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John Light

@johnalight.bsky.social
35K followers 1.6K following 562 posts

executive editor at TPM signal: johnalight.99 email: johnalight@protonmail.com

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Reposted by John Light
Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 6h
Pete Hegseth is what happens when you try to indoctrinate a functionally illiterate guy into West Coast Straussianism
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Sarah Posner @sarahposner.bsky.social · 12h
5 Points About a Senator’s Disastrous But Hilarious Attempt to Accuse Jack Smith of Perjury talkingpointsmemo.com/the-brief/5-...
talkingpointsmemo.com
5 Points About a Senator’s Disastrous But Hilarious Attempt to Accuse Jack Smith of Perjury
By now, I assume you’ve read about what happened. Maybe you’ve seen...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 12h
If a claim doesn’t implode quite as spectacularly as this one did, it’s easy enough for the right-wing influencers who promote it to brazen it out for audiences who may never make contact with reality. Initially, that seemed to be the plan.
talkingpointsmemo.com
5 Points About a Senator’s Disastrous But Hilarious Attempt to Accuse Jack Smith of Perjury
By now, I assume you’ve read about what happened. Maybe you’ve seen...
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Reposted by John Light
Hunter Walker @hunterw.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We've uncovered some definitive proof Eric Schmitt's supposedly blockbuster texts were not about an Atlanta Hawks game. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/new-evi...
talkingpointsmemo.com
New Evidence Shows Just How Badly One Republican Senator Beclowned Himself in the Jack Smith Hearing
TPM has found fairly definitive evidence proving Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) misread...
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paul johnson @rhetoricpj.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
On why this isn't really gonna be a Tea Party of the Dems talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/why-all...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Why All the Handwringing About a ‘Tea Party of the Left’ Was So Misguided
This article is part of Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. As...
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Reposted by John Light
David Kurtz @davidkurtz.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The mother of all “investigate the investigators” retributions suffered another major blow with the resignation of Kurt Olsen as top prosecutor. Olsen’s departure marks the 3d top prosecutor in a row to leave the probe—tho his departure seems markedly different. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...
talkingpointsmemo.com
The Biggest Trump Retribution Scheme Is Coming Apart at the Seams
Blanche Overpromises and Underdelivers The mother of all “investigate the investigators” retributions...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This was a great episode of a great pod.
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Reposted by John Light
Jared Holt @jaredlholt.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Check out yesterday’s episode and follow the links in the description to see the great work done on this topic by our guest, @joshkovensky.bsky.social. The figures we discussed are sure to be critical in stirring chaos and confusion around 2026 midterms. Learn who they are before they make news!
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Russ Vought's latest "pocket rescission" maneuver is wonky and may not get much coverage, but it's another major milestone in Congress ceding its power to Trump. Some Republicans (Susan Collins prominent among them) are vowing to fight back, but it's tbd how real that is. (I am skeptical.)
talkingpointsmemo.com
Russ Vought Takes a New Path Toward Overriding Congress
Programming Note I’ve been gone for two days! I forgot to say...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I took a long weekend to climb Mount Marcy. It was a great hike, and especially now, in the early fall. If you live near the Adirondacks, consider it!
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Reposted by John Light
TPM @talkingpointsmemo.com · 28/09/2026
@joshkovensky.bsky.social joined @jaredlholt.bsky.social and @michaelehayden.bsky.social of the Posting Through It podcast to talk about the influencer grifters boosting the Trump admin's agenda open.spotify.com/episode/59Tb...
open.spotify.com
144: Content Creators for the Authoritarian State feat. Josh Kovensky
Posting Through It · Episode
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Trump’s Big Attempt To Be Savvier About Stealing the Election This Time Around Failed
talkingpointsmemo.com
Trump’s Big Attempt To Be Savvier About Stealing the Election This Time Around Failed
Hello, and Welcome Back to the Franchise Just over a week since...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"These were not leaks jeopardizing national security. They were not leaks at all: the 'anonymous source' was speaking at a carefully managed event set up by the White House itself."
talkingpointsmemo.com
Judge Blocks Trump’s ‘Ban’ on Three News Outlets
White House’s After-the-Fact Justification For Ban Falls Apart Overnight, U.S. district court...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"This week, New York City announced a historic $131.5 million enforcement action against food delivery app DoorDash for underpaying or delaying payments to workers."
popular.info
DoorDash admits it “screwed up,” will pay NYC workers over $100 million
This week, New York City announced a historic $131.5 million enforcement action against food delivery app DoorDash for underpaying or delaying payments to workers.
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Reposted by John Light
Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD @prasad.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
like the Berlin Wall falling
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Missouri earlier this year sued the Trump admin with an audacious demand: conduct apportionment in a way that excludes many immigrants, giving more power to Missouri in the House and less to blue states. But Missouri has now dropped its suit, convinced that the Trump admin plans to do just that.
talkingpointsmemo.com
Missouri Dismisses Hail-Mary Lawsuit to Gain More Political Power, Confident Trump Admin Will Do What it Wants
The state of Missouri early this year sued the Department of Commerce...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Trump's polls are so bad that one election-denying Republican candidate now admits Biden won in 2020.
