Over the weekend in Michigan, a gunman opened fire at a Mormon church. JD Vance and Kash Patel shared their thoughts and prayers – but nothing else, a stark contrast from the Charlie Kirk-induced haze of live-tweeted investigations and breathless declarations against left-wing and trans political violence. “Why would they not do that in this case?” Mehdi asks. “Could it possibly be because the shooter is not trans, is not an immigrant, is not a Mexican, is not a Muslim, is not leftist?” The alleged shooter was reportedly a Trump supporter. And suddenly, the talk of political violence and domestic terrorism from the Trump administration just disappears.
In other autocratic news, Trump said he authorized deploying troops to “war-ravaged” Portland, Oregon, casting protesters as “domestic terrorists.” This comes as the president signed a directive identifying labels like ‘anti-American’ and ‘anti-capitalist’ as terrorism indicators – essentially criminalizing political views. “This is ‘war on terror’ on steroids,” Mehdi says. It’s not just Muslims anymore – it’s anyone who opposes Trump. “It is all one plan,” Mehdi says, from ICE snatching citizens off the streets to troops cracking down on protesters. “All of these resources to go after American citizens who disagree with our policies.”
‘Ask the Editor’ is a weekly Q&A where Mehdi answers your questions, live, every Monday at 11 am ET on Substack and YouTube, moderated by Prem Thakker.
Watch the full video above to hear Mehdi and Prem discuss James Comey’s “absurd” indictment, listen to Mehdi debrief his recent interview with the Pakistani defense minister, hear how deploying troops in US cities could lead to crackdowns on free elections, and to find out which Democrats Mehdi thinks need to “get out of the way” and “resign.”
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