Dear John,

I fear that the Trump presidency has entered a dangerous new phase.

In the days since the horrendous assassination of Charlie Kirk in Utah last week, Trump has sought to cast blame on the entire Democratic Party and virtually every left-of-center voice in American life.

And now Trump is mobilizing the full weight of the federal government to silence his critics and political opponents.

Yesterday, under pressure from Trump’s FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show would be suspended indefinitely. Trump is also threatening to use the federal RICO statute — the 1970 law written to target organized crime — to jail political opponents.

Nonprofit advocacy groups are also at risk. JD Vance pledged to “go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence,” and top Trump aide Stephen Miller added that “we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle, and destroy these networks.”

Let me be absolutely clear about one thing: I, and the team at Inequality Media Civic Action, will not give in to government censorship.

We are more committed than ever to speaking out against Trump’s authoritarian overreach and alerting voters about how Trump is enriching himself while stripping health care and food stamps from tens of millions.

However, we rely on donations from grassroots supporters like you to fund everything we do — and to ensure that we have the resources to defend our First Amendment rights in these dark and dangerous times for free speech and democracy.

That’s why I’m asking you to help support Inequality Media Civic Action by starting a monthly donation today. Only by joining together can we stand up to these bullies and defend our battered democracy.

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Trump’s escalating authoritarian moves against his political opponents must be understood against the backdrop of his rapidly declining popularity.

The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, from September 9, shows that only 32 percent of Americans support Trump’s deploying armed troops to large cities.

His economic policies are similarly unpopular. Only 36 percent approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, 30 percent approve of his handling of the cost of living, and 16 percent support Trump’s having the power to set interest rates or tell companies where to manufacture products.

Trump is aiming to overcome these declining poll numbers by demonizing the Democratic Party, liberals, and all other political opponents in an effort to divide the nation into those who are with Trump and those who are against him.

I believe that Americans won’t fall for it. To the contrary: Trump is revealing the depths of his anti-democratic authoritarianism, from which now even more Americans will recoil.

It’s our job to help voters see what’s really going on and to counter the disinformation pouring daily out of the White House and right-wing media — and with more and more left-of-center voices being silenced by the day, our work is needed now more than ever.

Will you make a monthly donation to Inequality Media Civic Action to help educate the public and stop Donald Trump's authoritarian takeover?