A new message from your friends at People For the American Way.
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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 brings into focus how Trump has not only allowed, but
encouraged the rapid expansion of far-right ideology and extremism within
the Republican Party. As Republican kingmaker Trump regularly endorses
candidates that are way outside the mainstream but, because they are
willing to support his radical MAGA agenda, receive his full support:

On Dec. 4, 2017, Trump [ [link removed] ]tweeted his official endorsement of former
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, the Republican nominee in a special
election to fill the U.S. Senate seat held by Jeff Sessions, whom Trump
had picked to be his first attorney general. Trump’s endorsement came
despite multiple accusations that Moore was involved in sexual misconduct
with teenage girls at a time when Moore had been in his early 30s. Trump
later gave Moore a [ [link removed] ]wholehearted endorsement at a political rally and
recorded a robocall for Moore’s campaign.

The sexual misconduct allegations against Moore were only some of the many
reasons he had no business service in the U.S. Senate. His record of
extremism was long and well known, which is why religious-right activists
and far-right political operatives like Steve Bannon were pushing so hard
to get him elected.

Moore was a zealous Christian nationalist whose religious bigotry led him
to stake out un-American and unconstitutional positions. When Keith
Ellison was elected the first Muslim member of Congress, Moore said that
Congress should refuse to seat him. Years earlier, Moore defended his
practice of opening courtroom sessions with Christian prayers and inviting
others to join him, but only if they were Christian. Moore said no Muslim
or Buddhist would offer prayers in his courtroom because "they do not
acknowledge the God of the Holy Bible upon which this country is
established."

Moore was an anti-equality extremist. He believed that homosexual conduct
should be criminalized. He once gave custody of three children to their
abusive father because their mother was in a same-sex relationship. The
same year Trump endorsed him, Moore had called for the impeachment of
Supreme Court justices who ruled in favor of marriage equality.

Moore put his religious and political ideology above his duty to protect
the rule of law and his oath to uphold the Constitution. He was removed
from his position as the state’s chief justice twice for defying federal
court orders—once for refusing to remove a massive Ten Commandments
monument he had installed in the courthouse, and once for instructing
state judges to ignore the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling.

Trump had backed another candidate in the GOP primary, but even before
officially endorsing Moore he had been [ [link removed] ]boosting him and attacking his
Democratic opponent. Trump’s endorsement came with [ [link removed] ]renewed funding from
the Republican National Committee to help Moore in the closing days of the
special election, which Moore lost anyway [ [link removed] ]thanks in large part to
[ [link removed] ]strong turnout by Black voters who were appalled by Moore’s birtherism,
connections to neo-Confederates, and comments suggesting that America was
better off during the slavery era.

Here’s how Trump’s endorsement of far-right Senate candidate Roy Moore
reminds us of the threat Trump continues to pose to democracy:

* Trump has poisoned our political culture by making the Republican
Party a friendlier place for far-right extremism since the earliest
days of his first campaign, when the two groups most energized by his
rhetoric were white nationalists and Christian nationalists.
* The same religious-right activists who rallied around Moore because
of, rather than in spite of, his extremism have done the same for
Trump—and they’ve joined forces with other elements of a
MAGA-radicalized right-wing movement that is preparing to fully enable
Trump’s aggressive authoritarian impulses if he returns to the White
House.
* Not only did Trump elevate the antisemitic, white nationalist Nick
Fuentes by having dinner with him, Trump has repeatedly endorsed the
politicians who have most enthusiastically embraced and promoted
Fuentes—Rep. Paul Gosar and state Sen. Wendy Rogers of Arizona.
* Just as Moore’s anti-gay extremism didn’t stop Trump from endorsing
him, Trump has enthusiastically endorsed the intensely anti-LGBTQ Mark
Robinson, a candidate for governor of North Carolina who has spread
bigotry and Christian nationalist themes across the state.
* Trump also endorsed Dan Cox, the 2022 Republican candidate for
Maryland governor who campaigned with QAnon conspiracy theorists and
Christian nationalists. Trump has repeatedly used his social media
accounts to promote QAnon conspiracy theorists.
* Trump endorsed Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who last year [ [link removed] ]dedicated
“every square inch” of the state to Jesus, saying “[With] the
authority that I have as governor, and the spiritual authority and the
physical authority that you give me, I claim Oklahoma for you.”
* Like Moore, Trump puts his own desire for power above the rule of law.
He continues to spread lies about election fraud and support other
election-denying candidates like
defeated-but-refusing-to-acknowledge-it Arizona gubernatorial
candidate Kari Lake. His relentless lying about his loss in the 2020
election fueled the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol and has
undermined millions of Americans’ faith in democracy.

These are just some of the reasons we need YOU in this
fight. So, find your
favorite way to unwind after reading through this week’s recap, and then
make a plan for how you will fight back THIS week, this MONTH, this
election cycle.

[ [link removed] ]If you’d like to opt-out of this series but still continue receiving
our other email content, you can do so here >>

Thanks for all that you do to defeat Republican extremism.

– People For the American Way

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