🌊 Trump’s reaction to the blue wave
🪖 Efforts to remove Pete Hegseth
🤖 AI job interviews
💾 Nvidia scandal
Hi friends,
Chris Vazquez, your Friday newsletter writer here. We’re continuing to see the aftershocks of last week’s blue wave. That’s not a meteorologically consistent metaphor, but you’re picking up what I’m putting down. I’m here to break down the videos Dave has made about this, and one of them is our latest episode of What’s Your Source? It tackles a tricky viewer question: How do we reconcile the fact that anti-trans messaging didn’t work for many Republican candidates, with the fact that voters passed several anti-trans ballot measures?
If you’ve been following news coverage of this topic, you probably already know that lots of traditional media tends to both-sides this topic, often to trans people’s detriment and in a misguided pursuit of their definition of “objectivity.” At LNI, we don’t do that. Our journalism recognizes trans people’s full humanity. If public officials of any party don’t, then we won’t let them off the hook. The difference between being “objective” and being fair, rigorous, thorough, independent and accurate has never felt clearer to me than it has while working on this episode. I hope you give it a watch.
There’s a ton else to unpack from last week’s elections, too. From President Donald Trump’s response to what Democrats are up to now to the latest on the issues that Americans voted on, Dave’s covered it all this week. Let’s dive in.
So … what’s Trump been up to since last Tuesday?
Trump is once again peddling baseless conspiracies around election integrity by questioning the midterm results. The president previously told The New York Times he’d accept the midterm results. Then, days later, he posted on social media doubting “that this ‘Election’ was honest” and suggested without evidence that Republican losses were due to voting machines rather than voters. The president’s similar claim in past elections led to a whole insurrection.
The administration’s harsh, violent and sometimes deadly mass deportation efforts have been particularly unpopular with voters. The guy largely behind those efforts is SPLC-designated extremist and former White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. I say “former” not because he got booted out following widespread GOP losses last week, but because he got promoted to chief of staff. One historian told NPR the most important thing the public should know about this appointment is that chiefs of staff should normally act as a check on the president, and we can expect Stephen Miller to do the exact opposite. “I think you'll see it play out in an even more extreme, untethered, unchained, if you will, Donald Trump,” the historian said.
In the days following the midterms, Trump also made the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room a national monument, saying Congress would have to authorize changes to the rooms. But we all know he didn’t seek their permission when knocking down the East Wing of the White House to build a ballroom. And just one day after the midterms, he invited reporters to watch its construction.
Democrats celebrate win by avoiding decisive action
House Democrats missed an opportunity to further the impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday when 11 of them missed a crucial vote. With those Democrats missing, House Republicans were able to send the impeachment to a committee for further study. In plain English, they sidelined it. Some of the absent Democrats blamed bad D.C. traffic for being MIA.
Democrats may try to impeach Hegseth again next year when they take control of Congress. The party will hold a huge majority in the House when it swears in new members in January, and one representative has already prepared a resolution to impeach him. But some members of the incoming Democratic leadership haven’t committed to another vote. And even if they do impeach, it’s up to the Senate to remove him from office. Democrats will have a majority in the upper chamber, but not the 67 votes required to convict.
So, what do Democrats want to impeach Hegseth for, anyway? The articles of impeachment accused him of extrajudicial killings on boats in the Caribbean that the U.S. suspected — without evidence — of drug smuggling. They also accuse the defense secretary of violating the War Powers Resolution by ordering military attacks on Iran without Congress’ permission.
Videos such as this are very necessary since the vast majority of Americans have no clue how impeachment works. Good job.
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Americans voted on the economy. AI is playing a role.
The AP Voter Poll found that Republicans lost in large part due to Trump’s economic policies. And despite low unemployment and a solid stock market, that underlying economic growth is largely propped up by how much money is being poured into AI — the very thing that many job seekers say is making their lives harder right now.
Economists largely agree that AI can reshape the economy, but researchers are more split on the impact it’s having right now. Limitations of government jobs data make it hard to draw widespread conclusions. But on the ground, job seekers are reporting a sea of AI resume screenings and AI job interviews that make it feel impossible to actually reach a human with hiring power.
