E.J. Fagan

@ejfagan.bsky.social

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Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Illinois Chicago. I study think tanks, agenda setting, Congress and political parties. Also, baseball.

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E.J. Fagan

Fyi to journalists: Hillbilly Elegy is not about the brave nobility of rural poor/working class people. It’s deeply insulting to rural poor people - presenting them as lazy addicts who rely on welfare instead of working. The book is about how amazing Vance was to escape that backwards culture.

RIP Tenacious D. We'll always have this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aZP...

Tenacious D - Time Warpwww.youtube.com It’s astounding… time is fleeting… and the 2020 election is here. Time to ROCK-Y THE VOTE! And remember: it's just a jump to the LEFT, and not a step to the ...

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E.J. Fagan

why are Democrats so divisive, they need to calm down their rhetoric about Republicans also, "Bill to arrest librarians filed for 2025 session" www.alreporter.com/2024/07/10/b...

Bill to arrest librarians filed for 2025 sessionwww.alreporter.com A bill that could have led to the arrest of librarians narrowly missed becoming law last session, but sponsors have already filed a follow-up.

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E.J. Fagan

A lot of wisdom from @sam-workman.bsky.social on rise of JD Vance @3streamsblog.bsky.social medium.com/3streams/tru...

Trump’s VP versus the Academymedium.com How disconnected academics elevate poverty porn, why, and what it means

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E.J. Fagan

… “I don’t know that I can disrespect someone more than J. D. Vance” —Romney

FWIW I just read McKay Coppins’ Romney book, and Romney is BRUTAL on JD Vance.

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E.J. Fagan

Is it bad when the VP pick’s hometown paper (owned by high profile GOPers) publishes an anti-Vance op-ed within an hour of learning he is Trump’s running mate? Because that doesn’t seem good.

Vance will hurt Trump's reelection chances. Ohio junior senator isn't ready to be VP.www.dispatch.com Opinion: Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance probably will not help former President Donald Trump win – and might cost him votes.

There are only ~10 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., plus <1 million with temporary asylum status. To get to 20 million deportations, you're talking about deporting children of undocumented immigrants based on a fake "anchor baby" legal theory. Normal American citizens.

The number of people Trump says he'll deport keeps going up. It's now 20 million, 50% higher than the largest estimates of the undocumented population. It's clear sign that distinguishing legal from illegal won't be a priority. They're just going to round up people they don't want to be here.

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E.J. Fagan

I am just a small town political scientist teaching classes that have "autocracy" and "violence" in their titles, and lemme tell you, if the only thing that stands between us and autocracy is institutions, we are toast

WSJ this morning. lol at the last bit. "Leaders on both sides need to stop describing the stakes of the election in apocalyptic terms. Democracy won't end if one or the other candidate is elected. Fascism is not aborning if Mr. Trump wins, unless you have little faith in American institutions."

In the Chicago Tribune, I argue that given Trump and Heritage's history, the personnel involved and the lack of details in the GOP platform, Project 2025 is the best available preview of what Donald Trump would do if elected. His denials ring false. www.chicagotribune.com/2024/07/15/o...

E.J. Fagan: Despite Donald Trump’s denials, he and Project 2025 are closewww.chicagotribune.com Despite what Donald Trump says, it is fair to use Project 2025 as a preview for Trump’s second term.

Run an ad contrasting Biden’s response to this.

A reminder of how Trump responded when a supporter broke into Nancy Pelosi's home and brutally attacked her husband with a hammer:

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E.J. Fagan

Remember how the right turned Kyle Rittenhouse into a hero? For shooting people at a racial justice protest?

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E.J. Fagan

Counterpoint: This changes nothing. The Dems strategic situation is the same. Biden is still too old to run a normal campaign or finish 4 more years. He could win, but is currently behind with no real plan. Trump remains an aspiring authoritarian strongman. More dangerous than ever.

Why are Democrats like this?

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E.J. Fagan

www.theframelab.org/donald-trump...

Donald Trump and the language of violencewww.theframelab.org No one has done more to frame American politics in violent terms

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E.J. Fagan

As a college professor, I am going to predict that the 20-year-old shooter did not actually have a very coherent or well-articulated political philosophy or theory of change.

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E.J. Fagan

It's going to be very difficult to have a conversation about political violence targeting Donald Trump without acknowledging that no one has done more to normalize political violence in America in 2024 than Donald Trump.

I really, really wish the tone was: this guy whipped up violence with his rhetoric for years and now he’s reaping the whirlwind.

Real “I declare bankruptcy!” energy here.

Coming soon in the Chicago Tribune!

