Discussing the function – and dysfunction – of our American government with Congressman Mfume

In a divisive political culture, our neighbor and 7th District Congressman Kweisi Mfume seeks to educate us about the current state of affairs in Washington, D.C. From lies about The Epstein Files, to unlawful ICE detentions in Baltimore to the significance of getting the Key Bridge rebuilt, Nestor unfurls his disgust at what Trump is doing to divide our country.

Congressman Kweisi Mfume discussed the Trump administration’s impact on American society, criticizing Trump’s divisive policies, disregard for the Constitution, and the Supreme Court’s conservative tilt. He highlighted the Vote by Mail Act, which aims to prevent voter intimidation, and criticized ICE’s actions, including detention center conditions and potential surges in Baltimore. Mfume also addressed the Epstein files, emphasizing the need for transparency and justice for victims. He discussed the Key Bridge project, noting its $1.4 billion funding but expressing concerns over potential cost increases. Mfume stressed the importance of unity and advocacy against Trump’s divisive tactics.

• [ ] Make three to four additional appearances on Nestor Aparicio’s program and coordinate scheduling with the host
• [ ] Advance the Vote By Mail Act (reintroduced with Rep. Pete Sessions), push for Senate consideration and floor vote to secure federal vote-by-mail protections and ballot tracking
• [ ] Visit and review the unredacted Epstein files with the oversight committee (attend committee review sessions planned for the coming week)
• [ ] Coordinate with community groups, elected officials, and the police department to prepare a response plan for a potential ICE enforcement surge and support distribution of rights-information pamphlets to residents
• [ ] Continue coordinating with the U.S. Secretary of Transportation and the Maryland governor to secure federal funding and monitor cost increases for the Baltimore Key Bridge replacement project to avoid shifting costs to local government

Congressman Kweisi Mfume’s Introduction and Personal Connection

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show and mentions the Maryland crab cake tour.
• Nestor Aparicio shares his personal connection with Congressman Kweisi Mfume, who was his neighbor for 19 years.
• Nestor Aparicio expresses his honor in being invited on Mfume’s show in the 90s and mentions Mfume’s re-election.
• Mfume responds positively, expressing his happiness to be on the show and mentions his upcoming appearances on the show.

Discussion on Trump’s Presidency

• Nestor Aparicio asks Mfume for his thoughts on Trump, mentioning their interactions before Mfume became a congressman.
• Mfume describes Trump as a president who gives you what you see, which is not always positive.
• Mfume criticizes Trump for destroying the country’s position on the world stage and creating havoc among racial and ethnic groups.
• Mfume highlights Trump’s disregard for the Constitution and the law, including his influence on the Supreme Court and Senate.

Trump’s Impact on Society and Legal Issues

• Nestor Aparicio and Mfume discuss Trump’s dishonesty, breaking the law, and the lack of integrity.
• Mfume emphasizes that Trump is a convicted felon and that his actions undermine the republic and democratic society.
• Mfume criticizes Trump’s claims about winning the election five years ago, which have been ruled fair by the courts.
• Nestor Aparicio and Mfume discuss the importance of voting and the challenges posed by Trump’s actions, including the January 6th insurrection.

Voting Rights and Intimidation Tactics

• Nestor Aparicio and Mfume discuss the importance of voting and the challenges posed by Trump’s actions, including the January 6th insurrection.
• Mfume introduces the Vote by Mail Act, which aims to prevent voter intimidation and ensure secure voting.
• Mfume explains the bill’s features, including a secure barcode for tracking ballots and its passage in the House of Representatives.
• Mfume criticizes the Justice Department’s role in voter intimidation and mentions the possibility of impeaching Pam Bondi.

ICE Enforcement and Immigrant Community Concerns

• Nestor Aparicio and Mfume discuss the impact of ICE enforcement on the immigrant community.
• Mfume describes the conditions in ICE detention centers, including overcrowding and lack of sanitary conditions.
• Mfume criticizes the Justice Department’s handling of ICE and the potential for articles of impeachment against Pam Bondi.
• Mfume emphasizes the importance of protecting the rights of immigrants and the need for a path to immigration.

