen in love with the community i've created. but people are already asking

that question. there was a recent study done that showed that somewhere around 50% of lgbtq parents in the state of florida have considered whether or not this is the right place to live anymore. summer between 15 and 20% of them began making plans to leave the state because of the way education has become hostile towards them and their families. there are people right now questioning whether or not desantis putting himself in the doctor's office, deciding what care their children can and cannot receive, is sustainable for them anymore. but would breaks my heart is that there are people who are not gonna be able to afford to do that. there are people who are gonna get stuck here. there are millions of people who don't have the option to just pack up and move to a different state. and they deserve someone to be fighting for them. so i appreciate you asking the question, what is someone gonna fight back? because there are millions of people in florida who deserve that fight back. >> i completely agree with you. you put it very eloquently there. because this idea of, you know, sawing off florida nonsense,

suggesting the south can be written off when there are millions of good, decent people who don't want to live under autocracy, or extremism, or racism and xenophobic -- i, mean we're all in this together. brandon wolf, jared, karen, thank you so much. appreciate it. coming up next, new calls for police reform the wake of tyre nichols's death. but many of them go far enough? and how do you get reforms through congress? i'll be joined by democratic congressman and squatter member jamal bowman after a very short break. don't go away. t go away. doesn't your family deserve the best? eggland's best eggs. classic, cage free, and organic. more delicious, farm-fresh taste. plus, superior nutrition. which is now more important than ever.

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hi, i'm lauren, i lost 67 pounds in 12 months on golo. golo and the release has been phenomenal in my life. it's all natural. it's not something that gives you the jitters. it makes you go through your days with energy, and you're not tired anymore, and your anxiety, everything is gone. it's definitely worth trying. it is an amazing product. and the 1980s, an 11-year-old

boy and his friends were playing around in the street. they were being loud and boisterous. as children tend to be. a police officer asked the kids to settle down, but when that boy gave the officer a little back top, things took a violent turn. the policeman through the six greater up against the wall, and handcuffed him, dragging him and scraping his face across the ground while holding night stick to his back. the child was let go, but he never forgot that moment, and europe to be someone you may know. here is democratic congressman jamal bowman, for decades later, sharing his story on the house floor during a debate on the george floyd justice and policing act. >> i think god that i'm alive to tell the story. unfortunately, george floyd is not alive. philando castile is not alive.

tamir rice is not a life. >> it's been nearly two years since congressman bowman gave that speech. and those two years, republicans in congress have blocked the passage of meaningful police reform. tragically, many more names have been added to that list of black men who have died at the hands of police, including 29 year old tyre nichols, who died last month after he was brutally beaten by memphis police officers. democratic congressman jamal bowman of new york joins me now. congressman, thanks for coming back on the show. he tweeted that tyre nichols, like so many others, was, quote, killed by police, killed by white supremacy, killed by america. what would you say to people who claim, while, race could've played a part in his death, because the officers involved were also black? >> race is a social construct. it's an ideology. it's a way of thinking, and being.

it's our operating system in america, and white supremacy is at the top of that system. it's at the top of that cast system, if you will. and one of the reasons why desantis and others want to take systemic racism, systematic racism, out of our history books, out of our courses, is to understand white supremacy, you've gotta understand it sucks stomach lee. it's an institution. those five black police officers are a part of that institution. and oftentimes, when black police officers put on the gun and the badge, they adopt many of the behaviors of the same institutions that have oppressed them. and that's what we saw manifested in the murder of tyre nichols, in addition to an institution that will create something like a scorpion unit, which is a predator unit, to pray upon people in a particular community.

