Democracy Now! Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Democracy Now! delivers a comprehensive, urgent report on the escalating assault on democratic institutions and civil rights in the United States and globally. The episode opens with a sharp critique of the Trump administration’s efforts to weaponize the Department of Justice and federal agencies to suppress voting rights, particularly targeting Black and brown communities. Kristen Clark, the new NAACP General Counsel and former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, details how the Supreme Court’s recent decision gutting the Voting Rights Act has enabled Republican-led states like Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana to rapidly redraw congressional maps—eliminating majority-Black districts in a move she calls a return to Jim Crow. She condemns the administration’s use of voter roll investigations, postal service interference, and the deployment of an 'election integrity army' as coordinated efforts to disenfranchise voters. The episode also covers international crises, including Israel’s violent crackdown on the Gaza-bound Global Samud Flotilla, the abduction and torture of two activists—Tiago Avila and Seyf Abu Keshek—followed by their deportation, and the harrowing testimonies of abuse and systemic violence endured by Palestinian prisoners. Meanwhile, global developments include U.S.-Iran tensions, Saudi Arabia and UAE military actions in the Persian Gulf, EU sanctions on Israeli settlers, and political turmoil in Haiti and the Philippines. The show underscores a dire moment in American democracy, calling for mass mobilization, voter turnout, and resistance to authoritarian overreach.