🦆 Lame Duck in Chief?
Peter Rothpletz on the GOP, at long last, *maybe* moving on from Donald Trump, Megyn Kelly musing about gradations of pedophilia, South Park’s erotic swipe at MAGA, and even more Epstein bombshells.
🐼 On this day in 2016, ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ premiered on Fox. Carlson would use the gig as a vehicle to carry out dogged investigations into drunk raccoons, “sex-crazed pandas,” and testicle tanning. Who could’ve guessed a few years later he’d be yucking it up with a white supremacist Holocaust denier!?
Good morning! Peter here with a critical question: My best friend, Jacob, and I have held a weekly movie night for a few years now. We’ve watched everything from ‘Casablanca’ (1942) to ‘Donnie Darko’ (2001), from ‘Rear Window’ (1954) to ‘The Naked Gun’ (1988). Sunday will be our 113th watch party. Let me know in the comments what we should stream – and share your favorite directors! Mine are Alfred Hitchcock, Hirokazu Kore-eda, and Anthony Minghella.
In today’s ‘First Draft,’ Donald Trump’s control over the Republican Party wanes; Peter Thiel, Steve Bannon, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak appear in the Epstein files; the State Department designates ‘antifa’ groups as foreign terrorist organizations; and some recommendations from us for weekend reads.
Currently, anyone can read ‘First Draft,’ but it won’t always be free. Subscribe today to ensure you always get ‘First Draft’ in your inbox, and if you’re already a subscriber, you can always support our journalism even further with a donation.
Is a Dead Pedophile Helping Free the GOP From Trump?
“Do you think President Trump is a lame duck?”
“Well, he can’t run again, yes,” Louisiana Senator John Kennedy stated without equivocation to CNN’s Kasie Hunt yesterday, marking perhaps the most stark instance yet of the Party of Lincoln seeking to pry itself – to emancipate itself – from the perverted, orange malignancy that is Donald J. Trump.
As ‘First Draft’ informed you yesterday, the 20,000 documents released this week by the House Oversight Committee related to convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been a DEFCON-1, unmitigated disaster for Republicans on Capitol Hill.
They’ve also been a blessing from heaven for the GOP.
Over the last 11 months, Donald Trump has unilaterally imposed sweeping tariffs that have poured gasoline on the inferno that is our cost-of-living crisis. He’s allowed unemployment to surge, all while hiding data on labor statistics and dining (just this week) with the bigwigs of Wall Street. He’s deployed US troops (and a masked, glorified militia in the form of ICE) into American cities. He’s demolished the East Wing of the White House to construct an unbelievably unpopular, gilded monstrosity. And he’s done nothing whatsoever to address the looming threat of artificial intelligence… Err, well, that’s not true; he scrapped a Biden executive order that required developers of “high-risk” AI systems to share test results with the government before launch. He really said, ‘humanity’s not plotting its own extinction fast enough!’
But I digress… You get the point.
Cheeto Benito is a big, fat flopping failure. That’s not just me opining atop my woke soapbox per usual, it’s a point of fact. As of this week, Trump has hit his lowest approval rating since taking office for his second term, according to the Decision Desk HQ polling average.
In a normal age, any normal political party – consider the Bush-era Republicans of 2006, or the Democrats in their 2022 midterm campaign – would find a way to distance itself from a kryptonite commander in chief this toxic.
Yet over the years, Teflon Don has survived crisis after crisis, controversy after controversy. After the 2021 Capitol insurrection, he looked finished… and yet… Republicans crowned him their nominee in 2024, and then 49.8% of the public elected him president for a second time.
Again and again, Republicans – both fearful and sycophantic electeds, as well as the cultish base – have refused to break with an unpopular, scandal-plagued leader.
Until… now?
According to CNN’s data analyst Harry Enten, “Republicans who approve of Trump’s job as president, 87%. That is basically in line with the long-term average, 85, 90, 95%. But look at the Trump administration’s job on the Epstein case. Just 45% of Republicans – less than half of Republicans – are even buying what the administration is telling.”
So are we finally witnessing (some) Republicans distancing themselves from Trump? Daring to oppose him? Summoning the courage to express vague unhappiness with the Mango Mussolini?
If so, let’s *VERY* reluctantly say “thank you” to the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein. Thank you, asshole, for being so vile, so despicable, so monstrous, so cartoonishly evil, yet also so close to Donald Trump, that you may have started to free one of America’s two major political parties from the stranglehold of a fascist buffoon.
