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Nicole LaFond

Nicole LaFond

@nicolelafond.bsky.social

34K followers 100 following 540 posts

I do my little walks & I edit TPM

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Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 1d

The shrug in Cuomo’s direction is representative of the MAGA movement and the far-right in general’s interest in casting Mamdani as a new MAGA boogeyman. Accordingly, Trump and his allies have been trying to paint Mamdani as a “communist.”

More here:

Zohran Mamdani Congratulates Cuomo on Trump Endorsement

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wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 1d

Some see Mamdani’s rise as a potential blueprint for the Democratic Party moving forward, a reality that, unflatteringly, has chagrined and wrong-footed that party’s leaders.

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 1d

He’s raised funds through small dollar donations and a sophisticated but simple social media presence, putting an unwavering focus on the city’s affordability crisis. He’s been aggressively opposed by wealthy interests in the city to no noticeable effect.

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 1d

The disinfo wave around Mamdani reflects a confusion in both parties about exactly how to explain the 34-year-old insurgent candidate.

Zohran Mamdani Congratulates Cuomo on Trump Endorsement

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wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 6d

It appears that DOJ employees who use language to accurately describe the events that took place on Jan. 6 — but language that does not, of course, line up with Trump’s white-washed narrative on the attack — are being punished.

More in tonight's edition of Where Things Stand here:

Federal Prosecutors Suspended for Not Using MAGA-Approved Verbiage to Describe Jan 6

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wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 7d

Trump has publicly weaved his visions of deploying the military domestically and training its might on civilians before, but Tuesday’s remarks put that aspiration in starker terms.

Trump Again Promises Greater Retribution Against Dem-Led US Cities on Global Stage

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wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 8d

From my colleague, @kateriga.bsky.social in tonight's edition of Where Things Stand: "The Trump administration has seen its appellate court victory delayed for days, hamstrung in its effort to flood Portland with armed troops, all due to its own baffling legal blunder."

More here:

Trump Admin’s Laziness Is Messing Up Its Effort to Deploy the National Guard to Portland

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wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Reposted by Nicole LaFond

Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 11d

Come see! www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/talk...

Talking Points Memo is doing a fun series about the last 25 years of digital media

To celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, the political news and commentary site Talking Points Memo is running 25 pieces on the history of digital media. Eight of the pieces are published so far —...

www.niemanlab.org

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 12d

Ex-Gov Mitch Daniels is the only high-profile Republican I’ve seen, thus far, who is publicly offering support to Republican members of the state Senate who don’t want to participate in Trump’s efforts to rig the midterms by redrawing congressional boundaries in a way that predetermines the results:

Trump and Vance Hit Unexpected Snag in Indiana

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wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 12d

The White House has been courting Indiana GOPers since August in an attempt to force them to redraw district lines for the 2 seats that Indiana Dems hold in the House.

Vance has visited the state twice to make the administration’s case. And, yet, they still don’t have the votes to pass new maps.

Trump and Vance Hit Unexpected Snag in Indiana

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wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 14d

This is, after all, the same Republican conference that rubber-stamped, without question, cuts from Elon Musk’s lawless DOGE rampage through the federal government earlier this year.

More here ⤵️

Some GOPers Are Queasy About Trump Lawlessly Moving Money Around During Shutdown

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wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 14d

While it is significant that a few Republicans are at least vocalizing that something about how the Trump administration is handling the shutdown is maybe probably perhaps not legal, it’s unlikely to change anything.

Some GOPers Are Queasy About Trump Lawlessly Moving Money Around During Shutdown

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wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 15d

My colleague @hunterw.bsky.social in tonight's Where Things Stand:

"The '3.5 Percent Rule' refers to the idea that no government has survived a challenge against it from a nonviolent mass movement that brought together at least 3.5 percent of the population during a 'peak event.'"

More ⤵️

Donald Trump, ‘No Kings,’ and the ‘3.5 Percent Rule’

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wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 19d

The Trump administration is stepping into legal gray areas, finding ways to move money around to keep the things it wants to keep operating operating — whether that is to score rhetorical points against Democrats or to keep their policy agenda creeping forward.

The Trump Admin’s Very Telling Decisions About Which Government Programs to Fund

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wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 20d

Trump allies have used Kirk's death as a springboard for acting on Trump's longtime vows of retribution against his political foes. Charlie Kirk’s podcast is the forum they’re using to broadcast those schemes.

Charlie Kirk’s Show Is Now the Trump Admin’s Forum for Detailing How It Wants To Target the Left

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wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 20d

the article itself actually gets into how NC GOP has been salivating for a chance to do this for some time!

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 21d

So the fact that they have fully caved to Trump’s demands on gerrymandering is not terribly surprising. It was a question of when, not if.

More here:

Trump’s Midcycle Gerrymandering Disease Spreads to North Carolina

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wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 21d

These are, of course, the same guys who, in the waning days of their supermajority in 2024, voted to strip power over election administration from the state’s then-newly elected Democratic Gov. Josh Stein.

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 21d

In 2023, NC GOP created a U.S. House map that took a sledgehammer to the seven-to-seven seat split between Democrats and Republicans in the state that had been in place in 2022. Their new map passed in 2023 resulted in Republicans winning 10 of North Carolina’s 14 seats in the U.S. House in 2024.

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · 21d

The North Carolina GOP is notorious for ratfuckery:

Trump’s Midcycle Gerrymandering Disease Spreads to North Carolina

This is your TPM evening briefing.

wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · Oct 2

It’s all bluster and lies.

More here 🙃

In Shutdown Spin, Republicans Are Pretending They Care About Mothers on WIC Now

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wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · Oct 2

While WIC was ultimately not cut in the final Senate version of Trump’s budget bill, some of the cuts to nutrition assistance and health care programs included in the legislation have made it “harder for families to access essential programs like WIC,” according to the National WIC Association.

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · Oct 2

In fact, the original House version of the “big, beautiful” bill put forth by Republicans included cuts to WIC which would’ve resulted in $1.3 billion in fruit and vegetable benefits being taken from some 5.2 million women and children who participate in the program.

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · Oct 2

Republicans have developed a newfound interest in mothers who rely on federal nutrient assistance programs like WIC to feed their children — the types of social safety net services and programs that Democrats champion and that Republicans have been hellbent on gutting for decades.

In Shutdown Spin, Republicans Are Pretending They Care About Mothers on WIC Now

This is your TPM evening briefing.

wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com

Nicole LaFond @nicolelafond.bsky.social · Oct 2

Republicans are pretending they care about mothers on WIC after including cuts that make the program less accessible to women and children in the "big, beautiful" bs earlier this year.

Catch up on more of @talkingpointsmemo.com's live coverage here:

White House Uses Shutdown to Carry Out Trump’s Retribution Agenda

The government is shut down and the Trump administration has begun its...

talkingpointsmemo.com