Brendan Nyhan
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brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan
@brendannyhan.bsky.social
110K followers 4.3K following 9.5K posts

Dartmouth political scientist and Bright Line Watch co-director. Previously Upshot NYT / CJR contributor, Spinsanity co-founder, All the President's Spin co-author.

https://sites.dartmouth.edu/nyhan/
http://brightlinewatch.org .. more

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Brendan Nyhan is an American political scientist and professor at Dartmouth College. He is also a liberal to moderate political blogger, author, and political columnist. He was born in Mountain View, California and now lives in Hanover, New Hampshire. .. more

Political science 39%
Sociology 22%
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brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 13d
My @nytimes.com op-ed: The Boomers Are Protesting Trump. Where Is Gen Z? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/o... (gift link)

The key point: "The absence of young people from conventional protests is both a problem and a warning."
Opinion | The Boomers Are Protesting Trump. Where Is Gen Z?
www.nytimes.com

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 4h
OMG it's like a parody. Gemini counts 23 emdashes and 17 "not X but Y" constructions (and yes, I see the irony).

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 5h
Celebrities who've had extensive work done are starting to look like bad AI in pics.
followtheh.bsky.social Tom Hearden @followtheh.bsky.social · 7h
The quality of the wax exhibits at Madame Tussaud’s is greatly diminished

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, David R. Miller

whstancil.bsky.social
Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 6h
Everyone seems to have forgotten but the AP actually went to Venezuela and found some of these men. They aren’t terminator-like cartel warriors, ready to give their life to ship kilos. They’re random dudes from small towns - bus drivers, fishermen - recruited for a payday. apnews.com/article/trum...
Trump has accused boat crews of being narco-terrorists. The truth, AP found, is more nuanced
One was a fisherman struggling to eke out a living on $100 a month. Another was a career criminal. A third was a former military cadet.
apnews.com

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

jfruh.bsky.social
Josh Fruhlinger @jfruh.bsky.social · 6h
man it is way too early in the morning to read sentences like this tucson.com/news/local/s...

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Alan Richardson, David R. Miller , and 5 more

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7h
WELKER: Lawmakers say the 2 men appeared to raise their arms potentially to surrender. Why did Admiral Bradley interpret these actions as anything other than them trying to survive?

TOM COTTON: They were sitting or standing on top of a capsized boat. They weren't floating helplessly in the water

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

followtheh.bsky.social
Tom Hearden @followtheh.bsky.social · 7h
The quality of the wax exhibits at Madame Tussaud’s is greatly diminished

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 7h
Professors:

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Brendan Nyhan, Valerie Mueller , and 1 more

eladiobobadilla.com
Eladio Bobadilla @eladiobobadilla.com · 7h
Me when I cite myself:

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, David R. Miller, Gerald Friedman , and 1 more

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8h
BASH: The president said very clearly this week he doesn't want Somali immigrants in America. He called them 'garbage.' Is that the real reason this operation is happening?

HOMAN: No. I think President Trump is referring to public safety threats & natl security threats

BASH: He didn't say that

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

jonmladd.bsky.social
Jonathan Ladd @jonmladd.bsky.social · 8h
Abraham Lincoln said that an “electric cord” connects all our waves of immigrant generations to the founding principles of human equality and republican government. Commitment to these principles, not blood and soil, makes people Americans. www.uvu.edu/ccs/docs/lin...
We have besides these men— descended by blood from our ancestors—among us perhaps half our people who are not descendants at all of these men, they are men who have come from Europe—German, Irish, French and Scandinavian— men that have come from Europe themselves, or whose ancestors have come hither and settled here, finding themselves our equals in all things. If they look back through this history to trace their connection with those days by blood, they find they have none, they cannot carry themselves back into that glorious epoch and make themselves feel that they are part of us, but when they look through that old Declaration of Independence they find that those old men say that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal," and then they feel that that moral sentiment taught in that day evidences their relation to those men, that it is the father of all moral principle in them, and that they have a right to claim it as though they were blood of the blood, and flesh of the flesh of the men who wrote that Declaration, (loud and long continued applause) and so they are. That is the electric cord in that Declaration that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together, that will link those patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men throughout the world.

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 8h
and prioritizing white Afrikaners from South Africa
jacobtlevy.bsky.social Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 9h
With a new ceiling of 7,500 refugee admissions per year *total from the whole world,* even before the additional crackdown in the last couple of weeks, the administration is actually aiming to be far *more* restrictive than the US was in that shameful era.

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Jacob Montgomery, Stuart Shapiro

jonmladd.bsky.social
Jonathan Ladd @jonmladd.bsky.social · 9h
The Declaration of Independence, the American Constitution and the Gettysburg Address. Liberty and equality for all in a constitutional republic. Not blood and soil nationalism. America is not an ethnostate where your rights depend on ancestry.

