JD Vance Bombs On National TV, Pritzker Drops A Mic, Governors Unite Against Trump’s Troop Fantasy, and Crockett Investigates His Cognitive Decline We interrupt this failed presidency for a reality check Scott Dworkin Oct 13 While Trump’s out of the country for a bit—something we can all be thankful for—I’m glad to have great news for you today. I hope these stories bring you some relief amidst all the chaos. Before we jump in, I want to say thanks for having my back—I couldn’t do any of this work without folks like you. We have the longest-running opposition effort against Trump, and we need all hands on deck to do even more. So if you haven’t yet, please join us as a paid subscriber today: UNITING AGAINST TYRANNY This week, a coalition of 24 governors and attorneys general united to file two fiery briefs in the courts, urging them to halt Trump’s “unlawful, unconstitutional, and undemocratic deployment of the National Guard.” Washington state AG Nick Brown said: “Every state, red and blue, should be pushing back against [Trump’s] illegal use of the military to intimidate Americans.” NEWSOM SIGNS BILL TO PROTECT CALIFORNIANS On Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill to protect California children and their families from Trump’s immigration abuses. It bans daycares and preschools from collecting immigration-related data from families, and gives parents the right to appoint a caregiver if they are separated from their children. Newsom said: “Our children deserve to feel safe ... We are putting on record that we stand by our families and their right to keep their private information safe, maintain parental rights, and help families prepare in case of emergencies.” JD VANCE CUT OFF Once again, JD Vance made an appearance on TV that backfired tremendously. When host George Stephanopoulos asked about the FBI tape of Trump crony Tom Homan accepting $50,000 in cash, Vance called it “bogus,” and a “leftwing rabbit hole.” Stephanopoulos wasn’t having it. He cut Vance off, and said: “I asked you whether Tom Homan accepted $50,000 ... You did not answer the question. Thank you for your time.” Vance then tried and failed again, stating: “No George, I said,” before his mic was seemingly cut and Stephanopoulos went to commercial. PRITZKER ON VANCE After JD Vance bombed in his interview, IL Gov. JB Pritzker corrected the record on the same show: “You just heard a tidal wave of lies from the VP. It’s a bit shocking. And you heard over and over again him just making things up on national TV.” Pritzker then dropped the mic: “There’s a reason why the judge here in federal court said that the administration lacks credibility, and why even the Nobel Prize Committee Chair said the administration lacks integrity.” CROCKETT LAUNCHES PROBE Dem Rep. Jasmine Crockett launched an investigation into the “cover-up of [Trump’s] failing health.” Crockett said Trump “seems unwell. From his physical symptoms to his visible cognitive decline, the American people deserve clear answers about his ability to serve.” Absolutely—Trump must get the same intense scrutiny former President Joe Biden did over his health. This is the level of fire needed to take on the regime—and it’s what we’ve done for nearly a decade. We operate one of the longest-running campaigns against Trump, and our enormous Contact Congress campaign has contacted lawmakers more than half a million times since November. We do all of this on top of our daily news brief, which we’ve now delivered for over 460 days straight! There are no billionaires or advertisers here. Which means 100% of our work is funded by our readers. So if you haven’t already, please join us as a paid subscriber today: Onward! Scott Help this news break through the noise—like this post and re-stack using the ♻️ button below! It’s Monday, so I only have one question for you. What do you think is the clearest sign that Trump is unfit for office? Find a No Kings protest near you: https://www.nokings.org/#map NEW: Cancel GOP healthcare cuts and end Trump’s shutdown: https://tinyurl.com/2z8s7hdh Demand Brendan Carr Resign: https://tinyurl.com/35xjx8dj Demand Tom Homan Resign: https://tinyurl.com/3e5ku3um Pass the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act: https://tinyurl.com/3yfw2m7a Demand answers about Trump’s visibly deteriorating health: https://tinyurl.com/sk9xm38v Protect our use of voting by mail: https://tinyurl.com/bde676xm Push back on Trump’s DC takeover: https://tinyurl.com/2jpp94yk Support law to unmask ICE: https://tinyurl.com/bp8cau82 Investigate the Jeffrey Epstein trafficking case: https://tinyurl.com/4pfh2p4f Links to everything we are doing: https://www.dworkinsubstack.com/p/how-were-fighting-trump Here is my interview with James Talarico: https://tinyurl.com/mmu4eydj How about doing what I just did (and am doing every single day)? Send an email to Mike Johnson's Chief of Staff and Chief Counsel (their email addresses are below) From: JOEL Subject: for Mike Johnson Date: October 13, 2025 at 7:29:54 AM edt To: hayden.haynes@mail.house.gov, garrett.fultz@mail.house.gov SWEAR IN REPRESENTATIVE GRIJALVA! RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES! RELEASE THE FBI VIDEO OF HOMAN ACCEPTING A BRIBE! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! The fact that he falls asleep during meetings, his swollen ankles, the bruise on his right hand, the fact that he’s incontinent as evidenced by the tube under his pants flowing urine into a bag strapped around his knee. Oh, and his chronic mumbling, incoherent ramblings. “Integrity” and “credibility” are two words you’ll never find in a Trump dictionary.  But then based on how he regularly uses it, in Trump's dictionary, "incredible" obviously includes the definition of "wonderful." Actually, Incredible means, "unbelievable". (Yes, I would call Trump "incredible".) in-not credible - believable He may be falling asleep if they cut off his Adderall since it is contraindicated with vascular disease AND causes diarrhea. 💩 The fact that he falls asleep during meetings, his swollen ankles, the bruise on his right hand, the fact that he’s incontinent as evidenced by the tube under his pants flowing urine into a bag strapped around his knee. Oh, and his chronic mumbling, incoherent ramblings. I wish a reporter would ask him if he is incontinent. He would have a melt down! Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett is my Congressperson. We are very lucky to have her. That is why Trump and Abbott tried to redistrict our blue district. Hopefully the ongoing court case will throw the partisan Texas redistricting maps out. Is everyone aware - Texas did not draw those maps? Trump and the RNC had them drawn by a political hack and handed to Gregg Abbott and the Texas Republican legislature. It was not a Texas product. And kudos to Marc Elias/Democracy Docket’s reporter.Legacy media is not reporting what’s happening in Texas! The latest late-night delusional post that the Oct 18th No Kings protests are anti-American. Enough said.💪 Also, the fact that he is still hoping there’s a place for him in Heaven… maybe? Could be he’s already achieved Heaven on Earth….. NOT! Speaking incessantly about his good friend (fictional) HANNIBEL LECTOR wasn't enough to stop the CULT from their support?  The POORLY EDUCATED CULT continues to embrace WARPED SITES such as FOX NEWS = FAKE NEWS LIARS. JOHN DEAN wrote this article in 2017. It was so accurate, that I saved it:  excerpt:  We know enough about authoritarian supporters from research, and history, to know it will be very hard to change their minds about the leader they adore. They are extremely ethnocentric, dividing the world sharply into people in their in-group, and automatically disliking all others. They feel politicians who promote minority rights and immigration discriminate against them. Donald Trump tells them they are right. He is their champion. They are highly dogmatic. They get their ideas from others in the in-group, especially from their leader, not from evidence and logic. They say there is no evidence that will make them change their minds. They’re quite comfortable believing “alternate facts.” They get great satisfaction from being part of a large movement. Being in a cohesive crowd at rallies thrills them because they silently tell one another, just by being there, that they are powerful and right. They create an echo chamber that reinforces the belief that all the good people think like they do. They severely limit their sources of information. They get the news that they want to get. This also produces an echo chamber when the news sources they trust are copying each other and relaying Trump’s message. They have highly compartmentalized minds. When an unpleasant truth forces its way into their awareness, they do not try to integrate the other things they believe with it. Instead they put it in a box and isolate it from the rest of their thinking, which proceeds as if the truth never existed. Put all this together and you get an idea how hard it will be to change their minds about Donald Trump. One can expect some of Trump’s followers to waver if the months ahead are thick with damaging revelations like those that brought down the Nixon White House. But a repeat of “Watergate-type scandals” may not damage Trump as much as they did Nixon. https://verdict.justia.com/2017/07/07/altemeyer-trumps-supporters