More Bad News For Trump

The above is a New Yorker cartoon which I picked at random to show you today. But it makes me think: when are we going to talk about not talking about Trump? Yes he’s in the news constantly, but it seems not substantively. The mainstream media is not talking about the depths of his destructive behavior. Places like the Atlantic and The New Yorker are doing their part. Many on Substack are doing incredible work trying to expose Trump and push for action. But we need more.

Trump is to speak to the country tonight. Perhaps trying to avert the horrible press lately by announcing an attack on Venezuela. Didn’t he promise to help Americans and not get into foregn conflicts?

Just now: Four politically vulnerable Republicans bucked their party to force a vote on Obamacare subsidies. The New York Times calls this a striking rebellion against Speaker Johnson. If I understand correctly, this won’t affect what happens in January after the subsidies expire, because the Senate will most likely not vote along these lines. But it sets up an embarrassing and politically costly battle within the Republican Party.

Representative Greene says that the dam is breaking in GOP support for Trump. “I think the midterms are going to be very hard for Republicans,” Greene said. “I’m one of the people that’s willing to admit the truth and say I don’t see Republicans winning the midterms right now.”

Vanity Fair conducted a long interview with WH Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. It is a more than 10,000-word Vanity Fair article, with 11 interviews done over the course of a year, glossy photo-spreads and on-the-record quotes from Vance and Rubio had many of Trump’s allies. Politico reports it has many “scratching their heads, wondering why the very top of the administration would participate in the interview. And how could Wiles, lauded for her political acumen and loyalty, have miscalculated so badly? The interview was “extremely demoralizing,” said a person close to the White House.”

Here are some excerpts from Heather Cox Richardson today: “Wiles told VF that Trump “has an alcoholic’s personality,” suggesting he cannot imagine limits on his behavior, and quoted him as judging people “by their genes”; that Vice President J.D. Vance converted from being a Never Trumper to a major MAGA booster for political reasons; that director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought, a key author of Project 2025, is “a right-wing absolute zealot”; that Musk’s reposting of a tweet about public sector workers killing millions under Hitler, Stalin, and Mao was a reflection of his drug use; and that Trump is, indeed, embarked on a project to use the power of the government to hurt people he hates.”

Since publication, Wiles issued a statement that did not say she had been misquoted, but called the article “a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history. Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story. I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team.”

Wow. More bad news for Trump on the heels of his disgusting posts about the Reiners.

And the Epstein files have still not been released.

I’m posting early today because I have a busy day in New York: another screening of my documentary Women Laughing!

I hope you have a nice day, and thanks again for being here!