talkingpointsmemo.com
GOP Candidates Find Creative New Ways to Distance Themselves From Trump
Pay No Attention to That Man Inside the White House Florida gubernatorial...
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Reposted by John Light
Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.blacksky.app · 18/09/2026
i'm not over Alito saying we shouldn't count ballots that are mailed on or before Election Day but arrive shortly afterwards bc they can “radically flip” the “apparent outcome” cannot stress enough that, until all ballots are counted, there's no outcome to flip! ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/alito...
ballsandstrikes.org
A Brief History of Sam Alito’s Delusional Obsession With Voter Fraud
His conduct in several recent cases suggests that Alito is deep in the right-wing conspiracy theory weeds.
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Josh Kovensky @joshkovensky.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I asked Greg Bovino about the killing of Alex Pretti yesterday. He blamed a "light touch" towards "anarchists and rioters" in Minneapolis that allowed "lawlessness" to "fester" talkingpointsmemo.com/news/greg-bo...
talkingpointsmemo.com
In New York, Greg Bovino Says DHS’ ‘Light Touch’ Allowed Minneapolis ‘Lawlessness’
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Greg Bovino knows Minneapolis is a problem.  The...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Census Bureau tells staff not to talk publicly about its new rule, which would dramatically shift how the survey is conducted and redistribute political power from blue states to red ones.
talkingpointsmemo.com
Exclusive: Census Bureau Directs Staff to Keep Quiet During Comment Period for Controversial New Rule
Leadership at the Census Bureau has ordered staff to halt all external...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
University of Florida’s College Republicans chapter was disbanded after members were discovered doing Nazi salutes. The group has come back to life, and, as one of its first acts, hosted Marshall Rawson, the Florida legislature candidate who TPM revealed was at Charlottesville.
talkingpointsmemo.com
We Asked 28 GOP Officials If They’d Denounce the GOP Nominee Who Marched With Nazis in Charlottesville
This week I asked 28 current and former Republican Party officials in...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
When @hunterw.bsky.social told me he was writing about how Trump was using the "Willie Horton" strategy in North Carolina, I thought he was making an analogy. But, no, Trump basically says at a rally: I'm going to do some Willie Horton now. And then does.
talkingpointsmemo.com
Trump’s ‘Willie Horton’ Moment Featured a Story White Nationalists Are Obsessed With
President Donald Trump painted a terrifying picture during his rally in North...
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Reposted by John Light
TPM @talkingpointsmemo.com · 18/09/2026
Iryna Zarutska’s killing has emerged as a persistent fixation and rallying cry for racist extremists on the far right. It's also become part of President Trump's midterms pitch.
talkingpointsmemo.com
Trump’s ‘Willie Horton’ Moment Featured a Story White Nationalists Are Obsessed With
President Donald Trump painted a terrifying picture during his rally in North...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I keep thinking about how Bill Cassidy logicked his way into voting for Blanche by saying that if we didn't have Blanche, Trump would chose someone worse. talkingpointsmemo.com/the-brief/th...
talkingpointsmemo.com
The Attorney General Hits the Campaign Trail for GOP Candidates
The Administration Finds a New Way to Scoff at Watergate Earlier this...
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Reposted by John Light
David Kurtz @davidkurtz.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
BY THE NUMBERS... 28: How many Florida GOP elected @letsgomathias.bsky.social contacted about Marshall Rawson, a GOP nom for state rep who marched in Cville 22: How many of those 28 had endorsed Rawson 3: How many responded 0: How many renounced Rawson. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/marshal...
talkingpointsmemo.com
We Asked 28 GOP Officials If They’d Denounce the GOP Nominee Who Marched With Nazis in Charlottesville
This week I asked 28 current and former Republican Party officials in...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
You can't make up details like this.
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Reposted by John Light
Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
New for @talkingpointsmemo.com: Marshall Rawson, GOP nominee for Florida legislature, marched w/ Nazis in Charlottesville, condoned slavery, & called for execution of gay people. Does GOP even care? Is there a limit to MAGA's "never punch right" ethos? talkingpointsmemo.com?p=1558029&pr...
talkingpointsmemo.com
We Asked 28 GOP Officials If They’d Denounce the GOP Nominee Who Marched With Nazis in Charlottesville
This week I asked 28 current and former Republican Party officials in...
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Reposted by John Light
Layla A. Jones @laylaayanna.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The Census Bureau wants to use your tax data to identify where you live even though officials from Treasury (IRS) told them not to. Census moved forward anyway. Why? To exclude most immigrants from being counted and shift political power to Republican states talkingpointsmemo.com/news/exclusi...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Exclusive: Commerce Overruled Treasury Concerns in Push to Narrow Census Count
Before the Trump administration issued its rule aiming to reshape the Census...
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Reposted by John Light
Hunter Walker @hunterw.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
All due respect to my friend @kfile.bsky.social but the use of the term "KFILE First" here is pretty wild considering this was all a TPM exclusive last month talkingpointsmemo.com/news/exclusi...
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Reposted by John Light
Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I wrote about who is actually making America “poorer and dirtier.” It’s not immigrants. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Who is responsible for this terrible state of affairs? The opposition party and immigrants, apparently. Vance went on to say, “The Democrat legacy of the last few years was that they bankrupted our country and left us poor. They left our country weaker. They left our border wide open and our communities less safe.”

