Good afternoon and welcome to the latest edition of the American Doom podcast. Today I’m talking with Teddy Wilson, a journalist and researcher who runs Radical Reports, a newsletter focused on the far-right. I highly suggest you sign up for Teddy’s newsletter to stay abreast of all the swirling madness of domestic extremism, which is most certainly not going away and whose adherents are not sitting idly by as Trump continues his dismantling of the federal government. You can listen and watch today’s episode here, on YouTube and Spotify and Apple podcasts. If you’re not already a paid subscriber, I humbly ask for your support for as little as $5 a month or $40 a year. You can also throw some cash my way at the Doom Coffee Fund. ***Please follow AD on our social media for a little more doom to your scroll. That’s what we all need, right?* Bluesky - @americandoom.bsky.social* TikTok - @americandoom_* YouTube - @americandoom_* Instagram - @americandoom_* X - @americandoom_ This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe

Executive orders continue to come flooding from the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. Donald Trump signed a handful more on Thursday afternoon, his signature black Sharpie pen squeaking as he went.It’s a lot to process — not just for members of the press like myself but for the public, who must then (hopefully) consume and understand scores of news reports on these many executive actions. Courts are also scrambling to keep up, as many of the orders propose novel interpretations of laws that must now be argued in front of judges. Or, as a federal judge said Thursday, “blatantly unconstitutional” orders that have come from a stroke of Trump’s pen.That was the judge’s immediate judgment of Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship, a right enshrined in the 14th amendment that was originally intended to grant the full protections of American citizenship to children of slaves. Since then, the American right has become convinced that birthright citizenship is being abused by undocumented immigrants who come here illegally, then have children who are then granted citizenship under the amendment’s provisions.While that certainly has been the case, no one until now has ever tried to seriously argue that the 14th amendment should be done away with. But, as I wrote before Trump took office, everything bad that you can imagine happening, Trump and his people will try to make it so. Plus, all systems will be tested — including heretofore universally-accepted norms, rules and laws like birthright citizenship.But that’s just one of the executive orders Trump signed this week. I went through many of them and have provided a brief rundown not just of what they mean, but further context that is often missing from the political press’ coverage of these actions. There’s a certain level of translation required to understand the why behind many of these orders. That’s because the American right speaks a different language rooted in the alternate information ecosystem in which they live. Luckily, I speak that language and can help shed light as to why Trump and his team are pushing for the following changes to our laws and society.***This post is for all subscribers to American Doom. To help support my reporting, I encourage you to sign up for a paid subscription. It’s the best way to support the independent journalism I’ll be producing—fact-based investigations and news that are going to be crucial to cutting through the chaos of the coming days, weeks, months and years.That’s why I’m offering an Inauguration Special—a 20 percent discount on annual subscriptions to American Doom, from $50 a year to $40. This gets you access to all paywalled posts containing exclusive reporting, past posts that contain exclusive findings on election denial officials working across the country, subscriber live chats, and audio versions of posts for those times when you don’t have the time to read but still want to keep with the news. I hope you’ll join me. And as always, you can also buy me a cup of coffee at the Doom Coffee Fund if you prefer a one-time contribution.***Before we get to the executive orders, a couple quick news items worth paying attention to. First up, House Republicans have launched a new January 6 committee — not to look into Trump’s role in the attempted overthrow of the 2020 election and the attack on the Capitol or anything like that, but instead to probe Democrats’ role in supposed security failures. It also looks like it’s a decent possibility that some of the rioters themselves will end up testifying in front of the committee. This isn’t surprising, because the real purpose of this committee is to explore conspiracy theories about the FBI or Antifa being the actual parties responsible for the violence that day. Basically, it’s only a matter of time until January 6 insurrectionists are applauded on the floor of Congress.Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Trump said he was open to the idea that some of the people he pardoned be given the opportunity to testify in front of the committee. It doesn’t look like former Trump staffer Cassidy Hutchinson, however, will be testifying to the new committee. That’s because an aide to House Speaker Mike Johnson recommended to Republicans that they not subpoena Hutchinson. If they did, the aide warned, their graphic sexual texts to Hutchinson could become part of the congressional record, the Washington Post reported Thursday afternoon.You might remember Hutchinson as the former White House staffer who blew the doors open on Trump’s involvement in the attack on the Capitol. She’s the one who claimed that Trump tried to overtake a Secret Service agent in his furious attempt to join his supporters as they marched toward violence that day. Naturally, Republicans hate her guts for this, so one can only imagine how bad these texts must be.Prepare for the wars to come* Executive orders: Trump's personal army, abandoning Afghan war heroes, more expensive prescriptions* Trump's first victims* What comes next - Rules of procedure for the next four years* You are not alone - On recovery.* Feelings over facts in a new information ageAgain, the whole point of this committee is to platform conspiracy theories about the attempted insurrection that could deflect from Trump’s involvement, reduce the amount of focus on the violence of his supporters and, I’m assuming, once again dig into conspiracies about the 2020 election. Yes, we’re probably headed there again.One other quick item: Trump lied to his supporters on Tuesday night, telling them that the southern border is “closed.” It’s not, of course. Trump says this stuff all the time but what struck me is that he reiterated the point with specifics.“As you know, the border was closed at exactly 1:05 in the afternoon today,” Trump told those gathered at the Starlight Ball, an inauguration gala. “And I don’t mean closed. I mean really closed. It’s closed.”What Trump meant to mean is that the border isn’t just closed for asylum seekers and refugees, it’s closed. As in, you can’t go across it. I know this is a little thing but stuff like this drives me nuts. The border is absolutely not closed. Just to be sure, I texted a photographer friend at the border who confirmed he had come back from Juárez into El Paso after Trump claimed to have closed the border.I know, Trump lies and the sky is blue. But still, the truth is the truth. Now, onto the executive orders.It takes a lot of time to put these posts together, so if you want to support my work the best way to do so is with a paid subcription for $40 a year or $5 a month. Your funds go directly to my independent journalism.***Executive orders* Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship - This order allows for witch hunts of government officials who call out right-wing misinformation. Part of this order comes from a section of Project 2025 written by Gene Hamilton, a former DOJ official in the first Trump administration and a high-up in Stephen Miller’s America First Legal. Hamilton is also behind recommendations that the Justice Department investigate and prosecute local and state election officials if they follow state election rules that Republicans don’t like. I’m waiting for some shoes to drop on that front but will have a report soon that details this push to weaponize the DOJ to engage in voter suppression and intimidation.* Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border of the United States - This order allows for deployment of troops to the southern border, the building or strengthening of the border wall, increases drone surveillance, and gives more leeway in use of force policies to law enforcement coming into contact with migrants.* Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion - This looks to be the executive order that deals with Miller's attempts to identify diseases carried by immigrants as a pretext to create harsher immigration rules and laws. It prohibits entry for immigrants who "fail to provide Federal officials with sufficient medical information." Key language: “... millions of aliens who potentially pose significant threats to health, safety, and national security have moved into communities nationwide.”* Protecting the Meaning and Value of Birthright Citizenship - This is an executive order in search of a Supreme Court case and the accompanying media coverage. It seeks to cancel birthright citizenship and will almost surely end up in the Supreme Court, where Trump and the American right will get their wishes and be able to argue to the public that immigrants are taking advantage of the 14th amendment.* Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce - This order allows for the arbitrary firing of federal employees—i.e. career public servants who are not loyal to Trump. Key language: "In recent years, however, there have been numerous and well-documented cases of career Federal employees resisting and undermining the policies and directives of their executive leadership."* Protecting the American People Against Invasion - Rescinds a handful of Biden executive orders on immigration and orders DHS to begin contract solicitations for expanding immigration detention facilities. The order also seeks to "withhold federal funds" from so-called sanctuary cities, and advises DHS and the DOJ to undertake "any other lawful actions, criminal or civil, that they deem warranted" in relation to sanctuary cities. This likely means prosecuting Democratic officials in cities and states that don't comply with Trump's immigration plans. The order also demands the hiring of more immigration officers in several agencies.