Gabe Fleisher Profile picture
Author of Wake Up To Politics, a daily political newsletter. Georgetown alum. St. Louis native. Subscribe to read me in your inbox ⤵️
Dec 22 20 tweets 7 min read
THREAD: This week, Congress sent a bill to the president’s desk that I can almost guarantee you haven’t heard of.

How can I be sure?

**Not a single article has been written about it by any news outlet, anywhere** Image As has been reported elsewhere, the Senate passed a lot of bills by unanimous consent this week before adjourning for the year.

Two of these bills got a lot of news coverage: a bill transferring control of the old RFK Stadium site and a measure funding pediatric cancer research. Image
Feb 18, 2023 7 tweets 3 min read
It appears we have a visitor on campus today… Unclear why @POTUS is visiting Georgetown. He is at Wolfington Jesuit Residence Hall, where he visited about two weeks into his presidency to receive his ashes for Ash Wednesday.

My report for @thehoya at the time: thehoya.com/biden-receives…
Oct 27, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
Biden interrupted by some protestors soon after taking the stage in Arlington.

“Why don’t you hang out and talk to me after this is over?” he says.

To the crowd, Biden adds: “This isn’t a Trump rally. Let them holler.” Biden notes that his wife teaches at Northern Virginia Community College.

Which means, he leans forwards and adds with a whisper: “Terry’s gonna be her boss.”
Feb 3, 2021 5 tweets 2 min read
This! Every piece of legislation or court ruling that’s mentioned in Wake Up To Politics includes a link to the full text so my subscribers can read for themselves and take a look at the documents that are being passed around the halls of power. Plus: Every day, I include links to every bill being considered in Congress that day. Not many other sources put them all in one place — and it can get lengthy — but I get emails all the time from readers who appreciate being able to actually see what our leaders are voting on.
Jan 20, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
Welcome to DC: It turns out Kamala Harris’ condo is not too far from my new apartment for the semester. The street is blocked off and there’s a small security presence (note the “VPPD” plates), although she will now reside at the Naval Observatory like past VPs. UPDATE: Apparently the Vice President will be actively living down the street from me? If anyone’s looking for me, I might just be staking it out at all times trying to confirm.
Jan 14, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
Some news from the home front: The colorful St. Louis attorney Albert Watkins — last seen representing the McCloskeys — has now taken on the “QAnon Shaman” as a client Watkins’s defense of Chansley is that he only “accepted President Trump’s invitation to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue.”

“The words and invitation of a president are supposed to mean something,” Watkins says. He’s asking Trump to give Chansley a pardon.
Jan 7, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
THE LATEST: Rep. Jody Hice attempts to object to the Georgia results, but says the senators who were planning to join him withdrew "following the events of today."

Some members in the chamber applaud. Pence nods and moves on to the next state. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene attempted to object to Michigan's electoral votes just now, but no senators joined for that either. Some members applauded once again.
Jan 7, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
The Senate has voted 93-6 to accept Arizona's electoral votes.

Republican Sens. Ted Cruz (TX), Josh Hawley (MO), Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS), John Kennedy (LA), Roger Marshall (KS), and Tommy Tuberville (AL) voted to throw out the state's electoral votes. Six Republican senators — Ron Johnson (WI), Steve Daines (MT), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Mike Braun (IN), Bill Hagerty (TN), and Cynthia Lummis (WY) — voted to accept Arizona's electoral votes after previously announcing plans to join the objection.
Jan 7, 2021 7 tweets 4 min read
Three White House officials have resigned tonight:
@StephGrisham45, First Lady's chief of staff and former WH press secretary
@SarahMatthews45, deputy WH press secretary
— Rickie Niceta, WH social secretary

Other officials are reportedly considering stepping down as well. Per @CNN and @thedailybeast: National Security Advisor @robertcobrien, Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger, and Deputy Chief of Staff Chris Liddell are among those mulling resignations.
Sep 26, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
It’s official: President Trump has arrived in the Rose Garden with Judge Amy Coney Barrett, his nominee for the Supreme Court. Image Trump formally introduces Barrett, calling her “of our nations most brilliant and gifted legal minds” and a “woman of unparalleled achievement.” Image
Sep 26, 2020 6 tweets 3 min read
WASHINGTON — I’m here at the White House (for the first time!) to cover President Trump’s Supreme Court announcement in about an hour. Stay tuned for more. Image The briefing room is way smaller than I realized in real life. Image
Sep 24, 2020 4 tweets 3 min read
WASHINGTON — @BernieSanders will soon be delivering his first in-person speech since ending his 2020 campaign. He will be speaking about “Trump’s threat to democracy” and respond to the president’s comments on transfer of power. Image There are only about six other reporters here, and no audience.

