Sunday Hopium - Trump Is Struggling And We Need To Get Very, Very Loud Now

DNC Chair Ken Martin Joins Us On Thursday at 215pm ET

Happy Sunday all. Sundays here at Hopium are easy days, days to do something other than politics days, rest and restore days. Take long walks, read that book that has been sitting there for too long, see an old friend days….

So, just a few things this morning….

First, DNC Chair Ken Martin joins us live this Thursday at 215pm. You can join our discussion by clicking here at 215pm ET. Excited for this one. Feel free to invite friends and colleagues. The more the merrier!

Next, if you decide to dive into politics today got a few fresh and meaty things for you……

• Immigration legal expert David Leopold reviews what has been a good legal week against Trump’s immigration escalation and offers some early thoughts about how we can contain ICE in the months ahead

• Health care policy expert Charles Gaba explains how the damage to our health care system is starting now, not in 2027, and will get much worse next year

• COURIER Newsroom’s Tara McGowan talks about the growing power and effectiveness of pro-democracy media and our need to stay focused on reaching low political info voters

• Colorado AG Phil Weiser discusses the ongoing success of the 23 Dem AGs in fighting Trump and what they are planning for next

• My weekly post and video on how we should view these next these few months as an incredible opportunity to tell our story

• And throwing in my terrific discussion with Senator Elissa Slotkin on her new “Economic War Plan” for America

Finally, as we discussed yesterday, Trump has had a very bad week (slightly updated since yesterday):

All week we’ve been talking about how Trump’s repeated failures to get his approval rating up, his STRENGTH restored and his political project back on track would likely lead to him to create more “spectaculars” - dramatic events that would make him feel powerful and cause others and reality itself to bend the knee.

His previous spectaculars had all failed to do the trick - his ICE escalation, his sad birthday parade, his bombing of Iran and the passage of the big ugly. This week was supposed to be a victory lap for him after his bill was signed last Saturday night, but it’s turned out to be another ugly week for him - the Texas tragedy and DHS/FEMA flailing; escalating Epstein shitshow; ongoing Russia fiasco; turmoil and DOJ malfeasance in the Abrego Garcia case; a new nationwide injunction on birthright citizenship effort; new court orded restraints on ICE in LA; his tariff deadline arrived and he had to come to the American people humiliated with no deals in 90 days; renewed tariff chaos; and every credible poll this week showed him losing not gaining ground.

I don’t often bring Trump in here on Sundays but it’s important to see how much he is panicking right now. This was posted late yesterday afternoon:

And there’s this too…….

Simply, it is time for offense, not defense. We need to be unbelievably aggressive now.

Trump is weak, not strong. He’s losing, not winning. He’s failing, not succeeding. He’s a villain, not a hero.

In addition to going on the attack about Epstein and everything else I wonder whether it’s time for all Dems to rally around a simple agenda that we can bring into the upcoming debate over the budget. Something like:

1 - Roll back the terrible tariffs, lift this onerous tax on working people, stop this illegal and unconstitutional abuse of power that is doing so much economic and geopolitical damage to America

2- Put guardrails on ICE, no more masks or plainclothes agents, mandatory use of warrants and due process, no third country extraditions and a roll back on the additional and unnecessary funding provided in the reconciliation bill

3 - Fully fund FEMA, NOAA, FAA, DHS Intel etc - keep Americans safe, do not let our guard down against threats foreign and domestic. The unnecessary and tragic death of dozens of young girls should inspire us to action

4 - Protect the nation’s health - fire Kennedy, restore our vaccine regime, stand up for science, fully fund NIH and all ongoing medical research, rescind the tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires to properly fund Medcaid and our public health

5 - Implement the Russia sanctions, ensure the world understands that America stand with Ukraine and Europe not Putin and global autocracy

Enjoy your Sunday, think about all this, rest up and let’s hit the ground running tomorrow everyone…..

