John,
Instead of the typical fundraising emails piling up in your inbox about important deadlines and goals, I wanted to try something a little different. And yes, before you go on, I write and approve all these emails.
I wanted to share my thoughts about last month's midterms, the danger that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans have posed to our country and democracy since 2016, the encouraging signs of a return to normalcy, and the challenges going forward.
Since Trump first descended the golden escalator to announce his run for president, demonizing immigrants and polarizing the country, our democracy has had to weather a constant storm of assaults on its institutions. But since that time, and for three consecutive election cycles, Donald Trump and MAGA candidates across the country underperformed and lost — often spectacularly.
In 2018, the American people rejected Trump's MAGA candidates and flipped dozens of seats in the House. Then in 2020, Trump became the first president to lose re-election since George H.W. Bush.
The results this time around for Republicans and Trump were disastrous for both House and Senate Republicans — barely winning the House despite all the historical trends and thanks only to cynical red-state gerrymanders, and failing to defeat even a single incumbent Democrat in the Senate.
Some within the GOP leadership are finally beginning to recognize that Donald Trump is a loser, and as long as they attach their wagon to his — they will be losers too. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, the harsh reality is: No matter whether Ron DeSantis or any other Trump wannabe is exploring a run for the GOP nomination, Trump still maintains the support of his extreme MAGA base and the Republican nomination is still his to lose.
Even though this man has never won the popular vote, he is a threat that we cannot afford to underestimate, especially with razor-thin margins in Congress and control of both the House and Senate in 2024 a complete toss-up. We underestimated him in 2016, and that must never happen again.
With Kevin McCarthy’s hopes of becoming Speaker of the House pinned to the votes of Trump-loving House members like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, and Lauren Boebert, he is continuing to exercise an outsized influence on our government.
There's no doubt in my mind that McCarthy will continue to be a leader who is completely beholden to the dangerous demands of Trumpism and MAGA politics. And that means they will continue to attack and demonize anyone who stands up to them. McCarthy has already vowed to remove me from the Intelligence Committee, a strictly political move to win the support of MAGA House members and part of a broader effort to neutralize oversight of their abuses.
So to continue to hold Trump and Republicans accountable, it is again left up to us to fight back against their attacks on the truth and our democracy.
That's why I am reaching out to you today. Will you give $5 to fuel our fight to stand up to Kevin McCarthy and MAGA Republicans?
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Thank you for your friendship and support,
— Adam