so this is one of the reasons why we all need to learn a little bit more about race and not run away from it. because then, we would understand this is not just about white people. this is about an institution. >> yeah. and what you just said is spot on. it's eloquent, and yes, ron desantis does not want people like you saying that in florida classrooms or in universities or public settings. nichols's death has reunited calls for public action on police reform. -- back in 2021, but the senate, of course, failed to move forward with it. one of the big issues was quandahl -- qualified immunity, this idea of protecting police officers from civil suit. is there a path forward for meaningful police reform without addressing the issue of qualified immunity for cops? >> no. there's a path forward to probably do something small to get the ball rolling, but the fraternal order of police does not support qualified immunity. and they're a huge lobby, i

believe well over 300,000 members. because of that, they lobby members of congress, they lobby members of the senate to make sure that qualified immunity is nowhere to be found. but this is where public sentiment needs to come in. people need to understand that it's our taxpayer money that pays the salaries of police officers. it's our taxpayer money that pays their pensions. it's also our taxpayer money that pays for the lawyers that defend them in court. as those who are taxpayer money that pays for the settlements that happened in police departments across the country. >> good point. >> so one quad find immunity is that play, we can hold the officer accountable for violating the civil rights of someone, and i agree with -- i believe it was lindsey graham's idea, to hold the departments accountable as well. i want to also add that police departments in cities -- this insurance money at play

here. there's a few cities that go into debt through bonds to pay settlements related to police departments. and bonds are tied up in the stock market, in wall street. so there's a billion dollar business related to police brutality that begins with taxpayer money, and i want taxpayers to know that and push the senate is for real reform. >> it's not often you here on this show, i agree with lindsey graham. i have to ask you about your colleague, congresswoman ilhan omar, who is just kicked off the house foreign affairs community by republicans. before that vote, she showed just one of the many death threats she's received in recent weeks. she said these threats tend to increase when republicans put a target on her back, just a warning for our viewers -- what about what you're about here is violent and disturbing. >> put a bullet in your [bleep] head, and get that [bleep] out of my country, you [bleep]. i'll [bleep] kill you.

>> disgusting staff. this week, democrats and congress united to back omar. but i have to ask, we have the democrats been over the last few years when she was relentlessly demonized? i wonder if your party was a little late to the effort to defend her from racist attacks from the right. >> i think the party has been a little late, but also not nearly as loud as we have needed to be. i mean, right after i won my election, i came to washington state have a meeting with the cpc. she's one of the first people i met, and we spoke for about two hours. she told me multiple stories about the death threats that she consistently receives because of the rhetoric of donald trump at that time, and, now moving into people like marjorie taylor greene, and lauren boebert, and many others. ilhan omar represents everything that scares the

daylights out of ron desantis and others. she's black, she's a woman, she's muslim, she wears the hijab, and she speaks truth to power, asking questions that hold us accountable, and also hold our allies around the world accountable for our behavior towards marginalized people. this is what this kicking off the foreign affairs committee was about. when you look at the republican party, some of the things that they say and do -- they have literally threatened the lives of other members of congress. that's why we took them off. ilhan omar has done nothing like that at all. >> yes indeed. paul gosar is still on committees after threatening aoc and biden. congressman jamal bowman, thanks for your time. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> coming up, she claims to be a moderate republican, but the real nancy mace is far more extreme in farm are prone to flip-flopping. i'll explain my 16 --

62nd minute. but first, richard is here with the headlines. hello, richard. >> thank, you mehdi. senate majority leader chuck streamers as -- obviously briefing on february 15th on the suspected surveillance balloon from china. this comes after u.s. forces shot down with the pentagon called a high altitude surveillance balloon at the direction of president biden. and chilly extended an emergency declaration to another region this weekend as firefighters try to control dozens of deadly wildfires. the fires caused over 20 deaths and more than 500 injuries. the country's interior minister expects the death toll to rise. and, temperatures, talking about rising, are warming by around 50 degrees in just days in the northeast. this comes after arctic air brought dangerously cold wind chill temperatures to at least one death. the midwest will also see warmer temperatures as texas faces another cold storm. more of the mehdi hassan show right after this. right after this business internet. (woman) it's a perfect fit for my small business. (vo) verizon has business internet solutions nationwide.