And so we arrive at the great, rancid irony of it all. MAGA, a political movement born of and rooted in the QAnon fever dream of a vast, oligarchic cabal of Pizza-loving, child rapists, now finds itself in the wilderness. Why? Well, not because the conspiracy was entirely untethered from reality. No, it’s because MAGA’s grand poobah, Donald Trump, appears to be, rather clearly, either an actual predator himself or a man perfectly comfortable looking the other way in the presence of such depravity.
Yeah, no shit, the GOP is fracturing.
🗞️ What You Need to Know
‘Antifa’ attacked: The State Department announced it will designate four European anti-fascist groups as foreign terrorist organizations, marking the first time that “antifa” groups will be classified as FTOs. This paves the way for federal authorities to expand surveillance of perceived anti-fascist supporters – including US citizens.
Phony at Fannie: Trump’s top housing regulator, Bill Pulte, gave Fannie Mae’s mortgage pricing data to a competitor, drawing concerns of collusion to fix mortgage rates, per AP. Officials at Fannie Mae who had questioned the person who leaked the information to Pulte, Lauren Smith, were forced out of their jobs, while Smith currently retains her role as head of marketing.
Disingenuous DOJ: The Justice Department joined a Republican-backed lawsuit against the new and voter-approved Democratic-drawn congressional map in California. The California GOP and the DOJ claim that the map constitutes a “racial gerrymander” that unconstitutionally favors Hispanic voters.
Madness in Gotham: The race for NY-12 is heating up, and the latest person to weigh a run is none other than former Republican and Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway, according to CNN. If I had a penny for every Bulwark personality exploring a NY-12 bid, I’d have two pennies… which isn’t a lot… but they also just stopped making those, so I guess I’m left with no pennies…
Swalwell That Ends Well: Rep. Eric Swalwell has become the latest Trump enemy referred to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation. Like others on Trump’s retribution list, Swalwell – a vocal Trump critic – will be investigated for alleged mortgage and tax fraud. Swalwell effectively laughed off the referral.
I did Nazi that coming: Paul Ingrassia, the Trump nominee who withdrew his nomination after his racist texts leaked, is leaving the Department of Homeland Security… only to become the next deputy general counsel at the General Services Administration.
Sora not sorry: In this week’s episode of ‘South Park,’ creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker took aim at OpenAI’s video-generating technology, Trump, and Vance by featuring the latter two in a fake ‘homoerotic sex scene’… Thanks for the nightmares!!
🧠 Pop Quiz!
What cartoon mascot found herself at the center of a Tucker Carlson rant after she removed her “sexy boots” in 2022?
Keep your eyes out for the answer below!
Epstein Saga Unpacked
As the House is set to vote on the release of the full Epstein files, Zeteo’s political correspondent Prem Thakker is here with some of the more interesting and overlooked details from the late sex offender’s uncovered emails:
Peter Thiel. Steve Bannon. Ex-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The New York Times. Trump, Trump, Trump. Zeteo scoured the newly-released trove of 26,000 files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Some choice snippets: A series of emails showed Epstein working with consultants for years to scrub Google results and bleach the internet of bad press. One staffer assured “reinforcement we can provide from sites like Harvard, Nat Geo, and any other publications we have influence over,” in order to meet Epstein’s needs.
In other emails, Epstein gloated about getting “great stories” from “jeffrey style meetings.” When someone mentions the word “girls,” he quipped back: “‘girls?’,, careful i will renew an old habit.” He and author Michael Wolff chopped it up on their frustrations with Me Too. He joked about having a “very funny, all off the record” meeting with Bill Clinton, Barak, and Bannon.
And much, much more.
Want more details from the latest batch of Epstein emails? Keep an eye on your inbox later today for Prem’s shocking takeaways.
🇵🇸 Don’t Forget Gaza
Flood threat: Palestinians, already displaced multiple times by Israel’s genocide in Gaza, were coping this morning with flooding as the first winter rain hit the Strip. Video footage showed flooded streets and tents. Israel’s two-year assault has destroyed the sewage system, water pipeline, and roadways, further worsening the storm danger.
Stranded on a plane: Over 100 Palestinian asylum seekers from Gaza who landed in South Africa were kept on the plane for over 12 hours before they were allowed to disembark. A South African NGO said Israel purposely didn’t stamp the asylum seekers’ passports to “exacerbate their suffering.”
