🚨 Trump’s FBI Pick Reportedly Took Money from China & Russia—And Vows to Gut Bureau

A Nomination Clouded by Foreign Financial Interests

1/10: In 2018, Kash Patel played a key role in challenging the FBI’s investigation into Russian election interference.

Now, he is poised to lead the agency while reportedly holding millions in Chinese stock and having accepted payment from a filmmaker linked to Kremlin-backed projects. His nomination raises a serious question: could America’s top law enforcement officer face conflicts of interest tied to foreign entities?

A February 7 exposé from WIRED and The Washington Post, authored by Louise Matsakis, Greg Miller, Jon Swaine, and others, details Patel’s financial connections to both China and Russia, raising concerns among national security and ethics experts about potential conflicts of interest if he is confirmed. Financial Ties to China: Millions in Shein’s Parent Company

2/10: According to WIRED, Patel’s financial disclosure reveals that he holds between $1 million and $5 million in restricted stock units (RSUs) from Elite Depot Ltd., a Cayman Islands-based company that fully owns Shein, the controversial Chinese e-commerce giant. These shares, granted in exchange for consulting services, began vesting on February 1, with payouts expected quarterly.

While legal experts note that Patel is not required to divest, watchdog groups such as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) warn that his continued financial stake in Shein could create perceived conflicts of interest, particularly given the FBI’s role in investigating allegations of forced labor, data privacy concerns, and national security threats tied to Chinese firms.

Patel has stated he would recuse himself from cases involving Shein, but without an independent enforcement mechanism, experts question how such recusals would be ensured.

C.D.C. Deletes Evidence of Bird Flu Spreading Between Humans and Cats After Brief Release

1/11: 🧵For a fleeting moment, a buried chapter in the evolving bird flu crisis surfaced—only to be erased just as swiftly. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.), briefly posted and then mysteriously deleted, suggested that bird flu (H5N1) may have spread between humans and household cats.

The article, originally published in The New York Times by Apoorva Mandavilli and Emily Anthes on February 6, 2025, exposes a troubling pattern of potential cross-species transmission—raising urgent questions about the government's commitment to public health transparency. 2/11: The vanished data, retrieved before its deletion, documented two U.S. households where infected cats may have passed the virus to humans and vice versa. In one case, a cat allegedly infected an adolescent before dying just four days after showing symptoms. In another, a dairy farmworker fell ill first, followed by a cat that developed symptoms and died within three days.

This critical information had been buried within a C.D.C. report ostensibly focused on Los Angeles wildfires and air quality—data on bird flu that was not present in embargoed copies provided to journalists but inexplicably appeared when the report went live.

Then, without explanation, it vanished.

Trump’s Buyout Offer: A Trap That Could Leave Federal Workers With Nothing

🧵1/7: Imagine this—you resign today, expecting months of guaranteed pay, only to find out later that the money was never actually approved. That’s the terrifying reality facing thousands of federal employees as the Trump administration pushes its so-called “Fork in the Road” buyout offer.

According to an exclusive report from NBC News (Tyler Kingkade & David Ingram, Feb. 6, 2025), top Education Department officials are warning employees that the deal can be revoked at any time—leaving them with nothing.

While the administration promises extended pay and benefits through September, the fine print reveals a shocking truth: agency heads can unilaterally cancel the deal, and workers who sign waive their right to sue, appeal, or even challenge the decision in any legal forum. 2/7: Officials inside the department, including Chief of Staff Rachel Oglesby and Chief Human Capital Officer Jacqueline Clay, raised serious concerns in a recent all-staff Zoom meeting.

One anonymous attendee compared the pitch to a “used car dealership scheme—‘Act now, one day only!’” The urgency is no accident: the administration has been aggressively pressuring workers to accept the deal, flooding them with follow-up emails stating, “This offer expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on February 6th. There will be no extensions.”

The Rise of Hitler: A History of How Democracy Fell in Germany and Its Parallels to Today

🧵1/11: His past was steeped in scandal—a felon, accused of treason and sedition, his actions and rhetoric frequently straddling the line of legality. He was convicted for attempting to overthrow the government, yet this criminal history didn’t disqualify him.

It only made him more appealing to those who viewed the establishment as corrupt and broken. Instead of disqualifying him, his criminal record and charges became part of his defiant charm, painting him as an outsider willing to fight the system.

