Trump’s team has this ironic request of Cabinet nominees

Susie Wiles, Donald Trump’s pick for chief of staff, issued a memo Sunday to Trump’s Cabinet nominees ordering them to stop making social media posts without approval ahead of the upcoming Senate confirmation hearings.

“All intended nominees should refrain from any public social media posts without prior approval of the incoming White House counsel,” the memo said, according to the New York Post.

Wiles also noted, “I am reiterating that no member of the incoming administration or Transition speaks for the United States or the President-elect himself.”

The missive comes after the spectacular flame out of former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general and the ongoing controversies of several other nominees, including Pete Hegseth, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mehmet Oz, and Tulsi Gabbard.

Gaetz’s nomination was withdrawn after the resurfacing of sordid allegations of illicit drug use and sexual behavior, including sending money to multiple women via PayPal and Venmo. Gaetz’s activity on social media was a key part of the controversy, as the House Ethics Committee's report notes.

“From 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women that the Committee determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use,” the report states.

Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, has been accused of financial mismanagement, sexual assault, and public drunkenness. In response to reporting on these allegations, Hegseth has taken to social media to complain about “anti-Christian bigotry” in the media, the “lying press”, and the “Left Wing hack group” ProPublica.

Anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has also made strange social media posts. He recently posted a meme on X characterizing the medical industry as “financially dependent on you being sick,” as well as a video of himself with CGI-generated electric eyes and a link to his merchandise site.

An anonymous source with the Trump transition team claimed that the order to stop social media posts is not related to the recent online infighting between Trump megadonor Elon Musk and anti-immigration MAGA supporters. But the timing of the edict, coming directly from Trump’s right-hand woman, is extremely convenient.

Musk recently went on a posting frenzy, calling MAGA fans “upside-down and backwards” in their understanding of immigration issues, while telling one person to “take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face.”

The controversy generated international headlines, and Trump was dragged into commenting on the discussion—a less-than-ideal situation as he prepares for his inauguration.

Trump of all people telling others to be more mindful about social media posts is an ironic development. Trump made a name for himself as a political figure largely due to constantly posting inflammatory messages online. Most notoriously, he called on his supporters to protest the results of the 2020 election after losing to President Joe Biden.

“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” he wrote.

In the aftermath of his post, more than a thousand were arrested (including Trump), several related deaths occurred, and Trump was impeached for a second time.

But, hey, Trump’s Cabinet nominees won’t be posting on social media for a little while.

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Watch GOP congressman fail to explain bonkers Trump assassination claim

After lying that President Joe Biden and the Department of Justice conspired to assassinate Donald Trump during a 2022 raid of Mar-a-Lago, Republican Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida is refusing to walk back his claims. 

During an interview on CNN Thursday night, Donalds repeatedly tried to change the subject when pressed by host Abby Phillip

Donalds wrote on social media, “Newly-released court documents reveal that Joe Biden's DOJ authorized the use of DEADLY FORCE in its raid of President Trump's home.” 

The FBI called this claim “patently false.” 

The language in the search warrant regarding the use of deadly force “is part of the standard operations plan for searches,” Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters during a press conference Thursday. “In fact, it was even used in the consensual search of President Biden's home.” 

When asked whether or not he will acknowledge the falsehood of his conspiracy claim, Donalds provided a series of nonanswers, including offensive remarks about Biden and claims that he’s using the DOJ as political ammunition against Trump.

“I’m telling you, we are witnessing a weaponization of the Department of Justice against a political rival,” he said. 

“It’s a simple question of whether the raid was carried out in a way that was standard operating procedure for the FBI,” Phillip said. “Why would you insinuate that that was some kind of attempt at former President Trump’s life?”

In response, Donalds calls back to a super timely GOP talking point: Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Like many Republicans, Donald Trump has tried to sidestep the issue of abortion and reproductive rights. But he stumbled during an interview with a CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh this week, promising an “interesting” new policy that would let states restrict contraception..

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Trump enters the inevitable ‘sue everyone’ phase of his stock scam

Donald Trump’s businesses tend to pupate in predictable ways. It’s really just a two-step process when you think about it: First he scams anyone who’s foolish enough to get within spittle distance of him, and then he sues them.

When it comes to the parent company of Truth Social, we’re already in the suing phase. Maybe it’s a bit early for that, but Trump is particularly desperate these days. He needs to find new revenue streams from his current scams to pay for the predictable fallout from his previous scams, and it’s simply exhausting.

And just days after its launch, Trump’s latest public stock is already poised to make some savvy, forward-thinking people a lot of money. Those people are short-sellers and lawyers, who are currently circling like drunk buzzards over the mustering hosts of suckers and losers whose familiarity with Trump’s business practices is pretty much limited to what they’ve seen on “The Apprentice.” Or, perhaps more accurately, in Scrooge McDuck cartoons.

True to form, Trump’s suing the loyal business partners who most trusted him. Because he’s Donald Trump, and this is what Trump does and has always done. Seriously, people sending love letters to serial killers serving life sentences must look at Trump investors and wonder what the fuck is wrong with them.

