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Column: White nationalism gets a hearing in the Republican House
Xenophobia is the original offense of the Trump era. The former president launched his campaign in 2015 by saying of Mexican migrants, “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” It was a gross mischaracterization of facts, but the nativist message resonated with a Republican base primed by far-right media figures to despise non-white immigrants. When […]
Column: Democracy haters aren’t going away. They’re digging in.
The midterm elections this month brought widespread failure to election deniers on the ballot. The most toxic of these dishonest Republicans all went down in stinging losses. Losers included: Governor candidate Kari Lake and secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem in Arizona. Secretary of state candidate Jim Marchant in Nevada. Governor candidate Tudor Dixon and secretary of state candidate Kristina Karamo in Michigan. Governor candidate Doug Mastriano in […]
Column: Their election denier is your election denier
Some states are comparatively isolated from the most damaging influence of democracy haters. California, Washington, Maryland, Delaware, Colorado — they are likely to avoid the misfortune of election deniers in high office in the near future, or they operate with voting laws meant to expand, rather than restrict, voter access. But while such states act […]
Column: Fear of reporters is fear of the truth
In the weeks after he assumed office, former President Donald Trump put reporters in the crosshairs when he labeled them “the enemy of the American people.” He was following the authoritarian playbook, long consulted by the likes of Stalin and Hitler, but it was shocking to see such strongman rhetoric coming from an American leader, […]
Column: Trump is a domestic enemy. Treat him like one.
The hearings of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection have already provided conclusive evidence that the effort to overturn the 2020 election was a conspiracy directed by a corrupt sitting president who knew the effort was based on lies and encouraged violence in pursuit of power. The damning testimony before the committee and […]
Column: The GOP is the gallows party
“I’ve said we need to build more gallows.” Those words were spoken last month by a Republican state senator from Arizona, Wendy Rogers, at a white nationist rally. The topic was the execution of political enemies. “If we try some of these high-level criminals, convict them and use a newly built set of gallows, it’ll make […]
Column: What I learned from watching more than 500 Jan. 6 videos
I recently watched hundreds of videos from the Jan. 6 insurrection. Many of the stark moments from the attack on the U.S. Capitol are well-known — the battle at the west terrace tunnel, the shooting of rioter Ashli Babbitt, the desecration of the Senate chamber. But nothing provides the kind of granular and exhaustive understanding of that day like […]