Summary
Donald Trump has commandeered Washington DC’s police force and deployed federal agents and national guardsmen to patrol DC streets, on plainly pretextual grounds.
In this episode we’ll discuss:
* What makes this affront to DC sovereignty unusually offensive;
* Trump’s stated reasons for seizing power, and how to see through them;
* What, if anything, elected Democrats should say and do to defend district residents
Then, behind the paywall, there’s good reason to suspect Trump hopes his DC invasion will distract us from less flattering news. So we’re not going to let him! We discuss the latest indications that Trump has damaged the economy, the steps that can be taken in the event Trump tries to fabricate economic data, and the most recent developments in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.
Further reading:
* Matt on the actual policy obstacles to more effective policing in DC.
* Brian on why DC residents are perfectly right to be frustrated with national Democrats for leaving us vulnerable to this unwelcome takeover.
* Trump’s hackish nominee to oversee government economic data wants to stop releasing government economic data.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | And when you look back on it, like, it was Trump, in a Fox News interview, was getting asked all these, like, leading questions. Like, well, you, like, release all the files on JFK? He was like, yes, absolutely. Oh, they asked about Epstein. He was like, uh, you know, I don't know, right? So, like, Trump personally clearly always had, like, a concern about this issue. And this is, I think, why it, like, |
| 0:24.2 | it cannot be unwound. |
| 0:31.1 | Hey, everyone, you're listening to a free preview of the politics podcast. This week, Washington, |
| 0:36.0 | D.C. is under federal occupation after Donald Trump |
| 0:38.9 | commandeered the city's police force and deployed federal agents and national guardsmen to patrol |
| 0:44.2 | D.C. streets. So we'll discuss the affront to D.C. sovereignty, the supposed reasons Trump is |
| 0:50.9 | doing this and what the opposition's response should be. |
| 1:01.8 | Then to the extent that Trump does hope to use this to distract the country by ginning up unrest in the capital, |
| 1:09.5 | what is he hoping to distract us from? Is it the weakening economy? Is it the Epstein cover it? A bit of both. |
| 1:13.6 | If you want to hear that part of the conversation, you can upgrade your subscription to paid at Politics.fm. |
| 1:19.3 | Hey, everyone. |
| 1:20.3 | Welcome to the politics podcast. |
| 1:21.7 | I'm Brian Boiler. |
| 1:22.6 | I'm Matthew Gleasius. |
| 1:23.7 | So I have a question for you, Matt. |
| 1:26.1 | When you were a victim of D.C. street violence, |
| 1:29.1 | why didn't you use your connections to Barack Obama to federalize MPD and put DEA agents on |
| 1:35.5 | the vandalism beat and maybe get the National Guard called up? |
| 1:40.0 | I actually did. |
| 1:41.8 | Somebody, somebody, I've been in Maine all summer, but I got a report from a neighbor that somebody had broken into my garage and they stole my e-bike. |
| 1:53.2 | And that happened two weeks ago. |
| 1:55.1 | And now the National Guard is in place. |
... |
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