Every accusation, every charge of treason, only fueled his rise, showing his supporters that he could not be tamed and was the only one willing to challenge the powers that had held the nation in their grip. 2/11: At first, they dismissed him. The elites, the media, the political class—they thought they could control him. They mocked him as a sideshow, a foolish provocateur, destined to be forgotten.

But in the wake of high inflation, economic instability, and a country that had lost its bearings, his words struck a chord with those who had been cast aside.

In an age of rising populism, economic dislocation, and a shrinking middle class, his rhetoric didn’t promise solutions—it promised retribution. It wasn’t just blame he offered; it was a convenient, scapegoated enemy to rally against.

His was a message soaked in anger, dripping with resentment for anyone deemed an outsider. Minorities, immigrants, political rivals—all of them were the root of the nation’s collapse. And in this narrative of vengeance, he found his power.

Trump’s January 6 Pardons: The Chilling Criminal Histories of Those He Freed

🧵1/14: On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump exercised his executive clemency powers to pardon or commute the sentences of nearly 1,600 individuals convicted for their involvement in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

This unprecedented move has ignited significant controversy, particularly due to the serious criminal histories of some recipients.

The following series delves into the backgrounds of eleven of the most contentious figures granted clemency, highlighting any additional details that underscore the severity of their actions.

* Photos are illustrative of January 6. They are not meant to be of those who received clemency. 2/14: Theodore Middendorf: Trump Grants Clemency to Registered Sex Offender

Theodore Middendorf, 36, of McLeansboro, Illinois, was among those pardoned.

He had previously pleaded guilty to a felony charge of destruction of government property related to the Capitol riot.

Notably, Middendorf is also a registered sex offender, convicted of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child. According to the Illinois State Police, the victim was a 7-year-old child, and Middendorf was 31 at the time of the offense.

He is currently serving a 19-year sentence for this crime.

The Rise of Hitler: A History of How Democracy Fell in Germany and Its Parallels to Today

🧵1/9: His past was steeped in scandal—a felon, accused of treason and sedition, his actions and rhetoric frequently straddling the line of legality. He was convicted for attempting to overthrow the government, yet this criminal history didn’t disqualify him.

It only made him more appealing to those who viewed the establishment as corrupt and broken. Instead of disqualifying him, his criminal record and charges became part of his defiant charm, painting him as an outsider willing to fight the system.

Every accusation, every charge of treason, only fueled his rise, showing his supporters that he could not be tamed and was the only one willing to challenge the powers that had held the nation in their grip.
youtube.com/watch?v=ShqC31… 2/9: At first, they dismissed him. The elites, the media, the political class—they thought they could control him. They mocked him as a sideshow, a foolish provocateur, destined to be forgotten.

But in the wake of high inflation, economic instability, and a country that had lost its bearings, his words struck a chord with those who had been cast aside. In an age of rising populism, economic dislocation, and a shrinking middle class, his rhetoric didn’t promise solutions—it promised retribution.

It wasn’t just blame he offered; it was a convenient, scapegoated enemy to rally against.

His was a message soaked in anger, dripping with resentment for anyone deemed an outsider. Minorities, immigrants, political rivals—all of them were the root of the nation’s collapse. And in this narrative of vengeance, he found his power.

youtube.com/watch?v=ShqC31…

1/9: 🔬 Note the stark differences in life expectancy. 2/9: Notice how the areas with lower life expectancy are more likely to be clustered and concentrated in areas that were formerly part of the Confederacy?

This isn't a coincidence.

Criminal Elements and Fascism: Historical Alliances and Modern Parallels

🧵1/4: Throughout history, authoritarian leaders have explicitly aligned themselves with criminal or extremist elements to consolidate power.

Mussolini's Blackshirts and Hitler's Brownshirts were paramilitary groups that openly engaged in violence to intimidate opposition and dismantle democratic institutions. These alliances allowed fascist regimes to amplify their reach and suppress dissent. 2/4: In modern politics, Donald Trump’s connection with far-right groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers reflects a similar dynamic.

During a 2020 presidential debate, Trump was asked to condemn white supremacists and militias but instead directed the Proud Boys to 'stand back and stand by,' a statement widely interpreted as an explicit endorsement.

Members of these groups were later implicated in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, which sought to disrupt the certification of a democratic election.

