Brendan Nyhan
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brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan
@brendannyhan.bsky.social
120K followers 4.3K following 9.7K posts

Dartmouth political scientist and Bright Line Watch co-director. Previously Upshot NYT / CJR contributor, Spinsanity co-founder, All the President's Spin co-author.

https://sites.dartmouth.edu/nyhan/
http://brightlinewatch.org .. more

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Brendan Nyhan is an American political scientist and professor at Dartmouth College. He is also a liberal to moderate political blogger, author, and political columnist. He was born in Mountain View, California and now lives in Hanover, New Hampshire. .. more

Political science 39%
Sociology 22%
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brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · Nov 24
My @nytimes.com op-ed: The Boomers Are Protesting Trump. Where Is Gen Z? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/o... (gift link)

The key point: "The absence of young people from conventional protests is both a problem and a warning."
Opinion | The Boomers Are Protesting Trump. Where Is Gen Z?
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

onestpress.onestnetwork.com
Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 17h
Top tier joke

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers, Leigh Sparks , and 4 more

parkermolloy.com
Parker Molloy @parkermolloy.com · 20h
Kind of wild how the take that some of Trump's supporters were "deplorable" was some huge scandal, but regularly screaming about "radical left scum" is just a thing he'll say with no media backlash.
Donald J Trump Truth Social post: Merry Christmas to all, including the Radical Left Scum that is doing everything possible to destroy our Country, but are failing badly. We no longer have Open Borders, Men in Women’s Sports, Transgender for Everyone, or Weak Law Enforcement. What we do have is a Record Stock Market and 401K’s, Lowest Crime numbers in decades, No Inflation, and

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 14 more

markjacob.bsky.social
Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 1d
Here’s the U.S. government being officially religious in a country with no official religion.
Homeland Security tweet: Merry Christmas, America. We are blessed to share a nation and a Savior.

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

Reposted by Joanna L. Grossman, David Darmofal

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d
The rule of law is under threat
philipmai.com Philip Mai @philipmai.com · 1d
"Judges who ruled against Trump say harassment & threats have changed their lives. More than 100 pizzas were delivered to the homes of judges & their families this year, some with signs of foreign involvement. Judges say the message is clear: We know where you live." www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...
Judges who ruled against Trump say harassment and threats have changed their lives
More than 100 pizzas were delivered to the homes of judges and their families this year, some with signs of foreign involvement. Judges say the message is clear: We know where you live.
www.nbcnews.com

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Steven Heydemann, Joe R. Feagin , and 15 more

adamrothman.bsky.social
Adam Rothman enjoys a good sandwich @adamrothman.bsky.social · 1d
“Like Prime, but with human beings.”
“We need to get better at treating this like a business,” ICE acting director Todd M. Lyons said at a border security conference in April, according to the Arizona Mirror. The administration’s goal, he said, was to deport immigrants as efficiently as Amazon moves packages: “Like Prime, but with human beings.”

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Kim L. Scheppele, Brendan Nyhan , and 3 more

philipmai.com
Philip Mai @philipmai.com · 1d
"Judges who ruled against Trump say harassment & threats have changed their lives. More than 100 pizzas were delivered to the homes of judges & their families this year, some with signs of foreign involvement. Judges say the message is clear: We know where you live." www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...
Judges who ruled against Trump say harassment and threats have changed their lives
More than 100 pizzas were delivered to the homes of judges and their families this year, some with signs of foreign involvement. Judges say the message is clear: We know where you live.
www.nbcnews.com

Reposted by David R. Miller

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d
The Department of Justice is a serious institution full of committed public servants who have left literally millions on the table to try to do good. And now another Trump troll is shitposting in their name. Who can trust in the independence and integrity of prosecutions under these circumstances?
ronfilipkowski.bsky.social Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 1d
Another brilliant idea by the Trump WH to put the ‘Rapid React’ campaign ‘own the libs’ juvenile delinquents in charge of DOJ comms. Very professional.

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d
agree, though key factor is whether those claims are credible - what's the separating equilibrium? how could we know with that Porsche ad? easier in higher ed

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d
Also: arithmetic

Reposted by Anna O. Law

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d
Kids: Study economics
crampell.bsky.social Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 1d
how did this guy run an investment bank?

