Right Now With Perry Bacon

President Donald Trump’s losses in court are suddenly piling up on many crucial fronts at once. Most of his tariffs were just ruled illegal, prompting him to explode in fury. An appeals court blocked Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act for deportations. And a judge invalidated Trump’s cancellation of grants to Harvard. There’s a big through line here that deserves attention: Judges are taking a very hard line on Trump’s use of pretexts to justify his illegal actions, on many of the issues where his abuses of power are most flagrant. But what happens when all this collides with the highest court in the land? We talked to Michigan University law professor Leah Litman, author of Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes. She explains why Trump’s manufacturing of pretexts is central to his consolidation of authoritarian power, why it’s temporarily heartening that he’s facing many setbacks in these areas, and what it will look like once it all goes to the high court.

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President Donald Trump’s losses in court are suddenly piling up on many crucial fronts at once. Most of his tariffs were just ruled illegal, prompting him to explode in fury. An appeals court blocked Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act for deportations. And a judge invalidated Trump’s cancellation of grants to Harvard. There’s a big through line here that deserves attention: Judges are taking a very hard line on Trump’s use of pretexts to justify his illegal actions, on many of the issues where his abuses of power are most flagrant. But what happens when all this collides with the highest court in the land? We talked to Michigan University law professor Leah Litman, author of Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes. She explains why Trump’s manufacturing of pretexts is central to his consolidation of authoritarian power, why it’s temporarily heartening that he’s facing many setbacks in these areas, and what it will look like once it all goes to the high court.

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Get full access to The New Republic at newrepublic.substack.com/subscribe

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President Donald Trump’s losses in court are suddenly piling up on many crucial fronts at once. Most of his tariffs were just ruled illegal, prompting him to explode in fury. An appeals court blocked Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act for deportations. And a judge invalidated Trump’s cancellation of grants to Harvard. There’s a big through line here that deserves attention: Judges are taking a very hard line on Trump’s use of pretexts to justify his illegal actions, on many of the issues where his abuses of power are most flagrant. But what happens when all this collides with the highest court in the land? We talked to Michigan University law professor Leah Litman, author of Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes. She explains why Trump’s manufacturing of pretexts is central to his consolidation of authoritarian power, why it’s temporarily heartening that he’s facing many setbacks in these areas, and what it will look like once it all goes to the high court.

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President Donald Trump’s losses in court are suddenly piling up on many crucial fronts at once. Most of his tariffs were just ruled illegal, prompting him to explode in fury. An appeals court blocked Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act for deportations. And a judge invalidated Trump’s cancellation of grants to Harvard. There’s a big through line here that deserves attention: Judges are taking a very hard line on Trump’s use of pretexts to justify his illegal actions, on many of the issues where his abuses of power are most flagrant. But what happens when all this collides with the highest court in the land? We talked to Michigan University law professor Leah Litman, author of Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes. She explains why Trump’s manufacturing of pretexts is central to his consolidation of authoritarian power, why it’s temporarily heartening that he’s facing many setbacks in these areas, and what it will look like once it all goes to the high court.

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Both prominent center-left Democrats and President Trump seem wary of Zohran Mamdani becoming mayor of New York City. But their motives are different, says TNR’s Monica Potts. In the last edition of Right Now With Perry Bacon, Potts argues that Trump sees former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani’s main opponent, as a potential political ally if Cuomo is elected mayor. Meanwhile, centrist Democrats, according to Potts, are worried that Mamdani will win, be a competent leader of the city and show that progressive politics isn’t something to be feared, strengthening the party’s left wing. Potts and Grace Segers, another TNR writer, also discuss Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent appearance on Capitol Hill, Trump’s potential deployment of the National Guard in more major cities, and whether the NFL is one of the few elements of “mass culture” remaining in America.

Thank you Jeremy Borden, Kathryn Wallenstein, Elizabeth Adams, Peg, Chuck Kessler, and many others for tuning into my live video with Monica Potts and Grace Segers! Join me for my next live video in the app.

