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Dear John,
Yesterday, Donald Trump became the first former president in American history to be indicted on criminal charges. It’s a tremendously significant moment for our democracy, and I applaud the Manhattan DA for his commitment to justice.
However, the Donald Trump we saw yesterday – cornered and humiliated – is more dangerous than ever.
He threatened the judge, the prosecutor, and their families with violence. He blamed his indictment on a racist and anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. And of course he repeated his Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
Trump’s plan is clear: he intends to use this and any future indictments to to inflame his base and set the stage for further attacks on our democracy and the rule of law.
We cannot sit back and wait until next year to fight back. We must start now with a new, major expansion of our social media following – especially among young people and those being targeted by Trump’s Big Lie – and then use the most effective, scientifically tested messages to inoculate them against his disinformation and conspiracy theories.
We’re aiming to raise $100,000 over the next two weeks to jump-start this effort, and to meet that goal, we need all our supporters to chip in whatever you can afford.
Will you make a donation to help defend our democracy and keep Donald Trump out of the White House?
In the weeks and months after January 6, 2021, Inequality Media Civic Action launched one of the most innovative and strategically impactful projects in our history.
Step one was to significantly expand the number of people seeing our content on social media, especially young people, “persuadable” conservatives, and others at risk of falling into the rabbit hole of online conspiracy theories and right-wing disinformation. Step two was to use scientifically tested videos and explainers to debunk Trump’s lies and inoculate these key demographic groups and others against his disinformation.
The results were more effective than we could have imagined, and it paid off in the midterm elections, as supporters of Trump’s Big Lie lost up and down the ballot.
But the threat before us today may be even greater than what we faced in 2020 and 2022.
Trump is now like a cornered animal lashing out and willing to take down our entire democracy to save himself. His followers believe that January 6 was a patriotic day of resistance and that his indictment is the result of a deep-state conspiracy. Moreover, yesterday’s indictment was likely only the first of several that he will face in the months to come.
We need to double-down on our successful efforts after January 6 by growing our audiences even more on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, and we must continue to test and innovate the most effective ways to debunk false claims and conspiracies online.
But we rely on donations from people like you to support everything we do, so I’m asking you today: Will you make a donation to help save our democracy, get out the truth, and stop Donald Trump’s effort to take back the White House?
In solidarity and with deep gratitude,
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
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