Tuesday saw Democrats win upset victories in the Miami mayoral race and a Georgia state legislative race, while Republicans spent time covering up scandals and criminal conduct by Trump and Secretary of Defense Hegseth. Add to that storyline a 90-minute rambling speech by Trump that called inflation a Democratic hoax, engaged in ugly racist attacks on a member of Congress, lied about tariffs, and said that children should cut down on the number of pencils they purchase in order to beat (allegedly non-existent) inflation.
In other words, it was a very good day for everyone seeking to end Trump’s lawless reign and begin the long road to reestablishing the rule of law.
The welcome progress occurred against the background of ongoing political corruption of the Supreme Court and the Trump family’s profiteering from the presidency.
Still, we should celebrate our wins when we can and use them to steel ourselves for future battles. Let’s take a look at the Democratic victories and the Trump administration’s multiple cover-ups.
Democratic wins in City of Miami and the Georgia state legislature.
The dramatic Democratic wins on November 4, 2025, suggested that there is a fundamental political realignment in progress: Americans are blaming Trump and Republicans for blowing up the economy with tariffs and destroying the part of the government that protects our health, safety, and financial security.
It is always risky to identify trends based on a single measurement point. It is possible that November 4 was a fluke. But wins in Miami and Georgia prove that the anti-Trump change is real, substantial, and widespread.
Democrat Eileen Higgins beat a Trump-endorsed GOP competitor to win the race for mayor in Miami. Higgins is the first Democrat to win the Miami mayoral race in thirty years. She did so by a commanding 59-41 percentage-point margin. See CBS News, Eileen Higgins wins Miami mayoral runoff, breaking 30-year Democratic drought.
Although the office of mayor is nominally non-partisan, the Democratic National Committee invested in Higgins’ candidacy, just as Republican mega-donors supported Higgins’ opponent.
One note of caution: Turnout was shockingly low—21%. Still, a win is a win, and more Democrats than Republicans showed up at the polls, despite a Republican registration advantage.
Also on Tuesday, Democrat Eric Gisler scored an upset in a state legislative district that Trump won in 2024 by 12 points. See The Hill, Democrats flip Georgia House seat in major upset.
Per The Hill,
Democrats on Tuesday flipped a state House seat in a red-leaning district in Georgia, delivering the party another notable win heading into next year’s midterms. [¶]
Gisler’s victory is a major upset, as President Trump won the district last year by 12 points, according to [Decision Desk].
Democrats were hopeful they could score an upset after overperforming in a recent Tennessee special election. They also flipped two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission in November, sending shockwaves through the state’s political circles.
We must not make the mistake of overinterpreting results from small samples. But the election results of November 4 and December 9 align with months of polls showing consistent declines in Trump’s favorability ratings.
The emerging shift in voter sentiment makes sense to Americans who are watching in shock and disbelief as Trump destroys the economy and assaults the Constitution. Our task is to amplify the messages that are driving people away from Trump’s MAGA agenda, as well as the messages that are attracting voters to the Democratic vision of repairing the economy and democracy.
The ongoing Republican coverups.
The Trump administration is involved in multiple efforts to conceal its lawlessness from the American people.
Trump is personally blocking the release of January 6 documents.
See The New Republic, Trump personally intervenes to block release of January 6 documents.
Per TNR,
The Department of Justice has confirmed that President Donald Trump blocked the release of more than 4,100 documents related to the deadly riot on January 6.
In a court filing Monday night, lawyers for the DOJ revealed that Trump had stepped in to prevent the release of some material requested as part of a lawsuit brought by police officers injured by violent rioters at the U.S. Capitol. The materials were originally subpoenaed from the National Archives and Records Administration in February.
The officers injured in the January 6 insurrection are attempting to prove that Trump was aware that his supporters in the crowd were armed when he ordered the Secret Service to allow them to bypass metal detectors. Trump is claiming “executive privilege,” a judicial doctrine that is meant to protect deliberations by the president. Here, the evidence is clear that there was no “deliberation” on Trump’s part. He simply ordered the Secret Service to allow the crowd into the rally area without being screened for weapons.
