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This members-only episode was originally published on August 30, 2020 and moved to this feed for full member access.

Even a former member of Trump\u2019s Department of Homeland Security thinks he is bat-shit, and surrounded by actual racists. It would be funny if some of the stories that former DHS official Elizabeth Neumann told Rick Wilson and Molly Jong-Fast on this episode on The New Abnormal weren\u2019t so terrifying. She admits that she did \u201chold her nose\u201d and vote for him in 2016 and really believed he would rise to the occasion. But that dream died super quick\u2014by the end of summer 2017 to be exact: \u201cIt was clear he didn\u2019t have a strong enough character to put aside some of his bad habits,\u201d she said. There was one moment, though, that changed it all. Or, as Molly put it, \u201cmade you realize we\u2019re not in Kansas anymore.\u201d \u201cHe was having some sort of school yard bully fight with a man who is trying to launch a nuclear weapon,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt was a huge wake up call for the department.\u201d Neumann also spoke to the influence Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller had on immigration and when she, a pro-lifer, realized the president \u201cwasn\u2019t a true Christian.\u201d And then she makes two scary admissions, which says a lot because they are all pretty scary, tbh. The first is that Nuemann can say with certainty that many of those in Trump\u2019s orbit are racist. In fact, she had a moment while working in the department in which she thought, \u201cOh my God, some of these people are racist.\u201d The second, and related to the first, is the role that Trump has had on domestic terrorism and white supremacy in the United States: \u201cThe president not speaking out against white supremacy and against QAnon is extremely dangerous. He is creating that fear that creates vulnerability in people to be recruited and radicalized by groups that have an intention of violence.\u201d Plus! Will more former administration officials come out? Neumann shares her thoughts.

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