The Associated Press:

Donald Trump is suing two co-founders of Trump Media & Technology Group, the newly public parent company of his Truth Social platform, arguing that they should forfeit their stock in the company because they set it up improperly.

The former U.S. president's lawsuit, which was filed on March 24 in Florida state court, follows a complaint filed in February by those co-founders, Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss. Their lawsuit sought to prevent Trump from taking steps the two said would sharply reduce their combined 8.6% stake in Trump Media. The pair filed their lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

Trump's lawsuit claims that Litinsky and Moss, who were both contestants on Trump’s reality-TV show “The Apprentice,” mishandled an attempt to take Trump Media public several years ago, allegedly putting the whole project “on ice” for more than a year and a half.

Trump is suing the founders of Truth Social because he's Trump. They brought the deal to him but he now alleges that they don't deserve their $606 million (on paper) stake in the company. They sued him in Delaware; he's suing them in Florida. Hot mess: https://t.co/4yfB0E3acz

— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) April 2, 2024

Of course, seeing retail investors pile actual U.S. currency into Trump’s empty husk of a meme stock is a bit like watching one of those Fyre Festival documentaries and eagerly awaiting the moment the paid guests start showing up at the concert grounds. We know what’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of time. If only we could fast-forward.

The rolling Truth Social stock disaster has been covered at Daily Kos here, here, here, and here, and there are literally dozens of reasons to believe Trump’s stock is headed nowhere but south. But here’s just one, from site founder Markos Moulitsas’ recent story on this latest Trump scam:

The [8-K] filing doesn’t sound all that optimistic: “TMTG expects to continue to incur operating losses and negative cash flows from operating activities for the foreseeable future, as it works to expand its user base, attracting more platform partners and advertisers.” So what is the company doing to attract more users and advertisers? “This growth is expected to come from the overall appeal of the Truth Social Platform.” Ahh, the “vibes” approach to company-building. There is nothing wrong with losing money in order to grow. Most growing businesses do that at some point. But they also don’t go public with a measly $4.1 million in revenue. The norm for Wall Street IPOs is $100 million in revenue and significant year-over-year growth. The idea that a company that has one-third of the revenue of Daily Kos is worth nearly $9 billion is the height of absurdity. And most people know this, which is why this is destined to be a penny stock.

Of course, as Kos notes, Truth Social stock is already plummeting, because it’s a house built on sand—but without the house part. Its fundamentals are piss poor, and its prospects are little better. Remember: Trump Media & Technology Group reported $58 million in losses for 2023 and a truly anemic $4.13 million in revenue. Which is weird, because you’d think the fortnightly goat sacrifices to Trump would yield more revenue than that, if only from the associated meat sales.

So, partly because Trump famously hates when anyone but him makes money off his name, and partly because he can’t control his greed, he is suing his business partners. And if they were at all surprised when they first felt that plastic Taco Bell spork plunge into their backs, well, they shouldn’t have been.

Because Trump sues everyone! He can’t help himself. After all, he once had the audacity to sue Deutsche Bank after he defaulted on the bank’s $640 million loan. And he once sued comedian Bill Maher for saying he’d donate $5 million to Trump’s favorite charity (presumably Toys for Trumps) if Trump could prove his mother wasn’t an orangutan

And apropos of our discussion, he’s also shown a disturbing eagerness for suing—and stiffing—the little guy, whom he regards as anyone below, or above, his current height and weight.

A 2016 USA Today analysis revealed that Trump had been involved in a whopping 4,095 lawsuits over the last three decades, both as a plaintiff and a defendant. And he’s infamously added several more since then.

If he’s not suing business partners to screw them out of their duly earned windfalls, he’s exploiting weaknesses in our legal system to screw contractors out of the money he owes them. After all, suing people is a big part of his business model. 

A separate USA Today article in 2016 took a look at Trump’s self-aggrandizing abuse of our court system, and it was clear that he wasn’t just fucking over big operators like Deutsche Bank. He was using his legal clout (aka money to pay lawyers) to beat up on small businesspeople. 

USA Today:

At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other government filings reviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK, document people who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their work. Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters. Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And, ironically, several law firms that once represented him in these suits and others.

All these suits prompted Slate to wonder last year if anyone in the world has ever been involved in more lawsuits—either as a plaintiff or defendant—than Trump. 

Trump’s large number of legal entanglements is particularly impressive because it’s not exactly easy to bring a lawsuit in the U.S. The legal system is expensive, with a huge assortment of court fees, plus the cost of hiring a lawyer. It also moves pretty slowly. But, somehow, none of that has deterred Trump. “I find it really surprising that Trump is able to pay for this much litigation and that people continue to take the risk of representing him,” said Alexandra Lahav, a law professor at Cornell Law School.

It’s surprising, in part, because Trump has a reputation for not paying his legal bills. One of Trump’s lead lawyers for his second impeachment trial quit just days before it was set to start over a compensation dispute, according to Axios. Trump and his businesses have faced at least 60 lawsuits over unpaid wages, including 24 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. He’s earned a reputation of stinginess, and his recent federal election filings indicate he’s turning to his presidential campaign for help, spending about $10 million from his Save America PAC to pay for personal legal fees.