Epstein Files and Government Corruption

• Nestor Aparicio and Mfume discuss the Epstein files and their impact on the government and society.
• Mfume highlights the victims’ struggles to get their stories told and the role of billionaires and politicians in covering up the crimes.
• Mfume criticizes Trump and other high-profile individuals for their involvement in the Epstein scandal.
• Mfume mentions the oversight committee’s efforts to uncover the truth and the ongoing investigation.

Key Bridge Project and Federal Funding

• Nestor Aparicio and Mfume discuss the Key Bridge project and its importance for the community.
• Mfume explains the challenges of securing federal funding and the impact of cost increases on the project.
• Mfume highlights the support from local and federal representatives and the need for continued funding.
• Mfume emphasizes the importance of the bridge for the community and the potential impact of political interference.

Racial Division and Black History Month

• Nestor Aparicio and Mfume discuss the impact of racial division and the administration’s actions towards Black History Month.
• Mfume criticizes Trump for creating division and the impact on the country.
• Mfume reflects on his experience at the Capitol on January 6th and the role of hate groups in the insurrection.
• Mfume emphasizes the importance of unity and equality in building a better future.

Personal Commitment and Future Plans

• Nestor Aparicio asks Mfume about his commitment to fighting for justice and equality.
• Mfume expresses his dedication to the cause and the importance of having fearless advocates.
• Mfume emphasizes the need for community involvement and the role of personal interactions in making a difference.
• Mfume discusses the challenges of the current political climate and the importance of resisting and standing up for what is right.

Final Thoughts and Future Meetings

• Nestor Aparicio and Mfume discuss future meetings and the importance of continued collaboration.
• Mfume mentions the possibility of meeting at Johnny’s in Catonsville for crab cakes.
• Nestor Aparicio expresses his appreciation for Mfume’s efforts and the importance of representing the community.
• Mfume thanks Nestor Aparicio for his consistent work in Baltimore and emphasizes the need for continued advocacy.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Trump administration, American government, Kweisi Mfume, Black History Month, voter intimidation, ICE agents, Vote by Mail Act, Epstein files, immigration policies, healthcare costs, energy costs, Key Bridge project, racial division, no kings movement, Baltimore community.

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SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Kweisi Mfume

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 to Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We are taking the Maryland crab cake tour on the road, where my cost is gear. We back out of Dundalk on the sixth of March. On the fourth of March, we’re going to be with my dear friend Dan Rodricks and my cousin John shields over gertrude’s over at the BMA, looking forward to the 1966 presentation and then at missones at Perry Hall on the 10th. It’s all brought to you by friends at the Maryland lottery in conjunction with GBMC. Full disclosure, about to do a political piece here. But this guy was my neighbor for 19 years. We lived downtown at Harbor court. I was honored when he invited me on to his bottom line show, on W, b, a, l, back in the 90s, I thought I had done something back then being on his show, and has gone on for being not just my neighbor, to being reelected again. He is representing the great seventh and represents many of you, many of us, here in Baltimore, down in Washington, we welcome Congressman and Representative Kweisi and fume back onto the program. How’s it going? Neighbor, I like to say, I feel like Mr. Rogers, when I say that to you, neighbor,

Kweisi Mfume  01:07

it’s going great. It’s going great. And when I say going great, I mean, for me personally, I think it’s not so great for a number of people in our society who are being impacted by what we see are just crazy policies coming out of this administration, but I’m happy to be alive, happy to be on the show. I owe you about three or four more appearances. Esther, so Nestor, as soon as we can figure it out with scheduling, we’ll get it done.

Nestor Aparicio  01:31

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We’re getting the new fate leaves open right down from where your old office was by State Fair and El Guapo and but we’ll get over there and do that. So let’s just start at the top with Trump. I mean, I got a million things for you. Key Bridge, Black History Month, clearly, what Jesse Jackson, who was on my program about a decade ago, Trump, when if I saw you coming into the lobby, getting your mail, where we always saw each other on the cardboard, and I just stopped you, which was always hard before you became a congressman, just stopped for a minute and said, Give me five or 10 minutes on Trump to a constituent, to it to a neighbor, to a friend, to to a citizen, at this point, a citizen of Venezuelan heritage.

