Velshi: 'There is hope yet for the republic' after Trump's Supreme Court loss
The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
Lawrence O'Donnell, MS NOW
4.5 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 21 February 2026
⏱️ 41 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | Tonight, as you know, the Supreme Court reminded the country that even the most powerful president |
| 0:05.1 | in the world does not get to rewrite the Constitution to win an argument about economics. |
| 0:10.5 | Tonight, Donald Trump lost, and he lost decisively on one of the defining policies of his political |
| 0:17.1 | identity, tariffs. For years, Trump has described tariffs as economic magic, |
| 0:24.2 | a way to punish foreign countries and rich Americans and fund the U.S. government all at once. |
| 0:29.8 | He has insisted that other nations were paying us billions, actually said billions and billions, |
| 0:34.9 | in his word, holding tariffs up as proof not just of policy |
| 0:39.1 | success, but of personal strength. Today, the Supreme Court rejected the legal foundation |
| 0:45.6 | behind key parts of that strategy. In plain English, a president cannot simply declare an economic |
| 0:52.0 | emergency and impose sweeping tariffs on imports whenever he chooses. |
| 0:57.1 | The court said there are constitutional limits, even for a president who's long argued that there |
| 1:01.8 | should be none. |
| 1:03.8 | Trump's response was immediate and swift, and as expected, defiant. |
| 1:08.8 | Here's a portion of what he said today in the White House briefing |
| 1:11.4 | room. The Supreme Court's ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing, and I'm ashamed of |
| 1:22.1 | certain members of the court. The Democrats on the court are thrilled, but they will automatically vote no. They also |
| 1:31.6 | are a, frankly, disgrace to our nation, those justices. They're just being fools and lap dogs for |
| 1:39.5 | the rhinos and the radical left Democrats. They're very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution. |
| 1:46.2 | It's my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement |
| 1:52.1 | that is far smaller than people would ever think. |
| 1:59.0 | Unpatriotic. Trump said he's got a backup plan, by the way. He claimed this ruling doesn't affect |
| 2:03.2 | his tariffs, and he can make even bigger tariffs, something we'll discuss over the course of the next |
... |
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