Friday Round Up! 3/8/24

Trump is still on the ballot, but he also still needs to pay up.

The big news this week was the Super Tuesday-eve decision by the Supreme Court announcing that (surprise!) Trump would remain on the ballot. While this outcome wasn’t a huge surprise given the lines of questioning during oral argument — where even the liberal justices appeared disinclined to rock to presidential election boat — a five-justice majority decided to take it to eleven. Renato and I discuss it in more detail in this week’s podcast, but the basic takeaway is that the Court has made more or less impossible for anyone who engages in insurrection to actually get disqualified from running for federal office, including the presidency. Hey, what could go wrong?

The other big news is that Trump was able to post a $91,600,000 bond, at the eleventh hour, in order to stay the judgment and appeal the damages award in the E. Jean Carroll II case. (If you need a refresher on the difference between Carroll I and Carroll II, I’ve got you covered here.) This is good news for Carroll, and here’s why: If Trump loses on appeal, which as far as I can tell is quite likely, then she’ll get the cash immediately, rather than have to go through enforcement proceedings against Trump. The bond was obtained through a Virginia- and New Jersey-based insurance company (so not Vladdy Daddy). Keep in mind that Trump would have had to put down collateral to the insurance company and pay the insurance company a premium — which I understand to typically be about 10% of the bond amount — so if he loses his appeal he will be out more than what he currently owes Carroll. Meanwhile, Trump failed to get the bond amount for his civil fraud verdict reduced, and the clock is ticking until March 25, when NY AG Letitia James can collect on her $454 million judgment if he is unable to appeal. Renato and I will unpack this next week.

Articles worth reading this week:

• Since we all need more humor in our lives, for this week I am just leaving you with this Rolling Stone piece on Senator Katie Britt’s cringey rebuttal to President Biden’s State of the Union Speech. You’ll need to watch the video of the speech — I promise you you won’t regret it. Based on her performance, Sen. Britt will be starring in a new remake of Dawson’s Creek.

Noteworthy clips from this week:

My initial reactions after the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Anderson:

Upcoming events:

• NEW! Zoom Office Hours, Wednesday, March 20, 5-6 p.m. EDT. We’ll discuss the latest. Zoom link will be sent to paid subscribers at 2 p.m. Office hours discussions are not recorded.

• Guest Speaker Barb McQuade, Thursday, March 28, 4 p.m. EDT. Barb will be a guest speaker for my class, Preserving Democracy in the (Dis)Information Age. Barb is about to release her book, Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America, and I’m excited to get her perspective on where we are as we head into the 2024 election. Zoom link will be sent to paid subscribers three hours before the discussion, and will be recorded and posted for paid subscribers the following day.

• Freedom Academy Book Club, Date/Time TBA (likely early April).  We’ll be discussing Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture, and Control in Cold War America with author Andrew McKevitt. Drew’s book illuminates how our society became so saturated with guns, and how gun ownership intersects with race, politics, and money. This discussion will be recorded and posted for paid subscribers.

Have a great weekend and don’t forget to set your clocks ahead tomorrow! But beware…