"Person, woman, man, camera, TV."

January 23, 2024

On the evening before the first Republican primary (as opposed to a caucus), Donald Trump continued to show signs of mental confusion. The media yawned. You shouldn’t.

Background.

You will remember that retired Admiral Ronny Jackson served as the Physician to the President under Trump—and famously administered Trump a five-question memory test (“Person, woman, man, camera, TV”) when questions arose about Trump's health and mental fitness. Trump claimed that he passed the test with flying colors (“They say, ‘That's amazing, How did you do that?’”)

As a reward for giving glowing reports about Trump's health, Trump nominated Jackson to serve as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Jackson’s nomination was withdrawn due to scandals surrounding Jackson’s management style. Jackson then ran for a seat in the US House. Jackson is currently a member of Congress from Texas.

What happened.

In an interview on Monday, Trump said

I think I’m a lot sharper than Haley. I'd take an aptitude test and it would be my result against her result. When I heard the word cognitive, you know, I’ve taken two of them now. One with Doc Ronny who is now a fantastic, you know, White House doctor.

By saying that Ronny Jackson is now a “White House doctor,” Trump either believes it is 2018 or has forgotten that Jackson resigned in 2019 and subsequently ran for Congress. (Trump campaigned for Ronny Jackson’s congressional bid, so it is not something Trump could easily forget.)

Why it matters.

I can hear some saying, “Picky, picky, picky! He misspoke. Big deal!” It is a big deal. For the second time in seventy-two hours, Trump is unable to identify what positions prominent officials in his administration currently hold—or held in the past.

It is also significant that Trump says that he “has taken two” cognitive tests (“Person, woman, man, camera, TV”). Trump should be administered such a test at each annual physical—so he should have taken a half dozen such tests since 2018. Has he forgotten? Or are his doctors deliberately ignoring Trump's mental decline? Or is he lying to cover up more extensive tests?

Trump is suffering from such lapses every time he speaks—and the media must highlight those lapses. Unlike generalized anxiety about Biden’s age, Trump is demonstrating a rapidly deteriorating connection to the present and an inability to recall important events in the past. I am not Trump's doctor, but I went through this with my mom. Ignoring the problem won’t make it go away; in Trump's situation, it is dangerous.

Let’s not allow the limited attention span of the media to bury this story. It matters. A lot.

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Biden campaign highlights anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

January 22, 2024, is the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Most Republicans attempted to ignore the anniversary, although Trump could prevent himself from bragging about the demise of Roe. More on that in a moment. But the Biden campaign wasn’t about to allow the American people to forget that Trump and the Republicans are responsible for denying reproductive liberty to hundreds of millions of Americans. It is a good sign that the Biden campaign is highlighting reproductive liberty—it is both the right thing to do and a winning issue in 2024.

In one social media post, Joe Biden promoted Trump's own post on Truth Social, which said,

After 50 years of failure, with nobody even coming close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade much to the shock of everyone . . . Without me there would be no 6 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks or whatever is finally agreed to.

In a second post, the Biden campaign released a powerful video on Twitter showing women in Texas forced to flee the state because of laws that criminalize abortion and medical emergencies related to pregnancy complications. If you are able to share the video on Twitter or other social media platforms, please do.

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Republicans resorting to criminal deception in New Hampshire primary.

Background.

Joe Biden is not on the ballot in New Hampshire because of a dispute over which state would hold the first Democratic primary. The DNC wanted to switch the order of primaries so that South Carolina would be first, but New Hampshire would not give up its “first in the nation” primary status. Although Biden is not on the ballot in New Hampshire, there is a robust effort to “write-in” Joe Biden. So, Biden is an “unofficial candidate” in the New Hampshire primary.

What happened.

On Monday, a robocall in New Hampshire imitated Biden’s voice, telling Democrats not to vote in the primary because doing so would (allegedly) help Trump. The fake call said,

Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again. Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday.

See NBC News, Fake Joe Biden robocall tells New Hampshire Democrats not to vote Tuesday. Per NBC,

The New Hampshire attorney general's office says it is investigating what appears to be an "unlawful attempt" at voter suppression.

Why it matters.

A prompt arrest and indictment are necessary to prevent further disinformation efforts in 2024. Although it is good that the NH attorney general’s office is investigating, the DOJ’s Election Integrity Unit should be investigating. Indeed, it should have issued a statement to that effect already.

Garland? Garland? Are you there?

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Another reason to expand the Supreme Court ASAP.

Background.

According to the US Constitution, the federal government is responsible for security at US international borders. The Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution also provides that federal law takes precedence over state law. See Congressional Research Service Legal Sidebar, Constitutional Limits on States’ Power over Foreign Affairs.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been attempting to assume control of the US southern border in Texas by a series of illegal moves, including erecting floating barriers in the Rio Grande, deploying razor wire at the border, and blocking access to federal Homeland Security personnel to the border. See The Texas Tribune, Texas, feds locked in tense border standoff in Eagle Pass.

The Biden administration has filed a series of suits to challenge Texas’s illegal moves. Reactionary judges on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Texas, prohibiting the federal government from removing the illegal barriers. See The Texas Tribune Appeals court halts ruling that Border Patrol can cut Texas border wire.

What happened.

On Monday, the US Supreme Court voted 5-4 to overturn the temporary injunction kept in place by the 5th Circuit, thereby allowing federal officers from Customs & Border Patrol to remove the illegal razor wire at the border. In other words, by the slimmest of majorities, the US Supreme Court upheld the Supremacy Clause and other provisions of the Constitution that vest the federal government with exclusive control over international borders. See Ian Millhiser on Vox, The Supreme Court says no, Texas can’t use razor wire against federal agents.