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Gerald Friedman

ronfilipkowski.bsky.social
Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 1d
Another brilliant idea by the Trump WH to put the ‘Rapid React’ campaign ‘own the libs’ juvenile delinquents in charge of DOJ comms. Very professional.

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers, Iikka Korhonen , and 2 more

jameeljaffer.bsky.social
Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 1d
The government has broad authority to control admission but courts have held *repeatedly*, over more than half a century, that the First Amendment bars the government from denying visas to foreign citizens simply because it dislikes what they have to say. 1/
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/b...
They Seek to Curb Online Hate. The U.S. Accuses Them of Censorship.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, David Darmofal

crampell.bsky.social
Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 1d
how did this guy run an investment bank?

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

kashhill.bsky.social
Kashmir Hill @kashhill.bsky.social · 1d
I thought, based on the social media-fication of the @rachelaviv.bsky.social Oliver Sacks piece, that Sacks had invented patients wholesale. But instead it’s what was once seemingly secretly acceptable among highbrow writers: making up quotes and details about people to make them more interesting.

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Daniel W. Drezner, James Goodwin , and 2 more

astra.bsky.social
Astra Taylor @astra.bsky.social · 2d
WaPo reports that ICE is planning 7 massive human warehouses holding 5,000 to 10,000 people.

Recalls the acting ICE director 2015 statement that he wanted to see a “business”-oriented approach to deportations, “like [Amazon] Prime, but with human beings”.

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
ICE documents reveal plan to hold 80,000 immigrants in warehouses
The Trump administration wants to build seven large-scale deportation hubs to speed up deportations, internal ICE documents show.
www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Lisa W. Fazio, Joe R. Feagin , and 8 more

ryanjreilly.com
Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 2d
“I’m 84 years old. Threats against my life expectancy are kind of hollow. I don’t have much time anyway. I’m more concerned that our democracy is at risk because of the trends against the rule of law.” www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...
Judges who ruled against Trump say harassment and threats have changed their lives
More than 100 pizzas were delivered to the homes of judges and their families this year, some with signs of foreign involvement. Judges say the message is clear: We know where you live.
www.nbcnews.com

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Daniel W. Drezner, Scott A. Imberman , and 1 more

gabrielmalor.bsky.social
Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 2d
Also, Justice Kavanaugh sounds like he really, really wants a second try at his decision authorizing Kavanaugh Stops.

He's now insisting that immigration enforcement should not be like EXACTLY WHAT IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT IS LIKE UNDER TRUMP'S THUGGERY.
arrests in Illinois. The State and the Government disagree about whether the immigration officers have violated the Constitution in making certain immigration stops and arrests. The basic constitutional rules governing that dispute are longstanding and clear: The Fourth Amendment requires that immigration stops must be based on reasonable suspicion of illegal presence, stops must be brief, arrests must be based on probable cause, and officers must not employ excessive force. Moreover, the officers must not make interior immigration stops or arrests based on race or ethnicity. Cf. Whren v. United States, 517 U. S. 806, 813 (1996) (“[T]he Constitution prohibits selective enforcement of the law based on considerations such as race”). This application does not require us to delve into the parties’ underlying dispute and to determine whether any particular immigration encounter or series of encounters in Illinois has violated those basic constitutional principles.

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Richard M. Carpiano

daviddarmofal.bsky.social
David Darmofal @daviddarmofal.bsky.social · 2d
Prayers for Ben Sasse. 🙏
yasharali.bsky.social Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 3d
Former Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse says he doesn’t have much time left.