Kweisi Mfume  02:12

Well, I think what you see is what you get. I mean, there’s no false, false product with him. He gives you what he is day in and day out, which you think would be enough for most people to say, I’ve considered it all, and I just think that he’s a bad president. But there are a lot of people who think that, unfortunately, he’s a good president. Now, I don’t have any real nice things to say about the president. I try, but I it’s a struggle, because he’s not projecting himself that way. He’s really destroyed our position on the world stage. He’s created havoc among groups in this society, whether they’re racial groups or among ethnicities. He’s continued to do what he wants to do, in spite of the Constitution and the law. He, with the exception of today, has put in place a Supreme Court that basically gives him everything he wants. He’s got the advantage in the Senate, where there are more Republican senators and Democrats, and he’s got the numerical advantage in the House of Representatives for the same reason. So it’s carte blanche. I mean, he’s he’s he realizes that, he realizes that he’s not going to run for reelection again. And so in many respects, he’s letting it all hang out. But what he’s doing is destroying, in many respects, the fabric of our society, the things that have always made us great, the ability to talk to people, and the ability to always want to give a hand up to those who don’t have it, the ability to make sure that whether it’s the business community or the academic community or something else, that people are being heard and heard in the right way. He seems to be against all of that. So I have very serious problems with Donald Trump, and I’ve served under previous presidents, but this is the only one like this, where continually he just does what he wants to do, despite the fact that there’s so many people in so many different situations are asking to be heard.

Nestor Aparicio  03:57

Dishonesty is one thing breaking the law, and wherever the lack of integrity would be for anyone who’s witnessed this over a lifetime of long before politics, long before Putin, long before Epstein. But what bothers you the most, the part that bothers me the most, is that the law has been broken repeatedly, and it feels like we’ve lost the guardrails to bring that in checks and balances, which is why we send you to Washington. I talked to Johnny about this recently as well, and then the voting process for me, aside from all the other issues with Epstein and Putin and national security all bombing Venezuela, taking its leader, voting and mixing that in with really breaking the law, which is clearly that’s happening every minute of every day.

Kweisi Mfume  04:50

It is, and we always have to remember, although it’s never mentioned anymore, he is a convicted felon in our system of justice, so it’s not like he’s casually being. Considered for prosecution. He has been prosecuted and is still being prosecuted in other instances, and some things will have to wait until he’s out of office. But this whole notion that you can break the law when you want to break the law and it’s okay, undermines who we are as a republic. It undermines who we are as a democratic society, and we don’t want anybody doing that. So when we see the President of the United States doing it, it’s clear that he’s gone rogue and that he doesn’t care at all. This whole notion that he won the election five years ago is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard, even when his own justices on the Supreme Court and in lower courts have all ruled that it was a fair election. In fact, some of them have said it’s the fairest election in the recent memory of this country. So he does what he wants to do, but trust me, he is still breaking the law, and he’s doing it constitutionally now, and that’s why it’s so important for people to push back, to resist, to stand up, to fight back, to speak out, because this is something that is not even out of control yet. We still have three more years of Donald Trump, and I suspect it’s only going to get worse. Well, we

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Nestor Aparicio  06:09

would say protests done that by the F Trump shirt, done that the no kings we can do. I’m even going to the Springsteen concert when he comes around. But voting is how we’ve changed this. My dad taught me that Schoolhouse Rock. You taught me that being my neighbor and valued wisdom. And you know, Professor of all of this, you start messing with voting. I go back to January 6, and you can speak to that because you were there as my neighbor and my representative at that moment. What? Six years later, I don’t what have we learned here? But I’m very, very concerned about voting the postal system and sending ice thugs to

