Zack Beauchamp
@zackbeauchamp.bsky.social
Senior Correspondent at Vox covering the crisis of global democracy. Author of The Reactionary Spirit, a book on that topic, and a '25-'26 distinguished visiting fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Perry World House.
Getting rid of trade barriers preventing the sale of high-quality, cheap, environmentally friendly Chinese cars is good policy
January 16, 2026 at 5:35 PM
Getting rid of trade barriers preventing the sale of high-quality, cheap, environmentally friendly Chinese cars is good policy
Honestly impressed by Matt Stoller's ability to find the worst possible take on seemingly every issue
January 16, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Honestly impressed by Matt Stoller's ability to find the worst possible take on seemingly every issue
For an authoritarian, getting troops on the streets is not an end in itself. They are supposed to impose *control* on a society, using force to engineer compliance with government dictates.
That is failing in Minnesota, just like it failed in cities like LA and Chicago bsky.app/profile/diff...
That is failing in Minnesota, just like it failed in cities like LA and Chicago bsky.app/profile/diff...
which part of this is the losing? the surge of thugs to MN? the insurrection act?
January 16, 2026 at 2:54 PM
For an authoritarian, getting troops on the streets is not an end in itself. They are supposed to impose *control* on a society, using force to engineer compliance with government dictates.
That is failing in Minnesota, just like it failed in cities like LA and Chicago bsky.app/profile/diff...
That is failing in Minnesota, just like it failed in cities like LA and Chicago bsky.app/profile/diff...
It's not just that Trump's immigration policy is underwater. It's that the numbers are *so bad* that his political team is using an Axios leak to try and change his mind on the policy
January 16, 2026 at 2:45 PM
It's not just that Trump's immigration policy is underwater. It's that the numbers are *so bad* that his political team is using an Axios leak to try and change his mind on the policy
This is what losing looks like www.axios.com/2026/01/16/t...
Trump's immigration erosion worries his team
Some Trump advisers quietly are talking about "recalibrating" the White House's approach โ though it's unclear what changes Trump would embrace, if any.
www.axios.com
January 16, 2026 at 2:42 PM
This is what losing looks like www.axios.com/2026/01/16/t...
The online right is reaching uncharted levels of weird
January 15, 2026 at 1:58 PM
The online right is reaching uncharted levels of weird
Iโm just getting back from a reporting trip to Brazil, where *many* people seemed absolutely dumbfounded that something like the Renee Good shooting could happen in America.
Hard to overstate how much this is affecting the way the world sees us
Hard to overstate how much this is affecting the way the world sees us
January 15, 2026 at 12:19 PM
Iโm just getting back from a reporting trip to Brazil, where *many* people seemed absolutely dumbfounded that something like the Renee Good shooting could happen in America.
Hard to overstate how much this is affecting the way the world sees us
Hard to overstate how much this is affecting the way the world sees us
Overheard in the Toronto airport: โDid you hear Germany has sent troops to Greenland? We should send ours too.โ
January 15, 2026 at 12:16 PM
Overheard in the Toronto airport: โDid you hear Germany has sent troops to Greenland? We should send ours too.โ
My Spanish has degraded a lot over the years - I was fluent before I stopped practicing regularly - but at least the accent is still there
January 14, 2026 at 2:01 AM
My Spanish has degraded a lot over the years - I was fluent before I stopped practicing regularly - but at least the accent is still there
Cab driver here in Brazil replies to my attempt at Portuguese with Spanish rather than English, and it honestly feels like half a win
January 14, 2026 at 1:58 AM
Cab driver here in Brazil replies to my attempt at Portuguese with Spanish rather than English, and it honestly feels like half a win
I doubt itโs that well thought out. Trump just thinks mail ballots stole him the 2002 election and has been trying to ban them for years.
Plus, I bet ICE supercharges midterm turnout on the left rather than depresses it. Thatโs what existing research suggests, though obviously things are different
Plus, I bet ICE supercharges midterm turnout on the left rather than depresses it. Thatโs what existing research suggests, though obviously things are different
January 13, 2026 at 11:53 AM
I doubt itโs that well thought out. Trump just thinks mail ballots stole him the 2002 election and has been trying to ban them for years.
Plus, I bet ICE supercharges midterm turnout on the left rather than depresses it. Thatโs what existing research suggests, though obviously things are different
Plus, I bet ICE supercharges midterm turnout on the left rather than depresses it. Thatโs what existing research suggests, though obviously things are different
We should talk about this soon!
January 12, 2026 at 3:25 PM
We should talk about this soon!
