What TPM Planned To Publish If Trump Had Won The Election

Editor’s note: Ahead of major news events, journalists will often “pre-write” articles so we’re ready to provide context when the news breaks. In the run-up to Election Day 2020, we prewrote several articles — for various outcomes related to the Senate, for a Biden victory (we published that one) and for the possibility that Trump would win.

We knew a second Trump term would be a turning point on the country’s path toward authoritarianism, and we wanted to reflect that. As it turns out, Trump didn’t win, but we still got a taste of that authoritarian turn over the last two months.

Below, you’ll find what we would have published had Trump won. And on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day, Kate Riga spoke to one of the experts quoted in the prewrite about what we’ve seen over the last two months. 

The critical states fell one by one into the President’s column, and the nightmare scenario has come true.

Continue reading “What TPM Planned To Publish If Trump Had Won The Election”

A Look At Trump’s Pardon For Elliott Broidy, A Big-time Fundraiser And ’16 Inaug Official

Outgoing President Trump pardoned Elliott Broidy late Tuesday night, in a grant of clemency to a man who pleaded guilty to a charge relating to an illegal lobbying scheme that involved having Trump play golf with the prime minister of Malaysia.

Continue reading “A Look At Trump’s Pardon For Elliott Broidy, A Big-time Fundraiser And ’16 Inaug Official”

Where Do We Go From Here?

Joe Biden set a tone yesterday evening to listen rather than speak, to speak through our silences. I will try to heed that as best I can with only some brief remarks as we rest at this threshold. Where do we go from here? What do we make of all this? A lesson for us to learn and absorb is resilience.

So many terrible things have happened over these four years, so many things were harrowing and unimaginable. Most became inevitable the moment the country took the fatal step of putting a sociopath at the helm of the state. We were here four years ago trying to imagine what would happen. Resilience and an ethic of optimism are not only good strategy. They are an ethical stance toward life and a way to survive whatever the world throws at us.

Continue reading “Where Do We Go From Here?”

The Infamous Duke Cunningham Included In Trump Flurry Of 11th Hour Pardons

Disgraced former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s messy “bribe menu” was, apparently, just tacky enough to garner President Trump’s sympathy.

Continue reading “The Infamous Duke Cunningham Included In Trump Flurry Of 11th Hour Pardons”

Trump Departs DC Without Carrying Out Order To Make Federal Workers Easier To Fire

As the President boarded the plane for Florida Wednesday morning, bidding farewell to his presidency in a brief speech at Joint Base Andrews, it appeared his administration had failed to carry out one of the most ambitious but under-the-radar power grabs the federal government had seen in years.

Continue reading “Trump Departs DC Without Carrying Out Order To Make Federal Workers Easier To Fire”

Trump Pardons Bannon And Other Associates In Last-Minute Clemency Blitz

President Trump on Tuesday night used his last dregs of presidential power to benefit friends and allies, granting last-minute clemency to 143 people, including former White House strategist Steve Bannon.

Continue reading “Trump Pardons Bannon And Other Associates In Last-Minute Clemency Blitz”

Trump Privately Weighs Abandoning GOP To Start His Own ‘Patriot Party’

In the dwindling days of his presidency, President Donald Trump has been discussing the possibility of leaving the GOP behind him to start a new political party, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Continue reading “Trump Privately Weighs Abandoning GOP To Start His Own ‘Patriot Party’”