truthout--2020-11-12--Trump Ran a False Ad in Florida Tying Biden to Venezuelan Socialists

In Florida , where President Donald Trump gained crucial support among Latino voters , his campaign ran a YouTube ad in Spanish making the explosive — and false — claim that Venezuela ’ s ruling clique was backing Democratic nominee Joe Biden .
YouTube showed the ad more than 100,000 times in Florida in the eight days leading up to the election , even after The Associated Press published a fact-check debunking the Trump campaign ’ s claim .
Actually , Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro expressed opposition to both presidential candidates .
The video was part of a broader Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that sought to tie Biden to Socialist leaders like Maduro and the late Cuban President Fidel Castro .
Trump won Florida by about 375,000 votes , the largest margin in a presidential election there since 1988 .
He carried about 55 % of the Cuban American vote , according to exit polls by NBC News .
“ Latinos who live here in the U.S. have left socialist or communist regimes , ” said Diego Scharifker , a Venezuelan American lawyer , former city councilor in Caracas and co-founder of the pro-Biden group Venezolanos @ @ @ @ @ @ @ course a big impact or fear or scarring in the Latino community in the U.S. from communism .
Trump with his false accusations and false information was fearmongering and playing on the pain to promote his agenda.
” The ad illustrates gaps in the policing of misinformation by Google , which owns YouTube .
While Google nominally prohibits all false claims in advertising , it rarely takes down political ads .
In addition , shortcomings in its transparency tools make it harder for watchdogs and fact-checkers to scrutinize ads .
Google ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have it both ways ” with respect to fact-checking , said Bridget Barrett , a political communication researcher at the University of North Carolina .
“ In reality , basically everything stands.
” Google sees claims like the one about Maduro as being “ within the public arena that should be contested by Biden ’ s campaign or fact-checked by journalists , ” Barrett added .
YouTube approves ads by both human and machine review .
Its policies prohibit any advertiser from making “ a false claim — whether it ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or a claim that you can vote by text message , that election day is postponed , or that a candidate has died.
” Charlotte Smith , a company spokeswoman , told ProPublica in an email that “ we don ’ t make any special exceptions for politicians.
” Nevertheless , YouTube takes down only a “ very limited ” number of political ads making “ demonstrably false claims that could significantly undermine trust in democratic or electoral processes , ” she said .
The Trump campaign ad “ doesn ’ t meet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ This video does not violate our policies .
… Political ads are known for being hyperbolic , and we ’ re not going to attempt to adjudicate every claim or counterclaim.
” Other platforms are at least somewhat more restrictive .
While Facebook doesn ’ t fact-check campaign ads , it banned new ones within a week of the election .
( The Trump ad does not appear to have run on Facebook , according to its ad library .
If it had , the ban may not have applied to it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Oct. 26 , eight days before the Nov. 3 election . )
Facebook ’ s fact-checking partners do vet ads by political action committees and other third-party groups , some of which get removed .
Twitter banned all political advertising .
Although broadcast television stations aren ’ t allowed to choose candidate ads by content , cable networks can , and sometimes do , reject ads .
The Trump ad didn ’ t appear on TV , according to Advertising Analytics , an ad-tracking firm .
The Trump campaign saw YouTube as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a Politico report in September .
It ran more than 18,000 video ads on YouTube this year .
The campaign spent $ 106 million , including $ 37.2 million in the last month of the campaign , on Google ’ s platform , including both YouTube ads and Google search ads .
The questionable video begins by describing Biden as “ the candidate of Chavismo , ” referring to the brand of socialism associated with Hugo Chávez , the late leader of Venezuela , and Maduro ’ s government .
It then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Venezuela ’ s second-most powerful politician , saying on his television program that the “ brisa Bolivariana , ” or the “ Bolivarian breeze ” of Latin American socialism , “ is blowing , blowing , blowing , blowing .
… Let ’ s see what happens .
Maybe the Bolivarian breeze will reach the United States .
In how much time ?
In 13 days until the elections.
” The term “ Bolivarian ” is an allusion to Simón Bolívar , the 19th-century revolutionary , claimed as an inspiration for many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ text on the screen reiterates that “ the Chavistas ” — the political party that controls Venezuela — “ want Joe Biden to win.
” The video concludes with a statement that it was paid by the Trump campaign and Trump saying that he approved the message .
There ’ s little doubt that the relationship between the Trump administration and the Maduro government is tense .
Trump has imposed sanctions on Venezuela and on Maduro and Cabello personally .
The U.S. government indicted both Maduro and Cabello on narco-terrorism and drug trafficking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has struck a “ completely anti-Trump ” tone , said Daniel Acosta-Ramos , an investigative researcher at First Draft , a nonprofit that tracks misinformation and an Electionland partner .
Yet Maduro said in late September that he didn ’ t care who was elected .
“ If Trump wins the elections , we will confront him and defeat him , and if Biden wins , we ’ ll confront him and defeat him too , ” he said .
An AP fact-check of a video that resembles the one in the Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Maduro “ has declared that there is any kind of affinity between them or between their national projects.
” In the television segment from which Cabello ’ s “ Bolivarian breeze ” remark was clipped , he didn ’ t explicitly mention Trump , Biden or the Democratic or Republican parties .
While the remark could be interpreted as hoping that Biden would be elected and promote the agenda of his party ’ s progressive wing , Cabello has a reputation for being a provocateur and saying unclear things on purpose , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an environment ripe for misinfo , ” he said .
The ad , Acosta-Ramos said , was “ micro-targeted for people who know what the ‘ brisa Bolivariana ’ means .
Not just Venezuelans , but also Cubans and Colombians.
” Other YouTube ads from the Trump campaign reinforced the false message .
They showed clips of Maduro referring to Biden as “ Comrade Biden ” in a 2015 speech .
Although it was only a passing reference , and Maduro accused Biden shortly afterward of plotting to overthrow him , Donald Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was weak on socialism .
The Trump campaign ’ s official bilingual Twitter account also claimed that Maduro ’ s regime supported Biden .
A tweet from President Trump called Biden a “ PUPPET of CASTRO-CHAVISTAS.
” Trump ads on Facebook called Biden a “ socialist ” and pictured him with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders , both of whom refer to themselves as democratic socialists .
“ There was a concerted effort by the Trump campaign and their allies to misrepresent Joe Biden and his values because they knew they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s disastrous record , ” a Biden campaign official told ProPublica .
Florida ’ s Venezuelan population has grown to about 200,000 , of whom an estimated 50,000 are registered to vote .
In Doral , a city in Miami-Dade County that ’ s home to many Americans of Venezuelan , Cuban and Colombian descent , Trump pulled in roughly 49 % of voters in 2020 , up from 29 % in 2016 .
Overall , in Miami-Dade , Trump garnered nearly 200,000 more votes than he had in 2016 , shaving the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % .
The Trump campaign , the White House and the Venezuelan Embassy did not respond to requests for comment .
The Trump ad may have attracted relatively little notice during the campaign because of inadequacies in the political ad report that Google established in 2018 to improve transparency .
Unlike Facebook ’ s political ad archive , Google ’ s doesn ’ t group identical ads together if , for instance , they were shown over different time periods .
Google ’ s transparency tools showed three different copies of the “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ data for each .
Google also doesn ’ t make videos searchable or any ad content downloadable in bulk .
The design doesn ’ t allow opponents , journalists or watchdogs to meaningfully analyze the 263,000 political video ads ( and 361,000 other ads ) that Google sold in 2020 , Barrett said .
“ You ’ re just drowning in content and overwhelmed by these individual pieces of advertising content , and really many of them are the same , you ’ re stuck trying to swim through this overwhelming sea of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ can disappear into the depths of the ad library.
” Google has said that it only allows advertisers to target political ads by users ’ location , age and gender , and that it discloses these targeting choices on its transparency website .
The three copies of the “ Bolivarian breeze ” ad were targeted by location to Florida users .
Although it ’ s not disclosed in Google ’ s transparency tools , YouTube ads also may be targeted by language , for example to Spanish speakers , Smith said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Trump campaign spent on the ad and how many times it was shown .
Google ’ s data show that the Trump campaign spent between $ 1,000 and $ 5,000 on one copy of the ad ; between $ 100 and $ 1,000 on another ; and less than $ 100 on the third .
