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James K. Galbraith In contrast with the now sober-seeming Reaganites, Trump has taken credit for the economy from day one. The post The Trump Economy? Some Reagan Parallels appeared first on The Nation.

Stan Mack Bon Appétit! The post Homegrown appeared first on The Nation.

New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said Thursday that Andrew Cuomo’s alleged coordination with President Donald Trump is “disqualifying,” following a New York Times report that the president has spoken with Cuomo about the race. During an appearance on WNYC, Mamdani accused Trump of attempting to rig the outcome.  Andrew Cuomo announces his run for mayor in an effort to thwart Zohran Mamdani’s campaign. “The fact is that the president has three candidates in this race: one that he’s directly been in touch with, another that he bailed out of legal trouble, and now functionally controls, and the final one literally being a member of the same Republican Party,” he said, referring to Cuomo, current Mayor Eric Adams, and Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa. The comments come as Trump reportedly weighs how to block Mamdani, a democratic socialist whose campaign has gained traction among young and progressive voters. According to the Times, Trump’s pollsters told him that Cuomo—New York’s former governor, who resigned in 2021 following numerous sexual harassment allegations—could still be competitive as an independent. One scenario reportedly under consideration is convincing a lower-polling candidate to drop out to consolidate the anti-Mamdani vote. The Times said that Trump hasn’t made a final decision, but conversations are continuing behind the scenes. YouTube Video On Wednesday evening, Mamdani said he “would be remiss” not to address the report of a possible Trump-Cuomo meeting. “It is Trump billionaires who have been opposing our campaign’s vision for a city that New Yorkers can afford,” Mamdani told reporters. “It is Donald Trump himself who has been directly conspiring with candidates who have decided to give up the people that they are supposed to protect in lieu of securing power through the assistance of that same administration in Washington, D.C.” The Cuomo campaign and Trump both denied the report. “As far as I know, they have not discussed the race,” said Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo’s campaign, though he acknowledged that they have spoken in the past.  A spokesperson for the Times said the paper stands by its reporting. New York City Mayor Eric Adams Trump’s potential meddling wouldn’t just inject chaos into a volatile race, but it would also reinforce a pattern. He has repeatedly tried to sway races where his allies are struggling or where he sees an opportunity to sabotage rising opposition.  Mamdani’s campaign—rooted in rent justice and public investment—has drawn sharp criticism from conservative donors and right-wing media, and he’s made clear that he sees backlash as proof he’s gaining ground. When asked Thursday about his relationship with Trump, Adams offered a more cautious tone. “When I speak with the president, it’s about resources for the city of New York,” he said at an unrelated press conference.  Adams also noted that his administration has sued the federal government more than any other mayor in the country, most recently over the loss of $80 million in FEMA funds. Still, the idea that Trump could throw his weight behind Cuomo or pressure others to drop out is already drawing backlash. Mamdani cast the president’s involvement as just another attempt to rig the rules, accusing all three rivals—Adams, Cuomo, and Sliwa—of aligning themselves with a man openly hostile to the kind of city his campaign is trying to build. “It is time for us to make clear that what this city deserves is a mayor who, when he sees Donald Trump attacking the people of this city, will stand up and fight back against that vision, who will not get on the phone with the architect of that vision,” Mamdani told voters Thursday.  Whether Trump follows through remains to be seen, but his involvement alone shows how much the old guard fears a Mamdani victory.