Kweisi Mfume  06:52

to precincts. Yeah, that’s the worst thing, because that’s all we all know that that’s intimidation. To have a bunch of ICE agents standing around voting precincts is meant not to protect the vote. It’s meant to intimidate people from ever coming there to begin with on election day. And so I suspect you’re going to see an increase in vote by mail, which is why I, along with Pete Sessions of Texas, have introduced the vote by mail act. It’s really an anti Donald Trump act, and it prevents the sort of theft and the intimidation that we know that’s going to be taking place. This bill allows people to vote by mail with a secure barcode that’s already federally approved. You’ll be able to track where your ballot is. Is it still in the post office? Is it out on a truck? Is it on a plane? And once it’s been counted, it’s automatically registered that bill passed the House of Representatives last Congress, 396 to six. So you would think there would be a willingness to go forward with it, because everybody recognizes that the vote is the most sacred thing we have politically in this society. But that stalled on the Senate side. When it got over there never got out. And so Pete Sessions and I have introduced again this bill. We just got it through my Committee on Oversight. I think the vote may have been 38 to one, and we expect to have it back on the floor, because you’re absolutely right, Nelson, if people don’t feel comfortable now, Nelson, Nestor, excuse me, if people don’t feel comfortable going out to vote understanding that they will not be intimidated and harassed, then they’re not going to vote. And if they’re not going to vote, maybe they’re all going to vote by mail. And if they’re voting by mail, what are the protections there? And so Nestor, what we’ve seen is that there is a real clamor for this bill, we think it’s going to get out and be ready to be signed and into law, but it’s the only thing we have right now, other than going out in groups of people to vote, so that you go with your neighbor, you go with someone else. But this intimidation by ICE is absolutely terrible, and the Justice Department has just turned into the just ice department. That’s all they seem to know about these days, in a very protective manner, saying that you cannot control ice. You don’t have the right to tell them not to wear a mask. You don’t have the right to make them wear body cams. Our Justice Department is out of control, and Pam Bondi is out of control. And so I would not be surprised if you don’t see articles of impeachment against her soon, just as we have filed articles of impeachment against Christie nome,

Nestor Aparicio  09:29

where does that lead the articles that’s a challenge to other representatives and senators on the other side of the aisle to come to terms With the lawlessness.

Kweisi Mfume  09:40

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Correct it is, and Articles of Impeachment are pretty much the last step in that road. So it’s not something to be taken lightly. And you’re right, people on the other side of the aisle, meaning Republicans, have to decide, in their own way and in their own mind, in their own time, is this something that we can allow to continue? I mean, ice is out of control. In our society they I, you know, metaphorically, you can say they’re killing people, because they actually are killing people. And there have been so many others that have been arrested and detained and whisked away and sent out of this country or sent to other states that we don’t know about. I just have a very serious problem with that, considering that this is a nation of immigrants, and so they came out under the pretext of, oh, we’re going to get the worst of the worst. But they haven’t been just getting the worst of the worst. They’re getting anybody and everybody they can to meet the quotas that Donald Trump has put in place about how many people each month he wants to have arrested and deported. And when you’re just trying to reach numbers blindly, you’re taking people, but many times you’re taking the wrong people. We’ve seen families separated. We’ve seen children snatched, we’ve seen women taken and nobody hears from them again. And the ones that are in detention centers aren’t given the ability to deal with their own needs in terms of sanitary conditions.

Nestor Aparicio  10:57

It is you’ve personally seen this, right? You’ve been in these detention centers in recent months, correct?

Kweisi Mfume  11:03

I’ve been downtown, at the Fallon building in that detention center. The first time I went there, they wouldn’t allow me there. They had the guards to come out and meet me and pretty much escort me out of the building, saying I didn’t have the right to be there, although every member of Congress has the constitutional right to visit an ice center without giving notice, without any notice whatsoever. And so there were a number of lawsuits that started as a result of that, and then a month and a half or two months later, they allowed me in, which is a funny term, allowed me in to visit.

Nestor Aparicio  11:36

What did you see? What did you see that could have happened to my brother, my family, than being a Venezuela could happen to me? I guess walking Eastern Avenue, I don’t know where my due process or rights would be if a bunch of thugs threw me in the back of a van and said, You’re not really an American.