* Securing Our Borders - Resumes construction of border wall, cancels the CBP One app that migrants were using to navigate the immigration court system, resumes the Remain in Mexico program, and removes specific protections for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.* Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program - Suspends the U.S. refugee program for 90 days except for on a case-by-case basis. Revokes a Biden-era executive order that created a program to study and prepare for the effects of climate change on migration—climate refugees, in other words.* Holding Former Government Officials Accountable for Election Interference and Improper Disclosure of Sensitive Governmental Information - Got all that? This order reprimands the 51 signatories of a letter proclaiming stories about Hunter Biden's laptop to be the product of a Russian misinformation campaign, as well as John Bolton for publishing a memoir that the Trump administration claims contained sensitive national security information. This looks to be the Trump administration's response to him being charged for illegally possessing classified information at Mar-a-Lago.*** This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe

Next week, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as president. The ensuing months and years will bring much chaos and catastrophe. I say that not to scare you but because it’s the truth. Much of the legacy media continues to fail to meet this fraught moment by acting as if this is politics as usual — American life as usual. (See these many examples as well as the general turmoil at the Washington Post.) Needless to say, none of this is normal.Independent journalism like the kind I produce here will be crucial to getting factual information free from authoritarian spin, which is why I’m grateful for the support of my subscribers here at American Doom. Many of you have chosen to support my work with a paid subscription, but many more of you remain on the fence. I’d like to hear from you about what you’re looking for, what I can provide for you, and what will push you over the edge to supporting my work here with your hard-earned dollars.This week, I’m offering an Inauguration Special — a 20 percent discount on annual subscriptions to American Doom, from $50 a year to $40. This gets you access to all paywalled posts containing exclusive reporting, as well as audio versions of posts for those times when you don’t have the time to read but still want to keep with the news. I hope you’ll join me. As always, you can also buy me a cup of coffee at the Doom Coffee Fund.Thank you for your support.***While the fires out west have continued to rage, the American right has been in rare form, blaming any Democratic official or progressive policy they can think of for this ongoing natural disaster.The behavior has been particularly grotesque and craven — which is saying a lot for a political party led by Donald Trump — but mostly unsurprising for those of us who have been documenting the hyper-polarized information warfare of the last decade. Naturally, Trump has led the attack, not waiting for even a hint of relief in the battle against the flames before launching a series of attacks against Gov. Gavin Newsom and others.Republicans have fallen in line, putting on display the party’s utter lack of empathy. It’s an emptiness of the soul that is juxtaposed by the emptiness felt by so many people in California as they look around at possessions, homes, neighborhoods and lives that are now, in some cases, completely gone, as Brian Tyler Cohen put it the other day.More from the Doom podcast* The coming misinformation war - Meta is ending fact-checking at a time when reputable information is needed more than ever.* Threats, harassment and intimidation at the polls with Mike Wendling of the BBC* 'Hands up, don't shoot' - The legacy of Ferguson with DeRay McKessonCohen, who has called Los Angeles home for the last 15 years, has been one of the lucky ones. His home and life are intact. A powerful voice in independent media, Cohen has consistently called out the insanity, absurdity, lies, cons, and shamelessness — as the title of his recent book makes clear — of the American right in the Trump era.I caught up with Cohen recently about the causes of the California wildfires, which have little to do with the culture war grievances being put forth by Trump and Republicans, and more to do with the issue they continuously ignore: climate change.You can view our discussion above, listen to it here, or subscribe to the American Doom podcast on Apple and Spotify, as well as our YouTube page.*** This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe

Katie Paul, Director of the Tech Transparency Project, shares her insights on the detrimental effects of misinformation in today's digital landscape. They discuss Meta's decision to dismantle its fact-checking program and its implications for society. The conversation highlights how shifts in social media moderation are influencing political discourse and youth exposure to extremist content. Paul also examines the global ramifications of misinformation and the contrasting regulatory responses from the US and EU, all while navigating Meta's changing leadership.