It’s not all that surprising, though. For whatever reason, people continually give Trump a benefit of the doubt that he’s never come close to earning. And that may not change until every last human on the planet has been scammed by the dude—one way or another.

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Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link.

A rundown of the bizarre Republican responses to Kevin McCarthy’s ouster

The House of Representatives is without an active speaker after Kevin McCarthy was ousted from that position on Tuesday—by his fellow Republicans. Petty interim gavel-banger Rep. Patrick McHenry tried to set the tone by blaming Democrats for not fixing the Republican Party’s dysfunction.

McCarthy, for his part, held a press conference after his public humiliation and blamed former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was away at Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s funeral, for his abject failure. Now conservatives everywhere are pointing fingers and spinning the news, alternating between blaming the Democratic Party for McCarthy’s failed tenure as speaker and saying it's super fantastic that McCarthy is no longer speaker and everything is going to be A-okay.

Go figure.

First things first. Traditional media outlets have been giving a lot of credence to the idea that somehow, McCarthy’s terrible track record as speaker isn’t to blame for his inability to retain his position.

Just a little journalism note: Look at the people trying to turn the "Kevin McCarthy refused to make a deal with the only people who could help him, the Democrats" story into a "Democrats screwed up by not saving the guy who lied to them" story. Those are the bad people.

— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 4, 2023

Moderate Republican” Rep. Nancy Mace, along with Rep. Matt Gaetz, ran to Steve Bannon’s radio show thingy to talk about how great they were and how without McCarthy as speaker, they can really begin doing more oversight of Hunter Biden’s penis pictures.

Steve Bannon tells Nancy Mace that the only clip that Jack Posobiec and Charlie Kirk played from the impeachment inquiry hearing was hers. Mace: "I'm gonna take that as a compliment." She then starts talking about going after Hunter Biden for sex trafficking. pic.twitter.com/Na6lHbVUaM

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) October 4, 2023

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wants Trump to become the next speaker of the House because he’s doing well in the polls and “he has a proven four-year record as president,” which is … true? I mean, he was technically president (if twice-impeached) for four whole years.

I’m supporting President Donald J. Trump to be the next Speaker of the House! He has a proven four year record of putting America First and implementing the policies the American people want. President Trump is the man for the job! pic.twitter.com/KFOIb64XMe

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) October 4, 2023

What does the vice chair of the Republican National Committee believe?

You’ve got to start to wonder out loud if George Soros or some other liberal dark money is behind the idiotic move to derail the House Republican Majority and this pathetic Motion to Vacate effort.

— Nick Langworthy (@NickLangworthy) October 3, 2023

Wowsers. Didn’t see that one coming. Here’s a solid response summing up the theory:

pic.twitter.com/gLFuHZ93En

— memes (@OrganizerMemes) October 3, 2023

Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade wasn’t happy and had a fight with Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee about praying.

A little while later, Burchett went on CNN and claimed he had a recording of his conversation with McCarthy—a conversation that “went on in a belittling tone.”

We have two summations of the Republican Party’s talking points the last couple of days.

GOP (Sunday): “Dems are pedophiles!” GOP (Monday): “Dems are Communists!” GOP (Tuesday): “Dems are fascists!” GOP (Today): “Why didn’t Dems help us?”

— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) October 4, 2023

Kevin McCarthy: *agrees to far-right Speaker demands* *gives January 6 footage to Tucker Carlson* *holds debt ceiling hostage* *blocks Ukraine $ for border wishlist* *launches impeachment of Biden* *blames govt shutdown drama on Dems* Media: “Why won’t Democrats save McCarthy?!”

— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) October 4, 2023

After wringing his hands about how badly McCarthy was being treated, Politico reports that Rep. Jim Jordan has thrown his name into the ring to become the next speaker.

Jim Jordan's detractors say his involvement with a sex abuse scandal at Ohio State should disqualify the Congressman from holding GOP leadership positions. His supporters say he could be a fine Speaker in the mold of Dennis Hastert.

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) October 4, 2023

C'est la vie!

The “Speaker Kevin McCarthy” sign above the Capitol Speaker office is being removed now 👀 ⁦@CNNpic.twitter.com/omRFncVfnE

— Haley Talbot (@haleytalbotcnn) October 4, 2023

Enough with the weak leadership and MAGA circus. Sign the petition: Hakeem Jeffries for speaker!

‘Thanks Joe Biden’ trends on X, with glowing reviews of the president

President Joe Biden has been busy doing things in the hopes of making Americans’ lives better. Whether it is announcing an ambitious job-training program, passing infrastructure legislation, or working to bring down drug costs, his administration has legitimately attempted to not only undo much of the damage caused by the last administration but also change the trajectory of our country’s inequalities. There are a million things that still need to be done, and bigger, more ambitious policies that must be pursued, but when the last administration’s crowning achievement was exacerbating the country’s wealth inequality with a huge tax giveaway to the rich, Biden’s attempts to make government work for average workers is a step forward.

Late Thursday, “Thank Joe BIden” began trending on X (formerly Twitter), and it became something epic, pointing out the positives of Biden’s administration, while frequently comparing it to the Trump-ternative.

