January 22, 2025 • 29 mins
Civil Union Podcast: Trump's Inauguration, TikTok Ban, and Political Insights
In this episode of 'Civil Union,' Alex and Ryan discuss the political events of the week, sharing their opinions on Trump's second inauguration, which some have called one of the darkest in history. They cover notable attendees including billionaires and influencers, as well as controversial executive orders and policies, such as Trump's gender executive order, education reform, and immigration raids. The hosts also delve into the temporary TikTok ban, the surge of social media as a news source, the pardoning of January 6th rioters, and the future of Democratic leadership. The episode concludes with a lighter look at the surprising resurgence of Heidi Montag's music career amidst personal tragedy.
00:00 Introduction to The Civil Union Podcast
00:34 Trump's Inauguration and Controversies
02:09 Billionaires and Oligarchy Concerns
03:11 Trump's Executive Orders and Policies
06:42 TikTok Ban and Social Media Influence
15:04 Protests and Pardons
18:43 Operation Safeguard and Immigration Policies
23:12 Democratic Party's Future
25:09 California Fires and Heidi & Spencer's Story
28:53 Conclusion and Contact Information
Music: What's The Angle? by Shane Ivers -
https://www.silvermansound.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
Welcome to the civil union,where we, Alex and Ryan bring
you our informed opinionatedtakes on this week's politics as
a married couple living in aconservative state.
We're here to combine honestconversation with insights on
issues that matter to you.
Join us for real talk on theissues that affect Americans at
(00:28):
the margins of society.
Now more than ever, we need ourvoices heard.
So the inauguration was earlierthis week.
Trump, who was our 45thpresident is now officially also
our 47th president.
Ryan, what were your thoughts onthe actual pomp and circumstance
(00:49):
of it all?
It was one degree this morning,not even an S after that, just
one degree.
The cold weather was clearly arepresentation from yesterday's
inauguration.
Some people have said it was theone of the darkest inaugurations
of our nation's history.
Like, what did we just witness?
His speech sounded like a Stateof the Union speech, not even a
(01:12):
gratitude of acceptance.
We also saw Elon Musk and thatweird salute he did.
And what was Melania wearing?
She reminded me of Lydia fromthe movie Beetlejuice, you know,
where she was wearing that darkveil covering her face, but I
also heard comparisons ofMelania's outfit to the
Hamburglar from McDonald's,which.
(01:33):
Could absolutely be thestatement she was trying to
make, as McDonald's is rollingback their DEI programs, but I'm
digressing.
I watched as much as I couldhandle, which wasn't a lot.
I'm not a big fan of overheadlighting and would have
preferred it to be outside, so Iimmediately lost the little
interest I would have had in it.
(01:54):
I had people randomly texting methroughout the day, exclaiming
they weren't watching, but Ijust so happened to be on one of
those news websites that werestreaming it.
So I started to watch from myphone and literally could not
put my phone down.
What were your thoughts as well?
Like it was just very unsettlingto see so many billionaires
present.
It was a stark representation ofwhat Biden warned in his
(02:18):
farewell address, which was thatan oligarchy is taking shape in
America.
I mean, an oligarchy isbasically a form of government,
which power rests with a smallnumber of people who have
wealth.
Fame or political militarycontrol.
In this case, it's the wealthand political military control
in the form of Elon Musk.
There was Mark Zuckerberg fromMeta present, Sundar Pichai from
(02:42):
Google, Jeff Bezos from Amazon,Tim Cook from Apple, Sam Altman,
Zhou Zichu from TikTok, andRupert Murdoch.
All were present.
These people either get a lot ofgovernment contracts or are
worried about possiblegovernment regulations.
Of course, as Republicans alwaysdo, they had to take a swipe at
a minority.
(03:03):
Doesn't matter who you are,where you're from, they just
have to make it known that somepeople do not support people.
Of different backgrounds.
In that speech, Trump talkedabout signing an executive
order, making it formal thatthere are just two genders, male
and female.
Do we really need that?
This was clearly a swipe at theLGBT community.
(03:25):
And as of right now, this dayand age, the Republicans, they
are going after the transcommunity.
It makes me sick.
President Trump at one pointsaid that we have an education
system that teaches our childrento hate our country, like
literal quote, there is no doubthe is going to shake up
education in this country,whether that be by getting rid
(03:47):
of Department of Education, orpledging on the campaign trail
to take money from schooldistricts that teach quote, this
is from him, quote, criticalrace theory, transgender
insanity, and otherinappropriate racial, sexual or
political content onto theshoulders of our children, like
he's going to make waves withthe education department part
well, and then also when didnaming a body of water become a
(04:10):
thing?
Are you really spending yourtime changing the name from the
Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf ofAmerica?
Who actually names continentsand bodies of water?
This is truly just a decoy toget Americans talking about one
thing While the Republicans aregoing after a million other
things like taking away ourfreedoms We have got to stay on
(04:30):
top of these issues.
This is one of the reasons whywe wanted to start a podcast.
The floodgates have opened.
I am tired of discussing thisover the dinner table.
I am ready to start speakingabout our frustrations that this
administration is going to beputting us through.
This podcast is also a wake upcall for Democrats.
I get it.
(04:51):
We are tired, but we can notback down.
This is the most crucial time ofour lives.
You know, Trump also in hisspeech went on to say that God
saved him to make America greatagain.
God saved him.
Did he not make America greatthe first term that he had?
Wow.
I know.
And he also gave a shout outobviously because of the day,
(05:13):
but he gave a shout to MLK day,which I found just really rich
when he doesn't want kids to betaught critical race theory in
schools.
I mean, this would includeteaching kids about the Tulsa
race massacre, which I findhighly important to learn about.
Also, little fact, Trump won 46percent of Hispanic voters
Harris won 51 percent and Trumpwon only 13 percent of black
(05:37):
voters while Harris won 86%.
Now those percentages are strongfor Republicans, but for him to
go out of the way to think thosedemographics of people, Harris
actually performed better withthose people according to exit
polling conducted by Edisonresearch.
One other thing I found veryinteresting about the
inauguration was thatcongressional spouses were not
(05:57):
allowed into the Rotunda afterit was moved indoors.
But wait, the wives ofbillionaires were allowed.
