Matthew Chapman

Defeated Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s racist legacy dismantled as “Tent City” detention center to close

One of the silver linings of the 2016 election was the defeat of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The six-term Arizona Republican law enforcement chief — a mutual admirer of Donald Trump — spent his career careening from one controversy to the next. He put women in chain gangs, called President Obama’s birth certificate a […]

By Matthew Chapman - April 05, 2017

Commerce secretary tells shocked reporter he envies Saudi Arabia’s lack of free speech

After a truly terrible week of revelations into his potentially criminal interference with the Russia investigation, Donald Trump set off on a diplomatic trip — something he had been dreading so much that he actually asked his officials if there was any way he could cut it short. By all accounts, Trump’s tough-guy act was enfeebled in […]

By Matthew Chapman - May 22, 2017

Lawmaker admits GOP has been lying about Obamacare for years — and doesn’t intend to stop now

House Republicans are frantically trying to whip votes for their latest version of Obamacare repeal, after their first attempt failed dismally. The newly amended American Health Care Act, which strips protections for pre-existing conditions and would weaken coverage requirements for employer-provided health plans, appears to be in jeopardy again, with key Republicans coming out against it, and […]

By Matthew Chapman - May 03, 2017

Bernie Sanders is right: “Thousands of Americans will die” under GOP bill

The consensus, even in the corporate media, is that CBO report on the Republican’s Obamacare repeal plan is abysmal. The report shows that the plan, backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Donald Trump, will result in 24 million fewer Americans having health coverage over the next ten years. And amazingly, the White House’s own internal estimates for […]

By Matthew Chapman - March 14, 2017

Shockingly few Congressional Republicans repudiate Steve King after he openly advocates white nationalism

In the age of the Donald Trump administration, outrageous attacks on immigrants have become par for the course. But Representative Steve King (R-IA) managed to sink to a new low, with a baldly racist and xenophobic tweet about the need to “restore our civilization,” which he said cannot be done with “somebody else’s babies”: Wilders […]

By Matthew Chapman - March 13, 2017

Trump is planning to strip people of health insurance with or without Congress

Republican attempts to repeal Obamacare have not gone as smoothly as they promised last November — or for the last seven years. The House, which passed its bill without waiting for a score from the Congressional Budget Office, may have to completely redo it, and the Senate is writing its own fresh bill amid a shroud […]

By Matthew Chapman - May 20, 2017

I’m a white male millennial who could have ignored politics. Instead, I chose to fight.

The very first political memory I have was when I was five years old. I was on an airplane, and my father was sitting next to me, talking about the upcoming presidential election between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. “Have there ever been any bad presidents?” I asked him. He told me of course there were. Dad […]

By Matthew Chapman - May 20, 2017

Trump’s disturbing autism announcement shows he does not value or understand people like me

Donald Trump has long had a serious problem talking about autism. He has aligned himself with the anti-vaccine movement, promoting debunked conspiracy theories that autism is caused by toxic responses to childhood immunization. He considered creating a “vaccine commission” chaired by science denier Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and his budget plan would slash funding for the agency in charge of vaccination standards. […]

By Matthew Chapman - April 04, 2017

Rep. Barbara Lee gives Trump a history lesson on the Civil War in one perfect tweet

In a new interview on Sirius XM with Salena Zito of the Washington Examiner, Donald Trump offered glowing praise for Andrew Jackson, a president who is generally reviled for his genocidal policies against Native Americans. Trump has expressed his love for Jackson on previous occasions, but this time he made a new claim that ignited a firestorm of controversy and […]

By Matthew Chapman - May 01, 2017

Red states would suffer most from GOP cuts to drug abuse treatment

There is no shortage of problems with the House Republicans’ bill to repeal Obamacare, currently being rammed through committee with no input from Democrats or the Congressional Budget Office: It raises premiums. It kicks up to 10 million people off their plans. It cuts nearly $600 billion in taxes for the wealthy. It bans Medicaid patients from using Planned Parenthood. […]