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

jacobtlevy.bsky.social
Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 9h
With a new ceiling of 7,500 refugee admissions per year *total from the whole world,* even before the additional crackdown in the last couple of weeks, the administration is actually aiming to be far *more* restrictive than the US was in that shameful era.

Reposted by Anna O. Law

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 9h
"Among the tragic consequences of the 1924 act: The United States allowed in only an estimated 250,000 Jewish refugees between 1933 and 1944, a modest number compared to the estimated 6 million who were killed in the Holocaust."

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Philip N. Cohen, Rebecca Sear , and 1 more

ktumulty.bsky.social
Karen Tumulty @ktumulty.bsky.social · 9h
My Sunday Take: Trump’s latest anti-immigration push echoes the nativism of the 1920s (gift link) wapo.st/48zBjTj
Analysis | Trump’s latest anti-immigration push echoes the nativism of the 1920s
The president and his aides have escalated anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies in recent weeks.
wapo.st

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

sbagen.bsky.social
Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 10h
What @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social says here.

www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/how-... Syndicate Newsletter
Many of the world’s most notorious dictators have carried their countries toward ruin, such as by slashing public assistance (Chile’s Augusto Pinochet), appropriating funds for themselves and their cronies (Congo’s Mobutu Sese Seko, Libya’s Muammar el-Qaddafi, and Putin), or engaging in catastrophic wars or revolutionary campaigns (Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, and Mao Zedong). But the Trump administration is unusual in its apparent commitment to destroying the pillars of America’s long-term prosperity – education, health, research, and climate policy – and decimating trust in, and goodwill toward, the US abroad.

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Robert C. Richards, Colm O’Cinneíde , and 3 more

rgoodlaw.bsky.social
Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 20h
"Bradley told lawmakers that the orders he received from Hegseth were to kill the individuals on the approved target list, which included everyone on the boat, then destroy the drugs and sink the boat, those sources said."

They were civilians.
Admiral told lawmakers everyone on alleged drug boat was on a list of military targets
Adm. Frank Bradley said U.S. intelligence had identified the 11 people on the boat and determined the military was authorized to kill them as part of Trump’s campaign against alleged drug-smuggling ve...
www.nbcnews.com

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, David Rothschild, Alan Richardson , and 1 more

mrjoncryer.bsky.social
Jon Cryer @mrjoncryer.bsky.social · 19h
He says the men they murdered are on a list.

Let’s see the list.

Let’s hear their names.

Show us the evidence.

If you have any.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
Admiral told lawmakers everyone on alleged drug boat was on a list of military targets
Adm. Frank Bradley said U.S. intelligence had identified the 11 people on the boat and determined the military was authorized to kill them as part of Trump’s campaign against alleged drug-smuggling ve...
www.nbcnews.com

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Brendan Nyhan, Gavin A. Schmidt , and 1 more

socialmedialab.ca
Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 19h
This is immoral. "3-year-old child forced to serve as her own attorney in Tucson immigration court. More than a dozen undocumented minors were forced to serve as their own attorneys in front of an immigration judge as the Trump admin. ramps up removal proceedings." coppercourier.com/2025/12/05/c...
Three-year-old child forced to serve as her own attorney in Tucson immigration court
More than a dozen undocumented minors were forced to make their case in front of an immigration judge as the Trump administration ramps up removal proceedings.
coppercourier.com

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Rebecca Solnit, Will Jennings , and 22 more

gilduran.com
Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 1d
A Palantir billionaire just called for public hangings.

“It's time to bring back masculine leadership to protect our most vulnerable,” writes Joe Lonsdale.

This is where Silicon Valley authoritarianism is heading:

www.thenerdreich.com/joe-lonsdale...
Joe Lonsdale Calls For Public Hangings
Silicon Valley radicalization escalates
www.thenerdreich.com

Reposted by Simon Hix, Brendan Nyhan, Linda J. Skitka , and 15 more

adambonica.bsky.social
Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 1d
Study after study shows campaign ads barely move the needle. So where does money’s real power come from? I ranked the five ways money corrupts politics—from least to most corrosive. What I’ve learned from 15 years of tracking political money:
Money Doesn't Buy Elections. It Does Something Worse.
Campaign ads barely move the needle. The real influence is hiding in plain sight.
open.substack.com

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

kimlanelaw.bsky.social
Kim Lane Scheppele @kimlanelaw.bsky.social · 1d
The DOJ's position is that it will not do anything that a judge does not explicitly require, even if that action is clearly the lawful implication of what is decided. Is this the DOJ's way of saying (again) that it will only follow SCOTUS orders? www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/u...

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Gernot Wagner, Michael Jones‐Correa , and 1 more

tvmojoe.bsky.social
Joe Adalian @tvmojoe.bsky.social · 1d
This is how my local paper in the swing state of Nevada covered it: Huge picture, AP story with nary a hint that this was weird or corrupt.