Two of the copies were shown fewer than 10,000 times , and the third was shown between 100,000 and 1 million times .
Facebook publishes more precise information .
Trump supporters amplified the campaign ’ s message @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrats to “ Castro-Chavismo , ” a term linking Venezuelan socialism to Cuba ’ s .
False posts on social media , of undetermined origin , purported to show Jill Biden , Joe ’ s wife , standing next to Fidel Castro .
It was actually Jacqueline Beer , the wife of a Norwegian explorer .
“ We saw a huge number of WhatsApp messages being shared in Venezuelan , Cuban groups , saying the governments of these countries that we escaped , [ they ] want Biden — so we should vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Biden staffer described as a flood of information put the Democrat ’ s campaign on the defensive .
The Biden campaign mounted its own fact-checking effort to push back against the claims about Biden and socialism .
It invested heavily in outreach to Florida Latinos , including six-figure media buys in the last two weeks of the campaign targeting the community , a staffer said .
At an early October rally in Miami , Biden said , “ Maduro , who I ’ ve met , is a dictator , plain and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ incredible suffering among the Venezuelan people .
”

This story was co-published with Telemundo.
In Florida, where President Donald Trump gained crucial support among Latino voters, his campaign ran a YouTube ad in Spanish making the explosive — and false — claim that Venezuela’s ruling clique was backing Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
YouTube showed the ad more than 100,000 times in Florida in the eight days leading up to the election, even after The Associated Press published a fact-check debunking the Trump campaign’s claim. Actually, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro expressed opposition to both presidential candidates.
The video was part of a broader Trump campaign strategy in heavily Latino South Florida that sought to tie Biden to Socialist leaders like Maduro and the late Cuban President Fidel Castro. Trump won Florida by about 375,000 votes, the largest margin in a presidential election there since 1988. He carried about 55% of the Cuban American vote, according to exit polls by NBC News.
“Latinos who live here in the U.S. have left socialist or communist regimes,” said Diego Scharifker, a Venezuelan American lawyer, former city councilor in Caracas and co-founder of the pro-Biden group Venezolanos Con Biden. “There is of course a big impact or fear or scarring in the Latino community in the U.S. from communism. Trump with his false accusations and false information was fearmongering and playing on the pain to promote his agenda.”
The ad illustrates gaps in the policing of misinformation by Google, which owns YouTube. While Google nominally prohibits all false claims in advertising, it rarely takes down political ads. In addition, shortcomings in its transparency tools make it harder for watchdogs and fact-checkers to scrutinize ads.
Google’s political ad rules are “trying to have it both ways” with respect to fact-checking, said Bridget Barrett, a political communication researcher at the University of North Carolina. “In reality, basically everything stands.” Google sees claims like the one about Maduro as being “within the public arena that should be contested by Biden’s campaign or fact-checked by journalists,” Barrett added.
YouTube approves ads by both human and machine review. Its policies prohibit any advertiser from making “a false claim — whether it’s a claim about the price of a chair or a claim that you can vote by text message, that election day is postponed, or that a candidate has died.”
Charlotte Smith, a company spokeswoman, told ProPublica in an email that “we don’t make any special exceptions for politicians.” Nevertheless, YouTube takes down only a “very limited” number of political ads making “demonstrably false claims that could significantly undermine trust in democratic or electoral processes,” she said.
The Trump campaign ad “doesn’t meet that bar,” she said. “This video does not violate our policies. … Political ads are known for being hyperbolic, and we’re not going to attempt to adjudicate every claim or counterclaim.”
Other platforms are at least somewhat more restrictive. While Facebook doesn’t fact-check campaign ads, it banned new ones within a week of the election. (The Trump ad does not appear to have run on Facebook, according to its ad library. If it had, the ban may not have applied to it, because it began running on YouTube on Oct. 26, eight days before the Nov. 3 election.) Facebook’s fact-checking partners do vet ads by political action committees and other third-party groups, some of which get removed. Twitter banned all political advertising. Although broadcast television stations aren’t allowed to choose candidate ads by content, cable networks can, and sometimes do, reject ads. The Trump ad didn’t appear on TV, according to Advertising Analytics, an ad-tracking firm.
The Trump campaign saw YouTube as a key to its strategy, according to a Politico report in September. It ran more than 18,000 video ads on YouTube this year. The campaign spent $106 million, including $37.2 million in the last month of the campaign, on Google’s platform, including both YouTube ads and Google search ads.
The questionable video begins by describing Biden as “the candidate of Chavismo,” referring to the brand of socialism associated with Hugo Chávez, the late leader of Venezuela, and Maduro’s government. It then shows Diosdado Cabello, a Maduro ally and Venezuela’s second-most powerful politician, saying on his television program that the “brisa Bolivariana,” or the “Bolivarian breeze” of Latin American socialism, “is blowing, blowing, blowing, blowing. … Let’s see what happens. Maybe the Bolivarian breeze will reach the United States. In how much time? In 13 days until the elections.” The term “Bolivarian” is an allusion to Simón Bolívar, the 19th-century revolutionary, claimed as an inspiration for many Latin American socialist movements.
Then the text on the screen reiterates that “the Chavistas” — the political party that controls Venezuela — “want Joe Biden to win.” The video concludes with a statement that it was paid by the Trump campaign and Trump saying that he approved the message.
There’s little doubt that the relationship between the Trump administration and the Maduro government is tense. Trump has imposed sanctions on Venezuela and on Maduro and Cabello personally. The U.S. government indicted both Maduro and Cabello on narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges in March. Venezuelan state-run television has struck a “completely anti-Trump” tone, said Daniel Acosta-Ramos, an investigative researcher at First Draft, a nonprofit that tracks misinformation and an Electionland partner.
Yet Maduro said in late September that he didn’t care who was elected. “If Trump wins the elections, we will confront him and defeat him, and if Biden wins, we’ll confront him and defeat him too,” he said. An AP fact-check of a video that resembles the one in the Trump campaign ad concluded that neither Biden nor Maduro “has declared that there is any kind of affinity between them or between their national projects.”
In the television segment from which Cabello’s “Bolivarian breeze” remark was clipped, he didn’t explicitly mention Trump, Biden or the Democratic or Republican parties. While the remark could be interpreted as hoping that Biden would be elected and promote the agenda of his party’s progressive wing, Cabello has a reputation for being a provocateur and saying unclear things on purpose, according to Acosta-Ramos. “That ambiguity creates an environment ripe for misinfo,” he said.
The ad, Acosta-Ramos said, was “micro-targeted for people who know what the ‘brisa Bolivariana’ means. Not just Venezuelans, but also Cubans and Colombians.”
Other YouTube ads from the Trump campaign reinforced the false message. They showed clips of Maduro referring to Biden as “Comrade Biden” in a 2015 speech. Although it was only a passing reference, and Maduro accused Biden shortly afterward of plotting to overthrow him, Donald Trump Jr. framed it as evidence that Biden was weak on socialism.
The Trump campaign’s official bilingual Twitter account also claimed that Maduro’s regime supported Biden. A tweet from President Trump called Biden a “PUPPET of CASTRO-CHAVISTAS.” Trump ads on Facebook called Biden a “socialist” and pictured him with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, both of whom refer to themselves as democratic socialists.
“There was a concerted effort by the Trump campaign and their allies to misrepresent Joe Biden and his values because they knew they couldn’t win on Trump’s disastrous record,” a Biden campaign official told ProPublica.
Florida’s Venezuelan population has grown to about 200,000, of whom an estimated 50,000 are registered to vote. In Doral, a city in Miami-Dade County that’s home to many Americans of Venezuelan, Cuban and Colombian descent, Trump pulled in roughly 49% of voters in 2020, up from 29% in 2016. Overall, in Miami-Dade, Trump garnered nearly 200,000 more votes than he had in 2016, shaving the Democratic margin from 29% to 7%.
The Trump campaign, the White House and the Venezuelan Embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
The Trump ad may have attracted relatively little notice during the campaign because of inadequacies in the political ad report that Google established in 2018 to improve transparency. Unlike Facebook’s political ad archive, Google’s doesn’t group identical ads together if, for instance, they were shown over different time periods. Google’s transparency tools showed three different copies of the “brisa Bolivariana” ad, giving separate data for each. Google also doesn’t make videos searchable or any ad content downloadable in bulk.