Sasse is just 53 years old.
Ben Sasse • @BenSasse G... Friends- This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I'll cut to the chase: Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die. Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it's a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too - we all do. I'm blessed with amazing siblings and half-a-dozen buddies that are genuinely brothers. As one of them put it, "Sure, you're on the clock, but we're all on the clock." Death is a wicked thief, and the bastard pursues us all. Still, I've got less time than I'd prefer. This is hard for someone wired to work and build, but harder still as a husband and a dad. I can't begin to describe how great my people are. During the past year, as we'd temporarily stepped back from public life and built new family rhythms, Melissa and I have grown even closer - and that on top of three decades of the best friend a man could ever have. Seven months ago, Corrie was commissioned into the Air Force and she's off at instrument and multi-engine rounds of flight school. Last week, Alex kicked butt graduating from college a semester early even while teaching gen chem, organic, and physics (she's a freak). This summer, 14-year-old Breck started learning to drive. (Okay, we've been driving off-book for six years — but now we've got paper to make it street-legal.) I couldn't be more grateful to constantly get to bear-hug this motley crew of sinners and saints. There's not a good time to tell your peeps you're now marching to the beat of a faster drummer - but the season of advent isn't the worst. As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what's to come. There's not a good time to tell your peeps you're now marching to the beat of a faster drummer — but the season of advent isn't the worst. As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what's to come. Not an abstract hope in fanciful human goodness; not hope in vague hallmark-sappy spirituality; not a bootstrapped hope in our own strength (what foolishness is the evaporating-muscle | once prided myself in). Nope — often we lazily say "hope" when what we mean is "optimism." To be clear, optimism is great, and it's absolutely necessary, but it's insufficient. It's not the kinda thing that holds up when you tell your daughters you're not going to walk them down the aisle. Nor telling your mom and pops they're gonna bury their son. A well-lived life demands more reality — stiffer stuff. That's why, during advent, even while still walking in darkness, we shout our hope — often properly with a gravelly voice soldiering through tears. Such is the calling of the pilgrim. Those who know ourselves to need a Physician should dang well look forward to enduring beauty and eventual fulfillment. That is, we hope in a real Deliverer — a rescuing God, born at a real time, in a real place. But the eternal city - with foundations and without cancer - is not yet. Remembering Isaiah's prophecies of what's to come doesn't dull the pain of current sufferings. But it does put it in eternity's perspective: "When we've been there 10,000 years...We've no less days to sing God's praise." I'll have more to say. I'm not going down without a fight. One sub-part of God's grace is found in the jawdropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more. Death and dying aren't the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived. We're zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I've pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape. But for now, as our family faces the reality of treatmen…

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, David Darmofal

yasharali.bsky.social
Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 3d
Former Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse says he doesn’t have much time left.

Sasse is just 53 years old.
Ben Sasse • @BenSasse G... Friends- This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I'll cut to the chase: Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die. Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it's a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too - we all do. I'm blessed with amazing siblings and half-a-dozen buddies that are genuinely brothers. As one of them put it, "Sure, you're on the clock, but we're all on the clock." Death is a wicked thief, and the bastard pursues us all. Still, I've got less time than I'd prefer. This is hard for someone wired to work and build, but harder still as a husband and a dad. I can't begin to describe how great my people are. During the past year, as we'd temporarily stepped back from public life and built new family rhythms, Melissa and I have grown even closer - and that on top of three decades of the best friend a man could ever have. Seven months ago, Corrie was commissioned into the Air Force and she's off at instrument and multi-engine rounds of flight school. Last week, Alex kicked butt graduating from college a semester early even while teaching gen chem, organic, and physics (she's a freak). This summer, 14-year-old Breck started learning to drive. (Okay, we've been driving off-book for six years — but now we've got paper to make it street-legal.) I couldn't be more grateful to constantly get to bear-hug this motley crew of sinners and saints. There's not a good time to tell your peeps you're now marching to the beat of a faster drummer - but the season of advent isn't the worst. As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what's to come. There's not a good time to tell your peeps you're now marching to the beat of a faster drummer — but the season of advent isn't the worst. As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what's to come. Not an abstract hope in fanciful human goodness; not hope in vague hallmark-sappy spirituality; not a bootstrapped hope in our own strength (what foolishness is the evaporating-muscle | once prided myself in). Nope — often we lazily say "hope" when what we mean is "optimism." To be clear, optimism is great, and it's absolutely necessary, but it's insufficient. It's not the kinda thing that holds up when you tell your daughters you're not going to walk them down the aisle. Nor telling your mom and pops they're gonna bury their son. A well-lived life demands more reality — stiffer stuff. That's why, during advent, even while still walking in darkness, we shout our hope — often properly with a gravelly voice soldiering through tears. Such is the calling of the pilgrim. Those who know ourselves to need a Physician should dang well look forward to enduring beauty and eventual fulfillment. That is, we hope in a real Deliverer — a rescuing God, born at a real time, in a real place. But the eternal city - with foundations and without cancer - is not yet. Remembering Isaiah's prophecies of what's to come doesn't dull the pain of current sufferings. But it does put it in eternity's perspective: "When we've been there 10,000 years...We've no less days to sing God's praise." I'll have more to say. I'm not going down without a fight. One sub-part of God's grace is found in the jawdropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more. Death and dying aren't the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived. We're zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I've pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape. But for now, as our family faces the reality of treatmen…