Get full access to The New Republic at newrepublic.substack.com/subscribe

Both prominent center-left Democrats and President Trump seem wary of Zohran Mamdani becoming mayor of New York City. But their motives are different, says TNR’s Monica Potts. In the last edition of Right Now With Perry Bacon, Potts argues that Trump sees former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani’s main opponent, as a potential political ally if Cuomo is elected mayor. Meanwhile, centrist Democrats, according to Potts, are worried that Mamdani will win, be a competent leader of the city and show that progressive politics isn’t something to be feared, strengthening the party’s left wing. Potts and Grace Segers, another TNR writer, also discuss Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent appearance on Capitol Hill, Trump’s potential deployment of the National Guard in more major cities, and whether the NFL is one of the few elements of “mass culture” remaining in America.

Thank you Jeremy Borden, Kathryn Wallenstein, Elizabeth Adams, Peg, Chuck Kessler, and many others for tuning into my live video with Monica Potts and Grace Segers! Join me for my next live video in the app.

Get full access to The New Republic at newrepublic.substack.com/subscribe

Get full access to The New Republic at newrepublic.substack.com/subscribe

At a Senate hearing on Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. got massacred by harsh questioning from Democrats and Republicans. They called out his anti-vax views and condemned his decapitation of our public health system. But Matt Gertz of Media Matters noticed something funny: Fox News’ coverage bent over backward to portray him as pro-vaccine, as someone working to make vaccines available to Americans, not trying to restrict them. We think that reveals just how shaky President Trump’s political position has become amid RFK’s reign of destruction. Fox accidentally demonstrated just how deeply split Republicans are over this ongoing anti-vax fiasco—and how desperate Trump’s propagandists are to cover up the truth about it. In this segment, Gertz relates more of the evasions he saw on Fox, explains how Fox is struggling to navigate many conflicting currents inside MAGA, and predicts RFK’s lunacy is hurtling us toward a much bigger reckoning.



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At a Senate hearing on Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. got massacred by harsh questioning from Democrats and Republicans. They called out his anti-vax views and condemned his decapitation of our public health system. But Matt Gertz of Media Matters noticed something funny: Fox News’ coverage bent over backward to portray him as pro-vaccine, as someone working to make vaccines available to Americans, not trying to restrict them. We think that reveals just how shaky President Trump’s political position has become amid RFK’s reign of destruction. Fox accidentally demonstrated just how deeply split Republicans are over this ongoing anti-vax fiasco—and how desperate Trump’s propagandists are to cover up the truth about it. In this segment, Gertz relates more of the evasions he saw on Fox, explains how Fox is struggling to navigate many conflicting currents inside MAGA, and predicts RFK’s lunacy is hurtling us toward a much bigger reckoning.



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Get full access to The New Republic at newrepublic.substack.com/subscribe

Get full access to The New Republic at newrepublic.substack.com/subscribe

At a Senate hearing on Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. got massacred by harsh questioning from Democrats and Republicans. They called out his anti-vax views and condemned his decapitation of our public health system. But Matt Gertz of Media Matters noticed something funny: Fox News’ coverage bent over backward to portray him as pro-vaccine, as someone working to make vaccines available to Americans, not trying to restrict them. We think that reveals just how shaky President Trump’s political position has become amid RFK’s reign of destruction. Fox accidentally demonstrated just how deeply split Republicans are over this ongoing anti-vax fiasco—and how desperate Trump’s propagandists are to cover up the truth about it. In this segment, Gertz relates more of the evasions he saw on Fox, explains how Fox is struggling to navigate many conflicting currents inside MAGA, and predicts RFK’s lunacy is hurtling us toward a much bigger reckoning.



Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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At a Senate hearing on Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. got massacred by harsh questioning from Democrats and Republicans. They called out his anti-vax views and condemned his decapitation of our public health system. But Matt Gertz of Media Matters noticed something funny: Fox News’ coverage bent over backward to portray him as pro-vaccine, as someone working to make vaccines available to Americans, not trying to restrict them. We think that reveals just how shaky President Trump’s political position has become amid RFK’s reign of destruction. Fox accidentally demonstrated just how deeply split Republicans are over this ongoing anti-vax fiasco—and how desperate Trump’s propagandists are to cover up the truth about it. In this segment, Gertz relates more of the evasions he saw on Fox, explains how Fox is struggling to navigate many conflicting currents inside MAGA, and predicts RFK’s lunacy is hurtling us toward a much bigger reckoning.



Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio
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Get full access to The New Republic at newrepublic.substack.com/subscribe