Governing is hard . . . as Trump is about to find out

December 10, 2024

I am circling back to events that occurred late last week and over the weekend. Others have discussed these developments fully, especially Donald Trump's first “sit down” interview as president-elect. See, for example, Jay Kuo on Substack, Status Kuo, The Interview. I recommend Jay Kuo’s article for a detailed analysis of Trump's lies during his first formal interview as president-elect.

As Kuo describes in his essay, Trump touched on five major topics:

• He vowed to end birthright citizenship under the US Constitution.

• He is still exploring “concepts of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act;

• He acknowledged that his threatened tariffs might contribute to inflation;

• He threatened the January 6 Committee members with imprisonment while pledging to pardon January 6 insurrectionists;

• He threatened to “send them all back,” referring to ten million immigrants whom he believes are subject to immediate detention and deportation.

Trump's threats outlined above will cause tens of millions of Americans to experience fear and anxiety and will inflict financial and emotional hardship on innocent family members. While that damage must never be minimized, we must also recognize that Trump's threats--collectively and individually—portend a disastrous start to his second term.

If he is stupid enough to follow through on his threats (and he is), they will provide Democrats, Independents, and shell-shocked Republicans with a common platform to resist and obstruct Trump's agenda, and punish his party.

Although NBC published a post-interview fact check and Kristen Welker pushed back against many of Trump’s falsehoods, Welker and NBC gave Trump plenty of airtime to repeat his outrageous lies.

Giving Trump that platform is journalistic malpractice—one that the major networks and cable outlets commit again and again. Readers sent me several dozen copies of David Pepper’s criticisms of the NBC interview: See Pepperspectives (on Substack), Platforming Disinformation - by David Pepper.

David Pepper prescribes the only rational approach to interviewing Trump (an approach not followed by Kristen Welker):

I’ll re-make the simple suggestion I made [when NBC interviewed Trump over a year ago]: Never move on from the FIRST lie until Trump acknowledges it’s a lie.

NEVER.

Literally….end the interview rather than moving onto the next topic.

Why does this matter?

Because Trump and other dishonest subjects go into these interviews KNOWING they can get away with endless lying, for two reasons.

First, in many cases, most of the lies are not even fact-checked.

Second, even if they are fact checked, the liar KNOWS that the interviewer’s goal is to get through a long list of questions. That list of questions, more than truth itself, becomes the goal of the interview.

David Pepper is absolutely correct! Unless journalists are willing to do the real work of holding Trump accountable for his lies, they are providing a platform for those lies.

Back to my thesis: Each of Trump's threats mentioned during the NBC interview will sow the seeds of MAGA’s defeat. For example, Trump wrongly claims that he can “end” birthright citizenship—a right explicitly guaranteed in the 14^th Amendment. His proposal has been met with derision and scorn by legal scholars, who have described Trump's theory as a “lunatic fringe argument” and akin to believing in “unicorns.”

But that won’t stop Trump from issuing an unconstitutional executive order that will immediately cloud the status of legal residency, employment, Social Security benefits, healthcare, and unemployment insurance for tens of millions of Americans. Many millions of those American citizens likely voted for Trump in the mistaken belief that his lunacy would be directed at other people.

Trump intentionally ratcheted up the fear factor by saying that his termination of birthright citizenship should not “break up families.” Instead, Trump proposes to deport everyone in the family in which only some members have birthright citizenship.

Deportation based on “guilt by association” is extraordinarily unlikely to happen, but it did not stop Trump from making the threat during the interview and frightening millions of American families in which some, but not all, of the family members are US citizens by birth.

The same cruelty is embedded in Trump's massive deportation plan, which he has previously acknowledged will sweep in US citizens or legal residents entitled to remain in the US.

Even Trump knows he went too far in his interview bombast. He was forced to acknowledge during the interview that his tariffs “might” contribute to inflation—a statement that is as close as Trump ever comes to an admission that he is wrong.

Moreover, on Monday, a Trump spokesperson went further in attempting to “walk back” one of Trump's statements about jailing members of the January 6 Committee. The unusual move by Trump came after some of Trump's stalwart allies in the legal world blasted Trump for claiming that members of the January 6 Committee should be imprisoned.

Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington School of Law and a frequent defender of Trump during impeachment hearings, said the following on Fox “news”:

The fact, however, is that there is no viable criminal case to be made against the J6 Committee members for their investigation or report. We need to move beyond the rage rhetoric if this country is going to come together to face the tough challenges ahead.

Trump spokesperson Jason Miller tried to dispute the clear implication of Trump's threat against the J6 Committee members by saying that Trump only wants “the law to be applied equally to everyone” and that the decision would be left up to law enforcement officials, including Kash Patel.

Of course, Jason Miller did not acknowledge that Kash Patel (nominee for FBI) has a political enemies list that includes every prominent member of the January 6 Committee.

If Trump follows through with his threat to pursue that January 6 Committee, his effort will crash and burn—even if it makes its way to the compromised and corrupt Roberts’ reactionary majority. The work of the January 6 Committee is absolutely protected by the Speech and Debate Clause of the US Constitution.

Finally, Trump's pledge to pardon the January 6 insurrectionists is a lose-lose proposition for Trump. If he pardons all of them (unlikely) he will pardon dozens of insurrectionists who attacked and inflicted serious injuries on dozens of law enforcement officers. If Trump pardons fewer than all of the insurrectionists, he will be viewed as having broken his promise and betrayed his most violent supporters among the January 6 mob. As I said, lose, lose.

Here's my point: Trump is in the “talking tough, consequence free” portion of his post-election fantasy tour. As soon as he attempts to act on any of his anti-democratic, “lunatic fringe,” family-busting threats, the consequences of his cruelty will dominate the airwaves non-stop. And that will horrify Americans and weaken Trump politically.

I expect that many readers will disagree with my analysis. But the Trump team has already seen this train coming down the tracks, which is why Jason Miller has started to walk-back some of Trump's comments and Trump has himself acknowledged that tariffs will raise prices in the US.

I believe that Trump has overplayed his hand. Yes, he will carry through with some of his threats and will inflict pain on millions of Americans. That tragic state of affairs will be our opening to convince the majority of Americans that Trump and his party of enablers are toxic to democracy.

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Support Marc Elias at Democracy Docket

Marc Elias is an attorney who led the effort to defend free and fair elections in 2020 and 2024. He leads the law firm The Elias Group and publishes Democracy Docket, a clearinghouse for news about election-related litigation. Those accomplishments alone establish Marc as a leading champion for democracy.

But after Trump's victory on November 5, Marc Elias has been disillusioned and upset by the growing cowardice of many in the media and the business elite who have begun to “cozy up” to Trump. Elias began writing opinion pieces in the Democracy Docket Newsletter that ranged into political activism and resistance outside of the litigation context.

Over the last several weeks, I have been recommending (even more than usual) that readers follow Marc Elias’s newsletter and the Democracy Docket platform because of Marc’s newfound activism.

On Monday, Marc published an essay on Democracy Docket that acknowledged his transformation and asked for our support. See Marc Elias in Democracy Docket, Fearlessly independent, unapologetically pro-democracy.

Marc writes, in part,

You may have noticed that since the election I have shifted my tone and approach to the challenges facing our democracy. I have become increasingly alarmed by the lack of courage from many who boasted loudly about protecting democracy before the election but have now gone silent. I have grown impatient with those urging caution, compromise and conciliation towards Trump and the MAGA movement.

There are many ways to oppose Trump and his dangerous band of misfit minions. No one has a monopoly on the correct strategy. I welcome discussion and debate on tactics and approach. But I cannot abide by appeasement and anticipatory obedience.

In the last few weeks, however, it has become clear that the challenges to democracy are even greater than I feared. Legacy media is in decline. Many of its billionaire owners seek to curry favor with Trump. Even progressive media personalities have shown an inclination to bow down rather than fight.

Democracy Docket will widen its aperture to be a voice of opposition to Trump and MAGA at a time when too many legacy news outlets are kissing the ring and deciding how to make nice.