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Nathan Richardson, Joanna L. Grossman , and 2 more

truthfuljai.bsky.social
Jai: Lover of ALL forms of Black Joy @truthfuljai.bsky.social · 3d
It is. You can actually search visible text on the redacted documents and the completely UNredacted document appears in the results 😭
(along with other young girls) to such powerful people were to ingratiate himself with them for business, personal, political, and financial gain, as well as to obtain potential blackmail information. relations with was| One such powerful individual that Epstein forced then-minor Jane Doe #3 to have sexual , a close friend of Epstein's Epstein required Jane Doe #3 to have sexual relations with on numerous occasions while she was a minor, not only in Florida but also on private planes, in New York, New Mexico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In addition to being a participant in the abuse of Jane Doe #3 and other minors, was an eye-witness to the sexual abuse of many other minors by Epstein and several of Epstein's co-conspirators. would later play a significant role in negotiating the NPA on Epstein's behalf. Indeed, helped negotiate an agreement that provided immunity from federal prosecution in the Southern District of Florida not only to Epstein, but also to "any potential co- conspirators of Epstein." NPA at 5. Thus, | helped negotiate an agreement with a provision that provided protection for himself against criminal prosecution in Florida for sexually abusing Jane Doe #3. Because this broad immunity would have been controversial if disclosed, (along with other members of Epstein's defense team and the Government tried to keep the immunity provision secret from all of Epstein's victims and the general public, even though such secrecy violated the Crime Victims' Rights Act. Ghislaine Maxwell was another person in Epstein's inner circle and a co-conspirator in Epstein's sexual abuse. She was someone who consequently also appreciated the immunity granted by the NPA for the crimes she committed in Florida. In addition to participating in the 4 (along with other young girls) to such powerful people were to ingratiate himself with them for business, personal, political, and financial gain, as well | as to obtain potential blackmail information. One such powerful individual that Epstein forced then-minor Jane Doe #3 to have sexual relations with was former Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, a close friend of Epstein's and well-known criminal defense attorney. Epstein required Jane Doe #3 to have sexual relations with Dershowitz on numerous occasions while she was a minor, not only in Florida but also on private planes, in New York, New Mexico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In addition to being a participant in the abuse of Jane Doe #3 and other minors, Deshowitz was an eye-witness to the sexual abuse of many other minors by Epstein and several of Epstein's co-conspirators. Dershowitz would later play a significant role in negotiating the NPA on Epstein's behalf. Indeed, Dershowitz helped negotiate an agreement that provided immunity from federal prosecution in the Southern District of Florida not only to Epstein, but also to "any potential co- conspirators of Epstein." NPA at 5. Thus, Dershowitz helped negotiate an agreement with a provision that provided protection for himself against criminal prosecution in Florida for sexually abusing Jane Doe #3. Because this broad immunity would have been controversial if disclosed, Dershowitz (along with other members of Epstein's defense team) and the Government tried to keep the immunity provision secret from all of Epstein's victims and the general public, even though such secrecy violated the Crime Victims' Rights Act. Ghislaine Maxwell was another person in Epstein's inner circle and a co-conspirator in Epstein's sexual abuse. She was someone who consequently also appreciated the immunity granted by the NPA for the crimes she committed in Florida. In addition to participating in the 4