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Kweisi Mfume  11:51

I’ve seen people housed together in one gigantic room with a glass petition on the front of it, so that you could look in. They were there lying on cots. There must have been 35 or 40 when I was there that day, it’s clearly overcrowding. I saw one toilet in that area, and they told me that women were not there. And we went around the corner, and there was an even smaller area where women were being housed, and the conditions are pretty much the same. They’re not sanitary. People are not allowed to see their lawyers while they’re there, which I find interesting, even though they the ice official said, Oh no, the lawyers Can’t. Can’t come in, but you members of Congress cannot. And you know, it’s, it’s sad. Now, don’t get me wrong, if you’re the worst of the worst and you’re going out here killing, raping and snatching people and robbing them. I understand your detention, because if you’re here without legal papers, then you ought to be apprehended. But if you’re not the worst of the worst, if you’re Miss Jones who lives down the street, or Miss Garcia who lives next door, or you’re somebody who’s working as a pastor on the eastern shore for 20 years, you just can’t snatch those people out and say they are the worst of the worst. I mean, we forget, somehow or another that the larger immigrant community in this country provides a service to America and a sense of pride in America. We they are working people who give the right way they raise their families the right way, they are just as much the American as anyone else. And so if you want to reclassify them, there is a path to immigration that we ought to be pursuing in the Congress, even though nobody wants to deal with that. And up until that point, you just can’t, without proof, say that you’re going to take anybody you see that may have a Latino surname, or just look like there’s somebody different, and throw them in a wagon and take them away. So what’s interesting here is that this in the summertime, was something that a lot of people were concerning themselves with, and I had people laughing and pointing to me, saying, Why are you going down there? You’re that’s not your job. You’re not supposed to be supporting those people, whatever those people means. And now here we are, seven months later, and everybody realized that what was a little problem then has grown into a huge problem. Now, with ice enforcement and these mass agents that ride through our community, there are, at this moment, as we speak, almost 40 ice vehicles downtown parked on the roof of Symphony place brand new with their stickers still on them, ice, even though they haven’t admitted it. Purchase those vehicles. Put them here so that if, in fact, there’s a surge in Baltimore, they’ve got their vehicles right here near us. That’s very, very very scary, and I just believe that there’s going to be an attempt to have a surge here in Baltimore. We’ve been working very closely with a lot of community groups, with elected officials, with the police department, to talk about what we do if and when that should happen. We’re working with organizations in the community that at this moment, are. Distributing pamphlets to people, saying, these are your rights. You should know them. Here’s how you ought to react. Now, having said all of that, there’s still a whole bunch of items that are not immigration related that we have to deal with in our society. I mean, when you look at the fact that in Maryland, 25,000 people lost their jobs as a result of Elon Musk and this Doge Committee, which really is the Department of Government evil. 25,000 Marylanders and so many others have had to move to a part time status because musk and Trump figured well, the government is too big. So let’s start in the mid Atlantic area, and let’s put a hole in it. 25,000 almost that many in Virginia and even more, less in Delaware. So because we were dependent, and are dependent, and have been for a long time on supplying the government with workers and working as a community together with them, we’ve had an enormous effect that’s larger than the effect that some other communities may have had, but this is the kind of government we’re dealing with, and these are the things that hurt many of us. So I don’t want it just to be about ice. There are other issues here that we

Nestor Aparicio  16:10

haven’t talked about the Epstein files yet, like, right? I mean, we’re 20 minutes into this, and to me, that’s at the root of we’re going to bomb Iraq. We want to take Greenland. We just really at the root of all evil sits this secret that’s no longer a secret, and certainly the show that Pam Bondi put on last week has taken focus off of ice and all of these other in the Key Bridge and all these other issues the Epstein files are at the heart of all of this, the aorta of the end of his presidency. From my eyes as a citizen.

Kweisi Mfume  16:46

Well, every day, we find out something new about the Epstein files, and we find out about someone new who is affiliated, or has been affiliated, with Jeffrey Epstein and his crimes that have really grown beyond the US. They’re international in nature. The one thing that we seem to forget in all of this are the victims. And I have sat with the victims and in a very emotional meeting in an oversight committee and listened to them, and have felt just terrible for them, because they believe that the billionaires and the well off politicians are going to find a way to push this under the rug again, and many of them have been fighting for years, as you know, to get their stories told. And every time we think we’re getting close to that, something else happens. Pam bondi’s decision not to obey a congressional order and have those files ready in 30 days, is an affront. And the fact that when they were made available, they put victims names in those files, which is also an affront. And the fact that Donald Trump continues to proclaim His innocence, and she sort of says the same thing, we all know as an affront because his name appears more than anybody else’s in these files, so the oversight committee is doing what it has to do now its due diligence to take dispositions and take testimonies, and these depositions and testimonies will give us at least more avenues to pursue. But it’s a shame. It’s a cloud, and it’s almost a sin that this President has done so much to keep this away from the public, and you got to remember, Nestor, this was not a Democratic initiative. These were Republicans who were part of Maga, who kept saying, there’s a conspiracy there. They’re pedophiles. They are snatching young girls. They are Democrats, and we need to find out who they are. Only now to find out months later, more and more that that’s not the profile at all. It’s the Donald Trumps of the world and the Elon Musk of the world and others that have continued to, in my opinion, at least allow this thing to drag out. Well, then it becomes

