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On Tuesday we published a long review of the Proud Boyswhich contained details about encrypted apps in which one of their most extremist leaders suggests that some of his countrymen have joined President Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. This is one of the first signs that people on the violent far-right fringe are responding to Trump's campaign of mass deportation of recruiters, which included reference to white supremacy memes and other racially charged topics.
One such incident occurred this week when clearly anti-Semitic X-accounts began sharing on Facebook a promotional video for the US Border Patrol, which was voiced controversial A 1996 Michael Jackson song that included the slur “kike”. As news of the video and extremist support for it spread Wednesday, the Border Patrol disabled the video.
DHS spokeswoman Trisha McLaughlin provided TPM with a statement Friday insisting the situation was not an issue.
“We've removed the post and will add different music. End of story,” McLaughlin said.
But there's clearly a story here. And we're not just talking about Proud Boys and DHS online content. Another development occurred Tuesday that showed that Nazi themes and ideas are increasingly finding their way into more mainstream Republican circles. Politician published a story based on scores of leaked Telegram chats from a nationwide network of Young Republican group leaders. Conversations included jokes about gas chambers, racist comments about black people and one particularly pointed message: “I love Hitler.”
This bombshell wasn't even the only story related to the Republican Party and Nazism that came out this week. User X shared the images on Wednesday. from a Zoom call with a staffer from Rep. Dave Taylor's (R-Ohio) office, who showed an American flag emblazoned with a swastika hanging behind him. Taylor and other GOP members later said the situation was part “trick” where a group posed as conservatives and handed out altered “optical illusion” flags to several Republican offices.
Even if this situation really was some kind of elaborate joke, there are problems with Hill GOP staffers having ties to neo-Nazism. Overall, with DHS seemingly attracting the Proud Boys, anti-Semites enjoying slurs in Border Patrol videos, and young Republicans making jokes about Hitler, it's becoming increasingly clear that a more open embrace of extremism is a real feature of the Republican Party in the Trump era.
In the past, reporters and others have said people with extremist sympathies have accidentally exposed them. This was called “saying the quiet part out loud.” Now, with the Proud Boys more and more boldly and government agencies sharing memes that seemed ripped out of 4chan, the quiet part is no more. It's very loud and clear: white nationalist extremism is at the core of the Republican Party and the current administration.
One person who seems to agree is online streamer and unabashed Hitler fan Nick Fuentes. On Tuesday Fuentes stated on his show that his followers, known as groypers, are “all over the government.”
“There are goipers in the government,” Fuentes said. “There are groypers in every department, in every agency, okay?”
— Hunter Walker
Here's what else is in TPM:
- A bipartisan group of senators is pushing for a vote that would bar the government from launching ground strikes on Venezuela.
- The former Democratic governor of Maine, who is challenging Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in the midterm elections, made a disappointing announcement Thursday for progressives that she supports keeping the filibuster in place if she is elected.
- Some Democrats are pushing for guarantees that furloughed federal workers will be rehired if Democrats help Republicans reopen the government.
- House Democratic leadership is looking for more ways to offset the impact of President Trump's power grab as he successfully forces Republican state legislatures across the country to engage in mid-cycle gerrymandering so the GOP can retain the House in 2026.
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3 Saint-Sil military powers voted for Venezuela
A bipartisan group of senators is pushing for a vote that would bar the government from launching ground strikes on Venezuela.
This week saw a further escalation in the US military buildup near Venezuela. President Trump said he authorized the CIA to conduct operations in the country. The Air Force flew B-52s off the coast while Special Forces as reported hovered nearby in helicopters. The administration blew up another boat, this time with two survivors reportedly being held by the military.
Now, Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) are introducing a war powers resolution that would block attacks on ground targets in Venezuela. A broader resolution that would have blocked more action failed after the GOP withdrew support earlier this month. It's unclear where this will lead, but it shows the urgency of the situation.
— Josh Kovensky
Mills failed the most important litmus test
Janet Mills, the former governor of Maine and the Democratic leadership's preferred candidate challenging Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), would support maintaining the filibuster if elected. according to the Bangor Daily News.
No one (in their right mind) would question the Democratic candidate for this seat for holding the right views on certain issues; There's a reason the Republican has such staying power in a state that typically votes for Democratic presidential candidates by wide margins. But supporting the filibuster is not the same as supporting gun rights or border protection more than the typical Democrat.
If Democrats ever win a trifecta again, they will have to undertake significant, by today's standards, radical reform to ensure that no one else can rise to Trump's image and thus weaponize the federal government. This would include neutralizing the Supreme Court, turning Washington into a state, and developing a new way to protect government employees from being fired at will. These will be the kind of reforms that will make the right and mainstream media howl about extremist abuses, the kind of reforms that today's mainstream Democrats absolutely cannot stomach. Eliminating the filibuster is the least of them, and a candidate who can't even commit to getting rid of a fairly new, contrived obstacle to majority rule that overwhelmingly benefits Republicans is unfit for the job ahead.
— Kate Riga
Some Democrats want to ensure Fed workers will be rehired if they help end the shutdown
It's been three weeks since the government shutdown began (18 days to be exact) and no sign of change on the horizon. Democrats have not backed down on their health care demands, including a request to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. And Republicans continue to say they will not negotiate.
But as the White House and Office of Management and Budget attempt to implement massive layoffs of federal workers, a new Democratic demand may be on the horizon: a commitment that employees subject to retrenchment, or RIFs, will be rehired before Democrats agree to give Republicans the necessary votes.
“It would be pretty unconscionable to open it up and still have to put up with these thousands and thousands of layoffs,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). for politics.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) also said repealing the RIF “definitely should be on the agenda.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) of course condemned the RIF, but did not say whether he believes that no layoffs should be part of the agreement to reopen the government.
Hoyer added that he believes they will also be overturned by the court.
A federal judge on Wednesday did. issue a temporary restraining order, prevent the Trump administration from laying off nearly 4,000 federal workers during the government shutdown, although that is no guarantee of victory for the unions that are suing the government over the RIF. Meanwhile, OMB Director Russ Vaught continues to insist that the original RIFs were just a “snapshot” of what is to come.
— Emine Yucel
Democrats look to Maryland, Illinois to offset GOP redistricting campaign
As Republicans cave in to President Trump's pressure campaign to take part in mid-decade redistricting efforts, Democrats are looking to Maryland and Illinois to draw new district maps to offset Trump's power grab, according to a report from NBK And Politician.
The Trump administration is openly pushing GOP-controlled legislatures to redraw congressional maps to help Republicans retain the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterm elections. Countering Democratic Efforts underway in Californiawhere voters are asked to weigh in on the issue of temporarily approving new House districts that would favor their party and are also being debated in other blue states.
Earlier this week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said: according to NBCmet with Maryland's Democratic Governor Wes Moore as well as members of the Illinois congressional delegation about possible redistricting plans in the state.
Jeffries also as reported has been in contact with Illinois Democrats to discuss redistricting efforts. While no revised maps were revealed during these conversations, there were some potential revised boundaries, according to Politician.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker previously acknowledged in an interview NPR he would like to consider redistricting.
“None of us wants to do this. None of us wants to go through the redistricting process. But if we're forced to do it, we'll think about it,” he said.
— Chaya Himmelman
