We just had a deep, wide-ranging, and even inspiring conversation with more than 2,000 Ink readers and two guests from very different worlds: the philosopher Olufemi O. Taiwo and Michael Cohen, the former Donald Trump lawyer turned anti-Trump activist. Both conversations started with how to make sense of all the tariff chaos — and how Trump was finally “disciplined by reality.” But that was just the beginning.
Beyond the tariffs, both Taiwo and Cohen, in their different ways, ended up talking about how essential it is going to be to get millions of everyday Americans to understand how they’re under threat, how their rights are being taken away, and why they need to defend them — and to get them into the fight against the regime.
As Cohen told us, that means everyone pulling together to face Trump with no fear. And as Taiwo put it, progressives need to reach out and embrace everybody to do it. The reason Black Lives Matter provoked the far right so much is that it was truly frightened by the prospect of normies — the brunch crowd — demanding justice.
And stay to the end for an incredibly moving and personal reflection from Cohen about the personal toll of fighting Trump — and the reasons to do so nonetheless.
Some of the other things we covered:
Look at the “pause” on tariffs as a triumph of organizing against Trump — but it was big capital doing the organizing. What can the resistance learn from that?
The attack on the universities is a lesson: staying safe by being quiet or withdrawing is not the way to win. You can’t count on individual bravery, but you can count on collective courage.
Progress is reversible! The gains of civil rights were substantial, and we can’t lose sight of what’s being taken away, but we never should have thought that they didn’t require defense.
Trump has no fear of anything and only thinks transactionally — that means he does care what the 77 million voters who backed him think. And that’s an opportunity to convince them, in the simplest terms.
Want to know more? Michael Cohen will be joining Jim Acosta for a town hall in New York City next week. And be sure to check out Olufemi O. Taiwo’s book Elite Capture, which goes deep into many of the issues we talked about today.
Watch the video and share it widely — you really won’t want to miss this one.
In the public interest, we are opening this video to all.
Though we know that we’re in uncertain times, we’re also asking that folks support the half dozen or so people who now write for and edit and otherwise support The Ink by becoming a paying subscriber.
Take a moment to support fearless, independent reporting and to help us keep bringing you conversations like this one.
And to make joining us just a little easier, we’re offering a 20 percent discount on new subscriptions to The Ink. And if you can’t do that right now, we understand — but you can help in other ways, and one of the best is by sharing this conversation with five people you think will appreciate or be moved by it.
Stand up for media that bows to no tyrant or billionaire. Join us today. Or give a gift or group subscription.
Share this post