Thanks Joe Biden! Thanks to the POTUS!! https://t.co/sPCUVzGHW0

— Peter Blue 2024 (@PKRIDESAGAIN) September 20, 2023

And the comparisons.

Thanks Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/GFYSLpHoYw

— Mark my words - Trumps Going to Prison! (@TFGLiedUSADied) September 21, 2023

Thanks Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/WGPrndyLea

— 🇺🇸 Geo Is Still Pissed 🇺🇦🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧🌊🐕🌎🍷🌿 (@Geo_Is_Pissed) September 21, 2023

This one is a little blue.

Thanks Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/eXVw9c5hOr

— Mark my words - Trumps Going to Prison! (@TFGLiedUSADied) September 21, 2023

This one is sort of mesmerizing.

🫶 "Thanks Joe Biden" “No Thanks Trump” pic.twitter.com/hd1NVOdbtz

— 1 & only👉SilverAdie Art 🌈 Parody—other 1 is fake (@SilverAdie) September 21, 2023

Here are a few that take advantage of also making fun of New York Times columnist David Brooks and his airport bar tab.

I just paid $78 for two slices of buttered toast, thanks Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/HCZNg3vKT9

— En Buen Ora 🆗 (@EnBuenora) September 21, 2023

It’s true, you guys. My family has had to cut back to only eating at airport restaurants 4 nights a week. THANKS JOE BIDEN!

— Jay Black (@jayblackisfunny) September 21, 2023

Here are a few million people that are probably happier Biden is president.

Thanks Joe Biden 😎💙🇺🇸👏🏼pic.twitter.com/CMflneWXTT

— PCali68 💙🌊🟧 (@SCRCali68) September 22, 2023

Sign the petition: Denounce MAGA GOP's baseless impeachment inquiry against Biden

Kerry talks with Drew Linzer, director of the online polling company Civiqs. Drew tells us what the polls say about voters’ feelings toward President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and what the results would be if the two men were to, say … run against each other for president in 2024. Oh yeah, Drew polled to find out who thinks Donald Trump is guilty of the crimes he’s been indicted for, and whether or not he should see the inside of a jail cell.

‘Thanks Joe Biden’ trends on X, with glowing reviews of the president

President Joe Biden has been busy doing things in the hopes of making Americans’ lives better. Whether it is announcing an ambitious job-training program, passing infrastructure legislation, or working to bring down drug costs, his administration has legitimately attempted to not only undo much of the damage caused by the last administration but also change the trajectory of our country’s inequalities. There are a million things that still need to be done, and bigger, more ambitious policies that must be pursued, but when the last administration’s crowning achievement was exacerbating the country’s wealth inequality with a huge tax giveaway to the rich, Biden’s attempts to make government work for average workers is a step forward.

Late Thursday, “Thank Joe BIden” began trending on X (formerly Twitter), and it became something epic, pointing out the positives of Biden’s administration, while frequently comparing it to the Trump-ternative.

Thanks Joe Biden! Thanks to the POTUS!! https://t.co/sPCUVzGHW0

— Peter Blue 2024 (@PKRIDESAGAIN) September 20, 2023

And the comparisons.

Thanks Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/GFYSLpHoYw

— Mark my words - Trumps Going to Prison! (@TFGLiedUSADied) September 21, 2023

Thanks Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/WGPrndyLea

— 🇺🇸 Geo Is Still Pissed 🇺🇦🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧🌊🐕🌎🍷🌿 (@Geo_Is_Pissed) September 21, 2023

This one is a little blue.

Thanks Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/eXVw9c5hOr

— Mark my words - Trumps Going to Prison! (@TFGLiedUSADied) September 21, 2023

This one is sort of mesmerizing.

🫶 "Thanks Joe Biden" “No Thanks Trump” pic.twitter.com/hd1NVOdbtz

— 1 & only👉SilverAdie Art 🌈 Parody—other 1 is fake (@SilverAdie) September 21, 2023

Here are a few that take advantage of also making fun of New York Times columnist David Brooks and his airport bar tab.

I just paid $78 for two slices of buttered toast, thanks Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/HCZNg3vKT9

— En Buen Ora 🆗 (@EnBuenora) September 21, 2023

It’s true, you guys. My family has had to cut back to only eating at airport restaurants 4 nights a week. THANKS JOE BIDEN!

— Jay Black (@jayblackisfunny) September 21, 2023

Here are a few million people that are probably happier Biden is president.

Thanks Joe Biden 😎💙🇺🇸👏🏼pic.twitter.com/CMflneWXTT

— PCali68 💙🌊🟧 (@SCRCali68) September 22, 2023

Sign the petition: Denounce MAGA GOP's baseless impeachment inquiry against Biden

Kerry talks with Drew Linzer, director of the online polling company Civiqs. Drew tells us what the polls say about voters’ feelings toward President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and what the results would be if the two men were to, say … run against each other for president in 2024. Oh yeah, Drew polled to find out who thinks Donald Trump is guilty of the crimes he’s been indicted for, and whether or not he should see the inside of a jail cell.

