Origins of Trumpism Long Predate Donald Trump

I am joined by Julian Zelizer, the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University, and a CNN Political Analyst.
We discuss Julian’s new book, “Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, the Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party.”
I also ask Julian’s thoughts on the following:
– How did Gingrich/Trump/Fox change a Republican mindset whereby their true believers accept anything and everything — even things that directly contradict everything the GOP used to stand for (anti-Russia, low debt, free trade) — just as long as it is R and not D?
– How are zombie cultists like that created?
– Can we ever win them back?
– Is it just racism/fear of non-white majorities? Or is it something deeper?

We also discuss President Trump’s tweet today about delaying the November elections.

The new book, “Burning Down the House,” is available in HardCover, Audiobook, or Kindle Edition at Amazon.com.
Or, if you’re looking for an Amazon alternative, you can buy it at Bookshop.org, which is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores.

You can also watch this episode here on Twitter/Periscope, here on Facebook, or here on YouTube.

Dumb McCarthyism

I begin this episode by explaining how Donald Trump would be monstrous if he had a modicum of intelligence.  I also lay out the parallels between Trumpism and McCarthyism, including a great synopsis by Mary Trump as to what ‘Trumpism’ boils down to.  Finally, I close the show with a warning about the dangers of what is transpiring in Portland, with Trump using his own personal army from DHS to attack peaceful protesters.

You can watch the show here on Twitter/Periscope, here on Facebook Live, or here on YouTube.

Why the Virus is Winning

During the first half of this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Bob Bollinger, the Raj and Kamla Gupta Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. We discuss why the United States is doing worse than most of the world at containing COVID-19. We also chat about reopening schools, mask wearing, the Trump administration shifting control of Coronavirus data away from the CDC, and the quest for a vaccine.

During the second half of the episode, without a guest, I talk about Georgia Governor Brian Kemp explicitly banning the state’s cities and counties from ordering people to wear masks in public places. Kemp also voided orders that at least 15 local governments across the state had adopted. I explain why I believe that Kemp is doing this, and it’s pretty brazen.
Finally, I analyze Trump’s warped reasoning for his COVID-19 approach.

Watch this episode here on Twitter/Periscope or here on Facebook Live.

SCOTUS: “No President is Above the Law!”* (*except Trump: See footnote)

I breakdown today’s two Supreme Court decisions related to Trump’s financial records, and explain why they can be summarized under the legal maxim of “justice delayed is justice denied.”

You can also watch this episode here on Twitter/Periscope and here on Facebook Live.

The Republicans Play the Race Card One Last Time

Republicans have put all of their chips on racism, as they have decided that racism is their only claim to victory, and if they can’t win with racism, then they have nothing left to bet on.

They obviously cannot run on healthcare, as they’re fighting to kill Obamacare during the COVID-19 pandemic, or the economy, as we have the worst economic depression since ‘the Great Depression.’  So they’ve decided on racism.

But the tide is turning against the race card working any longer.  74% of Americans support the peaceful protests against racism and police brutality.

Even Mississippi is taking the confederate symbol off their state flag, which is the last in the nation carrying that symbol.

However, racism has been at the core of the Republican party since the 1960s when they used busing and states rights as cover for straight up racism.  
 
Republicans are still playing the race card, and Trump is definitely the king of the racists.  But it’s not succeeding.  When Trump now retweets a video where one of his supporters twice yells, “White Power!”, it is not working like his racism did in the lead up to the 2016 election.

It’s not just Donald Trump who is racist.  We see no clearer example of Republican racism than in Florida right now.

Less than two years ago, Florida voters overturned a law that stripped ex-felons in their state of the right to vote.  That law had disenfranchised one out of every six black men in Florida, until voters overturned it by a staggeringly bi-partisan majority of 64.5%.
But the Republicans, who have gerrymandered the Florida legislature, decided to put in a ‘poll tax’ to stop many of those who just won back their right to vote, from being able to exercise that right.  They passed a law, with the help of Trump-loving Governor Ron DeSantis, that ex-felons cannot vote unless they pay off all fines that they owe.  They did this knowing that Florida imposes huge fines on ex-felons that most will never be able to pay back, in effect completing their two-step poll tax on the ex-felons.
Now the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals will decide whether this thinly veiled Jim Crow law will be allowed to stand, just in time for the 2020 presidential election.  Unfortunately, there are six Trump-appointed judges and one George W. Bush appointed judge, so seven total, and then four Obama appointed judges and one Clinton appointed judge, so just five total.  It will take a simple 6-6 tie to strike down this new Jim Crow law, meaning one right wing judge will have to vote against this poll tax for it to be struck down.

You can watch this episode here on Twitter or here on Facebook Live.