Also, I thought it was nuts thatinfluencers were there.
I don't know if anyone noticed,but Jake Paul and Logan Paul
were both in attendance.
Both are known for social mediaand also got in the boxing, but
Jake Paul is the one that foughtthat Mike Tyson fight and that
(06:20):
Netflix match that we werebasically forced to watch
because it was on the TVs at thebar that night, but I had no
clue what was going on, but theywere there.
It's crazy what this country hascome to, but I did notice also
Michelle Obama and Nancy Pelosidecided to opt out, which I
don't really blame them.
All right.
Right before the inauguration,there was another pretty huge
(06:41):
news story.
Unless you were living on arock, you felt the repercussions
of it, which had to do with ticktock.
What was your experience withthat?
So over the weekend, I startedseeing social media posts of
screenshots.
that, we're showing like aTikTok ban and the screenshot
basically read, sorry, TikTokisn't available right now.
(07:03):
Alol banning TikTok.
Has been enacted in the U.
S.
Unfortunately, that means youcan't use Tic Tac for now.
It also went on to say we'refortunate that President Trump
has indicated he will work withus on a solution to reinstate
Tic Tac once he takes office.
Please stay tuned.
Like that's what the post read.
(07:23):
And then after 14 hours of theban, I went back on the app and
it was up and running again.
The message said, As a result ofPresident Trump's efforts,
TikTok is back in the U.
S.
Let me just say this.
Trump was the one who startedthe legal litigation against the
social media platform back in2020.
Let's also remember the stuntsthat we saw over the weekend was
(07:47):
An absolute mess.
The app went offline on January18th.
Trump wasn't president.
The app went back online onJanuary 19th.
Trump still wasn't president.
Biden said he wasn't going to doanything to shut it down, but.
All these voters now believeTrump saved Tiktok.
He started the fiasco four yearsago.
(08:07):
So, yeah, I mean, the SupremeCourt ruled that Tiktok would
get shut down because theownership is still under Chinese
control.
There is this idea that theamount of data collection the
app gathers from the 170 millionAmericans that use it is a
national security risk.
I mean, Tiktok's parent company,ByteDance has said that more
(08:28):
than half of the company isowned by global institution
investors and that the Chinesegovernment doesn't have a direct
or indirect ownership stake.
But ByteDance is headquarteredin Beijing and is therefore
still.
Technically under China'scontrol, with all this going on,
Trump has to certify to Congresswith the 90 day extension that
(08:50):
he just enacted that there is arelevant binding legal
agreements toward a sale.
But with Congress now underRepublican control, I mean, he
could just instruct them toenact new legislation or I mean,
not far fetched.
Maybe Elon Musk will buy it, butI mean, who knows?
More than 50 percent of TikTokusers are 18 to 34 years old,
(09:11):
and the average adult spendsmore than half an hour a day on
the app, which is crazy, but itis highly popular.
One of the governmentjustifications for the law was
that TikTok spread covertdisinformation.
With that said, I feel like thisis a problem with a lot of
social media.
Millennials and Gen Z.
Get a lot of their news fromsocial apps, yet there is so
(09:36):
much disinformation floatingaround.
You have to be really aware ofyour sources, and there is a
distrust today on how peopleview legacy media and cable news
networks.
So the younger generation isfeeling like, what's the
difference if I get my news fromsocials over a paper or a TV
channel that I can't trust?
(09:57):
Can you blame them?
There are a lot of people wholiterally can't afford cable TV
right now, and the Republicanshave continued to stoke their
supporters to distrust what thenews media says.
I have always trusted ourresearch.
I make sure to read and listen,not just to one source, but
multiple sources for realinformation.
(10:19):
It's sad so many smaller newsorganizations like local
newspapers are shutting downbecause They can't afford to pay
their bills.
I also believe that this is justone of the reasons why such
large media outlets.
Like the Washington Post, LATimes never went out to support
any presidential candidate.
Not that I think that would haveswayed any voters, but they are
(10:41):
obviously bending to the rightso they can keep their
subscribers.
Yeah, TikTok does haveimportance.
Social media has importance.
Did help shape the conversationaround the Israel Hamas war last
year.
But on the other side of thatspectrum, there was a lot, I
mean, I remember a lot ofmisinformation during COVID
(11:01):
circling around on socials tothe point that social sites
enacted.
Fact checking posts to kind ofclarify all that noise that was
going on at that time.
The thing I remember is ourgeneration when we would be sick
or when we needed information,we would go to Google or I
remember we used WebMD.
But today.
(11:22):
I feel like a lot of people tendto search TikTok or they search
other social media sites beforethey even, I don't even think
people use WebMD.
I don't know.
Maybe they still do, but per thePew Research Center, 59 percent
of users get their news fromTwitter.
52% from TikTok, 48% fromFacebook, 57% on truth social.
(11:45):
A Pew research study back from2024 showed that 52% of 18 to
29-year-old users get their newsfrom TikTok.
That is crazy to me that over50% of the population of the
younger demographic actuallyutilize TikTok for the news.
When it comes to the actualelection, according to navigator
(12:07):
research, exit polling data fromNovember last year, base Trump
voters were the only group thatgot their news a few times a
week from cable news networks.
Yeah.
In this case, most of them gotit from obviously Fox News, but
in contrast, base Harris voterswere around 30 percent for CNN
and MSNBC, 45 percent of swingvoters.
(12:29):
So swing voters are people whodidn't stand with one political
party at the start of thecampaign.
But 45 percent of swing votersgot their news from social
media, 52%.
Of new Trump voters got theirnews from social media.
So that just shows you howeffective.
(12:49):
Social media was with turningthat last election now with the
change in how people get theirnews.
It is interesting how socialmedia is taking a front seat and
how people get their news.
Social media was a huge tool andhow massive demonstrations were
organized back in 2017 through2020 along with the Black Lives
(13:12):
Matter protests.
Now, in 2017, it was the Women'sMarch, which was estimated to
have drawn in over 200, 000people down in Washington.
But there is this idea thatthere's a shift, that even if
there are demonstrations, itprobably won't take the same
(13:32):
forms moving forward.
What are your thoughts?
I know there was a Women's Marchhere, but I was unable to
attend.
