Hillary's statement

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Heather Cox Richardson

Heather Cox Richardson had some thoughts about the Orange Blob's State of the Union marathon hate speech this week. I was very disappointed he didn't have a major stroke during the speech.

February 25, 2026 (Wednesday)

At last night’s State of the Union address, President Donald Trump went on offense, seeming to try to set the terms for the upcoming midterm elections. Although the State of the Union in the past was an opportunity for the president to tell the American people where the country stood with regard to foreign affairs, finances, the economy, the public lands, and so on, it has, over the years, become more about messaging and future plans rather than a summing up of the past year.

With his approval ratings under 40%, administration officials mired in corruption scandals, and every one of his policies underwater, Trump delivered a campaign rally. To answer Americans’ concerns about his economic policies, the slowing of economic growth, and rising inflation, he insisted that he had “inherited a nation in crisis” but had “achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before.” He proceeded to claim that the economy is booming, using statistics that were either made up or staggeringly misleading, like his boast that “in one year we have lifted 2.4 million Americans—a record—off of food stamps.” In fact, Republicans cut food assistance from those people, so they are indeed off the rolls, but “lifted” is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

In between his celebrations of what he assured the audience was a “golden age,” Trump turned the event into what appeared to be an awards show. “Our country is winning again,” he claimed. “In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it. People are asking me, please, please, please, Mr. President, we’re winning too much. We can’t take it anymore. We’re not used to winning in our country until you came along, we’re just always losing. But now we’re winning too much. And I say, no, no, no, you’re going to win again. You’re going to win big. You’re going to win bigger than ever. And to prove that point, to prove that point, here with us tonight is a group of winners who just made the entire nation proud. The men’s gold medal Olympic hockey team. Come on in!”

Trump said he would be awarding the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to the goalie of that team, which had just won the gold medal at the Olympics.

He also presented two recipients with Purple Hearts, a military decoration awarded to service members killed or wounded in action; and one with the Legion of Merit award for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of an outstanding service or achievement. Trump awarded two recipients the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military’s highest decoration for valor in action. After awarding one, Trump mused: “I’ve always wanted the Congressional Medal of Honor, but I was informed I’m not allowed to give it to myself, and I wouldn’t know why I’d be taking it. But if they ever opened up that law I will be there with you someday.”

Trump did not serve in the military.

But the party atmosphere was selective. Trump did not acknowledge the Epstein survivors in the audience, invited by Democratic representatives. Representative Al Green (D-TX) was escorted out after holding up a sign that referred to the president’s posting of an image of former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes, reading: “BLACK PEOPLE AREN’T APES.” And Trump’s descriptions of murders committed by undocumented immigrants—with apparent relish and with the victims’ family members in the audience—seemed to glorify cruelty and violence.

It seemed clear that Trump intends to try to persuade Americans who have soured on his economy and hate his immigration policies that they are wrong, and that both are, in fact, triumphs. He also appeared to try to answer concerns about the skyrocketing deficit on his watch by blaming immigrants for it, claiming that they are committing fraud that is “plundering” the country. He announced a “war on fraud to be led by our great Vice President J.D. Vance,” saying, “And we’re able to find enough of that fraud, we will actually have a balanced budget overnight.”

Trump’s tax cuts primarily benefited the wealthy and corporations, and pinning their effects on immigrants illustrates how Trump’s strongest calls were to his base. Not only did he portray immigrants as violent criminals, in a moment scripted for television, he then turned on Democrats in the chamber, setting them up to force them to back off their insistence on reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol by demanding that they stand to show their support for the statement: “The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”

It was a deliberate division of the country into “us” and “them,” a classic authoritarian move, that he followed up by calling the Democrats “crazy” and claiming that “Democrats are destroying our country.” Facing a midterm election in which voters appear strongly to favor Democrats, Trump went out of his way to try to define them, rather than his own administration, as dangerous extremists.

Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times noted that deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, an adherent of the Great Replacement theory who is the key figure driving the administration’s crusade against migrants, made it “clear that the night’s performance had been built around this moment.” Miller posted: “0 democrats stood for the foundational principle of all government that leaders must serve citizens before invaders. Never has there been a more stunning moment in Congress.”