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you may have noticed gop congresswoman nancy mace on the airways in recent days. it's here on msnbc, or on cnn, or on bill maher, she likes to play the moderate card. the reasonable republican. the thing is, she talks one way, and votes another. give me 60 seconds to introduce you to nancy mace, queen of the flip-flop. start the clock. let's kick off with trump, after jeremy six, mace said she held trump -- praising him and try to get it some dortmund. and the january six, miss tweeted that she had to evacuate her office to tua -- she felt threatened on january 6th, and she was -- done, those vaccines. she wanted -- to different sunday shows on the same day it to -- the viewership on a national immunity over the vaccines to protect themselves against covid, an hours later on -- about abortion?

and -- an abortion, urging them to be more centrist. the next day, she joined her february publicans to vote for an anti-abortion bill. what about paul gosar? may 2nd time and a video showing him killing aoc. -- calling needed to take responsibility. -- she chose not to. -- she said she wouldn't vote to kick ilhan omar off the affairs community -- and then when it came time to vote, mace fell in line with the party and did exactly that. so nancy mace, is she for trump or against him? for vaccines are against them? or is she just for nancy mace. coming up, republicans seem to have lost their minds over that suspected chinese surveillance balloon. we'll talk about that, plus, don't forget -- you can listen to the mehdi hasan show anytime for free wherever you get your podcasts. ou get your podcasts (vo) verizon has business internet solutions nationwide. (man) for our not-so-small business too. (vo) get internet that keeps your business ready for anything.

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(vo) businesses nationwide are switching to verizon business internet. (woman) it's a perfect fit for my small business. (vo) verizon has business internet solutions nationwide. (man) for our not-so-small business too. (vo) get internet that keeps your business ready for anything. from verizon. the chinese balloon saga has finally and thankfully come to an end. president biden gave the order to shoot down the suspected surveillance balloon that had been in u.s. airspace for the last few days. it was struck down off the carolina coast with a single missile. personally, i am delighted that we no longer have to hear about this balloon, but even more so that we won't have to hear even more ridiculous responses from republicans. you had gop lawmakers like j.d. vance and kari lake and paul gosar putting out pictures of themselves with guns, pretending that they could shoot it down, just to be clear,

a bullet fired straight up in the air might reach up to 10,000 feet, but the moon was up 60,000 feet in the air. the party of jokers making a bigger joke about it from solves this past week. and let's not forget marjorie taylor greene and particular. the far-right gop congresswoman said the great donald trump would've never allowed china to fly a spy balloon over our country. right. well, he actually did. at least three times, in fact, according to the u.s. department of defense. so, i want to speak now to someone who's been racking up views online by documenting the idiocy of a lot of republicans in realtime. join me now is jason salvage from the comedy duo, the good liars. jason, thanks for coming back on the show. what did you make of all the republican responses to this chinese balloon? what was the most ridiculous when you saw? >> i loved it. it was nonstop comedy, which was big for me. but, my favorite part of

balloon weekend, as i'm calling it, was the pictures you just showed up all the republicans tweeting pictures of themselves, pointing their guns to the sky, saying they're gonna shut down this balloon that 65,000 feet in the air. obviously, it's a nod to their gun loving followers. i do think that 80% of those republicans that posted that we're probably doing it as a joke, but then you've got a republican like kari lake he doesn't really have a firm grasp on reality. she still thinks she can win an election that she lost three months ago. so i worry that maybe he's been shooting at the sky for the last 48 hours. she might even take credit for popping the balloon. but, i do think the balloon situation provided an opportunity for these republicans to do what they do best, which is political theater. they get to show off that cute little guns. >> yeah. when j.d. vance put his picture out by kind of made fun of him on twitter's, saying, you know, this guy should know better. he's from yale.

