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Mother Jones

Right-Wing Activists Celebrate the Death of Planned Parenthood Leader

On Monday, Cecile Richards, the former head of Planned Parenthood and the founder of the women’s political action group Supermajority, died at age 67 of brain cancer. In a press release about her passing, Planned Parenthood chronicled her career, recounting how over the 12 years she was in charge, Richards “led us through fights that […]

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Mother Jones

The Anti-Trump Resistance Is Alive at This Historic Black DC Church

When Donald Trump first took office, the streets of Washington, DC, and cities around the country, erupted in protest and resistance. The 2017 Women’s March, held the day after his inauguration, was heralded at the time as the biggest protest in U.S. history. This year, the crowds only measured in the thousands. Other day-of gatherings […]

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DeSantis Rushes to Use “Gulf of America”

Leave it to Ron DeSantis to use an emergency weather advisory to showcase his unending allegiance to President Donald Trump. In a Monday state executive order warning Floridians of a fast-approaching winter storm, the governor referred to the Gulf of Mexico, as it has been referred to for at least 353 years, as the “Gulf […]

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Trump’s Jan. 6 Pardons Come As a “Betrayal” to Former Capitol Police

After President Donald Trump issued late-night pardons and commutations to every one of the 1,600 rioters who carried out the violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, police officers who were there that day, and their loved ones, are calling out Trump’s betrayal. Aquilino Gonell, a former Capitol Police sergeant who earlier this month […]

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Biden’s Preemptive Fauci Pardon Generates Fresh Conspiracies

Former President Joe Biden’s last-minute, preemptive pardon of Dr. Anthony Fauci had an obvious and clearly stated purpose: protecting the elderly scientist from Biden’s successor. For Donald Trump and much of the right wing, Fauci, who directed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the peak of the Covid pandemic, has come to […]

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Actually, the 14th Amendment Still Exists

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday declaring that the federal government would no longer recognize the US-born children of undocumented immigrants as American citizens. It’s a move that has been brewing for years. The Washington Post described the order as an effort to “reinterpret the 14th Amendment of the Constitution,” and sure enough, […]

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Mother Jones

Trump Frees Violent January 6 Attackers

President Donald Trump on Monday granted clemency to nearly 1,600 people who joined in the January 6 attack on Congress that he himself caused. Hours after returning to office, Trump announced he was giving “full, complete and unconditional” pardons to nearly all “individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the […]

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Trump’s Wealth Spikes and Plummets on the Launch of His Meme Coin

Donald Trump launched a multi-billion dollar meme coin just days before taking office and instantly saw his net worth balloon. But then, as the initial excitement passed, the value plunged and occasionally spiked again through the first rollercoaster hours of Trump’s second presidency. Despite the optimism of some crypto-enthusiasts that the $TRUMP coin’s debut on […]

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As TikTok Negotiates with Trump, Every Major Social Media Company Has Caved to the New President

Over the weekend, TikTok very briefly died in the United States before being reborn some 12 hours later, bearing a jaunty new banner. “As a result of President Trump’s efforts,” it read, in part, “TikTok is back in the U.S.” The biggest tech and social media companies have consolidated behind Trump. Trump was not yet […]

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The Stagecraft That Ushered in the Trump Oligarchy

You could learn most of what you needed to know about the tone and tenor of Donald Trump’s second inauguration by the people who showed up to watch it. It was a perfectly 2025 mixture of influencers, fighters, billionaires, and bootlickers. Conor McGregor, a UFC star who was recently found guilty of sexual assault by […]

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Mother Jones

Trump Declares War on Transgender People

Upon assuming the presidency Monday, Donald Trump is expected to immediately move to end the federal government’s recognition of transgender people, who have existed in hundreds of societies worldwide since ancient times. In an executive order titled, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” the full text of […]

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Mother Jones

Biden Gives Parting Commutation to Prominent Native Activist

On Monday, moments before Donald Trump’s inauguration, President Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier, who has been in prison for nearly 50 years, from two life sentences to home confinement. In a press release, Biden said: “This commutation will enable Mr. Peltier to spend his remaining days in home […]

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Video: Here’s What Trump’s Most Faithful Fans Want to See Next

The weather in Washington, DC, has plunged into the 20s, with a 40 percent chance of snow showers—and a 100 percent chance of bumping into someone who voted for Donald Trump. Our DC bureau chief, David Corn, bundled up against the chill and braved the slushy queues to speak with ecstatic Trump supporters who began […]

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Mother Jones

Florida Man Unconditionally Discharged Into Oval Office

The American people have spoken. Donald Trump is the 47th president of the United States. At noon Monday, Trump himself spoke, swearing—not especially credibly—that he would “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.” A lot of other Americans spoke to get us here, too. More than four years ago, at the very same Capitol where Trump […]

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Cecile Richards, Former President of Planned Parenthood, Has Died

Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood and a staunch advocate for reproductive rights, died on Monday, according to a statement from her family. Since 2023, she battled glioblastoma, a form of terminal brain cancer. She was 67 years old. “This morning our beloved Cecile passed away at home, surrounded by her family and her […]

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Mother Jones

MLK Jr.’s Fight for Civil Rights Was an Environmental Battle as Well

This story, first published in January 2022 by the Inside Climate News, is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Terms like “environmental racism” or “environmental justice” were not yet part of the national lexicon when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis on April 4, 1968. And while […]

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How Much Boot Can These Bootlickers Fit in Their Mouths?

