It’s March MADNESS: From Basketball to Ballots

Mar 26, 2026

Cari Champion, broadcast journalist and host of NAKED with Cari Champion, joins to riff on March Madness and politics. They discuss airline chaos, ICE at airports being used as a test run for voter policing, Project 2025’s threat to TSA and voting access, and local officials seizing ballots. The conversation mixes urgency about democracy with lively college basketball bracket talk.

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INSIGHT

SAVE Act Framed As Homeland Security Power Play

Donald Trump is tying the SAVE Act to homeland security to force passage and frame voter ID as a security issue.
He publicly urged senators to pass it urgently, even saying "Make this one for Jesus," revealing political theater behind the push.

ANECDOTE

Afro Man Won Defamation Case With Diss Track Defense

The Afro Man defamation trial surfaced when officers raided his Ohio home without charges; he responded with a diss track and won at trial.
Bakari and Angela noted jurors accepted that diss tracks are not literal claims, protecting First Amendment satire.

INSIGHT

Airport ICE Deployment As Election Test Run

The show links ICE deployment in airports to a broader strategy of voter intimidation and election policing framed in Project 2025.
Angela Rye highlighted a Steve Bannon clip suggesting airport ID checks are a test run for pollsite presence in 2026.

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It’s March MADNESS on episode 124 of Native Land Pod, hosts Angela Rye, Andrew Gillum, and Bakari Sellers are joined by friend-of-the-show, Cari Champion!

Cari Champion is a broadcast journalist, co-host of Flagrant and Funny with Jemele Hill, and host of NAKED with Cari Champion on Black Effect.

FOR YOUR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS:

1. Trump admonishes Congress to pass the SAVE Act, “Do it for Jesus.”
2. Breonna Taylor’s mom criticizes DOJ’s request to dismiss charges against officers
3. Afroman wins defamation lawsuit.
4. Syracuse loses to UConn, Syracuse Head Coach Complains.
5. United Airlines Announces a new ticket-level for “relax row” (it sucks)
6. Delta Airlines suspends perks for members of Congress over airport delays

There is a connection between the manufactured chaos at our airports, Project 2025, and Trump’s efforts to manipulate the midterm elections. Far-right strategist and conspiracy-podcast host, Steph Bannon, has said the quiet part out loud: ICE is being groomed to police the polls. The viral propaganda that Bannon pushes has empowered folks like CA Sheriff Chad Bianco to pursue phony election investigations; he’s confiscated hundreds of thousands of ballots that will be used to produce more conspiracy content, and boost the sheriff’s gubernatorial campaign.

Meanwhile, Republicans struggle to pass the SAVE Act, which would curtail millions of Americans' right to vote, and the Supreme Court seems ready to put restrictions on mail-in ballots. If voting weren’t important, they wouldn’t be trying so hard to keep you from doing it!

The show ends on a lighter note, our hosts share their brackets for March Madness, college basketball.

The full text of Project 2025: https://static.heritage.org/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

If you’d like to submit a question, check out our tutorial video: http://www.instagram.com/reel/C5j_oBXLIg0/ and send to @nativelandpod.

We are 222 days away from the midterm elections. Welcome home y’all!

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Watch full episodes of Native Land Pod here on YouTube.

Native Land Pod is brought to you by Reasoned Choice Media.

Thank you to the Native Land Pod team:

Angela Rye as host, executive producer, and cofounder of Reasoned Choice Media; Andrew Gillum as host and producer, Bakari Sellers as host and producer, and Lauren Hansen as executive producer; LoLo Mychael is our research producer, and Nikolas Harter is our editor and producer. Special thanks to Chris Morrow and Lenard McKelvey, co-founders of Reasoned Choice Media.

Theme music created by Daniel Laurent.

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