There’s been a lot of talk about how gerrymandering and polarization hurt Democrats, but the dark reality is that Republican voters are getting screwed, too. As Rep. Thomas Massie’s loss in Kentucky’s GOP primary shows, single-party Republican districts tend to veer into corruption and far-right radicalism. 

Massie has been a terrible member of Congress who has voted consistently against his district’s best interests, to be clear. But he was opposed to the Iran war and genuinely seemed to care about releasing the Epstein files. But because he’s in a deep-red district where a Democrat is never going win, Republican primary voters felt safe tossing him overboard for someone worse.

To be clear, Republican voters could grow up and not just vote however Donald Trump tells them to. But this situation is very bad for them, even if they pretend it’s not.

Donald Trump fake-suing his own Justice Department to create a reason it should write him a $1.8 billion check is so brazen in its corruption that I think it’s not quite sinking in for many people. Trump’s corruption hasn’t moved the needle much in the past with voters, who may get confused by the details and retreat to the myth that “all politicians are corrupt.” But even Republicans seem worried that creating a literal taxpayer-funded slush fund to pay off people who committed crimes for Trump might crack the shell of voter ignorance and rationalization that has largely protected him from any and all consequences of his massive corruption. 

So here’s hoping that happens. Still, I’m worried about the political ramifications of this in another way. I’m sure Trump has no intention of letting the miscreants who stormed the Capitol on his behalf see a dime of “his” money — meaning the money he’s stolen from taxpayers. But dangling the promise of a payout in front of them is dangerous. It will be read as validation of their extremism, and as encouragement to go even further. 

Even after Trump is gone, the damage he has done to our social fabric won’t be repaired easily. He created a permission structure for millions of people to radicalize themselves into fascism, often at the cost of losing connection to other people and to their own humanity. This slush fund, more than anything else, is about furthering the project of making a large chunk of the American population irredeemable, because Trump finds that personally and politically useful.  

We were once again reminded of the potential costs this week, after two teenagers shot up a San Diego mosque, killing three people. Evidence suggests they were motivated by white supremacist conspiracy theories they absorbed online, similar to the ones that have been mainstreamed by Trump, JD Vance and other MAGA leaders. Now people like that will believe that Trump’s going to bankroll their legal defense if they act out with violence against perceived enemies. 

Spring Sale! Support Salon's bold journalism. Become a member for just $49.

Because we forever torment ourselves to educate and entertain you for my YouTube show, my producer turned my attention to Ben Shapiro’s recent video in which he unpersuasively argues that the Daily Wire is not in financial trouble, as reliable media reports suggest. Shapiro complained about his right-wing competitors, like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, accusing them of trying to “supplant traditional conservatism with a conspiratorial, grievance-led, nutty version of populism.”

That is some hilarious hypocrisy. Shapiro built the Daily Wire on conspiracy theories and fact-free hysteria. Race-baiting articles claimed that changing the Aunt Jemima logo was anti-white oppression, accused anti-racist activists of violence, and mocked white liberal women for believing that racism is bad. He helped create an era of profiteering off provocative online content that tickles the ugliest, darkest and most bigoted impulses. Shapiro is losing out to competitors now because he drew the line at antisemitism, which was always where all this was headed.

And here’s the thing: it’s not like the Daily Wire has cleaned up its act. As my colleague Sophia Tesfaye reported this week, Daily Wire just released a Matt Walsh-hosted fake documentary built around an outrageous conspiracy theory meant to demonize the civil rights movement of the ‘50s and ‘60s. 

Basically, Walsh is arguing that the famous arrest of Rosa Parks for sitting in the “white” section of the bus was phony. It wasn’t. She really was arrested and it really did kick off the now-legendary Montgomery bus boycott. But he seizes on well-known facts (known to people who can actually read, that is) to distort those events. Parks and the NAACP planned the moment in advance as an act of civil disobedience, and Walsh wants to argue that any kind of strategic planning somehow invalidates this act of political resistance. 

This is a bizarrely upside-down conspiracy theory, one apparently meant to persuade grievance-fueled MAGA audiences that the laws against segregation should be repealed. So yeah, Shapiro’s self-righteous rhetoric is bullshit, to put it bluntly. He’s still funding racist conspiracy theories — but he’s been outpaced by competitors, who took what he did and made it weirder and wilder still. 

Click the speech bubble icon to leave a comment or click the heart to like this post.

Forwarded this email? Get Standing Room Only in your inbox twice a week.

Become a member of the National Audubon Society today, and we’ll send you our exclusive, award-winning magazine as a token of our appreciation. That means every three months you’ll receive stories about protecting birds and the places they need directly to your mailbox!

With over 120 years of conservation expertise, Audubon is responding to the greatest challenges facing birds and people today while anticipating the issues and opportunities of tomorrow. Where we work - and when you help - birds are better off.

Give a gift that renews each year to ensure our quarterly magazine continues arriving at your doorstep.

Donate Now