I'm not sure what kind ofturnout there was here in the
Midwest, but, um, Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, Democrats right now are,I think, dealing with an
identity crisis and there isalso this idea of optics.
I mean, when it comes toprotesting the outcome of a fair
(13:53):
election, especially with afterJanuary six and Trump did win
the popular vote.
Even if it was a slim margin, Imean, Indivisible, an
organization that helps buildand guide grassroots actions per
state, had said in Trump 1.
0, we embrace the aesthetics ofprotest instead of using them as
(14:15):
part of strategy.
You shouldn't start with tactic.
You should start with a goal.
There is this idea that Trump aspresident, Republicans will make
it harder for protest byenacting laws that suppress it.
Whether Trump stands by hisprevious statements of deploying
the National Guard atprotesters, Republicans could
(14:37):
still, at a state level, In actlaws that would make protests
that we saw back in 2016 through2020 less common because of
these laws.
What will we do to the way weprotest or speak out against
this administration?
Will people be too scared to, orI don't, I mean, I don't
necessarily see us having thesemass demonstrations in the next
(15:00):
four years just because of whatthe Republican Party is
threatening.
So speaking of protests andriots changing in the next
administration, what are yourthoughts on the pardons of the
January 6th rioters?
Okay, I'm absolutely stunned,shocked, but not speechless
about this topic.
(15:20):
We had a hundred plus policeofficers injured by rioters on
January 6th.
He literally pardoned everyone.
House minority leader HakeemJeffries said it best, I think,
he said quote, house Republicansare celebrating pardons issued
to a blood thirsty mob thatviolently assaulted police
officers on January 6th.
(15:40):
What happened to backing theblue end quote?
I mean, just to be clear on whathappened, President Trump
pardoned 1500 people who hadtaken part in the January 6,
2021 capital insurrection andcommuted the sentences of 14
people.
He'd also directed the JusticeDepartment to drop the 470
(16:05):
ongoing criminal cases againstJanuary 6 defendants.
follow Katie Herrick onInstagram and she always posts
some very intriguing newsarticles.
And today she had an Instagramcarousel.
I think that's what you call it.
A carousel where you just likeswipe through all the photos
where you slide through all thephotos from that day.
(16:26):
And she, she shared images ofsome of the convicted rioters
who were either.
jailed or fined for hurting lawenforcement officers literally.
And, I just recommend everyoneto go there and look at it and
read those posts because it'spretty sad that we elected Trump
(16:47):
into office and he just pardonedthese people for literally
injuring and assaulting lawenforcement officers.
Yeah, I mean, the Federal Bureauof Prisons said 211 people have
already been released fromfederal facilities following
Trump's order.
Now, what I found interesting isthat some Republicans have
actually come out today not insupport of this move.
(17:09):
they don't support it,especially him partying the
protesters that did do harm inassaulting law enforcement
officers.
There is a difference betweenwhat some of them did, which
was, I mean, damage property andstuff.
But there, I mean, there'sanother.
level to the people thatactually caused harm to other
humans.
And the fact that all of themare being grouped, like they're
(17:30):
all the same is nuts to me.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine,Senator Mike Rounds of South
Dakota, Senator Thomas Tillis ofNorth Carolina, Senator Bill
Cassidy of Louisiana.
I mean, they're all just, that'sjust some Republicans who have
spoke out about this pardon.
A two day poll, Ran by Reuters,Ipsos conducted, started
(17:53):
immediately after Trump tookoffice on Monday, found that 60
percent of respondents said heshould not pardon all the
Capitol defendants.
I mean, from day one, he isalready acting on ego over
party.
He's making decisions thatbenefit him and make him feel
good by blindly supportingpeople who supported him.
(18:17):
I agree.
Nancy pelosi also said in a postlast night that these pardons
absolutely undermined ourjustice system.
And you know what?
She's right.
These pardons do undermine theprosecutors, judges, any juries,
all of it.
These criminals, Even though thecharges remain on their records
are getting a get out of freejail card a free pass for what
(18:40):
went down that day I still can'tbelieve we have to talk about
this four years later.
This is just not okay It's crazythat that I mean that he
actually went through with thisPresident Trump is quickly
rolling out goals and executiveorders this week He's already
done a handful right after hisinauguration But one of those
goals is Is the largestdeportation operation in
(19:02):
American history.
Which starts this week inChicago.
The plan is called OperationSafeguard.
There are supposed to be 150 ICEagents in Chicago for these
raids.
Now, Chicago mayor, BrandonJohnson has said he opposes
Trump's deportation plans in hiscity and the Chicago police
(19:26):
department came out with astatement saying it will not
assist federal immigrationauthorities to deport And we'll
not share information withfederal immigration authorities.
I find these stances veryimportant.
I think it's very respectfulthat they, I mean, they
obviously can't do anything, butthey're not going to help make
it worse.
They're not going to help the,this department.
(19:48):
President Trump has said he hasno problem deporting parents.
Who are in the country legally,but have U.
S.
born children.
The fact that people are okaywith that is crazy to me.
I mean, those are basic humanrights.
You're tearing families apart.
And it's just crazy that we didnot learn anything from the
first.
Go around of his.
(20:08):
I mean, did we not forget thatTrump put families in literal
cages and warehouses stackedfull?
I mean, it was crazy.
Um, now the Cato Institute.
I mean, this was a while ago.
This is in 2018, but the CatoInstitute in Texas showed that
Texas police made 907, 767arrests.
(20:34):
Legal immigrants accounted for5.
3 percent of that.
And illegal immigrants accountedfor 4.
4 percent of that.
So for Trump to kind of throwthis narrative out there that
immigrants are dangerous, andthis is the main reason he's
going through with this iscomplete BS.
You know, when you become anation who gets to say who gets
(20:56):
to stay here and who doesn't getto stay here.
This is a situation where Ithink Democrats lacked on the
path to citizenship is just toohard and complicated here.
We need to create a clear andachievable way, for undocumented
immigrants who meet a certaincriteria like no criminal
records, steady employment.
We also need to modernize thevisa system, such as expanding
(21:20):
this and streamlining visacategories, such as.
Labor shortages in agriculture,healthcare, and even the
technology sectors.
