Ball of Thread

Donald Trump will never accept losing anything – whether an election or a bet. But that wouldn't matter if he didn't convince millions of Americans to make his grievances their own.  This Ball of Thread unwinds what made the pincer attack that overran the Capitol on January 6th possible. Donald Trump's grievance narratives gave disaffected Americans meaning, and in that meaning, he convinced thousands of people to throw their lives away in his name. The thing is, it's all the same con. That con defeated the Russia investigation and weaponized the Department of Justice against his opponent. And when he lost in 2020, he unleashed it to unite fringe right-wing groups and mainstream Republicans in a shared revenge fantasy. Thus, he was able to raise a ragtag army to sack the nation's Capitol briefly, and in the process, savagely battered hundreds of police officers and ended America's tradition of a peaceful transfer of power. Though the attack ultimately failed by only delaying the certification of Joe Biden's victory, the bets Trump and many of his biggest fans made on January 6, 2021 are now paying off in ways that were inconceivable on January 6, 2025.

Stephen Miller has had two notable failures in 2025. His initial success at deporting 200 mostly innocent men to a concentration camp has been backfiring ever since. And his demand that DHS attempt to snatch 3,000 people a day has led to backlash without making the US safe from dangerous immigrants. These failures must become part of making Stephen Miller the villain of Trump's failures in 2026. Read the post: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/12/27/we-dont-know-how-when-stephen-miller-fails/ Watch this: https://youtu.be/-j2JfEzuqY8?si=_nt2eC5T5fjb93ry Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/  Produced by https://www.patreon.com/lolgopstudios 

Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair she didn't really know how bad the Epstein scandal would be, and so relied on her resident conspiracy theorists -- Dan Bongino, Kash Patel, and JD Vance -- instead. But she's still misjudging who cares about this. Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ Back LOLGOP Studios: https://www.patreon.com/c/LOLGOPStudios 

Donald Trump's second term National Security Strategy was an attack on Europe. While boasting of its own competence, it lists a bunch of ways Donald Trump has made the US less safe -- starting with the way he sells out American sovereignty whenever anyone offers him a pile of cryptocurrency. Watch this: https://youtu.be/n-E-BU6OOfw?si=QLLy_AYSBU19_AzK Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ Support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/cw/LOLGOPStudios 

I've got bad news for you. Marco Rubio may be the main thing standing between us and the end of the Western Order and the dismemberment of Ukraine. He could be fired by noon. Or he could buy time for Congress to stand up to Trump on this. Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/11/26/the-dim-philby-leaks/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ 

Pam Bondi did some reckless things in the Epstein and Comey cases a week ago Friday. They're likely to backfire.   Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ Support LOLGOP Studios: https://www.patreon.com/c/LOLGOPStudios 

Jim Comey suspects that the FBI snuck into data they had not lawfully seized to get the indictment against him.   Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/11/17/the-11-fuck-ups-pam-bondis-doj-made-in-indicting-jim-comey/   Support: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ 

Pam Bondi did two totally reckless things yesterday: re-ratify the indictment Lindsey Halligan obtained against Jim Comey, and immediately agree to investigate Democrats' involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. Read the post: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/11/16/might-pam-bondis-latest-prosecutorial-abuse-give-us-ponies-and-puppies/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/

Just about every aspect of Trump's tariffs are falling apart. And he's trying to convince credulous people that, instead, he's delivering them a win.   Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zjd_SkvN9c   Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ 

Marsha Blackburn and a bunch of other far right Republicans are whining that DOJ discovered they had ties to Donald Trump's criminal attempt to steal the 2020 election.   Meanwhile, between ICE's kidnapping and hit-and-run and the Trump Administration's murder, torture, kidnapping, and bribery, we're seeing a crime wave from white nationalists.   Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/

"America's Hitler" is not just ripping down the public entrance of the White House, he must be building a big new bunker to replace the old one.   Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ 

Stephen Miller is trying to use the ICE invasion of Chicago to create a pretext to invade with troops. So far, mobilization of the entire Chicago community has prevented that.   Read the post: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/10/16/how-city-of-chicago-beat-back-stephen-millers-shoddy-propaganda-so-far/   Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ 

The shutdown debate over healthcare has ignored one significant healthcare cost: What taxpayers are paying for the damage Kristi Noem's goons have done to people rounded up in their raids.   Read the post: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/10/05/400000-the-free-medical-care-kristi-noems-goons-made-taxpayers-pay/   Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/

Stephen Miller is trying hard to criminalize the Democratic Party. But the biggest crime scene in DC is the White House.   Find out more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/10/06/the-crime-wave-is-coming-from-inside-the-white-house/   Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ 

The same journalists who normalized Trump's past politicized prosecutions are shocked that Trump did it again with Jim Comey. Read the post: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/09/26/mainstream-press-confesses-they-missed-the-other-politicized-prosecutions/  Watch: https://youtu.be/KBEgfIU8Oyg?si=j1tifL_zlEZqF9RY Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/

Given the looming shutdown, it's time for all the lefty pundits who demanded a shutdown to actually do something to win it.   Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/09/22/time-to-win-the-shutdown/   Support the government: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ 

The 2016 attack by Russia on the 2016 election helped US abandon rational discourse, created deep polarization, and continues to harm the US Deep State. Get the whole story: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzj-nJwdjvbfutHZdsNfOEou7UXvHm_SH  Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ 

While much of the left is pushing for a shutdown later this month, almost none are talking about how a shutdown ties to any articulable strategy to fight fascism. Indeed, the hope it will be an "attentional" event simply outsources the agency of fixing the Democrats' attentional problems generally.   Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/GH7kzWO2c1s?si=4QVJ4DX1Fvi2MU9H   Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/09/09/the-education-of-ezra-klein/   Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ 

JB Pritzker and Gavin Newsom both gave press conferences showing that Trump's attempts to invade their states is about authoritarianism, not law enforcement. But Newsom's effort more successfully exposed Trump's authoritarian spectacle.   Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/09/02/a-tale-of-two-governors-confronting-versus-dick-wagging/   Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ 

In June, Republicans on the Supreme Court lifted a stay, giving DOGE access to all Americans' Social Security records. Then, DOGE gave Ed "Big Balls" Coristine -- a guy with ties to criminal hackers -- access to that.   Read more:  https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/08/26/amid-hunt-for-crime-in-dc-whistleblower-implicates-ed-big-balls-coristine-and-john-roberts/   Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/