Conservatives seem to have their blue jeans in a wad after a recent Levi’s ad featuring a blonde-haired Beyoncé in an all-denim look. And if this sounds familiar, it’s not just you. GOP talking heads like Piers Morgan and Megyn Kelly have taken to their respective social media soapboxes to blast the singer in comparison to the ongoing Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle controversy. “This is the opposite of the Sydney Sweeney ad,” Kelly tweeted Tuesday. “Quite clearly there is nothing natural about Beyonce. Everything – from her image to her fame to her success to her look below …” she said, referencing a photo from the Levi’s campaign,, “is bought and paid for.” “Screams artificial, fake, enhanced, trying too hard.” Related | Trump gushes over ‘great jeans’ actress as controversy swirls Aside from the fact that Sweeney herself is not a natural blonde, Kelly seems to have forgotten that it was the Grammy-winning artist who came out with the song “Levii’s Jeans” in 2024.   Kelly is referring to a series of photos posted by the clothing company that features Beyoncé in an iced-out, stacked set of blue jeans and jacket. Similarly to Sweeney, the artist is seen showing off her busty body and curves in one slide, while in another—unlike the actor—she displays a grill that reads “Levi’s jeans.” “Gene theory” by Clay Jones On Wednesday, Morgan weighed in on the ad as well, claiming that the artist was ripping off a white actress from the 1950s. “Very disappointed to see Beyoncé culturally appropriate Marilyn Monroe in her new Levi’s ad,” he tweeted. And while Beyoncé does, in fact, have short blonde hair in the Levi’s photoshoot, Morgan seems to be missing every other bit of context from the collaboration.  Just before Levi’s photo drop, Beyonce’s music company, Parkwood Entertainment, posted a short clip of her country song featuring the multi-hyphenated artist in a Western-style narrative. The Texas native blazed into town on horseback—an homage to her equally GOP-rage-enducing album “Cowboy Carter”—sporting the brand before reading a newspaper article about a local pool shark taking over the town.  And while the video features its handful of steamy close-ups showing off her curves and the jeans, the blonde Beyoncé also showcases herself working in an all-American diner to save up the funds to take on this pool shark as well.  Ultimately, as the short music video goes, the singer slaps her hard-earned cash onto the pool table, sporting the set featured in the Levi’s shoot, before claiming her victory—and taking the pool shark’s jeans along with it.   Now, if you recall, Sweeney and American Eagle’s ad made waves last week in a couple of different ways. The company had the internet outraged when a petite blonde, blue-eyed actor had the text “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” plastered over her body. On one hand, people like President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have come to bat to defend Sweeney for just being a pretty girl caught in the midst of eugenics accusations. However, as the tables are turned, the GOP seems to be upset when a Black woman dons similar wares.  While conservatives can yell about cultural appropriation or whether or not someone can rock a color of hair because it’s natural or not, the underlying question still remains—are they upset because of jeans, or because someone of color is possessing what they identify as white traits?

Alex Jones, a far-right conspiracy theorist and superfan of President Donald Trump, is in a state of crisis and confusion over his idol’s ongoing cover-up of information on accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Trump promised that he would expose the inner workings of Epstein’s alleged operation in a second term. Instead, the Trump administration has refused to release much of the government’s information on Epstein, including a rumored client list, and Trump has berated his followers for having an interest in the story. The about-face has been annoying Trump’s backers in the MAGA movement for months.   On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that concerns about the Epstein story were “total bullshit,” and lied that the controversy was the creation of the Democratic Party. Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, shown in 2024. That news led Jones to lament in a social media post, writing, “Trump‘s disastrous handling of the Epstein firestorm last month was starting to die down and now he has let the corporate media bait him into re-launching a new Streisand effect.”  Jones’ state of crisis worsened in a video posted on Thursday, showing him visibly confused as he ranted at length and tried to rationalize Trump’s obfuscation. “This is just crazy,” Jones said. He insisted that despite his mishandling of the issue, “Trump is not stupid,” but he also expressed concern that Trump is “caught off guard with a new issue.” “I don’t know what to say at this point. I am actually in a conundrum. I’m god-smacked,” he added. Despite Jones’ conspiracies about 9/11 and the Sandy Hook school shooting, he attained mainstream conservative acceptance around the time of Trump’s first presidential campaign, when Trump sat for an interview with him. Ever since then, Jones has been a Trump cheerleader. However, the Epstein issue seems to be causing Jones to rethink his devotion.  In July, Jones accused Trump of acting cultish about the topic, after Trump complained about being asked about his former friend Epstein. Jones also claimed that month that MAGA influencers were being frozen out from White House access for expressing dissent over Epstein. A photograph of U.S. President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein is displayed on the side of a van in Scotland on July 28. Trump’s actions around Epstein are putting his most vocal backers out on a limb. They have carried a lot of water for Trump over the years, excusing his bigotry and racism while amplifying his conspiratorial allegations—only to see him in full retreat over one of the movement’s central narratives. A possible reason for Trump’s stonewalling is that the government’s documents on Epstein’s crimes might implicate Trump, if not in a crime, then at least in misconduct. However, it is currently unclear whether this is true—the information is being hidden from the public, after all—but The Wall Street Journal has reported that Trump was told his name appears numerous times in the government’s Epstein files. For Trump to be on the supposed client list that MAGA supporters see as a Rosetta Stone to so many of their conspiracies would be devastating. They surely cannot handle that possibility, so they, like Jones, are forced into abject confusion by Trump’s ongoing cover-up.

