Today is Wednesday, November 24th, and you're listening to The Morning Announcements

presented by Betches Media.

I'm Sammy Sage, and this episode is sponsored by Uncommon Goods.

If you're on a mission to be the best gift giver ever this year, Uncommon Goods makes

it easy to find remarkable and truly original gifts for everyone.

Let's start today with our favorite segment, Democracy Watch, and get the worst news out

of the way.

Earlier this week, the International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance released

a report in which United States has made its debut on a list of backsliding democracies.

The report centered on developments during the Trump administration and named the big lie

around the 2020 election to be a turning point that undermined trust in the system and led

to the insurrection.

Not only that, but Trump's tactics had spill over effects, including in Brazil, Mexico,

Myanmar, and Peru, among others.

Some other countries on the list, you ask, Brazil, India, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia.

But don't feel too bad, according to the report, about a quarter of the world's population

now lives in democratically backsliding countries, so at least we're not left out.

In case you're wondering who's to blame for the backslide, may I present to you the Republican

Party.

The Republican National Committee is apparently paying Donald Trump's legal bills using

donor funds to pay for the New York State investigation into the Trump Organization's

business practices.

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