By some estimates, more than 90% of companies use automation in the hiring process. Investigative journalist Hilke Schellmann, who was our guest on last week’s episode of What’s Your Source?, found that AI job interview platforms evaluate things like intonation, candidates’ faces, and specific words weighted as markers of success with discriminatory implications.
Soft launching my weekly gossip column in this newsletter
His name is Jensen Huang. He’s the now-former CEO of Nvidia. News of his resignation broke while I was writing this. Huang poured billions into AI development, and his now-former company makes most of the chips used to train and run AI. Her name is Alice Huang (no relation). She’s a Chinese businesswoman, and she was in an extramarital affair with Nvidia’s then-CEO.
American spy agencies reportedly told Trump about a year ago that Alice Huang may be a spy for the Chinese government, but Trump still loosened restrictions on Nvidia selling chips to China. Oh, and by the way, Trump has invested millions in Nvidia’s stock.
In addition to being the best gossip I’ve heard all week, this matters for a few reasons. First, the president has a vested interest in a company making money, even if it may be doing so by engaging with a spy from another country. Also, remember when we all got scared about whether AI will kill us all? Efforts to rein in the industry so that doesn’t happen get more complicated as more countries dive deep on AI development.
That brings us to this week’s media literacy tip from our friends at MediaWise! When gossip becomes news, here are some important questions to keep in mind.
Each week, after running through the news Dave has covered in the past week, I turn things over to him for some analysis. Dave, take it away!
We’re already on our ninth episode of What’s Your Source? We’ve sifted through over a hundred calls to determine a topic each week that’s both in the news and confusing (so, you know … most topics).
If you have a question about anything going on right now, make sure to call and leave a voicemail. It could be another post-election question. It could be something in pop culture. Or maybe you’re losing track of how many girlfriends Jensen Huang had at Nvidia. Anything goes!
The topic we heard the most about, both before and after the midterms, was trans issues. Many callers noted the number of anti-trans commercials they were seeing, especially if they lived in a red or purple state.
The questions around the topic were usually something like, is this actually sticking and are trans issues that important to swing-state voters? and if they are important, is this issue alone going to sway the election?
As with most topics we cover, the answer is complicated. We explore that in this week’s episode, which I hope you’ll watch. Paid members get it Thursday, and everyone else can see it Friday.
Part of the reason the answer is complicated is that the 2026 election, while undoubtedly a “blue wave” for Democratic candidates, also saw a number of anti-trans measures pass.
We spoke to the executive director of the Trans Journalists Association, Tre’vell Anderson. They provided so much insight, as you’ll see (or hear, if you subscribe to the show on Apple or Spotify or the RSS feed!).
Since talking to Tre’vell, these two specific points have stuck with me:
Most people who are “anti-trans” believe they’ve never even met a trans person.
Of course, this is just not true for anyone who leaves their home. Trans people are everywhere, some closeted, some not. Most likely, it’s not that you haven’t met them, it’s that you don’t even know you’ve met them. Which brings us to the second point from Tre’vell:
If you don’t live in an environment that a trans person would feel safe in, they probably aren’t motivated to come out to you.
As with so many political topics, ignorance is the spark that lights the misinformation fire. It’s why I mentioned the federal legalization of gay marriage in my conversation with Tre’vell. As a millennial, that was a pivotal moment. Yes, it provided a way for gay couples to enjoy the benefits of marriage, but it also very publicly normalized being gay for the entire American public, all at once. Far more of my friends came out following that decision by the Supreme Court. It wasn’t necessarily because of the decision alone, but that moment was massive in shifting how Americans thought about an entire group of people.
Once you watch this week’s episode, I hope you’ll write or call in to tell us your thoughts on trans issues in the U.S. right now. You can respond to this email or start a new email at [email protected]. If you have a question, call that number up above.
If you made it to the end of this newsletter, you get two rewards. The first is a pet picture from a loyal reader. This is Nadja!
She’s a bird watcher like me!
Your second reward is the reveal for this week’s link scavenger hunt. In my new weekly gossip column that’s definitely gonna keep happening unless it doesn’t, I linked out to my inspiration: Another gossip column spoof in Krakoan-era X-Men comics.
Until next week!
Chris
