Background Briefing: May 14, 2024
Mike Johnson Personifies the Staggering Hypocrisy of the “Christian” Right
We begin with the staggering hypocrisy of the Christian Right with the movement’s most prominent and powerful politician, the pious man of God Mike Johnson, showing up today at Trump’s porn payoff trial to praise the defendant and trash the witness on the stand as the prosecution makes the case that Trump is a corrupt and cruel sleazebag who has broken all ten commandments more often than Johnson has kneeled to pray. Joining us is Amanda Marcotte, a feminist author, blogger, and a politics writer for Salon. She is the author of Troll Nation: How The Right Became Trump-Worshipping Monsters Set On Rat-F*cking Liberals, America, and Truth Itself, and her latest articles at Salon include “Donald Trump’s obsession with control is backfiring on his lawyers in court” and “”Reaching her expiration date”: How Marjorie Taylor Greene fell so fast from MAGA stardom.”
Is the New York Trial Hurting Trump Who is Polling Ahead in All Swing States but Wisconsin?
Then we assess whether this trial, which is not televised, is hurting Trump as his poll numbers in the latest New York Times/Siena survey finds him ahead in all swing states except Wisconsin. Joining us is Joseph Lowndes, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Oregon and an expert on conservatism, the Tea Party, social movements, the GOP, race and elections. He is the author of From the New Deal to the New Right: Race and the Southern Origins of Modern Conservatism, and co-author of Producers, Parasites, Patriots: Race and the New Right-Wing Politics of Precarity.
The Mainstreaming of America’s Neo-Nazi Movement and the Potential for Violence in the Election
Then finally we speak with Spencer Sunshine, who has been researching the U.S. Far Right for 20 years and has written for the Southern Poverty Law Center, Daily Beast and The Forward. His new book, just out, is Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason’s Siege. We discuss how the Far Right neo-Nazi movement in America is mainstreaming and what role it is likely to play in the upcoming election that many predict could turn violent.