Ami Fields-Meyer
@fieldsmeyer.com
Co-author of ON COURAGE: Pre-order https://tinyurl.com/yxpvn488 (June 2026 from HarperCollins/Mariner)
Senior Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School | Fmr: White House Senior Policy Advisor
Writing: amifieldsmeyer.substack.com
Get in touch: fieldsmeyer.com
Senior Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School | Fmr: White House Senior Policy Advisor
Writing: amifieldsmeyer.substack.com
Get in touch: fieldsmeyer.com
Pinned
Ami Fields-Meyer
@fieldsmeyer.com
· Jul 18
One of the first things Vladimir Putin did on becoming president was take over NTV, the TV channel that hosted a satirical puppet show because he didn't like the Putin doll and how he was portrayed. He arrested NTV's owner and only released him when he signed the channel over. #Colbert
I've been saying to friends for a few months that the more I study authoritarianism in other countries, the more concerned I become that the CBS story is the sleeping giant here. The process has been a simmer (people inside the network have spoken out in real-time) but don't mistake slow for safe.
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
Has there been a WaPo very serious natsec Op-Ed that the U.S. hasn’t has a full-time White House National Security Advisor (head of the NSC) since May 2025, and the guy currently doing that job in an acting capacity has two other very demanding and important jobs?
January 11, 2026 at 5:13 AM
Has there been a WaPo very serious natsec Op-Ed that the U.S. hasn’t has a full-time White House National Security Advisor (head of the NSC) since May 2025, and the guy currently doing that job in an acting capacity has two other very demanding and important jobs?
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
“To this day, grants continue to be ‘realigned’ with administration priorities, a clear form of ideological coercion.”
Powerful piece in STAT this morning from some NIH staff members who have resigned
www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
1/3
www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
1/3
The NIH has lost its scientific integrity. So we left
“We can no longer lend our credibility to an organization that has lost its integrity,” write four scientists and administrators who recently resigned from the NIH.
www.statnews.com
January 10, 2026 at 1:52 PM
“To this day, grants continue to be ‘realigned’ with administration priorities, a clear form of ideological coercion.”
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
man it's wild how apparently all it takes is one single deranged president for people to reveal their true selves
January 11, 2026 at 4:34 AM
man it's wild how apparently all it takes is one single deranged president for people to reveal their true selves
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
chat is it a good sign for democracy when people who were a week ago posting 2025 recaps are sharing tips on tourniquets and street medicine in their instagram stories
January 10, 2026 at 6:31 AM
chat is it a good sign for democracy when people who were a week ago posting 2025 recaps are sharing tips on tourniquets and street medicine in their instagram stories
"Ethnic cleansing"
Hannity has a Fox reporter in Minneapolis talk to a random protester walking through the city who goes on to spit bars for 2 minutes
January 10, 2026 at 6:30 AM
"Ethnic cleansing"
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
rare to see an american politician speak in these terms and it rocks
“When I speak about making our city more affordable, my vision is not limited to the homes that we live in or the child care that we’re making universal — it’s also a vision where we make it possible for working people to afford lives of joy, of art, of rest, of expression.”
Handing Out Free Tickets, Mamdani Says Theater Should Not Be ‘a Luxury’
www.nytimes.com
January 10, 2026 at 2:48 AM
rare to see an american politician speak in these terms and it rocks
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
Again Bill Kristol has better Dem messaging than any member of Democratic Leadership
January 7, 2026 at 8:39 PM
Again Bill Kristol has better Dem messaging than any member of Democratic Leadership
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
Abolish ICE. Really.
Trump: "I have just viewed the clip of the event which took place in Minneapolis. It is a horrible thing to watch. The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting ... "
January 7, 2026 at 8:35 PM
Abolish ICE. Really.
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
Amy Klobuchar: "There are now more ICE agents in Minnesota than there are police officers combined in Minneapolis and St. Paul. So they are outnumbering our own local police officers out on the streets."
January 10, 2026 at 2:17 AM
Amy Klobuchar: "There are now more ICE agents in Minnesota than there are police officers combined in Minneapolis and St. Paul. So they are outnumbering our own local police officers out on the streets."
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
Hundreds of ICE protests this weekend. Find one near you via this link 👇
Here's the map after 24 hours of launch. Find your event or get one up here: www.mobilize.us/map/?tag_ids...
January 10, 2026 at 5:45 AM
Hundreds of ICE protests this weekend. Find one near you via this link 👇
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
A president claims his “own morality” is the only check on his power. The U.S. arrests a foreign leader. And somehow, neither of those is the biggest story of the week. This isn't just a news cycle; it’s a constitutional freefall.
January 9, 2026 at 10:57 PM
A president claims his “own morality” is the only check on his power. The U.S. arrests a foreign leader. And somehow, neither of those is the biggest story of the week. This isn't just a news cycle; it’s a constitutional freefall.
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
I was never a big “protestor.” But I’ll be exercising my First Amendment rights this weekend.
Publicly. Peacefully. Without fear.
Protests nationwide.
Publicly. Peacefully. Without fear.
Protests nationwide.
January 8, 2026 at 2:22 AM
I was never a big “protestor.” But I’ll be exercising my First Amendment rights this weekend.
Publicly. Peacefully. Without fear.
Protests nationwide.
Publicly. Peacefully. Without fear.
Protests nationwide.
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
Extremely timely and just as important—The Atlantic's new season of "Autocracy in America" is out today, hosted by @anneapplebaum.bsky.social.
Really worth listening to:
www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/202...
Really worth listening to:
www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/202...
Federal Agents Are Violating the Rights of Americans
ICE and the National Guard are acting with impunity.
www.theatlantic.com
January 9, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Extremely timely and just as important—The Atlantic's new season of "Autocracy in America" is out today, hosted by @anneapplebaum.bsky.social.
