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Ben Mathis-Lilley

Ben Mathis-Lilley

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Donald Trump and Mike Johnson Are Teaming Up on a Fantasy Bill for a Fantasy Problem

Tweet Share Share Comment On Friday at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and House...

15.04.2024 3

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Epidemic of Bozo Behavior Strikes Republican Senate Candidates Who Were Supposed to Be Boring

Tweet Share Share Comment The story of 2022’s Senate races was that Republicans—at Donald Trump’s urging—botched several...

10.04.2024 5

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Trump Announces New Abortion Position of Not Wanting to Really Take a Position on Abortion

Tweet Share Share Comment As president, Donald Trump appointed Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Barrett then became the...

08.04.2024 3

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

The Problem With Donald Trump’s Latest Escape Hatch

Welcome back to the Surge, Slate’s Saturday-morning rundown of the most impactful and/or hugely embarrassing figures from the week in politics....

30.03.2024 30

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

With Gold-Bar Bribery Trial Set to Begin Soon, Bob Menendez Has a Bold New Strategy

Tweet Share Share Comment When Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez was charged in September with accepting a big sack of...

22.03.2024 10

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Trump Got What He Wanted in the Ohio Senate Primary. But It’s Still Complicated.

Tweet Share Share Comment Heading into the Ohio Republican Senate primary on Tuesday, there was some rumbling and grumbling in...

20.03.2024 4

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

A Brief Explanation of the “Adult Friend Finder” Story That Is Rocking the Ohio Senate Race

Tweet Share Share Comment Things have gotten weird and wild in Ohio’s Republican Senate primary with the publication of an...

16.03.2024 10

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

A Scientific Breakdown of Exactly How Old Joe Biden Seemed at the State of the Union

Tweet Share Share Comment Heading into Thursday night’s State of the Union address, there were a number of topics that...

08.03.2024 10

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Until the Bitter End, Nikki Haley Tries to Have It Both Ways

Tweet Share Share Comment Despite surging to a 4-point victory in Vermont’s primary, Republican presidential aspirant Nikki...

06.03.2024 2

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Michigan’s Unhinged GOP Infighting Has Escalated

Tweet Share Share Comment When last we spoke about the Michigan Republican Party, a faction led by election truther and Trump...

29.02.2024 1

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Why Nikki Haley Hasn’t Dropped Out—Despite What’s Coming in South Carolina

Tweet Share Share Comment For Republicans, election results have become fungible. Losing a race but refusing to admit that...

24.02.2024 10

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

The Biggest Unknown of the Presidential Election

Tweet Share Share Comment Very few known unknowns have ever been so unknown, or as high-stakes, as the effect Donald Trump’s...

22.02.2024 3

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Border Patrol Official Accused of Demanding “Fentanyl Lollipops” for Work Trip on a Helicopter

Tweet Share Share Comment A new whistleblower report first covered by NBC News alleges that the Customs and Border Protection...

16.02.2024 1

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Is Mike Johnson In Over His Head?

Tweet Share Share Comment Earlier this month, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson spoke on the Fox Business channel...

16.02.2024 7

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Will Joe Biden Suffer Politically From the Justice Department Special Counsel Saying His Brain Doesn’t Work?

Tweet Share Share Comment Well, right on the heels of President Joe Biden referring twice to 2021 interactions with world...

09.02.2024 6

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Biden Has a Lot Going for Him in the Election. Then There’s This.

Tweet Share Share Comment This is  Totally Normal Quote of the Day , a feature highlighting a statement from the news that...

09.02.2024 20

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

The Border Bill’s Failure Says a Lot About the Existential Condition of the Senate

Tweet Share Share Comment “The sun may be shining outside, but today is a gloomy day here in the United States Senate,” the...

07.02.2024 20

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Everything You Were Too Exhausted to Google About Republicans’ Latest Impeachment Feeding Frenzy

02.02.2024 4

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

So Many People Want Biden to “Shut Down” the Border to Stop Migration. There’s Just One Problem With This!

Tweet Share Share Comment There’s a unique sort of bipartisan consensus right now in Washington. Republicans and Democrats in...

01.02.2024 30

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Are Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Plotting Against America?

Tweet Share Share Comment This is  Totally Normal Quote of the Day , a feature highlighting a statement from the news that...

31.01.2024 20

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Nikki Haley Says She’s Only Just Begun to Fight, But She Is Wrong

Tweet Share Share Comment Well, that was fun! (Was it?) Former South Carolina governor and Trump-era U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley...

24.01.2024 4

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Things Are Getting Real Weird Within the Michigan GOP

Tweet Share Share Comment It’s a fun time to live in Michigan, and not just because its flagship university’s unanimously...

22.01.2024 4

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

The Left Is Pissed at John Fetterman. That Doesn’t Mean He’s Gone “Full Sinema.”

Tweet Share Share Comment The progressive left has been displeased with Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman since...

18.01.2024 7

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Pour One Out for Meatball Ron

Tweet Share Share Comment When pundits and reporters talk about Donald Trump’s skill or talent as a politician, he generally...

16.01.2024 2

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

There Were Just Two Candidates on the GOP Debate Stage. Did Either of Them … Win?

Tweet Share Share Comment Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley met in a Republican debate on Wednesday night in Des Moines, Iowa. The...

11.01.2024 3

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

John Roberts Has Entered His Own Personal Hell

Welcome back to the Surge, Slate’s weekly guide to who is—and is not—surging in the demimonde of politics. I’m Ben Mathis-Lilley, filling in...