Nestor Aparicio  18:56

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a media story quite say, you know, it becomes something that needs to be reported. I am astonished at the ignorance on the other side, that just literally ignoring facts and ignoring when folks like you go in. Have you seen the Epstein files? Have you been privy

Kweisi Mfume  19:13

I am going there this week. The whole committee will be going there this coming week to look our chairman and our ranking member. Did go they had a chance to see the unredacted files, which is why you’re hearing so many new names now. And so we will be going there next week, either as a group, in groups or individually, to look at the files. But you know, there’s a lot of papers and it’s a lot to go through, and the Justice Department has had this all this time and has decided only recently that they were going to do a review of it. So I suspect that it’s going to be more of the same. You know, Prince Andrew was the latest couple of days ago to have been implicated by all of this. And my sense is that there are a lot of other not elected officials in this case, but billionaires. Business people and celebrities that are going to be implicated as well.

Nestor Aparicio  20:05

Koco’s my question. Fuma is making a rare visit here, but he’s promised he’s going to come back three times. Let’s go local and go Key Bridge for $100 here, or several billion dollars. Where are we with the Key Bridge?

Kweisi Mfume  20:19

Well, right now we’re in a good spot. In a good place. It’s been tenuous, because it’s been a push to get the federal funding. And in the last Congress, when I introduced the Baltimore bridge build with the co sponsorship of all of my colleagues here in Maryland, we were able to, in our own way, working with pockets of Republicans who recognize that this could just as easily been a bridge in their district. Make them to realize why we need to make the city of Baltimore, the state of Maryland, whole by rebuilding this bridge, and by doing it as a federal government initiative. We did that before in Minneapolis, back in 2008 or 2009 when a bridge collapsed there. So there’s real precedent here. One of the things that I saw as a result of that is how we all came together, and we all work together to get this in place. And finally, that bill that I’d introduced got rolled into the reconciliation package, and it passed. So the money was there at $1.4 billion what we found out in the last couple of months is that the cost has gone up significantly, which we kind of thought it would. But if we see any more cost increases like this, it’s going to be very, very difficult to keep the federal government from not telling the local government that they have to pick up the tab. So we’re on track. The Secretary of Transportation has been here and met with the governor. We think that everything is in place right now. What we don’t like, though, is the fact that this President, on any given morning when he has a problem with Maryland or Baltimore and is on the air hurling insults, could just as easily slow up or pretty much kill funding. We don’t want that to happen. We want to make sure that this goes through. Because there’s so million, many millions of people were dependent on the bridge.

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Nestor Aparicio  22:03

Obviously, the politics of division this country have always began along racial lines. Quite same fume is here. Let’s talk about Jesse Jackson and Black History Month, and just how ugly this administration’s been in the words toward the Obamas and the the ape stuff, which we’re now 15 controversies beyond at this point, but the loss of Jesse Jackson this week in leadership and Black History Month, and just all that the administration’s tried to take away from villainizing dei as something that is a bad thing in Our society when it’s clearly not well.

Kweisi Mfume  22:42

That’s what he’s built his reputation on in the last few years division, and that’s what we continue to see. I was on the Capitol on January the sixth, when this whole issue exploded with the proud boys and all these other groups that have aligned themselves with Donald Trump, because he does create division among groups. And I saw what can happen when mean and ugly people get together and tear something down. In this case, it was the United States Capitol. Donald Trump could have, on that day, got involved hours earlier and prevented some of it, but he didn’t, because he didn’t want to mean, that’s the bottom line. And so the oath seekers and the proud boys and all these other groups have continued to ferment right below the surface. They are, I hate to say, alive and well, but they are, and they feed off that kind of division and distrust, when what we really know is that racism, sexism and anti semitism are wrong, that immigrant bashing and gay bashing and union bashing are wrong, and that the only way you build a nation where everybody feels a part of it is that you make everybody a part of that rebuilding and sustaining process when you have, as we do, a president that clearly wants to divide and has done that repeatedly. It makes it very difficult for that to happen. It’s we only we’re only a step away from real anarchy in this society where people just start believing that and forming their values and their likes and dislikes along those kinds of lines.

