BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: WE’RE HELPING VOTERS LEAVE MAGA BEHIND.
The beating heart of DEFIANCE.org is our Weekly Mission Briefing. Every Wednesday, we take real action to counter Donald Trump’s abuses of power.
Trump is hemorrhaging supporters. And this week, DEFIANCE.org is funding the people who help them walk out the door. If you only have 30 seconds: the defections from MAGA have gone from a trickle to a flood… we brought on two of the sharpest minds on authoritarianism and Republican defection to explain why… and we awarded a $20,000 DEFIANCE.org grant to an amazing group called Leaving MAGA for their work in battleground states ahead of the midterms. If you are a DEFIANCE.org Member, YOU made this possible.
THE DETAILS
FIRST, our DEFIANCE “win of the week”: the defiance is fist-pumping in plain sight. A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore every national park sign it stripped under Trump’s executive order, with a hard deadline of July 3rd — just in time for America’s 250th birthday. As Xander put it: this is the only dictatorship where the monuments to the ruler come down as fast as they go up.
SECOND, we convened a panel to explain why people stay in authoritarian movements… and why they’re now leaving in droves.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat (historian, New York Times bestselling author, author of Lucid on Substack, and one of the world’s leading experts on strongman politics) walked us through what she calls “autocratic backfire,” i.e. when the strongman surrounds himself with sycophants, family, and yes-men who keep his secrets but don’t know what they’re doing, the corruption and incompetence compound until discontent spreads even among the formerly faithful. Ten years into Trump’s emotional reconditioning of his base, the cult of Trump-as-infallible is finally cracking.
Tara Setmayer (former GOP communications strategist, one of the most prominent conservative voices against Trump, and founder of The Seneca Project) spoke to what it actually takes to leave. She walked out of the party the night Trump refused to concede in 2020 and the GOP let him. Her message to the would-be defectors was that you can still be a conservative and say this guy duped us.
THIRD, we funded the people doing this work on the ground. We awarded a $20,000 DEFIANCE.org grant to Leaving MAGA, founded by the extraordinary Rich Logis — himself a former MAGA activist on a redemption arc — for their organizing work in battleground states ahead of the midterms. Rich and his team run free weekly support groups, a Reaching Out Guide for families, and direct outreach to people having doubts. As we said on air: defections were crucial to defeating Trump in 2020, and what Rich is doing may be more effective than almost any other strategy out there to protect our democracy.
Finally, we gave DEFIANCE.org Members their weekly actions in support of the Leaving MAGA mission. Check those out, below!
YOU MADE ALL OF THIS POSSIBLE. WE ARE IN AWE OF YOUR COURAGE.
YOUR MISSION, IF YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT
As a DEFIANCE.org Member, you’re already refusing to let democracy die on our watch. Here’s what we need from you this week if you want to go above and beyond:
1️⃣ Read Leaving MAGA’s “Reaching Out Guide” — Before you talk to anyone, read the guide. It’s a practical playbook for how to have these conversations with friends and family wrapped up in the movement without being patronizing. The link is HERE. The whole thing comes down to one principle Miles keeps repeating: empathy as the exit ramp. Don’t forget it!
2️⃣ Have the conversation — After you read the guide, meet with one friend or family member and listen. Ask why. As Xander put it: you can usually empathize with the why — nobody likes corruption in DC, forever wars, or what’s happened to the middle class. Once you understand the “why,” you can have an honest conversation about what to do. Don’t tell them “I told you so.” That feels good and saves nothing. If you want to win, show them the exit ramp.
3️⃣ If MAGA has fractured your family, you’re not alone. Join a support call — Leaving MAGA hosts free weekly support groups (Tuesdays) for people who’ve had relationships broken by a loved one’s descent into the movement ripping America apart. There’s no financial hindrance. They’re open and free on purpose. If this has been painful for you, the link is HERE. Miles and Xander are both planning to take these actions this week… and report back.
4️⃣ BONUS: Share your badge. You earned it. Post it and let your networks know the fight to bring people out of MAGA is real and happening right now.
🖥️ IF YOU MISSED IT
Watch the full Weekly Mission Briefing at the top, including the full conversation with Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Tara Setmayer, and Rich Logis.
As always — stay loud, stay brave, and stay together.
Your friends, in defiance,
Miles Taylor & Xander Schultz
THE DEFIANCE WATCHLIST
We are tracking these stories today.
TRUMP THREATENS TO KILL UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS IN ALL 50 STATES. For the first time in history, the Trump administration is threatening to withhold federal funding for unemployment assistance across all 50 states, warning governors it will use “every available tool” to combat alleged fraud. Nearly 2 million Americans are currently receiving those benefits. Without federal support, state-run systems could be forced to shut down entirely. Critics say this has nothing to do with fraud — it’s the same playbook the administration used against Medicaid, SNAP, and every other social program it wants to gut. More ominously, this appears to be yet another way the Trump administration is trying to get leverage over its political opponents. We suspect RED STATES won’t face challenges in keeping the unemployment money flowing. But BLUE STATES? That’s who Trump is really targeting.
TRUMP’S MAIL BALLOT POWER GRAB IS ALREADY BEING IMPLEMENTED. In March, Trump signed an executive order handing the Department of Homeland Security control over federal voter registration lists, effectively deciding who gets to cast a mail ballot. Opponents immediately sued (including legal challenges funded by DEFIANCE.org), calling it “flagrantly unconstitutional.” A judge refused to block it, saying it was too early. Well, turns out it that it’s no longer “too early” — the U.S. Postal Service has just published a rule proposal to carry it forward, and DHS has issued multiple implementation memos. With elections just months away, opponents are back in court demanding it be stopped NOW.
ACT OF DEFIANCE — MAGA FIGURES ARE DEFECTING OVER THE TERRIBLE IRAN DEAL. MAGA world is flipping out over the Iran deal, and major GOP names are defecting in the wake of the humiliating agreement. Sen. Bill Cassidy called it “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades” and declared “Reagan is rolling over in his grave,” Sen. Thom Tillis is alarmed by the $300 billion reconstruction fund the US is now on the hook for, and even Lindsey Graham — a reliable Trump stalwart — express his concerns. But the loudest fury is coming from the very MAGA media allies Trump spent months amplifying to sell this war: Fox's Mark Levin is in open revolt (“I sure as hell hope I am misreading and mishearing things”), Marc Thiessen ripped the payout as a Marshall Plan for an enemy regime that's still standing, Trey Gowdy asked “How are we better off? What did we get?,” Erick Erickson cast it as an American surrender, the right erupted as National Review demanded Trump release the text, and even Ben Shapiro warned his audience that supporters who stood by Trump would be “extraordinarily disappointed.” Before the war, the Strait of Hormuz was open, Iran was under crushing sanctions, and 13 Americans were still alive. This is just the latest in a string of eruptions pushing Republican senators to their limit… and those defections are helping to weaken Trump’s movement in a major way.
WHAT’S COMING UP
TONIGHT — DEFIANCE DAILY — Every weeknight @ 5pm ET, you can watch our hour-long podcast LIVE on our DEFIANCE.News page, YouTube, or X— and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
FRIDAY — NOTE: We won’t have a DEFIANCE Daily or a Weekly Coffee this Friday, as it’s a federal holiday!
ADD US TO YOUR CALENDAR — You can access the DEFIANCE.org Google Calendar here. That way, you’ll never miss a meeting, event, or broadcast.