And he was right, in a way, because it was indeed stunning that Republican members of Congress cheered and applauded at the attacks on their colleagues. In his 1951 The True Believer: Notes on the Nature of Mass Movements, philosopher Eric Hoffer noted that once people are wedded to a strongman, they will cling to him ever more tightly as his behavior becomes more and more erratic. This loyalty is in part to demonstrate their own devotion to the cause, and in part to justify their own attacks on those the strongman has given them permission to hurt.

The behavior of the Republican representatives was really the only memorable part of the evening. Trump’s almost two-hour State of the Union—the longest State of the Union address in history—felt pretty much like a Trump rally, full of outrageous exaggerations, lies, game show promises, and attacks, and those are old hat by now.

In contrast, the response to the State of the Union—which is usually deadly—was a breath of fresh air. Delivered by Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger, the response was short and clean, and in a refreshing change from Trump’s constant focus on himself, it centered the American people.

Spanberger noted that she was speaking from the Virginia House of Burgesses, where “[b]efore there was a Declaration of Independence, a Constitution, or a Bill of Rights—there were people in this very room” who “dreamed of what a new nation…could be.” She continued: “The United States was founded on the idea that ordinary people could reject the unacceptable excesses of poor leadership, band together to demand better of their government, and create a nation that would be an example for the world.”

“Tonight,” she said, “we did not hear the truth from our President.” She asked, is the president “working to make life more affordable for you and your family,” is he “working to keep Americans safe—both at home and abroad,” and is he “working for YOU?”

She noted that the rising costs of housing, healthcare, energy, and childcare are pressing everyone. Trump’s trade policies, especially tariffs, have hurt small businesses, farmers, and everyday Americans, while the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” is forcing rural health clinics to close, stripping healthcare from millions of Americans, and cutting food programs for children.

Turning to the excesses of federal agents from ICE and Border Patrol, Spanberger highlighted her own career as a law enforcement officer working money-laundering and narcotics cases alongside local and state police to note that law enforcement requires “an abiding sense of duty and commitment to community.” “And yet,” she said, “our President has sent poorly trained federal agents into our cities, where they have arrested and detained American citizens and people who aspire to be Americans—and they have done it without a warrant.

“They have ripped nursing mothers away from their babies, they have sent children—a little boy in a blue bunny hat—to far-off detention centers, and they have killed American citizens on our streets. And they have done it all with their faces masked from accountability. Every minute spent sowing fear is a minute not spent investigating murders, crimes against children, or the criminals defrauding seniors of their life savings.”

“Our President told us tonight that we are safer because these agents arrest mothers and detain children,” she said. “Think about that. Our broken immigration system is something to be fixed—not an excuse for unaccountable agents to terrorize our communities.”

At the same time, she said, the president “continues to cede economic power and technological strength to China, bow down to a Russian dictator, and make plans for war with Iran.” “[T]hrough [the Department of Government Efficiency], mass firings, and the appointment of deeply unserious people to our nation’s most serious positions, our President has endangered the long and storied history of the United States of America being a force for good.”

“In his speech tonight,” she said, “the President did what he always does: he lied, he scapegoated, and he distracted. He also offered no real solutions to our nation’s pressing challenges—so many of which he is actively making worse.” Who is benefitting from “his rhetoric, his policies, his actions, and the short list of laws he’s pushed through this Republican Congress?” she asked.

“He’s enriching himself, his family, his friends,” she said. “The scale of the corruption is unprecedented. There’s the cover-up of the Epstein files, the crypto scams, cozying up to foreign princes for airplanes and billionaires for ballrooms, putting his name and face on buildings all over our nation’s capital. This is not what our founders envisioned. So, I’ll ask again: Is the President working for you?”

“We all know the answer is no.”

“But here is the special thing about America,” she said. “[W]e know better than any nation what is possible when ordinary citizens—like those who once dreamed right here in this room—reject the unacceptable and demand more of their government.” She noted the power of the Americans taking action across the country to protest the government and to vote. “With their votes,” she said, “they are writing a new story.”

In November, Spanberger said, she won her election by 15 points, earning votes “from Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and everyone in-between; because they knew as citizens, they could demand more. That they could vote for what they believe matters, and they didn’t need to be constrained by a party or political affiliation.” In that election, Democrats flipped legislative seats in Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, and Texas. Now “[o]rdinary Americans are stepping up to run…to demand more and do more for their neighbors and communities.”

