The Weekend’s Biggest Losers
If you spent the weekend enjoying spring, you’ll be forgiven if you’re a tad disoriented this Monday morning.
Since we last convened Friday:
- Viktor Orbán conceded defeat in Hungarian elections.
- President Trump decided to shut down the Strait of Hormuz for Iran.
- Eric Swalwell’s political career abruptly flamed out after serious sexual misconduct allegations emerged.
- Trump openly beefed with the pope while portraying himself as an American Jesus.
And yet … stating things plainly like that doesn’t begin to capture the bonkers nature of the weekend’s news. Just ask JD Vance, who emerged as the biggest loser after an ignominious trip abroad that included a last-ditch campaign appearance for Orbán and the quick collapse of negotiations to end the Iran conflict he reportedly quietly opposed.
A Blow to Global Authoritarianism
If we’re lucky, Orbán’s defeat in Hungary will mark the beginning of the end of right-wing state capture. A few salient early reactions:
- Political theorist Jacob T. Levy: “It’s not just that Orbán losing inspires hope in other competitive-autocratic countries ruled by right-wing nationalist authoritarians. It’s that his loss materially changes things in those other countries, because he’s been operating as a headquarters and funding source for the international ideological movement.”
- Timothy Ash of Britain’s Chatham House: “People may go along with a kleptocracy for as long as an economy is doing well, but ultimately, if the economy starts failing, and they see all these guys lining their pockets, then you can expect a reaction.”
- Political scientist Gabriela Greilinger in TPM: “If anything, the Hungarian election shows that authoritarians don’t ‘just lose.’ Rather, Hungary presented the perfect storm to defeat an authoritarian: a weak economy, scandal after scandal from the governing party, and an emerging opposition figure who rose to the occasion with the skill to lead a movement, highlight the government’s numerous failings, and increase the salience of issues that are of interest to the majority of voters.”
Latest on the Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz
- Trump’s arc on the Strait of Hormuz goes something like: I will destroy Persian civilization if Iran doesn’t open the strait -> The strait will open automatically on its own after the ceasefire and we can all make money off of ships transiting through it. -> Fine, I’ll close the strait myself.
- Contrary to President Trump’s assertion that the U.S. will blockade the strait, the U.S. military says it’s only a blockade of Iranian ports.
- NATO allies are refusing to participate. It is not at all clear what the blockade is intended to accomplish or reasonably could achieve — or how it fits into Trump’s broader strategy, to the extent there is one.
Iran Damage Assessment
A trio of NYT articles:
- Iran Unable to Find Mines It Planted in Strait of Hormuz
- New Evidence Further Implicates U.S. Missiles in Strikes That Killed 21 Civilians in Iran
- Iran’s Schools and Hospitals in Ruins
Lawless U.S. Boat Strikes Continues
A U.S.. strike Saturday on two alleged drug-smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific killed five people, raising the death toll in the campaign to at least 168 people.
Swalwell Under Criminal Investigation
After stories Friday by the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN alleging that Rep. Eric Swalwell engaged in repeated instances of sexual misconduct, including sexual assault, the California Democrat suspended his campaign for governor. In response to one alleged incident in New York City, the Manhattan District Attorney launched a criminal investigation into Swalwell.
In unrelated Swalwell news, the Trump DHS appears to be pursuing a new vindictive investigation of Swalwell for allegedly illegally employing a Brazilian nanny several years ago.
Trump Targets Pope Leo
We’re still nowhere near the bottom of Trump II’s descent into madness:
Asked about the Truth Social post, Pope Leo offered a biting rejoinder: “It’s ironic — the name of the site itself. Say no more.”
False Idols Watch: Messiah Complex Edition
Since the attack on the pope, Trump has posted this:
Authoritarian Iconography Alert
Some staff at the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis were given the Operation Metro Surge challenge coin pictured above, TPM’s Hunter Walker reports.
The Purges: Immigration Judges
The Trump administration has fired two immigration judges who dismissed high-profile deportation cases against pro-Palestinian international students Rumeysa Ozturk and Mohsen Mahdawi, the NYT reports.
The Corruption: Mass Pardons Edition
President Trump has repeatedly promised to issue mass pardons to members of his administration before he leaves office, the WSJ reports.
Those staffers can believe him at their own risk.
Pirro Touted Fed Subpoenas to Trump
I would imagine we’ll hear about this in the appeal of Judge Boasberg’s decision quashing D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s subpoenas of the Federal Reserve, via the WSJ:
On a Friday evening in January, President Trump received a call from the federal prosecutor he refers to as “Judge Jeanine.” His U.S. attorney in Washington, Jeanine Pirro, had a welcome update for the president: Her office had sent subpoenas to the Federal Reserve as part of an investigation into its chair, Jerome Powell.
Monumentalism Watch
- In a Saturday order, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals sent Trump’s vanity ballroom case back to U.S. District Judge Richard Leon to sort out whether the project is ballroom or a bunker.
- Trump unveiled plans for the gargantuan monstrosity he wants to erect at the foot of Memorial Bridge between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial:
Quote of the Day
As screens fragment our attention, as AI pushes for speed and efficiency at the cost of our humanity, as the academy puts a pinch of incense on the altar of innovation, slowing down and revisiting a text again and again (whether sheet music, a book, a recording, a poem) is a revolutionary act. It turns you into a particular kind of reader, one attentive to the minute, to nuances, to how meaning can shift ever so slightly when this word is used rather than that.
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