The design doesn’t allow opponents, journalists or watchdogs to meaningfully analyze the 263,000 political video ads (and 361,000 other ads) that Google sold in 2020, Barrett said.
“You’re just drowning in content and overwhelmed by these individual pieces of advertising content, and really many of them are the same, you’re stuck trying to swim through this overwhelming sea of ads,” Barrett said. Ads “can disappear into the depths of the ad library.”
Google has said that it only allows advertisers to target political ads by users’ location, age and gender, and that it discloses these targeting choices on its transparency website. The three copies of the “Bolivarian breeze” ad were targeted by location to Florida users.
Although it’s not disclosed in Google’s transparency tools, YouTube ads also may be targeted by language, for example to Spanish speakers, Smith said.
It’s unclear exactly how much the Trump campaign spent on the ad and how many times it was shown. Google’s data show that the Trump campaign spent between $1,000 and $5,000 on one copy of the ad; between $100 and $1,000 on another; and less than $100 on the third. Two of the copies were shown fewer than 10,000 times, and the third was shown between 100,000 and 1 million times. Facebook publishes more precise information.
Trump supporters amplified the campaign’s message, professing to connect Biden and other Democrats to “Castro-Chavismo,” a term linking Venezuelan socialism to Cuba’s. False posts on social media, of undetermined origin, purported to show Jill Biden, Joe’s wife, standing next to Fidel Castro. It was actually Jacqueline Beer, the wife of a Norwegian explorer.
“We saw a huge number of WhatsApp messages being shared in Venezuelan, Cuban groups, saying the governments of these countries that we escaped, [they] want Biden — so we should vote Trump,” Acosta-Ramos said.
What a Biden staffer described as a flood of information put the Democrat’s campaign on the defensive. The Biden campaign mounted its own fact-checking effort to push back against the claims about Biden and socialism. It invested heavily in outreach to Florida Latinos, including six-figure media buys in the last two weeks of the campaign targeting the community, a staffer said. At an early October rally in Miami, Biden said, “Maduro, who I’ve met, is a dictator, plain and simple, and he’s causing incredible suffering among the Venezuelan people.”
Ronny Rojas of Telemundo, Derek Willis and Ivette Leyva contributed reporting.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
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truthout--2020-11-12--Trump, Pompeo Direct State to Deny Biden Access to Messages From Foreign Leaders

A pile of messages from foreign leaders around the world giving congratulatory messages to President-elect Joe Biden sits in the U.S. Department of State , undelivered due to President Donald Trump ’ s insistence that his administration refuse to acknowledge his opponent ’ s win in the presidential race last week .
According to sources that spoke to CNN on the issue , the number of communiques from foreign heads of state number in the dozens .
The State Department ’ s refusal to hand over the congratulatory notes to Biden thwarts longstanding tradition in the department , as presidents-elect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ access to these messages as part of the transition process .
But Trump ’ s stubbornness in refusing to acknowledge Biden ’ s win citing false claims of voting fraud is affecting the ability of departments under his purview to function normally , even though Trump ’ s claims have been refuted in the media and defeated time after time in courtrooms over the past several days .
Beyond breaking tradition for presidents-elect , the move also goes against the rights afforded to Biden as a former vice president regardless of whether he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidents and vice presidents are allowed to utilize State Department resources to send and receive communications with leaders from around the world even after they leave office .
Despite the barriers put up by the Trump administration , Biden ’ s transition team is in touch with a small number of foreign leaders , speaking to heads of government ( like Germany ’ s Angela Merkel and Canada ’ s Justin Trudeau ) over the phone .
The content of these calls are being recorded for when Biden is eventually allowed to utilize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and are mostly congratulatory in nature .
Still , having access to State Department resources would make the process much easier for the incoming president , as the department has better logistical support — not to mention , access to translation services — that would help Biden start his presidency on good terms with a number of foreign leaders and diplomats .
Most Republican leaders are standing by Trump ’ s refusal to concede , citing the same unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud that the president is making , including Secretary of State @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made comments that were deemed unnerving by a number of policy experts .
When asked whether Biden would be afforded a peaceful transition or not , Pompeo refused to recognize the president-elect ’ s win at all , wrongly suggesting that Trump was the rightful winner of the race .
“ There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration , ” Pompeo said to reporters on Tuesday .
While most Republicans appear ready to back Trump ’ s refusal to recognize Biden ’ s win , a small handful of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the party line .
Citing the need for Biden to have access to the State Department and other government agencies to ready himself for office , Sen. James Lankford ( R-Oklahoma ) has said he will personally attempt to intervene in obstructionary efforts by his colleagues if the president-elect is not afforded a proper transition process by the end of the week .
This would include receiving presidential daily intelligence briefings , Lankford said , something that previous presidents-elect have also received .
“ There is no loss from him getting the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that , ” Lankford explained earlier this week .
“ This needs to occur so that regardless of the outcome of the election , whichever way that it goes , people can be ready for that actual task , ” he added .
The Associated Press , as well as a number of other reporting organizations , declared Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential race last Saturday , citing figures from states ’ election returns .
As of Thursday morning , Biden also had an insurmountable lead in the popular vote totals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ electorate preferring him to be president , versus 47.4 percent for Trump .
The difference in vote totals between the two candidates is currently greater than 5 million .

The refusal of the department to share these messages with the president-elect thwarts years of post-election tradition.
A pile of messages from foreign leaders around the world giving congratulatory messages to President-elect Joe Biden sits in the U.S. Department of State, undelivered due to President Donald Trump’s insistence that his administration refuse to acknowledge his opponent’s win in the presidential race last week.
According to sources that spoke to CNN on the issue, the number of communiques from foreign heads of state number in the dozens.
The State Department’s refusal to hand over the congratulatory notes to Biden thwarts longstanding tradition in the department, as presidents-elect in the past have generally been granted access to these messages as part of the transition process.
But Trump’s stubbornness in refusing to acknowledge Biden’s win citing false claims of voting fraud is affecting the ability of departments under his purview to function normally, even though Trump’s claims have been refuted in the media and defeated time after time in courtrooms over the past several days.
Beyond breaking tradition for presidents-elect, the move also goes against the rights afforded to Biden as a former vice president regardless of whether he won or lost the election: Former presidents and vice presidents are allowed to utilize State Department resources to send and receive communications with leaders from around the world even after they leave office.
Despite the barriers put up by the Trump administration, Biden’s transition team is in touch with a small number of foreign leaders, speaking to heads of government (like Germany’s Angela Merkel and Canada’s Justin Trudeau) over the phone. The content of these calls are being recorded for when Biden is eventually allowed to utilize the privileges of being recognized president-elect, and are mostly congratulatory in nature.
Still, having access to State Department resources would make the process much easier for the incoming president, as the department has better logistical support — not to mention, access to translation services — that would help Biden start his presidency on good terms with a number of foreign leaders and diplomats.
Most Republican leaders are standing by Trump’s refusal to concede, citing the same unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud that the president is making, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who earlier this week made comments that were deemed unnerving by a number of policy experts.
When asked whether Biden would be afforded a peaceful transition or not, Pompeo refused to recognize the president-elect’s win at all, wrongly suggesting that Trump was the rightful winner of the race.
“There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Pompeo said to reporters on Tuesday.
While most Republicans appear ready to back Trump’s refusal to recognize Biden’s win, a small handful of GOP lawmakers are refusing to fall in with the party line.
Citing the need for Biden to have access to the State Department and other government agencies to ready himself for office, Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) has said he will personally attempt to intervene in obstructionary efforts by his colleagues if the president-elect is not afforded a proper transition process by the end of the week. This would include receiving presidential daily intelligence briefings, Lankford said, something that previous presidents-elect have also received.
“There is no loss from him getting the briefings and to be able to do that,” Lankford explained earlier this week.
“This needs to occur so that regardless of the outcome of the election, whichever way that it goes, people can be ready for that actual task,” he added.