“Those who are stepping up now to run will win in November because Americans know you can demand more, and that we are working to lower costs, we are working to keep our communities and country safe, and we are working for you,” she said.

“In his Farewell Address,” she concluded, “George Washington warned us about the possibility of ‘cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men’ rising to power. But he also encouraged us—all Americans—to unite in ‘a common cause’ to move this nation forward. That is our charge once more. And that is what we are seeing across the country.

“It is deeply American and patriotic to do so, and it is how we ensure that the State of our Union remains strong, not just this year but for the next 250 years as well.”

Mexico cartels

My previous post, "Crime Syndicate" mentioned the Trump Crime Family as perhaps the most powerful crime syndicate in history. More likely, the Mexican cartels deserve that title. They have been active since U.S. prohibition, when they began smuggling whiskey and alcohol into the U.S. to sate the U.S. craving for alcohol. Prohibition was likely the dumbest thing Americans have ever done to the Constitution. 

By prohibiting the sale and consumption of alcohol, the mafia and organized crime grew in strength. Mexico legalized all drugs back in 1940, but under pressure from the "holier-than-thou" American government, they rescinded the law, making them all illegal again. Now that cannabis has been legalized by some U.S. states, the cartels have shifted to other drugs, and to extortion rackets, including kidnapping for ransom and human trafficking. I hope Mexico can figure out how to deal with (eliminate) the cartels. Until they do, the relationship between the two countries will be strained, and millions of Americans (including us) will refuse to ever visit Mexico again. It's just not safe. Shit, the U.S. isn't very safe either, but at least it is my native country.

The writing below is from Mark Provost, an American who has lived in Mexico off and on over the years. He writes about the recent killing of the head of the Jalisco New Generation cartel at the hands of the Mexican military, and the resultant violence.

Cartel violence has broken out across Mexico. Since I've lived here four of the past seven years, I thought I'd provide some background since folks are interested in what's going on. This post isn't intended as a news report or expert analysis (I lack the qualifications for either) but rather relevant context garnered from reading news, personal accounts, and conversations with people who live here.

Cartel violence exploded across 20 of Mexico's 31 states after Mexico's security forces killed 'El Mencho', the Most-Wanted longtime leader of the world's most powerful cartel, Jalisco Nueva Generacion(CJNG).

Mexico's two major cartels, El Chapo's empire in Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG ), have grown significantly in recent years. They are no longer solely or predominantly 'drug cartels' as they have expanded well beyond that domain. The cartels have grown in membership, geographically, globally, militarily, and across various markets and industries they didn't historically operate in. Cartels have integrated into the formal economy and equally established toeholds across the informal sector. One of the most important money taps is extortion rackets.

CJNG is still engaged in the mainstay of human, drug, and arms trafficking, but in addition cartels increasingly rely on extorting communities and businesses of all sizes and market segments. Think of organized crime groups like La Cosa Nostra in Sicily or the mafia in the US, involved in trades like gambling, construction, real estate, trash pickup, trucking — but on an unimaginably grander scale. Cartels like Sinaloa and CJNG make Don Vito Corleone in 'The Godfather' look like a street kid running dime bags on the corner.

The extortion racket CJNG exploits is called 'piso' which translates to 'floor'. If you run a business in Mexico — even something as small as a lemonade or hot dog stand — you may be required to "pay piso." Piso is like rent in the sense that failure to pay will result in life-altering consequences. A vendor may outright own their building, bodega, or puesto with no mortgage, but they don't own the floor. Survival depends on one's ability to understand — and accept — that stark reality.

Sometimes the cartel wants a cut of the business; sometimes they want the whole enchilada. If you refuse, they blow your brains out in broad daylight and post the clip on Facebook and WhatsApp, which for whatever reason doesn't get censored or blocked like it does in the US. The clips go viral in the community where the violence is perpetrated and across social media and TikTok. Videos of beheadings, buildings burned to the ground, highway blockades with vehicles ablaze, dismembered body parts, people turned to soup, are static background. Street poles, town squares, and the walls of buildings are plastered with black and white photos of the disappeared. Everyone knows not to get involved and life goes on for many without any impact.

Whatever you do, don't you fucking dare report on cartel activity. Mexico is the most dangerous nation in the world for journalists. Reporters in Mexico are what elite reporters in the United States think they are.