We also need to permanently,protect the DACA recipients or
the Dreamers recipients, andoffer a pathway of citizenship
for individuals brought to theUS as children.
Yeah, I mean, it's been alongstanding policy that ICE
(21:43):
agents can't make arrests insensitive locations.
That includes schools,hospitals, and churches.
But it is important to note inProject 225, there was talk in
that, that they may rescind thatpolicy, and that's not far
fetched.
Parents are worried aboutleaving their kids in school.
They're worried that they'regoing to do that and never see
(22:05):
them again, or that they'll bedeported, or whatever the case
is in school districts.
for joining us.
are having to plan what to do ifI shows up.
I mean, in New York City, inChicago, I was, I was seeing
that numerous leaders in thesedepartments are having to come
up with plans, whether that becalling the school district
lawyer or educating principalson policies like federal agents
having to show warrants, or eventhat there is an imminent threat
(22:29):
to public safety before enteringa school.
It's just, it's verydisappointing.
And scary that we are havingthese conversations.
I just don't, I just don't knowhow a border wall is going to
stop people from entering ourcountry in the first place.
I mean, can't you just buy aplane ticket and fly to a
different city?
Also, Republicans are so gung hoabout states having their own
(22:51):
rights.
Why hasn't very red Texas orvery purple Arizona come up with
a solution that works yet?
Now, not only are these raidskicking off Trump's plan with
deportation, but within minutesof his presidency, Trump also
signed various executive orders.
(23:12):
With this administration, andeven our talks about how the
grassroots movements of beforemay have to take a different
shape or form, the future of theDemocratic Party is on a
precipice.
So there's more importance onwho is chosen to run the DNC.
There is a name being thrownaround right now, and that's Ken
(23:33):
Martin, who is currentlychairman of the Minnesota
Democratic Farmer Labor Party,president of the Association of
State Democratic Committees, anda vice chair of the Democratic
National Committee.
Ryan, what are your thoughts onthis pick?
You know, the Democratic Party,uh, needs new blood.
(23:54):
I hope Ken Martin can helprecalibrate and restructure how
the Democrats are going to reachout to voters in 26 and 28.
I'm just glad that I'm not inhis shoes because it's going to
be one heck of a ride to get usback into the house and Senate.
After Vice President Harris islost.
The DNC is trying to move theparty forward.
It sounds like he's verypromising in the fact he wants
(24:16):
to refocus energy and outreachefforts on a state level.
And I think he understands thereneeds to be a huge overhaul in
their messaging.
I mean, they need to go back tothe message of economy and less
trying to find this identity ofwhat Democrats should look like
he's he's received a lot ofendorsements.
Clearly, you have to reach outto the people who are going to
(24:37):
be voting for Biden.
You know, you as a leader andyou know, I'm not too well
knowledgeable on who's actuallyvoting him to be the leader of
the DNC.
But honestly, I personally wouldlike to know more about him and
his plans for the futureDemocratic Party and where we're
headed.
I mean, we got to start makingmovements now.
(24:59):
Absolutely.
The national committee memberswill be meeting February 1st to
elect their next chairman.
So it's something we're going tohave to look forward to.
Now, with all that going on inWashington, there's still so
much going on in California.
One story to kind of end ourweek with this week is the
sudden success of Heidi andSpencer.
(25:22):
Um, what are your thoughts onthat?
Well, I wasn't.
never knowledgeable on whoSpencer Pratt or Heidi Montag
was, I would see them in likethe Like tabloids and stuff.
Um, so I know they were like areality TV show.
Was it, was it the Hills?
Yeah, they were on the Hills andthen Heidi made a very brief
appearance on Laguna beach.
(25:44):
Got it.
I had no idea she had a, analbum actually, which is kind of
funny because it, it went tonumber one, like here in America
on iTunes.
And then it went number one,like several other countries
around the world.
Like they, they tragically,sadly lost their house.
And.
The Palisades fire.
But it's, it's a really, weirdcircumstance that right around
(26:06):
the 15 year anniversary of heralbum release, it's now number
one and getting all theselisteners and stuff.
And I actually listened to acouple of songs and they're
pretty catchy.
Um, I like, I'll do it, but, um,yeah, I think it's crazy that
the album released 15 years agoand now it's, it beat bad bunny
on charts.
(26:27):
I think it went number one, likeyou said, on numerous.
Spotify, iTunes, all that.
And it even surpassed the Wickedsoundtrack, which is kind of
cool.
Kind of crazy to me because Ihear that everywhere.
But Heidi can say she, you know,ranked higher than them.
Spencer has come out saying thathe doesn't know how much these
new album sales have netted him.
(26:47):
But when it comes to TikTok, hehas been just alone and on
TikTok has been making 2000 aweek.
And On a TikTok live he haddone, he raked in like 20, 000,
he said.
And he also has gained over 1million followers on TikTok.
I mean, the couple got marriedin 2008.
(27:07):
They have two kids, Riker andGunner.
Uh, they lost their 2.
5 million Pacific Palisadeshome, and they did not have
homeowner's insurance, which Ithink I think a lot of people in
that area, they have the sameproblems with insurance will be
very interesting moving forwardwhen it comes to recovery
efforts, how the insuranceissues are gonna fall out
(27:27):
because I think a lot of peopleeven recently right before the
fire dropped their insurance.
Well, yeah, and I'm alsointerested to see how Gavin
Newsom is going to be handlingthe situation because a lot of
eyes are on him because He willbe a contender for the
presidential nomination on thedemocratic ticket in 2028.
Well, and especially since GavinNewsom and Donald Trump don't
(27:50):
have the greatest history of aworking relationship.
I mean, they've had fires inthat state before and Trump and
him.
I mean, Trump with has withheldsupport for California in the
past because of his relationshipwith Gavin Newsom.
And now that this is all fallingin this time period, it'll be
very interesting to see whatTrump does.
(28:12):
Now, on January 20th, thePalisades fire, this is the most
recent update on the date ofthis recording, but it has
burned 23, 700 acres and is only59 percent contained while the
Eaton fire has burned over 14,000 acres and is 87 percent
contained, which is pretty good.
A lot better, but with thatsaid, early Tuesday morning, two
(28:36):
fires broke out in San Diego.
