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Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons — the potential for political backlash is real

Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons — the potential for political backlash is real

Ankush Khardori writes: Even though President Donald Trump had vowed to deliver pardons to those who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the Capitol, his sweeping clemency for roughly 1,500 people was stunning. The recipients of Trump’s incredible generosity included Enrique Tarrio, a onetime leader of the Proud Boys who was convicted of sedition and serving a 22-year sentence; Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, who was serving an 18-year sentence for his involvement; and about…

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Convicted U.S. Capitol rioter turns down Trump pardon ‘because I was guilty’

Convicted U.S. Capitol rioter turns down Trump pardon ‘because I was guilty’

BBC News reports: One of the people who served jail time for taking part in the US Capitol riot four years ago has refused a pardon from President Donald Trump, saying: “We were wrong that day.” Pamela Hemphill, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 days in prison, told the BBC that there should be no pardons for the riot on 6 January 2021. “Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law and, of…

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Bishop explains her plea to Trump to ‘have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ people and immigrants on The View

Bishop explains her plea to Trump to ‘have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ people and immigrants on The View

  Just one day after she delivered her remarks in front of Trump, Bishop Mariann Budde said on The View on Wednesday morning that her responsibility on Tuesday was to reflect and “pray with the nation for unity”. “As I was pondering what are the foundations of unity, I wanted to emphasize respecting the honor and dignity of every human being, basic honesty and humility,” she said. “And then I also realized that in unity requires a certain degree of…

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Increasing climate losses threaten the insurance industry and financial stability

Increasing climate losses threaten the insurance industry and financial stability

Ilan Noy writes: The impact of climate change on insurance markets has been systematically underestimated, with profound implications for financial stability and the sustainability of the risk-sharing services insurance provides. In my research on the economic impacts of climate change and other disasters, I’ve observed a persistent pattern: insurers treat climate change primarily as a future risk while failing to recognise how it has been transforming the risk landscape for some time now. This misunderstanding is now coming home to…

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Episcopal bishop of DC pleas with Trump ‘to have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ communities and immigrants

Episcopal bishop of DC pleas with Trump ‘to have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ communities and immigrants

  The Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, D.C., implored newly inaugurated President Donald Trump on Tuesday “to have mercy upon” communities across the country “who are scared now” after his election. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families — some who fear for their lives,” Budde said during remarks at an interfaith prayer service at Washington National Cathedral with the president, Vice President JD Vance and their spouses in attendance….

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‘America First’ Christians are growing more critical of Israel — and they are turning on Trump

‘America First’ Christians are growing more critical of Israel — and they are turning on Trump

Amanda Kadlec writes: The war in Gaza has forced a conversation about Israel among American Christians. Christians make up 72% of the United States electorate, and 56% of Americans who identify as Christian voted for Donald Trump in 2024, according to a report by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University. Although this conservative segment initially signaled strong support for Israel’s war in Gaza, its thinking on the issue is becoming increasingly diverse. With the stratification of echo-chamber outlets…

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Neo-Nazis love Elon Musk’s salute to fascism

Neo-Nazis love Elon Musk’s salute to fascism

  Wired reports: “WE ARE FUCKING BACK,” the administrator of a Nazi meme channel on Telegram wrote under a clip of Musk giving the salute. Members of the group responded with the lightning bolt emoji, a well-known neo-Nazi reference to the SS. “I don’t care if this was a mistake, I’m going to enjoy the tears over it,” Christopher Pohlhaus, the leader of the American neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe, wrote on his Telegram channel under a gif of the Musk salute. Keith Woods,…

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Elon Musk is ‘either a Nazi or an idiot’

Elon Musk is ‘either a Nazi or an idiot’

  Elon Musk has defended making an ‘awkward hand gesture’ at Trump’s inauguration that some have likened to a Nazi salute. James O’Brien and his listeners are broadly unconvinced. While addressing a crowd of MAGA supporters during a celebration of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the influential billionaire made a gesture putting his right hand on his chest before raising it it in the air (01:22). Then he turned and made the same hand gesture to the crowd behind him. He…

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Musk ejects Ramaswamy from DOGE

Musk ejects Ramaswamy from DOGE

Politico reports: Elon Musk has already achieved his first cut at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency: his co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy. Musk, the tech tycoon and Donald Trump confidant, made it known that he wanted Ramaswamy out of DOGE in recent days, according to three people familiar with Musk’s preferences who, like others for this article, were granted anonymity to discuss them. An ill-received holiday rant on X by Ramaswamy about H-1B visas apparently hastened his demise. Just 69 days…

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Trump betrays Afghans who supported the U.S.

