Wins of the Week: Americans (finally) get Trump’s grift, and Jon Ossoff shows Democrats exactly how to debate MAGA.
What’s better than one Win of the Week? Two! And that’s exactly where our Mission Wednesday got started.
First, a new AP-NORC poll finds that about 6 in 10 Americans believe Donald Trump is profiting from the presidency, either illegally or unethically — about 4 in 10 say he’s flat-out breaking the law, and only about 2 in 10 say he’s doing nothing wrong.
Trump’s June financial disclosure reported more than $1 billion from his family’s new crypto businesses, one of which landed a half-billion-dollar investment from a business tied to the UAE royal family.
As one Ford factory worker in Michigan who voted for Trump in 2024 put it, “He’s not putting the country first.” Even a quarter of Republicans say Trump puts “a lot” of emphasis on his personal business interests. Folks are waking up.
Then, at the Atlanta Press Club’s Georgia Senate debate on Tuesday night, Republican Mike Collins tried to use the Epstein files against Sen. Jon Ossoff. It backfired on him spectacularly.
Collins claimed he’d voted to release the files, but the record says otherwise: he voted against forcing the Justice Department to release them in July 2025, and only came around later, under pressure, on the bill Trump eventually signed.
Ossoff’s response? “Mike, who on your team advised you to raise the Epstein files? … You voted to cover up the evidence, Mike … even though you knew 14-year-old girls had been raped … because Donald Trump told you to.” Quite the retort — and spot on, too.
The debate took place as early voting got underway in Georgia, which brings us right to our Weekly Mission Briefing and your DEFIANCE actions for this week.
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: THE BIGGEST EARLY VOTE IN THE HISTORY OF THE REPUBLIC
The beating heart of DEFIANCE.org is our Weekly Mission Briefing. Every Wednesday at 5p ET, we take real action to counter Donald Trump’s abuses of power.
This week, our mission is to help turn this Saturday’s No Kings 4 protest into the largest early vote in American history.
So here’s what we did about it this week…
FIRST, we brought in Jess Morales Rocketto, founder of Maremoto, and David Hogg (@davidmileshogg), co-founder of Leaders We Deserve, to talk turnout. Early voting is already breaking records — Georgia beat its day-one midterm record by more than 50,000 votes this week alone. A new Cook Political Report survey shows Texas Democrats leading 2-to-1 among likely Hispanic voters, but there’s a real threat hiding in the data: the administration is still mining state voter lists for supposedly illegitimate voters. Young, mobile voters are the easiest to knock off the rolls, but checking your registration this week matters for everyone.
SECOND, we talked about the fear factor. LULAC, UnidosUS, Common Cause, and the city of Denver have sued to keep armed ICE agents away from polling places, after two ICE agents showed up at a Syracuse polling site during New York’s June primary. More than half of Americans now say they’re worried about voter intimidation at the polls. Jess and David’s answer: warn people, but don’t scare them away — and bring the fight back to what No Kings has been saying all along about where this authoritarian drift leads if it goes unchecked.
THIRD, we welcomed back Ezra Levin (@ezralevin), co-founder of Indivisible, to talk about Saturday’s main event. The first three No Kings protests filled the streets; last March’s event was the largest single-day protest in American history. Ezra encourged everyone to show up for the No Kings 4 Nationwide Day of Action this Saturday, October 17. Find an event near you. If you can’t find an event nearby, sign up to host one yourself, whether 500 people participate or five! But, as Ezra notes, marching alone isn’t enough. Our ultimate defense is the biggest early election turnout in history. So protest — then vote.
YOUR MISSION, IF YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT
As a DEFIANCE.org Member, you’re already refusing to let democracy die on our watch. But if you want to do even more this week, here’s what you can do…
1️⃣ Register for an event. You can either join or host a No Kings 4 event.
👉 Find an Event OR Host an Event
2️⃣ Recruit friends. Bring friends, family, and neighbors. Share your event on social and in group chats.
👇 Badge below
🖥️ IF YOU MISSED IT
You can watch the full Weekly Mission Briefing at the top!
As always — stay loud, stay brave, and stay together.
Best,
The DEFIANCE.org Team
THIS WEEK ON THE ANT HILL
THURS, OCT 15 — SHOW US YOUR ANT-ITUDE! — We wanna see your DEFIANCE swag, your original artwork, your unique ways of shouting out your defiance to the world in creative ways. Send your pics to our editor here.
THURS, OCT 15 — DEFIANCE BOOK CLUB — Our current selection is: 1984 by George Orwell. We’ll be discussing chapters 7 & 8 in our Members-only chatroom @ 2:30 pm ET. It’s never too late to join the party! Visit your library or favorite bookstore to pick up a copy.
FRI, OCT 16 — DOGS (AND CATS!) OF THE DEFIANCE — That’s right…even our furry friends are sticking it to the man. Do you have a dog (or a cat or a horse or a rabbit or a ferret…) that would sooner lift their leg on Trump than play fetch? Send us a pic, and they might be featured in a future issue! Because fighting authoritarianism is hard work, a little fun is important too. :)
GROW THE DEFIANCE
DEFIANCE Members are absolutely crushing it, spreading the word about our club for the courageous to their friends. There is strength in numbers, and that’s exactly what defiance requires. Here’s how you can help build our numbers—and get a shoutout on the Daily with Miles and Xander:
Use the buttons provided to share your personal referral link on X, Facebook, or email. Or, copy the link (circled in the example below) to share it via text or other social platforms.
