Video

Like attorney George Conway, retired federal judge J. Michael Luttig is a prominent figure in the conservative legal movement who became an outspoken Never Trumper and rooted for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the United States' 2024 presidential election. Luttig repeatedly warned that if Donald Trump won, he would do everything he could to undermine the rule of law and push the U.S. in an authoritarian direction.

Trump is now almost 11 months into his second presidency, and Luttig is still sounding the alarm. During a "How to Fix It" vodcast posted on the conservative website The Bulwark on December 14, Luttig discussed his worries about Trump with host John Avlon (formerly of CNN) and former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson but also offered some solutions. Luttig and Johnson are now co-chairs of the American Bar Association's bipartisan Task Force on American Democracy.

Luttig warned that 2025's Republicans "almost universally favor more limited access to voting because they believe that the political demographics have moved away from them."

Luttig told Avlon and Johnson, "The president of the United States has literally corrupted America's democracy and its rule of law. For the first time in American history, John — in almost 250 years, America has never experienced anything like this at all. Not a single time in American history."

One of the solutions Luttig offered was "civics education."

The retired conservative judge told Avlon and Johnson, "For years now, there has been a decline in the civics knowledge of American citizens…. You cannot have a democracy that is enforced by partisans at the election booth. That, of course, is what has occurred over the past several cycles. We must fix this if we fix nothing else."

Johnson laid out some ideas to combat Americans' "distrust of government."

The former DHS secretary told Avlon and Luttig, "We talk about how Americans distrust their government…. Trust in government has spiraled downward. Americans are drowning in conspiracy theories; they're deeply suspicious of the institutions of government. I believe — we believe — that elected politicians today have had a lot to do with that. They have pandered to that level of suspicion with extreme rhetoric, appealing to the extreme right and extreme left. And so, a big part of what we believe needs to be done to restore our democracy is reincentivize political behavior."

Johnson continued, "The way you reincentivize political behavior is you get politicians incentivized to appeal to the political center as opposed to the political extremes. Open nonpartisan primaries is a big step in that direction."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

President Donald Trump is set to campaign across the country to promote his economic record, but MS NOW commentator John Heilemann predicts that Republican lawmakers facing reelection in 2026 will want to keep their distance.

Speaking on “Morning Joe,” Heilemann said GOP members are starting to realize they are no longer rowing in the same direction as the president.

"It feels like that moment began because ... the events of just the last 24 hours suggest how much Republicans are now, feeling like they must decouple themselves from Donald Trump," said Heilemann. "Because the election next year — Donald Trump's name won't be on the ballot, but the Donald Trump economy is going to be on the ballot. And we know, midterm elections are nationalized elections now. It's not really about any individual House member so much as we've seen these waves in these off-year and midterm elections over the course of the last decade or so."

He spoke specifically about elections in 2017, 2018 and 2019 when the GOP years were so horrible.

"Now we see them again in 2025. I mean, the years when the Republican Party is tied to Donald Trump's policies but Donald Trump is not, himself, on the ballot, has never gone well for Republicans," continued Heilemann. "His policies have never, in those periods of time, been popular."

He specifically recalled the 2018 election when Trump tried to make it about "caravans" of people coming to the border. "And they got wiped out in this blue wave."

This most recent off-year election in 2025 was far worse for Republicans than it was in 2017, Heilemann continued.

"And when you heard Susie Wiles earlier this week say, Trump's going to be in all their districts. He's going to be out there on the campaign trail. Everything you hear from Republicans on The Hill, when they're being honest, off the record, is 'I'm not sure I want him in my district.' Right now, with 31% on the economy, as is his approval rating and the kinds of performances he's giving, if that performance in Pennsylvania is indicative, there are probably a lot of people who are going to be very hesitant to say it out loud, but they're never going to let Donald Trump in their districts.

Although MS NOW host Joe Scarborough is a blistering critic of President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement and rooted for Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024, the Never Trump conservative and former GOP congressman remains a staunch defender of pre-MAGA Reagan and Goldwater conservatism. The Republican Party, as Scarborough sees it, took a wrong turn when it went MAGA.

During a Friday, December 12 rant on MS NOW's "Morning Joe" — which he hosts with liberal Mika Brzezinski — Scarborough argued that Trump is dropping the ball badly on the economy and that Republicans are destined to suffer in the 2026 midterms if they echo Trump's claim that "affordability" is a Democratic "hoax."

Scarborough said of Republicans, "They are setting themselves up every single day for political disaster next year….. It is astounding to me."

The "Morning Joe" host stressed that while Wall Street millionaires and billionaires are doing well in the stock market, many everyday Americans are struggling because of high prices.

Scarborough told Brzezinski, "Bill Clinton was able to say to Americans, 'I feel your pain.' They believed him. He was extraordinarily successful as a politician for decades because of that…. Now, (Trump's) problem is we have a divided economy. You have the top 10 percent of Americans that account for over 50 percent of our GDP this past year."

The Never Trump conservative continued, "So, if the GDP is doing well and the stock market is doing well…. Working Americans, middle Americans, middle-class Americans who are struggling to get by —they're not feeling that part of the GDP. And so, Donald Trump can't feel their pain and has never claimed to feel their pain."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez (Ill.) lambasted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a Thursday hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee, alleging she "lied" under oath to Congress.

During the hearing, Ramirez countered claims by both Noem and the Trump administration that Americans aren't being detained or deported by the Department of Homeland Security.

