This week, Ezra reacts to Stephen Colbert’s cancellation and how it reflects
the broader institutional crumbling we need to organize against. Then, we roll
out some new summer initiatives, plus a toolkit to expose the Epstein
cover-up.

Hey folks,

Last week, in response to Trump’s escalating authoritarian overreach,
Indivisible launched the [ [link removed] ]first of a three-part training series on
strategic non-cooperation. We had 150,000 people register. We broke Zoom.
The next day, Leah and I [ [link removed] ]talked about it with Erica Chenowith (of 3.5%
fame) on What’s the Plan.

The gist of the threat is this: Trump and his allies aren’t satisfied with
just dominating Congress and the courts. They want to dominate law firms,
universities, businesses, and media institutions as well. This is textbook
authoritarian overreach, and we can organize against it -- but we have to
pay attention to it rather than just to Congress and the courts.

In the last few days, we’ve seen a case in point example of what Trump’s
strategic domination looks like with CBS News, detailed in [ [link removed] ]this piece
by the Guardian’s David Smith.

This serves as a good example for what we’re up against, so I think it’s
worth getting acquainted with the facts. Here’s the timeline as we know
it:

* Sept 2024: Paramount (owner of CBS News) and Skydance Media file
multibillion dollar merger paperwork with the FCC.
* Oct 13, 2024: 60 Minutes on CBS airs an interview with Kamala Harris.
* Oct 28, 2024: Trump sues CBS/Paramount for $10 billion, claiming the
interview was edited to hurt his campaign.
* Jan 2025: Trump is inaugurated.
* Feb 2025: Trump increases damage claims against CBS/Paramount to $20
billion and demands the FCC pull CBS’s license.
* April 2025: 60 Minutes’ longtime executive producer Bill Owens
resigns, citing management pressure that infringes on his journalistic
independence.
* May 2025: CBS News president Wendy McMahon resigns for the same
reason.
* July 2, 2025: Paramount announces a $16 million cash settlement to
Trump.
* July 14, 2025: On The Late Show, Colbert calls the payout a “big, fat
bribe.” 
* July 17, 2025: CBS announces The Late Show is being cancelled.

Paramount described Colbert’s firing as merely a financial decision,
despite it being the number one late-night show for nine seasons. No doubt
their bottom line played a key role -- just not in the way they’d like us
to believe!

The Paramount executives aren’t stupid. They understand Trump is
capricious and thin-skinned. They know he hates Colbert. They see that he
can single-handedly block their valuable merger deal. And (tooootally
coincidentally) just as they campaign for merger approval, they’ve
simultaneously made the choice to remove a popular Trump critic from the
air.

The reason institutions and leaders obey in advance is because they
benefit from doing so, at least in the short-term. Our job as organizers
in a time of authoritarian breakthrough is to create countervailing
pressure.

These institutions and leaders need to know people will back them up if
they fight back. And, on the flip side, they need to know there are
consequences if they simply play by Trump’s rules.

This is why Indivisible is focused on training a million people on [ [link removed] ]how
to engage in strategic non-cooperation. This is the fight we’re in now.
Read on to this week’s to-dos to join up.

In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

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Your weekly to-dos

 1. [ [link removed] ]Sign up for the One Million Rising call on July 30 to learn
strategic non-cooperation strategies and stand with one million
Americans organizing their neighbors. As our slide toward
authoritarianism accelerates, it falls on us to lead the fight against
fascism and force vital institutions off the sidelines. In our July 30
call, you’ll be trained to organize others and lead active
non-cooperation in your community.
 2. [ [link removed] ]Get friends and family into the fight by attending our Fight Back
with Friends training tomorrow, July 22, at 8pm ET / 5pm PT. Fight
Back with Friends is a program to help you pull friends and family off
the sidelines with talking points, tools, and tactics designed to grow
our movement. Tuesday’s monthly call focuses on the One Million Rising
campaign.
 3. [ [link removed] ]Don’t let Trump bury the Epstein files! Use our toolkit to help
expose the cover-up. We’ve put together an explainer on the state of
Trump’s Epstein cover-up, complete with action items and shareable
social posts. The Trump regime wants to flex its power to sweep this
story of abuse and corruption under the rug; we won’t let that happen.
 4. [ [link removed] ]Learn messaging skills to advocate for all our communities and
combat racial fear-mongering at tonight’s Solidarity in Action
call. Tonight (July 21) at 7pm ET, podcaster, researcher, and
communications expert Anat Shenker-Osorio will teach the Race Class
Narrative -- a vital messaging framework to help build solidarity
across lines of difference and overcome right-wing messages of hate
and fear.
 5. [ [link removed] ]Join our “What’s the Plan?” call on Thursday to hear Leah and Ezra
answer your questions about our big new summer initiatives. Every
Thursday at 3pm ET (12pm PT), our co-founders jump online to break
down the news of the week and answer your questions directly! Be part
of a free-flowing, interactive chat about what’s next in our fight for
democracy.