The Associated Press, as well as a number of other reporting organizations, declared Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential race last Saturday, citing figures from states’ election returns. As of Thursday morning, Biden also had an insurmountable lead in the popular vote totals, with 50.8 percent of the national electorate preferring him to be president, versus 47.4 percent for Trump. The difference in vote totals between the two candidates is currently greater than 5 million.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-11-12--COVID-19 Expected to Overwhelm Health Care System as Trump Sabotages Transition

“ I hope we don ’ t run out of mobile morgues , ” is what epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding said in response to data demonstrating the out-of-control nature of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States — which became the first country to surpass 10 million Covid-19 infections and whose healthcare system is expected to be overwhelmed before President-elect Joe Biden assumes office .
Although Biden — who has created his own coronavirus task force — is trying to plan a coordinated federal response to the unrelenting public health and economic emergency he is set to inherit , President Donald @ @ @ @ @ @ @ smooth administrative transition amid what journalist David Dayen called a “ completely stupid and brazen ” effort to hold onto the White House is wreaking deadly havoc on the nation .
“ We ’ re in an unbelievably dangerous moment with coronavirus where the full weight of government at all levels needs to be focused on saving lives , ” tweeted Dayen , “ and instead Donald Trump is trying a ham-fisted theft of the election.
” As Dayen wrote in The American Prospect on Wednesday , “ the world ’ s worst @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lot of people killed.
” “ Every moment Donald Trump tries to steal the election is a moment that he ’ s not paying any attention to the most harrowing moment of the coronavirus crisis , ” Dayen added .
The figures are indeed harrowing .
As CNBC reported Wednesday : Ohio has had an “ unprecedented spike ” in Covid-19 hospital admissions .
ICU beds in Tulsa , Oklahoma , are full .
North Dakota ’ s hospitals don ’ t have enough doctors and nurses .
And hospital administrators in Iowa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ limits .
The U.S. is heading for a “ dark winter , ” a “ Covid hell , ” the “ darkest days of the pandemic.
” However you describe it , the next few months of the coronavirus pandemic will be unlike anything the nation has seen yet .
According to data from Johns Hopkins , the number of coronavirus infections in the U.S. increased by more than 136,000 between Tuesday and Wednesday , while over 1,420 Americans died from Covid-19 during that time period , bringing the death toll to roughly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to hit 200,000 new cases per day by the end of November if we continue at this rate.
” This is incredibly worrisome to public health officials because , as The Atlantic reported Tuesday , there is already a nationwide surge of Covid-19 hospitalizations , which are now at an all-time high .
“ We have not even come close to the peak and , as such , our hospitals are now being overrun , ” Michael Osterholm , director of the Center for Infections Disease Research and Policy at the University of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next three to four months are going to be , by far , the darkest of the pandemic , ” said Osterholm , who is a member of Biden ’ s coronavirus advisory board .
As Feigl-Ding pointed out on social media , “ deaths usually lag cases by about three weeks.
” And “ despite rhetoric offered by President Trump about a plunge in the deadliness of the virus , the link between new cases , hospitalizations , and deaths has been consistent for months , ” the Washington Post reported Tuesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The executive branch has completely checked out on any responsibility for this massive public health crisis at precisely the moment when the crisis is most acute.
” Trump ’ s sabotage of the presidential transition process is making everything worse .
As Politico reported Tuesday , “ the incoming administration [ is ] locked out of key health agencies ” at the moment .
“ The delayed start could ultimately set the Biden transition teams back by several days or weeks , ” Politico noted , “ forcing them to turn an already-fraught @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Inauguration Day.
” Apart from attention to the election and its chaotic aftermath , Americans are also focused on the upcoming holiday season , which Dr. Isaac Bogoch , an infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto , said creates “ the potential for innumerable super-spreading events across the country ” that could “ introduce and reintroduce the virus to new areas and… further exacerbate community transmission.
” “ Pandemic fatigue has fully set in at the worst possible time , ” Dayen said .
Nonetheless , public health officials are still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which they predict can prevent up to 130,000 deaths from Covid-19 in the U.S. through spring 2021 .
Looking beyond masks , “ we know exactly what to do here , ” which is what makes the federal government ’ s inaction so frustrating , Dayen argued .
“ Restaurants , gyms , cafes , and other indoor venues accounted for 80 percent of all new infections during the first three months of the pandemic , based on cell phone data , ” he wrote .
“ If we just shut down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closed we would get a shockingly large handle on the situation , ” Dayen pointed out .
“ Yet we ’ ve had absolutely no discussion of this in the highest levels , and no leadership in Washington looking seriously at this option.
” “ It ’ s absolutely infuriating that we ’ re going to consign people to death and suffering , ” he added , “ because nobody in the White House or Congress can be bothered .
”

The incoming administration is locked out of key health agencies as Trump focuses on challenging the election results.
“I hope we don’t run out of mobile morgues,” is what epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding said in response to data demonstrating the out-of-control nature of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States — which became the first country to surpass 10 million Covid-19 infections and whose healthcare system is expected to be overwhelmed before President-elect Joe Biden assumes office.
Although Biden — who has created his own coronavirus task force — is trying to plan a coordinated federal response to the unrelenting public health and economic emergency he is set to inherit, President Donald Trump’s refusal to authorize a smooth administrative transition amid what journalist David Dayen called a “completely stupid and brazen” effort to hold onto the White House is wreaking deadly havoc on the nation.
“We’re in an unbelievably dangerous moment with coronavirus where the full weight of government at all levels needs to be focused on saving lives,” tweeted Dayen, “and instead Donald Trump is trying a ham-fisted theft of the election.”
As Dayen wrote in The American Prospect on Wednesday, “the world’s worst coup attempt… is going to get a lot of people killed.”
“Every moment Donald Trump tries to steal the election is a moment that he’s not paying any attention to the most harrowing moment of the coronavirus crisis,” Dayen added.
The figures are indeed harrowing. As CNBC reported Wednesday:
Ohio has had an “unprecedented spike” in Covid-19 hospital admissions. ICU beds in Tulsa, Oklahoma, are full. North Dakota’s hospitals don’t have enough doctors and nurses. And hospital administrators in Iowa are warning that they are approaching their limits. The U.S. is heading for a “dark winter,” a “Covid hell,” the “darkest days of the pandemic.” However you describe it, the next few months of the coronavirus pandemic will be unlike anything the nation has seen yet.
According to data from Johns Hopkins, the number of coronavirus infections in the U.S. increased by more than 136,000 between Tuesday and Wednesday, while over 1,420 Americans died from Covid-19 during that time period, bringing the death toll to roughly 240,000.
Feigl-Ding expects the U.S. “to hit 200,000 new cases per day by the end of November if we continue at this rate.”
This is incredibly worrisome to public health officials because, as The Atlantic reported Tuesday, there is already a nationwide surge of Covid-19 hospitalizations, which are now at an all-time high.
“We have not even come close to the peak and, as such, our hospitals are now being overrun,” Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infections Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CNBC.
“The next three to four months are going to be, by far, the darkest of the pandemic,” said Osterholm, who is a member of Biden’s coronavirus advisory board.
As Feigl-Ding pointed out on social media, “deaths usually lag cases by about three weeks.”
And “despite rhetoric offered by President Trump about a plunge in the deadliness of the virus, the link between new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths has been consistent for months,” the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Folks—with so many record highs, we are going to hit 200,000 new cases *per day* by the end of November if we continue at this rate. Deaths usually lag cases by ~3 weeks. ➡ I hope we don’t run out of mobile morgues and need more next month like El Paso sadly is now. #COVID19 https://t.co/4S4kDRgY4r — Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 11, 2020
As Dayen put it, “The executive branch has completely checked out on any responsibility for this massive public health crisis at precisely the moment when the crisis is most acute.”
Trump’s sabotage of the presidential transition process is making everything worse. As Politico reported Tuesday, “the incoming administration [is] locked out of key health agencies” at the moment.
“The delayed start could ultimately set the Biden transition teams back by several days or weeks,” Politico noted, “forcing them to turn an already-fraught process into an all-out sprint ahead of Inauguration Day.”
Apart from attention to the election and its chaotic aftermath, Americans are also focused on the upcoming holiday season, which Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto, said creates “the potential for innumerable super-spreading events across the country” that could “introduce and reintroduce the virus to new areas and… further exacerbate community transmission.”
