Episode 264
We’ve reached the stage of fascist consolidation where the regime directly censors the media (either “the hard way or the easy way” in FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s words). We’re sharing clips from the emergency demonstrations Refuse Fascism organized in response to ABC/Disney firing Jimmy Kimmel.
While the fascists lionize Charlie Kirk and are attempting to make him the MAGA equivalent of the Nazi martyr Horst Wessel to inspire greater repression, it’s more urgent than ever to mobilize for November 5:
The time has come for…The fall of the Trump fascist regime
Beginning November 5, 2025 Washington DC
Come to a MASS ORGANIZING MEETING
Featuring Sunsara Taylor
Other Speakers TBA
San Francisco:
Unitarian Universalist Church
1187 Franklin St 94109
Wednesday, September 24 5:30pm
Washington, DC:
St. Stephen & the Incarnation Church
1525 Newton St NW 20010
Saturday, September 27 2pm
Also see:
Refuse Fascism Responds to Trump’s September 10 Statement
Continue to take part in protests near you and connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org. Text NOTRUMP to 855-755-1314, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism. Support:
- patreon.com/refusefascism
- donate.refusefascism.org
- Venmo: Refuse-Fascism
- Buy merch
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
Episode 264 Kimmel Stays — Trump Must Go Now!
Sun, Sep 21, 2025 5:58PM • 45:23
Sam Goldman 00:23
Welcome to episode 264 of the Refuse Fascism podcast, a podcast brought to you by volunteers with Refuse Fascism. This is Sam Goldman, one of those volunteers and host of the show. Refuse Fascism works to unite all who can be united to drive out the Trump fascist regime through mass, relentless, nonviolent protest. Today, we’re sharing voices from emergency protests held in response to the fascist oppression of free speech, the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel. Don’t forget, if you’re listening on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, take a moment to rate and review this show, after listening, of course — it helps more people find the show — and share this episode with friends, family and anyone who refuses to live under fascism.
Now first, one frequently asked question that we get is: Isn’t it wrong to drive him out, because he’s the legitimate president? Well, is Trump legitimate? Sunsara Taylor responds. [Male voice over with background music] Donald Trump won the election. He is the legitimate president.
No. Fascism is never legitimate. Besides, even if you grant Trump some claim to legitimacy because he was elected, he forfeited that claim the second he started using his constitutionally obtained power to systematically dismantle this constitutional order; to shred due process, to trample basic rights, to weaponize the federal government against opponents, to violate court orders, to seize on the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk, to go on a fascist rampage, to subvert elections.
Trump threatens his political adversaries in and out of power. He goes after politicians, journalists, activists, comedians, anyone who opposes him, anyone who challenges him and his fascist program. How should we respond to Trump and his fascist regime’s latest crackdown? Listen to Sansara Taylor. Don’t give them your fear.
How should decent people respond to Trump’s latest fascist crackdown?
Stephen Miller 02:22
With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people. It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name.
Sunsara Taylor 02:33
Safety? [Voice screams in terror during ICE abduction: Por favor!] Not for immigrants or Black people or the homeless or others that Trump hates. Trump, Vance, Steve Miller, they’re not fighting for your safety. They are cynically using the very wrong murder of Charlie Kirk to bum rush a permanent fascist crackdown on any and all opposition, while they have people fearful and on the defensive. You see, they don’t just want your fear. They need it. Don’t give it to them. The Trump fascist regime needs your fear, because everything they’re doing is illegitimate. Their threats to hunt down and imprison leftists for their speech violates the First Amendment.
Donald Trump 03:13
A woman just stood up and started screaming. [Group of female voices: Free D.C. Free Palestine. Trump is the Hitler of our time!] She was a paid agitator, and you have a lot of them, and I’ve asked Pam to look into that in terms of RICO, bringing RICO cases against them — criminal RICO, because they should be put in jail.
Sunsara Taylor 03:31
It violates the Fourth Amendment protections from illegal search and seizure, and their calls to turn in neighbors and get them fired for their opinions is a page out of Hitler’s playbook. So don’t give them your fear. The Trump fascist regime needs your fear because they’re lying. The overwhelming majority of political violence is carried out by the radical right; the bombings of abortion clinics, the massacres of Latino people and Jewish people and Black people and Black people again and again, the military occupation of our cities, the genocide and starvation in Gaza that the US is backing. This is political violence, and it’s not from the left.
