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 serves 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 Trumptastrophe looks back to the very beginning of Trump’s
presidency and some of the immediate signs that his time in office would
be grounded in lies, division, self-enrichment, and a contempt for
democratic norms and the rule of law:

Trump was sworn in as president on January 20, 2017. Trump began his
inauguration speech saying, “Every four years, we gather on these steps to
carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful
to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid
throughout this transition.” Of course, four years later, Trump and many
of his right-wing supporters did everything they could to disrupt the
orderly and peaceful transfer of power after he lost his reelection bid.
Trump became the [ [link removed] ]first U.S. president in 150 years not to attend the
inauguration of his successor.

The Trump administration’s disregard for the truth was evident from the
start; the day after his inauguration, Trump sent his press secretary Sean
Spicer out to [ [link removed] ]lie about the size of the crowd and attack the media’s
reporting on it. A day later, adviser Kellyanne Conway gave us the
memorable description of administration lies as “[ [link removed] ]alternative facts.”

The day after he was sworn in, Trump appointed Michael Flynn to be his
first National Security Adviser. Flynn was already [ [link removed] ]under investigation
for contacts he had with Russian officials before Trump took office. Flynn
resigned after just a few weeks in the position; in December 2017 he
pleaded guilty to a felony charge of lying to the FBI about his
conversations with Russian officials. Trump later [ [link removed] ]pardoned Flynn, who
had [ [link removed] ]backed calls for Trump to [ [link removed] ]declare martial law after the 2020
election.

The same day Trump took office, the public interest news organization
ProPublica [ [link removed] ]reported that Trump had not yet filed paperwork transferring
control of his companies as he had promised. Although those documents
would be filed in the coming days, as ProPublica noted, “None of these
moves include divesting from his companies, which ethics experts say Trump
should do.”

Remembering how the Trump presidency got started highlights some of the
many reasons Americans must mobilize to prevent him from taking power
again.

One is Trump’s conspicuous corruption. While he was president, the family
businesses that he refused to divest from took in [ [link removed] ]$2.4 billion,
according to Forbes. At a [ [link removed] ]press conference on Jan. 11, 2017, Trump had
claimed, “I could actually run my business and run government at the same
time…if I wanted to.” A Trump attorney said that even though Trump would
not be bound by conflict of interest laws, he was taking steps to give his
sons control of his business empire so that the American people could be
assured that “the decisions he makes and the actions he takes as president
are for their benefit and not to support his financial interests.”

In reality, Trump [ [link removed] ]visited a Trump Organization-owned property on 428
days of his presidency, or about two days out of every week, according to
the Washington Post. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
[ [link removed] ]calculated in August 2020 that Trump had made his 500th visit to a
Trump property since becoming president, which the group called “stunning
even for a presidency that has been defined by corruption, self-dealing,
and abuse of power.” Trump played [ [link removed] ]hundreds of rounds of golf at
properties owned by his company, [ [link removed] ]costing American taxpayers
[ [link removed] ]millions of dollars; his children also visited Trump properties, which
racked up income from Secret Service agents assigned to protect them.
Republican Party and conservative groups also [ [link removed] ]spent big at Trump
properties.

Last year, CREW [ [link removed] ]reported that Trump had made up to $160 million from
foreign business dealings while he was president.  And the House Oversight
Committee found that Trump businesses had accepted nearly $8 million from
foreign governments while he was in office, which Rep. Jamie Raskin
[ [link removed] ]described as evidence that Trump “put lining his pockets with cash
from foreign governments seeking policy favors over the interests of the
American people.”

Even more alarming than Trump’s brazen use of his office to enrich himself
and his family—a hallmark of dictatorial leaders—is his continuing
relationship with Michael Flynn.

Since his pardon, Flynn has become a primary promoter of far-right
conspiracy theories and Christian nationalist ideology. As a centerpiece
of the traveling MAGA rally known as the ReAwaken America Tour, Flynn
serves as a bridge between Trump insiders and fringier, sometimes violent
QAnon followers and other conspiracy theorists.

At a May 2023 ReAwaken America stop at Trump’s Doral Miami resort, Trump
[ [link removed] ]spoke to the crowd via Flynn’s cell phone. Trump lavished praise on
Flynn and told him to “stay healthy,” adding, “Because we’re bringing you
back. [ [link removed] ]We’re gonna bring you back.”

In response, Right Wing Watch posted “[ [link removed] ]12 Reasons Donald Trump’s Pledge
to Hire Michael Flynn is a Five-Alarm Threat to Democracy.” Among the
highlights:

* Flynn’s call for Trump to declare martial law and his telling MAGA
activists the day before the insurrection, “We should not accept
this.”
* Flynn’s Christian nationalism: “If we are going to have one nation
under God, which we must, we have to have one religion. One nation
under God, and one religion under God,” he [ [link removed] ]said at a ReAwaken
America event in 2021.
* The world Flynn wants the power to build: “Flynn’s movement envisions
Christianity as the basis of American life and institutions; where the
right to bear arms is paramount; where abortion is illegal; where
concepts such as systemic racism and gay or transgender rights have no
place in the schools; and where people who disagree are
called ‘Marxists,’ or perverts, and are excluded from American civic
life,” AP and Frontline [ [link removed] ]reported in 2022.

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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