As low as Trump’s approval ratings are, they’d be much lower if he didn’t have the help of large swaths of the media
Chris Carison The Associated Press PHOTO: FIFA President Gianni Infantino awards President Donald Trump the FIFA Peace Prize on Friday during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington. "This is truly one of the great honors of my life,"Trump said FIFA awards president peace prize Soccer group's leader Sheinbaum, Trump meet dian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia WASHINGTON — cites ceasefire in Gaza Mexican President Sheinbaum - in his brief remarks, Claudia Sheinbaum said saying the coordination with the By Seung Min Kim The Associated Press Friday that she and countries has been "outstanding." President Donald Trump "This is truly one of the great hon- had a "cordial" hourlong ors of my life, " Trump said, adding WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump was awarded the inaugural FIFA peace prize on Friday at the 2026 World Cup draw. Trump had been heavily expected to receive the newly created FIFA prize. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said he thought Trump should have won the Nobel for his efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza. In awarding the prize, Infantino told Trump it was a "beautiful medal for you that you can wear everywhere you want to go." Trump promptly placed the medal around his neck. The certificate that Infantino handed Trump recognizes the U.S. president for his actions to "promote peace and unity around the world." Infantino also presented Trump with a gold trophy with his name on it that depicts hands holding up the world. meeting in Washington that "most important, I just want that ended with both to thank everybody. The world is a Claudia leaders extending safer place now." Sheinbaum invitations to visit each FIFA has given no details about the other's country. process for choosing a winner. "We'll arrange a date later," Sheinbaum Infantino has often spoken about told reporters outside of the Mexican Cultural Institute soccer as a unitier for the world, but Los Angeles Times the pri…

Reposted by Steven Heydemann, Richard E. Lenski, Joe R. Feagin , and 3 more

peterbakernyt.bsky.social
Peter Baker @peterbakernyt.bsky.social · 1d
Trump said last year that he would focus on deporting immigrants who were violent criminals. But a study of arrests in major operations in DC, LA, Illinois and Massachusetts shows that the vast majority of those swept up by ICE have no criminal record.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
ICE Arrest Data Shows Many Immigrants With No Criminal Record
In high-profile operations, more than half of those arrested had no criminal record, an analysis shows.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by David R. Miller

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d
Ronald Reagan: America is a "shining city upon a hill"

Now:
michaelsderby.bsky.social Michael Derby @michaelsderby.bsky.social · 1d
“Gone is the long-familiar picture of the United States as a global force for freedom, replaced by a country that is focused on reducing migration while avoiding passing judgment on authoritarians, instead seeing them as sources of cash.” Via NYT
Trump’s Security Strategy Focuses on Profit, Not Spreading Democracy
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan , and 4 more

ryanenos.bsky.social
Ryan Enos @ryanenos.bsky.social · 1d
As awful as this, the focus on whether the woman was complying obscures the more important issue: in a democracy, there should not be armed agents demanding to see papers of every passing person.
bgrueskin.bsky.social Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 1d
“Traumatized, humiliated, degraded.”

The nurse, a US citizen, 4’11”, 85 lbs, says she was following orders when she was dragged out of her car by masked immigration agents in Florida.

It was the 3rd time she had been stopped and told to produce ID.

Free link ⤵️
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
Exclusive: Woman detained by feds in Keys says she was following agents’ orders
“This is not the America that I grew up in, and this is not the America that we represent.”
www.miamiherald.com

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Charles West

paulwaldman.bsky.social
Paul Waldman @paulwaldman.bsky.social · 1d
Read this NYT piece by Sam Kriss about AI's distinctive writing style - especially "It's not X - it's Y" - and then look at this horror of an AI-generated article, which uses all the tropes he identifies, over and over again.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/m...

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d
Tom Cotton: "I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat ― loaded with drugs, bound for the United States ― back over, so they could stay in the fight"

Reposted by Mark D. White, Jacob Montgomery, David R. Miller , and 1 more

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d
Could not be more contrary to American traditions. A gold-bedecked White House with a massive gilded ballroom and a government-created personality cult around the president complete with giant banners of his face on government buildings and official celebrations of his birthday.
andycraig.bsky.social Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 1d
When I saw the story in passing I thought it was the same dumb bit as the army parade, the fig leaf of using Flag Day because it happens to also be his birthday. But no, Trump's birthday as such is now an official commemoration for NPS free admission days.

www.nps.gov/planyourvisi...
2026 Free Entrance Days in the National Parks Come experience the national parks! All National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee will offer free admission to everyone (other fees, including timed entry or reservation fees, may apply). Mark your calendar for these entrance fee-free dates: February 16: Presidents Day (Washington's Birthday) May 25: Memorial Day June 14: Flag Day/President Trump's birthday July 3–5: Independence Day weekend August 25: 110th Birthday of the National Park Service September 17: Constitution Day October 27: Theodore Roosevelt's birthday November 11: Veterans Day Beginning in 2026, free entrance on these days will be for US citizens and residents only. Nonresidents will pay the regular entrance fee and any applicable nonresident fees.