Michael Blanding
@michaelblanding.bsky.social
Investigative journalist and author of The Map Thief (NYT bestseller) and In Shakespeare’s Shadow. Upcoming book explores Hobby Lobby, looted antiquities, and the rise of Christian Nationalism (PublicAffairs, July 14, 2026). www.michaelblanding.com
Pinned
COVER REVEAL! Proud to officially announce my next book, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO HOBBY LOBBY: Inside a Billionaire Family’s Quest to Craft a Christian Nation, to be published by PublicAffairs on July 14, 2026. #ChristianNationalism #Bible #Politics #Religion #ReligiousFreedom #AntiquitiesTrafficking
Interesting that white evangelical Protestants (69%) and non-Hispanic Catholics (52%) are the only categories to have a positive approval rating of Trump.
This is the FIRST time in the last decade that I've seen a majority of mainline Protestants disapprove of Trump. (New Pew poll.)
52% of white nonevangelical Prots disapprove; 46% approve (but that's down at least 10 points from where it has mostly been).
White evangelicals steady w/69% approval
52% of white nonevangelical Prots disapprove; 46% approve (but that's down at least 10 points from where it has mostly been).
White evangelicals steady w/69% approval
January 29, 2026 at 10:05 PM
Interesting that white evangelical Protestants (69%) and non-Hispanic Catholics (52%) are the only categories to have a positive approval rating of Trump.
Reposted by Michael Blanding
The killing of Alex Pretti and the grotesque lying was an overreach by the administration. They've paid a price and had to pull back a bit. But it's when there's some disarray that the democratic opposition needs to intensify the offensive, and turn a marginal tactical success into a major victory.
January 26, 2026 at 10:56 PM
The killing of Alex Pretti and the grotesque lying was an overreach by the administration. They've paid a price and had to pull back a bit. But it's when there's some disarray that the democratic opposition needs to intensify the offensive, and turn a marginal tactical success into a major victory.
Reposted by Michael Blanding
The story is not that there are two conflicting versions of what happened.
The story is that the federal government is lying about what happened.
There is plenty of evidence.
Your job, our job, is to sift that evidence and describe what actually happened ffs.
The story is that the federal government is lying about what happened.
There is plenty of evidence.
Your job, our job, is to sift that evidence and describe what actually happened ffs.
January 25, 2026 at 11:33 AM
The story is not that there are two conflicting versions of what happened.
The story is that the federal government is lying about what happened.
There is plenty of evidence.
Your job, our job, is to sift that evidence and describe what actually happened ffs.
The story is that the federal government is lying about what happened.
There is plenty of evidence.
Your job, our job, is to sift that evidence and describe what actually happened ffs.
Reposted by Michael Blanding
Murphy on Bovino: "That was a bone-chilling interview. I was shaking while I was listening to it, in large part bc it takes just an unbelievable amount of gall to lie to the American public. Everybody saw that video ... it should freak the public out that the Trump administration lies this easily"
January 25, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Murphy on Bovino: "That was a bone-chilling interview. I was shaking while I was listening to it, in large part bc it takes just an unbelievable amount of gall to lie to the American public. Everybody saw that video ... it should freak the public out that the Trump administration lies this easily"
Reposted by Michael Blanding
👀🥶
A coworker took this from her apartment. I haven't seen a crowd this size before. Maybe the first Women's March? But it was much much warmer that day. ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA!
January 24, 2026 at 1:32 AM
👀🥶
Reposted by Michael Blanding
CNN: DHS officials have come to FEMA staff and told them to limit the use of the word ice…they are worried that by posting something like, watch out for the ice, that it's going to become a meme….
January 24, 2026 at 12:07 AM
CNN: DHS officials have come to FEMA staff and told them to limit the use of the word ice…they are worried that by posting something like, watch out for the ice, that it's going to become a meme….
Reposted by Michael Blanding
From someone on the ground in Lewiston, Maine:
January 22, 2026 at 7:26 PM
From someone on the ground in Lewiston, Maine:
Reposted by Michael Blanding
Are you an LGBTQ ally? Buy Girl Scout cookies AND support our trans friends!
open.substack.com/pub/erininth...
open.substack.com/pub/erininth...