and people say, he's just joking. the classic republican response. they do something crazy, it's a something extreme, they say we were just joking, even though as you pointed out -- so many of that voters believe it. and in fact, that's what i love about your videos. is that the people who vote for the republican party, a lot of them don't see the dark. they take it very literally. early in the show, we were talking about republican attacks on public and education. you went out and recently asked some trump supporting parents about critical race theory, which is a red meat issue for a lot of them. let's have a watch. >> do you think that there should be rules about what is taught in school? >> absolutely. >> what would you like to see? >> this critical race theory. >> critical race theory. i heard about that. why are we doing this? >> what is critical race theory? >> i don't know. >> i've seen that clip about three times. a lot of time. when you talk to people, how do

you keep a straight face? number two, can you believe what you're hearing? does this make sense? >> it does make sense, and with a straight face, it's just hours of training, and just keeping michael in the situations. but with critical race theory, and make sense. because it's just become kind of republican bogeyman now. they're taking the gas stoves of the war on christmas is. it's just something they're doing to scare the voters. it's not the first time i talk to somebody who said it was the most important issue to them, and then also had no idea what it was. but, i also think it's -- the states that are banning crt might have to do some reflection. in 2021, alabama, the board of education banned critical race theory from being taught in alabama. but alabama still has martin luther king jr. day share a holiday with a confederate general. so i'm not sure if alabama has proven that they are a leader in anti racism there. >> yeah.

and i think, as you point out, the gas stoves is another good one. we mentioned it earlier. i was just a joke! except ron desantis is now offering tax breaks for people who buy tax stops. it affects real public policy. this is no decora charles. they take it into the realm of actual budget. the madness never ends. i'm sure we'll have you on again to talk about more net madness. thanks for your time again. >> thank you. >> coming up, the fda's new don't say gay policy for gay and bisexual men trying to donate blood. stay with us for the important story. tant story. with leading ultra-capacity 5g coverage. t-mobile for business has 5g that's ready right now. nexium 24hr prevents heartburn acid before it begins. get all-day and all-night heartburn acid prevention with just one pill a day. choose acid prevention. choose nexium.

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no, i'm not talking about ron desantis's crusade against clean people from public schools. i'm referring to the fda. joe biden's fda, which dictates how certain lgbtq americans must behave in order to be allowed to perform the honorable service -- civic service of donating blood. as benjamin mazer explained in the atlantic this week, many americans are aware of this country's long, sordid history with stigmatizing where people. what they, but you may not be aware of, is that america has an equally long history of stigmatizing where peoples blood. it all traces back to the hiv aids crisis when cain bisexual men demonized by the religious right, for second by the reagan administration, we can to be viewed as inherently diseased by much of the american public. those false, vile, and, yes

bigoted believes made their way into public policy. and the 19 80s, at the hits of the aid -- aids epidemic, the fda instituted a lifetime ban on any queer men seeking to donate blood. by 1992, it was pushing for that to be the global standard. fortunately, as time passed, we become a more enlightened and tolerant country, at least in some ways, and given advancements and blood screening technology, such a ban came to be seen as increasingly indefensible. and yet, old, hateful habits die hard. because in 2015, even after years of lobbying from the american's ocean blood banks, the american medical association, and countless queer advocacy groups, broken bombs fda opted to only ever so slightly alter their gay blood ban. they did away with a lifetime prohibition, and instead merely demanded that queer men abstain from sex for a full calendar year if they wanted to donate blood to those in need. what a progressive, what a woke policy change. look, it's true that men who have sex with men have a higher risk of contracting certain

sexually transmitted viruses like hiv. however, let's be clear. number one, there are many, many more heterosexual people in this country, some of whom will also contract hiv in their lifetimes. and you haven't seen them facing fda backed restrictions on their sex lives in order for them to donate blood. number two, many demographic groups face an elevated risk of contracting hiv, and the agency doesn't have exclusion criteria for young people or folks in urban areas are black and hispanic americans. number three, i must reiterate the methods that laboratories have used to test donated blood for years and years now are so accurate that there hasn't been a single reported case of transfusion associated hiv in the u.s. since 2008. 2008! before you get the wrong idea, this isn't about social justice wires pushing wrote -- woke, probate policies. this is about america as a country engaging in self harm. really. in 2020, as covid-19 was running rampant, our national blood supply was so dangerously low we were at serious risk of running out.