06.01.2024 10

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

The New York Times Coverage of Elite College Campuses and Israel Isn’t Overkill

Tweet Share Share Comment On Tuesday, Harvard president Claudine Gay resigned. She, like previously defenestrated University of...

04.01.2024 5

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

The Man Who Really Has the Most Influence Over the 2024 Campaign

Welcome to the Surge, Slate’s roundup of news, notes, and nonsense about the most important figures of the week in United States politics. I’m Ben...

23.12.2023 7

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

The Issue That Republicans Cannot Simply Outrun

Welcome back to the Surge, Slate’s guide to the big newsmakin’ names of the week in the political sphere. I’m Ben Mathis-Lilley, filling in for...

16.12.2023 10

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Now Would Be the Time for Nikki Haley to Actually Try to Beat Donald Trump. Does She Want To?

Tweet Share Share Comment With exactly a month to go until the first nominating contest of the presidential race begins in Iowa,...

15.12.2023 4

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Elise Stefanik’s Selective Antisemitism Radar

Welcome back to the Surge, Slate’s guide to the biggest political newsmakers of the week. I’m Ben Mathis-Lilley, filling in for Jim Newell,...

09.12.2023 7

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

The Most Telling Moment of the Final GOP Primary Debate

Tweet Share Share Comment Chris Christie came into the 2024 presidential race having already decided that he wasn’t worried...

07.12.2023 3

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Ron DeSantis’ Response to the Florida State Football Controversy Captures His Entire Off-Putting Essence

Tweet Share Share Comment This is  Totally Normal Quote of the Day , a feature highlighting a statement from the news that...

07.12.2023 8

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Alleged Cuban Spy Probably Regrets Telling Undercover FBI Agent He Hit the “Grand Slam” of Spying for Cuba

Tweet Share Share Comment On Monday, the Department of Justice announced the arrest of a longtime United States diplomat and...

06.12.2023 2

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Trump Is Outraged, for Some Reason, About the Idea That He Stopped Eating After Jan. 6

Tweet Share Share Comment This is  Totally Normal Quote of the Day , a feature highlighting a statement from the news that...

05.12.2023 9

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Trump Vows to Repeat His Biggest Mistake

Welcome to the Surge, Slate’s weekly guide to the most relevant players of the moment in the world of politics. Or, rather, it’s a guide to that...

02.12.2023 6

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

George Santos, After Daring Congress to Expel Him, Is Expelled

Tweet Share Share Comment By a vote of 311 to 114, Republican New York Rep. George Santos has been expelled from Congress days...

01.12.2023 1

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

The Iowa Caucus Has Driven the Political Press to Madness

Tweet Share Share Comment The Iowa caucus that opens Republican presidential primary season is less than two months off, and, as...

29.11.2023 1

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Does the United States Fund a Cheetah-Mating Program in West Africa Because of … Terrorism?

Tweet Share Share Comment The Wall Street Journal published a dispatch this week from West Africa, where militants affiliated...

24.11.2023 10

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

It Was Physical Altercation Week in Congress

Folks! Welcome back to the Surge, Slate’s weekly newsletter about the most relevant figures in the wild and woolly world of Washington. (As well as,...

18.11.2023 7

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Nikki Haley Is Both Surging and Still Totally Irrelevant

Tweet Share Share Comment Well, well, well: If it isn’t an authentic presidential primary surge/boomlet! Former South Carolina...

16.11.2023 10

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Today in Congress, There Were Almost Two Fistfights

Tweet Share Share Comment This is  Totally Normal Quote of the Day , a feature highlighting a statement from the news that...

14.11.2023 2

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Another Never Trump Dream Just Went Poof

Welcome back to El Surge, Slate’s weekly boletín política about the most important figures of the moment in the fiasco grande of our government....

11.11.2023 8

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

The Best Part of the GOP Debate Was When They Spent a Long Time Just Counting Boats

Tweet Share Share Comment Most articles about presidential debates are well-organized summaries that distill the themes of the...

09.11.2023 4

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Two Key Things We’ve Learned About Trump, a Year out From the Election

Tweet Share Share Comment With less than a year now remaining until the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump spent Monday...

07.11.2023 9

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

The UAW’s Class Warrior Took It to the Big Three. Is Elon Next?

Hello! You’re reading the Surge, Slate’s Saturday roundup of the week’s most noteworthy movers and shakers in the world of politics. So much...

04.11.2023 10

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Mike Johnson, the Thinly Veiled MAGA Speaker

Welcome back to the Surge, Slate’s weekly roundup of the most newsworthy figures in politics, government, and mountain climbing. (Just because no...

28.10.2023 20

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

House Republicans Select New Speaker Nominee, New Nominee Ends Candidacy Four Hours Later

Tweet Share Share Comment Welcome to another week in our nation’s capital! To catch you up on everything, here’s what’s...

25.10.2023 10

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Texas Congresswoman Persecuted by Media Simply for Being Very Good at Swearing (at Her Staff)

Tweet Share Share Comment This is Totally Normal Quote of the Day, a new feature where we pull a particularly wild statement...

23.10.2023 1

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

Gavel Goofs Continue for GOP

Thanks once again for returning to read the Surge, Slate’s beloved and influential newsletter about the most newsworthy political figures of the...

21.10.2023 8

Slate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

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