On Monday’s Morning Joe, the MS NOW program started its week with a defense of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs. MS NOW opinion writer Ja’han Jones gave a defense of DEI with use of buzzwords that called the Trump Administration “illiberal,” “authoritarian,” fascist, and “the most brazenly white supremacist regime in modern history,” partly due to policies against DEI. Nine a.m. host Jonathan Lemire introduced Jones as an expert on the topic of DEI amid stories of a remaining prevalence in private companies, as Jones started with labels of the Trump administration as “authoritarian” among others: So, this really does boil down to what I believe to be the biggest story of Trump's second term, which is one of corporate acquiescence, prostration to Trump's illiberal, authoritarian, or absurd demands. The assault on diversity is a prime example of this.    In the segment on DEI, MS NOW opinion writer Ja’han Jones used all the buzzwords to describe the Trump Administration. At the end of the segment, he called the administration “the most brazenly white supremacist regime in modern history." pic.twitter.com/DH5UBNESKa — Nick (@nspin310) May 18, 2026   Jones continued to defend DEI and said, “So it rests on all sorts of lies, primarily the lie that DEI programs are harmful to white men. This has been demonstrably false. There are all sorts of programs that benefit several classes of white men, veterans, new students, parents, what have you. And so what Trump has really done is claim that diversity programs are illegal as well. This has been demonstrably false as well.”  Jones continued with claims of fascism: “Well, I think fascism feasts on crushed hopes and dreams. And so what Trump has really been trying to do is create this culture of fear wherein corporations fear - feel as though if they pursue these diversity programs, that they're going to face some sort of litigation, or they're going to be crushed by Trump's hand.” Al Sharpton, sat next to Jones, continued the talk as he used the moment to relive the Trump New York Trial and call it the “most undiversified trial in American history, because none of us worked there.”   On Monday's Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough gave a defense of DEI programs as he made fun of those questioning DEI and said Democrats should not abandon talk of DEI and instead explain the program through the lens of the Declaration of Independence. pic.twitter.com/wEEtyGtB4g — Nick (@nspin310) May 18, 2026   Scarborough then made fun of those questioning DEI and said Democrats should explain the program through the lens of the Declaration of Independence: I always thought it was insanity that a democratic politician would be like, somebody said, “Oh, you support DEI programs.” They’d go, “I support DEI,” and everybody goes, “What's DEI?” This is such a strange foreign thing.  Like all they need to do is break it down. A diverse America. E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one. An America that's equal. The Declaration of Independence. All are created equal. Inclusiveness. Agreeing with Scarborough, Torre claimed shareholders like diversity programs because they make money, but then said, “Why even are so many white voters still supporting Donald Trump? The success of the messaging around this was clearly DEI as a slur.” To close the segment, Jones claimed the Trump Administration was “brazenly white supremacist” and proved why the world needed DEI: And there's no greater evidence of, like, the benefits of DEI than the Trump administration. As I've written previously, it's led by several men who have quite literally said the government needs to be led by white men in order to be run effectively.  If you look at the polling data, Americans, they're experiencing the most brazenly white supremacist regime in modern history, and they do not like it. (...) Time will tell if Scarborough's defense of DEI will be the future of the party messaging, but it seemed more likely that Jones’s claims of “white supremacy” would dominate. The transcript is below. Click "expand": MS NOW’s Morning Joe May 18, 2026 7:30:05 AM Eastern (...) JONATHAN LEMIRE: So, this is interesting, Ja’han, because certainly President Trump has made no secret. Loud headline, you know, loud proclamations, screaming headlines DEI has got to go.  And certainly in the federal government, we are seeing that. But the private sector far less so. Tell us more - I know you've been following this for a while - tell us more about what struck you. JA’HAN JONES: Sure, sure. So, this really does boil down what I believe to be the biggest story of Trump's second term, which is one of corporate acquiescence, prostration to Trump's illiberal, authoritarian, or absurd demands. The assault on diversity is a prime example of this.  So it rests on all sorts of lies, primarily the lie that DEI programs are harmful to white men. This has been demonstrably false. There are all sorts of programs that benefit several classes of white men, veterans, new students, parents, what have you. And so what Trump has really done is claim that diversity programs are illegal as well. This has been demonstrably false as well.  We've seen courtrooms time and again uphold corporations' rights to maintain their corporate diversity programs. What you've actually seen is Trump and his regime referring to these settlements that they've secured with corporations, in which the corporations haven't been forced to acknowledge any kind of wrongdoing. Trump has been pointing to these settlements in many cases that constitute this multimillion-dollar shakedown, where he gets millions of dollars from these corporations for who knows what, and pointing at those to say that diversity is dead, that diversity is over with.  But you're seeing, even Fox News has been forced to report, that in many cases, these corporations have just renamed their diversity programs, put them under another umbrella, under belonging, or what other kind of corporate speak you want to use to continue to uphold these programs. And so you see that Trump has been lying to the public in many cases, about the persistence of these programs and whether they still exist at these corporations. JOE SCARBOROUGH: Yeah. You know, Ja’han, what I so I came across your article last week, and it was - it's fascinating because you hear, I mean, you see all of these tech overlords kowtowing to Donald Trump. You see all these CEOs kowtowing to Donald Trump. And so you're thinking, okay, well, all of these programs that actually push diversity, equality, inclusion, you're thinking, oh, well, obviously they're all getting wiped out.  