Republican Crackdown as Political Strategy

With the firing (and then unfiring) of Jimmy Kimmel, the right-wing crackdown in the name of Charlie Kirk seems to have bumped up against real limits.

In light of the week’s developments, we discuss:

* The schisms within MAGA that were on display at the Kirk memorial;

* How those schisms fused with resistance backlash, forcing ABC and Disney to rethink their decision to take Kimmel off the air;

* Whether this is a sign that society as a whole has reached the limits of authoritarian abuses it’s willing to tolerate.

Then, Brian and Matt zoom out to ask whether public rejection of a free-speech crackdown can help form the basis of big-tent Democratic unity, from Zohran Mamdani in New York through (maybe!) Geoff Duncan in Georgia. Is Duncan the best candidate in the Georgia Dem gubernatorial primary? Should Democrats back him for the abstract value of proving the party welcomes heterodox voices? And what does progressive uneasiness with Duncan, like establishment Dem uneasiness with Mamdani, tell us about the meaning of solidarity?

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Further reading:

* Brian thinks the Kirk crackdown moved Democrats closer to an appropriate fighting posture.

* Matt on the crackdown as classic overreach;

* Jessica Valenti on why abortion represents the least productive grounds on which Democrats might moderate.

* Geoff Duncan explains his conversion to Greg Sargent.