You can support Democracy Docket just by signing up for its newsletter (which is free). Sign up here: - Democracy Docket. Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation or annual pledge. At a time when legacy media is collapsing in acquiescence to Trump, please consider re-directing your financial support to Marc Elias at Democracy Docket. I just doubled my annual pledge to Democracy Docket.

And, for the record, I don’t know Marc Elias, and no one asked me to make this pitch. Like Harry Litman on Substack (who just resigned from the LA Times), Marc deserves our support as a leading voice for Democracy who is willing to stay true to his convictions.

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Opportunities for Reader Engagement

Join A Zoom With The Democratic Nominees For Two Critical Virginia Special Elections!

Meet Kannan Srinivasan for VA State Senate and JJ Singh for VA State House:

· Tuesday, December 10th, 11am ET/ 8am PT, on Zoom: RSVP HERE

And/Or

· Wednesday, December 11th, 7pm ET/ 4pm PT, on Zoom: RSVP HERE!

For the evening Zoom, VA Delegate Rip Sullivan will moderate and give an update on the Virginia landscape for the fall.

In 2023, Democrats took back control of the VA General Assembly by winning a slim one-seat majority in both the VA Senate and House of Delegates. Now there are two Special Elections on January 7th that put both majorities at risk. We know that winning Special Elections is all about reaching voters and driving turnout. We think our postcards, donations and activism can help win these two critical races and keep statehouse control in the Bellwether State.

Joining the Zooms is free, but if you would like to support one or both campaigns to help win their January 7th Special Elections, you can contribute here.

Read more about these VA elections in this NY Times piece: Did Trump Drain Democrats’ Energy? These Races Will Be the First Test

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Concluding Thoughts

In response to yesterday’s newsletter (“Checking in”), several hundred readers emailed to say that they weren’t giving up, either. Many outlined specific steps they are taking to regain momentum.

Reader Vicky C wrote:

As outreach captain of our Democratic county committee, I've outlined three ways to connect with our community and our legislators: (1) kitchen table gatherings, (2) calls to legislators about issues, and (3) displacing disinformation. I've told our group that the best activism is the activism you will do. So, choose one of the three, and remember that when you feel buried, you've actually been planted. So, let's keep growing!

I highlight Vicky’s response because of its focus on identifying small steps that are doable at this moment. That seems like a good strategy to me. Start small. Be consistent. Do it daily . . . . sort of like Chop Wood Carry Water—which is the name of the Substack newsletter by Jessica Craven. If you are feeling overwhelmed, let Jessica help you do one small act of resistance each day.

Governing is hard . . . as Trump is about to find out. Resistance isn’t easy, but at this moment in history, we are fighting for justice, democracy, and decency. If we can’t control the government, helping to bend the moral arc of the universe toward justice is the next best thing.

Stay strong! Talk to you tomorrow!

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Daily Dose of Perspective

The tiny nebula in the center of the image below is Hubble’s Variable Nebula, named after the famous astronomer Edwin Hubble. Hubble discovered that the universe extends beyond the Milky Way and is expanding—two of the most important discoveries of the 20^th Century.

Readers frequently ask if I am related to the famous astronomer Edwin Hubble. The answer is “Yes.” Most of the Hubbells / Hubbles in America are descendants of Richard Hubbell, who emigrated to America in the 1640s from Ribbesford, Worcestershire, England.

Richard Hubbell settled in New Haven Colony (later absorbed into the Connecticut Colony). He became a farmer and married and outlived three wives who bore him fourteen children. Add 400 years to those fourteen ancestors, and nearly every Hubbell / Hubble in America is related.

Richard Hubbell could not read or write when he arrived in the New Haven Colony. Approximately three hundred years later, his direct descendant, Edwin Hubble, unlocked two of the most important secrets of the universe. Approximately four hundred years later after his arrival, I write a daily newsletter about a nation that would be formed about one hundred and fifty years after Richard Hubbell arrived in America.

We will never know how our present efforts will shape the future of this great nation. We should do our best to preserve democracy for the next generation—and then trust that they will do the same. That is all we can do. If we can do that, it will be enough.