By Matthew Chapman - March 09, 2017

Fox News is engulfed by criminal investigations, Hannity laments “the end of FNC as we know it”

The Fox News Channel is perhaps the most famous and most popular source of right-wing messaging in American journalism. But since its launch in 1996, Fox News has spawned too many controversies to count. Their pundits have drawn fire for things like insisting Santa Claus is white, seeming to incite the murder of an abortion doctor, claiming people cannot be poor if they […]

By Matthew Chapman - April 30, 2017

AP analysis: Trump is even losing to Obama at Twitter

Donald Trump loves Twitter. He cannot get enough of it. Despite the fact that his @realDonaldTrump account is likely in violation of the Presidential Records Act, he spends a great deal of his time tweeting. It is his go-to way to vent about all the frustrations of running the country, and he has been known to […]

By Matthew Chapman - April 29, 2017

Kellyanne Conway inadvertently calls the resistance effective

Senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway is a ruthless cheerleader for Donald Trump, with no regard for truth or consequences. She has tried to get journalists fired for criticizing Trump; she used an appearance on TV to tell people to buy Ivanka Trump products, which ethics watchdogs said may have violated federal law; and she ludicrously defended White House press secretary […]

By Matthew Chapman - April 29, 2017

Democrats are fired up about Jon Ossoff — and spending a ton of money to prove it

With one month to go before the runoff in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, Democratic filmmaker and former congressional staffer Jon Ossoff and right-wing Donald Trump ally Karen Handel are locked in a fierce toss-up contest. Despite the conventionally accepted long odds of a Democrat winning a seat in the wealthy, conservative suburbs north of Atlanta […]

By Matthew Chapman - May 19, 2017

Republicans in Kentucky are trying to strip the Democratic Attorney General of power

Despite Republicans holding a decisive majority around the country, Democrats remain in control of a number of important offices, including many which are essential checks on corruption and abuse of power by GOP majorities in state governments. One such Democrat is Andy Beshear of Kentucky. The son of a a popular and successful former governor, Beshear was elected […]

By Matthew Chapman - March 08, 2017

Trump holds emergency fundraiser in Georgia for his ideological twin Karen Handel

The runoff for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District — a seat Republicans have held for nearly four decades — is now in full swing, between former Democratic congressional staffer and filmmaker Jon Ossoff and former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel. Republicans long claimed Ossoff would have no chance against a single opponent, rather than the fractured […]

By Matthew Chapman - April 28, 2017

The special election in Montana is terrifying Republicans

The past few months of special elections have been endlessly nerve-wracking for the GOP. In April, Republicans nearly lost a congressional race in Kansas’s 4th District, one of the most conservative seats in the country. Meanwhile, they are still struggling in Georgia’s 6th District, where Democrat Jon Ossoff is neck and neck with pro-Trump career politician […]

By Matthew Chapman - May 18, 2017

Democratic challenger masterfully humiliates Rep. Steve King for racist attack on Latina constituent

Throughout his career, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) has unapologetically embraced white supremacy. He once described a guest of Michelle Obama’s at a State of the Union address a “deportable.” He said young undocumented immigrants from Mexico have “calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling seventy-five pounds of marijuana across the desert” and are “undermining our culture and […]

By Matthew Chapman - April 27, 2017

Forget Jim Crow, Betsy DeVos says historically Black colleges formed due to “school choice”

Donald Trump is expected to sign a new executive order setting a funding goal for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). This comes after a “listening session” he held in the Oval Office with the presidents of HBCUs around the country. Yet his recently appointed and highly controversial Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, issued a statement that […]

By Matthew Chapman - February 28, 2017

Republicans resist independent investigation into Flynn and Russia — despite mounting evidence

The controversy involving secret calls with the Russian ambassador and discussions of sanctions which forced Michael Flynn to resign from his post as National Security Advisor, and the bombshell report on the Donald Trump campaign’s pre-election coordination with the Russian government, are making headlines across the corporate media. “Senators from both parties pledge to deepen probe of Russia in […]