You see Trump, Vance and Steve Miller. They don’t object to political violence. They’re stoking it. So don’t give them your fear. The Trump fascist regime needs your fear. Because as powerful as they are, they are not all powerful. There are more of us who oppose them than support them. Millions more. There are people in every institution and every level of government who, from different perspectives, find this fascist program outrageous and abhorrent.
So as deadly as they are, and as much as time is running out to stop them, it is not too late, so don’t give them your fear. Don’t give them your silence, and don’t give them the future. But how? How to not be afraid when they really are hammering peopl — weaponizing the full machinery of the state to terrorize, intimidate and silence? How to win back the future when they hold the levers of state power? There is only one way. [crowd: Trump Must Go Now!]
All of us, millions and millions of us, converge at the same time in the same place: Washington, D.C., November 5 — nonviolent, but determined, from many different perspectives with one unified cry: This nightmare must end. Trump must go now! And we keep coming back again and again, growing in numbers, so strong that we inspire people the world over — so strong that we compel major shifts and realignments among the rulers, so that Trump cannot govern this country, cannot impose his fascist program, and cannot even hold on to the reins of power. [faint crowd protesting in background]
This is the only way, and there’s not a second to waste, so stop what you’re doing and make plans to be there, D.C., November 5. Don’t just plan to be there. Dedicate the next seven weeks of your life to organizing others to be there. Go to RefuseFascism.org. Download the call for this nonviolent mobilization. Spread it to friends. Spread it to strangers, by the hundreds by the thousands. Everyone must know! As we do this, we use every attack to further expose Trump’s illegitimacy and bring more people to our side. We defend everyone who is wrongly targeted, whether or not we agree with all their views. [protest sounds in background] We pour into the streets this October 18, making no Kings Day
Two even more massive than the first, and most of all, November 5, [crowd: Trump Must Go Now!] Washington, D.C. We make this the biggest nonviolent but determined mass mobilization in U.S. history. We do not stop until Trump is removed from power. There is no other way. Time is running out. The stakes are enormous, and there is not a second to waste. So let’s get to work, because we still have a chance to stop this nightmare and rescue the future. D.C., November 5, I will see you there. [call and response: Trump Must Go Now!]
Sam Goldman 06:55
Trump came after Jimmy Kimmel because that’s what fascist tyrants do. Fascism isn’t a threat on the horizon. It’s here. Cheers to those in the arts, fellow late night hosts, fellow comedians, the journalists, the politicians, the writers and actors unions and all who have used their platform and influence to call this out for what it is. Next, we’ll share highlights from emergency protests held after the illegitimate indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel, starting with voices from Refuse Fascism NYC, Jimmy Kimmel Stays, Trump Must Go! protest held this week outside of ABC headquarters. Listen to Jim Keady and the Brita Filter.
Jim Keady 07:35
Good afternoon New York City! [crowd responds enthusiastically] My name is Jim Keady. I am very happy to have traveled across the river from the great state of New Jersey [cheers] to join all of you New Yorkers to stand up and speak out against this injustice. [single voice: yeah] I am a former elected official in the city of Asbury Park, for those of you who are Springsteen fans, yes, that Asbury Park. [mild positive response] I certainly stand in solidarity with the Boss who has made it very clear where he stands on our authoritarian fascist President. [applause]
We are here today because ABC, one of the longest standing broadcast networks in the United States of America, has cowered to Trump’s authoritarianism and has halted the broadcast of the Jimmy Kimmel show. [boos] They did this because they were threatened by Trump’s Federal Communications Commission. This is an absolute trampling on the First Amendment. When we speak about the First Amendment, and there’s certainly been a lot of conversation about it in the last week, we do really need to know what we’re talking about as activists, as advocates.