Matt Gaetz’s rumored run for Florida governor draws fun reactions

Rumors have heated up that Rep. Matt Gaetz wants to run for governor of Florida. NBC reports that with current Gov. Ron DeSantis facing term limits, Gaetz’s possible announcement was the topic of conversation in Tallahassee during a state legislative function the past few days. One longtime Florida Republican lobbyist told NBC, “There was a lot of talk about it at the reception last night, and Gaetz was telling people to basically expect him to be in.”

It’s clear Gaetz enjoys the spotlight. His public appearances over the past few months have seen him attacking everyone in his party not named Trump, and can be interpreted as him positioning himself to be the GOP’s next top Florida Man. Frankly, for those who have watched Gaetz’s craven political theater these past few years, it’d be more shocking if he didn’t run for a new office.

Gaetz has the kind of detestable personality that inspires reactions, both voluntary and involuntary, and this news was no different.

RELATED STORY: Gaetz attacks McCarthy in wild House speech

One of the most shared … feelings about this news can be summed up in about five words.

Shouldn't he be in jail?

— Kelsey Logan (@subtle_optimism) September 18, 2023

If reading isn’t your thing:

pic.twitter.com/GP2VcwPy6e

— Jackie (clevfan) (@jackiehaz) September 18, 2023

Uhh Huhu, I’m gonna like , run for governor of Florida pic.twitter.com/UxM4kGYJYQ

— Kory Korsakoff (@KorsakoffK) September 18, 2023

Anyone watch “The Good Place”?

pic.twitter.com/OBSseoVgvd

— Marja 💙 🌎 (@marjaane) September 18, 2023

What about “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”?

pic.twitter.com/cVD0frkkVI

— @dangloeckner (@dangloeckner) September 18, 2023

And finally, a sentiment shared by most who heard the news:

Holy crap, no!!!

— MamaDee 🟧 (@AltmanDannean) September 18, 2023

God help us all if Gaetz can get atop of Florida’s political system. As we have seen, Florida governors can do a world of damage.

Sign the petition: Denounce DeSantis & Florida Republicans

RELATED STORIES:

Matt Gaetz’s impeachment schtick didn’t fly with CNN anchor

Florida man Matt Gaetz wants to censure judge in Trump case

Rep. Matt Gaetz gives speech against sexual harassment. Yes, that Matt Gaetz

Kerry talks with Drew Linzer, director of the online polling company Civiqs. Drew tells us what the polls say about voters’ feelings toward President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and what the results would be if the two men were to, say … run against each other for president in 2024. Oh yeah, Drew polled to find out who thinks Donald Trump is guilty of the crimes he’s been indicted for, and whether or not he should see the inside of a jail cell.

Musk leaks Twitter documents to pursue his own agenda, making Twitter a more dangerous platform

It's been an eventful weekend in Muskland, and as usual every act boils down to Elon Musk making some new attempt to make Twitter worse. Say what you want about Musk, but the creativity of his approach is impressive; the man keeps inventing new ways to make Twitter worth less than it was the day before. Could you do that? No, probably not. Even more impressive is Musk's creativity in inventing new disasters for Twitter that don't involve white supremacists or Nazi sympathizers.

The big news, or what was supposed to be big news until it flopped, was Musk's release of internal Twitter communications that showed employees agonizing over the company's October 2020 decision to block a New York Post story in which the Post claimed it had obtained access to—insert drumroll here—"Hunter Biden's laptop." In a fairly interminable Twitter thread, former big-name journalist turned Substacker Matt Taibbi shared snippets of the internal debate that were provided to him by Musk.

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The big news, as Taibbi would have it, was that this internal debate existed; we already know, however, that Twitter would soon reverse its decision and that the company saw this particular episode as an unforced error on its part. What Taibbi (who is not a credible voice on these matters) glosses over are the reasons why Twitter, along with nearly every other major non-Rupert Murdoch-owned news outlet, was so wary of the Post's October "surprise." The news that the contents of a laptop belonging to "Hunter Biden" had somehow been delivered to Rudy Giuliani and other pro-Trump provocateurs was enough to cause skepticism of itself, given that Giuliani was embroiled in a years-long effort to manufacture a new pro-Russia hoax that would claim that it was Russia's enemy Ukraine and U.S. Democratic figures who were the true villains behind the Russian government's interventions on Trump's behalf in the 2016 presidential elections. The FBI had even warned Twitter beforehand that there was reason to believe a Russia-backed disinformation campaign targeting Hunter Biden, specifically, was in the works. The Post refused to provide evidence of its claims to more reputable media outlets, and many observers inside and outside Twitter indeed saw all the makings of a Giuliani-backed, possibly Russian-backed election eve hoax.

If it wasn't a hoax, new factors came into play: Was the laptop's data stolen, and would publishing information from a stolen device constitute a crime? What evidence could the Post provide that even if the data was genuine, it hadn't been altered between the time it left Hunter Biden's possession and, through a series of suspect events, landed in the Post's possession? (And, it turns out, the data had indeed been altered.)