“Pandemic fatigue has fully set in at the worst possible time,” Dayen said.
Nonetheless, public health officials are still pushing for more people to wear masks, which they predict can prevent up to 130,000 deaths from Covid-19 in the U.S. through spring 2021.
Looking beyond masks, “we know exactly what to do here,” which is what makes the federal government’s inaction so frustrating, Dayen argued.
“Restaurants, gyms, cafes, and other indoor venues accounted for 80 percent of all new infections during the first three months of the pandemic, based on cell phone data,” he wrote.
“If we just shut down these venues and pay them to stay closed we would get a shockingly large handle on the situation,” Dayen pointed out. “Yet we’ve had absolutely no discussion of this in the highest levels, and no leadership in Washington looking seriously at this option.”
“It’s absolutely infuriating that we’re going to consign people to death and suffering,” he added, “because nobody in the White House or Congress can be bothered.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-11-13--1 in 10 Go Hungry as Trump and McConnell Fixate on Challenging Election Results

Federal data shows nearly 11 percent of adults – including up to 14 percent of adults living with children — report their households do not have enough to eat .
Hopes that Congress will pass another pandemic relief package before the end of the year are growing dim , as President Trump fixates attention on trying to overturn the election he lost .
Economic recovery is slowing as the United States experiences a surge of COVID-19 infections , hospitalizations and deaths , threatening to send cities and states with high infection rates back into lockdown to prevent hospitals from becoming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million people – including 4 million children – will be pushed below the federal poverty line in late 2020 as unemployment benefits are set to expire in December without further relief from Congress .
However , Trump is now laser-focused on attempting to overturn the election , pushing disinformation and conspiracy theories as his campaign files failing lawsuits challenging the vote .
Talks between the Trump administration and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on pandemic relief broke down last month , and administration officials have indicated they are unlikely to take the lead on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the GOP side up to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , according to The Washington Post .
Congress has failed to agree on pandemic relief since passing a $ 2.2 trillion package in the spring that provided stimulus checks starting at $ 1,200 .
With all eyes on two upcoming runoffs in Georgia that could wrest the Senate from his control , McConnell has said last week that passing another pandemic relief package before the end of the year is a priority .
However , McConnell is pushing for a “ highly targeted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 500 billion proposal that Democrats rejected months ago , arguing it did not provide nearly enough economic relief .
Democrats are doubling down on their proposal , the HEROES Act , a $ 2.2 trillion package passed by the House earlier this year that includes another round of $ 1,200 checks to each individual , along with badly needed assistance for state and local governments .
McConnell has consistently refused to take up the package in the Senate , where conservatives wary of social welfare spending rebelled against compromise measures offered by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cut $ 1 trillion from the HEROES Act since the House originally passed the legislation in May .
Pelosi , Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other top Democrats are now demanding Republicans drop their support for Trump ’ s effort to overturn the election and pass pandemic relief .
“ What are they thinking ?
People are suffering , ” Pelosi said during a press conference on Thursday .
“ They seem to have a mental block to doing the right thing.
” Analysts say Senate Republicans are not likely to embrace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported preliminary data showing that its COVID-19 vaccine is 90 percent effective .
However , a trial for the vaccine is ongoing and has yet to be approved by federal regulators .
Consumer advocates warned this week that Pfizer ’ s preliminary data does not show whether the vaccine is safe or whether it will effectively prevent COVID-19 in vulnerable populations .
On Tuesday , McConnell pointed out that unemployment has fallen to 6.9 percent as evidence that only a “ highly targeted ” stimulus is needed .
However , unemployment could spike @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forces even more parts of the country back into shutdown mode .
On Wednesday , Illinois issued guidance urging people to stay home , and the city of Chicago will enter an official stay-at-home advisory beginning Monday .
Other states and cities will likely follow .
A record 145,835 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the U.S. on Wednesday alone , and the U.S. has seen over one million new cases in the past 10 days , more than any other nation .
Despite the positive jobs report cited by McConnell , about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last week , more than any time during the Great Recession , according to the Economic Policy Institute .
Many workers are exhausting their state unemployment benefits as the pandemic drags on – the number of state claims dropped by 436,000 last week – and federal emergency unemployment benefits will expire on December 26 without congressional action .
Meanwhile , the economy has not recovered from the damage caused earlier in the pandemic as what little support is left from the initial relief package dwindles — and lower-income households and households of color @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities .
Nearly 80 million adults — about one in three — report not having enough money to cover basic expenses , such as food , rent and medical bills , including 40 percent of households with children .
Nearly one in six renters are behind on rent , including 26 percent of Black families and 18 percent of Latinx families , according to the Center ’ s analysis of federal data .
Some federal protections for renters are in place , but Democrats want a tougher @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Attempts by landlords to evict their tenants have been reported across the country .
Nearly 24 million adults — 10.9 percent of the population — report that their household sometimes or often did not have enough to eat in the past week , according to data collected in mid-October .
Between 8 and 14 percent of adults with children reported that their kids sometimes or often did not have enough to eat .
Compare that to last year , when only 3.7 percent of adults reported their households going hungry during the entire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are much higher among Black and Latino households , where workers are more likely to work in low-income industries that suffered massive job losses due to the pandemic .
About 19 percent of Black households and 18 percent of Latinx households reported not having enough food to eat sometimes or often in the past seven days .
The Trump administration was in court last month attempting to block emergency food assistance for the nation ’ s poorest families .
Back on Capitol Hill , Democrats and Republicans remained deadlocked over pandemic relief on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2.2 trillion proposal and attacking Republicans for focusing on Trump ’ s efforts to reverse the election results , according to reports .
McConnell said he wants Congress to pass another stimulus but continues to stand by his $ 500 billion offer .
“ I gather [ Pelosi ] and the Democratic leader in the Senate still are looking at something dramatically larger , ” McConnell said .
“ That ’ s not a place I think we ’ re willing to go .
”

Part of the Series Despair and Disparity: The Uneven Burdens of COVID-19
Federal data shows nearly 11 percent of adults – including up to 14 percent of adults living with children — report their households do not have enough to eat. Hopes that Congress will pass another pandemic relief package before the end of the year are growing dim, as President Trump fixates attention on trying to overturn the election he lost.
Economic recovery is slowing as the United States experiences a surge of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths, threatening to send cities and states with high infection rates back into lockdown to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. The federal government estimates 10 million people – including 4 million children – will be pushed below the federal poverty line in late 2020 as unemployment benefits are set to expire in December without further relief from Congress.
However, Trump is now laser-focused on attempting to overturn the election, pushing disinformation and conspiracy theories as his campaign files failing lawsuits challenging the vote. Talks between the Trump administration and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on pandemic relief broke down last month, and administration officials have indicated they are unlikely to take the lead on negotiations now, leaving the job on the GOP side up to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, according to The Washington Post. McConnell attempted to normalize Trump’s unprecedented behavior, arguing before the Senate this week that Trump has the right to challenge the election in the courts.
Congress has failed to agree on pandemic relief since passing a $2.2 trillion package in the spring that provided stimulus checks starting at $1,200. With all eyes on two upcoming runoffs in Georgia that could wrest the Senate from his control, McConnell has said that passing another pandemic relief package before the end of the year is a priority. However, McConnell is pushing for a “highly targeted” stimulus package similar to a $500 billion proposal that Democrats rejected months ago, arguing it did not provide nearly enough economic relief.
Democrats are doubling down on their proposal, the HEROES Act, a $2.2 trillion package passed by the House earlier this year that includes another round of $1,200 checks to each individual, along with badly needed assistance for state and local governments. McConnell has consistently refused to take up the package in the Senate, where conservatives wary of social welfare spending rebelled against compromise measures offered by the Trump administration and moderates. Democrats already cut $1 trillion from the HEROES Act since the House originally passed the legislation in May.
Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other top Democrats are now demanding Republicans drop their support for Trump’s effort to overturn the election and pass pandemic relief.
To Senate Republicans: Joe Biden will be the next President. Kamala Harris will be the next VP. It is past time to get to work for the American people. Americans need help to fight the COVID crisis. We don’t have time for games. We must pass the Heroes Act in the Senate. — Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) November 12, 2020
“What are they thinking? People are suffering,” Pelosi said during a press conference on Thursday. “They seem to have a mental block to doing the right thing.”