🧵 1/8: In this video, we cover Trump’s Defense nominee Pete Hegseth, who allegedly fostered a toxic workplace, dividing women into “party girls” and “not party girls.” Claims of sexism and misconduct raise serious concerns. (click for video 👇)
2/8: As reported by Jane Mayer in The New Yorker, Hegseth allegedly caused chaos at a Louisiana strip club, drunkenly trying to climb on stage with dancers. A staffer also claimed sexual assault by a colleague that night. (click for video 👇)

Dr. Oz: The uninsured “don’t have the right to health,” but should be given “a way of crawling back out of the abyss” with “15-minute physicals” provided by the government “in a festival like setting.”
It would cost less if everyone was insured and had access to healthcare from cradle to grave.

Rupert Murdoch: The Love of Money Over Everything Else

🧵1/5: For a man whose empire spans continents, Rupert Murdoch’s real legacy may be less the reach of his influence than the harm it has inflicted.

In the relentless pursuit of wealth, he left a trail of misinformation and division that has reshaped democracies and endangered lives. This is the story of one man’s obsession with “the green”—and the cost the world has paid for it.

theintellectualist.com/rupert-murdoch… 2/5: Rupert Murdoch, now 93, has left a global legacy of damage driven by his obsession with hoarding money—something that cannot be eaten, worn, used as shelter, or taken as medicine.

For Murdoch, our modern Scrooge, this wealth obsession justified promoting the Iraq War, which many argued lacked legitimate legal grounds, and spreading misinformation about a deadly virus and its vaccine—all while securing his own place at the front of the vaccination line.

As he admitted under questioning from Smartmatic attorneys, he cares only about “the green.”
theintellectualist.com/rupert-murdoch…

The True End of Pax Americana: A Second Trump Presidency and the Dawn of a New Era of Global Instability

The world’s surface lies in fragile calm, yet from beneath, shadows gather—a silent, unyielding invitation to the chaos we believed had been quarantined to the past.

A Second Trump Presidency: The End of Pax Americana

Since the end of World War II, Pax Americana—a period of relative global stability under U.S. leadership—has served as the backbone of the modern international order.

For nearly eight decades, the United States has acted as both anchor and enforcer, promoting democracy, free trade, and collective security. Today, however, that foundation seems to be fracturing, and a second Trump presidency could mark the ultimate collapse.

If the United States fully retreats from its role as a global stabilizer, nations around the world may soon find themselves grappling with a void—one that invites chaos, conflict, and existential threats.

Trump’s first term left allies shaken and adversaries emboldened, as his foreign policy oscillated between abrupt decisions and transactional values. A defining moment came with Trump’s impeachment, after allegedly withholding military aid from Ukraine—a critical buffer against Russian aggression—to pressure them into investigating his political rival.

For allies, this incident underscored Trump’s willingness to compromise national security for personal gain. The hasty, chaotic withdrawal from northern Syria further exemplified this volatility, abandoning Kurdish allies who had fought alongside the United States against ISIS, and echoing the haunting evacuation scenes of Saigon in Afghanistan.

Should Trump return to office, this stance may harden, signaling to the world that U.S. commitments are more conditional than ever—a precarious message in a world teetering on the edge of instability.

For many allies, Trump’s past actions have raised a fundamental question: Can they trust the United States to honor its commitments? When he abandoned the Kurds, one of America’s staunchest allies in the fight against ISIS, and moved to withdraw from NATO, it sent a message that U.S. promises could be easily discarded.

Trump’s public statements, suggesting he would “let Russia do whatever it wants” and referring to NATO as a “protection racket,” further eroded faith in America’s reliability as a partner. For allies facing existential threats, a U.S. promise under Trump may no longer be a guarantee of security but a gamble.

As a result, nations are increasingly pursuing “self-help” measures, from nuclear proliferation to significant increases in defense spending. Japan has recently announced a substantial increase in its defense budget, doubling spending to reach 2% of GDP—a historic shift that reflects deep concerns about the stability of American alliances.

Taiwan, too, is ramping up its military budget in anticipation of a potential conflict with China, especially as Beijing has closely observed how the world reacted—largely in silence—when it tightened its grip on Hong Kong. In Europe, Germany has committed €100 billion to modernize its military, a direct response to growing uncertainty over U.S. involvement and the threat of Russian aggression in the region.