They're called the Lilac Fireand the Pala Fire.
Those are very new.
That's time of this recording,so I don't have much to say on
how those will fare out, buthopefully California can start
catching a break here reallysoon.
Okay, that wraps up our firstshow.
We hope you enjoyed listening.
(28:57):
Please give us a follow onInstagram at the civil you.
That's just the letter you andHey, send us an email, letting
us know your thoughts,questions, what we got wrong,
uh, or anything that you thinkwe should discuss.
That email address is the civilunion, 25 at gmail.
com.
Thank you for listening.
(29:18):
Thanks guys.
Bye.
Welcome to the civil union,where we, Alex and Ryan bring
you our informed opinionatedtakes on this week's politics as
a married couple living in aconservative state.
We're here to combine honestconversation with insights on
issues that matter to you.
Join us for real talk on theissues that affect Americans at
(00:28):
the margins of society.
Now more than ever, we need ourvoices heard.
So the inauguration was earlierthis week.
Trump, who was our 45thpresident is now officially also
our 47th president.
Ryan, what were your thoughts onthe actual pomp and circumstance
(00:49):
of it all?
It was one degree this morning,not even an S after that, just
one degree.
The cold weather was clearly arepresentation from yesterday's
inauguration.
Some people have said it was theone of the darkest inaugurations
of our nation's history.
Like, what did we just witness?
His speech sounded like a Stateof the Union speech, not even a
(01:12):
gratitude of acceptance.
We also saw Elon Musk and thatweird salute he did.
And what was Melania wearing?
She reminded me of Lydia fromthe movie Beetlejuice, you know,
where she was wearing that darkveil covering her face, but I
also heard comparisons ofMelania's outfit to the
Hamburglar from McDonald's,which.
(01:33):
Could absolutely be thestatement she was trying to
make, as McDonald's is rollingback their DEI programs, but I'm
digressing.
I watched as much as I couldhandle, which wasn't a lot.
I'm not a big fan of overheadlighting and would have
preferred it to be outside, so Iimmediately lost the little
interest I would have had in it.
(01:54):
I had people randomly texting methroughout the day, exclaiming
they weren't watching, but Ijust so happened to be on one of
those news websites that werestreaming it.
So I started to watch from myphone and literally could not
put my phone down.
What were your thoughts as well?
Like it was just very unsettlingto see so many billionaires
present.
It was a stark representation ofwhat Biden warned in his
(02:18):
farewell address, which was thatan oligarchy is taking shape in
America.
I mean, an oligarchy isbasically a form of government,
which power rests with a smallnumber of people who have
wealth.
Fame or political militarycontrol.
In this case, it's the wealthand political military control
in the form of Elon Musk.
There was Mark Zuckerberg fromMeta present, Sundar Pichai from
(02:42):
Google, Jeff Bezos from Amazon,Tim Cook from Apple, Sam Altman,
Zhou Zichu from TikTok, andRupert Murdoch.
All were present.
These people either get a lot ofgovernment contracts or are
worried about possiblegovernment regulations.
Of course, as Republicans alwaysdo, they had to take a swipe at
a minority.
(03:03):
Doesn't matter who you are,where you're from, they just
have to make it known that somepeople do not support people.
Of different backgrounds.
In that speech, Trump talkedabout signing an executive
order, making it formal thatthere are just two genders, male
and female.
Do we really need that?
This was clearly a swipe at theLGBT community.
(03:25):
And as of right now, this dayand age, the Republicans, they
are going after the transcommunity.
It makes me sick.
President Trump at one pointsaid that we have an education
system that teaches our childrento hate our country, like
literal quote, there is no doubthe is going to shake up
education in this country,whether that be by getting rid
(03:47):
of Department of Education, orpledging on the campaign trail
to take money from schooldistricts that teach quote, this
is from him, quote, criticalrace theory, transgender
insanity, and otherinappropriate racial, sexual or
political content onto theshoulders of our children, like
he's going to make waves withthe education department part
well, and then also when didnaming a body of water become a
(04:10):
thing?
Are you really spending yourtime changing the name from the
Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf ofAmerica?
Who actually names continentsand bodies of water?
This is truly just a decoy toget Americans talking about one
thing While the Republicans aregoing after a million other
things like taking away ourfreedoms We have got to stay on
(04:30):
top of these issues.
This is one of the reasons whywe wanted to start a podcast.
The floodgates have opened.
I am tired of discussing thisover the dinner table.
I am ready to start speakingabout our frustrations that this
administration is going to beputting us through.
This podcast is also a wake upcall for Democrats.
I get it.
(04:51):
We are tired, but we can notback down.
This is the most crucial time ofour lives.
You know, Trump also in hisspeech went on to say that God
saved him to make America greatagain.
God saved him.
Did he not make America greatthe first term that he had?
Wow.
I know.
And he also gave a shout outobviously because of the day,
(05:13):
but he gave a shout to MLK day,which I found just really rich
when he doesn't want kids to betaught critical race theory in
schools.
I mean, this would includeteaching kids about the Tulsa
race massacre, which I findhighly important to learn about.
Also, little fact, Trump won 46percent of Hispanic voters
Harris won 51 percent and Trumpwon only 13 percent of black
(05:37):
voters while Harris won 86%.
Now those percentages are strongfor Republicans, but for him to
go out of the way to think thosedemographics of people, Harris
actually performed better withthose people according to exit
polling conducted by Edisonresearch.
One other thing I found veryinteresting about the
inauguration was thatcongressional spouses were not
(05:57):
allowed into the Rotunda afterit was moved indoors.
But wait, the wives ofbillionaires were allowed.
Also, I thought it was nuts thatinfluencers were there.
I don't know if anyone noticed,but Jake Paul and Logan Paul
were both in attendance.
Both are known for social mediaand also got in the boxing, but
Jake Paul is the one that foughtthat Mike Tyson fight and that
(06:20):
Netflix match that we werebasically forced to watch
because it was on the TVs at thebar that night, but I had no
clue what was going on, but theywere there.
It's crazy what this country hascome to, but I did notice also
Michelle Obama and Nancy Pelosidecided to opt out, which I
don't really blame them.
All right.
Right before the inauguration,there was another pretty huge
(06:41):
news story.
