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Reposted by John Light

We're launching a special limited-run version of the TPM Show With Josh and Kate ahead of the midterms. Introducing: the Polltober Show. Send us all your pressing questions about specific races, candidates, chamber control, the courts, the polls, whatever! talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/were-...

talkingpointsmemo.com

We’re Launching a Special New YouTube Series Around the Midterms!

You have questions, we have answers. Since TPM readers are as obsessed...

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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 15h

A growing "Oops" Caucus is forming among senators who have a lukewarm relationship with Trump but nonetheless voted for his most authoritarian nominees. talkingpointsmemo.com/the-brief/se...

talkingpointsmemo.com

Senator Regrets Confirming Pete Hegseth, Becomes Latest to Confess He Made a Mistake

Welcome, Thom, to the Senate ‘Oops’ Caucus Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) has...

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Layla A. Jones @laylaayanna.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Kennedy took money for the Office of Minority Health and used it for his own security detail. And now, his anti-vax push will disproportionately harm Black, Latino, and Indigenous children who rely on Medicaid to pay for their vaccines talkingpointsmemo.com/news/rfk-jrs...

talkingpointsmemo.com

RFK Jr’s Relentless Anti-Vax Push Will Disproportionately Hurt Children on Medicaid

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has already demonstrated his Department of Health and...

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Reposted by John Light

Mr. Dan Zak @mrdanzak.com · 04/10/2026

A Haitian man legally immigrated to Ohio, then was given an ankle monitor bc Trump withdrew his status. He threw himself in front of truck. The trucker, who voted for Trump, is haunted. “Pierre was doing what he was supposed to do. We did not do right by him.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

theatlantic.com

A Reckoning in Springfield

A truck driver out on his route confronts what the country has become.

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Jessica Huseman @jessicahuseman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Weekend scoop from me for @votebeat.org: Two GOP members of Georgia’s State Election Board say Executive Director James Mills sent letters to DOJ and DHS without telling the board or getting approval — and that the letters went beyond what the board voted to request. www.votebeat.org/national/202...

votebeat.org

Georgia election board director allegedly goes rogue, asks feds to crack down on state voting equipment

Two members of the Georgia State Election Board say their executive director sent unauthorized letters to the Trump administration.

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elias isquith @eliasisquith.blog · 02/10/2026

well, professor, i think we have to talk about girardian concepts of mimetics in order to answer your question, but i dont know what those words actually mean, so im going to have to leave it there for now.

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Reposted by John Light

Chris Ingraham @cingraham.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

why does the WaPo print headline on the botched TN execution read like The Onion

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Layla A. Jones @laylaayanna.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

What I find significant about today's jobs report is not only the paltry 29,000 jobs added in September but the downward revisions for the two previous months. July's revision takes that month from 21k jobs gained to 10k jobs lost. www.bls.gov/news.release...

A screenshot from the BLS Employment Situation release reads: The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July was revised down by 31,000, from +21,000 to -10,000, and the change for August was revised down by 29,000, from +162,000 to +133,000. With these revisions, employment in July and August combined is 60,000 lower than previously reported.

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Reposted by John Light

Emine Yücel @emineirmakyucel.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

My latest: Following Wednesday's failed bid by Senate Dems to block Trump's pocket rescission, Trump WH, once again, trampled over Congress’ power of the purse. Several experts point out their use of the “pocket rescissions” loophole is more an admission of guilt than a clever trick.

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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The DOJ is reviewing "whether the special prosecutor’s office that investigated the famed Watergate break-in committed misconduct, according to people familiar with the matter, more than half a century after that scandal led to Nixon’s resignation."

wsj.com

Exclusive | Decades After Watergate, Justice Department Reviews Whether Nixon Got a Raw Deal

A revisionist historian went to the DOJ headquarters to present his case that the former president and his associates weren’t treated fairly.

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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The other thing that Gov. Cox “expanded” is the Utah Supreme Court, adding two seats after his political party lost a big redistricting case.

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Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

"For America to right itself, we need changes on the scale of Reconstruction and the New Deal. And I worry that’s not going to happen if Democrats and the broader anti-Trump left are taking their cues about what’s necessary and politically possible from the Times." newrepublic.com/article/2160...

newrepublic.com

The Left Must Fight The New York Times’ Monopoly Too

The paper’s editorial vision is out of step with the robust liberalism needed today.

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Reposted by John Light

Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Let me say a couple words about paywalls. They’re annoying. I feel that (as a news consumer) and know that (as a news publisher). But asking for your email, either to read an article or even to access a gift link (someone said this happened to them a a Times gift link a moment ago) isn’t some …

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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Pete Hegseth picks two defense contractors and Newt Gingrich to tell him what to buy from defense contractors.

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Reposted by John Light

Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Pete Hegseth is what happens when you try to indoctrinate a functionally illiterate guy into West Coast Straussianism

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John Light @johnalight.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

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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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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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

"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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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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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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Reposted by John Light

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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Reposted by John Light

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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