Chris Edelson
@chrisedelson.bsky.social
Assistant professor of government at American University. Area of focus: US presidential power and authoritarian threats to democracy. Writing a book on emergency presidential power in context of Trump. https://www.american.edu/spa/faculty/edelson.cfm
Pinned
Chris Edelson
@chrisedelson.bsky.social
· Feb 28
trump's breathtaking, revolutionary unilateral action could not be justified even in an emergency (and none existed when trump took office). He is claiming unilateral power that goes beyond what Lincoln claimed at start of civil war--& Lincoln crucially gained retroactive approval from Congress 1/2
Reposted by Chris Edelson
I am working on a story that involves some of the ways people really are standing up in this moment. There really is a groundswell and it's not coming from DC.
I keep seeing regular Americans taking more risks every day to fight tyranny, want, and cynicism than I see from the opposition party, and I imagine many of those regular Americans are asking themselves what the value proposition of such an opposition party is, really
November 10, 2025 at 4:34 AM
I am working on a story that involves some of the ways people really are standing up in this moment. There really is a groundswell and it's not coming from DC.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
The answer Sen, Shaheen is that since America elected the Black man to be president, the official position of the Republican Party is “not to work together with Democrats to address the problems that are facing this country.”
Shaheen: "When I talk to my constituents in New Hampshire, you know what they say to me? They say, 'Why can't you all just work together to address the problems that are facing this country?'"
November 10, 2025 at 2:57 AM
The answer Sen, Shaheen is that since America elected the Black man to be president, the official position of the Republican Party is “not to work together with Democrats to address the problems that are facing this country.”
Reposted by Chris Edelson
New: The real story is the Democratic leadership collapse: presswatchers.org/2025/11/the-...
The real story is the Democratic leadership collapse | Press Watch
The current crop of Democratic leaders does not constitute an effective opposition to Trump
presswatchers.org
November 10, 2025 at 10:49 PM
New: The real story is the Democratic leadership collapse: presswatchers.org/2025/11/the-...
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Do I trust them? No. That’s why I voted no. But they are in a terrible position, and we can use the next few weeks to turn the pressure up even further.
November 10, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Do I trust them? No. That’s why I voted no. But they are in a terrible position, and we can use the next few weeks to turn the pressure up even further.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Ghislaine Maxwell, the Epstein confidante and child sex trafficker, is being waited on “hand and foot” by the staff at her minimum security prison camp while she prepares a request that Donald Trump commute her sentence, according to whistleblower revelations. More on @morningjoe-msnbc.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Ghislaine Maxwell, the Epstein confidante and child sex trafficker, is being waited on “hand and foot” by the staff at her minimum security prison camp while she prepares a request that Donald Trump commute her sentence, according to whistleblower revelations. More on @morningjoe-msnbc.bsky.social
Reposted by Chris Edelson
He said that the agents would throw food at them to eat. The agents threatened to withhold food for a week and to beat him up if he didn't sign deportation papers. He said he saw others refuse and get beaten/receive no food. He signed because he was afraid.
November 7, 2025 at 3:08 AM
He said that the agents would throw food at them to eat. The agents threatened to withhold food for a week and to beat him up if he didn't sign deportation papers. He said he saw others refuse and get beaten/receive no food. He signed because he was afraid.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
40 years ago we’d have congressional hearings falsely accusing metal bands of putting backwards messages in their songs that told kids to kill themselves & now we have a planet-killing chatbot that’s all like “bet you won’t commit suicide chickenshit bitch” & the government is like here’s $5 billion
November 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
40 years ago we’d have congressional hearings falsely accusing metal bands of putting backwards messages in their songs that told kids to kill themselves & now we have a planet-killing chatbot that’s all like “bet you won’t commit suicide chickenshit bitch” & the government is like here’s $5 billion
no one should be treated this way, but similarly to the people the trump admin is killing on ships in the Pacific and Caribbean, the trump admin acted against the law and did not actually know if these men were gang members when it sent them to be tortured in a foreign prison
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
NYT: Those Deported to El Salvador Were Shackled, Beaten, and Sexually Assaulted
NYT: Those Deported to El Salvador Were Shackled, Beaten, and Sexually Assaulted
‘You Are All Terrorists’: Four Months in a Salvadoran Prison
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:31 PM
no one should be treated this way, but similarly to the people the trump admin is killing on ships in the Pacific and Caribbean, the trump admin acted against the law and did not actually know if these men were gang members when it sent them to be tortured in a foreign prison
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Last thing abt this dumb article: it concludes that both parties should improve the structural conditions that make angry little boys like Nalin "go radical" or they'll consume our society.
We NEVER do this for young women, or say that society and the economy should be built around their feels.
We NEVER do this for young women, or say that society and the economy should be built around their feels.
Why Nikki Haley’s son went radical
My interview/profile with an avatar of the Gen Z right.
unherd.com/2025/11/why-...
My interview/profile with an avatar of the Gen Z right.
unherd.com/2025/11/why-...
Why Nikki Haley’s son went radical
unherd.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Last thing abt this dumb article: it concludes that both parties should improve the structural conditions that make angry little boys like Nalin "go radical" or they'll consume our society.
We NEVER do this for young women, or say that society and the economy should be built around their feels.
We NEVER do this for young women, or say that society and the economy should be built around their feels.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.
November 7, 2025 at 3:08 AM
A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Just naked bigotry, they don't even bother trying to hide anymore
Tuberville: “We just saw what happened in NY. We lost NY. It will be completely Muslim in 3-4 years. That’s what they want. And it’s going to spread throughout the country.”
November 7, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Just naked bigotry, they don't even bother trying to hide anymore
"wartime footing" is also a way to claim power to act against the law. It is is illegitimate, but the kind of thing aspiring dictators try.
