Elizabeth Spiers

@espiers.bsky.social

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NYT opinion writer, Slate Money co-host, Dem messaging consultant, NYU prof, former EIC The New York Observer, Dealbreaker founder and Gawker founding editor. Brooklyn via Bama. Rednexican. Striver with no chill. Newsletter: buttondown.email/spiers

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Don’t be this guy:

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Elizabeth Spiers

Just like none of the bold investigators backfilling Joe Biden's feeble debate performance with punchy anonymous quotes have ever figured out why Trump was rushed to Walter Reed, claimed he wanted a spur-of-the-moment weekend checkup, and a year later declared that he had NOT had a series of strokes

"Executive Time" fell out of the coverage of Donald Trump in the most incredible way. Nobody writing about his quest to become president again ever mentions the fact that he hated the job when he had it and he couldn't and wouldn't really do it!

Seconding this (though in my case that world is very familiar and I think Alberta described it better than nearly any other account I’ve read):

The Kingdom, The Power and The Glory by Tim Alberta was so good. I learned about a world I didn’t really know and exploring what happens when you forsake moral clarity for temporal power has implications for all believers

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Elizabeth Spiers

Conservatives: "RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES! RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!" The Epstein Files: *name Donald Trump a bunch* Conservatives: "WAIT NO NOT LIKE THAT!"

I keep saying that swing voters are hard to target because there aren’t that many of them and an unsurprising number of armchair analyst men who’ve never worked in politics or even volunteered for a candidate they like are, like, no, dummy independent voters are a huge demo

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Elizabeth Spiers

Either the Democrats will run Biden, or he'll say he can't continue the campaign and Democrats will run Harris. Either is newsworthy, but neither is nearly as radical as running a pro-insurrection convicted felon with legal immunity he's eager to use.

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Elizabeth Spiers

This Far Side cartoon, but with jurists and politicians discovering that constitutional principles and norms can be just as fragile.

This is my late grandfather—a decorated member of the 82nd airborne and 1st gen Mexican immigrant. We have the same nose, eyebrows that stop at the arch, and resting “smile”. Can’t help but think he wouldn’t be safe in a Trump admin

Gift: For anyone who thinks trump will only deport "undocumented" people -- remember this story from 2019? This is just one of many cases of U.S. citizens being detained and scheduled for deportation.

Police knew a war veteran was a U.S. citizen. ICE detained him anyway.wapo.st Jilmar Ramos-Gomez will receive $190,000 in a settlement with Grand Rapids after a police officer began a series of events that led to his detainment by ICE.

The Cut has kind of branded itself a purveyor of a certain kind of provocative essay that you sort of can’t avoid reading but this one is very straightforward and just… really good: www.thecut.com/article/mary...

I Was Diagnosed With Autism in My 40s. It Gave Me Answers.www.thecut.com By 43, Mary HK Choi had come up with many explanations for her strangeness around other people. Was it something else all along?

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Category error watch. People keep assuming legal proceduralism will apply in an authoritarian state.

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Reply to

Gautam Hans

You'll have to read the WaPo piece for this entirely accurate take from @paulgowder.bsky.social that this lawsuit is racist garbage. www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Lawsuit: Northwestern’s law school is biased against White men in hiringwww.washingtonpost.com The lawsuit, filed by a prominent attorney, alleges the university’s law school gives hiring preference to women and people of color.

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Elizabeth Spiers

I do not regret analogizing these people to the men who took photos of themselves at lynchings www.mediamatters.org/project-2025...

Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court immunity decision: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution"www.mediamatters.org

Fwiw I’m fine with him yelling at Netanyahu

Read the Times story about Biden. They say he seems more visibly exhausted and physically frail than years ago, confuses names more. No real accusation of mental problems. Includes an anecdote of Biden yelling at Netanyahu. Sources speculate his schedule is too demanding relative to his age.

Group o’ tourists just walked by me in Soho and a woman was wearing what I thought was a baby carrier and I look for the baby (since I had one I’m a sucker for babies) and as she gets closer I realize it’s a small backpack she’s wearing backwards and in it she has one of those giant Stanley cups

Sir, it is not just fine *as we speak* www.bangordailynews.com/2024/07/02/o...