This global trend toward increased defense spending and nuclear self-sufficiency reflects the fears of a world without a reliable stabilizer.

Should the U.S. continue on an unpredictable, isolationist path, other nations may feel they have no choice but to secure their own means of defense, up to and including nuclear arms. The echoes of history are hard to ignore: as empires recede, smaller powers are often left to fend for themselves, and self-preservation can lead to an arms race that escalates tensions rather than defuses them.

The Dangers of a Power Vacuum in a Multipolar World
Nature abhors a vacuum.

History shows that when a great power retreats, disorder rushes in to fill the space. The end of Pax Americana would create just such a void, likely unleashing rivalries, territorial ambitions, and a resurgence of opportunistic alliances.

The collapse of the Roman Empire ushered in centuries of fragmented rule, leaving Europe vulnerable to violent power struggles. As the British Empire receded, alliances fractured, fueling the tensions that eventually led to World War I. The interwar period, defined by the collapse of European empires, created a fertile ground for totalitarian regimes, culminating in the devastation of World War II.

Today, a similar collapse could herald catastrophic consequences. In a world without a stabilizing force, nations would scramble to form self-serving alliances, gravitating toward authoritarian powers willing to exploit vulnerabilities. China and Russia, poised to expand their influence, would likely demand concessions from smaller nations in exchange for “protection.”

The once-open oceans may become contested zones, with authoritarian powers setting terms for safe passage. Smaller countries, fearing abandonment, may accept oppressive alliances as a means of survival, reshaping the global landscape in ways that favor power over principle.

A second Trump presidency, accompanied by an isolationist outlook, would almost certainly accelerate this shift. By pivoting inward and retracting its influence, the United States would leave a power vacuum that rivals like China and Russia would rush to fill. The result: a fragmented world where dominant regional powers openly vie for control, and smaller states are left adrift in a dangerous, divided landscape.

The Shadow of Great Power War and Existential Threats

The risks of this unanchored world are profound, none more so than the possibility of renewed great power conflict. World War II, at its core, was a great power struggle—a collision of empires following the collapse of stability. Today, any similar conflict would carry existential stakes. Advances in AI, autonomous weapons, and cyber warfare have fundamentally altered the nature of conflict, raising the specter of automated battlegrounds and weapons systems capable of striking across continents in minutes.

In a world where no stabilizing force exists, the race for technological supremacy would accelerate unchecked, as each nation pursues increasingly advanced, automated weapons for an edge.

Without international oversight, AI and autonomous systems capable of making life-or-death decisions independent of human control could proliferate, exponentially increasing the potential for catastrophic miscalculations. A small skirmish could escalate, triggering an irreversible chain of events—one that humanity is not prepared to control.

A second Trump term would likely deepen these risks, as the U.S. steps away from treaties and multilateral discussions on emerging technologies. In this world, warfare would no longer require human decision-making; conflicts could unfold on a scale and speed unprecedented in history, with potentially existential consequences.

Nuclear Proliferation and the Erosion of Non-Proliferation Norms

One of the most immediate dangers in a post-Pax Americana world is the risk of nuclear proliferation. As American influence fades, nations previously dependent on U.S. protection may feel compelled to develop their own nuclear capabilities, either as a deterrent or a bargaining chip.

Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia, in particular, may pursue nuclear programs if U.S. guarantees no longer appear credible. In a world where nuclear weapons become more accessible, the risks of an arms race—and the potential for nuclear miscalculations—would rise dramatically.

Trump’s previous foreign policy approach, marked by unpredictability and a disregard for long-standing alliances, could be a tipping point for these nations. Should the U.S. signal that it will no longer defend its allies decisively, these countries may see self-armament as their only viable path to security.

This erosion of non-proliferation norms could yield a world far more precarious than during the Cold War, as multiple states acquire nuclear arsenals with limited channels for communication or protocols to prevent escalation.

theintellectualist.com/the-true-end-o… "If the United States fully retreats from its role as a global stabilizer, nations around the world may soon find themselves grappling with a void—one that invites chaos, conflict, and existential threats."
theintellectualist.com/the-true-end-o…

Listen To The Jeffrey Epstein Tapes: ‘I Was Donald Trump’s Closest Friend’

🧵1/6:

• Jeffrey Epstein described himself as Donald Trump’s “closest friend.”