Unless you were living on arock, you felt the repercussions
of it, which had to do with ticktock.
What was your experience withthat?
So over the weekend, I startedseeing social media posts of
screenshots.
that, we're showing like aTikTok ban and the screenshot
basically read, sorry, TikTokisn't available right now.
(07:03):
Alol banning TikTok.
Has been enacted in the U.
S.
Unfortunately, that means youcan't use Tic Tac for now.
It also went on to say we'refortunate that President Trump
has indicated he will work withus on a solution to reinstate
Tic Tac once he takes office.
Please stay tuned.
Like that's what the post read.
(07:23):
And then after 14 hours of theban, I went back on the app and
it was up and running again.
The message said, As a result ofPresident Trump's efforts,
TikTok is back in the U.
S.
Let me just say this.
Trump was the one who startedthe legal litigation against the
social media platform back in2020.
Let's also remember the stuntsthat we saw over the weekend was
(07:47):
An absolute mess.
The app went offline on January18th.
Trump wasn't president.
The app went back online onJanuary 19th.
Trump still wasn't president.
Biden said he wasn't going to doanything to shut it down, but.
All these voters now believeTrump saved Tiktok.
He started the fiasco four yearsago.
(08:07):
So, yeah, I mean, the SupremeCourt ruled that Tiktok would
get shut down because theownership is still under Chinese
control.
There is this idea that theamount of data collection the
app gathers from the 170 millionAmericans that use it is a
national security risk.
I mean, Tiktok's parent company,ByteDance has said that more
(08:28):
than half of the company isowned by global institution
investors and that the Chinesegovernment doesn't have a direct
or indirect ownership stake.
But ByteDance is headquarteredin Beijing and is therefore
still.
Technically under China'scontrol, with all this going on,
Trump has to certify to Congresswith the 90 day extension that
(08:50):
he just enacted that there is arelevant binding legal
agreements toward a sale.
But with Congress now underRepublican control, I mean, he
could just instruct them toenact new legislation or I mean,
not far fetched.
Maybe Elon Musk will buy it, butI mean, who knows?
More than 50 percent of TikTokusers are 18 to 34 years old,
(09:11):
and the average adult spendsmore than half an hour a day on
the app, which is crazy, but itis highly popular.
One of the governmentjustifications for the law was
that TikTok spread covertdisinformation.
With that said, I feel like thisis a problem with a lot of
social media.
Millennials and Gen Z.
Get a lot of their news fromsocial apps, yet there is so
(09:36):
much disinformation floatingaround.
You have to be really aware ofyour sources, and there is a
distrust today on how peopleview legacy media and cable news
networks.
So the younger generation isfeeling like, what's the
difference if I get my news fromsocials over a paper or a TV
channel that I can't trust?
(09:57):
Can you blame them?
There are a lot of people wholiterally can't afford cable TV
right now, and the Republicanshave continued to stoke their
supporters to distrust what thenews media says.
I have always trusted ourresearch.
I make sure to read and listen,not just to one source, but
multiple sources for realinformation.
(10:19):
It's sad so many smaller newsorganizations like local
newspapers are shutting downbecause They can't afford to pay
their bills.
I also believe that this is justone of the reasons why such
large media outlets.
Like the Washington Post, LATimes never went out to support
any presidential candidate.
Not that I think that would haveswayed any voters, but they are
(10:41):
obviously bending to the rightso they can keep their
subscribers.
Yeah, TikTok does haveimportance.
Social media has importance.
Did help shape the conversationaround the Israel Hamas war last
year.
But on the other side of thatspectrum, there was a lot, I
mean, I remember a lot ofmisinformation during COVID
(11:01):
circling around on socials tothe point that social sites
enacted.
Fact checking posts to kind ofclarify all that noise that was
going on at that time.
The thing I remember is ourgeneration when we would be sick
or when we needed information,we would go to Google or I
remember we used WebMD.
But today.
(11:22):
I feel like a lot of people tendto search TikTok or they search
other social media sites beforethey even, I don't even think
people use WebMD.
I don't know.
Maybe they still do, but per thePew Research Center, 59 percent
of users get their news fromTwitter.
52% from TikTok, 48% fromFacebook, 57% on truth social.
(11:45):
A Pew research study back from2024 showed that 52% of 18 to
29-year-old users get their newsfrom TikTok.
That is crazy to me that over50% of the population of the
younger demographic actuallyutilize TikTok for the news.
When it comes to the actualelection, according to navigator
(12:07):
research, exit polling data fromNovember last year, base Trump
voters were the only group thatgot their news a few times a
week from cable news networks.
Yeah.
In this case, most of them gotit from obviously Fox News, but
in contrast, base Harris voterswere around 30 percent for CNN
and MSNBC, 45 percent of swingvoters.
(12:29):
So swing voters are people whodidn't stand with one political
party at the start of thecampaign.
But 45 percent of swing votersgot their news from social
media, 52%.
Of new Trump voters got theirnews from social media.
So that just shows you howeffective.
(12:49):
Social media was with turningthat last election now with the
change in how people get theirnews.
It is interesting how socialmedia is taking a front seat and
how people get their news.
Social media was a huge tool andhow massive demonstrations were
organized back in 2017 through2020 along with the Black Lives
(13:12):
Matter protests.
Now, in 2017, it was the Women'sMarch, which was estimated to
have drawn in over 200, 000people down in Washington.
But there is this idea thatthere's a shift, that even if
there are demonstrations, itprobably won't take the same
(13:32):
forms moving forward.
What are your thoughts?
I know there was a Women's Marchhere, but I was unable to
attend.
I'm not sure what kind ofturnout there was here in the
Midwest, but, um, Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, Democrats right now are,I think, dealing with an
identity crisis and there isalso this idea of optics.
I mean, when it comes toprotesting the outcome of a fair
(13:53):
election, especially with afterJanuary six and Trump did win
the popular vote.
Even if it was a slim margin, Imean, Indivisible, an
organization that helps buildand guide grassroots actions per
state, had said in Trump 1.
0, we embrace the aesthetics ofprotest instead of using them as
(14:15):
part of strategy.
You shouldn't start with tactic.
You should start with a goal.