So if we look at the First Amendment, it protects our freedom of religion. If I want to practice faith, or I don’t want to practice faith, I can do that and the government, the government cannot establish a faith that supersedes any of the other faiths that all of us might want to to practice. [several people respond: right]
Freedom of speech. We should be able to go into the public square and speak our minds, [many: right] without redress by the government. [right] Freedom of the press, that the press, who’s standing here with us today has the right, not only to film what we’re saying, but to comment on it, to write about it, to opine on the truth that they believe in or that they have problems with. [affirmative response/cheer] The right to peaceably assemble. What we are doing right now. [mild cheer] And the right to petition our governments when we believe that they are acting in a way that is not in accordance with protecting the rights that are provided to us by the Constitution. [yes]
What we are seeing now through this action that the Trump regime has taken, in leveraging pressure on ABC through an arm of the government, is fascism. [enthusiastic agreement] I am so happy, we’ve been saying it for months and months, some, years and years, and now we are finally starting to see more mainstream pundits — I was very happy to see former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, [yes] come out today, or maybe his last night, and say, flat out: This is fascism. Say it. [Crowd: This is Fascism!] These are the stakes that we’re facing right now: The end of the rule of law, the end of the right to free speech and to dissent, the end of the freedom of the press, the end of the right to petition our government, the targeting of whole groups of citizens because their thoughts or their words are not in lockstep with the authoritarian regime. [yup] Again, this is fascism. [right] There is no living with this fascism. [hell no]
I’m sure all of you here are aware of the famous poem by Pastor Martin Neimoller. [yup] First they came. First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist. Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.
People say history repeats itself. [here we are] I prefer the adage that history rhymes. Here in Trump’s fascism, first they came for the immigrants, then they came for the students protesting the genocide in Gaza. [affirmative] Now they’re coming for the entertainers. They will come for the LGBTQ community. [many: hell yeah] They will come for the activists. Then they will come for the milquetoast centrists who are sitting on the sidelines saying that it’s not that bad. [Don’t Forget the Black people]. Certainly will not forget the Black people. They’ve been coming for them since the founding of the Republic. [before, 1619!]
I say this to my fellow Americans — not the ones who are here with us, not the ones who have already stood up and spoken out. I say this to my fellow Americans whose only activism is keyboard warrioring. I say this to my fellow Americans who say: Is it really that bad? [many: yeah] How much further down the poetic fascist path do we need to go before you join us in the streets? [grumbles] Remember how the poem ended. They came for me, and there was no one left. Trump’s fascist regime needs to be stopped now.
We need Americans of good conscience who do not want to live under a fascist regime, who do not want their children, their grandchildren, their great grandchildren, to live under a fascist regime, to convene in Washington, D.C., starting on November 5. [cheer] We need all of you to start making your plans. This will not be a one off demonstration. We will need relentless, consistent presence in our nation’s capital by millions and millions and millions of Americans. [Yeah! ] We need to 1take up the words and the example of Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez, and to stand together in solidarity in nonviolent resistance until the Trump regime falls, and soon becomes just a few years of dark memories in the tapestry of the history of the United States. [cheers; Yes please.]
We need you to be in Washington, D.C., for sustained, nonviolent protest until the Trump regime is removed from power. As we do the organizing work to make this happen, I want to encourage everyone here to please stop arguing with your father, your angry Uncle, your crazy aunt. It is time wasted in this moment, we need to be focusing on the people that are aligned with us, but who are not yet active and in the streets. I’ll tell you a quick story based on the package that I’m in, it may not surprise you that I was a college athlete and the president of a fraternity.
When I was a fraternity president, I had 110 guys in my chapter, 100 of whom would have done anything I asked in terms of planning the parties, social events, volunteer work, and because of the stuff that I was hooked up on, I was focused on the ten guys in the back row who weren’t excited, who would only show up to drink, who would argue with the stuff that we were trying to do as a chapter, and as I reflected on it as adult, as an adult, I think about how much energy I wasted and how much opportunity I lost by not focusing on the hundred people that were already aligned with the vision and the excitement that I had. [agreement] Our neighbors are out there. Your co-workers are out there. They believe what we believe. It is our job to organize, organize and organize to get them to join us in the streets. [cheer]
This is, this window right now in the coming weeks and months, is our last chance to stop this. Because once an authoritarian regime completely consolidates power, on average, it takes about 31 years for that virus to run its course. For our sakes and the sakes of our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren, [and the entire world] our Constitution and our representative democracy that represents each one of us, and the entire world, yes, we need you to get more people with us to join us. Please, for the love of god, for the love of country, for the love of neighbor, love of yourself, join us. Thank you. [Thank you. cheer]
Brita Filter17:41
When do we finally say enough is enough? [crowd: now] That’s right, right now. If they can silence the comedians, they can silence the activists. If they can silence the activists, they can silence the voters. And if they can silence the voters, well, congratulations, you’ve got yourself a dictatorship. I don’t know about you, but I refuse to live in a country where Jimmy Kimmel is off the air, but Marjorie Taylor Greene still has wifi. [cheer, laughter] So what do we do? What do we do? We show up. [We show up.] We make noise. [continued repeating] We refuse to be silent! [repeat] We chant so loud that they hear us, inside of ABC headquarters, [loud cheer] inside the FCC, inside the White House, because the only way to protect free speech is to use it [cheer] — boldly, [yes] relentlessly. So say it with me. Jimmy Kimmel Stays!, Trump Must Go!