Nearly 80 million adults — about one in three — report not having enough money to cover basic expenses, such as food, rent and medical bills.
Analysts say Senate Republicans are not likely to embrace a strong stimulus now that Pfizer has reported preliminary data showing that its COVID-19 vaccine is 90 percent effective. However, a trial for the vaccine is ongoing and has yet to be approved by federal regulators. Consumer advocates warned this week that Pfizer’s preliminary data does not show whether the vaccine is safe or whether it will effectively prevent COVID-19 in vulnerable populations.
On Tuesday, McConnell pointed out that unemployment has fallen to 6.9 percent as evidence that only a “highly targeted” stimulus is needed. However, unemployment could spike again if the third wave of COVID-19 forces even more parts of the country back into shutdown mode. On Wednesday, Illinois issued guidance urging people to stay home, and the city of Chicago will enter an official stay-at-home advisory beginning Monday. Other states and cities will likely follow. A record 153,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the U.S. on Thursday alone, and the U.S. has seen over one million new cases in the past 10 days, more than any other nation.
Despite the positive jobs report cited by McConnell, about 1 million people applied for unemployment insurance last week, more than any time during the Great Recession, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Many workers are exhausting their state unemployment benefits as the pandemic drags on – the number of state claims dropped by 436,000 last week – and federal emergency unemployment benefits will expire on December 26 without congressional action.
Meanwhile, the economy has not recovered from the damage caused earlier in the pandemic as what little support is left from the initial relief package dwindles — and lower-income households and households of color are suffering the most, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Nearly 80 million adults — about one in three — report not having enough money to cover basic expenses, such as food, rent and medical bills, including 40 percent of households with children.
Nearly one in six renters are behind on rent, including 26 percent of Black families and 18 percent of Latinx families, according to the Center’s analysis of federal data. Some federal protections for renters are in place, but Democrats want a tougher eviction moratorium passed with a stimulus. Attempts by landlords to evict their tenants have been reported across the country.
The Trump administration was in court last month attempting to block emergency food assistance for the nation’s poorest families.
Nearly 24 million adults — 10.9 percent of the population — report that their household sometimes or often did not have enough to eat in the past week, according to data collected in mid-October. Between 8 and 14 percent of adults with children reported that their kids sometimes or often did not have enough to eat. Compare that to last year, when only 3.7 percent of adults reported their households going hungry during the entire course of 2019.
Rates of hunger are much higher among Black and Latino households, where workers are more likely to work in low-income industries that suffered massive job losses due to the pandemic. About 19 percent of Black households and 18 percent of Latinx households reported not having enough food to eat sometimes or often in the past seven days. The Trump administration was in court last month attempting to block emergency food assistance for the nation’s poorest families.
Back on Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans remained deadlocked over pandemic relief on Thursday, with Democrats pushing their $2.2 trillion proposal and attacking Republicans for focusing on Trump’s efforts to reverse the election results, according to reports. McConnell said he wants Congress to pass another stimulus but continues to stand by his $500 billion offer.
“I gather [Pelosi] and the Democratic leader in the Senate still are looking at something dramatically larger,” McConnell said. “That’s not a place I think we’re willing to go.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-11-13--Welcome to Trump’s Last Act, the Most Dangerous Show on Earth

Now that the Trump administration has an expiration date , some have argued that Trump ’ s refusal to concede and his retaliatory governance will be of no consequence .
But Trump is a showman rebelling against a narrative of loss and humiliation .
Kelly Hayes talks about what ’ s at stake and why downplaying the risks we face is irresponsible .
Note : This a rush transcript and has been lightly edited for clarity .
Copy may not be in its final form .
Welcome to “ Movement Memos ” , a Truthout podcast about things you should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world .
I ’ m your host , Kelly Hayes .
First I want to say that I joined you all in a widespread sigh of relief last weekend , upon hearing that Donald Trump had been defeated at the ballot box .
I took a couple days to rest and restore myself and I am so glad I did .
Our bodies and minds need time to recover after so much stress , anxiety and hurt , the way a muscle needs time to relax after it contracts .
Otherwise , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ completely unsustainable .
That said , given that Trump is still armed with every weapon in the world and has continuously stoked and perpetrated violence against marginalized people , it is irresponsible to suggest that the danger has passed .
Some hoped and even predicted that Trump would hide behind his television for the next two and a half months , and take no action of consequence .
That kind of wishful thinking was not helpful at the onset of the Trump administration and it is not helpful now .
Pretending that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disregard for the fates of marginalized people in this political meantime .
In fact , it is genuinely hard for me to accept that anyone truly believes that the risk is minimal .
Because that assertion is a complete dismissal of the violence that people living in the margins have already experienced — as well as the awesome power that Trump will continue to hold until January 20 .
Trump has already established his genocidal desires and intentions .
He is removing public officials who have hindered his violence and persecution of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about 1,000 people per day in the U.S. , as case rates continue to soar .
Inside immigration detention facilities , the monthly case rate of COVID-19 per 100,000 detainees increased from 1,527 to 6,683 from April 2020 to August 2020 .
How will those people fare now , during flu season , caged in the path of the second wave , with no flu vaccines , no space to physically distance and no functional access to health care ?
The United States keeps upwards of two million people caged at any given @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can pretend , in this political moment , that we don ’ t know what ’ s about to happen to a great many of those people as the second wave crashes .
There comes a point where downplaying what Trump is capable of becomes complicity , because we plainly and simply know better .
Coming from white people who are economically comfortable , the idea that we can drop our political guard is so offensive that , quite frankly , it makes me want to throw things .
I am not a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alignment and a coalition , and I know that many of us worked in alignment to remove Trump who do not have ideological alignment .
I know that liberals and moderates lean on leftists ( or simply demand our compliance ) in hard times , and frequently throw us under the bus when things get dicey .
But this betrayal has been swift , and there are some people who I think know better .
For the next two months , Trump will have the same license to commit atrocity that he has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the presidency .
And thanks to COVID-19 , he will be able to perpetrate those atrocities without lifting a finger , by keeping people caged in federal prisons and detention centers , as both the flu and COVID-19 race through those facilities .
He will withhold federal assistance from blue states , and could even start confiscating our medical supplies , the way he did last April .
I have long said that if Trump lost , he would go out with a bang , inflicting punishment and leaving chaos in his wake @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen many people latch onto the notion that Trump will slink away out of embarrassment , inflicting no significant damage — even as he continues to file lawsuits and fire government officials .
But Trump is a showman .
This is his last act , and while the facts may dictate this story ’ s outcome , they will never dictate Trump ’ s narrative .
He will maintain that this election is stolen .
That contention will fuel racist propaganda and fascist fantasies of persecution .
Removing a fascist from the White @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that put him there .
Fascism thrives among people who have a false sense of social humiliation and victimhood .
Simply having a Black president escalated that sense of victimhood enough to propel a movement .
Trump told racist white people that their feelings were well founded and that their retaliatory impulses were correct .
The vast majority of Republicans who are not committed to Trump ’ s unreality were willing to go along with it , because whether or not they agreed with the details , they saw it as benefiting them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ share the decades-long agenda of the Republican Party : to recreate the voting dynamics that existed in the U.S. prior to the Voting Rights Act .
They may not break it down in those terms , or any terms at all , but those are exactly the dynamics that Republicans have long sought to recover .
Everything they do builds toward that end .
Liberals and leftists will never adequately defend themselves politically against the Republican Party until they acknowledge the history , trajectory and intentions of that party .
We are talking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a stated desire to reduce and limit the number of people voting .
Republican officials , including Lindsey Graham and the president , have acknowledged that too many people voting means far fewer Republican victories .
Republicans have , over the course of decades , painstakingly sought to overtake corporate power , to take control of local media outlets , to build a large presence in academia and in the judiciary .
This has been going on since the 70 ’ s .
It has always been aimed at reasserting white dominance and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expansive system of social control .
White racists lost some very important battles during the Civil Rights era .
But they have never stopped fighting to take it all back .
To do that , they have to overcome what passes for democracy in the U.S .