"Secretary Noem, you lie, and you lied to the American people. I will be including into the record an article by ProPublica from October 16th, 2025, entitled 'We found that more than 170 U.S. citizens have been held by immigration agents,'" Ramirez said.

Noem began smiling, and Ramirez interrupted her remarks, saying, "There's nothing [to smile] about US citizens" being detained. Noem started to speak, but Ramirez put up her hand, "I'm sorry. That's very inappropriate. Let me continue."

Ramirez played a video of Noem, during a press conference, claiming that the administration had "targeted the worst of the worst," including "violent criminals" who are "breaking our laws."

Ramirez then included in the record an NBC report saying 75,000 non-criminals have been arrested by Homeland Security.

"And it is your obligation as a member of the executive branch to honor decisions made by the highest court of the land. Yes or no, Secretary?" asked Ramirez.

Noem insisted they abide by all court orders.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) hammered Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on who approved the asylum of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who shot and killed a National Guard soldier in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 26, 2025.

Lakanwal, a CIA-backed fighter in Afghanistan, entered the United States in 2021 and applied for asylum. He was approved in April 2025 under President Donald Trump's administration, CNN reported.

Thompson repeatedly probed who approved the application. Noem tried to find a way to blame former President Joe Biden's administration. She claimed that the vetting for Lakanwal happened due to the "Biden administration's vetting."

Thompson wasn't having it.

"Who, who approved the asylum?" Thompson said as Noem tried to speak over him.

"The application on the asylum was thoroughly filled out by information that was gathered by the Biden administration," Noem repeated.

"So, the Biden administration approved the asylum?" Thompson asked again. Noem filibustered over him, again stating the application was "put into place under the rules established by the Biden administration."

"Reclaiming my time. I don't want to charge — file perjury charges against you, but I'm of the opinion that the Trump administration, DHS, your DHS, approved the asylum application," said Thompson.

Noem claimed that the application "moved forward under all of the information and vetting processes that were put in place under the Biden administration." Meaning, the application was filed under Biden. Noem refused to acknowledge the application's approval.

"Reclaiming my time again," Thompson said as Noem refused to admit Trump administration culpability. "It's obvious you're not going to answer my question."

"Mr. Kent you want to take a shot at it?" He asked the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joseph Kent.

Kent also repeated that Lakanwal was vetted under Biden, and because he was tagged as a soldier, he was allowed into the U.S.

However, it was the Trump administration that ultimately approved the application. They have since changed the way they do vetting. The most recent update will require enhanced vetting for H-1B and dependent H-4 visa applicants as of Dec. 15, 2025.

Thompson also pressed DHS officials on the claim that antifa is a terrorist organization. He asked how many people they've identified or where they were that they consider terrorists. None of the officials answered.

MAGA Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) is facing a major controversy because of her behavior at the Charleston International Airport on October 30, when — according to an internal investigation by airport police — she berated airport and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers, using demeaning insults and engaging in a profanity-filled rant.

The controversy escalated when Mace, on December 9, told CNN that "part of the report" was "actually falsified."

Mace discussed the incident some more during a Thursday, December 11 appearance on Fox Business. The MAGA congresswoman had a lot to say about security protections for Republican officials, but host Maria Bartiromo pushed for more details on what happened at the Charleston International Airport on October 30.

Mace doubled down on her claim that airport officials "did file a fictitious police incident report," adding, "Here's the thing, Maria: We have to take our security very seriously. If you're conservative, if you're well-known, if you have fought the transgender community like I have exponentially — in the wake of Charlie Kirk's public assassination — the death threats, the amount of political violence, the celebration of the killing of conservatives, is deeply disturbing."

The GOP lawmaker added that "when there is a security breach, one mistake can have devastating consequences."

But Bartiromo pressed Mace for more specifics, saying, "What I'm asking you is: What happened? You're suing the airport and American Airlines?"

Mace, in response, once again alleged that there was a "security breach" at the airport and claimed that the police report's account of her actions at the airport was "falsified."

In late November, Gallup's tracking poll found President Donald Trump's overall approval rating falling to 36 percent. And among independents, it was only 25 percent.

Trump, however, fared slightly better in a YouGov/Economist poll that found his overall approval at 39 percent.

During a Thursday, December 11 rant on MS NOW's "Morning Joe," host Joe Scarborough — a Never Trumper and former GOP congressman — warned fellow conservatives that the more "out of touch" Trump appears on the economy, the more his party will suffer for it.

Scarborough told fellow host Mika Brzezinski, the New York Times' Peter Baker and journalist Willie Geist, "It's just a question of do you get it or not. And when he goes to the Poconos and he says affordability is a con job….. He still believes it's a con job. And we looked at grocery prices going up, heating bills going up, electricity going up, cost of cars going up — the cost of everything is, again, more of a challenge than ever, ever before. And you were seeing, Peter Baker, people coming out of that event talking to (MS NOW's) Vaughn Hillyard and others saying, 'You know, he just doesn't get it.'"

The conservative "Morning Joe" Host continued, "And he's a billionaire, of course. So maybe he's not going to get it, but at least he used to pretend to get it."

Scarborough argued that Trump's unpopularity on the economy is hurting more and more GOP candidates.

The ex-congressman told Brzezinski, Baker and Geist, "You see (Gov.-elect) Abigail Spanberger win by double digits in Virginia on affordability. You saw (New Jersey Gov.-elect) Mikey Sherrill win by double digits when many people thought that race was going to be neck and neck right up until the very end. And then, of course, Miami elects their first woman mayor…. All of this keeps adding up, and Republicans understand that. The understand the president is out of touch on this key issue, and they're the ones who are suffering."