Trump and Hegseth are blocking the release of the video of the “second strike” on the two survivors of the attack on the alleged drug boat.
Members of Congress who have seen the “second-strike” video say that it shows the commission of a war crime. Trump initially said he supported the release of the video, but now says it is up to Hegseth. See CBS News, Trump walks back support for releasing video of second boat strike
Hegseth says that the video is being withheld because it may show “methods and sources” of intelligence gathering—a justification that would apply equally (i.e., not at all) to the video of the first strike on the boat, which the Pentagon released with much fanfare and chest-pounding.
The National Defense Authorization Act, which is about to be passed by Congress, contains a provision that requires the release of the video of the second boat strike. If Hegseth refuses, his travel budget will be cut by 25%. See US News, US Lawmakers May Withold Hegseth Travel Funds to Force Boat Video Release. While that budget cut is more symbolic than substantive, the point will be made that both parties in Congress are demanding the release of the video.
Trump and Hegseth look guilty as hell for refusing to release the second strike video when they have released videos of a dozen other boat strikes. They will ultimately concede, but in the meantime, they are inflicting significant damage on the credibility of the Pentagon, the Department of Defense, Special Operations Command, and Admiral Frank Bradley.
The National Defense Authorization Act also requires release of the legal memo justifying the attacks on alleged drug boats.
The NDAA also requires the release of the legal memo justifying the attacks on alleged drug boats and all video of all strikes on drug boats within the area of the US Southern Command.
Failure to release the Epstein files.
Although the Epstein Files Transparency Act requires the DOJ to release the FBI and DOJ files on Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell by December 19, Trump can release them before that deadline—except for grand jury materials.
On Tuesday, a federal judge authorized the release of the grand jury materials relating to the prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell. See ABC News, Judge grants DOJ motion to release grand jury materials from Ghislaine Maxwell case.
This development is significant. Maxwell is hoping from a pardon / commutation of sentence from Trump. But the release of the grand jury materials will remind the public anew that Maxwell was an active participant in the criminal scheme to solicit and sexually assault minors and young women. Maxwell is currently in a cushy federal facility because she gave a perjured statement to Todd Blanche about the extent of Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The grand jury materials, if released by the DOJ, will likely show that Maxwell lied to Todd Blanche to obtain a favorable re-assignment to a minimum security prison.
Trump’s lunatic, depraved speech in Pennsylvania.
Trump chose a casino in Pennsylvania as the venue for a much-hyped speech on “the affordability crisis.” The subliminal message to voters was “The house always wins and you have about as much chance of getting ahead under Trump as you do hitting the jackpot on a slot machine.”
The speech was an orgy of lies and delusion. The Guardian does a good job of debunking Trump’s most outrageous lies and slurs relating to immigration, inflation, boat strikes, racist attacks on Ilhan Omar, and support among Black voters. See The Guardian, Fact check: debunking Trump’s claims on immigration and affordability in Pennsylvania
But the Guardian does not capture the overall weirdness and creepiness of Trump’s performance. For example, he repeatedly called his Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, “Susie Trump.” What!? Next to the doctors who are keeping Trump alive, he spends more time each day with Susie Wiles than any other person in the world. And calls her by a nickname that suggests he thinks she is his . . . wife? Sister? Daughter? Caretaker?
And then he went on a jag about Karoline Leavitt, his press spokesperson, praising her appearances on Fox News by saying, “When she gets up there with that beautiful face and those lips that don’t stop-op-op-op, like a little machine gun.” See The Daily Beast, Trump, 79, derails speech to thirst over Leavitt, 28.
Trump also revived long-discredited claims that Rep. Ilhan Omar “married her brother,” saying that she and “her little turban” could go back to Somalia, which caused the crowd to chant, “Send her back.” See The Washington Examiner, Trump mocks Ilhan Omar’s ‘turban’ in latest anti-Somali tirade. (Following Trump’s attacks, “The crowd then began chanting “send her back” to Somalia.”)
The ugly racism and “Creepy old man / Friend of Epstein” vibe from Trump made his lies about inflation more laughable. He claimed that the affordability crisis is “a democratic hoax,” that “prices are way down,” “inflation has stopped,” and “we are crushing inflation.”
