Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 7m

The “Republicans keep forgetting who was president in 2020” problem clearly isn’t going away.

It’s not a new problem — there are even examples from 2021 — but it’s arguably getting worse. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Even now, Republicans are still struggling to remember who was president in 2020

One professor joked, “‘Who was president in 2020?’ is the question of our time.” The number of Republicans who can’t answer the question correctly is amazing.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 1h

AG Pam Bondi was unprofessional and partisan, but most importantly, she was evasive, refusing to answer good questions she didn’t like.

Fortunately, Adam Schiff kept the receipts. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

AG Pam Bondi refused to answer key questions, and Adam Schiff kept the receipts

Over several hours, the attorney general was unprofessional and partisan, but most importantly, she was evasive, rejecting important lines of inquiry.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 20h

Given football’s popularity, common sense might suggest Trump would be eager to align himself with the NFL.

He and his team are instead adding the league to their growing list of culture war targets. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Trump and his team add the NFL to its growing list of culture war targets

Given football’s popularity, common sense might suggest the president would be eager to align himself with the league, but he can’t seem to help himself.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 1d

Remember last year, when Trump promised voters, “I will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare”?

I have some bad news for those who believed him.

Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 1d

Reported Trump plan to cut more than 750,000 older Americans off disability:

www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Despite campaign promises, White House eyes new changes to Social Security and Medicare

“I will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare,” Trump vowed in 2024. I have bad news for voters who believed him.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 1d

Not too long ago, it would’ve been pretty dramatic for an incumbent American president to refer to his opponents as “the party of Hate, Evil, and Satan.”

But as people grow accustomed to madness, it’s now barely a one-day story.

Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 1d

www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Trump pushes a new label for Democrats: ‘The Party Of Hate, Evil, And Satan’

Republicans apparently want Democrats to stop using the kind of incendiary political rhetoric that the president uses all the time.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 1d

The problem isn't that Kash Patel is failing at his attempts to be a serious and capable figure. The problem is that the FBI director isn't even trying.

Take his firing of a field agent who wouldn’t humiliate James Comey, for example. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

As his FBI tenure goes from bad to worse, Kash Patel abandons the pretense of seriousness

The problem isn’t that the FBI director is failing at his attempts to be a serious and capable figure. The problem is that he isn’t even trying.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 2d

So the president sees an imaginary crisis unfolding in Portland, which he wants to resolve by deploying Guard troops from other states, against Oregon's wishes, while circumventing a court order.

The phase “constitutional crisis” is sometimes overused, but... www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Trump tries, fails to circumvent court ruling on unnecessary Portland troop deployment

I realize the phrase “constitutional crisis” is sometimes used unnecessarily, but once in a while, it’s not altogether hyperbolic.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 4d

Honestly, I pondered that same question for a while. I'm still not sure.

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 4d

On the woeful U.S. job market, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer keeps using that word, “momentum,” but I don’t think it means what she thinks it means. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

The government shutdown leaves Americans in the dark about the latest job numbers

Without new employment data, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer tried to point to recent “momentum” in the job market. Reality told a different story.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 4d

Republicans: When Democrats use words like “fascists,” it creates a dangerous climate that leads to political violence.

Trump: Democrats are “evil,” “fascists,” “treasonous,” and the party of “Satan.”

Republicans: ...

Trump pushes a new label for Democrats: ‘The Party Of Hate, Evil, And Satan’

Republicans apparently want Democrats to stop using the kind of incendiary political rhetoric that the president uses all the time.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 5d

White House officials had several days to come up with a reason why Trump promoted a bonkers "medbed" video.

Evidently, they couldn't think of much. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

White House tries to defend Trump amplifying bizarre ‘medbed’ pseudoscience

Karoline Leavitt had several days to come up with a reason why the president promoted a video about magic beds. She apparently couldn’t think of much.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 5d

This didn’t generate a ton of front-page headlines, but Trump this week signed an executive order rewarding Qatar with a NATO-like security guarantee — without bothering to go through Congress.

Is this the same country that gave him a fancy plane? Yes. Yes it is. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Trump offers Qatar, which gave him a fancy plane, a NATO-like security guarantee

Without bothering to go through Congress, the president signed an executive order this week vowing to defend Qatar in the event of a foreign attack.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 5d

As the White House rolls out a woeful defense for deadly military strikes against civilians in military waters, I keep thinking about one thing:

the judge advocates general (JAGs) that Trump fired in February. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

To justify deadly military strikes, Trump sends radical rationale to Congress

Following military strikes on civilian boats in international waters, the White House has come up with a legal rationale that’s hard to take seriously.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 5d

As a video catches foreign leaders laughing at one of Trump’s mistakes, remember: This wasn’t the first time officials abroad used the Republican president as a punchline.