Crowd 19:01
Jimmy Kimmel Stays! Trump Must Go! Jimmy Kimmel Stays! Trump Must Go!
Unknown speaker 19:08
Now listen to the action held in front of ABC headquarters in New York City, organized by the Writers Guild of America East and SAG AFTRA.
Sam Wheeler 19:18
Good Afternoon New York Labor Unions! [loud cheer] My name is Sam Wheeler and I have the honor of being the executive director of the Writers Guild of America East. [cheers] I don’t think I need to tell this crowd that Donald Trump is a tyrant. I don’t think that I need to tell this crowd that Brendan Carr’s attack on ABC and its affiliates is an assault on the First Amendment. [some applause] I don’t think I need to tell this crowd that ABC’s capitulation to that attack is corporate cowardice at its absolute worst. [cheer] What I do, think I need to say, though, is that we are going to win.
We are going to win! [cheer] I don’t have to tell the Writers Guild that. I don’t have to tell SAG AFTRA that, because you just won a big strike in 2023? [cheer] I don’t have to tell New York unions that, because New York unions have built this into a union town, generation after generation after generation. There are more of us than there are of them. [building cheer] There are more people who believe in this country, than there are of them, and we are gonna win. The people who need to hear this are the executives in this building, because they need to understand that this period in American life is not gonna last forever, and when it’s over, we are going to have some hard questions about what kind of courage you displayed in this moment. [cheer] Now I’m going to turn this over to somebody who fights for our communities every day. Controller Brad Lander. [cheer]
Brad Lander 21:02
All right, we’re out here with a message to Bob Iger, is that right? [yeah] We’re gonna say: Bring Jimmy back. [crowd chants: Bring Jimmy Back!, Bring Jimmy back! Now! repeating] I wanna to say thank you to Sam and to Writers Guild of America for standing up for freedom of speech! [cheer] That is a proud New York City tradition. New York is a union town. [cheer] New York is a free speech town. [cheer] New York is an immigrant town. [cheer] I was proud to be out there yesterday along with Claire Valdez and about a hundred other New Yorkers who put our bodies on the line to say: We’re not going to be silent while they’re abducting our neighbors. [cheer]
I am proud to be out here this morning with all of you to say we are not going to be silent while you try to silence freedom of speech [yeah] for Jimmy Kimmel, for comedians, for news folks or for anybody else. We talked yesterday about why that tradition New York City has of welcoming immigrant New Yorkers is a historic New York City tradition as well. Freedom of speech is a historic New York City tradition. Just about 300 years ago, a printer named John Peter Zenger opened up a printing shop — he was a German immigrants here in New York City — and the governor of New York at that time, in 1734, Governor Cosby was his name, he tried to shut down Zenger’s printing press and arrest Zenger.
And you know what, a grand jury of New Yorkers refused to indict him, because New Yorkers show up for freedom of speech, [growing cheer] and we are continuing that tradition today. Writers Guild of America organizes to protect its workers for the rights of union workers to be able to get paid for the work you do, and Writers Guild of America continues that New York City tradition strong, 300 years later — that when tyrants come and whether they’re tyrants like that Governor Cosby in 1734 or they’re tyrants like Brendan Carr, or they’re tyrants like Donald Trump, we show up to demand freedom of speech, we will not let you erode democracy.
And then, when cowardly CEOs just thinking about their own pocket think, you know what, maybe a little sacrifice of our democracy is fine, we show up immediately to say: No effing way are you gonna start firing comedians who do just what everybody in the business is supposed to do; use satire, hold up a mirror, say what’s true, communicate. Do not let tyrants silence us. [cheer] That’s why I’m proud to be out here with you guys this morning to give a message Brendan Carr. It is a message to Donald Trump. It is a message to all New Yorkers, but for today, it’s mostly a message to Disney executives, including Bob Eiger. You can fix this right quick and show which side you’re on by doing one simple thing right now. [along with crowd] Bring Jimmy back! Now! Bring Jimmy back! Now! Bring Jimmy back! Now!