We still don't have solid answers to any of it, but the internal Twitter debate was initially premised on suspicions that the Post's "laptop" story stood good chance of either being a Giuliani-tied hoax or the product of a criminal data hack. Twitter later reevaluated those odds and reversed itself, but if you were to ask anyone not on the Trump campaign's personal go-to lists whether or not they could vouch for a story that seemed to be pulled quite directly from the same Giuliani-promoted anti-Ukraine propaganda efforts that led to Donald Trump's first impeachment trial, you can begin to understand why Twitter's trust and safety teams were falling over themselves to determine whether the notoriously sensationalist Post had just willingly fallen for a hoax or, worse from Twitter's standpoint, were abetting a crime.

All of this is fairly interesting from a content moderation standpoint ... and that's about it. For a thread exploring just what it does and doesn't mean, however, you can try here.

It also can't be overlooked that a very great deal of the controversy revolves around conservatives wanting to expose pornographic images of Hunter Biden found on the "laptop," in the name of constitutional free speech or somesuch. Revenge porn is not, however, generally considered free speech. Nor do we have any concrete explanation for why the crowd currently beside themselves with theories about "groomers" continues to be so fired up in their demands that they be able to post images of penises, though the Jordan-Gaetz wing of the party could probably shed some light on that for us and will no doubt make it their mission to do so whether we want them to or not.

Alternatively you can do what Donald Trump Jr. did: Snort a hell of a lot of something and melt the absolute bejeebers down because being able to expose private information and images of a politician's grown-ass adult son is the most important issue of our modern era:

Junior is upset that the media isn’t making a big deal out of the Hunter story, and says that 70% of people would’ve switched their vote in 2020 if they had known about it. pic.twitter.com/dUgjdnol1s

— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) December 4, 2022

It's not clear Uday here is really thinking through the consequences of his assertions that probing the private life of a prominent American politician's drug-fueled failson is absolutely something that must be done, but if that clip is any indication he won't be able to think through such things until he gets three full days of sleep and at least a few bags of IV fluid.

The biggest takeaway from the story, however, might be its impact on Twitter itself. In a wide-ranging Twitter Spaces Q&A session featuring a vaudevillian cast of supporting characters, Elon Musk claimed he has given full access to internal Twitter emails and documents to Taibbi, Bari Weiss, and to at least one other person.

Musk's goal appears to be to hunt for justification for his claims that Twitter has acted to "give preference to left wing candidates" here and abroad; in order to find such evidence, Musk is relying on at least two would-be investigators who have focused their current careers on making such claims.

Whether you work for Twitter or simply use the platform, Musk has now demonstrated that he's willing to publicly release your work for the purposes of backing his own conservative agenda.

That's going to be an existential problem—literally—for protesters in other countries who have used Twitter to organize and to evade government speech restrictions. If Musk is willing to open up private employee communications in order to target, by name, employees and groups who he believes favor the "left," will the Musk-led company be similarly eager to expose the direct messages of those who have run afoul of conservative Saudi and Iranian regimes? And what of Ukraine, where Twitter is a dominant means of tracking—often anonymously—both military movements and likely war crimes?

Can U.S. journalists themselves trust that Musk will not personally take an interest in their own direct messages on the social network, or release those private messages if he believes they show "bias" against his own friends and allies?

Musk's apparent move to provide anti-left "investigators" with years of internal employee records goes beyond making Twitter a more dodgy place for advertisers and for attention-grabbing celebrities and journalists. It demonstrates Twitter to be a now inherently unsafe place for anyone who might someday run afoul of Musk and his personal agenda. It wipes out Twitter as an organizing tool—unless, of course, you're a white supremacist, neo-Nazi sympathizer, crypto scammer, conservative propagandist, or other Musk ally.

Yes, that brings us to the final story of the weekend: Musk's order to reinstate celebrity train wreck Kanye West, even though West had been suspended from Twitter for antisemitic statements, ended precisely how everyone but Musk thought it would after Musk was again forced to suspend West after West tweeted, in the immediate aftermath of an Alex Jones appearance in which he praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, an image that merged the Star of David with the Nazi swastika.

Because Musk continues to know absolutely nothing about anything when it comes to running a social media network, First Amendment-thumping conman Musk falsely claimed he was obliged to suspend West because showing the image was a violation of American law. This is an outrageously false statement, and one that proves Musk to be an absolute buffoon when it comes to interpreting "free speech" rights or anything else.

It does, however, hint at yet another way Musk may be getting Twitter into very hot regulatory waters. Displaying Nazi symbols is not illegal in the United States, but it can be illegal in Germany. As an international company, Twitter must navigate an ever-bubbling stew of international regulations, and must now do so despite Musk's removal of most of the staff responsible for knowing those regulations and abiding by them.

There's no question that West tweeted the symbol as an intentional nod to Nazis, but whether that specific image would run afoul of German law is unclear. What's considerably more dangerous to Musk is his own order that previously banned hate accounts, including neo-Nazi figures, be unbanned. There appear to be around 12,000 suspended accounts so far reactivated, including QAnon hoaxers, spam accounts, "adult content" distributors, and the heads of several notorious white supremacist groups.

At the same time, Twitter moderation is grappling, poorly, with far-right and fascist attempts to get anti-fascist watchdog accounts banned en masse by flooding Twitter with false reports targeting those users. The far-right may not need help, however, given that Musk himself has been publicly asking far-right figures to provide him with lists of accounts they believe should be suspended.