Coincidentally, I was also at one of Sanders’ last in-person rallies, in St. Louis on March 7. It’s wild to think about being with almost 3,000 other people then — none of us were wearing masks. Image
Sep 22, 2020 7 tweets 3 min read
HAPPENING NOW: Volunteers are setting up 200,000 American flags outside of the Washington Monument in memory of the victims of COVID-19.

@SpeakerPelosi is set to speak at an interfaith service here soon. Image Illinois Rep. @SeanCasten is here setting up flags. “People are dead because [Trump] somehow decided it was cute to politicize science... These people didn’t have to die,” Casten told me, pointing at the flags. “Yeah, I’m angry.” Image
Sep 21, 2020 4 tweets 1 min read
Ginsburg will be the first Associate Justice of the Supreme Court to lie in state at the Capitol in U.S. history. history.house.gov/Institution/Li… The only other Justice to have lain in state was Chief Justice (and former President) William Howard Taft.
Sep 19, 2020 7 tweets 2 min read
Impromptu vigil at the Supreme Court building, where the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg served for 27 years. Image Hundreds of people are gathered, many sitting on the steps and holding candles. There is a man standing squarely at the center of the building holding the sole sign: “Notorious.” Image
Aug 28, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read
Would be curious to see if anyone can provide evidence for these three claims made by @CongressmanJVD:
— "The Squad" controls the Democratic Party
— The Democratic Party support "open borders," oppose police and "God-given rights"
— "A lot of Democrats" support President Trump Political conventions always include hyperbole and partisan rhetoric but it is notable how many exaggerated or false claims each RNC speaker just slips into their speeches without any evidence to support them.
Aug 5, 2020 6 tweets 5 min read
My latest — “This is a new era”: Activist Cori Bush unseats longtime Missouri Rep. Lacy Clay

Ft. quotes and analysis from @tishaura @JeffSmithMO @brucefranksjr @JMilesColeman @MariaChappelleN @Jay_Nelson2021 & @jmannies.

mailchi.mp/wakeuptopoliti… Missouri's First has long been the intersection of two powerful forces: the grassroots energy set off by the Ferguson protests and the dynastic machine led by the Clay family. On Tuesday, the former triumphed over the latter in dramatic fashion. Image
Jul 19, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read
Two examples of Chris Wallace confronting President Trump with facts and revealing how much of an information bubble Trump exists in.

The irony, of course, is that much of that bubble was constructed by Wallace’s own network. ImageImage Notably, in both cases, Trump asked for aides to supply him with alternative versions of the facts to support his narrative, underlining how his White House team reinforced the information bubble and keeps him sheltered in it.
Jun 9, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read
Totally random fact: Washington D.C. is the only state/territory that has never awarded its electoral votes to a Republican. Trivia question: Since DC got their electoral votes in 1964, every state has voted for a Republican presidential candidate at least once.

Which is the only state to vote GOP for president just once in that timeframe?
Jun 8, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
To take this a step further, I wonder if social media will eventually replace the editorial page (as it did the public editor). As more readers are able to broadcast their own opinions of news (& have audiences to share with), they might stop looking to op-ed columnists entirely. Since Twitter allows everyone to be a columnist for themselves, will readers necessarily continue to read op-ed columnists if it isn't clear to them those writers are any more qualified to opinionate or offer anything they can't get from a social media feed?
May 20, 2020 4 tweets 1 min read
Great thread on the eternal beauty of the daily email newsletter: Hard as it is to believe, I wrote my first newsletter almost a decade ago — before Axios, or Substack, or many others.

Just like @TheKendallBaker describes, the format just made sense for having a daily conversation about politics with my small circle of readers.