On The Day He Visits President Biden, Trump Drops Dangerous Cabinet Picks - We, The Opposition, Have Work To Do Now

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Good morning all. Simply, what Donald Trump did yesterday was not OK, and we are going to have to fight.

Within hours of President Biden generously bringing Donald Trump to the Oval Office, and the Republicans in the Senate rejecting the MAGA candidate, Rick Scott, the rapist, fraudster, traitor and 34 times felon announced three Cabinet appointments that we will have to block, together:

• Tulsi Gabbard, a known Russian propagandist, for Director of National Intelligence

• Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and right right Christian nationalist, for Defense Secretary

• Matt Gaetz, who was on the verge of being cited for illicit and perhaps illegal behavior by his colleagues in the House, for Attorney General

I don’t exactly know how we are going to do this, and I know everyone is tired and down, but welcome to the first, critical battles of this new period of what I call the ferocious opposition. Battles, my friend, we must win.

To reprise something I’ve written here at Hopium many times this year:

Trump is a Russian-backed wrecking ball working to end the American-led global economy which has made us prosperous, end the Western alliance which has keep us safe, and end American democracy which has kept us free.

Somehow our muscular grassroots that donated so much money and did so much work on campaigns across the country is now going to have to turn its attention to the work of degrading these nominees, and blocking as many of them as we can. We need to get educated about the clear, material threat they pose to the nation, and share this information with our networks. Some initial stories:

From NBC News - Trump’s pick for top intel job has been accused of "‘traitorous” parroting of Russian propaganda:

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, former Democratic lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard, has been accused of amplifying Russian propaganda and would come to the job having never worked in the intelligence world or served on a congressional intelligence committee…..

Outraged lawmakers accused Gabbard two years ago of echoing Russian propaganda after Gabbard posted a video on social media asserting “the undeniable fact” of purported bio labs funded by the U.S. across Ukraine. She did not specify, as Russian disinformation had, that they were biological weapons labs.

Ukraine’s government, the U.S. government, news organizations and independent researchers have all said there is no evidence for the claim, which originated from Moscow.

Then-Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said Gabbard had embraced “actual Russian propaganda” and called it “traitorous.” Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said Gabbard was “parroting fake Russian propaganda.”

Gabbard, who sent a cease-and-desist letter to Romney over his remarks, denied repeating Russian propaganda and sought to clarify her social media post by saying in a separate post that “‘Biolabs’, ‘bioweapons labs’, and ‘bioweapons’ are 3 very different things. But because these phrases are so similar, there is sometimes miscommunication and misunderstanding when discussing them. I recently experienced this myself.”

She also argued that her critics were trying to “censor” her questioning of Washington’s establishment.

“When powerful, influential people make baseless accusations of treason, a crime punishable by death, in order to intimidate, silence and censor those who speak the truth, it has a chilling effect on our democracy,” she said.

On Gaetz, from the NYT:

The House Ethics Committee, which has been investigating allegations that Representative Matt Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, was prepared to vote to release a highly critical report about Mr. Gaetz on Friday, according to a Republican official familiar with the matter. The release would have come two days after President-elect Donald J. Trump selected Mr. Gaetz to be attorney general.

Mr. Gaetz, a Florida Republican, abruptly resigned from his House seat late Wednesday, effectively ending the ethics investigation that has hung over his head for years.

Mr. Gaetz, the official said, had repeatedly offered combative replies to questions posed by the committee, effectively delaying the fact-finding process for months. The publication of the committee’s findings was additionally delayed, the official said, because of a House rule that forbids releasing a negative report close to an election. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive investigation.

Now, with Mr. Gaetz’s departure from Congress, the committee no longer has jurisdiction to investigate him. It was not immediately clear whether it would still release its findings. Tom Rust, the chief counsel and staff director for the panel, declined to comment.

Our Fox News host nominee for Defense Secretary, who has left a trail of far right, pro-insurrectionist videos, is an avowed member of the Christian nationalist movement:

As shocking as all this, none of it is really surprising. And like with the election itself, you have a choice to make now - stand and fight, or not. I understand if folks need to take some time, be with family, rest up. I feel the same way. But we are in a new place now, and I am going to stand and fight.

Also note that the CEO of Polymarket, off-shore crypto betting site that worked so hard to elect Trump, has had his apartment raided by the FBI yesterday and his electronics seized:

In our paid subscriber chat today let’s talk about we can do. One million postcards to John Thune on the need to reject these picks? A million person White Dudes Against Extremists and Russian Stooge gatherings? I am not sure but let’s start airing stuff out here. And remember, as I discussed with Joe Trippi in our great talk yesterday, the future of our work together is in building and strengthening pro-democracy networks like here at Hopium, now 150,000 strong. Work with me in the coming days to grow this community of proud patriots and info warriors so we can help lead in this new time of opposition. Remember here we do more, worry less and I am going to work with you about finding new and more powerful ways to do our work outside of our traditional campaign work. For here, together, we will keep fighting for our freedoms, our democracy, our families and our future.

