SINCERETALK

President Donald Trump , his team, and his allies are "saboteurs" who are "wrecking" all the institutions that brought America prosperity and prestige, says a fascism expert who warns that the president may take action to disrupt — or even cancel —a future election. Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history and a scholar of fascism, is an expert on authoritarianism and strongmen. She spoke with Politicon's James Carville and Al Hunt on Friday. When asked whether it is "accurate" to call Trump a fascist, Dr. Ben-Ghiat replied, "He's got many fascist qualities, and they're recycling Nazi slogans now," she observed. Trump, she continued, "made a campaign video that said that he was going to — he was going to create a 'unified Reich.'" "They're taking from the fascist playbook," she added, noting that they "love" Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and "all ...

While addressing the annual National Prayer Breakfast, President Donald Trump once again doubled down on the disproven claim that he won the 2020 election — particularly in Georgia. CNN host Jake Tapper spent part of his latest show taking apart the president's argument piece by piece. In a Thursday segment , Tapper noted that Trump remained " laser-focused on rewriting his 2020 election loss" in spite of overwhelming evidence that he lost both the popular vote and the Electoral College. He then observed that Trump used his captive audience at the National Prayer Breakfast — which is typically a non-partisan event — to defend his controversial FBI raid of an election facility in Fulton County, Georgia and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's presence at the raid. "Georgia was central to Trump's false, debunked claim that the 2020 election was rigged, which it was not," Tapper said. "... W hy send G abbard? It's a questio...

President Donald Trump is defending allowing the nation’s last nuclear treaty with Russia to expire by declaring he’s already “stopped” nuclear wars between several countries. Experts and advocates warn that the treaty was the last barrier against a nuclear arms race. “As of today, for the first time in over half a century, the US and Russia don’t have a legally binding arms control treaty in place anymore,” observed Wall Street Journal national security reporter Robbie Gramer. “Without the New START treaty,” NBC News reported on Thursday, “which caps the number of deployed nuclear warheads at 1,550 on each side, there will be no limits on the American and Russian arsenals.” “Not only are there no discussions between Washington and Moscow on what comes next,” NBC added, “but also officials from both countries are left guessing about the other side’s capabilities and intentions, increasing the possibility of misunderstandings and an unrestricted nuclear arms race not seen since t...

Another prominent House Republican from Georgia will retire, adding to the mass exodus Speaker Mike Johnson is seeing under his leadership. U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) announced on Wednesday that he will not seek re-election. Loudermilk was first elected to Congress in 2014. He is the fourth Georgia Republican not seeking re-election, and joins (former) U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), and U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA). Loudermilk become the thirtieth House Republican to retire or seek a different office, according to the U.S. House Casualty List . Last week, Cook Political Report’s Dave Wasserman reported : “Today, we only see 18 out of 435 races as toss-ups, but Republicans would need to win two-thirds of the toss-up column to hold their House majority.” He suggested that Democrats are “modest favorites” to regain the House majority. Speaker Mike Johnson’s margin over House Democrats is so thin that he directed Republican lawmakers to “ t...

Strategist Karl Rove writes in the Wall Street Journal that Republicans have an economy problem — and Trump’s constant crowing about his economy is making voters furious. “The president came to Iowa last month for an economic speech . His team hoped his appearance in a Des Moines suburb would recenter the discussion,” said Rove, adding: “It didn’t.” “Mr. Trump made two mistakes,” said Rove. “The first was straying from the subject for almost half his speech. Victories and stolen elections. Immigration. Introducing politicians on the stage. Attacking his predecessor for multiple sins. Lots of different foreign issues. He went everywhere — and therefore nowhere.” But the second, said Rove, was assuming that voters were just as happy with his economy as he apparently is. “[It was] Trump’s triumphal tone,” said Rove. “He congratulated himself on ‘the greatest first year of any administration in American history.’ The ‘economy is booming,’ he said. It’s been ‘the best first year of a...

After Sen. Mark Kelly (R-Ariz.) called on troops to remember their oath to disobey illegal orders, President Donald Trump's Department of Defense (DoD) made moves to cut his military pension. Now, a judge is likely to rule that move illegal. That's according to a Tuesday article in CNN , which reported that U.S. District judge Richard Leon (an appointee of former President George W. Bush) scoffed at the DoD's argument for punishing the Arizona senator and retired U.S. Navy captain. According to CNN, Leon took issue with Pentagon lawyers' justification of including military retirees in its loophole to circumvent First Amendment protections for active-duty personnel. "You’re asking me to do something the Supreme Court or the DC Circuit has never done," Leon said. "That's a bit of a stretch." Tuesday's hearing came after Kelly sued the Trump administration , alleging its retaliatory measure was a violation of the U.S. Constitution's Spe...