CNN's Disastrous Trump Town Hall, Starbucks Union Woes, and Title 42

Last week, cable news giant CNN hosted a town hall with former President Donald J. Trump. The twice-impeached, criminally-indicted Trump had not been on the network since 2016 and criticized it throughout his presidency. In the interim period, he’d taken such notable actions as inciting an insurrection at the Capitol, refusing to accept the results of an election he lost, and had Thanksgiving dinner with Holocaust-denying fascist Nick Fuentes. The day before the event, a jury found him civilly liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll.

But bygones were apparently bygones on Monday as CNN, under new right-wing management, welcomed Trump back for a softball interview. According to reporting by THE NEW REPUBLIC, the audience at the event was even asked not to ‘boo,’ the former president.  

By many accounts, the interview was a bust with Trump repeatedly lying with little pushback from moderator Kaitlan Collins. As MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan pointed out, Trump somehow made it through the entire thing without facing a single question about the dinner with Fuentes. CNN faced criticism for even hosting Trump in the first place given his role in the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

For more on the Trump town hall, check out this review by RELIGION DISPATCHES.

THE NATION also covered the “predictable shit show,” noting that Trump steamrolled through the event.

For an alternative point of view, supporting the concept of holding the event, KANSAS REFLECTOR published a piece defending the town hall.

Anti-Union Activity

In other news, anti-union efforts at Starbucks stepped up in recent weeks as workers at various stores have sought to eject their unions. Last week, a group of Starbucks workers in Manhattan moved to oust their union. To do it, they’re partnering with the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation, an anti-labor nonprofit that received funding from billionaire industrialist Charles Koch’s foundation in 2021.The group previously worked to secure the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, which held that public sector unions could not collect union fees from nonmembers.

For more on the story, check out this article in THE CITY.  

Also, Starbucks is shutting down all three of its stores in Ithica, which became the first town in America where all Starbucks workers were unionized. NEW REPUBLIC had the story.  

MORE PERFECT UNION released a video this week purporting to shine a light on Starbucks’ “illegal” union-busting tactics. You can watch the video.

Meanwhile, Starbucks workers have responded to the anti-union push with calls to negotiate, as LABOR NOTES reported.

End of the Public Health Emergency

This week, the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration expired. With the expiration came the end of Title 42, which allowed U.S. Border Patrol to quickly expel migrants. Now, migrants are massing at the border amid uncertainty. THE MARSHALL PROJECT gave a good run down of the situation.

THE INTERCEPT also wrote about the Biden administration’s lifting of Title 42 and the chaos that is ensuing, including armed vigilantes harassing aid workers and rounding up children.

Meanwhile, STATES NEWSROOM wrote about the lessons that the COVID-19 pandemic ought to teach us as the virus continues to circulate, mutate, and kill more than 1,000 Americans every week.

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