Here’s my latest take on the 2024 election, updated daily:

2024 was a close election. Trump will win by approx. 1.5 pts, and 0.9 in WI, 1.4 in MI, 1.9 in PA and 2.2 in GA. A shift of 1.9 points in MI, PA, WI and Harris wins. 2024 was not a landslide, not a blowout. It was a close election. The Senate today is at 52-48 (PA is still counting) and Rs will only have 3-4 seat advantage, making the chamber once again challenging to manage for a factious party. While Harris lost in the 7 battleground states, we had important down ballot wins, including AZ, MI, NV, WI Senate and NC Gov. We had other important wins across the US and did win the blue dot again in Nebraska.

Kamala Harris was given a very tough assignment. To come into and win the race starting three points down in late July was no easy thing. I think she then put in one of the greatest political performances we’ve seen in the modern era of American politics, taking the baton from President Biden, uniting the party around her, making a great VP pick, putting on the best and most inspiring Convention in my lifetime, crafting a powerful narrative and story for her campaign, kicking Trump’s blubbering ass in their only debate and then campaigning with a level of intensity and power we’ve seldom seen. There can be no question that she left it all out there on the playing field for us this year.

Despite all this, and despite him being a rapist, fraudster, traitor and 34 times felon there was a 5.8 point shift in the national popular vote towards Trump this cycle, and Trump is on track to be only the second Republican to win the national popular vote since 1988. Our underperformance with Hispanic voters and young people this year was especially problematic, and something we need to better understand, soon.

While there were bright spots for us in the 2024 election, particularly in the battleground states, this was a very bad election for our party, our freedoms, our democracy and our future and there is a lot of important work ahead of us.

While I am still working on my big take on 2024, one thing I think can all agree on is that that the outside Harris SuperPAC, Future Forward, failed to disqualify Trump, and that cost us and the nation dearly.

Here is where our 15 endorsed House candidates stand now:

• Flips (4) - Whitesides (CA-27), Gillen NY-4, Riley NY-19, Bynum OR-5

• Too Close To Call/Still Counting (3) - Gray CA-13, Tran CA-45, Bohannan IA-1

• Losses (8) - Shah AZ-01, Engel AZ-06, Salas CA-22, Rollins CA-41, Vargas NE-02, Jones NY-17, Altman NJ-07, Stelson PA-10

While the House officially went to the Rs yesterday, I remain very proud of the good we’ve done, together, this cycle. We made deeply strategic investments in AZ, NC, NE, WI and in critical House races across the country.

I also want to note the success we’ve had in New York this cycle. We’ve now flipped 4 NY House seats this year - NY-3, NY-4, NY-19 and NY-22. These wins have been another bright spot in a tough year and congrats to all of you involved in this critical gains.

Post-Election Pods, Posts and Videos - I got together with Tara McGowan and David Rothkopf last Thursday for one of our Deep State Radio discussions about US politics. This is the first of what will be many discussions I will be participating in about what happened and where we go from here.

A few more things to chew if you haven’t gotten to them yet:

• My big thank yous to members of the Hopium community who left it all out there on the playing field this cycle - Post | Video

• I’ve offered a series of post-election posts on the need for us to get louder (here, here, and here), something we also discussed in my recent Closing Strong conversation with Dan Pfeiffer and Tara McGowan, and in my talk with Joe Trippi yesterday

Hopium “Thank You, Rest Up and Get Ready” Party in Los Angeles This Friday at 6pm - I am heading out to Los Angeles later this week to speak to a class at USC’s Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism. While there, and as a way to thank the many people who volunteered and donated this year, I’m teaming up with our friends at the Grassroots Democrats HQ to have a formal thank you party tomorrow, Friday at 6pm PT. It will take place at the GDHQ office, 1027 Westwood Boulevard in Los Angeles. All members of the Hopium community are invited so please RSVP today! I am really looking forward to seeing members of this community, and thanking all of you in person.

While we did not have the election we all wanted to have, grassroots Democrats have much to be proud of, and left it all out there on the playing field this year. It will be an honor to be able to thank folks in person for their extraordinary work this cycle (which in California continues this week!).

Tuesday, November 19th, 1pm ET - With Democrats, Things Get Better - Join me for the next live showing of my big picture presentation on American politics, With Democrats, Things Get Better. It is newly updated with each showing, so even if you caught it earlier this year there will be new data and fresh analysis. Please register here. The arguments in this presentation are foundational to our work here at Hopium, and will be helpful to those wrestling with where we go from here.

My favorite slide from With Dems:

Keep working hard all. Proud to be in this fight with all of you - Simon