Trans Girl Scouts On Cookie List Sell 71,000 Boxes Of Cookies And Growing
This is the 5th year EITM has maintained a list of trans girl scouts to buy cookies from.
open.substack.com
January 23, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Are you an LGBTQ ally? Buy Girl Scout cookies AND support our trans friends!
open.substack.com/pub/erininth...
open.substack.com/pub/erininth...
Reposted by Michael Blanding
(📷) This is an ICE agent in Minneapolis spraying a prone, unarmed, helpless civilian in the face with chemical munitions.
This is something one goes to jail for.
Yes, even a federal agent.
Those who say Trump has declared war on Minnesota—and now Maine—are *not* exaggerating.
This is something one goes to jail for.
Yes, even a federal agent.
Those who say Trump has declared war on Minnesota—and now Maine—are *not* exaggerating.
January 22, 2026 at 2:02 AM
(📷) This is an ICE agent in Minneapolis spraying a prone, unarmed, helpless civilian in the face with chemical munitions.
This is something one goes to jail for.
Yes, even a federal agent.
Those who say Trump has declared war on Minnesota—and now Maine—are *not* exaggerating.
This is something one goes to jail for.
Yes, even a federal agent.
Those who say Trump has declared war on Minnesota—and now Maine—are *not* exaggerating.
Reposted by Michael Blanding
McGovern: Well, he said a lot of crazy shit today. I think it’s time to take the keys away from grandpa. He doesn’t seem like he’s all there.
January 21, 2026 at 6:59 PM
McGovern: Well, he said a lot of crazy shit today. I think it’s time to take the keys away from grandpa. He doesn’t seem like he’s all there.
Reposted by Michael Blanding
Every poll these days is like:
- Mad Nazi Pedophile King: 39%
- The Democrats: 42%
- Mad Nazi Pedophile King: 39%
- The Democrats: 42%
January 22, 2026 at 1:26 AM
Every poll these days is like:
- Mad Nazi Pedophile King: 39%
- The Democrats: 42%
- Mad Nazi Pedophile King: 39%
- The Democrats: 42%
Reposted by Michael Blanding
a heavily armed paramilitary force with legal immunity is occupying a city and going door to door kidnapping non-white adults and children in furtherance of an explicitly white nationalist political project
January 22, 2026 at 3:05 AM
a heavily armed paramilitary force with legal immunity is occupying a city and going door to door kidnapping non-white adults and children in furtherance of an explicitly white nationalist political project
Reposted by Michael Blanding
What a time to be alive
January 18, 2026 at 1:59 PM
What a time to be alive
This is a story I’ve been wanting to read- about how ordinary people have been organizing to fight back - thank you Aymann Ismail!
Incredible report on how patriotic Americans in Minneapolis are dealing with the invasion of Miller’s Gestapo.
What Trump and ICE Are Doing in Minneapolis Is Obvious. They Don’t Seem to Grasp What’s Happening Instead. — Slate
Trump had a playbook after Renee Good’s ICE shooting. I saw up close what’s happening instead.
apple.news
January 18, 2026 at 3:10 PM
This is a story I’ve been wanting to read- about how ordinary people have been organizing to fight back - thank you Aymann Ismail!
Reposted by Michael Blanding
Reposted by Michael Blanding
He should just say the 1st Amendment doesn't apply to the queers.
Judge Kacsmaryk rejects challenge by West Texas A&M University's LGBQT club to drag show ban, saying the First Amendment doesn't protect "self-expression in all forms, and certainly not the libertine 'expressive conduct' absolutism envisioned" by the group. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law – #168 in Spectrum WT v. Wendler (N.D. Tex., 2:23-cv-00048) – CourtListener.com
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW (Ordered by Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk on 1/17/2026) (vls)
storage.courtlistener.com
January 18, 2026 at 2:55 AM
He should just say the 1st Amendment doesn't apply to the queers.