• Epstein claimed to have intimate knowledge of Trump’s sexual proclivities, including his habit of cuckolding his best friends.

• Epstein also claimed that Trump first slept with his now-wife, Melania, on Epstein’s plane, known as the “Lolita Express.”

thedailybeast.com/listen-to-the-… 2/6:

•Epstein described Trump as “charming” and “always fun,” with a talent for salesmanship.

•Epstein claimed he supported Trump’s stance on transgender policies.

•He alleged that Trump was a serial cheater in his marriages and enjoyed pursuing the wives of his best friends.

•Epstein suggested that, despite having friends, Trump was ultimately a friendless man lacking in kindness.

•He also claimed that Trump had undergone scalp reduction surgery for baldness and referred to himself as “The Trumpster.”

thedailybeast.com/listen-to-the-…

Rupert Murdoch: The Love of Money Over Everything Else

🧵1/5: For a man whose empire spans continents, Rupert Murdoch’s real legacy may be less the reach of his influence than the harm it has inflicted.

In the relentless pursuit of wealth, he left a trail of misinformation and division that has reshaped democracies and endangered lives. This is the story of one man’s obsession with “the green”—and the cost the world has paid for it.

theintellectualist.com/rupert-murdoch… 2/5: Rupert Murdoch, now 93, has left a global legacy of damage driven by his obsession with hoarding money—something that cannot be eaten, worn, used as shelter, or taken as medicine.

For Murdoch, our modern Scrooge, this wealth obsession justified promoting the Iraq War, which many argued lacked legitimate legal grounds, and spreading misinformation about a deadly virus and its vaccine—all while securing his own place at the front of the vaccination line.

As he admitted under questioning from Smartmatic attorneys, he cares only about “the green.”

theintellectualist.com/rupert-murdoch…

The Lies That Killed: How Fox News and Right-Wing Leaders Betrayed America During the Pandemic

🧵1/7: They trusted their television screens more than they trusted their doctors. In the end, it was the disembodied voices of broadcasters—not medical experts—that influenced the choices of life or death for many.

In the spring of 2020, when the world fell into an eerie hush and nations shuttered their doors against an invisible enemy, another contagion, far more insidious, crept into American homes. It wasn’t airborne in the traditional sense.

Instead, it traveled through the cables of television sets, radiated from radio waves, and surged through digital platforms. Its source was not a virus but an industry fueled by profit, politics, and the manipulation of public fear. At its helm was Fox News.

The COVID-19 pandemic, with all its terrifying uncertainty, became the perfect stage for the grand illusion orchestrated by a network that had, for decades, skillfully blurred the lines between entertainment and journalism.

Through their screens, millions of conservative Americans—many elderly and isolated—watched as the global pandemic became a sideshow to a far more captivating drama: the fight to maintain their way of life, their personal freedoms, and, most importantly, their trust in a network that had, for years, become synonymous with their identity.

Fox News’ role in American conservatism is not new. Since its launch in 1996, the network has historically aligned itself with conservative viewpoints and has played a prominent role in shaping the media landscape for conservative audiences.

However, as the pandemic raged across the country, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives, some observers noted a shift in the network’s coverage that raised concerns about public health implications. The need to keep viewers glued to their screens, to sell advertising, and to maintain political influence appeared to outweigh adherence to established public health guidance.

What unfolded over the next two years raised significant concerns about public health communication, as various narratives emerged that seemed to prey on cognitive biases, exploit cultural divisions, and, ultimately, contributed to public health challenges.

theintellectualist.com/fox-news-covid… A Network Built on Fear and Distrust

2/7: The seeds of Fox News’ pandemic disinformation campaign were sown long before the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Wuhan. Decades earlier, with the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, a floodgate opened for partisan media to shape public opinion with little regard for balance or fact-checking. For Fox News, this was an opportunity to tap into a conservative audience that felt alienated by mainstream media.

The network didn’t simply report the news; it curated a worldview—one in which its viewers, predominantly older, white, and Christian, were under siege by liberal elites, secularism, and an ever-expanding government.

By the time the pandemic arrived, Fox News had already mastered the art of shaping reality for its viewers. It wasn’t just a television network; it was an ideological fortress, and within its walls, truth became malleable. Science, once revered as a beacon of objectivity, was increasingly viewed by some as a tool of control wielded by an oppressive government.

