September, 01 2020, 12:00am EDT

"Protect the Results" Expands To 80 Groups As Coalition Prepares To Mobilize Should Trump Contest Election
New National Partners Include Center for Popular Democracy, Color of Change PAC, Common Cause, Demos Action, PFAW, SEIU, and Working Families Party
WASHINGTON
Today, Indivisible and Stand Up America are announcing that more than 80 advocacy groups and grassroots organizations have joined Protect the Results, a coalition building a system to mobilize millions of Americans should Donald Trump contest the election results, refuse to concede after losing, or claim victory before all the votes are counted.
The new partners join Indivisible and Stand Up America in educating the public about the threat Trump poses to the peaceful transition of power and preparing to mobilize millions of their members to take action. The new partners (denoted by *) join a broad coalition of the largest grassroots networks in the country, progressive and conservative advocacy organizations, good government groups, and labor unions that includes:
- 350 Action*
- Advance Native Political Leadership Action Fund*
- Center for Popular Democracy Action*
- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
- Color Of Change PAC*
- Common Cause*
- Communications Workers of America
- Community Change Action
- Demand Justice
- Demos Action*
- End Citizens United Action Fund / Let America Vote
- Friends of the Earth Action*
- Guns Down America*
- March for Truth
- Momentum*
- Mormon Women for Ethical Government*
- MoveOn
- NextGen America
- People For the American Way*
- People's Action*
- Poder Latinx*
- Progressive Change Campaign Committee*
- Protect Our Election*
- Public Citizen
- Pulso*
- Republicans for the Rule of Law
- Seed the Vote*
- SEIU*
- Showing Up for Racial Justice Action*
- Sierra Club*
- Southern Coalition for Social Justice*
- Stand Up Republic
- Sunrise Movement*
- Supermajority
- United We Dream Action
- UltraViolet Action*
- Win Black / Pa'lante*
- Women's March
- Women for American Values and Ethics (WAVE)*
- Workers Defense Action Fund*
- Working Families Party*
"Black communities are all too familiar with Trump's abuses of power, which have included various voter suppression and intimidation tactics over the years. However, a decision to not accept the results of this election would be dire, further devastating our communities, extending the tenure of the most destructive administration in modern history and completely dismembering what remains of our democracy," said Arisha Michelle Hatch, Executive Director of Color Of Change PAC."Our resistance is key in protecting the outcome of this election. That is why Color Of Change PAC is proud to join forces with Protect the Results, to defend the future of this nation. We will mobilize to safeguard Black people from the chaos and pain that will inevitably ensue should Trump choose to disregard reality in November."
"Working people's voice is their power, and making sure their votes are counted and respected is core to our democracy," said SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry. "When Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are elected it will be because people looked at the last four years of divisiveness, including unconscionable attempts to divide us based on race, and soundly rejected that rhetoric. Their message must be respected."
"With tens of millions of Americans casting their ballot by mail this year, it will take time to ensure that every vote in every state is counted. But, instead of pledging to protect the sanctity of our electoral process in the midst of a pandemic, President Trump is ratcheting up signals that he may not willingly cede power and is increasingly threatening to suppress and intimidate voters, especially in Black and Brown communities. This can't go unchecked," said K. Sabeel Rahman, President of Demos Action. "If Trump continues to apply tactics aimed at intimidating voters and disrupting our election, we will need massive grassroots resistance to protect our democracy. In the face of a consequential and crucial general election it will take all of us to ensure that our democracy isn't hijacked."
"If there's one thing the Republican convention taught us, it's that Donald Trump is prepared to do and say anything if he thinks it will prevent him from losing the election," said Ben Jealous, President of People For the American Way. "We know that voter suppression and disinformation campaigns are already under way and that Black communities are among their top targets. So we are going to fight to protect the integrity of this election and we'll keep on fighting until every vote is counted, even if it means we don't have a clear winner on November 3. We will not let Donald Trump subvert the will of the American people this fall."
"The only guardrail keeping Trump from driving our democracy over the cliff into an ocean of fascism is we the people on Election Day," said Nelini Stamp, Director of Strategy and Partnerships at the Working Families Party. "The Working Families Party is proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with allies to protect our right to vote. If Trump wants to ignore the will of the people and fight over election results, it's a fight he'll get."
Last month, Trump refused to say whether he would accept the results of the 2020 election during an interview on FOX News. Just last week, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany doubled down, saying that "the president has always said he'll see what happens and make a determination in the aftermath." These comments follow a deeply troubling pattern of Trump undermining the election, from making false claims that mail-in voting leads to rampant voter fraud to disturbing comments about staying in office past 2024.
Stand Up America is a progressive advocacy organization with over two million community members across the country. Focused on grassroots advocacy to strengthen our democracy and oppose Trump's corrupt agenda, Stand Up America has driven over 600,000 phone calls to Congress and mobilized tens of thousands of protestors across the country.
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Jul 05, 2025
Critics of President Donald Trump's announcement of a planned Ultimate Fighting Championship event on White House grounds to celebrate the United States Semiquincentennial next year took to social media Friday to call the proposal something "straight out of 'Idiocracy'"—the comedy cult classic about a dumbed-down 26th-century America—and condemn what one detractor called "authoritarian theater."
"Every one of our national park battlefields and historic sites are going to have special events in honor of America 250," Trump said at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Thursday. "We're going to have a UFC fight—think of this—on the grounds of the White House."
