Skip to content
“Because he put money in, I was prepared to tolerate it. I’m not prepared to tolerate it anymore.”
— Steve Bannon, quoted by the Daily Beast, promising to get “evil” Elon Musk kicked out of Donald Trump’s inner circle.
“After months of delay, President-elect Donald J. Trump on Friday became the first American president to be criminally sentenced. … He avoided jail or any other substantive punishment, but the proceeding carried symbolic importance: It formalized Mr. Trump’s status as a felon, making him the first to carry that dubious designation into the presidency.”
“Trump can flick Marco Rubio aside like dandruff; brush Mike Johnson off like an errant crumb; turn Pam Bondi into Nikki Haley by midnight tonight. His orbit is filled with botoxed disposables who hang upon his favor; courtiers who can be stripped of their livelihoods and status — and exiled from MAGA altogether — if they offend the Orange God King. Trump can’t fire JD Vance, but he could destroy his truckling veep’s political future with a single Truth Social post. … Not so with Elon Musk. … Musk is the world’s richest man; a cult-figure in his own right, and the master of his social media domain. Now, in part thanks to Trump’s own patronage, he also holds sway over much of his domestic agenda via DOGE. If that were not enough, Musk is rapidly fashioning himself into a global power broker — with a decidedly Trump-like flavor. … Indeed, the two men seem to be dueling for attention — vying with one another with competing distractions, as Musk conducts his own independent foreign policy.”
— Charlie Sykes on Substack
“To tell us we didn’t see what we all saw with our own eyes. To dismiss concerns about it as some kind of partisan obsession. To explain it away as a protest that just got out of hand. This is not what happened.”
— President Biden, writing in the Washington Post, warned Americans not to forget the violent attack that took place at the Capitol four years ago, and he accused President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters of trying “to rewrite — even erase — the history of that day.”
“You’ve got a bunch of people who are far from home, inadequately nourished, overly caffeinated, perhaps drinking alcohol, often sleep deprived, cranky, and constantly plunged into uncertainty about their schedule and travel.”
— Retiring Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), quoted by The Atlantic, on the problem with Congress.
“I don’t know how to say this without cussing. If they thought I had no Fs to give before, I definitely have no Fs to give now.”
— Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), quoted by the Wall Street Journal, explaining why he’ll vote against Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
“We’d all do well to try to be a bit more like Jimmy Carter. Every time he was summoned, he stepped up.”
— President Biden, quoted by the New York Times.
“Someone please notify ‘Child Protective Services’— need to do a ‘wellness check’ on this toddler.”
— Steve Bannon slammed Elon Musk as the tech billionaire doubled down on his views on H-1B work visas and his criticisms of American workers.
“Here’s the thing. Trump doesn’t and won’t have the formal powers to do a lot of the things he talks about doing. He can’t just unilaterally take back the Panama Canal or buy Greenland or make U.S. states out of Canadian provinces. He can’t just toss Liz Cheney in jail. He can’t just end Obamacare and replace it, or lower prices or hand eastern Ukraine over to Russia. He can’t compel companies to end DEI hiring practices or trans-friendly employee policies. And he can’t simply deport 10-20 million residents with the wave of his hand. … But he definitely thinks he can do at least some of this. And more importantly, he can create a lot of chaos and panic in the process.”
“Trump has been in a strikingly imperial mood since his election victory. He has floated acquiring Greenland, reclaiming the Panama Canal, annexing Canada, and potentially invading Mexico — to the intense consternation of their leaders. … In each case, Trump is blending trolling, negotiation and intimidation.”
