So, I'm going to indulge in one of those annoying threads about my stories from the Trump era. I promise not to make it too long! (Honestly, just mute me now.)
About 7 years ago, a fluke blizzard and a rerouted flight ended with me spending a two days at Mar-a-Lago with Trump. Yes, he hated my story. (And yes, that picture was meant to be a joke.) In retrospect, this was the beginning of "the Trump era" for me. buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/3…
I revisited the Mar-a-Lago experience a couple years later when Trump was about to win the GOP nomination. My story on how Trump's campaign was part of his lifelong revenge march against the "haters" who'd snubbed and sneered at him (myself included): buzzfeednews.com/article/mckayc…
I joined The Atlantic just before Trump took office, and began covering how his conquest of the GOP would shape Washington. After interviewing Jason Chaffetz, one thing was clear: Republicans were going to let him get away with whatever he wanted. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
My profile of Mike Pence looks at the Faustian bargain he—and the religious right—made in allying themselves with Trump: theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
I also wrote about the revealing meltdowns of Trump-world's lesser figures.

On Jason Miller and AJ Delgado: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

On Sam Nunberg: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
My profile of Stephen Miller looked at what happens when right-wing campus "trolls" grow up to run the world: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

And my profile of Newt Gingrich looked at how his brand of politics paved the way for Trump's rise: theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
After hearing early in 2017 that Mitt Romney might run for Senate in Utah (theatlantic.com/politics/archi…) I followed his eventful first year in Washington closely: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
I began 2020 with a deep look at the billion-dollar disinformation campaign to reelect the president, and how Trump was working to hold his supporters in an alternate reality: theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
My story on how Trump talks about people of faith in private: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
And finally, just because it was such a fitting end to the 2020 campaign, my story on getting kicked out Steve Bannon's election party (along with @RosieGray): theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
I'm extremely grateful to have been able to do this work, and for the brilliant editors who assigned, sharpened, improved (and often saved) these stories: @denisewills, @YAppelbaum, @nora_kelly, @JohnGHendy, @NickBaumann, @katherinemiller, @SteveKandell, and @benyt.
(OK I'm done with the hyper-indulgent tweets now, you can unmute me.)
(And of course I'm grateful to @JeffreyGoldberg, who brought me to The Atlantic, assigned many of the stories in this thread, and has purchased literally hundreds of boxes of Girl Scout cookies from daughter over the years.)
Forgot to include my cover story on the Trump family in this thread earlier, but things look much worse for Don, Ivanka, Jared, et al than they did when I wrote it back in 2019. Still, I'm not convinced we're done with this family... theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

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More from @mckaycoppins

18 Jan
How will the GOP recover from the complicity and corruption of the Trump era? To many Republicans, the answer is simple: Pretend it never happened.

My story on the collective case of amnesia about to set in among conservatives:
theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
“We’re about to see a whole political party do a large-scale version of ‘New phone, who dis?’” says Sarah Isgur, a former spokesperson for the Trump DOJ. “It will be like that boyfriend you should never have dated—the mistake that shall not be mentioned.” theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
When I asked Doug Heye, a longtime GOP strategist, how his party will remember the Trump years, he responded with a litany of episodes to memory-hole: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
Read 6 tweets
6 Jan
As the Trump era draws to a close, the Republican Party is fractured, out of power, and bitterly fighting over core tenets of democracy.

My story on the spectacle in Washington today, with quotes from Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Thomas Massie, and more: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
I spoke to (a fairly sanguine) Romney last night a few hours after he was harassed by Trump supporters in an airport. “A huge portion of the American public has been misled by the president about the outcome of the election," he told me. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
“The president was right that there was an effort to corrupt the election," Romney told me, "but it was not by Joe Biden. It was by President Trump.” theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
Read 11 tweets
29 Dec 20
In the Trump era, many Washington reporters became resistance heroes, showered with book deals, TV contacts, and Twitter followers. I talked to some of them about their (our) ambivalence about that—and what they plan to do next.
theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
“On a purely social level, I don’t know that reporting critically on Joe Biden will feel as safe for reporters,” @Olivianuzzi told me. “You’re not going to get yass queen–ed to death.” theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
One cable-news anchor told me that praise from anti-Trump celebrities on Twitter has become like a “narcotic” for some of his colleagues: “It’s important to people that George Takei likes their monologue." theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
Read 6 tweets
7 Nov 20
I was at Steve Bannon’s rooftop Election Night party when reality started to set in—then I got dramatically kicked out. On failed prophecy, cognitive dissonance, and the future of Trumpism in America: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
Hey @Harlan, are we doing that livestream? theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
Slightly regretting that we didn't headline this piece "What we can learn about the future of Trumpism from a 1950s UFO sect in Chicago" theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
Read 4 tweets
29 Oct 20
So, here's Mike Lee comparing Donald Trump to Captain Moroni (a hero in the Book of Mormon) and then modifying a verse of LDS scripture to include the words "fake news."
The end of this cursed campaign season cannot come soon enough.
I've gotta say, "I seek not for power but to pull it down" may be the single Book of Mormon quote that's least relatable to Donald Trump. churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptur…
Read 6 tweets
29 Sep 20
Former aides say they’ve heard Trump privately ridicule conservative religious leaders, dismiss faith groups with cartoonish stereotypes, and deride rites and doctrines held sacred by many in his base.

My story on what Trump really thinks about religion: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
When Trump learned about a megachurch pastor trying to raise $60 million to buy a private jet, he was delighted by the "scam," according to Michael Cohen, and eager to highlight that the pastor was "full of sh*t."

"They're all hustlers," Trump said.

theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
One former Trump adviser told me he seems to feel a kind of kinship with certain prosperity gospel preachers: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
Read 11 tweets

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