Just days after taking the oath of office, President Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of legislative attacks on marginalized communities: ripping immigrant families apart, blocking access to abortion, and banning transgender people from military service.
While protesters took to the streets to voice their outrage, the legal team at the American Civil Liberties Union launched a flurry of counterattacks in federal court, filing more than 150 lawsuits to protect American’s civil rights and liberties from encroaching authoritarianism.
On July 29, Intercept Editor-in-Chief Betsy Reed hosted a virtual conversation on the current state of civil rights in Trump’s America with three ACLU lawyers at the center of these fights: Brigitte Amiri, deputy director at the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project; Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU national Immigrants’ Rights Project; and Chase Strangio, deputy director for Transgender Justice with the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project.
This virtual conversation was streamed live on The Intercept, as well as on The Intercept’s official YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter pages.
The conversation coincides with the launch of a new documentary called “The Fight” — an inside look at four high-profile ACLU lawsuits that attempt to block the Trump administration’s efforts to target immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ community. The film is being released by First Look Media’s Topic Studios and Magnolia Pictures and opens in virtual theaters nationwide on July 31.
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy.
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
IT’S BEEN A DEVASTATING year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
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