Trump may have pleased the crowd packed into the casino, but those lies aren’t selling to the broader American electorate. If Donald and Susie Trump, er, Wiles, believe that Trump will be an effective campaigner in 2026, they may be handing Democrats a gift of billions of dollars of free attack ads directed at Republicans running in the 2026 midterms.
Opportunity for Reader Engagement
Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD) is a high-profile organization of lawyers, law professors, and former judges and elected officials who have mobilized to defend democracy against the attacks by Donald Trump.
As discussed in this newsletter, the US Supreme Court has repeatedly used its “shadow docket” to summarily reverse the detailed evidentiary findings and exhaustive legal research of federal district court judges. Candidly, such shabby treatment by the Supreme Court of district court judges is an affront to the professionalism and dedication of district court judges.
Many readers have asked whether they can send letters of appreciation to specific federal judges who have applied the law to the facts and followed the Constitution in defending democracy. The short answer is, “You can try, but the judges won’t see your letters.”
So-called “ex parte” communications with specific judges about specific cases are not appropriate. Judicial clerks screen incoming mail to judges to ensure that no direct communications from the public about pending cases make it to the judges. Judges rule on the record placed before them in the form of pleadings, motions, hearings, and trials.
But LDAD has come up with a creative way to acknowledge and thank federal district judges in a public, collective way. As explained on LDAD’s website,
Join Lawyers Defending American Democracy and show your support of the federal court judges and related court support personnel who, each day, are asked to respond to an unprecedented array of attacks on our constitutional democracy and the rule of law.
Your signature below demonstrates appreciation for their deliberative and thoughtful approach, and lets them know their diligence and good faith efforts matter, notwithstanding an unprecedented series of Supreme Court Shadow Docket rulings that ignore their work and undercut the very trust and confidence in the judiciary these courts are trying to maintain.
If you are interested in joining a public, collective expression of appreciation for judges who are following the law and the Constitution in the face of the Supreme Court’s new rule of jurisprudence that seems to say, “Trump gets what he wants,” please consider signing the form on LDAD’s website: Join LDAD in Thanking Judges.
You don’t have to be a lawyer to sign the form.
Concluding Thoughts.
Trump went “all out” to support Emilio Gonzalez, the opponent of Democrat Eileen Higgins, in the Miami mayoral race. Higgins’ decisive victory should be a worrisome development for Republicans and a positive sign for Democrats.
The analysis in What Did Donald Trump Do Today (on Substack) highlights the significance of Higgins’ victory—and Donald Trump’s loss:
Despite Gonzalez being propped up by the holy trinity of GOP influencers—Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Rick Scott—Higgins sailed past him in the runoff. Democrats, meanwhile, threw actual political heavyweights into the mix, and it turns out that voters prefer endorsements from leaders who still hold office and credibility.
Higgins’s victory is being billed as the latest sign that Democrats are gaining steam heading into the midterms, but the real headline is the one Republicans would prefer you not read: Trump’s supposed kingmaking powers now work about as well as a dial-up modem in 2025.
Miami-Dade County was one of Trump’s pride-and-joy “Look, I can win Latinos!” examples in 2024, and yet even in this allegedly fertile political territory, his endorsement had the pulling power of a broken lawnmower.
I agree with the above analysis, but would extend it further: Trump’s endorsement is worse than useless; it is detrimental to the Republican candidates endorsed by Trump.
Susie Wiles was interviewed on “The Mom View” on Monday and said that Trump would campaign as aggressively in the 2026 midterms as he did in 2024. If true, Susie Wiles must be a Democratic double-agent who is desperately trying to help Democrats regain control of the House and Senate in 2026.
Seriously, though, like all Washington insiders, Susie Wiles has no idea how badly Trump will hurt GOP prospects in places that are not the Oval Office and West Wing of the White House.
None of this means that Democrats can relent. Rather, it suggests that we have a historic opportunity to leverage Republican weakness into Democratic strength. If ever there was a time when we needed to do so, now is the time.
Talk to you tomorrow!
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