Jim Keady 21:05
We’re gonna to hear from Assembly Member Rosenthal.
Assembly Member Rosenthal 21:05
Hi everyone, I’m assembly member Lisa Rosenthal from the Upper West Side, Hell’s Kitchen, former home of ABC. I’m glad they’re gone from the Upper West Side. Sorry this neighborhood has to deal with them. So, Stephen Colbert first. Now we have Jimmy Kimmel. We know how this road and how this story goes. This is following in the path of Hungary, Russia, Turkey… North Korea, soon? We will not let it get there. Will we? [crowd: No!] Thank you Sam Wheeler, Writers Wheeler Guild of America East, thank you, SAG AFTRA, thank you Local 802. [cheers] Thank you for saying Not on our watch! Not on our watch! We will not sit by. We will also not watch ABC, Disney, all of those. We’re not watching you. And bring Jimmy Back! Thank you all. [cheer]
Assembly Member Tony Simona 26:16
I’m Assembly Member Tony Simona. I represent Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea some of the west side of Central Park West, Times Square — really cool district. [chuckles] I’m here… I would have been here yesterday, but the fascists arrested some of my colleagues and I, with our great leader Brad Lander and my assembly colleagues, trying to protect our immigrant neighbors and constituents. I was there also for my family. My mom is Latina from Peru, and for my cousins, two who are undocumented and living in fear right now. But today, we’re here on a different fight.
I want to thank the unions who are here, the Writers Guild, we need you in this fight. You were there in the past when this happened to us, and it’s happening again too quickly. The red alert is now. Tell the Democratic Party, my colleagues, who think writing a letter is not enough anymore. We may need to shut down the government. We need a national strike. We can’t follow the old playbook anymore. [agreement] We need to talk to these corporate bosses, many of them who are friends with the demagogue in the White House and these tech bros, that we’re coming for you, [affirmative] because I know you’re coming for us. We are one nation. We should respect everyone’s opinion. Freedom of speech is essential to who we are as Americans.
Just because you’re a weak little fool of a man and you don’t like criticism, too bad, because you’re gonna get more and more every day. And we’re going to grow in numbers. [cheer] I want a message, a message specifically, lastly, to colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Is this the America you want? Do you want to be silenced when we’re in power? We’re not gonna do that because we don’t believe in that. We believe in freedom of speech, and freedom to read, and freedom to assemble, and a freedom to be an immigrant, our freedom to make this nation a working class nation; not ruled by oligarchs. And like I’ve said before in the past, when you come for one of us, you come for all of us! [cheer]
Speaker 1 28:43
Thank you everybody. Now I get to hand the bull horn over to Brad Hoylman Siegel.
Brad Hoylman Siegel 28:49
Thank you so much. I’m State Senator Brad Hoylman Siegel. [cheers] Thank you. I represent the west side of Manhattan. Any West siders here? [cheer] From the Stonewall Inn, the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ human rights movement, all the way up to West 103rd or as I like to think of it, from the gay bars to Zabars. [cheers] [picked up from crowd] And maybe all of Manhattan. Thank you. Thank you. Brad Lander. Obviously what happened last week was a tragedy — a tragedy in the assassination of an American political figure. We all recognize that, isn’t that right? [affirmative]
But at the same time, we don’t use tragedies as political opportunities. Am I right about that? [affirmative] That’s exactly what Jimmy Kimmel was saying on his late night talk show host. You know, it was Mel Brooks, no less, who said: The only weapon I’ve got is comedy. And he’s right. Mel Brooks also said something else, which is why the far right fears the comedian. He said: If you stand on a soap box and trade rhetoric with a dictator, you’re gonna get nowhere. But if you can bring him down with laughter, he can’t fight back. [cheers] That’s exactly what they fear. They fear thoughtful, hysterical comedy, and that is where we are today. But it’s not just about comedy and ideas. We know, standing behind us, it’s about the dollar. We know it’s about the fact that NexStar has a $6.1 billion merger that is on the desk of Brendan Carr, and that corporate bigwigs are desperate to get that across the finish line. We know what’s more important than that, which is our First Amendment.
