Systemic Error Podcast

What happened AlterNet reports that Vice President JD Vance, asked at a press conference to define socialism and explain the success of candidates described that way, first connected the term with prioritizing workers, then said he no longer knew what it meant and substituted complaints about foreign workers and transgender athletes. The “trap” in the headline is AlterNet columnist Sabrina Haake’s...

What happened AlterNet reports that, early in President Donald Trump’s second term, political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security directed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to secretly obtain and hack a voting machine, then send its findings to the White House. CISA staff were also reportedly told not to notify the manufacturer about discovered vulnerabilities. Car...

What happened AlterNet reports that Donald Trump asked oil executives at an April 2024 Mar-a-Lago dinner to raise $1 billion for his presidential campaign while presenting industry-friendly policies as a “deal.” Citing The Washington Post, the outlet says Trump offered tax breaks, regulatory rollbacks, expanded drilling, an end to the Biden administration’s pause on new liquefied-natural-gas expor...

What happened AlterNet reports that anti-Trump conservative commentator Rick Wilson argued on Molly Jong-Fast’s “Fast Politics” podcast that President Donald Trump’s increasingly unfiltered remarks are undermining a central MAGA myth: that he represents “robust, strict masculinity.” Wilson pointed particularly to Trump’s repeated comments about the attractiveness, physique, and appearance of Ohio...

What happened AlterNet published an essay by former Labor Secretary Robert Reich arguing that the Republican Party is “dead” as a governing institution because it has subordinated policy, principle, and internal dissent to Donald Trump. Reich’s claim is political, not literal: the party still exists and contests power, but he says loyalty to Trump has displaced its former commitments. Reich points...

What happened AlterNet reports that Meta temporarily disabled the main “No Kings” account during nationwide protests on Saturday after its systems flagged unusual activity and suspected bot involvement. Meta later said engineers determined the account should not have been removed, restored access after an additional delay, and issued what it described as a sincere apology. On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,...

What happened AlterNet columnist D. Earl Stephens argues that Donald Trump’s agenda should not be described as a failure because, by Stephens’s measure, it has produced the fear, institutional damage, inequality, and personal benefit that Trump and his allies sought. Writing 17 days before the midterm elections, Stephens portrays the second term as a “catastrophic success” for Trump, wealthy suppo...

What happened AlterNet reports that Judge Ana Reyes denied President Donald Trump’s motion to remove her from litigation over the East Potomac Golf Course. The administration alleged that Reyes was biased, hostile and overly emotional; she answered that her criticism followed the government’s abrupt removal of hundreds of trees after months in which she had credited its lawyers’ representations an...

What happened AlterNet reports that former federal prosecutor Elie Honig accused President Donald Trump’s Justice Department of abandoning political independence after federal agents searched Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington home on October 12, 22 days before the November 3 midterm election. Agents were investigating whether Omar or relatives made false statements in immigration and natural...

What happened AlterNet reports that Donald Trump has used conservation easements on golf properties to claim large tax deductions while keeping the land as operating businesses. Citing Forbes, it says an easement at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, could sharply reduce taxes associated with Trump’s reported 2025 income; Forbes estimated the benefit at roughly $825 million, with a marg...

What happened AlterNet reports that National Park Service superintendent Kevin Griess testified that the East Potomac Park golf course was not generally overrun with “falling, dangerous and disease-infested trees,” contrary to public claims by President Donald Trump and the Interior Department. Griess told Judge Ana Reyes that most of the hundreds of removed trees were healthy and non-invasive, wh...

What happened AlterNet reports that photographs published Monday showed fresh bruising on President Donald Trump’s right hand, after earlier images had also shown bruising on his left. The article does not establish a diagnosis. It says the White House attributed the bruising to handshaking and, separately, to Trump’s aspirin consumption; journalist Timothy Noah suggested circulation problems or h...

