During Tuesday’s town hall event, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) spoke about recent executive orders issued by President Trump.
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00:00So, we're here tonight to talk about it. I can tell you that we have 118 retirees, 18,000 retirees in this district alone who are on Social Security.
00:16You know, but all these things came by executive order. We've not had any hearings, for the most part, on any of these things. President Trump has just been doing it by executive order.
00:30Normally, our founding fathers, as you know, create three branches of government. Executive, judicial, and legislative. And the legislative body is supposed to set the laws.
00:46And the judicial body interprets what they did as to whether it's right or wrong. And the executive carry it out. Right now, those executive orders are the only thing that's there.
01:00And so, when people like me talk to my Republican colleagues about, well, why don't you all say something? They say, man, if we say something, they'll run somebody against us.
01:14I say, but the point is, it's either right or wrong. And you know, some of these things are wrong. I have a lot of people who work at the Corps of Engineers in Warren County, Vicksburg.
01:31Got people who work for the Park Service here. And some of them, they're fellow employees. They shouldn't have any fear of their job. But now, they do.
01:41And some of them, as you know, have lost their job. And that's not who we are as a country. And so, we're going to have to push back.
01:51But I need to kind of hear from the public what your thoughts are. I need you to tell me what questions you might have.
01:59But when the police, in terms of ICE, Immigration Customs Enforcement, can pick people up off the street, put them on a plane, and send them to El Salvador, in one of the worst prisons in the world,
02:18and then find out, some of the people hadn't done a thing. Now, you know, they say, well, he had a tattoo.
02:29Okay. You know, there's some folk in this room that got tattooed. But I don't see that as being criminal.
02:43And so, even when the court says, bring them back, you say, no, you tell the court, I'm not going to do it.
02:57So, you say, I've never known anybody to tell the court that. But it gets worse.
03:06Because any time a judge makes a decision that this administration disagrees with, somebody files an impeachment proceeding against the judge.
03:21Now, normally, you just appeal the decision. No, they want to get the judge out of office because he made a ruling that I didn't agree with.
03:30We're better than that, people. And that's why town halls are being held all over the country to kind of explain that.
03:40And so, it's not about a person in office. It's the law. And we respect the person that won.
03:48Even most of us didn't vote for him. He won. So, let's get on with it. Don't try to change the law.
03:55And they're changing the law. And that's so unfortunate. And you've seen it.
04:00So, that's why we're here. I could go on and on. But I want to hear from you about your concerns.
04:09What we'll try to do, we have microphones to the left and to the right.
04:16And if you just go to the microphone, and we'll rotate from side.
04:22If you want to do it from your seat, if you raise your hand, you know, after the people who stand up, we'll be more than happy to go with you.
04:34So, that's kind of who we are. And let me thank the school board here.
04:44I was looking for an office. And, Phillip, my understanding is we've never had a congressional office here in, yeah.
04:55Well, you've got to have that. You just can't function. So, the school board made me an offer I couldn't refuse.
05:05Air conditioning, security, electricity, and bathroom, and all that.
05:15And so, the building's there. It's got parking. It's free. And so, we were happy to put the office here.
05:31Jackie Marshall worked in the office for quite a while.
05:36We had a situation happen. But let me tell you, I've looked at this thing.
05:47If 1,500 convicts can break into the United States Capitol and try to kill me and a whole bunch of other folks.
06:02And get pardoned. And now, potentially, get paid.
06:13Guess what? I forgive Jackie.
06:18More importantly, come Monday, she's back at work.
06:33So, just like at New Beginning, even when mistakes happen, and people ask for forgiveness, you do it.
06:58So, that's it.
07:00So, that's it.
07:00So,