When the virus first appeared on American soil, the network’s hosts—most notably Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Tucker Carlson—were quick to downplay its severity. The pandemic, they insisted, was just another liberal hoax designed to undermine President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.

The early days of Fox’s pandemic coverage reflected a strong skepticism toward public health measures. Mask mandates? A violation of personal liberty. Vaccines? An unproven experiment. The virus? Exaggerated by the left to seize control.

Carlson, in particular, became adept at presenting narratives that may have contributed to fear, painting an ominous picture of a world where government mandates stripped citizens of their freedoms, all while corporate elites and tech moguls grew richer.

What was more concerning was how these narratives played directly into the psychological vulnerabilities of Fox’s viewers. Elderly, economically anxious, and deeply religious, this demographic was already predisposed to distrust institutions.

Fox News didn’t just exploit this distrust; it appeared to weaponize it. In homes across America, the television screen became a portal to an alternate reality—one where the pandemic wasn’t a global catastrophe but a political game, and where the real enemy wasn’t a virus but the doctors, scientists, and politicians trying to save lives.

theintellectualist.com/fox-news-covid…

The Intellectualist Forecasts Kamala Harris to Win the 2024 Presidential Election

🧵1: The Intellectualist, after reviewing data from trusted sources like Marist, YouGov, Monmouth, and Emerson, believes Kamala Harris is positioned to become the next President of the United States.

This forecast comes from a model that carefully weighs what voters care about most: candidate approval ratings, top issues (especially the economy), demographic support, expected turnout, and the overall national mood.

To check the model’s reliability, The Intellectualist backtested it on past elections (2018, 2020, and 2022) and found that its predictions closely matched actual results. This strong alignment gives additional confidence in Harris’s projected edge.

theintellectualist.com/kamala-harris-… The Intellectualist Model: Voter Sentiment Analysis

2. The Intellectualist's voter sentiment approach to election forecasting is designed to capture a well-rounded view of how voters feel about each candidate and the issues that matter most to them.

Rather than focusing on polling numbers alone, this model creates a Composite Score that combines five key factors: candidate approval ratings, issue importance, demographic alignment, expected voter turnout, and overall national sentiment.

Each factor is weighted based on its significance in the current election cycle. For example, economic issues might hold more weight during times of financial strain, while approval ratings might play a larger role when evaluating incumbents.

This Composite Score offers a single, comprehensive measure of how well a candidate aligns with the priorities and concerns of the electorate. A score over 50 signals that the candidate is resonating positively with voters, suggesting an advantage in the race. For 2024, Kamala Harris’s higher Composite Score over Trump’s reflects stronger alignment with these critical voter priorities, especially on issues like the economy and overall favorability.

To ensure accuracy, this model has been rigorously backtested against previous elections (2018, 2020, and 2022) and refined based on those results. Further, it uses Monte Carlo simulations, eigenvalue analysis, and chi-square tests to validate the model’s reliability, accounting for variations in polling and turnout patterns.

The approach offers a snapshot of current voter sentiment but remains adaptable, ready to capture the influence of shifting public priorities on election outcomes.

theintellectualist.com/kamala-harris-…

🧵1/12: In the Bible, it is mentioned that in the desert, Jesus faced a temptation from Satan for dominion over the world—a bargain He famously refused. But in 2016, as Trump began his presidential run, evangelical leaders chose a different path.
theintellectualist.com/evangelicals-t… 2/12: Jerry Falwell Jr., a man driven by a love of the worldly—particularly luxury—revealed his hypocrisy when he endorsed Trump. Falwell, who used Christianity as a cudgel against marginalized groups, found his own secrets exposed.
theintellectualist.com/evangelicals-t…

🧵1/12: Imagine a man whose admiration for his daughter crosses a line so blurred, it shocks even his closest allies. That man is Donald Trump, who once mused about dating Ivanka, offering a window into a mind steeped in disturbing desires.
theintellectualist.com/access-hollywo… 2/12: “If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her,” Trump said in 2006. But this wasn’t just an offhand remark—it was a revelation of a man who views even his daughter through a lens of sexual objectification.
theintellectualist.com/access-hollywo…

The Ghosts of American Racism: How Trump’s Presidency Rekindled Division and Authoritarianism

🧵1/5: Charlottesville wasn’t just a violent outburst—it was a harbinger.