It's smart to be prepared for war, but to put the US economy on a "wartime footing" for an indefinite period of time comes at an immense cost to quality of life and is simply unsustainable.
Hegseth: "We are not building for peacetime. We are pivoting the Pentagon and our industrial base to a wartime footing. Building for victory should our adversaries FAFO."
November 8, 2025 at 7:24 PM
"wartime footing" is also a way to claim power to act against the law. It is is illegitimate, but the kind of thing aspiring dictators try.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Families Rally After Feds Take Chicago Daycare Teacher: 'We Are Filled With Rage' blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/06/f...
— Hundreds of neighbors gathered Wed to demand that fed immigration agents stay out of Chicago schools & daycares after agents took a daycare teacher from a facility.
— Hundreds of neighbors gathered Wed to demand that fed immigration agents stay out of Chicago schools & daycares after agents took a daycare teacher from a facility.
Families Rally After Feds Take Chicago Daycare Teacher: 'We Are Filled With Rage'
Hundreds of neighbors gathered in North Center demanding that federal immigration agents stay out of schools after a teacher was chased into and pulled out of a preschool by officers.
blockclubchicago.org
November 8, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Families Rally After Feds Take Chicago Daycare Teacher: 'We Are Filled With Rage' blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/06/f...
— Hundreds of neighbors gathered Wed to demand that fed immigration agents stay out of Chicago schools & daycares after agents took a daycare teacher from a facility.
— Hundreds of neighbors gathered Wed to demand that fed immigration agents stay out of Chicago schools & daycares after agents took a daycare teacher from a facility.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
"When I picked up my granddaughter from the federal agents, she had a dirty diaper, a bruise on her face, and was developing a rash. She was exhausted and cried… My heart aches knowing this could happen to others, to my kids, or even me, despite being U.S. citizens.”
November 8, 2025 at 3:26 PM
"When I picked up my granddaughter from the federal agents, she had a dirty diaper, a bruise on her face, and was developing a rash. She was exhausted and cried… My heart aches knowing this could happen to others, to my kids, or even me, despite being U.S. citizens.”
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Whenever secret police kidnap and disappear people, atrocities are happening behind the scenes.
Her husband told her that detainees at Broadview had to get up at 5am to get in line for one bathroom. He often peed himself. One time he had to wait until 2pm to use the bathroom. You could only use the bathroom once a day. He said the agents would beat you if you used the bathroom on yourself.
November 7, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Whenever secret police kidnap and disappear people, atrocities are happening behind the scenes.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Expropriating shares in private companies like a tinpot dictator
Trump to the Novo Nordisk CEO: "Maybe you should give us a piece of the company like I've been asking for."
November 6, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Expropriating shares in private companies like a tinpot dictator
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Will court decisions hold them in check? Will new elections in 2026 and 2028 offer a solution? I certainly hope so, on both counts. But it's not unthinkable anymore that they won't, and that is worth thinking about very seriously.
November 7, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Will court decisions hold them in check? Will new elections in 2026 and 2028 offer a solution? I certainly hope so, on both counts. But it's not unthinkable anymore that they won't, and that is worth thinking about very seriously.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Let’s hear more of the dangers of democratic socialism under Mamdani
Trump to the Novo Nordisk CEO: "Maybe you should give us a piece of the company like I've been asking for."
November 6, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Let’s hear more of the dangers of democratic socialism under Mamdani
Reposted by Chris Edelson
When the shakedowns just start happening in public.
$NVO
$NVO
Trump to the Novo Nordisk CEO: "Maybe you should give us a piece of the company like I've been asking for."
November 6, 2025 at 9:15 PM
When the shakedowns just start happening in public.
$NVO
$NVO
Don Corleone couldn't say it any better, although unlike trump he wouldn't say it on camera
Trump to the Novo Nordisk CEO: "Maybe you should give us a piece of the company like I've been asking for."
November 6, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Don Corleone couldn't say it any better, although unlike trump he wouldn't say it on camera
Reposted by Chris Edelson
It is absolutely INSANE that a Court needs to order federal law enforcement to wear badges
Ellis orders that agents wear "conspicuous identification" in two separate places and wear and activate body-worn cameras while engaging in enforcement actions.
November 6, 2025 at 6:54 PM
It is absolutely INSANE that a Court needs to order federal law enforcement to wear badges
Reposted by Chris Edelson
🧵The gender views Douthat is platforming are widespread on the right, y'all. 1/X
Reporting this story, I heard near universal concern from Heritage staff of discrimination against unmarried women.
Then I obtained a letter to the Heritage board from anonymous staffers that alleged the same thing — and more.
Heritage is aware that alleged behavior could create legal trouble.
Then I obtained a letter to the Heritage board from anonymous staffers that alleged the same thing — and more.
Heritage is aware that alleged behavior could create legal trouble.
November 6, 2025 at 4:48 PM
🧵The gender views Douthat is platforming are widespread on the right, y'all. 1/X
Reposted by Chris Edelson
If someone has to think twice or they have to make changes to what they do because...they've stared down the barrel of a gun...all of that would cause a reasonable person to hesitate to exercise their constitutional rights, and that is a chilling effect
November 6, 2025 at 4:52 PM
If someone has to think twice or they have to make changes to what they do because...they've stared down the barrel of a gun...all of that would cause a reasonable person to hesitate to exercise their constitutional rights, and that is a chilling effect
but of course no consequences for what sounds like unlawful arrests
Points out that agents keep arresting people and then letting them go without charges because they have no actual evidence
November 6, 2025 at 8:17 PM
but of course no consequences for what sounds like unlawful arrests