Oh—and in the meantime, the re-launch of "Twitter Blue" remains stymied by rampant identity theft concerns and now, a Musk-led attempt to dodge Apple App Store fees.

So there's where things stand now. Twitter is suspending watchdog accounts that report on the doings of extremist far-right groups, a far-right campaign that is successful in large part because Twitter now doesn't have enough moderators to police against the gaming of their systems. Musk himself is publicly appealing to extremist figures to report their enemies. And Musk is releasing internal Twitter communications to a handpicked list of right-leaning investigators in a move that is already resulting in the far-right targeting of Twitter employees who made (or didn't make) decisions that Musk personally suspects to have been motivated by hostility towards the right.

Whether it's time to leave Twitter, at least for the moment, is up to you. But know the platform is now inherently "unsafe" in that Musk has proven willing to use his ownership to selectively leak whatever he personally believes might provide him with an advantage. In the meantime the question of Twitter's short-term viability is entirely out of our hands; Musk is on a collision course with European regulators, with the Federal Trade Commission, and with the site's own teetering stability.

With the reinstatement of high-profile hate accounts and new warnings from federal officials predicting that new Twitter-published hate speech will lead to extremist violence, it's now impossible to name any Musk action that hasn't had the immediate result of making Twitter less profitable, less reliable, and far more dangerous.

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Republican politicians running ads on white-nationalist platform Gab, including Herschel Walker

As if the radicalization of the Republican Party weren’t already clearly enough established, a number of GOP candidates—notably, ex-football star Herschel Walker, the nominee in the race against incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock for Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat—have begun advertising on the white-nationalist-friendly platform Gab.

The list also includes some less surprising names, such as Republicans’ go-to white nationalist in the House, Paul Gosar of Arizona, and the QAnon-loving keynote speaker for the white-nationalist “America First” conference earlier this year, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

As Alex Kaplan reports at Media Matters, Gab last August introduced a new feature enabling people to advertise on the site. Founder Andrew Torba called it “a huge step forward for our vision of a parallel economy” comprising clients who have been removed from other platforms for terms-of-use violations.

Walker has been among the more prolific advertisers. One ad, saying “we need your support today,” depicts Warnock as “celebrity funded” and “celebrity approved,” while another shows a lineup of liberal celebrities who have donated to Warnock’s campaign and asking, “Georgia Values? Or Hollywood Values?,” adding: “I need your help to WIN.”

Other “Team Walker” ads on Gab claim “the race is in a dead heat,” claim that “the Liberal Media is out to get me,” and “the road to defeating the Biden Agenda runs right through Georgia.”

As The Informant’s Nick Martin notes, it’s not clear whether Walker himself has an account at Gab. One unverified page with 7,000 followers uses his name and photo, but it has only posted there once—three days after the Jan. 6 insurrection, when its owner wrote: "Hey everyone. Coming on over to Gab after the sad news about Parler."

Among the other Republican candidates advertising on Gab has been Jerrod Sussler of Washington state’s 4th Congressional District, who is seeking to unseat incumbent Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse, who was targeted for primary defeat by Donald Trump after he voted for Trump’s impeachment in January 2021.

Gosar, who also delivered a taped speech at the white-nationalist America First convention in February, asked “every America First Patriot” to chip in to defend his reelection bid. He has previously praised Gab as comprising “people who respect real diversity, diversity of opinion, thoughts, and views.”

Greene’s ads on Gab have featured her aiming a .50-caliber sniper rifle (“Enter to win MTG’s gun!”) and posing with former Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka with an “Impeach Biden” sign. “Joe Biden must be impeached,” the text reads. “Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not next year. NOW … before it is too late!”

Gab established itself in 2016 as a friendly environment for right-wing extremists. “When a group of people are being systematically dehumanized and labeled as the alphabet soup of phobias,” Torba wrote, “they will look for a place that will allow them to speak freely without censorship and devoid of Social Justice bullying.”

The reality is that the site has been a free-for-all of bigotry, conspiracism, and violent rhetoric. Posts with headlines like “Satanic PizzaGate Is Going Viral Worldwide (Elites Are Terrified)” are standard fare. Antisemitism flourishes in the comments, where a mere downvote can get users accused of being a “#Jew.”

Pittsburgh mass shooter Robert Bowers was a regular Gab user, and posted his final threat (“Screw your optics. I’m going in”) to the site before embarking on his 2018 rampage inside a synagogue that left 11 people dead. Gab was largely deplatformed in the aftermath of that incident, but eventually found a hosting service with the Northwest-based Epik, which also hosts Alex Jones’ Infowars operation.

Torba’s own antisemitism is well established. Speaking at the February America First gathering, he told the audience he “rebukes the Synagogue of Satan.” He also called for “a parallel Christian society,” because “we are fed up with the Judeo-Bolshevik one.”

When criticized, Torba responded: “Sadly many Christians today are so afraid of being called a silly meaningless name by the world (bigot, antisemite, homophobe) that they refuse to even remotely share or discuss the Gospel in their daily lives, let alone live it,” adding: “You reveal your anti-Christian hatred when you refer to Biblical Truth as ‘antisemitism.’”