Note: I’m out this morning with a very in-depth look at Mother Jones at how election deniers took over Georgia in the last four years. That story has gone live as I am typing this, and I’m incredibly proud of it so I hope you take the time to read it. It’s the culmination of three years’ worth of non-stop work covering the election denial movement in Georgia and elsewhere. It wouldn’t be possible without your support. If you want to continue that support, you can help me power through these final days before the election with a paid subscription that costs as little as $5 a month or a one-time contribution to our Doom Coffee Fund. Strap in, because things are about to get heavy.***A man at my early voting location yesterday was wearing a shirt that said something like, “If you don’t love this country move somewhere else.” It was a way to wear a Trump shirt without wearing a Trump shirt. Some of the former president’s supporters have broken the law by wearing Trump paraphernalia. In Florida, a Trump supporter was arrested for brandishing a machete, apparently at voters who support Vice President Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, Republican officials in some states have moved to block the Justice Department from deploying election monitors to ensure that poll workers and voters aren’t harassed or intimidated — by either side. What is becoming more clear by the day is that the American right feels they are entitled to win this election, and feel that if they need to harass or intimidate those who don’t support Trump in order to achieve that goal, they’re willing to do it. In Indiana, a former Republican congressional candidate was arrested for stealing sample ballots in a failed attempt to claim fraud was occurring there. The madness won’t end on Election Day if Kamala Harris wins. The two months that follow will be chaos. Subscribe below to stay on top of it all.Across the country, election workers are under threat, Mike Wendling of the BBC News reported recently. On today’s episode of the American Doom podcast, I talk to Mike about his reporting and what he learned by speaking with election officials who are under threat by Trump supporters who believe the former president’s lies about elections. In other news, you can read my Rolling Stone dive into the election denial officials of Pennsylvania. At least 33 pro-Trump election deniers work as local election officials in the Keystone State, I reported on Tuesday. Also for your reading pleasure (or displeasure), you can read check out the Mother Jones piece I mentioned above. Many, many thanks to my editor, Daniel Schulman and my co-author, Ari Berman, for their work on this story. You can view Ari’s relentless coverage of voting and elections for Mother Jones here. All for now.*** This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe

Yo. Today I’m in Luke O’Neill’s Hell World with a reflection on the election denier madness I’ve seen over the last four years. You can read it here and support Luke’s work by subscribing to his killer newsletter. Fun fact: I’ve been writing for Luke off and on longer than any other publication I’ve written for. The Internet can still be fun! Also just a reminder that tomorrow night I’ll be hosting a live chat for the presidential debate. This live chat will be for paid subscribers only and I’ll be discussing election matters that come up in the debate. You can subscribe to American Doom for as little as $5 a month and join us tomorrow. Should be fun. We’ve also set up a new option for those who want to give a one-time contribution — the Doom Coffee Fund. Both subscriptions and one-time contributions are through a secure payment system and go to help fund operations here at American Doom. It’s just myself and a colleague doing enough investigative journalism here to garner mentions in the New York Times, the New Republic, on Joy Reid’s MSNBC show and elsewhere, in addition to a slew of press appearances based on our stories. Now, on to today’s podcast. I’m pleased to be joined today by Max Flugrath of Fair Fight. Max has been instrumental in helping Georgians understand the issues affecting elections here and how they can ensure that they’re properly registered to vote even as Republicans carry out legally dubious voter purges throughout the state. Recently, Fair Fight launched PeachVote.com, which features the lovely little chatbot, Peaches, who can help you with all your voter registration questions and needs. Today, Max and I discuss all the recent controversy at the Georgia State Election Board as well as the growing issue of voter purges and accompanying lawsuits backed by Republicans. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe

Today, I’m pleased to share a conversation on that I had recently with DeRay McKesson, one of the young civil rights leaders who was on the ground in Ferguson in the wake of Michael Brown’s death. Since then, DeRay has gone on to become a best-selling author and political force for racial justice among many of his other successes. While we’ve disagreed on some things over the years — primarily what constitutes a justifiable use of fatal force by law enforcement — but one thing that we do agree on is that the issue of police violence remains a concerning one for Black Americans. One needs to look no further than the recent murder of Sonya Massey to confirm that. Ten years after “Hands up, don’t shoot” became the rallying cry of Ferguson, Massey had her own hands up when she was shot in the face by a sheriff’s deputy in Illinois who has now been indicted for murder. Instead of saying “don’t shoot,” Massey said, “I’m sorry.”***It was a rumor. Let’s start with that. I don’t think it was done nefariously. I think the people who said it that day and in the days that followed truly believed it. It’s what they had been told, after all. Somewhere along the line — somewhere in this game of telephone that people like me try to get to the bottom of — maybe there was a lie. Maybe someone lied. Or, they just got things mixed up in the heat of the moment. They got it mixed up because someone they knew had died and his body was baking on the asphalt in the middle of the street with blood leaking from a bullet wound in his head. The rumor was that Michael Brown had his hands up on this very day, 10 years ago today, in Ferguson, Missouri. He had his hands up and he said, “Don’t shoot,” the people said. That’s what started it all. Mike Brown, a kid no one had ever heard of, had his hands up and was saying “Don’t shoot” when a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri shot and killed him on August 9, 2014. That’s where it begins. Or at least, that’s where it begins in a sense. Ferguson was a domino. There have been many more over the years.“Hands up don’t shoot” is the beginning of a lot of things. As I sit here this morning, though, the thing that strikes me the most is that the falsehood of “Hands up, don’t shoot” is the beginning of our current political moment. No matter the event, no matter the truth of what happened on any given day, each side can claim their own version. Ferguson and Black Americans were rightfully incensed over the claim that Brown had had his hands up and was saying “don’t shoot.” But when it turned out not be true, much of white America — themselves already incensed and afraid after watching Ferguson burn —dismissed the entire movement for racial justice that Ferguson birthed. White America took that mentality — these people lied about what happened, denigrated a good cop, and then burned their own town and they’ll do it to our’s next — and ran with it. They ran with it right into the waiting arms of Donald Trump, the “law and order” candidate. Then they kept running with it.The truth can be complicated. The first thing you often hear about a news event like Ferguson is a chaotic and murky version of the actual truth. But white America would not forgive this falsehood of Ferguson. Already driven by racial anger at what it saw, white America took the idea that they were being lied to by people who were, in their view, anti-American, and began to apply to everything that has happened since. The impeachments of Donald Trump — fake, based on lies. The 2020 election. Lies, again. Stolen from them. George Floyd — he died because of a fentanyl overdose, not the knee on his neck.In a way, it’s a shame that “Hand up, don’t shoot” turned out not to be true. If it had been, we might not be exactly where we are today. But something tells me that white America would have found another reason to drag us to our current state. There’s always a reason, it seems, for many Americans to want to usher us toward authoritarianism and backwards toward a past rooted in white supremacy. I say this not because this is what I learned at some leftist Ivy League university. The education I’ve received that has led me to this conclusion has come from witnessing the events of the last 10 years with my own eyes. I’ve learned how and why we’ve ended up here by being on the streets of places like Ferguson and witnessing the aftermath firsthand. My education has been history itself.***P.S. Thank you and welcome to all our new subscribers. At some point soon I hope to have time to write a little something about who I am, where I come from and what I’ve been doing over the course of my career. But for now, there’s too much work to do. So, the following will have to suffice for the moment. Here’s some stuff of mine you can read if you want to get to know me a little better. If you want to help support my work, you can subscribe to American Doom for as little as $5 a month. Paid subscribers can fill out this form and get a nice American Doom 2024 sticker to let everyone driving behind you know how cool and in-the-know you are. This publication, newsletter, whatever you want to call it, is just me and a colleague, so every little bit helps. I’m an independent journalist and your support helps keep it that way.  * Wrigley Is a Temple, and Last Night Cubs Fans Went to Pray - Esquire* Why Vegas is Already Gone - Medium* Why I Love This City Where Americans Aren’t Always Welcome, a Love Letter to Juárez - Heated Mag* Remembering the Life of Julián Cardona, The Bard of the Borderlands - Inside Hook* The trauma inside all of us - American Doom* Welcome to American Doom - American Doom* To the unsung heroes out there, and to glimmers of hope - American Doom* Something has been lost - American Doom This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe

Today on the American Doom podcast I’m speaking with Katie Paul of the Tech Transparency Project (TTP). Katie has been looking into militia groups online over the past four years, and she’s found a lot of right-wing clamoring for political violence — some of which has ramped up in recent months as platforms like Facebook have taken their hands off the reins of content moderation. Her work is a troubling signifier of bad times to come, something that readers of this newsletter are very familiar with. In one video Katie shared with American Doom, what looks like hundreds of armed men gathered for a field training exercise. The caption for the video reads “Now is the time to join a MF’n Militia. Not a political party.” And just in case you were at all unclear on the group’s intent, the video further proclaims that “We came into this world screaming covered in blood and will be leaving the same way. No Retreat No Surrender.”So that’s what some right-wing Americans are doing in preparation for November’s election. Luckily, folks like Paul are doing the crucial work of raising alarm about groups like the ones she tracks for TTP. We can only hope that law enforcement is doing the same. In this episode of the American Doom podcast, Katie and I discuss what the groups she’s tracking want, what they’re planning to do if they don’t get it, and just how many of them there are who make their presence known online. It’s impossible to know the true number of Americans who are planning for political violence if they don’t get their way in November, but Katie is just about the only person I know trying to figure that out.Listen to this episode of the American Doom podcast here, or on Apple or Spotify podcasts, and subscribe to our newsletter for as little as $5 a month to support our work exposing election deniers, right-wing extremists and other threats to democracy. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe

My guest today on the American Doom podcast is Steven Monacelli, a writer and journalist in Texas who focuses on right-wing extremism there. Steven and I first met in May of 2021 when I travelled back to Dallas — where I lived for a couple of years while covering immigration and the border — to attend a QAnon conference. The event was actually called, quite ridiculously, the “For God & Country Patriot Roundup” and was held in a sad county fair-looking barn-turned event center on the edge of Dallas’ ever-depressing commercial district. The event gained infamy when disgraced general and election denial movement leader Mike Flynn said he liked the idea of a Myanmar-style coup in the United States. Video I took of the comments went briefly viral, and Flynn’s reputation was further degraded into the dregs of American political life, where he now spends all of his time grifting on conspiracies in the name of Donald Trump. Then, as now, Steven was covering far-right extremism in Texas. He’s something of an expert on the matter, and you can keep up here with Steven’s prolific work at the many publications he writes for, and follow him on Twitter — until he gets permanently banned for his ball-busting reporting on Elon Musk.In this episode of the American Doom podcast, Steven and I discuss some of the bizarre Christian nationalist groups looking to further infiltrate all levels of government in order to impose their vision of a biblical nation upon all the rest of us. Not that there’s anything wrong with the idea of a Godly government or anything, I just don’t think a lot of parts of the Bible should be taken literally — and many of the folks Steven writes about absolutely do. They include a group touting itself as the “Remnant Alliance,” which is part of broader right-wing efforts to take over school board and, you know, ban books, for Christianity on people, oppress minorities and LGBTQ students, etc. Listen to this episode of the American Doom podcast here, or on Apple or Spotify podcasts, and subscribe to our newsletter for as little as $5 a month to support our work exposing election deniers, right-wing extremists and other threats to democracy. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe

Dalton Mattus was arrested a little more than two weeks ago for possessing a pair of handmade pipe bombs. Police found more at his home. What hasn’t been reported in the local press is that Mattus posted prolifically about every right-wing, anti-government conspiracy imaginable. He is a symbol both of the online radicalization toward right-wing extremism that pervades the United States, and the threats of violence that right-wing extremists pose. In this episode of the American Doom podcast, I discuss Mattus’ case with Bree Zender, my partner here at AD, who helped research Mattus’ posting for our collaboration with Rolling Stone. You can watch a video of our discussion below. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe