We hear a lot about the canaries in the coal mine these days. But we were reminded last week that dead canaries are littered all around us. We never imagined that death could undo so many.1
Happy Monday.
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Last week, Donald Trump observed Thanksgiving with a nakedly racist rant that was unhinged even by Trumpian standards (more about that below). Reacting to the shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington DC, Trump announced a “permanent pause” in immigration from poorer countries. Trump’s animus quickly became policy. The administration paused all visas for Afghans, and then closed the door on all asylum decisions, “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
But that hardly captures the virulent malice of his Thanksgiving diatribe.
Just days after he called for the death penalty for prominent Democrats, Trump called the governor of Minnesota “severely retarded” and railed against immigrants from Third World countries.
He threatened to “denaturalize” migrants who had become citizens and endorsed the far-right policy of “remigration”— as he lashed out at Afghans and (for some unfathomable reason) Somalis.
But Trump’s ban has been met by virtual crickets from the GOP; and his tirade has all but vanished from the news cycle.
**
This was not always the case.
In December 2015, Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”
“This is not conservatism,” Speaker Paul Ryan declared. “What was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for. And more importantly, it’s not what this country stands for.” Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee for president, backed Ryan, his former running mate, adding on Twitter: “On Muslims, @realDonaldTrump fired before aiming...@SpeakerRyan is on target.”
There was, in fact, a chorus of denunciation.
Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, called the idea “completely and totally inconsistent with American values.” In that distant (and more innocent) time, a pre-fluffing Lindsey Graham was withering in his criticism, calling the proposal “un-American” and accusing Trump of “helping the enemy of this nation” by aiding in Islamic State recruitment. Marco Rubio called the proposal “impulsive and reckless,” saying it “violates the Constitution” and “is not the best way to face this threat.” Future Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus, who was then chairman of the RNC, also denounced Trump’s Muslim ban, saying: “I don’t agree. We need to aggressively take on radical Islamic terrorism but not at the expense of our American values.”
In 2015, Former VP Dick Cheney was beginning his long-term break with Trump.
“Well, I think this whole notion that somehow we need to say no more Muslims and just ban a whole religion goes against everything we stand for and believe in,” Cheney told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “I mean, religious freedom’s been a very important part of our history.”
**
Even in 2017, there was some (more muted) pushback when Trump said that there were “very fine people on both sides” at a Charlottesville rally where white nationalists chanted “Jews will not replace us.”
Before he placed his conscience in cold-storage, Lindsey Graham (again) issued a statement saying Trump’s words were “dividing Americans, not healing them” and that he took a “step backward by again suggesting there is moral equivalency”. Paul Ryan (still Speaker of the House) emphasized there could be “no moral ambiguity” and that “white supremacy is repulsive”. GOP Senator Cory Gardner from Colorado tweeted, “Mr. President, we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists, and this was domestic terrorism”. Senate leader McConnell again pushed back, issuing a statement declaring “there are no such thing as ‘very fine people’ among white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the KKK”. Romney also pushed back against the president, saying that “whether he intended to or not, what he communicated caused racists to rejoice, minorities to weep, and the vast heart of America to mourn,” and suggested Trump should apologize. Even Marco Rubio tweeted that Trump “can’t allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame”.
But the chorus —- and the GOP conscience — was already fading.2 One by one the canaries were being asphyxiated.
In 2016, there was widespread outrage when Trump bragged about grabbing women by the pussy, but having accepted that, the GOP fell silent as Trump was found liable for sexual assault and was convicted of felonies for paying off a porn star.
A similar silence descended around his obsession with the Big Lie about the 2020 election, his role in fomenting a seditious conspiracy to attack the Capitol, and his increasingly violent rhetoric about political opponents.
A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.
This was not a one-off. As Mike Pence’s former chief of staff, Marc Short noted on Meet the Press, Trump’s attack on the Constitution was consistent with “what he asked the vice president to do two years ago, when rioters were attacking the Capitol and he asked the vice president to overturn the election results.”
Days later, Trump doubled down, firing off a declaration that: “UNPRECEDENTED FRAUD REQUIRES UNPRECEDENTED CURE!”
In other words, Goddam right I orchestrated a coup to overthrow the Constitution — and I’ll do it again!
On Earth 2.0 (a rational and totally imaginary world), this would be the clearest, easiest, most obvious moment for Republicans to rid themselves of this troublesome and deranged demagogue.
Prominent Republicans would deliver major speeches rejecting (1) sedition, (2) collaboration with Nazis, and (3) the former president’s call to terminate the Constitution, so he can be reinstated.
“No honest person can now deny that Trump is an enemy of the Constitution,” Liz Cheney tweeted. Her fellow J6 Committee member, Adam Kinzinger called out his fellow Republicans: “With the former President calling to throw aside the constitution,” he said, “not a single conservative can legitimately support him, and not a single supporter can be called a conservative. This is insane. Trump hates the Constitution.”