U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro gave her unhinged thoughts on President Donald Trump’s threat to federalize D.C. during a press conference on Thursday. “That is a decision for the president,” the former Fox News host and surly bottled water enthusiast said.  She then went on a rant about how young people should be treated more harshly by the law. “I think that what the president was saying is that we’re seeing far too much crime being committed by young people—14, 15, 16, 17 years old. And I can’t get my hands on ‘em,” Pirro said. “I mean, I don’t know if you’ve seen some of the pictures, but, you know, young people are coddled, and they don’t need to be coddled anymore. They need to be held accountable. They shouldn’t be going to arts and crafts in family court.” YouTube Video Trump’s revived push to take control of the nation’s capital was reignited after reports of an attempted carjacking involving former Department of Government Efficiency bro Edward Coristine—also known as “Big Balls.” The attack prompted Trump to call for a federal takeover of D.C. in an unhinged Truth Social post including a photo of what appeared to be Coristine, shirtless and smeared in blood. “The Law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute these ‘minors’ as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14,” he wrote. But the facts don’t support Trump’s and Pirro’s claims. According to Pirro’s own office, violent crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low. And Metropolitan Police Department statistics show a 26% decrease in violent crimes this year compared to 2024. Related | How Trump is exploiting Musk’s ‘Big Balls’ Given Trump’s long and racist history of attacking young people of color, his evidence-free fearmongering is hardly a surprise. In October 2024, the Exonerated Five—5 men who were wrongfully convicted of rape and assault as minors in 1989—filed a lawsuit against Trump for his continued defamatory attacks against them. Despite all 5 men being exonerated by DNA evidence, Trump has never apologized for placing full-page advertisements in various New York City newspapers calling for the death penalty in their case. Since the economy is looking like trash, his polling numbers are down in the dumps, and he has yet to release the Epstein files that reportedly include him, Trump has returned to what the GOP does best: blaming and attacking marginalized youth for their own inability to fix the country’s problems.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been working overtime to restore the U.S. history that fits his—and MAGA’s—agenda.  On Thursday, the former Fox News talking head loudly blasted leftist “lemmings” for tearing down monuments commemorating history linked to the Confederacy and slave owners.  “We recognize our history. We don’t erase it,” he said on Fox News’ “The Will Cain Show.” “We don’t follow the woke lemmings off the cliff that want to tear down statues.” YouTube Video And while Hegseth said he and the rest of the Trump administration are “proud of our history” and that they are “done” with “tearing stuff down,” it seems that only applies to history that is white, male, and straight. Hegseth’s most recent restoration push involves two monuments in particular: the Reconciliation Monument and a statue celebrating Confederate Gen. Albert Pike.  Moses Ezekiel’s Reconciliation Monument, which was removed from Arlington Cemetery in 2023, was erected in 1914, nearly 50 years after the Civil War ended, as a way to commemorate the reconciliation between the North and the South. However, critics have found the bronze statue’s carvings depicting slavery less than heartwarming. As for Pike’s statue, it was removed from a Washington park in 2020 after being toppled by protesters but the Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it will be reinstalled. Related | Statues of racist traitors welcomed back in Trump’s America Hegseth has also restored the names of military bases that once glorified Confederate leaders, some of whom were slave owners. Some of the bases include Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Pickett in Virginia, Fort Benning in Georgia, and Fort Hood in Texas. But even as he has worked to restore the names of military bases and controversial statues that critics say make light of slavery, Hegseth is trying to erase history in other ways.  As Daily Kos has previously reported, Hegseth got straight to work after his controversial Senate confirmation to make sure that the U.S. military scrubbed its social media and websites of any traces of diversity, equity, and inclusion.  In turn, years of historical content featuring women and people of color vanished from official records in the name of anti-DEI efforts.  But it wasn’t just recent online content that got the ax. In early March, the administration removed an image of the historical B-29 bomber Enola Gay—just because it included the word “Gay” in the name. The historical plane pictured on the Pentagon’s website dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II. In other words, as Hegseth complains about the left “erasing” history, the Trump administration is busy doing just that.