By Matthew Chapman - February 15, 2017

Chaffetz telling poor to choose health care over iPhones evokes racist ‘welfare queen’ lie

House Republicans just unveiled details about their new proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act, titled the American Health Care Act, and it is, unsurprisingly, a complete mess and a seriously deficient substitute for Obamacare. But this has not stopped high-ranking GOP congressmen from toeing the party line and promoting the plan. One of the most appalling remarks […]

By Matthew Chapman - March 07, 2017

There is a massive corruption scandal unfolding in Jeff Sessions’ home state

The national media has no dearth of scandals emerging from the Donald Trump administration to cover, not least of which is the resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and reports of constant contact between Trump campaign officials and Russia during the 2016 campaign. But with so much necessary focus on the White House, many in […]

By Matthew Chapman - February 15, 2017

GOP congressman threatens government ethics office for criticizing Trump

Anyone who was expecting the Republican-controlled Congress to provide meaningful checks and balances on Donald Trump’s administration is in for a rude awakening, courtesy of House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). Trump’s cabinet nominees have recently come under fire for failing to file their disclosure paperwork with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), and Senate […]

By Matthew Chapman - January 13, 2017

Trump’s Education pick advises upheaval for disabled students: I lived it

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, billionaire school “reform” activist Betsy DeVos, evinced a number of confounding and troubling views at her confirmation hearing on Tuesday, including that schools should allow guns to protect students from grizzly bears; a clear lack of understanding of the difference between student proficiency and student growth; and a refusal to say whether […]

By Matthew Chapman - January 18, 2017

In poor attempt at propaganda, Kremlin lies about Flynn’s discussions with Russian ambassador

A bombshell report from the Washington Post revealed that Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, had multiple phone calls with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, prior to the inauguration. According to the Post, Flynn and the ambassador allegedly discussed the possible removal of sanctions against the Kremlin in correspondences before Trump took office, and even […]

By Matthew Chapman - February 13, 2017

While everyone was watching Trump, Democrats won another special election

Last night, the corporate media spent all its time on coverage of the disaster that was Donald Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress. But while Trump was on national television, grassroots Democratic activists were hard at work delivering an electoral victory in Connecticut. Three seats in the Connecticut General Assembly were vacant: Two in […]

By Matthew Chapman - March 01, 2017

Trump’s own lawyers debunk his voter fraud lie

One of the things that appears to most aggrieve Donald Trump is the fact that he lost the popular vote by more than any other president in U.S. history. And he has lately tried to cope with this by simply denying it is even true. At a meeting with lawmakers on Monday, Trump stated that there […]

By Matthew Chapman - January 25, 2017

Momentum: Resistance scores its first major electoral win

For Democrats, the focus in the news has been on the election of civil rights attorney and former Secretary of Labor Tom Perez to the DNC chairmanship, and his appointment of progressive five-term congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) as deputy chair. The task facing Perez and Ellison will be to double down on fundraising and recruitment for […]

By Matthew Chapman - February 26, 2017

Support for First Amendment strikingly low among GOP voters

Donald Trump has taken numerous actions to limit civil rights and civil liberties. From revoking people’s visas based on their religion, to letting states block minorities from voting, to banning news outlets from his press functions, if he dislikes their coverage of him and his many scandals. Trump has all the makings of an authoritarian leader. And recent […]

By Matthew Chapman - March 04, 2017

Gallup: Trust in Obama’s world leadership was more than twice what it is in Trump’s

Donald Trump has long claimed that the United States has lost the respect of the world and that he is the savior who can restore it. When Obama was reelected, Trump tweeted that “the world is laughing at us,” a claim he has repeated on the campaign trail. “Russia, China, Japan, Mexico, all countries will respect us far […]

By Matthew Chapman - February 10, 2017