Judd Legum Profile picture
Nov 25 6 tweets 2 min read Read on X
1. In Tennessee, public libraries have closed for a week to facilitate a Trump-inspired book purge

Tennessee's Secretary of State ordered most of the state's public librarians to remove children's books w/LGBTQ characters

popular.info/p/tennessee-pu…
2. Hargett has cited Trump's executive order “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism." Executive orders are not federal law and generally do not apply to state or local governments.

Tennessee libraries do receive some federal funding, but not for book purchases.
3. In the letters, Hargett singled out a children’s book called Fred Gets Dressed by Peter Brown. The book, which was written by a straight, cisgender man, does not feature any LGBTQ characters. It is based on a childhood experience of the author in which he tried on his mom's clothes.Image
4. Even if the executive order did apply to Tennessee local libraries, simply having books with LGBTQ stories and characters does not constitute “promoting gender ideology.” The classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood involves a wolf eating a little girl, but does not promote violence.
5. As a result of Hargett’s demand for libraries to complete the review within 60 days, at least one Tennessee county has closed several of its library branches for up to a week.

popular.info/p/tennessee-pu…
6. For more independent accountability journalism that takes the First Amendment seriously, subscribe to Popular Information.

No paywalls. No BS.

popular.info/subscribe

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More from @JuddLegum

Nov 25
1. EXCLUSIVE

Musk’s xAI has secretly built its AI supercomputer, Colossus, using Chinese transformers, leaving it vulnerable to espionage or sabotage

Colossus performs sensitive work for the U.S. military

oligarchwatch.substack.com/p/musks-ai-sup…
2. For more exclusive reporting about the world's wealthiest and most powerful people, subscribe to Oligarch Watch.

It's free to sign up.

oligarchwatch.substack.com/subscribe
3. An April report published by the security firm Gladstone AI noted that Chinese transformers "can be used as back-doors for sabotage operations. Indeed back-door electronics are known to have been installed in Chinese-made transformers.”
Read 6 tweets
Nov 18
1. An abrupt decision by the Trump administration on October 3 left thousands of ICE detainees without access to vital medical care — a crisis that is ongoing — according to previously unreported ICE documents.

🧵

popular.info/p/exclusive-ho…
2. For 2 decades, the VA played a limited but essential role in ensuring that people in the custody of ICE received necessary medical care. When an ICE detainee needed medication or outside medical treatment, the VA processed the claims. ICE paid the VA to provide this service.
3. On October 3, the VA “abruptly and instantly terminated” its agreement w/ICE, according to partially redacted documents.

The termination left ICE with “no mechanism to provide prescribed medication” and unable to “pay for medically necessary off-site care.”
Read 9 tweets
Nov 12
BREAKING: Following Tucker Carlson's friendly interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, @rocketmoneyapp has ended its sponsorship of Carlson's podcast.

🧵

popular.info/p/update-rocke…
@RocketMoneyApp 2. On Monday, Popular Information revealed that several prominent companies — including Rocket Money — were continuing to sponsor Carlson’s show as he mainstreams white supremacy and other forms of bigotry.

popular.info/p/these-compan…
@RocketMoneyApp 3. On the November 3 episode of Carlson’s podcast, he said he was “excited to partner with Rocket Money.” Carlson promoted a special URL, , where his viewers could sign up for the service. rocketmoney.com/TUCKERImage
Read 7 tweets
Nov 6
1. JD Vance dismissed Tuesday's election as “a couple of elections in blue states”

But there were contests nationwide, including in purple & red states

And voters everywhere rejected the MAGA agenda

Let's review

popular.info/p/six-election…
2. In Bucks County — Pennsylvania’s largest swing county, which Trump narrowly won in 2024 — Democrat Danny Ceisler was elected county sheriff after the Republican incumbent signed a deal to collaborate with ICE earlier this year.
3. In Texas’s third-largest school district, progressives won all three open board seats, giving them a 4-3 majority.

Over the last year, the incumbent board removed textbook chapters on vaccines, COVID and climate change, banned library books, and fired half of the librarians.
Read 6 tweets
Oct 27
1. Last week, there were 3 Trump corruption scandals in 4 days that would define any other presidency.

Most people are probably not even AWARE of all three scandals.

🧵

popular.info/p/3-scandals-i…
2. On Thursday, Trump pardoned Binance’s founder, CZ, who pled guilty in November 2023 to willfully violating anti-money laundering laws

CZ's actions “allowed money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers” through Binance.
3. Trump's pardon for CZ came after Binance structured a $2 billion investment with USD1, a Trump-backed cryptocurrency.

The transaction is expected to result in tens of millions of annual profits for Trump and his family.
Read 8 tweets
Oct 25
1. Here are some facts about the guy, Timothy Mellon, who donated $130 million so Trump could pay the troops during the government shutdown.

🧵

popular.info/p/the-reclusiv…
2. In his self-published 2015 autobiography, Mellon writes that Black people have become "even more belligerent and unwilling to pitch in to improve their own situations" after social safety net programs were expanded in the 1960s and 1970s.
3. Mellon derided programs intended to lift people out of poverty as "Slavery Redux." Mellon claimed that in exchange for "delivering their votes in the Federal Elections, they are awarded with yet more and more freebies: food stamps, cell phones, WIC payments, Obamacare, and on, and on, and on"
Read 6 tweets

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