Which brings us to Trump’s squalid Thanksgiving Day rant….
Trump’s Thanksgiving Rant: Annotated
Let’s walk through the president’s social media post.
TRUMP: A very Happy Thanksgiving salutation to all of our Great American Citizens and Patriots who have been so nice in allowing our Country to be divided, disrupted, carved up, murdered, beaten, mugged, and laughed at, along with certain other foolish countries throughout the World, for being “Politically Correct,” and just plain STUPID, when it comes to Immigration.
The holiday-inspired insults are a feature of Trump’s messages to the nation. But he followed it with a Stephen-Miller-style attack on immigration
The official United States Foreign population stands at 53 million people (Census), most of which are on welfare, from failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels. They and their children are supported through massive payments from Patriotic American Citizens…
A strong body of recent research finds that immigration is, on balance, a net positive for U.S. economic growth and labor‑force expansion: several analyses estimate lower GDP growth if immigration falls (e.g., a 0.3–1.0 percentage‑point reduction in 2025 across studies) and attribute sizable contributions to job and output gains.
TRUMP: They put up with what has happened to our Country, but it’s eating them alive to do so! A migrant earning $30,000 with a green card will get roughly $50,000 in yearly benefits for their family.
The claim that a migrant earning $30,000 with a green card will get roughly $50,000 in yearly benefits for their family is false. Legal immigrants are barred mainly from most federal welfare programs for their first five years. The Biden administration has sought to expand ways for migrants to come to the U.S. legally, including a program for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who have American sponsors. Unauthorized migrants aren’t eligible for many types of federal aid, although some states have extended social service programs to include them.
TRUMP: This refugee burden is the leading cause of social dysfunction in America, something that did not exist after World War II (Failed schools, high crime, urban decay, overcrowded hospitals, housing shortages, and large deficits, etc.).
The statement that “this refugee burden is the leading cause of social dysfunction in America, something that did not exist after World War II (Failed schools, high crime, urban decay, overcrowded hospitals, housing shortages, and large deficits, etc.)” is not supported by evidence. Experts agree that increased immigration leads to higher housing demand, but evidence does not support the idea that immigrants are a primary driver of high housing costs. The main factor affecting housing affordability is a home shortage caused by years of underbuilding and restrictive zoning. An interest rate surge exacerbated the problem. The number of immigrants illegally in the U.S. is less than half the number cited by Trump, and although increased immigration leads to higher housing demand, evidence does not support the idea that immigrants are a primary reason for surging housing costs.
TRUMP: As an example, hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia are completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota. Somalian gangs are roving the streets looking for “prey” as our wonderful people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against hope that they will be left alone.
Trump has built his political career on attacking dark-skinned migrants — from his 2015 comment about Mexican “rapists” to last year’s attack on Haitians. Here Trump veers off to attack another specific group of brown-skinned migrants.
“As far as demonizing our Somali community, maybe, he could help us on some things,” [Minnesota Governor Tim Walz told host Kristen Welker on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Demonizing an entire community, folks who are in the professions, educators, artists, doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, they bring the diversity and the energy to a place like Minnesota.”
TRUMP: The seriously retarded Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, does nothing, either through fear, incompetence, or both…
TRUMP: “while the worst “Congressman/woman” in our Country, Ilhan Omar, always wrapped in her swaddling hijab, and who probably came into the U.S.A. illegally in that you are not allowed to marry your brother, does nothing but hatefully complain about our Country, its Constitution, and how “badly” she is treated, when her place of origin is a decadent, backward, and crime ridden nation, [in the past past Trump has referred to “shit-hole countries] which is essentially not even a country for lack of Government, Military, Police, schools, etc.
Nota bene: This is not the first time that the MAGA right has tied Omar to Afghan refugees. Back in 2021, Charlie Kirk claimed that Biden intentionally let Afghanistan fall because he “wants a couple hundred thousand more Ilhan Omars to come into America to change the body politic permanently.” (Omar is Somali, not Afghan, but they were all pretty much the same to Kirk.)
TRUMP: Even as we have progressed technologically, Immigration Policy has eroded those gains and living conditions for many. I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen,..
A clear echo of his original Muslim ban but now including migrants who legally entered the country.
TRUMP: …and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.
Note the sweeping grounds for stripping naturalized citizens of their US citizenship.3 “Undermine national tranquility”? “Non-compatible with Western Civilization”?
WTAF?
TRUMP: These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations, including those admitted through an unauthorized and illegal Autopen approval process.
So not just “illegal.” Again, he does not define “disruptive”. Does it include social media posts critical of the Administration? Or participation in protests that are otherwise protected by the First Amendment?