There is this idea that Trump aspresident, Republicans will make
it harder for protest byenacting laws that suppress it.
Whether Trump stands by hisprevious statements of deploying
the National Guard atprotesters, Republicans could
(14:37):
still, at a state level, In actlaws that would make protests
that we saw back in 2016 through2020 less common because of
these laws.
What will we do to the way weprotest or speak out against
this administration?
Will people be too scared to, orI don't, I mean, I don't
necessarily see us having thesemass demonstrations in the next
(15:00):
four years just because of whatthe Republican Party is
threatening.
So speaking of protests andriots changing in the next
administration, what are yourthoughts on the pardons of the
January 6th rioters?
Okay, I'm absolutely stunned,shocked, but not speechless
about this topic.
(15:20):
We had a hundred plus policeofficers injured by rioters on
January 6th.
He literally pardoned everyone.
House minority leader HakeemJeffries said it best, I think,
he said quote, house Republicansare celebrating pardons issued
to a blood thirsty mob thatviolently assaulted police
officers on January 6th.
(15:40):
What happened to backing theblue end quote?
I mean, just to be clear on whathappened, President Trump
pardoned 1500 people who hadtaken part in the January 6,
2021 capital insurrection andcommuted the sentences of 14
people.
He'd also directed the JusticeDepartment to drop the 470
(16:05):
ongoing criminal cases againstJanuary 6 defendants.
follow Katie Herrick onInstagram and she always posts
some very intriguing newsarticles.
And today she had an Instagramcarousel.
I think that's what you call it.
A carousel where you just likeswipe through all the photos
where you slide through all thephotos from that day.
(16:26):
And she, she shared images ofsome of the convicted rioters
who were either.
jailed or fined for hurting lawenforcement officers literally.
And, I just recommend everyoneto go there and look at it and
read those posts because it'spretty sad that we elected Trump
(16:47):
into office and he just pardonedthese people for literally
injuring and assaulting lawenforcement officers.
Yeah, I mean, the Federal Bureauof Prisons said 211 people have
already been released fromfederal facilities following
Trump's order.
Now, what I found interesting isthat some Republicans have
actually come out today not insupport of this move.
(17:09):
they don't support it,especially him partying the
protesters that did do harm inassaulting law enforcement
officers.
There is a difference betweenwhat some of them did, which
was, I mean, damage property andstuff.
But there, I mean, there'sanother.
level to the people thatactually caused harm to other
humans.
And the fact that all of themare being grouped, like they're
(17:30):
all the same is nuts to me.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine,Senator Mike Rounds of South
Dakota, Senator Thomas Tillis ofNorth Carolina, Senator Bill
Cassidy of Louisiana.
I mean, they're all just, that'sjust some Republicans who have
spoke out about this pardon.
A two day poll, Ran by Reuters,Ipsos conducted, started
(17:53):
immediately after Trump tookoffice on Monday, found that 60
percent of respondents said heshould not pardon all the
Capitol defendants.
I mean, from day one, he isalready acting on ego over
party.
He's making decisions thatbenefit him and make him feel
good by blindly supportingpeople who supported him.
(18:17):
I agree.
Nancy pelosi also said in a postlast night that these pardons
absolutely undermined ourjustice system.
And you know what?
She's right.
These pardons do undermine theprosecutors, judges, any juries,
all of it.
These criminals, Even though thecharges remain on their records
are getting a get out of freejail card a free pass for what
(18:40):
went down that day I still can'tbelieve we have to talk about
this four years later.
This is just not okay It's crazythat that I mean that he
actually went through with thisPresident Trump is quickly
rolling out goals and executiveorders this week He's already
done a handful right after hisinauguration But one of those
goals is Is the largestdeportation operation in
(19:02):
American history.
Which starts this week inChicago.
The plan is called OperationSafeguard.
There are supposed to be 150 ICEagents in Chicago for these
raids.
Now, Chicago mayor, BrandonJohnson has said he opposes
Trump's deportation plans in hiscity and the Chicago police
(19:26):
department came out with astatement saying it will not
assist federal immigrationauthorities to deport And we'll
not share information withfederal immigration authorities.
I find these stances veryimportant.
I think it's very respectfulthat they, I mean, they
obviously can't do anything, butthey're not going to help make
it worse.
They're not going to help the,this department.
(19:48):
President Trump has said he hasno problem deporting parents.
Who are in the country legally,but have U.
S.
born children.
The fact that people are okaywith that is crazy to me.
I mean, those are basic humanrights.
You're tearing families apart.
And it's just crazy that we didnot learn anything from the
first.
Go around of his.
(20:08):
I mean, did we not forget thatTrump put families in literal
cages and warehouses stackedfull?
I mean, it was crazy.
Um, now the Cato Institute.
I mean, this was a while ago.
This is in 2018, but the CatoInstitute in Texas showed that
Texas police made 907, 767arrests.
(20:34):
Legal immigrants accounted for5.
3 percent of that.
And illegal immigrants accountedfor 4.
4 percent of that.
So for Trump to kind of throwthis narrative out there that
immigrants are dangerous, andthis is the main reason he's
going through with this iscomplete BS.
You know, when you become anation who gets to say who gets
(20:56):
to stay here and who doesn't getto stay here.
This is a situation where Ithink Democrats lacked on the
path to citizenship is just toohard and complicated here.
We need to create a clear andachievable way, for undocumented
immigrants who meet a certaincriteria like no criminal
records, steady employment.
We also need to modernize thevisa system, such as expanding
(21:20):
this and streamlining visacategories, such as.
Labor shortages in agriculture,healthcare, and even the
technology sectors.
We also need to permanently,protect the DACA recipients or
the Dreamers recipients, andoffer a pathway of citizenship
for individuals brought to theUS as children.
Yeah, I mean, it's been alongstanding policy that ICE
(21:43):
agents can't make arrests insensitive locations.
That includes schools,hospitals, and churches.
But it is important to note inProject 225, there was talk in
that, that they may rescind thatpolicy, and that's not far
fetched.
Parents are worried aboutleaving their kids in school.
They're worried that they'regoing to do that and never see
(22:05):
them again, or that they'll bedeported, or whatever the case
is in school districts.
for joining us.
are having to plan what to do ifI shows up.