Am I right about that? [loud cheer] So I am proud to stand here with the Writers Guild, with all the writers who make our days what they are, because it is important that we have free expression. It is incredibly, incredibly important that we stand up, not just for comedy, but for freedom of expression. For everyone who stands up for Jimmy Kimmel, I say thank you. Let’s make certain that Bob Eiger and ABC hear us loud and clear. Bring back Jimmy Kimmel! [crowd repeats] Thank you very much.
Sam Goldman 31:50
Finally, we share Sunsara Taylor once more speaking in front of the El Capitan theater in L.A. where and when Jimmy Kimmel Live, should have been recording.
Sunsara Taylor 32:00
My name is Sunsara Taylor. I am a spokesperson and a co-initiator of RefuseFascism.org. We called this protest today [cheer] because the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel is completely illegitimate. [cheer] It is directly coming from the fascist tyrant Donald Trump, [scattered jeers] who has been threatening to get Jimmy pulled for years, because Donald Trump cannot tolerate any criticism, any dissent. Why? Because Donald Trump is a fascist dictator. Now, everybody’s saying: Did Jimmy Kimmel say something wrong? Did Jimmy Kimmel say something wrong? [No!]
I’ll say Jimmy Kimmel did say something that was completely wrong. He said it just a couple nights ago, before he got home. He said: Donald Trump needs to make up his mind. Does he want to be a dictator or a dick? [some cheers] Jimmy Kimmel was wrong. He is actually both. But obviously Jimmy knew that that was the point. By getting Jimmy suspended, by ABC, falling in line, bending a knee to the mafia threat from the FCC; We could do this the easy way or the hard way… What is this? The fucking Godfather? Is that what’s running country? [some passionate response] It actually is, only it’s worse.
These are fascist tyrants with their finger on the nuclear button. These are fascist tyrants who are breaking, and making a mockery of due process every day, as their masked, unidentified agents kidnap, roll up on brown skinned people, [Fuck ICE] disappear them, drag them away. This is fascism in this country. It is not a looming threat. Fascism is not a looming threat. It is happening right now. [now, right now] It is happening now. Sisters and brothers, beautiful people here today, it is so right that you are here, but we are running out of time to stop this fascist nightmare. There is a point at which it becomes too late, and we are very much in that zone right now.
A lot of people say: Oh, get organized, because we will vote Trump out in the next election. [No time.] That’s right. There’s no time. This is like seeing a man collapsing from a cardiac arrest and saying: We don’t need emergency intervention, he’s got an appointment with his regular routine doctor in a year and a half. No, our rights are in cardiac arrest right now. Our voices of conscience are under attack right now. Our immigrant sisters and brothers are being disappeared right now. Women are dying from sepsis, from fucking miscarriages, in half the states in this country right now! [right now, boos] Trans people… trans people’s lives are under a threat right now. [boo] And right now we have seen the biggest purge of Black people in government, the biggest round of firings in U.S. history.
Because if you’re in the government and you’re black, you’re a DEI hire. Think about this, it’s just white supremacy back with a vengeance. All of this is happening now. We are running out of time to stop this. So we are here to say that when Donald Trump tries to send a message, when he tries to send a message by silencing Jimmy Kimmel, he is trying to send a message to everybody; Watch what you say, no matter how big you are, no matter how beloved you are, he will take you down and make an example of you. We are here to say, Hell no! [crowd repeats: Hell no!]
A lot of people are scared right now. A lot of people are scared. You watch them on the news — you watch the nightly newscasters, and they’re tippy toeing what they say. They’re saying: Oh, this might violate the First Amendment. Maybe this is intimidating. Oh, do you think it might be? But do you think Jimmy said something wrong? Jimmy said nothing wrong. [That’s right.] Even if he had said something wrong, he did not deserve to be suspended. [No] Just a few days ago, an anchor on Fox News openly said that we should do involuntary lethal injections on homeless people. [boos] He said we should just kill them all. [more boos] That host on Fox News did not get fired. He did not lose his position. His network didn’t come down on him.
This is not about free speech. This is about falling in line with Donald Trump’s fascist terror, [affirmation] Now is the time for people to not be afraid, because, Donald Trump, why does he do this? Kimmel was right. Trump and MAGA are exploiting the very wrong assassination of Charlie Kirk. They are exploiting it to crack down on any voices of opposition. They wanna do RICO, criminal investigation on peaceful protesters. They want to declare protesters a terrorist group. They are talking about this now. Stephen Miller, that dead eyed ghoul, [boos] openly said, that the Democratic Party is a domestic extremist organization.
