It's amazing that some corporate leaders are willing to support Trump for tax cuts and deregulation while shrugging about what Trump's threats to wreck democracy and the rule of law would do to the business climate. 1/

New piece from me:
newrepublic.com/article/183147… WH chief of staff Jeff Zients tells me he and other admin officials are making an expansive case to CEOs that a good business climate depends on stability and the rule of law. He talked to me about the case he made to the Business Roundtable recently. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/183147…

Awful: Trump just revealed that he will attack Biden over "migrant killings" at the debate later this month. It really is time to treat the Trump-MAGA use of these horrific murders to smear millions of undocumented immigrants as a big story. 1/

New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/182993… It's hard to overstate how ubiquitous the highlighting of "migrant crime" has become in right wing info spaces. Trump brings it up at rallies. MAGA lawmakers put it on T-shirts. Fox News puts mug shots on screens and highlights crimes in chyrons. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/182993…

Don't overlook this: Fox News and MAGA are pushing some truly vile smears about Biden's new policy on undocumented spouses of US citizens.

Fox/MAGA are linking it to the awful murder of a young Maryland woman, allegedly by a migrant. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/182859… There's a key tell in the Fox/MAGA attacks on Biden's policy: They all try to change the subject back to *the border.* Yet this policy is all about immigrants who have lived here for a decade or more.

I've collected some of these attacks below. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/182859…

On the pod, @paulkrugman is terrific on how dangerous it is that voters are forgetting the horrors of Trump's last year in office.

"Everything that should have been a disqualifying personality flaw in 2020 has gotten far worse," Krugman says.

Listen:
newrepublic.com/article/182784… .@paulkrugman is also good on the "Trump crime wave" of 2020 and the absurdity of his lies about Biden crime.

Great line:

"We have enough data...to say that the Trump crime wave in New York is completely gone."

We covered tons of ground in today's chat:
newrepublic.com/article/182784…

An important development: Trump's criminality is becoming a genuine wedge issue against Republicans.

Don't be fooled by GOP's outward shows of unity behind Dear Leader. The cracks in the facade are very clear.

Here's some evidence. 1/

(Link to piece)
newrepublic.com/article/182728… People overlooked this. But when Rep Mike Simpson, a very senior GOPer, told @playbookdc that he opposes defunding Jack Smith, he also directly undermined the entire Trump/GOP argument that the prosecutions are the illegitimate work of the Deep State. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/182728…

Just amazing: MAGA is now saying Hunter Biden's guilty verdict is part of the conspiracy against Trump.

This shows that nothing is more devastating to the MAGA worldview than the idea that the justice system is actually functioning fairly. 1/

New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/182603… Stephen Miller, Charlie Kirk and other MAGA personalities served up a convoluted theory in which DOJ successfully prosecuted Hunter Biden to make the Deep State *appear* balanced.

It's almost as if MAGA was secretly hoping Hunter would get acquitted. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/182603…

Media is being too credulous about Trump's threats to prosecute Ds "for revenge." This implies he's just threatening to do what is being done to him. That's deception. He's vowing evidence-free prosecutions. That's *not* what's happening to him. 1/

Link:
newrepublic.com/article/182480… Trump's exchanges with Dr. Phil and Hannity showed that even his friendliest interviewers can't disguise his lawless intentions for a second term. But they also showed what a monstrous scam it is when Trump says he'll prosecute in "retaliation." 2/

newrepublic.com/article/182480…

Just amazing: House Republicans are advancing a proposal to restrict funds from going to any special counsel to criminally prosecute "a former or current president.”

Dems expect something like this to be attached to a must-pass bill very soon. 1/

Link:
newrepublic.com/article/182276… Last month, Mike Johnson had a rare moment of consistency, admitting that defunding special counsels is a bad idea. But Trump's conviction changed all that. Now Rs must show absolute fealty to the notion that Trump must be kept above the law. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/182276…

Here's a big reason Trump's conviction is such a powerful moment: It shatters the myth of his invincibility. Dems need to banish the phrase "his negatives are baked in" forever, and use this against him, ruthlessly and effectively. My take:
newrepublic.com/article/182111… Trump cultivates the aura of invincibility relentlessly. Up until a few hours ago, it was possible to believe he was going to skate yet again.

He was getting away with all of it. Until he didn't.

That's a big inflection point, and Dems should grab it.

newrepublic.com/article/182111…

How is this not bigger news?

Trump posted a video of one of his supporters attacking "blowjob liberals" and raging that if Trump is elected, he will "get rid" of liberals, who will be "gone."

Trump is plainly endorsing those sentiments. 1/

(Link)
newrepublic.com/article/181973… The video Trump posted got notice for attacking @JoeNBC, but there's also this:

"He’ll get rid of all you fucking liberals. You liberals are gone when he fucking wins."

