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Project 2025's Quiet Recruitment Effort Continues - My Latest MSNBC Appearance

Last week, I was invited back for a panel discussion on MSNBC's The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle. We discussed Project 2025, the gender gap, and Obama’s takedown of Trump’s fragile masculinity.
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The stakes of this election are crystal clear. Donald Trump’s migrant fear-mongering is growing increasingly dangerous, and now he’s once again saying he’ll deploy the military against people he disagrees with. I still firmly believe Trump’s insane authoritarianism is the most important story of this election cycle. As we move closer to election day, the media's role in exposing this authoritarian threat is more critical than ever.

Last week, I got the opportunity to highlight this threat again in a great segment on MSNBC.

On Friday, I made another appearance on MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle - one of my favorite anchors. It was on their signature Nightcap segment, which was with three other panelists for a full hour. The other panelists were fantastic.

I was at the table with the dean of the Columbia School of Journalism, Jelani Cobb, Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair, Molly Jong-Fast, and NBC News Journalist, Jonathan Allen. They were all so brilliant and kind. I was honored to be part of such a powerhouse panel.

Stephanie and her team have made it a priority to analyze the threat of Project 2025 and Trump’s second-term plans. This latest show was no different. In one of the segments, Stephanie turned to me and pointed out that Project 2025 hasn’t been in the news in the past month or two and asked what they’re up to.

I responded by spotlighting the fact that in spite of Donald Trump’s best efforts to falsely distance himself from Project 2025, his agenda directly aligns with it, and they’re still recruiting and training Trump loyalists for a second Trump administration.

We then had an important discussion about what it would mean if Trump won and executed his plan to purge tens of thousands of civil servants, install trained loyalists, and twist the government into a tool of the far-right. You can watch that full exchange in the embedded video above or on MSNBC’s YouTube channel.

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In one part of that exchange, I pointed out that any doubt about whether or not Trump will pursue this authoritarian agenda is unjustified - he will do it if elected. Trump has proven that the most important checks on presidential power are the guardrails of the president’s own character. With the Supreme Court empowering Trump, and his plans to surround himself with loyalists if he wins, he would have the power to implement his authoritarian plans. Character matters. Here’s that part of the segment:

In another part of the show, when everyone selected an MVP of the week, I chose former President Barack Obama for his fierce takedown of Donald Trump’s hurricane disinformation and his dismantling of Trump’s fragile masculinity. Trump’s insecure, vindictive, depraved version of masculinity is actually weakness. Real men know a fragile egomaniac when they see one. This is an important message and one I wanted to amplify. Here’s that part of the segment:


I just have to say, once again, to all of you who have subscribed to this newsletter, especially those of you who are paying subscribers, you’ve made this work possible. Thank you for amplifying this work, for pushing back on disinformation, and for being part of the pro-democracy coalition - which I believe does and should include journalists who want to spread the truth.

We’ve made a lot of waves in the first year of this newsletter’s life, and that’s all thanks to you and your support. I read all of your comments on social media and try to respond as often as I can, and I see all of you liking and boosting these articles. So again, I genuinely appreciate each and every one of you. You mean more to me than you realize.

Thank you!

-Ahmed

If you like my journalism, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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