Really worth listening to:
www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/202...
Really worth listening to:
www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/202...
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
Powerful Santa Ana winds return to Southern California, prompting warnings
Powerful Santa Ana winds return to Southern California, prompting warnings
Santa Ana winds have returned to Southern California, prompting wind warnings across the region, according to the National Weather Service.
www.latimes.com
January 10, 2026 at 4:59 AM
Powerful Santa Ana winds return to Southern California, prompting warnings
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
Here's the map after 24 hours of launch. Find your event or get one up here: www.mobilize.us/map/?tag_ids...
January 10, 2026 at 4:11 AM
Here's the map after 24 hours of launch. Find your event or get one up here: www.mobilize.us/map/?tag_ids...
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
Remembering today that having your heart broken is a necessary step on the path to becoming fully human. Whichever heartbreak is your first, it’s probably critical that a state break your heart so that you can develop a political imagination. If this is your first, I’m sorry and also welcome.
January 8, 2026 at 10:33 PM
Remembering today that having your heart broken is a necessary step on the path to becoming fully human. Whichever heartbreak is your first, it’s probably critical that a state break your heart so that you can develop a political imagination. If this is your first, I’m sorry and also welcome.
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
The whole lot of them spent Jan. 6th lying about what happened 5 years ago. Why should anyone expect them to start telling the truth on January 7th?
January 9, 2026 at 1:34 AM
The whole lot of them spent Jan. 6th lying about what happened 5 years ago. Why should anyone expect them to start telling the truth on January 7th?
A real opposition would TODAY subpoena Noem, Lyons, Homan, and Miller to an emergency hearing to answer these questions. Then it would screen the footage in the districts of vulnerable Republicans and demand they show up and answer the same.
When will we get serious about this? If not now, when?
When will we get serious about this? If not now, when?
Things I haven't seen reported (if you have, please share):
1. What specific mission the ICE agents were on
2. What Renee Good was doing in the hours before she was shot (Noem and the ex-husband have contradictory claims)
3. How she came to be sideways in the road
4. Where Ross went after
1. What specific mission the ICE agents were on
2. What Renee Good was doing in the hours before she was shot (Noem and the ex-husband have contradictory claims)
3. How she came to be sideways in the road
4. Where Ross went after
January 9, 2026 at 3:24 AM
A real opposition would TODAY subpoena Noem, Lyons, Homan, and Miller to an emergency hearing to answer these questions. Then it would screen the footage in the districts of vulnerable Republicans and demand they show up and answer the same.
When will we get serious about this? If not now, when?
When will we get serious about this? If not now, when?
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
Wish we could turn down the aggressive lang here! But appreciate you asking. I've written/spoken quite a bit about this. Here's a piece I wrote in March, laying out an assertive posture that's focused less on trying to score narrow leg. wins and more on obstructing/counternarrating authoritarianism.
This is not a viable opposition
A brief history of the Chuck Schumer saga – and where the movement for constitutional democracy goes from here.
amifieldsmeyer.substack.com
January 9, 2026 at 3:07 AM
Wish we could turn down the aggressive lang here! But appreciate you asking. I've written/spoken quite a bit about this. Here's a piece I wrote in March, laying out an assertive posture that's focused less on trying to score narrow leg. wins and more on obstructing/counternarrating authoritarianism.
Once again: this is not a viable opposition.
Top Democrats decline to say if they would rein in ICE after Minnesota shooting
Top Democrats decline to say if they would rein in ICE after Minnesota shooting
Top Democrats decline to say if they would rein in ICE after Minnesota shooting
www.independent.co.uk
January 9, 2026 at 12:56 AM
Once again: this is not a viable opposition.
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
“It should be crystal clear to everyone that the real threat to community safety is the ICE agents harassing, targeting, detaining — and in some tragic cases — killing our neighbors. This violence is unacceptable, it is criminal, and it is against the constitution of the United States.”
East Portland Councilors Avalos, Dunphy, Smith Respond to the ICE Shooting of Two People in Hazelwood
www.portland.gov
January 9, 2026 at 12:35 AM
“It should be crystal clear to everyone that the real threat to community safety is the ICE agents harassing, targeting, detaining — and in some tragic cases — killing our neighbors. This violence is unacceptable, it is criminal, and it is against the constitution of the United States.”
Yes, it's about lies, but it’s also about a contract between Trump and his secret police. MAGA had to start the narrative defense of the ICE agent immediately because the second the regime shows it won’t back its henchmen, the henchmen will think twice about whether to do the regime’s bidding.
January 8, 2026 at 7:29 PM
Yes, it's about lies, but it’s also about a contract between Trump and his secret police. MAGA had to start the narrative defense of the ICE agent immediately because the second the regime shows it won’t back its henchmen, the henchmen will think twice about whether to do the regime’s bidding.
Reposted by Ami Fields-Meyer
"Secret police" is often misunderstood to mean a force that operates covertly, with all their operations secret.
But a secret police force's actions are often public. The secret part is hiding their identities, because they're breaking laws to hurt politically disfavored people, and fear reprisals.
But a secret police force's actions are often public. The secret part is hiding their identities, because they're breaking laws to hurt politically disfavored people, and fear reprisals.
January 7, 2026 at 9:09 PM
"Secret police" is often misunderstood to mean a force that operates covertly, with all their operations secret.
But a secret police force's actions are often public. The secret part is hiding their identities, because they're breaking laws to hurt politically disfavored people, and fear reprisals.
But a secret police force's actions are often public. The secret part is hiding their identities, because they're breaking laws to hurt politically disfavored people, and fear reprisals.