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Brendan Nyhan

@brendannyhan.bsky.social

100K followers 4.2K following 8.8K 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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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 6d

My new op-ed with @lkfazio.bsky.social:

Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.
Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 52m

Americans are symbolically conservative and operationally liberal. So you would expect this relationship if Rs are the party of symbolic conservatism and the outcome of interest is policy liberalism, no?

Lee Drutman @leedrutman.bsky.social · 3h

New study finds Democrats represent public opinion better than Republicans: "the quality of statehouse democracy, here meaning the dynamic relationship between opinion and policy, is substantially weakened by Republican Party control of state government."

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Manisha Sinha, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 1h

The idea that political dissent can only be the product of “paid protesters” or “outside agitators” has a long history. Here is the Mississippi columnist Tom Ethridge in June 1963 concerned that attendees at the upcoming March on Washington might be “whipped into a frenzy by skilled agitators.”

“Aug 28 has been set as the date for this mass invasion of the captial by upward of 100,000 negroes…”

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Julia Lynch, Richard M. Carpiano , and 2 more Brendan Nyhan, Julia Lynch, Richard M. Carpiano, Charles T. Mathewes, James M. Thomas

Lee Drutman @leedrutman.bsky.social · 3h

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 13h

This is a really well done—I hope it catches on: A silent roadside protest staged over the weekend in Westerville, Ohio, and posted to the Facebook page of the Westerville Progressive Alliance.
www.youtube.com/shorts/TpZFS...

Signs of Fascism!

YouTube video by COOLHAND

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Will Jennings, David R. Miller, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 14h

More on the legality of Trump paying the troops from another account - now appears maybe it isn't legal? Reporters: Dig into this!

Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 21h

Not that Trump/Vought/Hegseth gaf, but among other ways in which the law says this may NOT be done:
A) The part of 8005 I've underlined in green says money transferred to another account is "available… for the same time period" as that other account; that other acc't expired on Sept 30.

1/

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Reposted by Jacob Montgomery

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 16h

Happy holidays to all who celebrate www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/its...

It’s Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers

First published on October 9, 2009, this classic by Colin Nissan is our most-read article of all time. We’re celebrating the 16th anniversary of th...

www.mcsweeneys.net

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Reposted by Will Jennings, David R. Miller, Steven S. Taylor

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 16h

Come ON

Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 16h

The New York Times knows crime is not “out of control” in major U.S. cities — in fact, crime is way down from past years and decades — but NYT amplifies JD Vance’s lie without a fact check.
It’s journalism malpractice that helps the fascists.

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 16h

What could make a community of white, affluent boomers so livid? In a shocking twist, the reason is exactly what you think it is. www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...

‘Not going to suck it up’: What turned this former hippie town into the angriest place in California?

The local rancor is focused on plans for a six-story, 243-unit apartment building near the town center. The School Street project is universally loathed. Almost everyone believes it to be out of place in a town where one-story and two-story buildings are the norm, and they worry about the impact on parking, traffic and fire safety.

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Reposted by Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan, David R. Miller , and 1 more Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan, David R. Miller, Michael D. McDonald

Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 16h

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

Caitlin G. DeAngelis @caitlindeangelis.bsky.social · 17h

ICE kidnapped a 7th-grader with a pending asylum claim and spirited him out of state without notifying his parents, seemingly with the cooperation of the local police in Everett, MA.

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/12/m...

Everett 13-year-old arrested by ICE and sent to Virginia detention facility
By Marcela Rodrigues Globe Staff,Updated October 12, 2025, 44 minutes ago

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A 13-year-old boy was arrested by ICE in Everett and sent to a juvenile detention facility in Virginia.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested by ICE in Everett and sent to a juvenile detention facility in Virginia.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Everett after an interaction with members of the Everett Police Department and sent to a juvenile detention facility in Virginia, according to his mother and immigration lawyer Andrew Lattarulo.

The boy’s mother, Josiele Berto, was called to pick her son up from the Everett Police Department on Thursday, the day he was arrested. After waiting for about an hour and a half, she was told her son was taken by ICE, Berto told the Globe in a phone interview.

“My world collapsed,” Berto said in Portuguese.

From the police department, the boy was taken to ICE’s holding facility in Burlington on Thursday evening, where he spent a night before being transferred by car to the Northwestern Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Winchester, Va., on Friday morning, his mother said. The juvenile facility is more than 500 miles away from Everett.

The boy is a 7th-grader at Albert N. Parlin School in Everett, his mother said. The teen and his family, who are Brazilian nationals, have a pending asylum case and are authorized to work legally in the United States, Lattarulo said.

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Stacy D. VanDeveer, David Rosnick , and 1 more Brendan Nyhan, Stacy D. VanDeveer, David Rosnick, Steven S. Taylor

The Serfs (youtube.com/theserfstv) @theserfstv.bsky.social · 19h

Fascinated how the guy who made superstars of Matt Walsh, Candace Owens, Jordan Peterson, and Michael Knowles thought that unfettered racism and every phobia in existence wouldn't eventually include anti-semitism

Ben Shapiro warns that conspiratorial right is taking over social media

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 19h

And I continue to believe, per my original post, that people are underrating the value of having people challenge them to the success of their own ideas. If you care about them, you should want them to be challenged!