Trump betrays Afghans who supported the U.S.

Reuters reports: Nearly 1,660 Afghans cleared by the U.S. government to resettle in the U.S., including family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel, are having their flights canceled under President Donald Trump’s order suspending U.S. refugee programs, a U.S. official and a leading refugee resettlement advocate said on Monday. The group includes unaccompanied minors awaiting reunification with their families in the U.S. as well as Afghans at risk of Taliban retribution because they fought for the former U.S.-backed Afghan government,…

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Trump triggers a crisis in Denmark — and Europe

Trump triggers a crisis in Denmark — and Europe

Anne Applebaum writes: What did Donald Trump say over the phone to Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, on Wednesday? I don’t know which precise words he used, but I witnessed their impact. I arrived in Copenhagen the day after the call—the subject, of course, was the future of Greenland, which Denmark owns and which Trump wants—and discovered that appointments I had with Danish politicians were suddenly in danger of being canceled. Amid Frederiksen’s emergency meeting with business leaders, her…

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A rubber-stamp president?

A rubber-stamp president?

If Donald Trump won’t be able to trumpet that the largest crowd in human history assembled to celebrate his resurrection, perhaps today’s Capitol Rotunda gathering marks the greatest assembly of billionaires Washington has ever seen. On Friday, January 20, 2017, Trump signed his first executive orders in the Oval Office shortly after his inaugural parade ended. Note that he needed his chief of staff to point out where on the order his signature was required:   Trump loves spectacles. But…

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The tech broligarchs dark vision for the new Trump term

The tech broligarchs dark vision for the new Trump term

Sigal Samuel writes: There’s a dominant narrative in the media about why tech billionaires are sucking up to Donald Trump: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos, all of whom have descended on the nation’s capital for the presidential inauguration, either happily support or have largely acquiesced to Trump because they think he’ll offer lower taxes and friendlier regulations. In other words, it’s just about protecting their own selfish business interests. That narrative is not exactly wrong — Trump has…

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The legal status of Elon Musk’s government waste panel is already being challenged in federal court

The legal status of Elon Musk’s government waste panel is already being challenged in federal court

The Washington Post reports: A lawsuit claiming billionaire Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” violates federal transparency rules was filed within minutes of President Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday, kicking off a legal battle over a key aspect of the incoming administration’s agenda. In a 30-page complaint obtained by The Washington Post ahead of its filing, the public interest law firm National Security Counselors says that the nongovernmental DOGE panel is breaking a 1972 law that requires advisory committees to the…

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Crypto executives warn Trump and Melania’s memecoins harm the industry

Crypto executives warn Trump and Melania’s memecoins harm the industry

BREAKING: Donald Trump’s memecoin, $TRUMP, crashes over -40% as Melania Trump launches her own memecoin. This is beyond insane. pic.twitter.com/6Oj2GGqjqF — The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) January 19, 2025 You can't make this up: The website used to launch $MELANIA was created on Saturday, January 18th, at 9:36 AM ET. On January 19th, at 4:13 PM ET, the memecoin was launched. That's a 31 hour gap from when the website was created to the launch of the coin. Was the Melania……

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How undemocratic workplaces sowed the seeds of Trumpism

How undemocratic workplaces sowed the seeds of Trumpism

Noah Berlatsky and Ilana Gershon write: Since Donald Trump’s election victory, the Democratic Party and numerous pundits have been arguing about why Kamala Harris lost. Some have argued that Harris failed to emphasize progressive economic policies. Others have insisted that she should have more explicitly disavowed the left. Perhaps most convincingly, writers like Financial Times columnist and data reporter John Burn-Murdoch have noted that this has been an unfavorable time for incumbents globally, from the United Kingdom to Japan, as…

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