They have to ensure that a minority , rather than the majority , charts a political path forward .
It is a matter of long term relevance , which for them , is a matter of political survival .
Hopefully the Senate runoff in Georgia will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at voter suppression , given what Georgia organizers have had to overcome on that front .
I hope everyone will get behind the people waging those battles , and stay behind them , well after this runoff is over .
One word that I have absolutely no interest in right now is “ unity.
” The word “ unity , ” in the mouths of Democratic elites , is about order , not justice .
It ’ s about quieting expectations and ensuring our cooperation with compromises that should not be made .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ should be rooted out of any society — abhorrent views that uphold systemic violence — as socially acceptable , for the sake of living in peace with Trump supporters .
The expectation of unity is never allowed to hinge on whether Republicans will accept the humanity of people who their preferred leaders would grind under .
The expectation is never that conservatives accept systemic changes that would make life more livable for many , including themselves in some cases .
The expectation is not that Republicans accept that some people will offer water @ @ @ @ @ @ @ otherwise die of thirst , or that they accept that a white man might be prosecuted for the murder of a Black man .
That is never the cost of political calm .
The cost of calm is to further normalize white entitlement and false victimhood , a violent desire for retribution , and the cruelty being the point — we have to treat all of that as socially negotiable and empathize .
The people asking you to do all of that are not concerned with long term ethical frameworks .
They are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complacency allows the right wing to flourish in the mainstream , rather than being named for what it is and attacked accordingly .
Democrats will talk about the need to come together around legislative goals but the truth is that the GOP will negotiate in its own interests , and no amount of good will on the part of the Democrats will shift the strategy of Senate Republicans .
Appearing permissive now , in the face of Trump ’ s anti-Democratic antics , will not pave an easier path for Democrats later .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is not unity .
It is alignment — functional alignment among those who agree on key goals , like universal mask wearing and keeping people fed and housed .
We need to pool our efforts to keep as many people safe and alive as we can for as long as possible .
“ Unity ” and other emotional homework assignments are meaningless .
Solidarity is about meaningful political action in support of one another ’ s liberation and survival .
That ’ s what is needed in this moment .
Calls for “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quo intact .
This is a problem , since the status quo often exists in opposition to the well being of people .
When it comes to Trump ’ s intransigence , there also seems to be little concern among Democrats about the same scene playing out again in the not so distant future , with another Republican , perhaps even an incumbent , refusing to accept the outcome of an election .
If Trump ’ s tactics are ultimately employed by a Republican who has fared better at the polls , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does have a legal strategy , how will Democrats feel about having acted like it was no big deal when Donald Trump refused to concede ?
How many times will the Democrats be backed by the will of the majority , only to be toppled by Republicans who are better at gaming the system ?
Democrats failed us terribly in the 2000 ’ s when they catered to Republican claims that “ voter fraud ” was a problem .
They even agreed to address the issue in legislation in order to win other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mythology of voter fraud has continued to flourish and has helped usher in sweeping acts of voter suppression .
Democrats conceding that voter fraud was a problem when it was not , and allowing legal redress for a problem that didn ’ t exist , helped propel the Republicans on their quest to quash and prevent as many votes as possible .
Black votes , Native votes , disabled votes .
Democratic votes .
Their lies must not be allowed to flourish .
A Republican coup , no matter how poorly armed or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be normalized .
I know this must be a jarring time for people seeking guidance .
Some of those who have insisted that we are no longer in danger have even suggested that it is the fears of those of us who are still sounding the alarm that are empowering Trump , rather than his racist supporters .
To be clear , those arguments are cruel and irresponsible attacks on people who have good cause to fear Trump , and amount to victim blaming .
All such statements should be condemned by all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Trump has been underestimated far too often .
People who have raised the alarm about him , at every stage of his politics , have been gaslit and mocked .
That ’ s about control .
The damage Trump can still do is being minimized by people who will not experience the brunt of it .
But if anyone expects Trump to leave the White House without stripping out the copper wiring in the walls , I don ’ t know what to tell them .
Trump has outlined and explained his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told us how he operates and shown us how he operates , and yet some people will continue to predict his actions on the basis of norms that have never applied .
We don ’ t get to make assumptions about how well things will go .
We have to be planners and troubleshooters , and we have to be building and solidifying connections and points of solidarity that will help us adapt and organize as needed to get through what ’ s ahead , and to organize beyond these difficult months into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demands is solidarity , courage , and for some of us , sacrifice .
We don ’ t know what all of that will look like yet , but we can not embrace baseless assumptions that we are no longer at risk .
We ’ ve had time to throw confetti over the fact that we have created a finish line for the Trump administration .
That ’ s done now .
The work of everything after begins today , if you haven ’ t begun it yet .
The future is here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will inform it .
As many said at the start of the Trump administration , no one gets to sit this one out .
I want to thank our listeners for joining us today .
And remember , our best defense against cynicism is to do good and to remember that the good we do matters .
Until next time , I ’ ll see you in the streets .
Detention Watch Network ’ s # FreeThemAll : Toolkit to Support Local Demands for Mass Release of People in ICE Custody is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ support the work of organizations and individuals looking to demand the release of people in ICE custody.
” We Keep Each Other Safe : Mutual Aid for Survival and Solidarity is a conversation between Dean Spade , Mariame Kaba and Ejeris Dixon about Dean ’ s new book Mutual Aid : Building Solidarity During This Crisis ( and the Next ) .
COVID-19 in Prisons Is Far Worse Than Previously Thought , Data Trackers Say Trump ’ s Frivolous Lawsuits Are the Tip of the Iceberg in His Refusal to Concede

COVID-19 patients arrive to the Wakefield Campus of the Montefiore Medical Center on April 6, 2020, in the Bronx borough of New York City. John Moore / Getty Images
Part of the Series Movement Memos
Now that the Trump administration has an expiration date, some have argued that Trump’s refusal to concede and his retaliatory governance will be of no consequence. But Trump is a showman rebelling against a narrative of loss and humiliation. Kelly Hayes talks about what’s at stake and why downplaying the risks we face is irresponsible.
TRANSCRIPT
Note: This a rush transcript and has been lightly edited for clarity. Copy may not be in its final form.
Welcome to “Movement Memos”, a Truthout podcast about things you should know if you want to change the world. I’m your host, Kelly Hayes.
First I want to say that I joined you all in a widespread sigh of relief last weekend, upon hearing that Donald Trump had been defeated at the ballot box. I took a couple days to rest and restore myself and I am so glad I did. Our bodies and minds need time to recover after so much stress, anxiety and hurt, the way a muscle needs time to relax after it contracts. Otherwise, we get stuck in fixed states that are completely unsustainable.
That said, given that Trump is still armed with every weapon in the world and has continuously stoked and perpetrated violence against marginalized people, it is irresponsible to suggest that the danger has passed. Some hoped and even predicted that Trump would hide behind his television for the next two and a half months, and take no action of consequence. That kind of wishful thinking was not helpful at the onset of the Trump administration and it is not helpful now. Pretending that the danger is now minimal reflects a total disregard for the fates of marginalized people in this political meantime. In fact, it is genuinely hard for me to accept that anyone truly believes that the risk is minimal. Because that assertion is a complete dismissal of the violence that people living in the margins have already experienced — as well as the awesome power that Trump will continue to hold until January 20. Trump has already established his genocidal desires and intentions. He is removing public officials who have hindered his violence and persecution of his enemies.
The pandemic is currently killing about 1,000 people per day in the U.S., as case rates continue to soar. Inside immigration detention facilities, the monthly case rate of COVID-19 per 100,000 detainees increased from 1,527 to 6,683 from April 2020 to August 2020. How will those people fare now, during flu season, caged in the path of the second wave, with no flu vaccines, no space to physically distance and no functional access to health care? The United States keeps upwards of two million people caged at any given time, and not one of us can pretend, in this political moment, that we don’t know what’s about to happen to a great many of those people as the second wave crashes.
There comes a point where downplaying what Trump is capable of becomes complicity, because we plainly and simply know better.