Cartel members shake down various vendors, businesses, and employers across the grey economy. The potential market value of extortion rackets is so enormous it's difficult to quantify. Mexico's informal economy is several times larger than it is in the US — both in real terms and as a share of the total economy —comprising more than half of the national economy, according to estimates.

I talk to people here, friends, acquaintances and especially taxis who literally have their ears and eyes on the ground. We chat in hushed tones about you know what. I overhear radio discussion about cartel activity in one state or another.

Living here is different than what you see on Netflix because if you're not involved in the cartel or caught in their crosshairs, you're not going to see anything. For tourists, expats, and most of the middle class, violence is experienced as a backdrop of daily news reports, radio chatter, TV, and scrolling on social media. Less fortunate Mexicans are not so distant from it.

Mexico's major cities are mostly safe zones, no man's land where competing cartels don't battle against each other or the authorities. I imagine many the group's leaders and top brass live in or around major cities, so they don't want to shit where they eat. As well, any violence in wealthy or middle class areas will force the federal government to take decisive action.

My conversations with two taxi drivers can provide a glimpse into the 'piso' system. One conversation was actually in the US. A driver in Houston, who was older, whiter, and more formally-dressed than most ride share drivers, yet didn't speak rudimentary English, told me his story how he ended up in Texas.

A few years prior, he and his brother owned a mining business in Mexico, which part I can't recall. One day, he and his brother received a phone call every Mexican dreads: "Hey, we like your business." The call is not an offer, it is not a compliment, and it definitely isn't a negotiation.

The driver's brother, rightfully furious, refused to hand over their thriving mineral mining business. The cartel responded by kidnapping my driver. After several weeks, his fearless brother led a campaign along with government officials and law enforcement to successfully pressure the cartel to release him. I thought to myself, "at least his story has a happy ending." Months after my driver was released, however, the cartel murdered his brother and took over their family business. My driver, likely a former millionaire in pesos if not dollars, fled to Texas and was now driving me to the airport. I barely knew how to respond except to lend an empathic ear and offer condolences.

About a year later in Mexico City, when I relayed to a young taxi driver that I just flew in from Chiapas — the nation's poorest state and the epicenter of recent cartel horrors which escapes international attention — he engaged me on the subject, lowering his sunglasses through the rear view mirror, Qué hubo en Chiapas?, Hay acción alla, no?!"

I laughed and said I obviously don't know anything about anything. I'm just a dumb gringo who can barely speak Spanish, which isn't a lie. Anyway, he told me he had a good friend who operated five different car wash locations, a laundromat, and a few more cash-centric businesses. I vividly recall the driver telling me his friend earned $5k US dollars a week, which works out to $250k a year — a tidy sum in America, kingly for a young man in Mexico. One day, my driver's friend received the call. He gave up everything and now drives a taxi too. Any other option would've been his end.

Cartel activity has expanded geographically, throughout every pocket of North America and across oceans. The Mexican cartel is a misnomer; they operate in 50 countries.

What's less known is that in recent years, Mexican cartels gained control of ports and highways in Ecuador, Costa Rica, and throughout the Caribbean and South America. Cartels have achieved an especially large footprint in the Western Hemisphere. They not only run the ports, but they own lock, stock, and barrel several South American legislatures and national governments. Cartels have significant operations in every Western European country.

A non-insignificant share of Mexico's workforce are employed by the cartels in some capacity, estimated at 250,000, mostly men. Cartels are Mexico's fifth largest employer. Now, in addition to their militarized production and distribution empire in North America, are former fisherman, captains, dock workers, government officials, and truckers across all of Latin America.

Two stories surfaced in American media in recent days which may play a role in today's developments. The New York Times ran a piece about how Mexico's cartels are using US military-produced weaponry and artillery against government forces. I'm not talking about "military grade" weapons, I'm talking the friggin' shells are produced on US bases, by the Department of Defense with US taxpayer money. These are artillery rounds that saw a cinder brick building in half in a minute. The cartels have rocket propelled grenades, DIY armored vehicles, submarines, and surface-to-air mounted artillery that can shoot down helicopters and other aircraft. The cartels deploy swarms of rigged Chinese DJI drones to surveil and carry out bomb attacks in a low altitude theater of war. Mexican people are some of the most inventive people when it comes to improvising material culture and that resourcefulness applies to organized criminal operations.