The flames of 2017 lit up more than just torches; they illuminated a chilling resurgence of white supremacy, casting long shadows over the very foundation of American democracy.

The embers of America’s racist past never died.

They smoldered beneath the surface for generations, unseen but always present, waiting for a gust of wind or a deliberate hand to fan them into flame. Charlottesville marked one such moment.

As white nationalists marched with torches held high, chanting “blood and soil,” the ghosts of America’s racist past rose again, drawn to the silence of the nation’s highest office. From that silence, the old fire reignited, and the embers that had long smoldered beneath the surface burst into open flames.

Trump’s refusal to condemn these marchers was not an isolated moral failure—it was a strategic decision, the latest in a long line of political calculations designed to tap into America’s buried racial grievances. In an era where America prided itself on the progress of civil rights, Trump represented a shocking regression.

He didn’t merely allow the fire to spread—he stoked it, feeding off the flames of division and resentment that had been smoldering since the nation’s founding.

Trump became not just a racist president but the most racially divisive leader relative to his time in American history, actively working to raise the dead of America’s darkest chapters.

theintellectualist.com/trump-presiden… Raising Ghosts: Nixon’s Strategy and Trump’s Resurrection of Racial Division

2/5: The fire Trump reignited wasn’t new—it was the same fire that Nixon had tended with his Southern Strategy. In the aftermath of the civil rights movement, Nixon saw an opportunity to capitalize on the fears and frustrations of white Southern voters who felt alienated by the Democratic Party’s embrace of racial equality.

But Nixon’s strategy, guided by advisers like Lee Atwater, relied on coded language—what Atwater himself described as “abstract” racism in a 1981 interview with Harper’s Magazine.

Terms like “states’ rights” and “limited government” replaced the explicit racial slurs of earlier decades, giving white resentment a veneer of respectability.

As Atwater famously explained in that Harper’s article, the key was to be subtle:

“You start out in 1954 by saying, ‘n*****, n*****, n*****.’ By 1968, you can’t say ‘n*****’—that hurts you. So you say stuff like ‘forced busing,’ ‘states’ rights,’ and all that stuff.

You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things, and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.”

Nixon’s War on Drugs, ostensibly framed as a crackdown on crime, was, in reality, a calculated political effort to target and destabilize Black communities and anti-war activists.

This strategy was candidly revealed by Nixon’s domestic policy chief, John Ehrlichman, in an interview from the early 1990s.

Ehrlichman admitted that by associating drugs with these groups, the administration could vilify them publicly and justify their mass arrests, effectively disrupting their political power. This admission was later published in Harper’s Magazine in 2016, shedding light on the ulterior motives behind the War on Drugs.

Reagan picked up where Nixon left off, feeding the same embers of racial division under the guise of law and order. Each administration added fuel to the flames, carefully maintaining a fire that never truly died, though hidden beneath coded language and political abstraction.

Then came Trump, who discarded the subtlety of his predecessors and openly fanned the flames that they had kept smoldering.

Trump’s approach, however, was different. He didn’t bother with Atwater’s abstractions. Where past Republican leaders had used dog whistles, Trump grabbed a megaphone.

His birther conspiracy—the baseless, racist claim that President Obama wasn’t born in the United States—was one of the most blatant attempts to stoke the embers of racial animus in modern political history. And it worked.

The birther movement morphed into the Tea Party, which cloaked its racial anxieties in the language of “limited government” and “personal liberty,” but these terms, as Atwater admitted, were thinly veiled code for the same fears that Nixon and Reagan had exploited.

The Tea Party pretended to be about limited government, but its true fuel was racial resentment. Ironically, many of its members would later depend on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for healthcare—a system they had once fiercely opposed.

The ACA provided significant benefits to many lower-income and middle-class Americans, overlapping with the demographic that had supported the Tea Party, as discussed in Politico in 2017. Even as they protested against “government takeover,” many would come to rely on Medicaid expansion or marketplace subsidies to access affordable healthcare.

The flames grew higher as the Tea Party railed against the ACA, branding it as a government takeover that would lead to “death panels.” These claims had nothing to do with small government—they were demagoguery, designed to stoke the embers of fear and mistrust. Many of the very people protesting the ACA would later rely on it for health care, but that didn’t matter.