These people arrested eleven elected officials in New York City today because they were demanding to see the ICE detention centers. This is escalating every day. You can’t keep up with it. Donald Trump is doing targeted assassinations in violation of domestic and international law off the coast of Venezuela, not once, but twice. No trial, no due process, no respect for law. This is not gonna go away. It will only get worse, unless and until we rise up and find our courage. How do we do that? First of all, take note, all day since we’ve been here, we have heard honk after honk. It’s been hard to hear each other because there’s so much noise and love for what we are doing, and love for Jimmy Kimmel from the streets. [cheer]
They say the American people voted for Trump. I want to say that’s a bald faced lie. This country is split down the middle, a mild majority of those who voted, voted for Trump, but the overwhelming majority in this country hates what he is doing and did not vote for this and we cannot abide it. We are the majority. And there are people, sisters and brothers, beautiful people. There are people at every level of government and in every institution who hate what Trump is doing. We don’t agree on everything, but they hate what Trump is doing. They do not have the wherewithal to stand up to him in the way that needs to be done, on their own.
But if we rise from below in our millions, not once, but again and again in our tens of millions… If we rise from below and do not stop, we can create the level of profound political earthquake in this country that compels them to realign and stand up and remove Trump from power, and that is the only way. That is the only way. I know many of you came here today just because you love Jimmy, just because you hate what’s being done to Jimmy, and we are here for that reason too. I love Jimmy. I watch him Monday through Thursday. I adore what he does. I love his nicknames for Trump. I love his defiance. I love that he was in the streets on no Kings Day. But I am here, and now I am recruiting you to be here for more than just standing up for Jimmy, more than standing up for free speech, but to join a fight, the fight of our lifetimes, the fight of a generation, the fight that is gonna shape the future here and all over the world, which is the only choice we have, the fight to defeat Trump MAGA fascism by driving it from power. [yeah, yeah, cheers]
So, this November 4, what is November 5. This is the one year anniversary of Trump’s election. [boo] November 5, that’s right. We are saying: No election, fair or foul, can legitimate fascism. November 5, from across this country, and actually from around the world. We need to converge on Washington, D.C. in the single biggest, most massive, nonviolent, but determined protest in U.S. history. We need to be there, millions strong, [affirmation, cheers] stand up, and we need to say, and I want you to say it with me: This nightmare must end! [repeats] [x2] Trump must go now! [repeats] [x2] and I want to personally invite Jimmy Kimmel and Steve Colbert and Jon Stewart and Seth Meyers to join us in D.C. November 5. [building cheer] I want everybody there. [crescendo]
We need everybody across this country, every organization, every faith group, every atheist group, every different walk of life. We’re not gonna agree with each other, but we’re going to stand shoulder to shoulder, because we need each other. We’re gonna learn to work together. We need to all be in the streets, No Kings day, October 18, make it three times as big as last time. And then we need to be in D.C., November 5th, to drive this regime from power. I’m going to close out, but I want you to put your fist in the air with me and take this pledge: In the Name of Humanity [repeats] [x2] We Refuse to Accept [repeats] [x2] A Fascist America! [repeats] Jimmy Kimmel Stays [repeats] Trump Must Go! [repeats] [x2 w/Kimmel part]
November 5th. [repeats] [x2] Washington, D.C.[repeats] Trump Must Go! [repeats] Thank you very much.
Sam Goldman 43:50
Thanks for listening to Refuse Fascism. The only hope for humanity is millions rising together in nonviolent resistance. We cannot wait for future and rigged elections. We must drive the Trump fascist regime from power. To do that requires all of us. To do that requires you. So, join us in D.C. Wednesday, November 5, to launch relentless, nonviolent protests, not stopping until Trump is removed from power. But do not stop by marking your calendar. Become a volunteer. Become an organizer. Sign up. Get involved RefuseFascism.org. Spread the word everywhere and please share this episode and rate and review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen.
Drop a comment on your socials or YouTube. Every share helps build this site for the future. Become a patron to keep this podcast going and growing. Join us today at Patreon.com/RefuseFascism. Follow us on the socials @RefuseFascism, including Bluesky and on Tiktok @RefuseFashizm, where fascism is spelled F-A-S-H-I-Z-M. Once again, thanks for listening. And thanks to Richie Marini and Lina Thorne for producing this show. Until next time. In the Name of Humanity, We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America.