The DSR Network

On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we break down Mitch McConnell’s absence from the public eye, damning new allegations against Graham Platner, the start of a critical NATO summit in Turkey, and more. 

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Donald Trump ended the tortured saga around his gala for America’s 250th anniversary in typical fashion. Trump claimed 150,000 people attended his final speech, which was humiliatingly contradicted by videos of the event. Then Trump made it worse. During the speech he insisted that 375,000 people had been present before storms and an evacuation caused chaos and turmoil, reducing the crowd to 150,000 (again, a baseless number). But then afterward he posted that the initial total had been 422,000. Somehow the number ballooned by nearly 50,000, delivering still another blow to his credibility. We talked to New Republic senior editor Alex Shephard, who writes really well about MAGA’s dwindling cultural relevance. We discuss the deeper failures of Trump’s extravaganza, why he can’t tell a compelling story about the country anymore, why Barack Obama’s national narrative is far superior, and why the World Cup is acting as a perfect counter-narrative to Trumpism. 

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On the DSR Daily for Monday we break down Trump's July 4th disaster, the upcoming NATO summit, Trump’s FIFA interference, and more. 

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Ever since the Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship in June, MAGA personalities have really gone off the rails. Many angrily started saying it’s time for the U.S. to find new ways to bar women from coming to this country and having babies. Some are talking about pregnancy tests upon arrival. Others are discussing the possibility of unleashing federal law enforcement on women suspected of pregnancy—and unnervingly, this includes the acting Attorney General. And as a Media Matters roundup shows, some are talking about truly crackpot ideas like forced sterilization. Talking Points Memo writer Sarah Posner sums it up well: “Will every woman now have to pee in cups at airports?” We talked to Posner, a scholar of Christian Nationalism and the religious right. We discuss how all this reflects a genuine and ambitious, if vile, vision for the country, why JD Vance may take up this cause in some form when his presidential run begins next year, and what it all says about MAGA’s deeper misogyny and darkening extreme nationalism. 

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The Democratic Party is not totally hopeless! But in this era of rising frustration, economic insecurity, and radically changed media, who actually understands how to meet people where they are and win the future? Tara McGowan and Simon Rosenberg join David Rothkopf to discuss some of the Democratic Party’s internal debates and offer some hope that this midterm election’s diversity and primary-season conflict are signs of a healthy, evolving big-tent coalition.

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This Independence Day, we’re face with a stark reality: the values and ideals that lay the foundation of our democracy are consistently being undermined by a corrupt, authoritarian president. The Supreme Court rulings of the past week have effectively cemented Trump as the most powerful executive in U.S. history - isn’t this exactly what our Founding Fathers fought against? This 250th celebration feels tainted by this regime and brings us as a nation to a crossroads. How do we celebrate our democracy amidst such political turmoil? Grab yourself a hot dog, eat a slice of apple pie, and tune in as Norm Ornstein and David Rothkopf examine the United States on the eve of its 250th birthday.

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On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we break down Trump taking a trip on the new Air Force One, the White House proposing cuts to hospital payments for scans, Trump’s America 250 problem, and more. 

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In today’s episode, MS NOW’s Steve Benen makes a strong case that Donald Trump has corrupted the process of awarding disaster aid to states. Trump has been rejecting aid requests from blue states at a lopsided rate. But this week, Trump announced that he’s awarding aid to Democratic-run swing states with critical gubernatorial, Senate, and House races in them. But here’s the key: As Benen details, in these announcements, Trump openly linked the awarding of aid right to his preferred candidates, even suggesting voters should reward them for securing the money. Trump blurted out the scheme, which Benen calls “breathtaking” in its “brazenness.” It all comes as New York Times polls find Democrats highly competitive in six key Senate races that no one expected to be close. Trump’s numbers are abysmal across these battlegrounds, particularly on the economy, even though he won five of them in 2024. Benen explains why Trump’s scheme matters, why the new polling is brutal for him, and why both developments neatly capture this moment. 

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The first two years of Trump’s second term have been a full-fledged attack on American democracy. So what can we do to fight back? Julia Angwin and Ami Fields-Meyer join David Rothkopf to provide an answer through their new book On Courage: How to Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear. Drawing on the experiences of hundreds of dissidents and activists from around the world, we can learn how to fight and win. 

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America’s 250th anniversary is just a few days away, and what should be a proud celebration will be tainted by the corruption of the Trump regime. The Supreme Court seems to disregard our Constitution and the ideals that our country was founded on no longer seem integral to our government. Is democracy in the United States working? What do we have to look back on, and what do we have to look forward to? David Rothkopf, Rosa Brooks, and Ed Luce discuss the current state of America, its past and its future ahead of our 250th anniversary.

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