What happened AlterNet reports that Donald Trump’s “embarrassing problem” is visibly empty seating at recent rallies in Republican strongholds. Citing i Paper columnist James Ball, it points to sparsely occupied upper-tier seats at San Antonio’s Freeman Coliseum earlier this month and an entirely unused upper level at a Saturday rally in Kentucky, which Trump won by 30 points in 2024. Ball argues...

What happened AlterNet reports that Thelma Louise, a Black pro-Trump influencer, was removed from a weekend campaign rally for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after traveling two hours to attend. Video reportedly shows her watching quietly before an unidentified person escorted her out, allegedly at the direction of Paxton’s campaign manager. Outside, Louise said she had been given no reason for...

What happened AlterNet reports that the BBC subpoenaed former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith as part of its defense against President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit. Smith reportedly did not object, while Trump’s lawyers opposed his testimony. The article does not establish that the court had finally resolved that dispute, so the subpoena is a contested development—not a confirm...

What happened AlterNet reports that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the state’s top Republican election official, rejected President Donald Trump’s renewed claims that Georgia’s elections were rigged. Raffensperger told Bloomberg that results should be available by midnight on Election Day and described the process as “free, fair and fast.” Trump had again disputed the 2020 result a...

What happened AlterNet reports that Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, said on October 19 that he would seek congressional investigations, public hearings, and punitive budget cuts if U.S. officials were found to have limited Ukraine’s use of Starshield during a Russian missile attack the previous week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the episode as a betrayal and...

What happened AlterNet, citing reporting by The Daily Beast’s PunchUp, says Attorney General Todd Blanche reacted with profanity after learning that Elizabeth Oyer, a Justice Department pardon attorney he had fired in March, had worked on an internal dispute over restoring actor Mel Gibson’s gun rights. According to unnamed sources with direct knowledge, Blanche said, “F——! She’s going to think th...

What happened AlterNet reports that President Donald Trump urged New Mexico to “immediately” rename itself “New America,” claiming the change would raise home values and incomes, increase patriotic pride, and somehow make the state’s elections more honest. The article does not report any legal process, state action, or evidence supporting those claims. The proposal drew criticism from Republican-a...

What happened AlterNet reports that Jamie West, a Democratic candidate for the Fayette County Council’s District 4 seat in Indiana, admitted drinking three Coors Lights before a televised interview in which her speech appeared slurred. In a subsequent interview with Piers Morgan, West disputed that she had been “that intoxicated” and said nervousness about facing a “room full of Republicans” contr...

What happened A 16-minute recording has not brought down the Trump administration—and AlterNet reports that it has not been released. Kentucky political donor Eric Deters claims the recording contains a phone conversation damaging enough to end a prospective Vance-Rubio ticket and force White House chief of staff Susie Wiles from power, but the article provides no evidence establishing what is on...

What happened AlterNet reports that Donald Trump said during a Thursday White House Rose Garden event that he had “some very severe problems,” while distinguishing those unspecified problems from conditions associated with drinking, smoking, or drug use. The remark did not identify any diagnosis, and the reporting provides no medical evidence establishing what Trump meant. Clinical and forensic ps...

What happened AlterNet reports that New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie highlighted a remark Donald Trump made at a political rally in Clarksville, Tennessee: “I could say the stupidest things, and you clap.” Bouie argued that the comment revealed Trump’s contempt for his supporters’ judgment, much like his earlier claim that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue without losing voters. Bouie’s...

What happened AlterNet reports that Trump biographer Michael Wolff predicted White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles will probably—and perhaps “inevitably”—leave the administration. Wolff offered no evidence that Trump had decided to fire her; his forecast rested on reports that President Donald Trump bypassed Wiles when hiring press secretary Katie Zacharia and on Wolff’s assessment that Trump res...

What happened AlterNet reports that President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday waiving most Russia-related sanctions, restrictions, and duties authorized by the Graham Act. Trump certified to Congress that the waiver served the national interest, effectively sparing Russia from measures intended to increase economic pressure over its war in Ukraine. The law, signed the previous mon...