Yearning for a time when every new day isn't exponentially dumber than the day before.
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— Dave Vetter (@davidrvetter.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 2:57 AM
While Octagon aficionados cheered the prospect of a 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue fight card, many observers couldn't help but notice parallels with the plot of Mike Judge's 2006 film "Idiocracy," a satirical skewering of issues including the erosion of White House decorum in a future when IQs have plummeted and a sports drink corporation owns the country, whose voters elect Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho, "five-time ultimate smackdown champion and porn superstar," as president.
"If anyone defends Trump saying there will be a UFC fight on the White House lawn never listen to them again," former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois wrote on the social media site X Friday, adding that Trump's announcement was like the "plot to 'Idiocracy' with an equally stupid-ass president."
Another X user fumed: "This is what happens when a failed empire hits rock bottom and throws a party about it. UFC fight on the White House lawn to celebrate 250 years of what used to be a country with brains. This ain't strength, this is pure fucking Idiocracy. Straight out of Rome before it burned, give the mob a fight and some burgers while the world collapses around them.
Yet another social media critic joked that "'Idiocracy' was actually a documentary from the future, sent back in time as a warning to us all."
Some critics pointed to the decadeslong business ties between Trump and UFC President and CEO Dana White, who has donated at least $1 million to Trump's campaign coffers.
Others noted the "bread and circuses" vibes of Trump's proposed event, which some called a cynical ploy meant to distract from the devastating impact of policies like Friday's signing of a multi-trillion-dollar tax cut that will overwhelmingly benefit the rich and corporations, while ballooning the deficit and leaving millions of Americans without desperately needed health insurance coverage and food assistance.
"Americans, you won't have healthcare, Medicaid, public schools, nursing homes, rural hospitals, or SNAP. But, you'll get UFC fights on the White House lawn," New York Times opinion contributor Wajahat Ali wrote on Bluesky. "America, F-YEAH!"
Writing for The Guardian Saturday, Karim Zidan asserted: "Donald Trump's UFC stunt is more than a circus. It's authoritarian theater."
"It carries shades of fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini, particularly its obsession with masculinity, spectacle, and nationalism—but with a modern, American twist," he wrote. "Fascist Italy used rallies, parades, and sports events to project strength and unity."
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As catastrophic flooding left scores of people dead and missing in Texas Hill Country and President Donald Trump celebrated signing legislation that will eviscerate every aspect of federal efforts to address the climate emergency, officials in the Lone Star State blasted the National Weather Service—one of many agencies gutted by the Department of Government Efficiency—for issuing faulty forecasts that some observers blamed for the flood's high death toll.
The Associated Press reported Saturday that flooding caused by a powerful storm killed at least 27 people, with dozens more—including as many as 25 girls from a summer camp along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County—missing after fast-moving floodwaters rose 26 feet (8 meters) in less than an hour before dawn on Friday, sweeping away people and pets along with homes, vehicles, farm and wild animals, and property.
"Everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service... It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw."
"The camp was completely destroyed," Elinor Lester, 13, one of hundreds of campers at Camp Mystic, told the AP. "A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary."
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said during a press conference in Kerrville late Friday that 24 people were confirmed dead, including children. Other officials said that 240 people had been rescued.
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After media reports & experts warned for months that drastic & sudden cuts at the Nat Weather Service by Trump could impair their forecasting ability & endanger lives during the storm season, TX officials blame an inaccurate forecast by NWS for the deadly results of the flood.
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— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) July 5, 2025 at 3:19 AM
"Listen, everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service," Kidd reiterated. "You all got it; you're all in media. You got that forecast. It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw."
Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice also said during the press conference that the storm "dumped more rain than what was forecasted" into two forks of the Guadalupe River.
Kerr County judge Rob Kelly told CBS News: "We had no reason to believe that this was gonna be anything like what's happened here. None whatsoever."
Since January, the NWS—a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—has reduced its workforce by nearly 600 people as a direct result of staffing cuts ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, as part of Trump's mission to eviscerate numerous federal agencies.
This policy is in line with Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation-led blueprint for a far-right overhaul of the federal government that calls for "dismantling" NOAA. Trump has also called for the elimination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, arguing that states should shoulder most of the burden of extreme weather preparation and response. Shutting down FEMA would require an act of Congress.
Many of the fired NWS staffers were specialized climate scientists and weather forecasters. At the time of the firings, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, was among those who warned of the cuts' deadly consequences.
"People nationwide depend on NOAA for free, accurate forecasts, severe weather alerts, and emergency information," Huffman said. "Purging the government of scientists, experts, and career civil servants and slashing fundamental programs will cost lives."
Writing for the Texas Observer, Henry D. Jacoby—co-director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change—warned that "crucial data gathering systems are at risk."
"Federal ability to warn the public is being degraded," he added, "and it is a public service no state can replace."
On Friday, Trump put presidential pen to congressional Republicans' so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a $4 trillion tax and spending package that effectively erases the landmark climate and clean energy provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act signed by then-President Joe Biden in 2022.
As Inside Climate News noted of the new law:
It stomps out incentives for purchasing electric vehicles and efficient appliances. It phases out tax credits for wind and solar energy. It opens up federal land and water for oil and gas drilling and increases its profitability, while creating new federal support for coal. It ends the historic investment in poor and minority communities that bear a disproportionate pollution burden—money that the Trump administration was already refusing to spend. It wipes out any spending on greening the federal government.
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