Coming from white people who are economically comfortable, the idea that we can drop our political guard is so offensive that, quite frankly, it makes me want to throw things. I am not a fool. I know the difference between alignment and a coalition, and I know that many of us worked in alignment to remove Trump who do not have ideological alignment. I know that liberals and moderates lean on leftists (or simply demand our compliance) in hard times, and frequently throw us under the bus when things get dicey. But this betrayal has been swift, and there are some people who I think know better.
For the next two months, Trump will have the same license to commit atrocity that he has had for the last four years: the presidency. And thanks to COVID-19, he will be able to perpetrate those atrocities without lifting a finger, by keeping people caged in federal prisons and detention centers, as both the flu and COVID-19 race through those facilities. He will withhold federal assistance from blue states, and could even start confiscating our medical supplies, the way he did last April.
I have long said that if Trump lost, he would go out with a bang, inflicting punishment and leaving chaos in his wake. In recent days, I have seen many people latch onto the notion that Trump will slink away out of embarrassment, inflicting no significant damage — even as he continues to file lawsuits and fire government officials. But Trump is a showman. This is his last act, and while the facts may dictate this story’s outcome, they will never dictate Trump’s narrative. He will maintain that this election is stolen. That contention will fuel racist propaganda and fascist fantasies of persecution.
Removing a fascist from the White House will not destroy the fascist movement that put him there. Fascism thrives among people who have a false sense of social humiliation and victimhood. Simply having a Black president escalated that sense of victimhood enough to propel a movement. Trump told racist white people that their feelings were well founded and that their retaliatory impulses were correct. The vast majority of Republicans who are not committed to Trump’s unreality were willing to go along with it, because whether or not they agreed with the details, they saw it as benefiting them more than the alternative. Everyday Republicans share the decades-long agenda of the Republican Party: to recreate the voting dynamics that existed in the U.S. prior to the Voting Rights Act. They may not break it down in those terms, or any terms at all, but those are exactly the dynamics that Republicans have long sought to recover. Everything they do builds toward that end.
Liberals and leftists will never adequately defend themselves politically against the Republican Party until they acknowledge the history, trajectory and intentions of that party. We are talking about acts of mass disenfranchisement, and a stated desire to reduce and limit the number of people voting. Republican officials, including Lindsey Graham and the president, have acknowledged that too many people voting means far fewer Republican victories. Republicans have, over the course of decades, painstakingly sought to overtake corporate power, to take control of local media outlets, to build a large presence in academia and in the judiciary. This has been going on since the 70’s. It has always been aimed at reasserting white dominance and codifying conservative values to create a more expansive system of social control. White racists lost some very important battles during the Civil Rights era. But they have never stopped fighting to take it all back.
To do that, they have to overcome what passes for democracy in the U.S. They have to ensure that a minority, rather than the majority, charts a political path forward. It is a matter of long term relevance, which for them, is a matter of political survival.
Hopefully the Senate runoff in Georgia will cause people to take a harder look at voter suppression, given what Georgia organizers have had to overcome on that front. I hope everyone will get behind the people waging those battles, and stay behind them, well after this runoff is over.
One word that I have absolutely no interest in right now is “unity.”
The word “unity,” in the mouths of Democratic elites, is about order, not justice. It’s about quieting expectations and ensuring our cooperation with compromises that should not be made. It asks us to treat things that should be rooted out of any society — abhorrent views that uphold systemic violence — as socially acceptable, for the sake of living in peace with Trump supporters. The expectation of unity is never allowed to hinge on whether Republicans will accept the humanity of people who their preferred leaders would grind under. The expectation is never that conservatives accept systemic changes that would make life more livable for many, including themselves in some cases. The expectation is not that Republicans accept that some people will offer water to migrants in the desert who might otherwise die of thirst, or that they accept that a white man might be prosecuted for the murder of a Black man. That is never the cost of political calm. The cost of calm is to further normalize white entitlement and false victimhood, a violent desire for retribution, and the cruelty being the point — we have to treat all of that as socially negotiable and empathize. The people asking you to do all of that are not concerned with long term ethical frameworks. They are concerned with your cooperation, even if complacency allows the right wing to flourish in the mainstream, rather than being named for what it is and attacked accordingly.
Democrats will talk about the need to come together around legislative goals but the truth is that the GOP will negotiate in its own interests, and no amount of good will on the part of the Democrats will shift the strategy of Senate Republicans. Appearing permissive now, in the face of Trump’s anti-Democratic antics, will not pave an easier path for Democrats later.
What we need to survive these times is not unity. It is alignment — functional alignment among those who agree on key goals, like universal mask wearing and keeping people fed and housed. We need to pool our efforts to keep as many people safe and alive as we can for as long as possible. “Unity” and other emotional homework assignments are meaningless. Solidarity is about meaningful political action in support of one another’s liberation and survival. That’s what is needed in this moment.
Calls for “unity” are about keeping the status quo intact. This is a problem, since the status quo often exists in opposition to the well being of people.
When it comes to Trump’s intransigence, there also seems to be little concern among Democrats about the same scene playing out again in the not so distant future, with another Republican, perhaps even an incumbent, refusing to accept the outcome of an election. If Trump’s tactics are ultimately employed by a Republican who has fared better at the polls, who has not clearly lost, who actually does have a legal strategy, how will Democrats feel about having acted like it was no big deal when Donald Trump refused to concede? How many times will the Democrats be backed by the will of the majority, only to be toppled by Republicans who are better at gaming the system?
Democrats failed us terribly in the 2000’s when they catered to Republican claims that “voter fraud” was a problem. They even agreed to address the issue in legislation in order to win other reforms. Since then, the Republican mythology of voter fraud has continued to flourish and has helped usher in sweeping acts of voter suppression. Democrats conceding that voter fraud was a problem when it was not, and allowing legal redress for a problem that didn’t exist, helped propel the Republicans on their quest to quash and prevent as many votes as possible. Black votes, Native votes, disabled votes. Democratic votes.
Their lies must not be allowed to flourish. A Republican coup, no matter how poorly armed or artless it might seem, must not be normalized. I know this must be a jarring time for people seeking guidance. Some of those who have insisted that we are no longer in danger have even suggested that it is the fears of those of us who are still sounding the alarm that are empowering Trump, rather than his racist supporters. To be clear, those arguments are cruel and irresponsible attacks on people who have good cause to fear Trump, and amount to victim blaming. All such statements should be condemned by all people of conscience. The truth is, Trump has been underestimated far too often. People who have raised the alarm about him, at every stage of his politics, have been gaslit and mocked. That’s about control.
The damage Trump can still do is being minimized by people who will not experience the brunt of it. But if anyone expects Trump to leave the White House without stripping out the copper wiring in the walls, I don’t know what to tell them. Trump has outlined and explained his own character many times. He has told us how he operates and shown us how he operates, and yet some people will continue to predict his actions on the basis of norms that have never applied.
We don’t get to make assumptions about how well things will go. We have to be planners and troubleshooters, and we have to be building and solidifying connections and points of solidarity that will help us adapt and organize as needed to get through what’s ahead, and to organize beyond these difficult months into a new future.
What the moment demands is solidarity, courage, and for some of us, sacrifice. We don’t know what all of that will look like yet, but we cannot embrace baseless assumptions that we are no longer at risk. We’ve had time to throw confetti over the fact that we have created a finish line for the Trump administration. That’s done now. The work of everything after begins today, if you haven’t begun it yet. The future is here and we are already making choices that will inform it. As many said at the start of the Trump administration, no one gets to sit this one out.
I want to thank our listeners for joining us today. And remember, our best defense against cynicism is to do good and to remember that the good we do matters. Until next time, I’ll see you in the streets.
Show Notes
Organizing resource:
Detention Watch Network’s #FreeThemAll: Toolkit to Support Local Demands for Mass Release of People in ICE Custody is a “working toolkit to help guide and support the work of organizations and individuals looking to demand the release of people in ICE custody.”
Watch:
We Keep Each Other Safe: Mutual Aid for Survival and Solidarity is a conversation between Dean Spade, Mariame Kaba and Ejeris Dixon about Dean’s new book Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next).
Suggested reading:
COVID-19 in Prisons Is Far Worse Than Previously Thought, Data Trackers Say
Trump’s Frivolous Lawsuits Are the Tip of the Iceberg in His Refusal to Concede
COVID-19 Expected to Overwhelm Health Care System as Trump Sabotages Transition