A second story reported in US press, which may be related to today's takedown of' El Mencho', is how the federal government is finally cracking down on the illicit gasoline market. This major market of gas and diesel theft is referred to as huachicol" or "huachicoleo" and is done by tapping pipelines and other infrastructure and selling it on the illicit market. This is industrial scale sabotage — siphoning millions of gallons a day — and operated largely by cartels.

Mexico's national oil company PEMEX just got their shit together after decades of mismanagement. PEMEX won't be able to maintain their middling position amongst larger rivals unless they can invest, recoup, refine, and sell gas and oil. Neither Mexico's Treasury nor its energy sector can afford criminals siphoning millions of gallons from pipelines which by virtue of sheer distance are impossible to secure. This development may play a role in President Sheinbaum's decision to attack cartel leadership, but that's purely speculative. Perhaps I'm connecting dots which aren't there, but the timing suggests a possible link.

This much I can say with certainty. Taking on an organization of such unrivaled scope, size, logistics, and capacity for grizzly violence is undertaken only as a last resort. Any option, including maintaining the status quo, is preferable to inciting cartel terror.

Furthermore, the history of Mexico's drug war shows cutting off the head of the snake almost always leads to more bloodshed, as splintered factions battle and rival groups seek to gain turf. Cartels commit such gruesome atrocities and crimes against humanity that no government in the world would go toe to toe with them without carefully weighing the risks.

The brutal reality of confronting the cartels head on is why Mexico's government under the administrations of Claudia Sheinbaum, and her predecessor AMLO, preferred the strategy of 'brazos, no balazos' "Hugs, not shootouts". As you can imagine, the idea of hugging people who chop their enemies to pieces has been widely mocked.

The policy's effectiveness is up to interpretation. Tens of thousands of people died every year during Mexico's War on Drugs in the early aughts, as depicted in the popular Netflix series, Narcos. In some years, more people were killed in Mexico as a casualty of the drug war than in Iraq during the peak of conflict.

Not much has changed. In the early 2020s, tens of thousands of people are still being killed in drug and cartel related violence. By some measures, violence is as bad as it's ever been but it all depends on where you live. However bad drug-related violence persists, an open and protracted guerrilla war between government forces and the world's deadliest criminal organization is far worse.

The cartels have harnessed global logistics networks, taken control of international distribution hubs, acquired military weaponry, and leaned on high tech and high finance to become the most powerful criminal organizations which have ever existed. The cartels span the globe and operate within various industries overlapping extensively with the formal economy.

If you enjoy avocados, there's a good chance the 'green gold' was provided by cartels operating in the state of Michoacán. If you go on a beach vacation from Cabo to Tulum, there's a strong possibility the hotel you stayed at and the restaurants you dined in are cartel-owned or pay piso. The nightclub you danced at. The impoverished children dressed in rags trying to sell Chiclet gum or loosie cigarettes are enslaved by the cartel. Tourists never know but everyone else does.

For the cartel members throughout the organization, this is a way of life and survival. It's how millions of people feed their families and pay rent. Terrorism is a job. For the government of Mexico, a rival institution surpassing it in military, political, and economic power has been tolerated, but perhaps a red line has been crossed. Perhaps CJNG simply got too big for their britches.

For Mexico's business and political elite, cartels prevent the country from joining the G-15 to attain the status of a predominantly middle class modern democracy with a stable government and robust capital markets. For the people of Mexico, more than 99% of residents think cartel violence is as crazy as Americans do. Tragically, far fewer can avoid being terrorized by it.

It's critical to understand Mexican people didn't contribute to the crisis: few of the drugs are produced in Mexico, with the exception of meth; few of the drugs are sold or consumed in Mexico, again with meth as an exception; none of the military hardware is manufactured in Mexico.

The only thing entirely Made in Mexico is the cataclysm.

Crime Syndicate

I've been saying this for awhile: that the U.S. has been taken over by the mafia, the Trump Crime Family (e.g. mafia), which is perhaps the most powerful crime syndicate in history. That is saying a lot. I just wonder if MAGA were confronted with facts, with absolutely irrefutable facts that the Trump family has been ripping off the U.S. to the tune of billions of dollars and breaking multiple laws, if they would still support Trump. They probably would. No one really wants to be "wrong," especially Republicans. 

