Background Briefing: April 4, 2024
Trump’s Piety in Contrast to the Porn He Faces and the Cruelty and Hatred He Displays
We begin with Trump campaigning as a “Christian” televangelist with his piety in contrast to the porn he is facing on April 15 in the New York hush money trial along with his cruel display of racist hatred yesterday before a group of uniformed cops calling for a bloodbath labeling immigrants as animals. Joining us is Ryan Cooper, Managing Editor at The American Prospect and the Cohost of the Left Anchor podcast as well as the author of the new book, How are You Going to Pay for That? Smart Answers to the Dumbest Question in Politics. We discuss his latest article at The American Prospect, “The Pious One, Donald Trump: The least likely embodiment of Christian virtues in American life is practically running as an evangelical minister.”
The 100 Right Wing Tax-Exempt Organizations With Over $2 Billion to Elect Trump
Then we look into an article at The New York Times by Thomas Edsall, “Trump’s Backers Are Determined Not to Blow It This Time Around,” about the more than 100 conservative tax-exempt organizations that have joined forces in support of Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda, forming a $2 billion-plus political machine. Joining us is Dr. Lawrence Rosenthal who is quoted in the article. He is the chair and lead researcher of the Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies and the author of Empire of Resentment: Populism’s Toxic Embrace of Nationalism. He has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, in the sociology and Italian studies departments and was a Fulbright Professor at the University of Naples in Italy.
AFRICOM Loses Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger to the Russians
Then finally we assess the military and intelligence failures of AFRICOM in West Africa whose partnerships with Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger have blown up with coups conducted by officers trained by the U.S. who have invited the Russians in while kicking out the French and threatening to kick out the Americans from a billion dollar base and operation in Niger. Joining us is Tommy Miles, a West African history enthusiast, independent scholar, author and recovering academic who is writing a history of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.