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 19h

At some point we're just giving up on the pursuit of truth and letting others dictate what we say and do. There will always be bad faith actors!

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 19h

So we should stop trying to improve science because bad actors are trying to weaponize the terminology of reform? Or stop trying to promote viewpoint diversity because bad actors are trying to weaponize it?

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Daniel W. Drezner

Nicholas Slayton @nslayton.bsky.social · 20h

The Texas Military Department confirmed to @taskandpurpose.com it had replaced some of the 200 National Guard troops sent to Chicago for not being "in compliance" with validation standards. This came after photos of heavyset NG members were widely mocked. taskandpurpose.com/news/texas-n...

Some Texas National Guard troops replaced in Illinois after failing to meet standards

An unspecified amount of Texas National Guard troops were replaced in Chicago, shortly after photos of their appearance were mocked.

taskandpurpose.com

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

Rick Hasen @rickhasen.bsky.social · 20h

How I Expect the Supreme Court to Kill Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Callais (If It Does So): Not By Direct Overruling but By Pretending They Are Simply Reinterpreting the Meaning of Section 2 electionlawblog.org?p=152471

I’ve written of good reason to believe the Supreme Court is going to sap Section 2 of its power in the Louisiana v. Callais case, being argued on Wednesday. I won’t rehash those arguments here. Instea...

electionlawblog.org

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Jennifer A. Richeson, Pádua Fernandes , and 1 more Brendan Nyhan, Jennifer A. Richeson, Pádua Fernandes, Nathan P. Kalmoe

BronSays @bronsays.bsky.social · 21h

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

"A prominent anti-DEI campaigner appointed by Meta in August as an adviser on AI bias has spent the weeks since his appointment spreading disinformation about shootings, transgender people, vaccines, crime, and protests."

Meta AI adviser spreads disinformation about shootings, vaccines and trans people

Critics condemn Robby Starbuck, appointed in lawsuit settlement, for ‘peddling lies and pushing extremism’

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers, Nathan P. Kalmoe , and 1 more Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers, Nathan P. Kalmoe, David Darmofal

Sally Jenkins @sallyjenx.bsky.social · 21h

Ratio me. Please. It's a badge of honor. If you don't like a link, go follow some chicken-heart who needs the approval of the thought-police. Caitlin Flanagan of @theatlantic.com is a tremendous writer and this piece is an excellent read. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Don’t Bet Against Bari Weiss

The new editor in chief of CBS News triumphs over her critics.

www.theatlantic.com

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 21h

Constitutional calvinball

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 22h

Amy Coney Barrett defends heavy use of the shadow docket: "If we wrote a long opinion, it might give the impression that we have finally resolved the issue, and in none of these cases have we finally resolved the issue."

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Reposted by Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan

Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 21h

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 21h

"There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."

Justin Elliott @justinelliott.bsky.social · 21h

Here is our full story that Vance is dismissing, with primary source documents showing Trump cabinet members with multiple primary-residence mortgages

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 21h

that's the false binary. I'm not "they" nor are the many other people making this point in good faith

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers, Daniel W. Drezner , and 4 more Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers, Daniel W. Drezner, David R. Miller, W. Andy Knight, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, David Darmofal

Justin Elliott @justinelliott.bsky.social · 21h

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Reposted by Anna O. Law, Brendan Nyhan, David R. Miller

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 22h

The substance of what she's saying is bad and unconvincing, but more fundamentally, I really don't think Supreme Court justices should be going on book tours where they publicly comment on their work and respond to criticism of it. Either put it in a written opinion or hold your peace.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 22h

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 22h

People continue to underappreciate how much their ideas are not challenged or tested (and the costs of not doing so) when they never hear arguments related to X because X sounds like something that disfavored figures or groups say.

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 22h

Both can be true:
1. Many bad faith actors are trying to impose conservative viewpoints on academia and should be resisted as threats to academic freedom
2. Viewpoint diversity (broadly defined) is good for free inquiry scatter.wordpress.com/2025/10/07/t... eternallyradicalidea.com/p/is-higher-...

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, R. M. Wilson, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 22h

1) I once again take this opportunity to remind you: to keep its basic functioning, society has to discourage baldfaced lying, especially by authorities

2) is...is it happening?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 23h

STEPHANOPOULOS: I didn't insinuate anything. I asked you whether Tom Homan accepted $50k as was heard on an audio tape recorded by the FBI in September 2024. You did not answer the question. Thank you for your time.

VANCE: No, George, I sai--

STEPHANOPOULOS: We'll be right back

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 22h

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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 23h

Shared courtesy of my Penn History colleague, Ben Nathans

Image: A variation on Benjamin Franklin’s “Join, or Die” engraving, originally published in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754. Each segment of the snake has the name of a university sent Trump’s “compact”: Texas, AZ, Vanderbilt, USC, Dartmouth, UVA, Brown, Penn, MIT.

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