But this account represents a preposterous inversion. Almost every problem Vance lists, the Trump administration has made worse.

The administration’s environmental policies have made American water and air dirtier. Its health-care, tariff, and tax policies have worsened inflation and increased the financial burden on most American households, even as incomes have grown. And its public-health policies have led to outbreaks of contagious disease.
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
In which I hand it to Fox News for telling it like it is. talkingpointsmemo.com/the-brief/th...
Screenshot of the following text:

That, yes, is a set of phrases that might make the average reader’s eyes glaze over, but what it means is this: Republicans are trying to claim more power in Congress and the Electoral College by counting fewer people in blue states and regions. That power would shift to red states and regions. This plan violates the Constitution, though right-wing lawyers have mobilized a set of arguments they will use to argue before the Supreme Court that it does not. This is another power grab, albeit a wonkier and more statistics-focused one than such things as Stop the Steal. Unfortunately, the planning for this power grab within the executive branch involves terms and concepts that put most Americans to sleep.

Fortunately, President Trump’s allies in Congress are helping to make it all more explicit. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) this week introduced the “Make Apportionment Great Again (MAGA) Act.” It, too, would do what the Census Bureau is attempting to do: exclude categories of immigrants from apportionment. Clyde gave Fox News an exclusive heads up that his bill was coming. “‘MAGA Act’ could rip House seats from Dem states ahead of next presidential race,” Fox’s headline declared, perfectly accurately.