P.S. We're launching billboards in key Republican districts -- from purple
battlegrounds to deep-red Trump country -- calling out Trump and his
enablers for covering up the Epstein files, and since these weren't
planned or budgeted for, they depend on this community's immediate
grassroots support. [ [link removed] ]If you can, chip in here to fund Epstein cover-up
billboards and other efforts to toxify Trump.

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Have you joined One Million Rising?

We’re in a period of “authoritarian breakthrough” -- when a would-be
regime moves to rapidly consolidate power, eliminate checks on that power,
and operate with total impunity. We see it every day in Trump’s deployment
of the military in LA, mass firings of qualified federal employees,
supercharging of ICE, and so much more.

The key to stopping authoritarian breakthrough isn’t attacking the
would-be ruler, but chipping away at the vital institutions upholding
their power -- causing the entire house of cards to collapse.

That’s why we launched [ [link removed] ]One Million Rising, a push to train over a
million Americans in how to identify, influence, and successfully move
businesses, universities, local governments, and other vital institutions
from appeasement to active non-cooperation.

[ [link removed] ]Digital flier for One Million Rising virtual trainings on July 30, and
August 13 -- Click to learn more and sign up

Over 100,000 Americans already signed up to lead their personal networks
in the fight against fascism, and in our next call, on July 30, we’ll talk
about how to get others on board with impeding Trump’s fascist tactics and
hosting your first community resistance gathering.

[ [link removed] ]Register for the One Million Rising virtual sessions on July 30 and
August 13 to be one of 1,000,000+ Americans training to stop Trump’s
power-grab!

We recommend that you register for all the One Million Rising sessions, even
if you can’t attend them live. You can already [ [link removed] ]watch a recording of the
One Million Rising kickoff call here, and the best way to ensure you receive
recordings of future sessions is by signing up on Mobilize.

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Preach beyond the choir with our new social toolkit

Social media and online conversations are powerful tools to share vital
truths and grow our movement, but too often, progressives find ourselves
messaging specifically to the people who already agree with us!

To build the multi-racial, multi-generational movement needed to stop
Trump’s power-grab, we have to bring new folks into the fold --
particularly those who might not share all our views or follow the same
news sources. That’s why we’re launching [ [link removed] ]TRUTH & SHARE: a new social
toolkit featuring shareable news from across the web that’ll help toxify
Trump and MAGA.

[ [link removed] ]Digital flier link to TRUTH AND SHARE toolkit

TRUTH & SHARE includes news highlighting Trump’s most unpopular policies
and biggest failures. It’s not about highlighting every Trump atrocity;
it’s about calling attention to policies and actions that broad majorities
would reject.

[ [link removed] ]Click here to see TRUTH & SHARE and start conversations around Trump’s
biggest failures -- the ones even MAGA Republicans can’t explain away --
on your favorite social platforms.

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Get ready for Accountability August

Congress will soon head home for August recess, just weeks after
Republicans approved Trump’s Big Bullshit Bill to take healthcare and
meals from millions while funneling tax breaks to billionaires.

Congressional recess gives us an opportunity to tell representatives how
their votes hurt our communities and organize to hold Republicans
accountable. At the [ [link removed] ]Accountability August info session this Wednesday,
July 23, Congressman Greg Casar, Indivisible, and our partners will
present the tools to make the most of that opportunity.

[ [link removed] ]Digital flier for Accountability August kickoff call on July 23 -- Click to
register

[ [link removed] ]Click here to register for the Accountability August kickoff call on
Wednesday, July 23, at 1pm ET / 10am PT. If you can't make the call, sign
up anyway to be sent a recorded version to watch on demand.

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IndivisiWIN of the week

[ [link removed] ]Screenshot of Brainerd Dispatch article with the headline HUNDREDS RALLY AT
STAUBER'S BRAINERD OFFICE and a photo of dozens of protesters waving signs

In Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District, roughly a dozen local
Indivisible groups rapidly came together to hold their representative,
Pete Stauber, accountable for his vote to slash SNAP and Medicaid.

During their “Grow a Spine, Stauber” protests, hundreds of Indivisibles
simultaneously rallied outside multiple Stauber offices spread all across
the district -- showing passersby what their representative's vote meant
to their community, and reminding Stauber himself that he’ll be held
accountable for selling his constituents out.

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