From Robert Reich:
I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately.
I am worried that those of us who are dedicated to democracy and therefore committed to playing by the rules are underestimating the willingness of the extreme right—from Supreme Court justices to the speaker of the House—to destroy our democracy in order to elect Trump.
Here’s one nightmare scenario: Republicans maintain control of the House of Representatives in this November’s election. The presidential election is extremely close, à la 2020. And in January of 2025, when the House is supposed to certify the results of the presidential election, the MAGA-controlled House raises enough specious concerns about the results that they decide to throw the election to Trump—and the Supreme Court backs them up.
It’s easy to forget that most current Republican members of the House, including Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, refused to certify the outcome of the 2020 election.
The media is just not doing nearly enough to get news of this possibility out to the public, and that’s why I’m writing to you today.
MoveOn is so important to our election effort. I truly believe that MoveOn’s work is critical to preventing Trump from reaching the White House again, which is why I’m hoping you will join me in supporting them today.
Will you start a $5 monthly donation to support MoveOn’s election work and help stop MAGA Republicans from handing the election to Trump in November?
No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.
Unfortunately, Americans are suffering from a bit of amnesia when it comes to Trump’s presidency.
A recent poll from The New York Times shows that nearly half of ALL voters say that the country was better when Trump left office than when he came in.1
Really!? Are they forgetting double-digit unemployment? The devastating initial response to COVID? Or how he instigated an insurrection?
And if they’re forgetting all of these events, they’re certainly forgetting that one of the organizers of the group of 138 Republicans who refused to certify President Biden’s election was little-known representative from Louisiana, Mike Johnson.2 The same Mike Johnson who is now speaker of the House.
We need to remind them.
These numbers prove that the media is just not doing its job. President Biden called out journalists at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner late last month, saying, “I’m sincerely not asking of you to take sides but asking you to rise up to the seriousness of the moment; move past the horserace numbers and the gotcha moments and the distractions … Every single one of us has roles to play—a serious role to play in making sure democracy endures—American democracy. I have my role, but, with all due respect, so do you.”3
Just over a week ago, the majority of the Supreme Court implied that a second-term Trump was above the law.4 Former Attorney General William Barr admitted in an interview that Trump repeatedly called for various people’s executions while he was in office—yet Barr is supporting him anyway.5 Senior Republicans are refusing to promise to certify upcoming election results.6
We must, WE MUST, make this information public and mainstream, and MoveOn is just the organization to lead that critical voter-by-voter education. Will you join me in supporting MoveOn with a $5 so we can soundly defeat Trump and the MAGA Congress come November?
No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.
From the moment that the MoveOn staff shared their plans for 2024 with me, I knew that they were going to be instrumental in winning the election.
Building off of their success in 2020 and 2022, MoveOn will focus on identifying and turning out the voters likely to make the most impact in battleground states. These “surge voters” are Democratic-leaning young voters, new voters, and voters who have not always shown up to the polls but who became energized to vote after the rise of Trump.
They’ve identified more than 1 million surge voters in battleground districts and states across the country, voters that research has shown result in wins for Democrats when they turn out.
And turning out these critical voters is exactly what MoveOn’s plan does.
The trouble is, the team at MoveOn tells me that donations are way down compared to previous elections. So many of us are so tired of fighting Trump. But our democracy is in imminent danger. And we cannot underestimate how little Mike Johnson, Brett Kavanaugh, and other MAGA Republicans care about the rule of law. They care only about power.
It’s time to turn this trend around and create a surge of election work to turn out these surge voters! Please, will you start a $5 monthly donation to MoveOn today and help stop the Trump threat?
No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.
Thanks for all you do.
–Robert Reich
Sources:
1. “Four Years Out, Some Voters Look Back at Trump’s Presidency More Positively,” The New York Times, April 14, 2024
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/14/us/politics/poll-trump-views.html
2. “Could Mike Johnson, the New House Speaker, Undermine the 2024 Election?” The New York Times, October 26, 2023
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/26/us/politics/mike-johnson-2024-election-certification.html
3. “Remarks by President Biden at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” The White House, April 27, 2024
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/04/27/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner-2/
4. “Two Trump courtroom dramas could help shape the tone of a future presidency,” CNN, April 26, 2024
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/25/politics/trump-courtroom-drama-analysis/index.html
5. “Barr, who said Trump shouldn’t be near Oval Office, says he will vote for him in 2024,” CNN, April 27, 2024
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/politics/barr-vote-for-trump-2024/index.html
6. “Republican Elise Stefanik declines to commit to certifying 2024 election votes,” The Guardian, January 8, 2024
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/08/republican-elise-stefanik-certifying-2024-election-results
Want to support MoveOn’s work? The MAGA movement’s book bans have forced teachers and librarians across the country to remove books from their shelves and censor what young people can learn. MoveOn is fighting back, including by filling a “Banned Bookmobile” with books that the far right has banned and driving it to key cities and towns to raise the visibility of book bans, hand out banned books for free, and bring people together to stop censorship. To keep up the fight against book bans and the MAGA politicians who support them, we need your help.
Will you start a monthly gift to power and sustain MoveOn’s critical work?
No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.
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