Now, Let’s Get To Work

Support Hopium’s Priority Candidates - Our revised fundraising goals are for Labor Day, remarkably, only two months away, with the November elections now only four months away. Early voting in Virginia starts September 19th. We can do this people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Mikie Sherrill NJ Gov (2025) - $200,000 goal, $35k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch Our Interview

• Abigail Spanberger VA Gov (2025) - $250,000 goal, $152k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch Our Interview

• Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $200,000 goal, $34k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer

• Hopium House 7 (2026) - $250,000 goal, $160k raised - Donate | Learn More, Volunteer, Watch Our Interviews

We also have ongoing campaigns to support the new DNC, Anderson Clayton and the North Carolina Democratic Party and to thank Senator Cory Booker for his spirited leadership in a time of enormous challenge. Lots of choices - do something to support these great candidates and parties today!

As I mentioned I’m in the process of reworking our collective activities, and today have a new number 1….

1 - Call your Senators and Reps To Demand They Stop Trump’s Terrible Tariffs and Pass The Bi-Partisans Russia Sanctions Bill - I will be fleshing this out in coming days but Congress simply must take back its tariff authority that Trump has illegally and unconstitutional seized and dangerously abused; and pass the bipartisan bill (with 82 Senate cosponsors) that would increase sanctions on Russia and make it clear that America stands with Ukraine and Europe not Putin.

2 - Get The Military Off Our Streets, Fight Trump’s Inhumane Immigration Escalation - Contact your Rep and Senators to demand they fight Trump’s illegal use of the National Guard and Marines in California. Encourage Democrats at all levels of government to a stand with Governor Newsom and the California - for Trump is not just attacking California, he is attacking the rights and freedoms of all of us. See my recent interviews with Joe Garcia, Leon Krauze and Senator Chris Van Hollen for more.

In the coming days I want to work with all of you to do something more explicit about demanding the end of masked, plain clothes “police” snatching people here in America without warrants.

3 - Join Our Resolutions Project - Inspired by the tactics of our Founders, learn about how Hopium members are advancing “resolutions of condemnation” in their communities across the country and consider bringing this initiative to your state, country or city/town. Our resolutions passed in two New Mexico counties two weeks ago, and we now have 46 resolutions moving in 15 states. Amazing stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4 -Volunteer To Help Your State and/or Local Democratic Parties Stand Up Voter Registration Efforts And Support “Organizing Summer” - In the presentation he made to our community recently Tom Bonier made a persuasive case that Democrats must once again make partisan voter registration a national priority. State and local Democratic Parties are in the planning stages to take this on. Members of our community should consider contacting their state and local parties and offer to help stand up these vital efforts in the coming months.

For more on the need to make partisan voter registration great again see my recent interview with Jane Kleeb, Nebraska Democratic Party Chair, DNC Vice Chair and President of the Association of Democratic State Committees.

Last Monday the DNC, the DSCC, the DCCC, the DGA and the ASDC announced a major new “Organizing Summer” project. Learn more about it here. I hope to have someone join us in the coming days to help us understand how we can support this exciting new initiative. Organizing to win these 29 Republican held House districts will be one of most important collective priorities for the next 16 months:

5 - Stand Up For Science - Sign on to the critically important Bethesda Declaration and watch my interview with Stand Up For Science’s Executive Director Colette Delawalla. Signing on to the Declaration is one concrete way you can take action today. Another is to back over 700 employees of the EPA who have taken a courageous stand challenging EPA Administration Lee Zeldin this week. You can learn more and sign your name in support of this remarkable effort here.

6 - Grow Hopium - We’ve set a goal of trying to grow the Hopium community from the 152,000 we are now to 175,000 by Labor Day. Do what you can to encourage your friends, family and colleagues to become a summer subscriber to Hopium, free or paid. If each current paid subscriber brings in just one new subscriber this summer we will hit our goal.

To encourage the growth of our community annual paid subscriptions are 10% off through Labor Day. Use that link to buy gift or group subscriptions, and join our new referral rewards program too.

Please self-report your activities to our daily paid subscriber chat. These reports help inspire all of us to do more and fight harder! Been impressive to see how many of you remain involved in local, in person protests of all kinds in your communities. Keep it up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep working hard all. Proud to be in this fight with all of you, and a fight it surely is - Simon