We the People America 250: Country at a Crossroads - Part 2

The Rachel Maddow Show

Rachel Maddow, MS NOW

Policy, Rachel Maddow, Madow, Issues, Campaign, Congress, Washington, Versant, News, Msnbc, Government, Ms Now, Public, Maddow, President

4.4 • 35.4K Ratings

🗓️ 4 July 2026

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A special celebration of America’s 250th anniversary with Rachel Maddow, Jen Psaki, and Ali Velshi from MS NOW’s live community event in Philadelphia. In this hour, Rachel Maddow interviews civil rights legal stalwart Sherrilyn Ifill, and the panel takes questions from the live audience.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
0:24.6	He has obstructed the administration of justice.
0:28.6	He has kept among us in times of peace standing armies without the consent of our legislatures. He has cut off our trade with all parts of the world.
0:43.3	He has deprived us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury.
0:51.3	In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress in the most humble
0:59.1	terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character
1:08.8	is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant
1:13.9	is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
1:26.2	Nine years ago in 2017, on July 4th, 2017, NPR did something that it does every year.
1:36.6	National Public Radio, NPR, every year, they have their broadcasters read the Declaration of Independence on air in full. In 2017, NPR also posted
1:49.9	the declaration online. They just posted the whole thing unedited in a long series of tweets.
1:56.6	This is an annual tradition for NPR. This is how they mark the country's birthday every year.
2:02.2	You know, they're re-familiarizing all of us with the words that launched our national bid for independence.
2:09.4	And not just the opening lines that we all know so well, not just, you know, when in the course of human events, not just we hold these truths to be self-evident, but they
2:17.5	did all the words in the Declaration of Independence, the full indictment, because that's what
2:25.7	our Declaration of Independence is. It is an indictment, enumerating the crimes of a tyrant. So NPR posts it, and they have their staff read it
2:42.0	every year. But in 2017, when they did it, that was Donald J. Trump's first independence day as president of the United States.
2:53.9	And that year, when NPR did its annual recitation, just like they do every year,
2:59.3	fans of our new president heard those words or read those words online,
3:04.6	and they thought it was an attack on Donald Trump.
3:13.1	Real headline, quote, some Trump supporters thought NPR tweeted propaganda. It was the Declaration
3:20.5	of Independence.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 13 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Rachel Maddow, MS NOW, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Rachel Maddow, MS NOW and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.