What mattered was keeping the fire alive, maintaining the resentment that had been smoldering for decades.
theintellectualist.com/trump-presiden…

The Lies That Killed: How Fox News and Right-Wing Leaders Betrayed America During the Pandemic

🧵1/7: They trusted their television screens more than they trusted their doctors. In the end, it was the disembodied voices of broadcasters—not medical experts—that influenced the choices of life or death for many.

In the spring of 2020, when the world fell into an eerie hush and nations shuttered their doors against an invisible enemy, another contagion, far more insidious, crept into American homes. It wasn’t airborne in the traditional sense.

Instead, it traveled through the cables of television sets, radiated from radio waves, and surged through digital platforms. Its source was not a virus but an industry fueled by profit, politics, and the manipulation of public fear. At its helm was Fox News.

The COVID-19 pandemic, with all its terrifying uncertainty, became the perfect stage for the grand illusion orchestrated by a network that had, for decades, skillfully blurred the lines between entertainment and journalism.

Through their screens, millions of conservative Americans—many elderly and isolated—watched as the global pandemic became a sideshow to a far more captivating drama: the fight to maintain their way of life, their personal freedoms, and, most importantly, their trust in a network that had, for years, become synonymous with their identity.

Fox News’ role in American conservatism is not new. Since its launch in 1996, the network has historically aligned itself with conservative viewpoints and has played a prominent role in shaping the media landscape for conservative audiences.

However, as the pandemic raged across the country, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives, some observers noted a shift in the network’s coverage that raised concerns about public health implications. The need to keep viewers glued to their screens, to sell advertising, and to maintain political influence appeared to outweigh adherence to established public health guidance.

What unfolded over the next two years raised significant concerns about public health communication, as various narratives emerged that seemed to prey on cognitive biases, exploit cultural divisions, and, ultimately, contributed to public health challenges.

theintellectualist.com/fox-news-covid… A Network Built on Fear and Distrust

2/7: The seeds of Fox News’ pandemic disinformation campaign were sown long before the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Wuhan. Decades earlier, with the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, a floodgate opened for partisan media to shape public opinion with little regard for balance or fact-checking. For Fox News, this was an opportunity to tap into a conservative audience that felt alienated by mainstream media.

The network didn’t simply report the news; it curated a worldview—one in which its viewers, predominantly older, white, and Christian, were under siege by liberal elites, secularism, and an ever-expanding government.

By the time the pandemic arrived, Fox News had already mastered the art of shaping reality for its viewers. It wasn’t just a television network; it was an ideological fortress, and within its walls, truth became malleable. Science, once revered as a beacon of objectivity, was increasingly viewed by some as a tool of control wielded by an oppressive government.

When the virus first appeared on American soil, the network’s hosts—most notably Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Tucker Carlson—were quick to downplay its severity. The pandemic, they insisted, was just another liberal hoax designed to undermine President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.

The early days of Fox’s pandemic coverage reflected a strong skepticism toward public health measures. Mask mandates? A violation of personal liberty. Vaccines? An unproven experiment. The virus? Exaggerated by the left to seize control.

Carlson, in particular, became adept at presenting narratives that may have contributed to fear, painting an ominous picture of a world where government mandates stripped citizens of their freedoms, all while corporate elites and tech moguls grew richer.

What was more concerning was how these narratives played directly into the psychological vulnerabilities of Fox’s viewers. Elderly, economically anxious, and deeply religious, this demographic was already predisposed to distrust institutions.

Fox News didn’t just exploit this distrust; it appeared to weaponize it. In homes across America, the television screen became a portal to an alternate reality—one where the pandemic wasn’t a global catastrophe but a political game, and where the real enemy wasn’t a virus but the doctors, scientists, and politicians trying to save lives.

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🧵 1/12: Trump’s 2024 economic plan is a ticking time bomb wrapped in false promises. Marketed as a path to prosperity, his policies are designed to supercharge inequality and push supply-side economics—a theory that’s never worked in the real world.
theintellectualist.com/long-island-20… 2/12: Trump claims mass deportations make him look "tough," but expelling 11-13 million workers is morally indefensible, would devastate agriculture, likely violate human rights treaties, and trigger labor shortages and soaring prices.
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