After its post-Pittsburgh downturn, Gab has worked to reestablish itself among far-right activists; in 2019, it was able to return to financial stability thanks to an online crowdfunding strategy. After the Jan. 6 insurrection—particularly the demise of Parler, which had become an effective competitor for the same audience—it once again became a popular place for extremists to gather and share their violent seditionist worldviews.

Media Matters noted that Gab also introduced targeted advertising recently. That means that there may be other Republican candidates buying ads on the platform whose activity is not immediately visible.

You want something positive to listen to? Here’s a compilation of Daily Kos’ The Brief podcast

This past year, Daily Kos’ Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld began hosting a podcast called The Brief. With loads of help from Daily Kos’ Cara Zelaya, Carolyn Fiddler, and Dorothy He, and myself, we have rolled out a year’s worth of episodes, with interviews with elected officials, political advisers, legal experts, grassroots organizers, and our own in-house elections experts and reporters. Every week has been a learning experience, whether it’s talking with RuralOrganizing.org’s Matt Hildreth to discuss what is happening on the ground with rural voters or talking with The Nation’s Elie Mystal about the legal ramifications of anti-choice laws and the Supreme Court.

The show is an optimistic one, and in this day and age, with our democracy hanging in the balance, it has been a real oasis of hope to talk with the people working to make changes on the ground at the state and local level.

First, let me plug the show with hyperlinks! You can find intros and recaps on Daily Kos here. You can watch those podcasts on the Daily Kos YouTube channel here. You can listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, like here or here.

And now some 2021 highlights:

The History of the Republican Party’s Dedication to Whiteness:

In February, with Trump’s second impeachment trial looming, Markos and Kerry spoke with historian Kathleen Frydl to discuss the potentials of the Biden administration and the historical “politics of whiteness” embraced by the Republican Party since the late 1960s.

Can the Republican Party be saved? What about rural America?

Executive Director of RuralOrganizing.org Matt Hildreth joined the crew to talk about the work going on locally to disconnect rural America from right-wing misinformation and what the Democratic Party has to do in order to cut down the margins and gain the political power the majority of Americans—rural communities included—desire.

Arizona is ground zero for the GOP’s assault on democracy. How’s 2022 looking?

A popular name around the watercooler in progressive circles these days is Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-07). Gallego is at the top of the list of people everyone except Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hopes will primary Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in 2024. We had him on in June to talk about Sinema and the future of Arizona’s progressive movement.

The fight for rural America is alive and well. Can progressives win the rural vote?

You may remember J.D. Scholten when he came out of nowhere, running a grassroots campaign that exceeded all expectations in challenging racist Iowa Rep. Steve King. Kerry and Markos spoke with Scholten of Rural Objective PAC and John Ray of YouGov Blue to talk about what was being done and the data being used to connect with rural voters long neglected by the Democratic Party. 

Has the political press learned anything in its coverage of the Trump Republican Party?

Markos and Kerry spoke with former senior writer at Media Matters for America Eric Boehlert. They talked about the shifting role of the media under the Trump administration and what that means for politics and the Republican Party’s willingness to shamelessly push fascism.

Mississippi, believe it or not, should be a purple state and the future of the Trump Party

Former U.S. House member, secretary of agriculture, and Senate candidate Mike Espy was the guest for this episode where Markos and Kerry talked about the once believed to be impossible reality of a more purple Mississippi. While many folks in the traditional political world have long dismissed Mississippi as forever red, the same was once said about Georgia—and we all know what happened in Georgia.

So, how about that census? The future of America is less and less white

Executive Director of NextGen America Cristina Tzintun Ramirez spoke with Markos and Kerry about what exactly the changing demographics of our country mean for grassroots activists and democracy writ large in the coming years and decades. Ramirez also spoke to the need for candidates and officials to recognize the damage being done to many new Americans as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the opportunities it offers all of us to create relationships that help make our country stronger.

The Texas anti-abortion law, and how we can fight it

Elie Mystal became one of The Brief’s first return guests to discuss the outrageous Texas abortion ban law and what could and could not be done about it. Mystal gave a solid criticism of the Biden administration and what it was failing to do as GOP-led state legislatures continued their war on civil rights and civil liberties.

What the polls show us about our democracy, on Daily Kos' The Brief

Markos cofounded Civiqs, a polling and data analytics firm that conducts public opinion research online, with Drew Linzer back in 2013. Civiqs generates its data and polling in a more granular and real-time fashion than has been done previously. Linzer came on the show in July to talk about what polling has shown in regards to Americans’ beliefs over time. He spoke to the truth that can be found in the tracking of people’s beliefs and how frequently the facts of polling belie the media narrative being pushed about what does and does not change public opinion. 

These are just 10 of the dozens of shows that include guests like Julián Castro, Rev. Dr. Barber, Historian Elizabeth Hinton, VoteVets Jon Soltz, and New Georgia Project’s Nse Ufot. Are there any guests or subjects you would like—dare I say love—to see The Brief tackle in the future? Comment away!