Friend,
Welcome to our weekly “Trumptastrophe” email series, that will serve to remind us all of the destructive policies, decisions, and actions we encountered during the Trump presidency and the threats that he and others in the MAGA movement still pose – and to keep those moments clear in our memory as we fight to defeat Republican extremists during the upcoming elections.
This week’s recap focuses on former President Trump’s enabling of far-right religious activists and the extreme and wildly unpopular agenda they seek to advance:
In October 2017, Trump highlighted his support for far-right constituencies that helped him get elected a year earlier.
On October 13, Trump spoke at the Values Voter Summit, an annual gathering of religious-right political activists hosted by the intensely anti-LGBTQ, anti-choice, Family Research Council. A few days later, he addressed a group of major donors to the Heritage Foundation, the massive right-wing think tank and political force.
At the Values Voter Summit, Trump bragged about his nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, and repeated the ridiculous claim that he was “stopping cold the attacks on Judeo-Christian values” by making it safe (finally!) for people to say, “Merry Christmas.”
At the same conference, far-right Trump aide Steve Bannon declared war on the Republican establishment, religious-right leaders bragged about their progress in resisting LGBTQ equality, NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch declared, “Feminism is dead,” and GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore claimed that the First Amendment “is a mandate to acknowledge God.”
Speaking to the Heritage Foundation’s President’s Council, Trump claimed to be leading “the defense of our God-given rights,” bragged about his judges, and promoted his tax cut plan, which delivered most of its benefits to the wealthiest Americans.
Here’s how this Trump two-fer reminds us how dangerous it would be for Trump to have the power to carry out his far-right supporters’ wishes:
- The conservative white evangelicals who voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016 and 2020 are triumphant about the Supreme Court they built together. They are now pushing for both state and national bans on abortion. They are urging the same right-wing majority to further dismantle church-state separation, reverse marriage equality and undermine legal protections for LGBTQ Americans.
- Family Research Council leaders not only promoted Trump’s reelection; they were also deeply involved in Trump’s illegal efforts to stay in power after his 2020 defeat. Trump returns their loyalty, speaking at this year’s FRC activist gathering, which focused on taking and wielding political power to impose the religious-right’s “biblical worldview” on American law and society. Trump delivered an apocalyptic message: “This election will decide whether America will be ruled by Marxists, fascists, communist tyrants who want to smash the Judeo-Christian heritage or whether America will be saved by God-fearing, freedom loving patriots like all of the people in this room.”
- Trump also bragged to FRC activists this year that he had “totally transformed the federal judiciary,” a reminder of the cataclysmic, generations-long damage to our rights and freedom if Trump were allowed to pick up where he left off with his far-right judicial nominees.
- The Family Research Council has joined a remarkably shameless effort to impose a right-wing Christian “biblical worldview” religious test on future Republican Supreme Court nominees, a plan spelled out in great detail at last month’s Pray Vote Stand, the new name FRC has given to the former VVS. Among the people on the religious-right wish-list for SCOTUS are some of Trump’s most extreme lower court nominees, and the head of the religious-right legal giant Alliance Defending Freedom.
- Meanwhile, the increasingly MAGAfied Heritage Foundation is leading a massive right-wing battle plan to declare war on federal government agencies and purge thousands of nonpartisan civil service employees if Trump or another conservative is elected president. The director of Project 2025 says they are “systematically preparing to march into office and bring a new army, aligned, trained, and essentially weaponized conservatives ready to do battle against the deep state.”
- One goal of the Project is to advance the Far Right’s goal of slashing the federal government and giving Trump practically dictatorial powers over every aspect of the executive branch.
- Project 2025 is more evidence of the far-right plan to reverse the New Deal and more than 100 years of progressive advances and force Americans to live under an interpretation of the Constitution where states’ rights trump both individual rights and federal efforts to advance the common good. The election of Trump—or someone equally willing to do their bidding—is all they need to launch their attack.
These are just some of the reasons we need YOU in this fight. So, find your favorite way to unwind after reading through our brief recollection of “this week in the Trump presidency,” and then make a plan for how you will fight back THIS week, this MONTH, this election cycle.
Thanks for all that you do to defeat Republican extremism.
– People For the American Way
| DONATE NOW |
|
Do not reply directly to this e-mail. Please use [email protected]. Trouble viewing the email? This email was sent to [email protected]. If you have any thoughts, comments, or criticisms, or if there's a better email address at which to reach you, please let us know. If you'd like to unsubscribe from our list, you can do that here.
|
