Earlier this week, I found myself repeatedly asking whether Trump and his enablers were diabolically evil or just unbelievably ignorant and stupid. As I end the week, I am left wondering if it even matters.
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May 23, 2025
Earlier this week, I found myself repeatedly asking whether Trump and his enablers were diabolically evil or just unbelievably ignorant and stupid. As I end the week, I am left wondering if it even matters.
On Tuesday, the woman in charge of seizing, detaining and disappearing migrants was asked during a Senate hearing about habeas corpus. Kristi Noem responded: "Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country."
Not only is this answer wrong — it is dangerously so. Habeas corpus is a fundamental right that protects individuals from illegal detention. It is exercised by seeking a writ — essentially an order from the court to present the person being held with a justification for their detention.
It is not a power of the president but rather a limitation on the executive branch. It has nothing to do with removing people from the country. It is a right that predates the Constitution and is viewed as so fundamental that the Constitution severely limits any effort to suspend it.
The day after Kristi Noem’s embarrassing hearing, Donald Trump sat in the Oval Office with the president of South Africa and repeatedly and falsely claimed that mass graves of White South African farmers proved they victims of a genocide. He even came prepared with a video. The problem? The video was not of mass graves but rather of a protest in 2020 after the murder of two farmers.
The origin of this lie is not entirely clear, but it was…
You’re reading a sample of what's included in our premium membership ([link removed] ) — on Fridays, Marc revisits the week’s top stories and offers his insights on where these developments might lead. Today, Marc dives into:
- Ross Douthat’s interview with JD Vance
- How fear is Trump’s greatest tool
- The continued weaponization of the DOJ
- More updates from SCOTUS
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