so the u.s., again, updated its restrictions on gained by sexual blood donations. they shorten the lakeith of abstinence required from a year to three months, which brings us to the latest development. this week, biden's fda announced yet another modification to his blood donation policy. now, gain bisexual men can provide blood to their fellow americans if, if, they attest not having engaged in penetrative sex or sex with more than one partner in the last three months. once again, i must reiterate, the science is just objectively not on the fta side of this. the only hiv infections like possibly be missed by modern texting are those contracted within the previous week or two. so that's really such a concern, just adjust the abstinence period to one or two weeks. for all americans! police in gay and bisexual men's bedrooms, stigmatizing them as dirty, does not make this country towards blood supply any safer. and what's more, it ignores the reality that has been commonplace in the most sexually active queer communities, to take daily

medication preventing hiv infection for a decade or more. reversing this particular ban both in letter and spirit would send an important message that our government views sexual minorities as more than a disease factor. they are people! they shouldn't be punished because they're trying to save a strangers life. coming up next, my friend amen will join me to talk about the man republicans fear most. guess who that is. and on screen, you can see an ad for ayman, the show, at 10 pm. -- fight back against republicans reckless and misguided congressional investigations. then, 10 pm eastern, we're jumping between the ads, msnbc films presents guerrilla habeas. it's an intimate, important look at immigrants in the u.s. being threatened with deportation, and determined lawyers -- keep their families together. you can watch guerrilla habeas ten i, 10 pm eastern, on msnbc.

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(upbeat music) thank you for watching. we'll be back here soon on sunday, 8 pm eastern. you can now find this show on the msnbc hub on peacock. now, it is time to handed over to my friend, ayman. ayman, good evening, i hate agreeing with former british

conservative prime minister and serial liar boris johnson. but he was in d.c. this week, and he had this to say to the atlantic council about the republican party living in fear of one tucker swanson -- have a listen. >> i've been amazed and horrified by how many people are frightened of a guy called tucker carlson. anybody ever heard of tucker carlson? what is it with this guy? all these wonderful republicans seem somehow intimidated by his perspective. and he's -- i haven't watched anything that he's set, but i'm struck by how often this comes up. >> i mean, ayman, wonderful republicans the side, like i said, it's hard to disagree with that sentiment from boris, it is crazy that the gop, the grand old party, the party of lincoln and eisenhower, even raegan, now lives in fear not just a former reality tv star

living in a resort in florida, but also lives in fear of a former beau try wearing frozen food air who hosts a weekly white power hour on fox. he now decides the gop agenda, everything on aid to ukraine, to the green m&ms. he sets the tone, he decides the official enemies every night, and you dare not criticize him or across them if you have an are next year name. it's kind of crazy, it kind of embarrassing, is it not? i mean i think it is beyond embarrassing. not only does he set the agenda for the republican party, he can literally have these republicans so afraid of him that he will bring them out on his show, they will travel in front of his audience and debase themselves i mean you and i are remember -- called the january 6th attack on the capitol, what it rightfully was. a terrorist attack. -- insurrection against our government. but tucker, he didn't like that label and i will let our

viewers see what happened next. watch this. >> you called this a terror attack won by no definition was it a terror attack. that is a lie. it will that lie on purpose. >> the way i phrase things yesterday, it was sloppy and it was flying clear dumb. i agree with you. it was a mistake to say that yesterday. it >> is embarrassing, it is cringeworthy. imagine a senator from one of the largest most powerful states in our union, debasing himself like that for tucker close and. this is a tv host who raged against republican congressman because that -- allege that tucker was given a drop on capitol hill to win favor with republican establishment members. i mean, tucker's anger sent the gop shaking in their boots that the national republican congressional committee had to put out a statement denying the allegation. that is where we are now is this republican party basically the republican party, like you said, the party that played itself on standing up to communism in the ussr