Psaki: Trump’s takeover of the Library of Congress is about ‘more than just books’

The president fired the Librarian of Congress. Uh why do we choose to do that? Uh we felt she did not fit the needs of the American people. Um there were quite concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and uh putting inappropriate books in the library for children. So that was the answer the White House gave last week when a reporter asked why Trump had fired Carla Hayden, the longerving librarian of Congress. Now, despite what her answer seems to suggest, the Library of Congress is not a lending library. While it holds tens of millions of publications and manuscripts, presidential papers, and other material, it doesn’t loan books out to children. And if Caroline Levit really doesn’t understand why the Library of Congress holds books she doesn’t like, here is quick a quick civic education film to bring her up to speed, courtesy, of course, of the US government. Have you ever heard of the Library of Congress, Tim? It’s the most important library in the country. And one of the things it does nowadays is keep records and proofs of all the copyrights that are issued by the United States. Two copies of almost every book that is published are sent to the library at Washington. That’s right. The copyright office is part of the Library of Congress. So, it has a whole lot of books, including ones the Trump administration may not like. That’s part of its purpose. It also houses the Congressional Research Service, an agency that works exclusively for Congress to provide confidential policy and legal analysis to lawmakers regardless of party. That’s why it was pretty notable that Trump named his former personal attorney and current deputy attorney general, Todd Blanch, as the acting librarian of Congress. The fact that Trump is trying to install an executive branch official to lead a legislative agency is incredibly concerning, especially given the privileged information that the Library of Congress holds. So, it sure seems like Trump’s attempt to take over the Library of Congress is about perhaps a lot more than just books he doesn’t like. I think.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who represented Donald Trump in his 2024 New York hush money trial, has been appointed acting Librarian of Congress, replacing Carla Hayden. The White House dismissed Hayden following conservative criticism of her alleged “woke” agenda. Jen Psaki fact-checks the White House’s claims and explains why Trump’s installation of Blanche is “incredibly concerning.”

For more context and news coverage of the most important stories of our day click here: https://www.msnbc.com/

» Subscribe to MSNBC: https://www.youtube.com/msnbc
» Subscribe to MSNBC on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@msnbc
» Subscribe to MSNBC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/msnbc
Download our new MSNBC app for the latest breaking news and daily headlines at a glance: https://www.msnbc.com/information/download-msnbc-app-n1241692

Follow MSNBC Show Blogs
MaddowBlog: https://www.msnbc.com/maddowblog

MSNBC delivers breaking news, in-depth analysis of political headlines, commentary and informed perspectives. Find video clips and segments from The Rachel Maddow Show, Inside with Jen Psaki, Morning Joe, The Beat, Deadline: White House, All In, The Last Word, The 11th Hour, and more.

Connect with MSNBC Online
Visit msnbc.com: https://www.msnbc.com/
Subscribe to the MSNBC Daily Newsletter: https://link.msnbc.com/join/5ck/msnbc-daily-signup

39 comments

  2. She got fired for making sure that every book in the world was catalogued. Nothing to do with DEI. Libraries are supposed to include all types of books to serve the public, not an agenda.

  3. It is truly astounding that the people in this administration can remember to breathe. You think you’ve seen the depth of stupidity within the administration and then “Nope! We can still go deeper.”

  7. I usually don't point out physical flaws, but she is so vile that I can't help it. It's just the amount of space between her nose and her upper lip is so distractingly large. I can't unsee it.

  11. She just showed a 10 second clip from 1945😮 holy smokes can't believe nothing anymore kinda reminds me of that marijuana video 😂 should have just showed the little rascals 💯

  13. The lives this administration continues to destroy is unacceptable. The ignorance is on full display here.

  18. Hypocrisy and Incompetence.
    Well . . . at least the scales of justice, within the current POTUS Administration, are of equal balance.

  23. If I were American, I would be petrified that everything for which my country has stood for centuries will unravel. You might not have liked the other guy, but the other guy always respected the country and its institutions. The United States is going down a very slippery slope from which there might not be any recovery.

  26. This is how you set up an autocracy. Change the past to seize the future. Seriously guys, read up on this because this is just one of the first steps you take.

    He's never giving up the office again. Don't get your hopes up for another election. Even if there is one, you won't win it. And if you challenge it's results, you will go to jail.

  28. The Library of Congress is the Respiratory for all copyrights and publications made in the country. Christ on Crunches, these people are stupid.

  35. he wants to nuke copy right laws. he has been after copy right laws since steve bannon was involved. Musk gave hundreds of millions of dollars to get protected data from the government to train his AI on. The real cache is the copy right office.

  38. Didn't Hitler do something similar, and started burning important books? Trump wants to burn books that holds records of him & his dirty deeds.!!!

Comments are closed.