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 brings into focus the dangerous game Trump
plays when he "jokes” about very serious matters (that sometimes end up
with harmful real-world consequences) and the hostility he shows towards
those who refuse blind loyalty to him:

Trump delivered his first official [ [link removed] ]State of the Union address on Jan.
30, 2018. Not surprisingly, Trump gushed with praise for his own
greatness, celebrating the “extraordinary success” of his first year in
office and the “incredible progress” he said the country had made toward
his campaign pledge to “make America great again.”

Trump made an uncharacteristic and ultimately unconvincing call for unity,
urging members of Congress to set aside their differences and extending
“an open hand” to work with members of both parties.

Trump’s call for unity didn’t last long, of course. Speaking in Ohio the
next week, Trump [ [link removed] ]mocked Democratic members of Congress for not being
sufficiently enthusiastic about his State of the Union address:

“They were like death and un-American. Un-American. Somebody said,
‘Treasonous.’ I mean, yeah, I guess, why not,” he said to laughter. “Can
we call that treason? Why not?”

CNN noted it was the second time in a week Trump had complained about
Democrats not cheering enough for him, and he [ [link removed] ]added that it would make
it much harder for him to work on legislation with Democratic lawmakers.

Of course, figures in the MAGA movement Trump leads regularly charge their
political opponents with treason—sometimes calling openly for execution of
those who stand in Trump’s way—accusing Democrats of being “communists”
who are intentionally setting out to destroy the country.

Trump demands unconditional loyalty for himself. While his supporters
responded to criticism of his “treason” remarks by saying, “hey, he was
just joking,” several commentators noted that Trump’s “joke” revealed
something more significant.

In The Atlantic, David Graham [ [link removed] ]wrote that Trump’s remarks reflected his
“[ [link removed] ]Sun King-esque conflation of himself with the government”:

This leads Trump to believe all American successes are reducible to him,
all criticism of the government is a personal attack on him, and, most
dangerously in this case, that any personal attack on him is therefore
an attack on the United States.

Usually when Trump makes an outrageous statement like this, [ [link removed] ]his aides
try to walk it back by insisting it was a joke. … On some level, this is
probably true—the nonchalance with which he accused Democrats of treason
is a sign of his unseriousness.

The nonchalance, the sort-of-jokiness, is part of what makes it so
chilling, too. Treason is one of those terms, and crimes, that loses its
power from overuse, not unlike accusing people of Nazism.

Journalist Chris Cillizza [ [link removed] ]wrote:

What Trump is saying is that dissent – which is what Democrats are doing
when they choose not to clap for a line in his speech – is traitorous
and/or un-American. … Even the suggestion of criminalizing dissent
should send a chill down the spine of anyone who counts themselves as a
fan of democracy. The right to dissent – without fear of retribution –
sits at the heart of what differentiates America from authoritarian
countries around the world.

During the State of the Union address, Trump also waxed eloquent about the
Capitol dome and the statue of freedom who stands atop it, citing the many
memorials and monuments on the National Mall and adding, “Freedom stands
tall over one more monument: This one. This Capitol -- this living
monument to the American People.”

As for Trump’s supposed reverence for the U.S. Capitol, it was nowhere to
be seen on Jan. 6, 2021, when the supporters he called to Washington to
try to keep him in power after he lost the election vandalized the Capitol
and violently attacked the Capitol Police who were defending it. On that
day, Trump acted as if the Capitol was enemy territory, watching the
violence for hours while ignoring desperate pleas from his own allies and
family to call off his troops.

It is a well-documented reality that Trump’s speeches are filled with
lies, which points to one of the most damaging things about Trump and his
MAGA movement: they inspire contempt for the truth, they rely on lies and
deliberately divisive and inflammatory rhetoric to fire up their base, and
they use social media and right-wing media to smear anyone who stands in
their way as America-hating traitors—all of which poisons our political
culture and undermines public confidence in and support for 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.

You asked and we listened! For members who are interested in sharing the
weekly Trumptastrophe series, you can [ [link removed] ]find all previous editions on our
website! This post will be published by Thursday so you can share with
your friends and family and remind them of the importance of ensuring that
Trump is defeated again this November.

[ [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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Thanks for your support.

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