Nestor Aparicio  24:18

How much longer for you to continue this effort in the fight that you began beginning of your life. I mean, anybody can Google you and seeing you’ve you’ve lived a long, fruitful life, but being in the middle of this mess where we are right now, I guess you feel compelled to stay in huh?

Kweisi Mfume  24:34

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Oh yeah, I’m a fighter. I fight until the 15th round is over, and then you got to pull me out of the ring. Then I just believe that we need voices and we need people who are fearless on the other side of this battle, the side of That’s right, the side that believes that everybody is equal, the side that says we can do more as a nation, and the side that never stops hoping and believing in a better future. I think. More than anything else that that does not just have to be happen to be in the Congress or United States or in city councils or anywhere else. It’s gotta be in our neighborhoods, the people we talk to, the people we’re around. You know, you can say a lot of good things when you have a platform, but when you’re one on one talking to somebody, it’s important for them to feel you and for you to feel and hear what what they are saying. And so that’s how I live my life. I believe right now that we are in a crazy period, if I can use that terminology, and it’s not just because Donald Trump is in the White House, even though so much is tied to him. It’s also because people can’t afford medical care in this country. And we have seen over and over with the demise of Obamacare, how many millions? 24 million people affected by that. It didn’t have to expire and go away, but we didn’t get enough votes on the Republican side to stand with us, and so

Nestor Aparicio  25:52

we and voting against their own people. In that case, in many, in many respects, yes,

Kweisi Mfume  25:56

I’m glad you said that, because most of the people affected by the end of Obamacare, or living in red states, which I find absolutely amazing. And they just, and I’m not trying to classify or say I know how people feel, but they just have not rallied against what they know is a problem causing more pain in their own lives, with their own families, their spouses, their children, where that kind of medical coverage is not there any longer. People are grappling with increasingly high electricity costs here in Baltimore and everywhere up and down this coast. It’s a tremendous burden on people who already had a fixed income. And I’m not just talking about seniors. I’m talking about people who are in a job where they’re going to get paid the same thing today and tomorrow and the next day or two jobs, in some cases, two jobs. You’re right. Yeah. So when you consider loss of health care in this country, and Trump saying he has a plan, but has never revealed it, when you consider the fact that energy costs are completely out of control, and that feud food costs, no matter what this administration say, still prohibits a lot of people from being able to eat healthy and to have enough for their family. Those are the things that keep me up at night and trouble me and make me understand that I’ve got to do everything I can to resist this, to fight back, to push back, to stand up, to speak out. The no kings movement is an excellent example of showing other people that they’re not alone, 7 million people in the last one, and I suspect that in the one that’s coming up, there’ll be twice that amount, because it’s important for people to see other people to who are resisting and who are speaking out, and then they feel somehow encouraged, in their own way to do the same thing.

Nestor Aparicio  27:36

I was down at Patterson Park with the Senator Van Hollen back last year. Quite seen. Filmmaker, last thing you eat crab cakes, guy, I need to know, Are you a crab cake

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Kweisi Mfume  27:44

eater? I have been all my life. All right. All right. Well, the

Nestor Aparicio  27:47

next time we get together, we’re gonna do it over fishmonger’s daughter, Frederick Road, Catonsville. They’re gonna get the new fadleys open out out in Catonsville, and we’ll make sure we organize that. All right,

Kweisi Mfume  27:57

okay, as long as you get me permission from Johnny’s, because that’s fine.

Nestor Aparicio  28:01

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I mean Johnny K Yeah, I mean it’s fine. I mean, I consider all of you ours, you know. And you don’t have to drive across lines to say I voted for Johnny or I voted for Kwasi or wherever we were all in this together, you know, we are, and I wind up talking to both you about the same exact things down there. So move forward. Represent Us, all of us, whether you’re the east side, west side, south side or north side. Keep up the work down there. Keep up the fight. We got to make the country better.

Kweisi Mfume  28:31

Thank you, Nestor, and thanks for what you’ve been doing consistently here in Baltimore.

Nestor Aparicio  28:35

I appreciate that question fuming our congressman in the seventh joining us here on Baltimore. Positive I am, Nestor. We are W NST. We’re back for more on W NST. Am 1570 you.