TRUMP: Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation. Other than that, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL, except those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for — You won’t be here for long!
His embrace of “remigration” went from rant to official policy a matter of hours…
“The stakes have never been higher, and the goal has never been more clear: Remigration now,” the Department of homeland Security posted on X.
“Remigration is a European far-right concept of ethnic cleansing[1] via the mass deportation of non-white minority populations, especially immigrants and sometimes including those born in Europe and holding European citizenship, to their place of racial ancestry.[2][3]
“Originating in Europe, the concept has spread to the United States and other countries, and it is popular especially within the Identitarian movement.[4][5]
The reaction from elected Republicans? Zip. Bupkus. Crickets.
**
Exit take: As recently as a few years ago, there would have been Republican voices denouncing Trump’s bizarre and unAmerican attacks on immigrants. Those voices were the canaries in the coal mine. Their silence now tells us what has been lost.
Despite a jury’s $25 million verdict against a group of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and organizers of the 2017 Charlottesville, Virginia, “Unite the Right” rally, Republican leaders, once again, will not take the opportunity to repudiate the alt-right.
By now, this is an old story with a familiar pattern: denial, silence and historical revisionism.
Four years ago, after former President Donald Trump referred to some of the participants in the deadly rally as “very fine people,” Republicans had a chance to make it clear where they stood.
Torch-carrying bigots chanted, “Jews will not replace us!” An avowed neo-Nazi drove his car into counterprotesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.
It was an easy call for a normal political party.
Republicans could have issued a historic denunciation of bigotry.
They could have denounced anti-Semitism.
They could have announced that there was no place for white nationalists in the party.
They could have drawn a bright, red line against political violence — and attempts to normalize violence.
Instead, for the most part, Republicans either looked the other way, kept quiet or went along with Trump’s gaslighting denials that he had, in fact, said what he said.
In many ways, the response to Charlottesville was a dress rehearsal for the right’s response to the Jan. 6 insurrection. The same group that adamantly denied that Trump had praised racists as “very fine people” are now pushing revisionist versions of what happened at the Capitol.
Denaturalization is a process by which the federal government can take back a naturalized citizen’s U.S. citizenship where the government can show “sufficient evidence” that the person is subject to a ground of denaturalization - mainly that they were naturalized when they were not actually eligible. Historically, denaturalization has been used in rare instances where people had concealed their identities in order to obtain citizenship. However, over the past two decades, the federal government has expanded its priorities as to who can be denaturalized and increased its resources to target more people for denaturalization as part of larger anti-immigrant enforcement measures.
We’ve been here before. My innocence about how I viewed my country ended when I learned from my history teacher in 7th grade that our country had removed all the Japanese from the West Coast during WWII. I recall walking home from school teary at the thought we could have done something so awful to our fellow citizens. My own parents, who were Holocaust survivors, had arrived in America with me when I was 9 months old in 1948. Suddenly, the knowledge that the US could act in ways that, while not as extreme as the Germans under Nazism, were anathema to the ideals expressed at the base of the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of a promise my parents would have seen as the ship that carried us from Europe entered the Port of NY. I grew up to major in American history and taught it to high school students, so after my loss of innocence I was still able to discern that the awful years of Japanese internment were not enough to erase the promise my country still held. That Stephen Miller,who comes from a Jewish family where some of its members were also Holocaust survivors, could poison this regime as he has now for two terms, is beyond understanding. Yet here we are. Miller and the like found in Trump a fellow traveler who has the power to act upon those bigoted desires, abetted by a Party which chooses to be silent in the face of it. Silence becomes agreement. It is truly a frightening and sorrowful time.
'... those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for — You won’t be here for long!' Meaning his administration and cronies, I hope.
We’ve been here before. My innocence about how I viewed my country ended when I learned from my history teacher in 7th grade that our country had removed all the Japanese from the West Coast during WWII. I recall walking home from school teary at the thought we could have done something so awful to our fellow citizens. My own parents, who were Holocaust survivors, had arrived in America with me when I was 9 months old in 1948. Suddenly, the knowledge that the US could act in ways that, while not as extreme as the Germans under Nazism, were anathema to the ideals expressed at the base of the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of a promise my parents would have seen as the ship that carried us from Europe entered the Port of NY. I grew up to major in American history and taught it to high school students, so after my loss of innocence I was still able to discern that the awful years of Japanese internment were not enough to erase the promise my country still held. That Stephen Miller,who comes from a Jewish family where some of its members were also Holocaust survivors, could poison this regime as he has now for two terms, is beyond understanding. Yet here we are. Miller and the like found in Trump a fellow traveler who has the power to act upon those bigoted desires, abetted by a Party which chooses to be silent in the face of it. Silence becomes agreement. It is truly a frightening and sorrowful time.
'... those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for — You won’t be here for long!' Meaning his administration and cronies, I hope.