The argument is that their strategy is now clear and more plausible than it was before, not that it will be successful
January 12, 2026 at 12:50 PM
The argument is that their strategy is now clear and more plausible than it was before, not that it will be successful
You know Iโve been making this argument since April, right www.vox.com/politics/410... bsky.app/profile/hayd...
January 12, 2026 at 12:45 PM
You know Iโve been making this argument since April, right www.vox.com/politics/410... bsky.app/profile/hayd...
Between the popular backlash to ICE brutality and Jerome Powellโs statement, we are getting more and more signs that Trump is failing to consolidate an authoritarian regime
January 12, 2026 at 12:40 PM
Between the popular backlash to ICE brutality and Jerome Powellโs statement, we are getting more and more signs that Trump is failing to consolidate an authoritarian regime
A Venezuelan immigrant here said something really striking about democracy. Roughly:
โIn Brazil talking about politics is hard. If I say nice things about Lula, Bolsonaro supporters yell at me, and vice versa. In Venezuela, if I say mean things about the government I go to jail. Brazil is better.โ
โIn Brazil talking about politics is hard. If I say nice things about Lula, Bolsonaro supporters yell at me, and vice versa. In Venezuela, if I say mean things about the government I go to jail. Brazil is better.โ
January 9, 2026 at 3:59 PM
A Venezuelan immigrant here said something really striking about democracy. Roughly:
โIn Brazil talking about politics is hard. If I say nice things about Lula, Bolsonaro supporters yell at me, and vice versa. In Venezuela, if I say mean things about the government I go to jail. Brazil is better.โ
โIn Brazil talking about politics is hard. If I say nice things about Lula, Bolsonaro supporters yell at me, and vice versa. In Venezuela, if I say mean things about the government I go to jail. Brazil is better.โ
I am in Brazil right now, where the big debate is whether the right-wing former president who attempted a coup should serve out his full prison sentence or have it reduced.
What could have been.
What could have been.
January 9, 2026 at 3:55 PM
I am in Brazil right now, where the big debate is whether the right-wing former president who attempted a coup should serve out his full prison sentence or have it reduced.
What could have been.
What could have been.
Finally saw the Stranger Things finale and it was...good? I had been led to believe it was a disappointment, and instead it was the same show it always has been
January 7, 2026 at 3:15 AM
Finally saw the Stranger Things finale and it was...good? I had been led to believe it was a disappointment, and instead it was the same show it always has been
For nearly a decade, I have been arguing that Trump was a neo-imperialist who believed in using force for crudely self-interested reasons. Many told me I was wrong, that Trump was some kind of "non-interventionist" dove.
This weekend, I was proven fully right.
www.vox.com/politics/474...
This weekend, I was proven fully right.
www.vox.com/politics/474...
Donald Trump was never a dove
How critics of American interventionism fell for a myth.
www.vox.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:07 PM
For nearly a decade, I have been arguing that Trump was a neo-imperialist who believed in using force for crudely self-interested reasons. Many told me I was wrong, that Trump was some kind of "non-interventionist" dove.
This weekend, I was proven fully right.
www.vox.com/politics/474...
This weekend, I was proven fully right.
www.vox.com/politics/474...
Ocarina of Time was the best game of that year, but it's hard to argue with Starcraft on staying power grounds
January 5, 2026 at 4:13 PM
Ocarina of Time was the best game of that year, but it's hard to argue with Starcraft on staying power grounds
"Oil" is not playing the vulgar Marxist role of a profit-motivated industry pulling the strings. Rather, "oil" is a concept in Trump's mind, an object of ideology for him personally.
January 5, 2026 at 3:54 PM
"Oil" is not playing the vulgar Marxist role of a profit-motivated industry pulling the strings. Rather, "oil" is a concept in Trump's mind, an object of ideology for him personally.
It is both true that Trump's intervention is about the oil AND that it makes no sense as a capitalist matter.
Trump likes the IDEA of taking oil from other countries and has for literal decades. But, as usual, he has no notion of the practicalities.
Trump likes the IDEA of taking oil from other countries and has for literal decades. But, as usual, he has no notion of the practicalities.
January 5, 2026 at 3:54 PM
It is both true that Trump's intervention is about the oil AND that it makes no sense as a capitalist matter.
Trump likes the IDEA of taking oil from other countries and has for literal decades. But, as usual, he has no notion of the practicalities.
Trump likes the IDEA of taking oil from other countries and has for literal decades. But, as usual, he has no notion of the practicalities.
Captain America in 1990
January 4, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Captain America in 1990
There are cabbages that aged better in ten years than this column
January 4, 2026 at 3:56 PM
There are cabbages that aged better in ten years than this column