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 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 President Trump’s
unwillingness to tolerate anyone who would make him look bad or hold him
accountable for his actions. Throughout Trump’s presidency he wasted no
time in removing those who challenged his claims or authority. Now, as
Trump and others involved in Project 2025 plan for a second term, one
thing is clear: they will not tolerate anything less than pure,
unrestrained loyalty to Trump and their extreme agenda:

On May 1, 2020, Trump [ [link removed] ]fired the acting inspector general of the
Department of Health and Human Services. The sacking of Christi Grimm
seemed to be in retaliation for [ [link removed] ]a report that the watchdog’s office
released in April detailing shortages of COVID-19 test kits, masks, and
other equipment.

The Washington Post characterized the report as a public critique of U.S.
hospitals’ ability to handle the flood of COVID-19 patients, [ [link removed] ]writing
that the IG’s report “essentially counters assertions by President Trump
that hospitals and state officials advocating for them are being greedy.”
Trump had responded angrily to the report and was even [ [link removed] ]more combative
than usual in responding to reporters’ questions about it during one of
his White House press briefings.

Grimm was one of several inspectors general whose firings were announced
on Friday nights over a period of six weeks, with at least three of them
“[ [link removed] ]having done something to pretty obviously alienate Trump” by doing
their jobs. “The unprecedented spate of removals has reinforced how Trump
is rather obviously seeking to undermine independent oversight of his
administration — and the timing of each of them only reinforces that,”
[ [link removed] ]reported the Post.

While the president does have the power to fire inspectors general,
Congress created the positions with the expectation that they would act
independently of politics, [ [link removed] ]saying they should be chosen “without regard
to political affiliation” and “solely on the basis of integrity and
demonstrated ability” in fields like financial management, law, and public
administration, Vox reported.

Trump’s self-interested firing of Grimm and other inspectors general is a
reminder of the dangers posed by a potential Trump return to the White
House:

* Trump demands absolute loyalty. As the ACLU [ [link removed] ]noted at the time, “The
message from the president is painfully obvious: Act like a ‘Trump
fan’—or else.” And that was before staff loyal to the Constitution
refused to help Trump overturn the election and cling to power
illegally. Comments from Trump and his allies make it clear that if he
gets back into the White House, he will be careful not to hire anyone
willing to say “no” to him.
* The far-right schemers and former Trump aides at Project 2025 are
carefully [ [link removed] ]pre-vetting thousands of potential Trump 2.0 employees to
ensure their loyalty to Trump and the MAGA movement. Former Trump aide
Russ Vought, involved in planning an assertion of near-dictatorial
power after a return to the White House, has said, “What we’re trying
to do is identify the pockets of independence and seize them.”
* Trump acts as if he is above the law. He “balked at any form of
oversight during his tenure,” Vox [ [link removed] ]noted. As People For the
American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker [ [link removed] ]stated in 2019
when the House sought to enforce subpoenas that the White House was
stonewalling, “Trump seems to think the rules do not apply to him, and
he is wrong.” The truth of that statement is even clearer today, with
Trump and his lawyers arguing before the Supreme Court that Trump
should enjoy absolute immunity for any lawbreaking he committed as
president.
* If the right-wing Supreme Court majority solidified by Trump backs him
up, and he wins the election, Americans are likely to learn the hard
way the answer to [ [link removed] ]a question asked by Justice Ketanji Brown
Jackson as the court was hearing Trump’s immunity claim: “Why would we
have a situation in which we would say that the president should be
making official acts without any responsibility for following the
law?” she asked. If the court would give “the most powerful person in
the world” the ability to act without any accountability, she said,
“I’m trying to understand what the disincentive is from turning the
Oval Office into, you know, the seat of criminal activity in this
country.”

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.

For members who are interested in sharing the weekly Trumptastrophe
series, [ [link removed] ]you can 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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