This is the May 26, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“No matter what your immigration status is, you shouldn’t be treated with anything less than dignity in this country.”
—
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who joined protesters outside Delaney Hall yesterday on the fourth day of a hunger strike by detainees
JOE’S NOTE
“Anybody who’s present in the United States has protections under the United States Constitution.”
Those are the words of Antonin Scalia — the godfather of conservative jurisprudence — after being asked directly whether the Constitution applies to undocumented immigrants.
Scalia’s words, and the constitutional protections he spoke of, seem like relics from a different age.
Judges’ orders are now routinely ignored; senators attempting to tour GOP internment camps are pepper sprayed; children and parents are randomly swept up in raids meant to meet quotas and enrich favored contractors.
The Geneva Conventions guarantee the Red Cross access to enemy combatants during wartime. And yet U.S. governors, senators, and members of Congress who fund Trump’s internment camps can’t get inside to inspect the savage conditions.
New Jersey’s governor was blocked by ICE officials from inspecting an internment camp inside her own state.
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona have been blocked from entering internment camp doors time and time again.
Sen. Alex Padilla of California was tackled, handcuffed, and detained at a Department of Homeland Security press event when the Hispanic lawmaker dared to ask a question.
These centers are black holes, with reports of human rights abuses filtering out much like the news of Hitler’s concentration camps started quietly spreading across Europe.
So the question remains: What are Republicans hiding from Americans?
Why won’t the president allow members of Congress to look inside?
Why won’t Republicans in Congress demand it?
Every GOP senator should remember they may soon be in the minority. It is in their own interest to defend their Democratic colleagues and the powers James Madison bequeathed to the First Branch.
As Chief Justice John Roberts told the Trump administration’s solicitor general: “It’s a new world. It’s the same Constitution.”
Republicans need to take both Roberts and Scalia’s words to heart. As another Supreme Court justice once noted, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”
It’s time to let light inside Trump’s internment camps.
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE COLLAPSES UNDER WEIGHT OF WAR
Source: Gallup poll of 1,001 U.S. adults, conducted May 1-15, 2026; margin of sampling error: ±4 percentage points
ON THIS DATE
On May 26, 1927, the Ford Motor Company ended production of the Model T — the car that Henry Ford built to “democratize the automobile.” In the process, Ford revolutionized manufacturing by creating the first moving assembly line. That innovation ushered in the modern age.
WHAT THEY SAID
John Kirby on Iran
“Don’t underestimate the degree to which the Revolutionary Guard is willing to sustain pain. They don’t care about the economic pain felt by Iranians. They can drag this war out for as long as possible.”
Ben Rhodes on political compromise
“If we’re going to live together as people with different interests and views, we have to start with compromise. We — the United States — are an idea, and we have transformed ourselves time and again.”
Eddie Glaude Jr. on American identity
“There’s a madness deposited at the heart of America, because it imagines itself as a beacon of freedom and as a white republic. We see that cycle happening over and over again — very clearly during America’s milestone anniversaries.”
EXTRA HOT TEA
$508,520
— The amount you could make as an anesthesiologist in Washington state, per a map that shows the highest-paying jobs in each state.
DOUBLE SHOT: KNICKS SWEEP
Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images, David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
Knicks fans celebrate winning the Eastern Conference Championship against the Cleveland Cavaliers yesterday in New York City. The Knicks last reached the NBA Finals in 1999 and are seeking their first championship since defeating the Lakers in 1973.
CATCH UP ON MORNING JOE
The post It’s a new world. It’s the same Constitution. Republicans need to act like it. appeared first on MS NOW.