Junior Scholars: Project 2025 is now breaking through to public consciousness. The more people learn about it, the more they hate it. Now is a great time to search that website, go to the section of your expertise, and write an oped. Keep the drip of bad news for them coming, all the way to Nov.

I don’t like to use this word when discussing American politics, but these people are evil.

"We're gonna put kids in cages. It's gonna be glorious." - Mike Davis, former Chief Counsel of Nominations for Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Grassley, on what he'd do if he worked in the next Trump administration's Justice Department.

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E.J. Fagan

How Think Tanks Drive Polarization & Policy Project 2025 is just the latest step in the long rise of partisan think tanks; they helped polarize Congress, replacing non-partisan expertise New #ScienceOfPolitics with @ejfagan.bsky.social on The Thinkers www.niskanencenter.org/how-think-ta...

How think tanks drive polarization and policy - Niskanen Centerwww.niskanencenter.org Democrats and Republicans rely on partisan think tanks for policy proposals, along with the numbers and findings that justify them.

I’ve seen this complaint a lot. Project 2025 isn’t lobbying. It’s covered permissible activities for a c3. Heritage and others do perform lobbying activities, which is why Heritage has a c4 companion organization called Heritage Action.

FUN FACT: Did you know that The Heritage Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization? FUN FACT: They are not allowed to participate in political campaigns. Directly OR Indirectly. FUN FACT: IRS Form 13909 Exists. Do with this info as you will. www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/...

Americans are going to wake up one Wednesday in November and find out they accidentally gave power to these people because Democrats nominated an 81 year old and couldn’t find the courage to fix their mistake.

"Wait until 2025. They ain't seen shit yet." www.semafor.com/article/07/0...

Trump’s ‘national conservative’ allies plot a revenge administrationwww.semafor.com As President Biden’s position weakens, Trump world is enthusiastically planning a MAGA White House.

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E.J. Fagan

I'd like to add some historical context to the discussions around Project 2025. The discourse misses why Project 2025 is so important. As I write about in my book, Heritage has built something like Project 2025 for every election since 1980, but this time it's different. Big 🧵

The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics, is officially published today! The book tells the story of how partisan think tanks have impacted modern policy debates. Here's why you should consider it 1/ www.amazon.com/Thinkers-Par...

The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics (Studies in Postwar American Political Development): Fagan, E.J.: 9780197759660: Amazon.com: Bookswww.amazon.com The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics (Studies in Postwar American Political Development) [Fagan, E.J.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics (Studies in Postwar American Political Development)

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E.J. Fagan

Anyone who joined the “Conservative LinkedIn” might br worried about what’s happening at Project 2025 — new @3streamsblog.bsky.social medium.com/3streams/her...

Here’s why to worry if you’re on the ‘Conservative LinkedIn’medium.com Right now, Project 2025 is the club nobody wanted to belong to

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E.J. Fagan

Really good context here, read this book

I’ve always told my students to understand politics through the lens of, “People who work in politics are the heroes in their own stories,” but it’s harder with the MAGA crowd. Some think they are doing good, but a lot of them are liars, corrupt, cynical and malicious.

The thing that's obvious to everyone and that nobody can actually write in the press is that the American (and yes, I'm sure elsewhere too) right wing is led by bad people and the object is to make more people extremely bad in basically every respect. It's anti-society

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E.J. Fagan

My guess is that Trump knows very little about P25 *and* it will be the blueprint for his administration. He’s famously bored by policy. He’ll appoint these people because they’re loyal. They’ll then go to work on the plan while he grifts, golfs, and gives two-hour speeches at rallies.

Trump: I don't know anything about Project 2025 Here is a list of all the Trump officials who authored the Project 2025 blueprint, Mandate for Leadership. 25 of 36 were part of the Trump administration. project2025istheocracy.substack.com/p/project-20...

One of the great things about being a professor is that I get to lean into not being cool around 20 year olds.

As someone now closer to her forties than her twenties, no pair of ankle socks or skinny jeans or side part will make you look as old as trying to chase the trends of 20-year-olds

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E.J. Fagan

Stephen Miller now following Trump's lead and saying he has nothing to do with Project 2025. 1. His organization is on the Project 2025 advisory board. 2. He recorded a video as part of Project 2025 training tools 3. You can see Mandate for Leadership, the Project 2025 publication in the background

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E.J. Fagan

True words from @ejfagan.bsky.social #yankees ⚾️ open.substack.com/pub/ejfagan/...

Fire Brian Cashmanopen.substack.com A Move The Yankees Should Have Made A Long Time Ago