Joan Esposito is joined by Mike Sozan, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Sozan discussed the growing authoritarianism in the United States under President Donald Trump, citing as examples the implementation of the Project 2025 "rulebook" and the weaponization of the Charlie Kirk assassination to attack political opponents. He highlighted Trump's attempts to control media and praised some Republicans and conservative media for criticizing the president's overreach. Sozan emphasized the importance of mockery and joyfulness in resisting authoritarianism and praised governors like J.B. Pritzker for standing against Trump's actions.

He also criticized mainstream media for not leading the charge for democracy. "It's been incredibly disappointing to see how the mainstream media has reacted in general, how so many of the major media companies like Paramount/CBS or Disney/ABC have just given in to this president and his administration, even when there was no legal basis why they had to do that," Sozan told WCPT.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

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