And in the occupied West Bank… Israeli forces fatally shot two Palestinian teens in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron.
🚨 Don’t Miss It!
With the Epstein files, the blue wave elections, and his falling approval rating, Trump is certainly not ‘winning’ at the moment. But Zeteo legal contributor and law professor Kim Wehle cautions Americans against letting their foot off the pedal in the fight for democracy.
That’s because when it comes to the Constitution, the gravity of the damage already done is mind-boggling, if not permanent, Kim writes, as she lays out the five top ways Trump is destroying the supreme law of the land.
Check your inboxes for Kim’s column later today!
🌏 Anywhere But America
🇺🇦 🇷🇺 Russia launched a major missile and drone assault on Kyiv today, killing at least four people and injuring dozens of others in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called a “calculated attack to cause as much harm as possible to people and civilians.”
🇸🇸 South Sudan leadership shakeup: President Salva Kiir dismissed three members of his government, including one of his vice presidents, who was seen as his potential successor, Benjamin Bol Mel. The move was announced without any explanation, stoking fears of a looming return to civil war.
🇵🇰🇦🇫 Pakistan-Afghanistan latest: Pakistan attributed the two deadly suicide bombings that occurred this week to Afghan nationals, marking the latest escalation in violence amid strained peace talks between the two nations. Pakistan arrested at least four people today in connection with one of the attacks.
🇮🇹 Italy investigates sniper tourism: Prosecutors opened an investigation into claims that some Italians participated in “sniper safaris” in Sarajevo between 1992 and 1996, traveling there on weekends to shoot at civilians during the city’s siege by Bosnian Serb forces. More than 11,000 people were killed during the siege, including over a thousand children.
🇮🇶 Iraq election results: According to early election counts, the coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani has secured the largest share of votes in the parliamentary election. However, they do not have enough votes to officially form a government, a process which will likely take months’ worth of negotiations to accomplish.
🤢 WTF
Yes, you heard that right. That’s none other than Megyn Kelly relaying the view of a source close to the Jeffrey Epstein case, who claims Epstein was not a pedophile because he was into 15-year-old girls, rather than 8-year-old girls.
H/T @AccountableGOP on Twitter for this vomit-inducing clip.
🧠 Trivia answer: The green M&M.
📖 Weekend Reads
It’s another week in the books for ‘First Draft.’ If you’ll miss having us in your inbox this weekend, have no fear because Team Zeteo has compiled a set of #mustread articles to keep you company before we return to your inbox next week.
What Did Men Do to Deserve This?
You’ve heard about the far-right manosphere. But what about the centrist manosphere? In this piece, the New Yorker’s Jessica Winter delivers a scathing critique of Scott Galloway, Gavin Newsom, Ezra Klein, and others for jumping on the masculinity crisis bandwagon.
Just as we saw with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Trump administration has once again been caught falsely linking immigrants to criminal gang activity to justify ICE’s cruel raiding and parading of immigrants. Read the ProPublica investigation to hear how people like Jhonny Manuel Caicedo Fereira ended up with his hands zip-tied behind his back, surrounded by a SWAT team, and on his way back to Venezuela.
The Great Pretender: How Ahmed al-Sharaa Won Syria
As Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa cozied up with Trump this past week, many couldn’t help but ask: how did a former leader of the Syrian affiliate of al-Qaeda go from plotting suicide bombings to being welcomed into the Oval Office? To help you make sense of it all, check out this throwback piece from last March, written by the Economist’s Nicolas Pelham, who argues that al-Sharaa’s lust for power made him the “chameleon” he is today.
A Supreme Court Case About Dreadlocks Could End Up Gutting Medicaid
A new Supreme Court case may be laying the foundation for Medicaid patients to be stripped of their patient rights. What’s at the heart of it? Rastafarianism, a Louisiana prison, and Damon Landor’s unlawfully shaved head. Vox’s Ian Millhiser has all the details.
ICYMI From Zeteo
Zeteo’s Melanie Riehl, Akshay Gokul, and Minnah Arshad contributed to this newsletter.
Still want to get Zeteo content, but not this newsletter? You can unsubscribe directly from ‘First Draft’ by going to ‘manage subscription’ in Substack, scrolling down, and toggling the button for ‘First Draft’ off.
Movie night- Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Throwing two in the ring for movie consideration:
Fight Club
American History X
(Two sides to Edward Norton)
Magnificent reporting, Peter. Happy Friday, have a great weekend.