A lot happened today. I'm going to talk about the White House demolition, of course, later in the show, and a lot of different things.

But I wanted to start with Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who, by the way, is 68 years old. He turned 69 years old this Friday.

Happy early birthday, Senator. If you're watching, I hope you were sleeping or snacking or resting or something.

But from 6.23 p.m. last night until 5 p.m. tonight for 22 hours and 37 minutes straight,

Senator Merkley stood on the Senate floor without sleep, without sitting down, without bathroom breaks,

which is a great mystery, all to focus the attention of the American

people on the crisis now facing this country.

And Senator Merkel's message throughout many, many, many hours was crystal clear.

He didn't argue that we were at risk of sliding into authoritarianism.

He did not say that Trump has authoritarian tendencies. He didn't tiptoe around it or that we're on the verge of authoritarianism. He did not say that Trump has authoritarian tendencies. He didn't tiptoe

around it or that we're on the verge of authoritarianism. His message was that we are already there.

Authoritarianism is here and it is here now.

Mr. President, I've come to the Senate floor tonight to ring the alarm bells.

We're in the most perilous moment, the biggest threat to our republic since the Civil War.

President Trump is shredding our Constitution.

The authoritarian takeover is not down the street.

It is not around the corner.

We are in the middle of it right now.

We are in the middle of it right now.

And I think everybody watching, most people watching when everybody feels that.

I mean, for anyone out there who thinks that this might still sound alarmist or hyperbolic,

Trump has been blowing through the constitutional checks on his power more rapidly with each passing day.

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