Why it matters.

Per Millhiser, the case should have been “a slam dunk for the federal government. And the only thing that should be surprising about the Court’s Monday order is that some of the justices dissented.”

For a case that should be a “slam dunk” for the federal government, the fact that the decision was 5-4 is not only a surprise, it is also alarming.

Even more alarming is that the four reactionary justices went out of their way to ensure that their dissenting votes were made public. As Chris Geidner explains in his Substack blog, Law Dork, none of the justices were required to disclose their vote on the application, “but the dissenting justices wanted us to know this was a 5-4 vote.”

In other words, the reactionary justices are encouraging more of the same disobedience to the Constitution from the Fifth Circuit.

Harry Litman explains in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that Texas is engaging in a challenge to federal supremacy that “echoes segregationists” of the 1950s and 1960s. See Harry Litman, LATimes, How Texas' defiance of federal rule echoes segregationists.

Litman writes,

We have seen this kind of state-federal law enforcement standoff in the South before, most notably by segregationist governors such as Orval Faubus, who used the Arkansas National Guard to block Black students from integrating Little Rock Central High School in 1957. It took a concerted effort from the federal government and the federal courts to beat back that lawlessness.

Abbott’s refusal to recognize the supremacy of federal law is as bold and rank as we have seen. The key difference here is the lack of resolve to apply the Constitution among the 5th Circuit’s judges, about a third of whom are Trump appointees.

What should happen next.

The current composition of the Supreme Court is one vote away from overturning the principle of federal supremacy that provides the framework of the Constitution. If the Supreme Court had ruled 5-4 to leave the Texas razor wire in place, the US would have eighteen states with land or maritime international borders, each of which could set its own foreign policy regarding immigration, security, and enforcement—to the exclusion of the federal government!

Expanding the Court at the first opportunity is an emergency. It is long past time for worrying about the legitimacy of an expanded Court or possible “tit-for-tat” expansions by Republicans if they ever again control Congress and the presidency. (They won’t.) The fate of the Constitution hangs in the balance and it is time to act, now.

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Some good news.

New majority-minority district created in Louisiana.

In March 2022, the Elias Law Group filed a lawsuit claiming that Louisiana’s congressional districts violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Per the Elias Law Group’s press release on Monday, January 22, 2024,

A federal district court and the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that the map likely violated the Voting Rights Act and offered the legislature an opportunity to enact a new map to address that violation.

Today, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed into law a new map, passed by the State Legislature, with a second majority-minority congressional district.

The creation of the new majority-minority district increases the likelihood that Louisiana’s Black citizens will be able to increase their representation in Congress. The newly drawn district also creates the likelihood of a Democratic pickup in 2024.

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Opportunities for Reader Engagement

An invitation from Force Multiplier to help defend Senator Bob Casey’s seat.

To hold the Democratic majority in the Senate, we need to defend every seat. Join Force Multiplier and Sen. Bob Casey (PA), with an introduction by Senator John Fetterman, Tuesday January 23, 2024, 7-8:00 pm ET, on Zoom. Bob Casey is running for re-election in a state Trump won by .7% in 2016 and that Biden won by 1% in 2020. His likely opponent is a multi-millionaire who can self-fund his campaign. We cannot afford to lose this seat! Senator Casey needs our support! Register and Donate Here. (A link will be sent on the day of the event)

An invitation from Swing Left to new leaders interested in starting Swing Left group.

Swing Left's “Team Up” training program brings together a core team of new co-leaders to start a Swing Left group in their community to defend democracy and defeat MAGA extremism by winning elections for Democrats in the most competitive races.

 We’re looking for new leaders like you to team up and start your Swing Left group! Starting a local group is a powerful way to build community and engage volunteers to make change at the state and national level—and we're here to support you as you go.

 Applications for Swing Left's Team Up program are due on Feb 15 to participate in local trainings between Feb 24 and March 16—including a hybrid option that participants can join from anywhere on Saturday, March 16 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific / 1:00 p.m. Eastern. Maybe you've written letters, made calls, or even donated before, but you want to go deeper. Team Up will match you with other local co-leaders, build your skills, and provide you ongoing support so together you can build a new grassroots group in your community and expand your impact. 

Swing Left is a national progressive organization that connects volunteers and donors to the elections where their resources can most effectively make a difference in the outcomes of competitive races. They’re focused on the elections that decide the balance of power in this country. By electing Democrats and defeating MAGA extremists—in state-level and national races—we can bring about positive change, preserve our democracy, and defend our freedoms. 

You can apply to join the Team Up program, which does not include a cover charge, by February 15 at https://swingleft.org/team-up

 

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Concluding Thoughts.

The results in New Hampshire on Tuesday will provide plenty of opportunity for breathless misinterpretations of the state of the presidential race. The key metric to watch is the number of votes against Trump—which provides some insight into the number of likely GOP defections in the general election. Biden doesn’t need to capture all the votes against Trump in New Hampshire, just enough of them to change the outcome at the margins.

In other words, Trump's victory on Tuesday will be a measure of his weakness, not his strength. Keep that in mind as you read headlines and receive news alerts about Trump's “dominance” and “momentum.” The media will be working overtime to create the most dramatic (and profitable) narrative possible. Don’t fall for it.

Talk to you tomorrow!