By promoting this video, Trump endorsed that sentiment about libs generally. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/181973…

People are missing the larger story behind the "unified Reich" video: It's undeniable that on many fronts, Trump and MAGA are experimenting with how far they can go with overtly fascist/authoritarian modes of politics. It's a test. 1/

New piece from me:
newrepublic.com/article/181843… The people behind the video are part of a group of far right shitposters that have collaborated with the Trump campaign. The bigger story here is this shadow zone where Trump/MAGA allies encourage far right propaganda and seek to harness its energies. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/181843…

Media coverage of Republicans stampeding to NYC to attack Trump's trial as illegitimate is marred by euphemism. This isn't just "currying favor" with Trump or "expressing loyalty" or auditioning to be his veep. It's placing Trump over the rule of law. 1/

newrepublic.com/article/181682…


Rs are attacking the judge, witnesses, prosecutors and trial as illegitimate. This isn't just helping Trump evade the gag order. The point is also to display in spectacle form that their fealty is to him over the rules that make the system function. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/181682…

News --> Clarence Thomas still won't clarify whether he repaid the principal on a $260,000 loan from a rich friend that he used to buy his RV, Sens Wyden and Whitehouse say. If loan was forgiven, they argue, it should have been reported as taxable income:
newrepublic.com/article/181627… Clarence Thomas' lawyer sent a letter to Sens Wyden and Whitehouse saying the loan agreement between Thomas and Anthony Welters (valued at $80 million) has been "satisfied."

That's not good enough. As Wyden says: "Did he ever repay the principal?"

newrepublic.com/article/181627…

On today's pod, a top Biden campaign pollster, Jef Pollock, talks to me at length about NYT poll/other data showing Trump ahead. He acknowledges Trump's lead among young/nonwhites but argues it's inherently soft support.

Tons of stuff in this interview 👇
newrepublic.com/article/181532… In our interview, Biden pollster Jef Pollock acknowledges "all the data consistently shows our campaign needs to do better with younger voters, with black voters, with Hispanic voters," and says Biden camp can/will put in the work needed to win them back:
newrepublic.com/article/181532…

NEWS --> Sen Sheldon Whitehouse tells me Dems are likely to investigate revelations about Trump soliciting $1 billion from Big Oil execs while corruptly vowing to fulfill their biggest policy demands.

This would be via the Budget Committee. 1/

newrepublic.com/article/181493… “The phrase that instantly came to mind as I was reading the story was ‘quid pro quo,’” Sen Sheldon Whitehouse tells me about WaPo report on Trump's $1 billion Big Oil shakedown.

This would be extension of Budget Committee hearings into oil industry. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/181493…

In this response to NYT/Joe Kahn fiasco, I try to pinpoint five conventions of political reporting that obscure the Trump threat and work against Kahn's own stated goal of informing voters.

First, the "two different realities on democracy" fallacy:

newrepublic.com/article/181353…


Second, the failure to clearly describe Trump's plan to cancel prosecutions of himself and other elements of his legal strategy as threats to the system itself, that is, as efforts to put himself above the law:

newrepublic.com/article/181353…

If Mike Johnson and Rs are going to hold hearings blaming Dems for campus antisemitism, then Dems should use them to highlight:

*GOP's antisemitic Soros smears
*Trump dinner with antisemite Nick Fuentes
*GOP embrace of Great Replacement Theory

New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/181295… Mike Johnson, James Comer, and Marjorie Taylor Greene have all suggested George Soros and/or globalist elites are behind the protests.

“These are House Republicans who did not condemn Trump for having dinner with a neo-Nazi," @RepDanGoldman tells me.

newrepublic.com/article/181295…

Fox News propaganda about Trump's trial has taken on some serious North Korea vibes: It absurdly portrays him as exerting total mastery over the proceedings and even depicts his dozing off as an act of heroic defiance.

This is MAGA cult stuff. 1/

Link:
newrepublic.com/article/181138… Trump has been posting video of Fox personalities gushing about what a huge winner the trial has been for him. But privately, NYT reports, he's raging at his lead lawyer, which suggests he doesn't actually think things are going too well for him. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/181138…

NEWS --> Prominent conservative Michael Luttig excoriates the right wing SCOTUS justices as "radical," predicting that in the 1/6 case, they'll protect Trump entirely.

“I now believe that it is unlikely Trump will ever be tried," Luttig tells me.

Link:
newrepublic.com/article/181059… Also in our interview: Michael Luttig, who has strong conservative credentials, is harshly critical of the lines of questioning from Samuel Alito and the other right wing justices.

Luttig says a grant of immunity would "license all future presidents to commit crimes against the United States while in office with impunity."

newrepublic.com/article/181059…

Liz Cheney just said something deeply troubling: If SCOTUS delays immunity ruling, voters might be denied critical info about Trump's conduct while the mob raged, which Jack Smith has. That would reward Trump allies for their coverup.

New piece from me:
newrepublic.com/article/180896… Jack Smith has testimony from top Trump advisers about how Trump acted *during the attack* that the 1/6 committee could not get. SCOTUS delay could keep that buried.

In this piece, a senior 1/6 committee staffer explains what this means. Deeply sobering:

newrepublic.com/article/180896…

Important but overlooked: Mike Johnson explicitly says he's acting on Ukraine because believes what our intel agencies say about the awful consequences of abandoning it.

That's a striking rebuke to MAGA's lies about the "deep state" and the war. 1/

Link:
newrepublic.com/article/180808… “I really do believe the intel and the briefings that we’ve gotten,” Mike Johnson said, noting that Ukraine aid will stop Putin from expanding his conquest later.

Remarkably, he's saying that on these matters, the "deep state" is telling the truth. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/180808…