Dear John,
No one should be surprised by the authoritarian nightmare that Donald Trump has unleashed on the American people.
Everything he is doing is pulled straight out of the same playbook used by dictators, from Viktor Orbán to Vladimir Putin.
Undercut public faith in democracy with fake charges of election fraud. Take personal control of the military and law enforcement by replacing career officers with loyalists. Subjugate the courts by ignoring rulings you disagree with and intimidating law firms. Attack the free press with costly lawsuits and by threatening broadcast licenses.
We’ve seen all of this before in other countries that have slid from democracy to dictatorship — except it’s happening even faster here than it did in Russia or Hungary.
But friends, I see signs of hope. Millions of people are marching in the streets, and Trump’s disapproval ratings have jumped more than 10 points since he was sworn in. And at Inequality Media Civic Action, our engagement across social media is through the roof.
We need to ramp it up and keep this momentum going, so I’m asking you today: Will you make a monthly donation to help educate the public, get the truth out, and stop Trump’s assault on our democracy?
The core principle of our constitutional republic is the separation of powers. Congress makes the law. The courts interpret the law. The executive branch enforces the law.
Donald Trump is systematically dismantling those checks and balances, centralizing power in his own personal control, and brutally retaliating against anyone who dares to stand up to him.
Consider his lawless deportations of legal U.S. residents. If, as he claims, the people he’s deporting have committed violent crimes, then his Justice Department could present evidence to a judge in court and act in accordance with the law.
Instead, we’re seeing students snatched up off the street by masked federal agents and law-abiding, legal immigrants shipped off to a Salvadoran gulag without pretense of due process. Even more chilling, Trump now says he would “love” to use these tactics to go after American citizens.
Friends, I don’t believe that Americans want this. Trump promised to lower prices, not turn America into a quasi-fascist autocracy.
But with MAGA-aligned billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg controlling so much of what people see and hear about Trump, too many Americans simply aren’t getting the facts about what’s really happening.
That’s where Inequality Media Civic Action comes in. We’re sounding the alarm to our millions of followers across social media, educating as many as possible about what’s at stake, and it’s working.
Our shares, views, and engagement have skyrocketed since Trump was sworn in, allowing us to reach millions of people beyond our core audience and break through to the broader public. On YouTube alone, the “watch time” of our videos is up a remarkable 10x from one year ago.
But facing Trump’s rapid descent into dictatorship, we need to do even more to warn the American people and mobilize them to take action — before it’s too late to stop him.
That’s why I’m asking you today: Will you make a monthly donation to help educate the public, get the truth out, and stop Trump’s assault on our democracy?
Thank you,
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