As the finishing touches settle on Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony, Washington is swarming with members of this great nation preparing to kneel and lick the boot. Men and women, but mostly men, who giddily abandon any morsel of shame to gain purchase with an administration that has already clarified its intentions to impose enormous cruelty […]

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Mother Jones

How Much Boot Can These Bootlickers Fit in Their Mouths?

As the finishing touches settle on Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony, the nation’s capital is swarming with members of this great nation preparing to kneel and lick the boot. Men and women, but mostly men, who giddily abandon any morsel of shame to gain purchase with an administration that has already clarified its intentions to impose […]

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Mother Jones

How This State Supreme Court Ruling Could Set Up a Battle Over Comstock

The harder Texas has worked to ban abortion, the more New Mexico has done to welcome patients fleeing the state—and vice versa. In the months after the Dobbs decision, as New Mexico became one of the most important reproductive health havens in the US, anti-abortion activists in Texas struck back by lobbying conservative communities in […]

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Mother Jones

How Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Manager Would Rebuild the DNC

Donald Trump had a lot working against his 2024 candidacy. During his first presidency, he was impeached twice—the second time for inciting the violent mob that stormed the US Capitol. In the years since, he was found liable for sexual abuse and faced charges in four criminal cases. He was found guilty on 34 felony […]

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Democratic Governors Are Preparing to Fight Trump’s Anti-Abortion Agenda

With President-elect Donald Trump and his acolytes likely to enact an anti-abortion agenda across government, a pair of Democratic governors have announced new measures to bolster protections for reproductive freedom in their states. On Thursday, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) issued an executive order stipulating that state officials will not assist in civil or […]

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From Brownshirts to Billionaires: The Second Trump Inauguration

The below article first appeared in David Corn’s newsletter, Our Land. The newsletter comes out twice a week (most of the time) and provides behind-the-scenes stories and articles about politics, media, and culture. Subscribing costs just $5 a month—but you can sign up for a free 30-day trial. On Monday, the three wealthiest men in the world—Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and […]

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Mother Jones

What Trump Promises to Do on Day One of His Return to Power

Donald Trump’s return to power and a Republican-controlled Congress are set to mark a new era in US political history, one steeped in rule-breaking, authoritarian tendencies, and an overwhelming hostility to long-established civic institutions. And, according to the president-elect, a herculean portion of this agenda will kick into gear immediately after he is inaugurated, with […]

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Meet the Trump Nominees Who Could Gut Abortion Rights Across Government Programs

President-elect Donald Trump may be famously inconsistent on abortion rights, but his picks to run federal departments and agencies haven’t been. They have defended anti-abortion laws in court, spread disinformation about the procedure, and openly celebrated the Dobbs decision. Some nominees you’ve likely heard of because their troubling reputations preceded them; others are lesser-known. Abortion […]

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Mother Jones

These States Will Keep Fighting for Climate Progress, Trump or No Trump

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Even before President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House on Monday, California got ahead of things. Anticipating more of the federal meddling they’d seen in the past, like when Trump’s first administration tried to block the state’s vehicle emissions standards, lawmakers met […]

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Trump’s Latest, and Most Questionable, Crypto Launch, Explained

On Friday night, just days before his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump took to X to celebrate…the launch of his new meme coin. “It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for,” he wrote, “WINNING!” It’s a move that, at least on paper, seemed to inflate Trump’s personal wealth by billions ahead of ushering in the most […]

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Mother Jones

What Didn’t Burn in Altadena

On Monday, January 6, my grandmother celebrated her one-hundredth birthday. It was quite a milestone for a woman who during the Covid pandemic asked me, “What’s the big deal with getting vaccinated, we all did it in the ’30s to combat typhoid?” My family came over from across the United States—as close as Las Vegas […]

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New Reports: Trump’s Mass Deportation Raids Will Begin Next Week

President Donald Trump ran his 2024 campaign on a promise to enact mass deportation, and to do so immediately. The Wall Street Journal reports that four people familiar with the plan say the incoming administration is preparing for a large-scale immigration raid to begin in Chicago on Tuesday, and last a week. The New York […]

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Mother Jones

“The Most Horrific Experience of Our Lives”: Grappling with Fallujah 20 Years On

It’s been two decades since the Battle of Fallujah, the bloodiest battle of the global war on terror, during the Iraq War—a disaster we now know was based on a lie. At the time, however, in the aftermath of 9/11, the battlefield was filled with troops who believed they were serving and defending their country […]

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Mother Jones

Your Local Government Isn’t Ready to Evacuate Disabled People

On January 8, after multiple wildfires erupted in Los Angeles, a father who was an amputee, and his son, who had cerebral palsy—both wheelchair users—died while waiting for assistance to leave their home. Two days later, on January 10, a woman described as bedridden also died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. They were three […]

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