The Ugly Real-World Consequences of Trump’s Loudmouth Campaign Rants
Plus: The Rise of the Anti-Marriage Right
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CHARLIE SYKES: The Case Against Despair
JVL: The Sad Trombone Debate: The RNC Throws in the Towel and Gets Ready to Roll Over for Trump. Again. 🔐
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JILL LAWRENCE: The Ugly Real-World Consequences of Trump’s Loudmouth Campaign Rants.
DONALD TRUMP IS SO DANGEROUS in so many ways that, inevitably, some threats will be overlooked. Here’s one that shouldn’t be: his pernicious influence over what happens in Congress and the states.
Call it the opposite of virtue signaling.
Trump’s harsh 2025 immigration agenda of travel bans, large-scale raids, detention camps, and “the largest deportation operation in the history of our country,” along with a House bill reflecting his views, are hanging over Republican senators as they try to negotiate a border security deal crucial to passing a bipartisan aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza. The Republicans are acting as if Trump is “looking over their shoulders,” a Democratic source told Washington Post writer Greg Sargent.
GREGG HURWITZ: Any Other Group.
AT A CONGRESSIONAL HEARING ON TUESDAY, the presidents of three formerly great institutions—Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT—demurred on the question of whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated their universities’ codes of conduct.
Not a single one replied yes.
Nor could they state unequivocally that calls for the elimination of Jews constituted harassment.
This question was phrased baldly.
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ELIZABETH GRACE MATTHEW: The Rise of the Anti-Marriage Right.
THE STATISTICS ARE STARK: Marriage in the United States is in decline, with the overall marriage rate having fallen drastically over the last half-century, reaching astonishing lows in some states. Economic pressures are, as always, a major factor in the transformation of the marriage landscape. There are cultural pressures as well—and they have tended to come from the political left. But the remaking of the American right over the last several years has mixed things up: While conservatives have traditionally defended and advocated marriage as a fundamental social institution, the battle lines are changing in significant and troubling ways.
MONA CHAREN: The Far Left and the Far Right Agree on Jew Hatred.
THEY CAME WAVING PALESTINIAN FLAGS and clad in the keffiyehs that have become a symbol of the Palestinian cause. Dozens of chanting protesters crowded the street outside Goldie, a vegan restaurant serving Israeli-inspired dishes in central Philadelphia, blocking traffic and chanting “Goldie, Goldie, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide.”
What does this restaurant have to do with the war in Gaza? Nothing. It serves falafel to Philadelphians. It is owned by a Jew, who was born near Tel Aviv. And that’s enough.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Wednesday! Are you ready for the debate? Do you even know what News Nation is? If you do watch the debate and you hear of this Tom Fitton fellow, just remember: he only plays a lawyer on TV. We’ll recap the debate tomorrow on Thursday Night Bulwark.
Thank you… You may have gotten an email today from JVL about our new subscription tiers. Nothing is changing about our regular subscription price, but to those who have opted to give more to help subsidize access to B+, thank you. Reading your notes, my colleague Catherine and I have been touched not only by your generosity but your kind words and stories. Too many to even respond to in a timely manner, but I’m trying to get to all of them!
End of the “Young Guns”… #MyKevin announces his retirement from Congress, which will leave Mike Johnson & Co. with an even more razor-thin majority in 2024.
A President’s Grief… President Biden sits down with Anderson Cooper for a very personal interview.
Meant to Be… Make sure you earmark some time for Will Leitch’s newsletter (and subscribe, it’s free!) on the rise, fall, and zombification of Deadspin, a publication he founded.
Depolarizing GPT… A new site gives you three answers to your political questions. I picked some obscure issues and gotta admit it handled it pretty well.
The making of… The Fugitive.
The call of Tokitae… After half a century in a tank, a beloved orca was about to be freed. Then her life ended, and a moment of reckoning began.
no, you treasonous f**ks, January 6 was not antifa and the FBI... Jeff Tiedrich writes: “cut the crap already.”
Moon Over Parma… Back in Cleveland, a unique sentence for a rowdy Chipotle patron. (BONUS: the original Moon over Parma.)
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