Front row for the insanity
Journalist Aaron Rupar joins 'On Democracy' this week for a wide ranging chat on the craziness
All that’s old is new again
I asked Aaron Rupar if it Donald Trump is more deranged than usual during this week’s show. It feels like he has been more aggressively nutty lately as the indictments come down and the rare Republican turns on him. He’s had a unique perspective as a national independent journalist tracking the crazy ramblings and appearances of Republican and right wing figures.
He thinks it is more of a return to 2016 form and we are just numb to it at this point. What was shocking and a two-day news cycle in the halcyon days before are just ‘Trump being Trump’ now. Media and Americans barely even blink an eye when he calls Chris Christie a ‘fat pig’ or smears Fani Willis with disgusting lies about her past. We are just used to the dirtying of the body politic from Donald Trump and that’s probably the most disturbing thing I can think of after all this time.
We are all just used to Republican politicians being absolute monsters, racists, and threatening violence against their opponents. It’s just normal now. We should all be worried.
In addition to his must follow Twitter (yes…Twitter…fucking Elon) and Threads feeds, Aaron has a fast growing news channel at his own Public Notice site that includes guest writers and his Aaron Rupar Show podcast.
We talked about everything from the special election in Ohio, Trump’s indictments, the complete clownshow of the Republican House, and everyone running to be Trump’s successor in the pretend primary campaign.
Check out the whole fascinating conversation
Aaron Rupar
Journalist Aaron Rupar immerses himself in the madness of the far right every day and broadcasts the lunacy for us all to see. He posts the clips and analysis we need to see to understand what is
happening now and why it matters. We talk about all of the madness from the Trump indictments to the GOP primary and more. He is the former politics and policy editor at Vox and associate editor of Think Progress and now hosts his own site Public Notice and hosts podcast the Aaron Rupar Show.
The shifting of the abortion issue
Everyday it’s becoming clear that the Dobbs decision was a huge shift in American politics. The issue has forced those who were on the fence to get off and it’s starting to become more obvious not just in polls but in results. Ohio’s referendum vote as a stunning rebuke for far right groups that had hoped to stop a fall vote on enshrining abortion into the state Constitution. They lost by 14 points in a state that Biden lost by 8 just three years ago.
I mentioned this fascinating poll from Gallup that shows how Dobbs created a growing swell of new pro-choice Americans as the far right has overplayed their hand. Democrats must keep running on this issue. it’s a winner.
Republicans know they are in trouble too. I’ve directly heard from elected officials who know they are losing and the wave is growing. Women are angry. Gen Z is pissed. They aren’t forgetting who is stripping their rights.
Listen to the show
My latest hot take for MeidasTouch
Ron DeSantis is talking about ‘slitting throats on Day one.’ A lot of those throats belong to veterans and it’s not funny anymore.
Abortion is indeed a winning issue for the Democrats. Ohio just proved that yet again (and it will do so AGAIN this coming November, I suspect). The key will be to keep it at the forefront of voters' minds. I just feel badly for all of the Red State women who are being told that they aren't intelligent enough to make their own decisions about their bodies.