I mean, in New York City, inChicago, I was, I was seeing
that numerous leaders in thesedepartments are having to come
up with plans, whether that becalling the school district
lawyer or educating principalson policies like federal agents
having to show warrants, or eventhat there is an imminent threat
(22:29):
to public safety before enteringa school.
It's just, it's verydisappointing.
And scary that we are havingthese conversations.
I just don't, I just don't knowhow a border wall is going to
stop people from entering ourcountry in the first place.
I mean, can't you just buy aplane ticket and fly to a
different city?
Also, Republicans are so gung hoabout states having their own
(22:51):
rights.
Why hasn't very red Texas orvery purple Arizona come up with
a solution that works yet?
Now, not only are these raidskicking off Trump's plan with
deportation, but within minutesof his presidency, Trump also
signed various executive orders.
(23:12):
With this administration, andeven our talks about how the
grassroots movements of beforemay have to take a different
shape or form, the future of theDemocratic Party is on a
precipice.
So there's more importance onwho is chosen to run the DNC.
There is a name being thrownaround right now, and that's Ken
(23:33):
Martin, who is currentlychairman of the Minnesota
Democratic Farmer Labor Party,president of the Association of
State Democratic Committees, anda vice chair of the Democratic
National Committee.
Ryan, what are your thoughts onthis pick?
You know, the Democratic Party,uh, needs new blood.
(23:54):
I hope Ken Martin can helprecalibrate and restructure how
the Democrats are going to reachout to voters in 26 and 28.
I'm just glad that I'm not inhis shoes because it's going to
be one heck of a ride to get usback into the house and Senate.
After Vice President Harris islost.
The DNC is trying to move theparty forward.
It sounds like he's verypromising in the fact he wants
(24:16):
to refocus energy and outreachefforts on a state level.
And I think he understands thereneeds to be a huge overhaul in
their messaging.
I mean, they need to go back tothe message of economy and less
trying to find this identity ofwhat Democrats should look like
he's he's received a lot ofendorsements.
Clearly, you have to reach outto the people who are going to
(24:37):
be voting for Biden.
You know, you as a leader andyou know, I'm not too well
knowledgeable on who's actuallyvoting him to be the leader of
the DNC.
But honestly, I personally wouldlike to know more about him and
his plans for the futureDemocratic Party and where we're
headed.
I mean, we got to start makingmovements now.
(24:59):
Absolutely.
The national committee memberswill be meeting February 1st to
elect their next chairman.
So it's something we're going tohave to look forward to.
Now, with all that going on inWashington, there's still so
much going on in California.
One story to kind of end ourweek with this week is the
sudden success of Heidi andSpencer.
(25:22):
Um, what are your thoughts onthat?
Well, I wasn't.
never knowledgeable on whoSpencer Pratt or Heidi Montag
was, I would see them in likethe Like tabloids and stuff.
Um, so I know they were like areality TV show.
Was it, was it the Hills?
Yeah, they were on the Hills andthen Heidi made a very brief
appearance on Laguna beach.
(25:44):
Got it.
I had no idea she had a, analbum actually, which is kind of
funny because it, it went tonumber one, like here in America
on iTunes.
And then it went number one,like several other countries
around the world.
Like they, they tragically,sadly lost their house.
And.
The Palisades fire.
But it's, it's a really, weirdcircumstance that right around
(26:06):
the 15 year anniversary of heralbum release, it's now number
one and getting all theselisteners and stuff.
And I actually listened to acouple of songs and they're
pretty catchy.
Um, I like, I'll do it, but, um,yeah, I think it's crazy that
the album released 15 years agoand now it's, it beat bad bunny
on charts.
(26:27):
I think it went number one, likeyou said, on numerous.
Spotify, iTunes, all that.
And it even surpassed the Wickedsoundtrack, which is kind of
cool.
Kind of crazy to me because Ihear that everywhere.
But Heidi can say she, you know,ranked higher than them.
Spencer has come out saying thathe doesn't know how much these
new album sales have netted him.
(26:47):
But when it comes to TikTok, hehas been just alone and on
TikTok has been making 2000 aweek.
And On a TikTok live he haddone, he raked in like 20, 000,
he said.
And he also has gained over 1million followers on TikTok.
I mean, the couple got marriedin 2008.
(27:07):
They have two kids, Riker andGunner.
Uh, they lost their 2.
5 million Pacific Palisadeshome, and they did not have
homeowner's insurance, which Ithink I think a lot of people in
that area, they have the sameproblems with insurance will be
very interesting moving forwardwhen it comes to recovery
efforts, how the insuranceissues are gonna fall out
(27:27):
because I think a lot of peopleeven recently right before the
fire dropped their insurance.
Well, yeah, and I'm alsointerested to see how Gavin
Newsom is going to be handlingthe situation because a lot of
eyes are on him because He willbe a contender for the
presidential nomination on thedemocratic ticket in 2028.
Well, and especially since GavinNewsom and Donald Trump don't
(27:50):
have the greatest history of aworking relationship.
I mean, they've had fires inthat state before and Trump and
him.
I mean, Trump with has withheldsupport for California in the
past because of his relationshipwith Gavin Newsom.
And now that this is all fallingin this time period, it'll be
very interesting to see whatTrump does.
(28:12):
Now, on January 20th, thePalisades fire, this is the most
recent update on the date ofthis recording, but it has
burned 23, 700 acres and is only59 percent contained while the
Eaton fire has burned over 14,000 acres and is 87 percent
contained, which is pretty good.
A lot better, but with thatsaid, early Tuesday morning, two
(28:36):
fires broke out in San Diego.
They're called the Lilac Fireand the Pala Fire.
Those are very new.
That's time of this recording,so I don't have much to say on
how those will fare out, buthopefully California can start
catching a break here reallysoon.
Okay, that wraps up our firstshow.
We hope you enjoyed listening.
(28:57):
Please give us a follow onInstagram at the civil you.
That's just the letter you andHey, send us an email, letting
us know your thoughts,questions, what we got wrong,
uh, or anything that you thinkwe should discuss.
That email address is the civilunion, 25 at gmail.
com.
Thank you for listening.
(29:18):
Thanks guys.
Bye.
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