Conor Lynch

New York

Writer and Journalist at Freelance

Writer & journalist. https://t.co/Ih8qAcHj5R

Articles

Josh Hawley and the Mirage of Republican ‘Populism’

2 weeks ago | truthdig.com | Conor Lynch

Last Thursday, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri rebuked “corporatist Republicans” in a New York Times op-ed published shortly after his colleagues in the House released a draft of their “big, beautiful” reconciliation bill. The senator specifically called out those in his own party who are pushing for big cuts to Medicaid in order to extend the tax cuts that Donald Trump signed into law in 2017.
Andrew Cuomo’s Left Hook

3 weeks ago | truthdig.com | Conor Lynch

When Andrew Cuomo stepped down as governor of New York back in the summer of 2021, it capped one of the most remarkable political implosions in recent memory. Just one year earlier, Cuomo had been hyped as the future of the Democratic Party after his rise to national prominence during the initial months of the COVID-19 crisis.
The Deep State Next Door

1 month ago | truthdig.com | Conor Lynch

For the past decade, conservative battle cries have circled ever-tighter around the urgency of taking down the “deep state” — the layers of federal bureaucracy that allegedly undermined the first Trump administration. Though originally used by progressive commentators during the Obama years to spotlight the entrenched power of national security and law enforcement agencies, the term “deep state” was appropriated by Donald Trump early in his first term.
Resistance 2.0: Return to the Working Class

2 months ago | truthdig.com | Conor Lynch

Last year’s election left the Democratic Party in shambles, and things haven’t improved much for them since. According to a string of recent polls, the general public’s perception of the party has recently hit rock bottom, with less than 3 in 10 registered voters expressing a positive view of the party. This collapse has been driven largely by Democratic voters themselves, who have become increasingly frustrated with their party’s leadership (or lack of leadership).
The United $tates of Pump-and-Dump

Mar 10, 2025 | truthdig.com | Conor Lynch

For Donald Trump, politics has been lucrative. According to some estimates, the president has roughly doubled his net worth since announcing his candidacy in 2016, and almost all of this new wealth can be traced back to businesses that exist because of his political career. Trump Media, which went public last year, accounts for more than half of his entire net worth. Measured by its fundamentals, Trump Media is essentially worthless.
The Department of Government Exploitation

Feb 20, 2025 | truthdig.com | Conor Lynch

The basic premise of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency — that the federal government loses untold billions of dollars each year due to waste, fraud and systemic inefficiencies — is mostly true. According to the Government Accountability Office, the federal government made roughly $236 billion in “improper payments” during the fiscal year of 2023. This includes everything from overpayments to inaccurate recordkeeping to outright fraud.
Donald Trump's Looming Schedule F Purge

Feb 5, 2025 | truthdig.com | Conor Lynch

When Donald Trump issued the original Executive Order known as Schedule F in late 2020, it was widely condemned by a broad spectrum of critics as a thinly veiled effort to install loyalists throughout the federal bureaucracy. Under the pretense of “restoring accountability,” the order created a new “exempted service” in the federal workforce that effectively stripped career employees working on policy of their civil service protections.
The Paradox of Donald Trump's McKinley-Inspired Populism

Jan 22, 2025 | truthdig.com | Conor Lynch

During his first term as president, Donald Trump often pointed to Andrew Jackson as his favorite predecessor. He hung the seventh president’s portrait in the Oval Office, visited the Hermitage to commemorate his 250th birthday and even delayed the planned removal of Old Hickory from the $20 bill.
Will the Real Populists Please Stand Up?

Jan 7, 2025 | truthdig.com | Conor Lynch

During a virtual town hall shortly before November’s presidential election, Elon Musk admitted that implementing the spending cuts he and his allies planned to propose during a second Trump administration would necessarily involve “some temporary hardship” for the American people. Unlike Donald Trump, who assured that “nobody” would feel the cuts, the Tesla CEO at least conceded that his austerity agenda would strike a financial blow to millions of Americans already struggling to make ends meet.
The Origins of the Mar-a-Lago Machine

Nov 27, 2024 | truthdig.com | Conor Lynch

Donald Trump has always modeled his political identity, consciously or not, after the powerful figures who made up the corrupt landscape of New York City politics in the latter part of the 20th century. Almost all aspects of Trump’s approach to politics, from his bullying style and transactional mindset to his all-consuming need for loyalty, can be traced back to his formative years in New York.