Donald Trump is going to win the election and democracy will be just finewww.bangordailynews.com “Democrats’ post-debate hand-wringing is based on the idea that a Trump victory is not just a political loss, but a unique threat to our democracy. I reject the premise.”

This would be fun

if Biden announced that he was ordering the IRS to end all audits of people making less than $100,000 and ordering audits of all billionaires that would be something he could do

If you need a bit of good news in your TL:

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been disbarred for his part in Trump's 2020 election interference efforts

Rudy Giuliani officially disbarred in New York | CNN Politicscnn.it Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been disbarred for his part in Donald Trump’s election interference efforts in 2020.

Today's the last day to sign up for my online opinion writing workshop!

I'm trying to do op-ed writing workshops once a quarter, and the summer session will be Wednesday, July 10th, from 3pm - 6pm ET. More info here if you're interested: www.elizabethspiers.com/writingworks...

Spiers Writing Workshops — Elizabeth Spierswww.elizabethspiers.com Learn to write op-eds with Elizabeth Spiers

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Elizabeth Spiers

A good, realistic thread 👇🏼

I think there’s no tenable way to replace Biden rn btw. I don’t trust leadership to roll out a new candidate who won’t be perceived as person chosen in a closed room by elites; they already ignore progressive concerns

When you think about the risk of fielding a new candidate, you have to think about this:

Because this is not just about Biden; it’s about whether the you trust Dem leadership to roll out a candidate, explain their story in terms that don’t pander to an imaginary middle, and listen to concerns reasonable Dem voters have

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Elizabeth Spiers

I'm glad more people are saying this. My main takeaway from the debate is that Biden really needs a different strategy; one that leans into his strength off the cuff and when he's a little emotional. A rote list of talking points isn't the answer to a firehose of Trump lies.

Couldn’t even do that! Argued about their golf scores. I think Biden is the best choice and not cuz I love him. his advisors need to get their shit together and stop trying to script him. Give him questions and let him answer how he would naturally bc when he does that he gets a little angry

Bright spot, lol

the trump campaign has hired Charlie Kirk's companies, on a for-profit basis, to run their GOTV efforts. turning point's GOTV efforts have lost all three of the state elections they worked on previously, and they've never worked a national one

The kids are alright IMO

Columbia University: Protesters arrested for seizing Hind’s Hall at Columbia University are refusing any deals unless protesters at CUNY are offered the same, and they stand in solidarity with those facing the most extreme repression in the movement. #Palestine #Israel

Columbia University Hind’s Hall defendants reject deals in solidarity with the CUNY 22mondoweiss.net Protesters arrested for seizing Hind’s Hall at Columbia University are refusing any deals unless protesters at CUNY are offered the same, and they stand in solidarity with those facing the most extrem...

New thing where I drop the slang of the youths on the 9 year old when he’s least suspecting. He likes to crawl into bed with us and asks me to lightly scratch his back so he’s comfy and can sleep. (Yes it is adorable and I will be very sad when he stops.) …

Trump / Stormy 1930 edition

this newspaper headline is the 1930 version of encountering an incomprehensible trending story about some Twitch streamer with 4 million followers

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Elizabeth Spiers

Good morning Third Grade! Today we will learn that Judah fucked his daughter-in-law (because he mistook her for a prostitute) and the resulting baby was an ancestor of Jesus. Billy, stop crying.

The funny thing is, I was hoping Trump would brag about his golfing bc it’s the perfect opportunity to point out that he should be good at it since he spent half his presidency on the golf course, but it did not go where I thought it was going

My silver lining this morning: the upside to having an early debate is that everyone has five months to forget it

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Elizabeth Spiers

Sources:

Also, new asymmetry: Biden operatives who’ve been around talking smack to CNN people, Trump camp is full of amateurs so they think it’s all good. But CNN pitting pros against amateurs and suggesting anxious pros are the same as overconfident amateurs