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Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture
@ChrisMurphyCT
Dec 18, 2024 • 9 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X
It's happening right in front our eyes. It's accelerated rapidly in the last 24 hours. Not sure why everyone doesn't see this.

1/ Can I take a minute to connect the dots - on how Trump is putting into action a plan to cripple our democracy in a way we may never recover from?
2/ He wasn't kidding when he said Democrats were the no. 1 threat to America and needed be dealt with by law enforcement and the military.

Today House Republican's referral of Liz Cheney for criminal prosecution - on made up charges - shows you the plan.
yahoo.com/news/key-repub…
3/ Who will stand in the way of Cheney and others being put in jail?

Not DOJ. Kash Patel was chosen to lead the FBI BECAUSE he wants to prosecute Trump's opponents.

Not the courts. Trump's pliant DOJ can handpick a jurisdiction with a MAGA judge.
rollingstone.com/politics/polit…
4/ Not every Trump opponent will fold, but many will. If you have a family at home, are you really going to stand up to Trump if there's a chance you could end up in jail?

History shows that selective prosecution of a regime's opposition has a broad chilling effect.
5/ The second part of Trump's plan is to use the White House to destroy the free media. Today's lawsuit against the Des Moines Register - just because they released a poll showing a close race in Iowa - is stunning. We shouldn't pretend this is normal.
nbcnews.com/politics/2024-…
6/ Already, you see how the big media companies are giving in. ABC paid Trump $15m even though his defamation suit had no merit. Bezos told the Post to not endorse against Trump. MSNBC is up for sale because Comcast doesn't want to get in trouble.
thehill.com/media/5042894-…
7/ Sometimes Trump will win these suits because he controls the DOJ and some courts, but other times he doesn't care. After he lost one case against a journalist, he said, "I did it to make his life miserable, which I'm happy about."

He gladly admits it's about intimidation.
8/ Trump has also said he will use the FEC and regulatory agencies - all of which will be run by his blind loyalists - to intimidate news orgs. Even if he uses this power rarely, media companies have already shown they are reluctant to put up a fight.
cnn.com/2024/10/22/med…
9/ Is there a chance this is all show and bluster? Maybe, but the developments of just the last few days - ABC's bogus settlement, the referral of Cheney for prosecution, Trump's suit against the Register - all point to this being very, very real.

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More from @ChrisMurphyCT

Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture
Nov 3
It's been a few days since Trump announced his "deal" with Xi. It's now clear that Trump got fleeced. America gave up lots and got nothing.

It's a story you should know bc few things matter more than the U.S.-China relationship.

1/ So here's a🧵
nytimes.com/2025/10/30/wor…
2/ First, let's remember how this started. Trump rolls into office proclaiming that China is stealing U.S. manufacturing jobs and he's going to put tariffs on Chinese goods in order to force China to play by trade rules and bring jobs back to the U.S..
3/ So where were are we at going into the Trump-Xi meeting? The U.S. put tariffs on Chinese goods. The cost to an Americans family of Trump's tariffs have been about $3800 so far this year. Just devastating.

Trump was threatening more restrictions.
budgetlab.yale.edu/research/where…
Read 10 tweets
Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture
Oct 22
Trump's supporters say we call his policies "racist" too casually.

But let me tell the story of a new policy - about to be unveiled - that is racist on its face.

1/ A short thread on Trump's reported new "whites only" refugee policy. It's truly vile.
nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/…
2/ We began formally accepting refugees in the aftermath of WWII. Since then, we’ve provided lifesaving shelter for millions displaced by persecution and war, many targeted for their faith.

In modern times, President Reagan saved the most refugees, admitting around 210,000.
3/ Trump plans to drastically slash the numbers of refugees admitted.

But it gets worse. The new policy reportedly will effectively allow only white foreigners to qualify. If you're not white, you get turned away.

It's unreal - like we're back in Jim Crow days.
Read 6 tweets
Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture
Oct 14
Senate is back in session Tuesday.

1/ So a quick 🧵on where things are at on the shutdown.

You get a lot of propaganda and spin thrown at you, so I want to give you the real, behind-the-scenes tea.
2/ Democrats aren't going to vote for a budget that throws millions off health care and funds Trump's growing totalitarianism. At least I'm not.

Why work so hard to get to the Senate if you don't use your power to fight for what you believe in? Especially at a time like this.
3/ The Senate keeps voting on 2 bills to reopen.

1. The GOP bill - it raises premiums on 22m Americans and lets Trump keep acting illegally.

2. The Dem bill - it stops the premium increases and checks Trump's illegality.

Each time, neither bill gets the necessary 60 votes.
Read 8 tweets
Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture
Oct 8
We aren't on the verge of an authoritarian takeover. We are in the middle of it.

But I worry people don't see the whole scheme. They just pay attention to each new daily outrage. So I went to the Senate floor to explain Trump's plan.

Here's a 🧵of the speech. It's important.
Step 1 of the plan:

Turn the justice system into a political witch hunt operation that punishes critics for free speech and immunizes loyalists for actual criminality.
Step 2 of the plan:

Use government power to compel the media to tell only the regime's narrative and to silence critics.
Read 7 tweets
Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture
Sep 19
The Kimmel suspension is a much bigger deal than you know.

It's really about a growing alliance between Trump and the companies that own America's local TV stations - like Nexstar - to turn local TV into Trump propaganda.

1/ Let me tell you the short story. It's chilling. Image
2/ In August, Nexstar announced they wanted to buy another TV station company, Tegna.

But that's illegal - because it would give Nexstar control of stations in nearly half the country. FCC rules prohibit ONE company from having THAT much control over local TV content. Image
3/ Why? Because one company shouldn't control local speech in half the country.

Also, we want our local TV stations to be run by local actors to preserve local identity and prevent our culture from becoming soullessly flattened - which Nexstar was already doing! Image
Read 8 tweets
Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture
Sep 14
Pay attention. Something dark might be coming.

The murder of Charlie Kirk could have united Americans to confront political violence. Instead, Trump and his anti-democratic radicals look to be readying a campaign to destroy dissent.

1/ Here's what's happening.
2/ Leaders across the political spectrum have spoken out about the need to depoliticize our fight against violence. GOP Governor Spencer Cox has led the way.

But Trump and his lieutenants are spinning a lie. That the only threat is from the left.
theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
3/ Here is the latest post from Laura Loomer, who clearly has the ear of President Trump, calling on Trump to use dictatorial powers to destroy his political opposition. This kind of rhetoric is gaining traction in MAGA world, and Trump is now echoing it. Image
Read 9 tweets

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