Mehdi Unfiltered Get Rid of ICE? This Ex-Trump Official Says Get Rid of Homeland Security Too
Feb 1, 2026
Jason Stanley, philosophy professor and author who studies fascism and political rhetoric, and Olivia Troye, former Trump national security advisor turned critic, discuss alarming shifts in power. They tackle ICE and DHS as instruments of coercion. They debate risks of militarized domestic policy, recycled authoritarian plans, foreign adventurism as distraction, and why institutional guardrails may be gone.
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Reaction To Violence Against A White Victim
- Mehdi recounts his reaction as a brown person seeing a white mother shot and notes differential expectations.
- He says that seeing violence against a white victim felt different and highlighted America's current nature.
Guardrails Removed In Second Term
- Olivia Troye warns a second Trump term would be far more dangerous due to removal of internal 'guardrails.'
- She attributes the change to replacement of wary officials with enablers and yes-men like Stephen Miller.
DHS Being Turned Against Citizens
- Olivia highlights DHS and ICE being repurposed to surveil and criminalize dissent under the new administration.
- She warns the apparatus is being used to monitor conversations and label dissent as domestic terrorism.