For all of his talk about global “respect,” he’s routinely seen as a joke. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

European leaders caught mocking Trump after a false claim about ending a war

As a video catches foreign leaders laughing at one of the American president's mistakes, this was not an isolated incident.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 6d

Before the shutdown, Team Trump used government power to retaliate against individuals.

During the shutdown, Team Trump is using government power to retaliate against whole states.

No wonder a Democratic senator condemned the “mafioso tactics.” www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

As the White House targets blue states, Democratic senator condemns ‘mafioso tactics’

Team Trump isn't just targeting individual foes; it's also using the government shutdown to seek revenge against programs and entire states.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 6d

RFK Jr. promised to deliver groundbreaking news on autism research and vaccines in September.

It’s October. He failed. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Months later, whatever happened to RFK Jr.’s self-imposed deadline on autism?

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised to deliver groundbreaking news on autism research in September. It’s October. He failed.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 6d

Trump declared just hours ahead of the shutdown deadline, “We could come up with a new system that would be much better” than the ACA.

Oh? He could? Is that why we’ve been waiting for a decade for a health care plan that he said years ago was “two weeks” away? www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

‘We could come up with a new system’: On the ACA, Trump has an unintentionally funny line

“We could come up with a new system that would be much better” than Obamacare, the president said, seemingly unaware of his own record.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 7d

It takes an awful lot for Senate Republicans to reject a Trump nominee — but E.J. Antoni was that bad.

The fiasco makes the White House’s incompetence even more obvious. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

E.J. Antoni’s failed nomination makes the White House look even more incompetent

It’s not often that Senate Republicans muster the courage to tell Donald Trump and his team, “Whoa, hold on, we can’t go that far.”

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 7d

As the shutdown begins, and partisans scramble to assign blame, Trump is making things worse for himself and his party:
- promoting racist videos
- erratic threats
- failed negotiations
- rampant lying
- glee over breakdown

It's like he's trying to get blamed. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

As the government shutdown begins, Trump isn’t doing Republicans any favors

Partisans are scrambling to assign and avoid blame, while the president is making things worse for himself and his party.

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 7d

Much of Trump’s speech to generals and admirals was stale, boring, and predictable.

But when he turned his attention to the “enemy within,” and started talking about using U.S. cities as military “training grounds,” this was a qualitatively different kind of pitch. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Trump pitches generals and admirals on using U.S. cities as military ‘training grounds’

Much of the president’s speech to military leaders was stale and dull. But then he started talking about using the military against the “enemy within.”

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 8d

Among the many problems with Trump targeting Democratic leaders with a racist and vulgar deepfake the day before the government shutdown deadline:

This guy’s really bad at negotiating and dealmaking. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

As shutdown deadline arrives, Trump pushes racist and vulgar deepfake targeting Democrats

With time running out, the president thought it’d be good to target Democrats with a video that was equal parts vulgar, racist and dishonest.

www.msnbc.com

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Reposted by Steve Benen

James Downie @jamescdownie.bsky.social · 8d

A partial list of things President Bystander (as @stevebenen.com calls him) has been unaware of:

– The end of ACA subsidies
– Pausing military aid to Ukraine
– His nominee for surgeon general
– That his admin was paying El Salvador to imprison immigrants
– Whether he has to uphold the Constitution.

NYTimes: "Schumer said he and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the House minority leader, 'laid out to the president some of the consequences of what’s happening in health care and by his face, he looked like he heard about them for the first time.'"

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 8d

Someone used AI to create a fake Fox News segment featuring Trump touting magical “MedBed” technology. He then used to his platform to amplify the nonsensical pseudoscience.

Maybe now’s a good time to renew the whole “cognitive decline” conversation? www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Why it was so deeply weird to see Trump amplify ‘medbed’ pseudoscience

Someone used AI to create a fake Fox News segment that showed the president touting magical beds to the public. So why did he promote it?

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 9d

Trump isn’t sure he’s right about Portland, Oregon, descending into a lawless hellscape, but he’s certain that he’s seen some troubling images while “watching things on television.”

And that’s good enough for troop deployments, right? www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Trump’s troop deployment to Portland, Oregon, faces immediate pushback in court

The president isn’t sure he’s right about Portland descending into a lawless hellscape, but he’s seen some images while “watching things on television.”

www.msnbc.com

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 9d

On Thursday, Trump orchestrated a criminal indictment against one former FBI director he unjustly forced out (James Comey).

A couple of days later, he raised the prospect of a DOJ investigation into *another* former FBI director he unjustly forced out (Chris Wray). www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

It’s not just Comey: Trump eyes case against Chris Wray, the other FBI director he ousted

After targeting one former FBI director he forced out, Trump raised the prospect of an investigation into a different former FBI director he forced out.

www.msnbc.com

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