It looks like the New York Daily News has had enough of Trump.

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS (Front Page, February 18, 2026)

THE MOST POWERFUL CRIME SYNDICATE IN HISTORY

By JAMES SPEYER

PUBLISHED: February 18, 2026 at 5:00 AM EST

It is time to acknowledge what has become tragically obvious: the Trump administration is essentially acting as a massive criminal enterprise. It lies, steals, extorts and murders – all while cloaked in the awesome authority of the state. It is on a crime spree that puts Al Capone to shame.

This is not hyperbole or hyperventilation. It is our reality, as the facts amply demonstrate. This administration has:

• Murdered Renee Good and Alex Pretti, slandered them as “domestic terrorists” and “assassins,” and allowed their killers to walk free;

• Unleashed thousands of minimally trained ICE agents, recruited with explicitly white supremacist messaging, to inflict terror on people of color;

• Repeatedly violated the constitutional rights of citizens and non-citizens by arresting them for First Amendment-protected speech, raiding their homes without judicial warrants, and imprisoning them without due process;

• Killed dozens of civilians on the high seas solely on the unsubstantiated claim that they were drug runners (not that being drug runners would justify their summary executions without due process anyway);

• Released hundreds of imprisoned felons who brutally beat Capitol police officers on January 6;

• Converted the once-independent Department of Justice into an instrument of personal retribution via the prosecution of cooked-up lawsuits against the President’s enemies;

• Threatened to seize the territory of a sovereign nation (a NATO ally no less);

• Sought to imprison United States Senators simply for exercising their free speech rights by reminding military personnel of their undisputed duty to disobey illegal orders;

• Tried to impose ruinous and unconstitutional sanctions on some of the country’s largest law firms simply because Trump doesn’t like them;

• Violated court orders on a massive scale. As the Chief District Judge of Minnesota recently wrote, “ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence;”

• Shaken down some of the country’s largest universities by illegally threatening to withhold funding;

• Engaged in breathtaking corruption: as the conservative writer David Frum stated, “Trump’s scale of stealing and bribe-taking has never been remotely paralleled in any democratic country ever before.”

Not to mention the obvious coverup of the Epstein crimes committed by elite friends of Donald Trump and a high probability of Trump himself, and the enrichment of Trump in the first year of his second term of more than four billion dollars, mostly gifts from middle eastern governments.

And that’s just for starters; there are dozens more examples.

It is difficult to comprehend the level of state-sponsored criminality we are witnessing because our country has never experienced anything like it. It is also difficult to absorb because it is happening so quickly, and on so many different fronts. In the words of the 2022 movie, it sometimes feels like “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” And that can be exhausting, numbing, and overwhelming.

But viewing the Trump administration as a massive crime syndicate allows us to be clear-eyed about what is coming down the road, and to plan accordingly. To take the most urgent example, there ought to be no question as to whether Trump will try to steal the midterm elections. Of course he will try to steal them. Criminals gonna crime.

Trump tried to steal the 2020 elections, and the lack of any consequences for that supremely traitorous act only further emboldened him. It is every patriotic American’s duty to oppose the coming effort to nullify the will of the voters.

That this administration can reasonably be viewed as a criminal enterprise should not be cause for despair. The courts have rejected many of the administration’s power grabs and unconstitutional or illegal acts. The president is less popular than he has ever been. Prominent Republicans are defying him more than ever. The brave citizens of Minneapolis are showing us how effective organized resistance can be.

And Bad Bunny, with his Super Bowl message that “The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” gave us reason to believe that kindness, compassion and decency will prevail.

Trump continues to spread the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen, even though over 60 court cases heard by mostly Republican judges were tossed out of court due to no evidence of widespread fraud. And again, Trump is attempting to steal the 2026 midterms to maintain power in congress by lying that our states election systems are flawed. (The data and facts prove the U.S. has the most scrutinized and fairest elections in the world.) 

His raid of the Fulton County, GA election office and seizure of the 2020 voter rolls two weeks ago is evidence of his plan to continue lying to the American people about the integrity of our elections.

Speyer is a lawyer and a volunteer for Lawyers Defending American Democracy.

Original.