Super helpful in amplifying this drum we’ve been banging.
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Reposted by John Light
Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Just yesterday the Attorney General denied there was a war. Schrödinger's war. (Also, I’ve lost track of how many times he’s previously declared victory.)
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
New — I wrote about this weird thing where people within the Republican party keep being exposed as Nazis and the party then tries to claim each one is an aberration. The facts, as I lay out here, indicate otherwise:
thehandbasket.co
Republicans don’t have a Nazi problem—they are the Nazi problem
A spate of recent revelations have shown the ideologies and their adherents are one and the same.
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Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
My @talkingpointsmemo.com investigation into Marshall Rawson among the many disturbing stories about the GOP's Nazism listed in this @jamellebouie.net piece www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The G.O.P. Has Gone Off the Deep End
The Republican fringe is becoming the Republican mainstream.
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Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
In response to my @talkingpointsmemo.com story, the Florida Democratic Party issues statement calling on Florida GOP leaders — Ron DeSantis, Byron Donalds, and Ashley Moody — to take a stand against Marshall Rawson. "We don't need to send a Nazi to Tallahassee." floridadems.org/2026/09/flor...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Good on LinkedIn for fighting this ...
politico.com
DOJ seeking reporter’s LinkedIn records in secretive First Amendment court fight
The fight comes at a sensitive moment for national media, which has seen reporters targeted by subpoenas and search warrants in leak probes.
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Allegra Kirkland @allegrak.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Texas Republicans—and Bo French in particular—have spent the past year campaigning on demonizing Muslims, as @joshkovensky.bsky.social points out. But now Rs are coming out of the woodwork to condemn French's bigotry towards South Asian college students at UT talkingpointsmemo.com/news/gop-mad...
talkingpointsmemo.com
GOP Mad at Candidate For Doing Xenophobia The Wrong Way
Bo French wasn’t always this way. When he first ran for statewide...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Even Chuck Grassley and Kash Patel seem to be throwing cold water on Trump's seeming claim that the Biden administration tried to murder him.
talkingpointsmemo.com
Trump Cooks Up New Conspiracy Theories About the Butler Assassination Attempt
Trump Asserts (Without Evidence, of Course) That the Biden Administration Tried to...
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Layla A. Jones @laylaayanna.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Did you know you've been helping to pay for tariff refunds for foreign companies? Even as prices remain elevated for U.S. shoppers, at least 17 publicly-listed Chinese companies have netted about $160 million talkingpointsmemo.com/news/chinese...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Foreign Companies Have Netted Millions in Tariff Refunds. Taxpayers Foot Part of the Bill
International companies are getting tariff refunds — with added, taxpayer-funded interest. People...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The IRS has sent 10 agents and three analysts to take part in a DOJ-led, national-wide effort to police “anti-capitalism” and “extremism on migration, race, and gender,” @joshkovensky.bsky.social reports.
talkingpointsmemo.com
Exclusive: FBI Builds Out National NSPM-7 Center to Track Dissent, Docs Show
The FBI has tapped employees from across federal law enforcement to crack...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
It’s hard to overstate the dramatic nature of what the Postal Service was up to before the Supreme Court put it on hold.
talkingpointsmemo.com
Two Votes for Midterm Chaos on the Supreme Court
One Crisis Averted Kate Riga has the details here, but a moment...
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Reposted by John Light
Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Washington Post picks up on the story, asks the former congressmen who endorsed Rawson for comment www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Exclusive: FBI Builds Out National NSPM-7 Center to Track Dissent, Docs Show
talkingpointsmemo.com
Exclusive: FBI Builds Out National NSPM-7 Center to Track Dissent, Docs Show
The FBI has tapped employees from across federal law enforcement to crack...
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Reposted by John Light
Layla A. Jones @laylaayanna.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
"In a series of October 2023 posts, Rawson appeared to defend slavery, writing ... 'God did many ‘racisms’ too.' ... Rawson argued there were biblical justifications for the institution of putting people in chains."
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Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
When I was reaching out to Rawson’s campaign donors, I ended up stumbling upon a story in of itself: Josh Doggrell was fired from Alabama police department in 2015 over his involvement in League of the South When I searched his name I found out… he’s now a Lt. in an Alabama sheriff’s office
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Josh Kovensky @joshkovensky.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Marshall Rawson, who is expected to win a seat in the Florida legislature, marched with neo-Nazis at Charlottesville. Great, comprehensive story that gets at the state of the modern, MAGAfied GOP from @letsgomathias.bsky.social talkingpointsmemo.com/news/florida...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Exclusive: He Marched With Nazis in Charlottesville. Now He’s Expected to Join the Florida Legislature.
The Republican nominee for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives...
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Josh Kovensky @joshkovensky.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
NSPM-7 directed the DOJ to target left-leaning beliefs. Now, prosecutors are going after randos online. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/nspm-7-...
talkingpointsmemo.com
NSPM-7 Directed Trump’s DOJ to Target Left-Leaning Ideology. It’s Going After Randos Online.
National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, the Trump White House’s memo directing federal...
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Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
NEW: @talkingpointsmemo.com can reveal GOP nominee for Florida legislature: -marched at deadly Charlottesville Nazi rally w/ white supremacist group's flag -has *many* white supremacist donors -appears to advocate lynching He is expected to win Nov. election talkingpointsmemo.com/news/florida...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Exclusive: He Marched With Nazis in Charlottesville. Now He’s Expected to Join the Florida Legislature.
The Republican nominee for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
"The Republican nominee for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives marched alongside neo-Nazis at the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a new Talking Points Memo investigation can reveal."
talkingpointsmemo.com
Exclusive: He Marched With Nazis in Charlottesville. Now He’s Expected to Join the Florida Legislature.
The Republican nominee for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives...
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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Trump and His Advisor Describe Criticism of AI as a Shadowy Plot
talkingpointsmemo.com
Trump and His Advisor Describe Criticism of AI as a Shadowy Plot
Trump Wants Full Speed Ahead on AI Even as tech CEOs cast...
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