Reposted by Michael Blanding
The image that makes so many ask, “why Gonzo yearning for Fozzie?” I don’t know why this works. I just know it does. 😂😂
January 16, 2026 at 11:13 PM
The image that makes so many ask, “why Gonzo yearning for Fozzie?” I don’t know why this works. I just know it does. 😂😂
Reposted by Michael Blanding
Pynchon, Wallace, Vonnegut, Mike Judge, literally nobody, not even the South Park guys, could have come up with a plot this relentlessly stupid
María Corina Machado says she presented Trump with her Nobel peace prize medal
María Corina Machado says she presented Trump with her Nobel peace prize medal
The Venezuelan opposition leader did not confirm whether the US president accepted the award
The Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado, has said she presented Donald Trump with her Nobel peace prize medal during their meeting on Thursday.
She did not answer reporters’ questions as to whether he accepted it. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 10:48 PM
Pynchon, Wallace, Vonnegut, Mike Judge, literally nobody, not even the South Park guys, could have come up with a plot this relentlessly stupid
Reposted by Michael Blanding
When our children clean out our house after we die, they will find dozens or possibly hundreds of tape measures.
I wonder where they'll find them.
I wonder where they'll find them.
January 15, 2026 at 4:06 PM
When our children clean out our house after we die, they will find dozens or possibly hundreds of tape measures.
I wonder where they'll find them.
I wonder where they'll find them.
Reposted by Michael Blanding
The Times went to non urban Minnesota to ask people why they dislike urban Minneapolis. If someone were to ask me to teach a journalism school course on helicopter reporting, this story - so cliche it’s almost hard to believe they really did this - would immediately go on the syllabus.
NYTimes has truly outdone itself with this latest in its "ask white guys in diner" genre. Thank goodness we get a perspective on what's happening in Minneapolis from people in **Nisswa** who probably mean Brainerd when they say they "prefer not to go the city anymore" www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/u...
One State, Two Very Different Views of Minneapolis
www.nytimes.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:55 PM
The Times went to non urban Minnesota to ask people why they dislike urban Minneapolis. If someone were to ask me to teach a journalism school course on helicopter reporting, this story - so cliche it’s almost hard to believe they really did this - would immediately go on the syllabus.
This has been the plan all along
Trump has a ten-month plan to ensure further elections are impossible.
It's *not even halfway through January* and his paramilitary is occupying a city and killing protesters as he prepares to invoke the Insurrection Act and floats canceling elections.
Wake up: fascism is here.
It's *not even halfway through January* and his paramilitary is occupying a city and killing protesters as he prepares to invoke the Insurrection Act and floats canceling elections.
Wake up: fascism is here.
January 15, 2026 at 4:06 PM
This has been the plan all along
Reposted by Michael Blanding
This leads me to believe that up until this meeting, Trump absolutely thought it was "hole milk."
Trump: "It's actually a legal definition -- 'whole milk.' And it's whole with a W for those of you that have a problem."
January 15, 2026 at 2:58 PM
This leads me to believe that up until this meeting, Trump absolutely thought it was "hole milk."
Reposted by Michael Blanding
It's absolutely INFURIATING to see the same people in the press who did their armchair neurology routine diagnosing Joe Biden with dementia and questioning his basic motor functions b/c he wore orthopedic shoes have absolutely NOTHING to say about this.
January 15, 2026 at 2:11 PM
It's absolutely INFURIATING to see the same people in the press who did their armchair neurology routine diagnosing Joe Biden with dementia and questioning his basic motor functions b/c he wore orthopedic shoes have absolutely NOTHING to say about this.
Reposted by Michael Blanding
Insane footage from on the ground in Minneapolis. Trump continues to turn our neighborhoods into war zones. This is not normal.
🚨BREAKING: ICE unleashes ONSLAUGHT of flash bang grenades and chemical ammunition at unarmed Minneapolis protesters in WAR-LIKE attack. Several protesters struck. Our reporter @zdroberts.bsky.social struck in the head.
"I got hit in the head really bad." LIVE NOW ⬇️
"I got hit in the head really bad." LIVE NOW ⬇️
January 15, 2026 at 3:27 AM
Insane footage from on the ground in Minneapolis. Trump continues to turn our neighborhoods into war zones. This is not normal.