5 h. ago Chuck Schumer should quit – but would his imaginary friends agree? | Arwa Mahdawi

The US government was shut down for weeks – and then Democrats shrugged their shoulders and gave upChuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, has a pair of very sweet imaginary friends. They’re a middle-class couple called Joe and Eileen Bailey and they live on Long Island. At one point the imaginary couple, who feature in Schumer’s 2007 book, Positively American, were called the O’Reillys. According to the Hill, one Schumer aide said the name then was changed because the publisher thought O’Reilly was “too ethnic” for mass consumption. Another aide said that claim was false, and Schumer just wanted a name that “sounded more national”. Naming strategy aside, the key point here is that Schumer has said he runs all his policy decisions by this completely fictional couple. He’s referred to them hundreds of times throughout his political career.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Everybody panic – the workplace has become too ‘feminized’! | Arwa Mahdawi

This week, Mexico’s president was groped in public. But a New York Times podcast is fretting about excessive wokenessLean in (to misogyny), ladies!Are you a woman? Do you want to rapidly raise your profile and get booked on the speaking circuit? Are you good at mental gymnastics?Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Mamdani’s mayoral race was marred by unhinged Islamophobia. It’s not going away soon | Arwa Mahdawi

The racist abuse that Zohran Mamdani is still facing proves how normalized bigotry is. We need to keep calling it outPack your bags and flee, infidels: New York City has fallen to a cabal of socialist jihadists. With Zohran Mamdani to become the city’s first Muslim mayor, many are celebrating the democratic socialist’s historic win. Billionaires, Islamophobes and Republicans, however, are in the throes of hysteria. But what’s new? The New York mayoral race has been marred by bigotry so unhinged it’s almost impossible to parody.Far-right activist and unofficial Trump adviser Laura Loomer posted on X, for example, that “there will be another 9/11 in NYC” under Mamdani. New York City councilmember Vickie Paladino called the 34-year-old a “known jihadist terrorist”. Actor Debra Messing, meanwhile, has been having a Mamdani-induced meltdown on Instagram, posting story after story about how the puppy-eyed politician is a threat to civilization. She recently posted: “In Judaism and Christi...

Politics

1 week ago Trump and his media buddies are taking the muddling of reality to a whole new level | Arwa Mahdawi

How scared should we be by Trump’s heavily edited appearance on a US news programme this weekend, and Elon Musk’s Grokipedia?You know how I’m going to be able to tell that I’ve really made it as a writer in America? When our very handsome (much better-looking than Zohran Mamdani!) and very high-IQ leader Donald Trump gives me a personal shoutout to commend me on what a wonderful job I’m doing. As we all know, a good journalist should always make the rich and powerful feel comfortable.While I wait for that day to come, I’m watching and learning from the head honchos at CBS. Trump appeared on CBS News’s 60 Minutes on Sunday night for his first sit-down with the show in five years and commented on how much better the network has become after its owner, Paramount, was taken over by his billionaire allies, the father-and-son duo Larry and David Ellison. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Katie Miller is threatening the citizenship of a critic | Arwa Mahdawi

Threatening to deport your critics, even those with US citizenship, seems to have become Maga policySome couples bond over shared hobbies; others over shared values. The Maga bigwigs Stephen and Katie Miller, on the other hand, appear to have connected over their shared love of terrorizing immigrant children.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Trump’s third term? Don’t laugh. He’s never let the rules stop him before | Arwa Mahdawi

He has floated the idea more than once – and his inner circle is already gaming it out. The US constitution might say no, but Trump has a habit of finding his way around even the biggest obstaclesLet me tell you a secret about the US constitution: it’s just a piece of paper. It’s not immutable law created by a higher being. It was made by men, it’s been amended by men, and it can be destroyed by men. It’s only as strong as the institutions that uphold it – institutions which Donald Trump has been systematically weakening as he expands his executive power.I say this because there are still lots of people who have faith that the constitution can stop the US from gradually turning into an electoral autocracy like Hungary. There are still people so drunk on American exceptionalism that they think it’s ludicrous to believe Trump might seek a third term, because such a move is explicitly outlawed by the 22nd amendment of the constitution. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Why is Trump demolishing the White House's East Wing? Because he wants to | Arwa Mahdawi

The president’s mega-project raises a lot of questions – including when he’s planning on leavingDonald Trump has quite the passion for American history. If there’s a controversial statue commemorating a dead white supremacist out there, there’s a good chance the president has gone to bat for it.“Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments,” Trump tweeted in 2017, in response to a push to remove Confederate monuments. “You can’t change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson – who’s next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!” Trump added.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago A congressman’s ex got a protective order against him. His boss has little to say about it | Arwa Mahdawi

This isn’t the first time Cory Mills has faced allegations of misconduct – but the House speaker wants to talk about ‘serious’ thingsMeet Cory Mills, a Republican congressman representing Florida. He is rabidly anti-abortion, incredibly anti-immigration, and obsequiously pro-Trump. Earlier this year, perhaps in a desperate bid to get Dear Leader to notice him, he introduced a bill, dubbed the “DON-ument Act”, which would make the wall on the US-Mexico border a national monument.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Economics

last month We are told the ‘war’ against Gaza is finally ‘over’. Is it? | Arwa Mahdawi

I am not celebrating the end of the ‘war’ because this was not a war – and it’s not over, eitherThank you, Donald Trump. Thank you, Benjamin Netanyahu. Thank you, Jared Kushner. Let’s all pause, shall we, and have a moment of appreciation for these three wise men who have finally brought peace to the Middle East. Blessed are the peacemakers!And, of course, thank you to the Israeli military which, as a US taxpayer, I have done my part to help fund. To echo Kushner: “Instead of replicating the barbarism of the enemy, [Israel] chose to be exceptional.” Continue reading...

Events