But then you, you had an attachment that showed just 99, 100 percent of shareholders voting down shareholder initiatives that would strike down these diversity and inclusion and equity laws. And it wasn't like a 51-49 vote,  JONES: No. Not at all. SCARBOROUGH: Diversity, equality, inclusion is like getting an A plus plus with shareholders. Like it was this - And again, I wanted you to come on because I was shocked. I mean, I follow the news every day. I read your story on MS NOW’s website, and I was shocked by the overwhelming support among shareholders for diversity, for equality, for inclusion. Talk about that. JONES: Yes. Well, I think fascism feasts on crushed hopes and dreams. And so what Trump has really been trying to do is create this culture of fear wherein corporations fear - feel as though if they pursue these diversity programs, that they're going to face some sort of litigation, or they're going to be crushed by Trump's hand.  But really, like you just mentioned, I want to give credit to people like Nancy Levine-Stearns and her platform “Impactivize” that covers, you know, diversity and its persistence at these corporations.  She's been the one who's been talking about these shareholder votes that have been resoundingly in favor of diversity. And this is not because corporations of, you know, have this sense of duty to benefit they're marginalized, you know, employees. These have been demonstrably beneficial for these corporations. And that's why they have a benefit or see a benefit in maintaining these DEI programs, not because they're doing it out of a favor to their black and brown, you know, employees. AL SHARPTON: John, I was very impressed by what you wrote. The fact is, what you just said is that a lot of the CEOs I've met with, when Trump came out with this, as in my capacity with National Action Network, were saying, these people deliver.  And what people miss is that DEI, as a term, came out of the George Floyd movement, which all of us were involved in. We never called it DEI. We called it fairness. So, what you've uncovered here, which I think Joe emphasized, which is important, these companies have been doing this because they had a commitment to their consumer base.  Talk about how many of them said, we can call it whatever name you want to call it, we're going to be accountable to the people that buy our product or support us, and those that are bowing to Trump.  And by the way, Trump's diversity record in New York, if you go through the Trump Organization - well, let's put it this way. With all his trials, you never saw black witness because they didn't work in the Trump Organization. Nobody - You talk about the most undiversified trial in American history was the trials of Donald Trump, because none of us worked there. So, nobody was surprised at his position. But talk about how people were saying, we are not going to change this policy because it works for us. If people can deliver for us and those that change their policies, what happens if Congress changes and they start getting called before Congress committees and all, and have to explain, why did you flip on something? JONES: Right, right. Well, study after study has proven that diversity programs benefit the corporations that house them. It brings in more customers. As you said, we live in a diverse world. So, Trump has not been able to get corporations to abandon their prioritization of a diverse consumer base. These things that are going to allow these corporations to exist going on into the future.  So, it's very interesting that Trump, for all of his threats and all of his intimidation, has not been able to scare corporations off of the, you know, DEI initiative because that really does support their bottom line. If they abandon that, they're going to see their businesses crater. And I think a lot of these corporate executives know that even when they do things to cow, to Trump, they give him and his administration millions of dollars. They're still remaining committed to DEI. Like I said, even if these are under different umbrellas, different names, because they know that it is essential to their success going forward. SCARBOROUGH: Well, you know, Pablo, we were talking a second ago in the last segment about how badly Democrats are doing. When you look at, you know, their overall branding.  I always thought it was insanity that a Democratic politician would be like, somebody said, “Oh, you support DEI programs.” They’d go, “I support DEI,” and everybody goes, “What's DEI?” This is such a strange foreign thing.  Like all they need to do is break it down. A diverse America. E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one. An America that's equal. The Declaration of Independence. All are created equal. Inclusiveness. And I love what Ja’han is saying and what Rev’s saying. This isn't - CEOs aren't doing this to make people feel good. They're doing this to make money. Being inclusive -  PABLO TORRE: That’s it. SCARBOROUGH: - that keeps -  you don't want a board of the same people you want. You don't want to have cultural blinders on. You want to have a diversity of thought, a diversity of background that avoids groupthink.  It's really not hard for Democrats to explain on the campaign trail. Yes, we are for, like, the motto of the United States, out of many, you know, one. We are for the Declaration of Independence. Equality. All men and women are created equal. We are for being inclusive, so we don't have like 16th century groupthink in the 21st century. This isn't hard, is it? TORRE: There's a real open lane to the hoop here for us. A layup is available if we wish to take it.  And I think it's around the premise that you mentioned, which is that this is done for self-interest. If you are selfishly trying to profit, having a diverse. I mean, it almost feels insane to have to spell it out. You feel stupid, but there is an opportunity to spell it out.  And look, let's be real, when we talk about the resiliency on some level of: Why even are so many white voters still supporting Donald Trump? The success of the messaging around this was clearly DEI as a slur. DEI as this thing that was a euphemism to speak out against some fundamental resentment that felt like, wait a minute, these people are getting advantages at our cost.  And yet, if there's an ability to take what this data is suggesting and say, wait a minute, we could say some stuff that maybe was radical in the 60s, but now feel something like, wait a minute, I thought we litigated this already. It feels like there's a real opportunity there. (...) 7:40:30 AM Eastern JONES: And there's no greater evidence of, like, the benefits of DEI than the Trump administration. As I've written previously, it's led by several men who have quite literally said the government needs to be led by white men in order to be run effectively.  If you look at the polling data, Americans, they're experiencing the most brazenly white supremacist regime in modern history, and they do not like it. So, it's time for them to start, you know, putting two and two together. This is both a white supremacist regime and a completely inept regime. These things are not detached from one another. And I think Americans are increasingly being awakened to that reality. (...)