Hello it’s the weekend. This is The Weekender ☕️
One of the major features of the modern MAGA movement — along with blind loyalty to President Trump and unbridled glee at the prospect of crackdowns led by masked federal troops — is constantly feeling aggrieved and angry about change.
Targets of this ire have included museums and colleges that are seen as supposed bastions of “woke” culture, but also brands. The latest business to inspire a right wing meltdown is the restaurant chain Cracker Barrel — and no one freaked out harder than Republican Florida congressman and gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds.
You see, Donalds, whose statehouse bid has Trump’s signature “Complete and Total Endorsement,” claims he found God in the homestyle restaurant’s parking lot. That righteous experience meant Donalds was extra angry when the chain changed their logo to remove the image of a seated man and barrel.
On (of course) X.com, Donalds alluded to his religious experience as he blasted the redesign.
“In college, I worked at @CrackerBarrel in Tallahassee. I even gave my life to Christ in their parking lot,” Donalds wrote. “Their logo was iconic and their unique restaurants were a fixture of American culture. No one asked for this woke rebrand. It’s time to Make Cracker Barrel Great Again.”
Donalds and the other right wingers who are raging about the logo haven’t exactly explained what is remotely political about the change. The restaurant has actually updated its branding multiple times in its history. However, in past interviews, Donalds has actually explained the other part of his outburst and revealed how Cracker Barrel brought him to Jesus in 2001.
In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network that aired in May, Donalds said the epiphany came as he was arranging silverware after serving a church group.
“The Lord spoke to me and was like, ‘Stop running from me.’ And so, like, it just it knocked me back,” Donalds said. Donalds ran out into the parking lot where the churchgoers were piling into their van. One asked if he was all right.
“No ma’am,” Donalds said. “I’m not OK.”
He went on to explain that “the Lord’s telling me to stop running” and the group prayed with him right there on the asphalt. “I still get emotional about it,” Donalds said.
CBN broadcaster David Brody was moved by the story. “You got saved in a Cracker Barrel!” he exclaimed to Donalds.
Now, with the light in his life, Donalds has the strength, courage and platform to absolutely lose it for no discernible reason over a chain restaurant’s advertising campaign.
Praise God (and pass the country combos and classics)!
— Hunter Walker
Here’s what else TPM has on tap this weekend:
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom trolls President Trump in a way that is sure to get under his skin like nothing else can: he’s stealing Trump’s grift game.
- With a government shutdown on the horizon, some Democrats are demanding that Republicans’ sweeping Medicaid cuts be rescinded in exchange for their support in keeping the government open.
- Opponents of “Alligator Alcatraz” scored a win in court on Thursday when Miami federal district court Judge Kathleen M. Williams issued an order that no more immigrants should be sent to the detention camp in the Everglades.
Let’s dig in.
Enter: Newsom the Troll
Newsom is making it clearer by the second that he is likely to launch a 2028 bid, as evidenced by his justifiably aggressive response to Trump’s nationwide gerrymandering bid to rig the midterms and the new online persona he’s rolled out to publicize his plans.
Some of it is cringe, like the all caps Trump Truth style tweets where Newsom — “YOUR FAVORITE GOVERNOR” — copied Trump’s voice in announcing his plans to redraw some congressional maps in California. Some of it is effective (Trump and his toadies make it easy). Some of it will get under Trump’s skin in a way that little else can: he’s stealing Trump’s grift. On Friday Newsom tweeted an image of new merchandise he supposedly intends to sell (more than likely its just another layer of his ongoing troll).
In some sense, whatever, go off. In another sense, beyond all the silly attention-grabbing pranks, Newsom is taking concrete steps to counter this White House. In moving quickly to redraw California’s maps and push back against Republicans’ redistricting power grab, he’s doing something that Democrats have struggled to do in fighting Trump for the past decade. He’s abandoning the higher ground and joining the no-holds-barred fight to stop Trump’s midterms ratfuckery.
—Nicole Lafond
Medicaid Cuts May Become a Sticking Point in Looming Gov’t Funding Fight
When congressional lawmakers return from their lengthy August recess, the talk of the town will be focused on how and if Congress will be able to pass a measure — either a continuing resolution or appropriations bills — to fund the government and avoid a government shutdown. The fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
Republicans will need Senate Democrats’ help in order to do that since legislation to fund the government is subject to the filibuster and requires 60 votes.
Some Senate Democrats are already demanding their caucus do nothing to help Republicans unless there are guarantees in place that President Donald Trump will use funds as appropriated — without illegally clawing back funds or attempting to send Congress constitutionally backwards rescissions packages.
Meanwhile others, especially appropriators, are pushing for a bipartisan appropriations process in order to fund the government. Though there are differing views among the Democratic caucus on how to proceed, healthcare is also becoming an issue Dems may leverage in their negotiations.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is already drawing a line in the sand, per Punchbowl, saying that Dems shouldn’t vote for any funding bills unless the Medicaid cuts Republicans stuffed into the so-called “big, beautiful” bill are rescinded.
“If Republicans want Senate Democrats to provide votes to fund the Trump administration, they can start by restoring the health care that they ripped away to finance more tax handouts for billionaires,” Warren told Punchbowl. “This government funding fight is about saving health care and lowering costs for millions of Americans.”
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) has also said that it’ll be “tough” to get her vote on budget-related issues without action on Medicaid.
— Emine Yücel
Florida Judge Orders Temporary Shutdown of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Camp
Opponents of “Alligator Alcatraz” scored a win in court on Thursday when Miami federal district court Judge Kathleen M. Williams issued an order that no more immigrants should be sent to the detention camp in the Everglades.
Williams’ order came after a suit was filed by environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe, whose members have a reservation and a traditional camp located next to the facility. Along with stopping further migrants from being held there, Williams called for state and federal officials to remove current detainees within 60 days. The judge also ordered the dismantling of parts of the facility and a stop to new construction.
However, the fight over the detention camp, which has been spearheaded by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as part of his efforts to support President Trump’s mass deportation agenda, will not be over. Attorneys for the state immediately filed a notice indicating they plan to appeal.
“Alligator Alcatraz” has been mired in controversy since DeSantis and his allies announced it in late June. Attorneys and advocates have raised concerns about humanitarian conditions at the camp as well as legal issues, including detainees’ access to lawyers. Political opponents have also raised alarms about the nine-figure annual cost of the facility, which Florida is initially paying ahead of a supposed federal reimbursement.
TPM has been chronicling the story with reports on the rushed construction, which included diverted disaster resources, and on the legal battle, which has been focused on environmental concerns. While the state has insisted the camp will have no environmental impact on the protected wetlands, evidence from environmental groups and the contracts analyzed by TPM indicated there were plans for paving at the site. We also talked with a tribal leader who described the Miccosukee’s concerns and called the project “an abomination to the whole concept of sovereignty.”
Both the Miccosukee and the environmental groups argued in court that the camp was built without environmental assessments and impact statements that are required for projects involving federal action. Government lawyers countered that the facility is not subject to federal law since it is being built and run by the state.
Williams was evidently not swayed by that rationale. Along with declaring that the project would do “irreparable harm” to the surrounding environment, Williams described federal immigration enforcement as the “key driver” of the camp. Because of that, she found it was subject to federal regulations and standards.
“If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, then it’s a duck,” the judge wrote.
— Hunter Walker
