Elon Musk’s latest obsession is denying that anyone died from the destruction of the United States Agency for International Development, which he effectively killed in his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This is a lie, which is unsurprising from a charlatan like Musk. 

But it’s worth unpacking how this particular lie functions. Most people Musk killed by proxy live in countries that are majority non-white. Denying their deaths is a way of saying they weren’t really people to begin with.  

It is the same flavor of dishonesty as Holocaust denialism. It’s as much about erasing the humanity of the victims as it is assuaging the guilt of the racists who spread these lies in the first place. 

The press coverage of Bill Gates’ testimony before the House Oversight Committee about Jeffrey Epstein has been perfunctory, which is no doubt what the Republicans who organized it were hoping. The goal for them is always to fake transparency while striving to bury this story. But there is a huge revelation in the interview, the full transcript of which was released this week: Epstein threatened to blackmail Gates. 

This was reported earlier, but in vague terms. The transcript itself is alarming. Gates describes being manipulated by a science advisor, Boris Nikolic, who was secretly conspiring with Epstein to dig up dirt on Gates and his extramarital affairs. While a blackmail plot never came together, Gates feels the two men were scheming to destroy his marriage to his then-wife Melinda if he didn’t give them money or do favors on their behalf. He also describes threatening emails from Epstein. 

This is a big deal. There’s been speculation that Epstein engaged wealthy men in sex crimes to cultivate blackmail material against them, but the Justice Department says there’s no evidence of that. But here is corroboration that Epstein did use sex to blackmail rich men. Gates didn’t even do anything illegal, so it’s not hard to imagine that Epstein was tempted to use knowledge of actual crimes to get money and favors. 

No evidence has emerged so far that Epstein blackmailed his buddies over sex crimes. But with Democrats expected to take the House in the November midterms, they should start work now on broadening the Epstein investigation — especially on this lead concerning blackmail. That way, they’ll be ready to go full throttle in January. 

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

I was recently watching the “Focus Group” podcast from the Bulwark, intrigued by their findings that some Trump voters in Texas are considering voting for Democrat James Talarico for Senate. That’s the good news. The bad news is that every single one of these people in the focus group had gobbled down the hate propaganda about Talarico saying God is “non-binary,” and they were blindly echoing GOP talking points claiming the characterization is offensive. 

I’m an atheist, but I found this incredibly frustrating. I’d love to get any of these people in a room and ask them why they believe God is a man. Does God scratch his balls? Is there a Mrs. God? Did Jesus grow up playing catch with Daddy God on a well-manicured lawn? Does God wear a tie, or is he more a T-shirt kind of guy?

I’m sure some would deny thinking God is a man because they understand the implication: that women are inherently inferior to men, especially with that “made in God’s image” thing Christians talk about. They might even cough up some version of God being eternal and genderless, which are common Christian concepts — which of course is all Talarico was saying. Most of the focus group participants, of course, didn’t actually think about it much at all. They just had a knee-jerk, childish reaction. 

Maybe politics has always been this dumb, or maybe social media is making people more reactive and less thoughtful. Either way, this whole attack on Talarico is scary, and it goes beyond just this single Senate race. The right is using Talarico’s comments to push the idea that only men are made in the image of God — and therefore women were put on earth as sub-human helpers, not people in their own right. This cannot be separated from abortion bans and even the growing clamor to repeal women’s suffrage in Christian nationalist circles. 

I hope liberal Christians aggressively debate this and defend Talarico, not just in support of his candidacy, but also to defend women and LGBTQ people against the implications of the GOP attack. 

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.

Pundits predicted. Polls projected. Most of them missed. Prediction markets didn't.

Kalshi is where people put real money behind their political read — which means the prices you see on who wins the 2028 nomination aren't opinions. They're commitments. Right now, tens of millions of dollars are already trading on who gets the Republican and Democratic nominations.

That's a different signal than any poll you'll read this week.

Trade what you actually believe. Get $10 free to start.

See What the Market Knows

_{Trade responsibly.}