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The Bulwark Podcast

Bill Kristol: This Is Accelerationist Authoritarianism

59 min episode · 2 min read
·

Episode

59 min

Read time

2 min

Topics

Productivity, Fundraising & VC, Product & Tech Trends

AI-Generated Summary

Key Takeaways

  • Federal Reserve Independence: DOJ prosecutors investigate Fed Chair Powell over headquarters renovation as leverage to force interest rate cuts favorable to Trump's 2028 political goals, threatening central bank independence critical to economic stability and potentially triggering business community opposition.
  • ICE Accountability Strategy: Senator Chris Murphy proposes legislation requiring warrants for ICE arrests, banning agent masks, limiting gun use, and restricting border patrol to borders. These reforms poll competitively and could gain Republican support in 2026 budget negotiations as leverage.
  • Alaska Senate Opportunity: Democrat Mary Peltola enters Alaska Senate race after winning statewide congressional seat in 2022, positioning campaign as Alaska First to co-opt populist messaging against invisible incumbent Dan Sullivan, potentially expanding Democrats' 2026 Senate map in unexpected territory.
  • MAGA Primary Vulnerability: Steve Bannon explores 2028 presidential run positioning himself as authentic America First candidate against JD Vance, exploiting Trump's focus on Venezuela oil and elite priorities over working class economics, creating potential fracture in Republican coalition.

What It Covers

Bill Kristol and Tim Miller analyze Trump's accelerating authoritarianism through ICE violence in Minnesota, DOJ investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Venezuela intervention plans, and emerging resistance strategies for 2026 midterms.

Key Questions Answered

  • Federal Reserve Independence: DOJ prosecutors investigate Fed Chair Powell over headquarters renovation as leverage to force interest rate cuts favorable to Trump's 2028 political goals, threatening central bank independence critical to economic stability and potentially triggering business community opposition.
  • ICE Accountability Strategy: Senator Chris Murphy proposes legislation requiring warrants for ICE arrests, banning agent masks, limiting gun use, and restricting border patrol to borders. These reforms poll competitively and could gain Republican support in 2026 budget negotiations as leverage.
  • Alaska Senate Opportunity: Democrat Mary Peltola enters Alaska Senate race after winning statewide congressional seat in 2022, positioning campaign as Alaska First to co-opt populist messaging against invisible incumbent Dan Sullivan, potentially expanding Democrats' 2026 Senate map in unexpected territory.
  • MAGA Primary Vulnerability: Steve Bannon explores 2028 presidential run positioning himself as authentic America First candidate against JD Vance, exploiting Trump's focus on Venezuela oil and elite priorities over working class economics, creating potential fracture in Republican coalition.

Notable Moment

The ICE agent who killed Renee Goode recorded the encounter on his personal cell phone, switching it between hands to keep filming while maintaining his shooting hand free, then released footage showing no threat existed twenty seconds before firing.

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Episode Transcript

New Year. Same extra value meals at McDonald's. Now get a savory sausage McMuffin with egg plus hash browns and a small coffee for just $5. For limited time only, prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher in Hawaii, Alaska, and California and for delivery. I like things my way, my coffee, my schedule, and my treatment. So I talked to my doctor about self injecting with the VivGuard hytrullo prefilled syringe, which contains efgartigamod alpha and hyaluronidase QBFC. It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment, my way. Visit vivguardmyway.com. That's vyvgartmyway.com. And talk to your doctor about Vivgart Hydrulo, brought to you by argenx. Hello, and welcome to the Bulwark Podcast. I'm your host, Tim Miller. It is Monday, January 12, and so we have our editor at large, Bill Crystal. Bill, something has been in the water the last nine days. I I don't you know, it kinda felt like the the beginning of the administration was like this, you know, where where Trump was doing all kinds of crazy shit, you know, in quick succession. And it's not as if it was not crazy, you know, towards the end of the year, but it did feel like he was losing a little steam. You know? Maybe grandpa was was losing, you know, the the the verve, for some of this. But, man, between what we've seen in Minnesota and, and Venezuela and then the big news from last night, which is that the administration is investigating Jerome Powell now. The Department of Justice has been a Jerome Powell. It's we're we're we've ratcheted things up. Yeah. I was thinking about that. I guess, the last two, three months of the year, Trump seemed a little bit on the a little bit on the defensive, and he was, with Epstein and other things. They they didn't do well in the government shutdown. Democrats did pretty well, very well in the November elections. And then the stuff he was doing was, bad, the Kennedy Center kind of thing and all that, the East Wing. But it was more performative, you might say, than serious. I do feel like the last ten days, we have seen real accelerationist authoritarianism in foreign policy, obviously, in with ICE and now with Powell. And I'll just add to that list, the Epstein file. I mean, they were pretending at the end of last year they were gonna release them. They were they were redacting a lot of stuff. It was a little very slow. But, yeah, now they've just, I don't know, I guess they've just decided they don't even have to pretend to be obeying a a law that Trump himself signed a couple of months ago. Accelerating is a keyword. I got a text this morning from a friend saying the accelerationists are winning within the MAGA side of things. And, like, it's and and that …

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