A version of the below article first appeared in David Corn’s newsletter, Our Land. The newsletter comes out twice a week (most of the time) and provides behind-the-scenes stories and articles about politics, media, and culture. Subscribing costs just $5 a month—but you can sign up for a free 30-day trial. About a dozen or so years ago, a staffer for Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ultraconservative Republican from Alabama, reached out to me and asked if we could meet. I don’t hear from too many GOP aides on Capitol Hill, so I was game. We rendezvoused at a coffee shop around the corner from my office. The aide was eager to pitch me an idea. Shouldn’t liberals who care about American workers make common cause with immigration restrictionists? Fewer immigrants, he contended, would mean more jobs available for American citizens. And if these were the sort of jobs employers had trouble hiring for, those owners would then have to pay workers more—and Americans would earn more. How could unions and liberals not support this? He was quite earnest and a tad nerdy, and he discussed this notion with a missionary zeal. It was clear he was not having much success on the Hill connecting with Democrats or Republicans on this. He was an outsider and reminded me of those proud libertarians I had met in college who were certain they had figured everything out and didn’t understand why others didn’t embrace their logic-driven ideology. I told the fellow that I was hardly a representative for liberals or labor but that I would think about what he said. Nothing concrete came out of our conversation. I pinged the aide a few times with questions about in-the-news matters involving the Senate, and he replied, usually with information that was not that useful. What struck me most was that he was so sure he had found the path for America’s future and that he just needed to persuade the unenlightened (like me) to see it. His name was Stephen Miller. > When I first met Miller, he did not seem like a likely propagandist for > autocracy. I guess you never know. Years later, I was surprised to see him as a top commander in Trump’s MAGA army. Sessions, the first GOP senator to endorse Trump in the 2016 campaign, had brought him into the fold. Though Trump fired Sessions less than two years into his stint as attorney general, Miller remained in Trump’s inner circle, becoming a top enabler—perhaps the most important one—of Trump’s dangerous id and a power-hungry extremist guiding Trump’s crusade of nativism and march toward authoritarianism. When I first met Miller, he did not seem like a likely propagandist for autocracy. I guess you never know. These days, Miller, as Trump’s mini-me, has been paving the way for Trump’s war on dissent—and that’s a literal war, with Trump deploying troops to cities to do battle with protesters (who tend to be peaceful) and to show Democrats that he’s a strongman who can exert military power to seize control of their cities and states. In remarks and social media posts over the past few weeks, Miller has declared that Trump as president has unlimited power; that “left-wing terrorism” is rampant across the land; that Democrats support violence against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, back “domestic terrorists,” and are a “domestic extremist organization”; and that governors, mayors, and judges who oppose and block Trump’s deployments of troops to American cities are engaged in an “insurrection.” He claims there’s a war raging in America’s cities due to antifa, ICE protesters, and hordes of criminals; he’s obviously attempting to establish a predicate for Trump invoking the Insurrection Act and expanding his use of troops within the United States to solidify his rule. > The Trump-Miller effort to delegitimize, if not criminalize, freedom of speech > and protest has been embraced by Capitol Hill Republicans. Miller was a force behind Trump’s recent moves to designate antifa, a decentralized movement, as a “domestic terrorist organization,” which Trump had no authority to do, and to issue a National Security Presidential Memorandum that associates a variety of political views—“anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality”—with “violent and terroristic activities.” As the Brennan Center for Justice notes: This breathtakingly broad list easily encompasses everyone from labor organizers, socialists, many libertarians, those who criticize Christianity, pro-immigration groups, anti-ICE protestors, and racial justice and transgender activists, to anyone who holds views that the administration considers to be “anti-American.” Under NSPM-7, the antifascist label can be attached to any of these types of people and groups and many more besides, giving the government maximum flexibility to pick and choose its targets. As the center says, much of this memo “is squarely directed at speech and nonviolent action by organizations and individuals protected by the First Amendment.” The Trump-Miller effort to delegitimize, if not criminalize, freedom of speech and protest has been embraced by Capitol Hill Republicans. This Saturday, there will again be No Kings marches and rallies across the nation opposing Trump. Millions could turn out for this event—in a continuation of the peaceful demonstrations that were held in June that drew an estimated 4 to 6 million participants. And this seems to scare Republicans. On Friday, during a press briefing held by House Republican leaders, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the majority whip, exclaimed that the “terrorist wing” of the Democratic Party was “set to hold…a hate-America rally in DC.” > Emmer: "This is about one thing and one thing alone — to score political > points with the terrorist wing of their party, which is set to hold a hate > America rally in DC next week." > > — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-10-10T14:25:31.189Z House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) got his licks in, too. He said the protesters would be “the antifa crowd and the pro-Hamas crowd and the Marxists.” The same day, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said, “This will be a Soros paid-for protest for his professional protesters. The agitators show up. We’ll have to get the National Guard out. Hopefully it will be peaceful. I doubt it.” > Sen. Roger Marshall: "October 18 is when the protest gets here. This will be a > Soros paid-for protest for his professional protesters. The agitators show up. > We'll have to get the National Guard out. Hopefully it will be peaceful. I > doubt it." > > — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-10-10T14:41:54.779Z On Monday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy chimed in, saying the No Kings rallies are “part of antifa, paid protesters.” > Sean Duffy: "The No Kings protest, Maria, really frustrating. This is part of > antifa, paid protesters. It begs the question who's funding it." > > — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-10-13T12:22:30.198Z It looks as if the Republicans are running a disinformation campaign to smear the opposition. This Miller-like denigration of peaceful protest—commies! terrorists!—is deplorable fearmongering, which has become Miller’s specialty: depicting America as land wracked with left-wing violence and lawlessness. When millions gathered in June at over 2,100 No Kings rallies, there were no violent eruptions. But in Trump’s cult, Milleresque demagoguery is contagious, and conservatives who claim to hold the Constitution near and dear have no problem lying to denounce and undermine First Amendment–protected activity.   It’s all part of Trump’s—and Miller’s—assault on constitutional rights and freedoms. Republicans, evidently worried about the pro-democracy protest this weekend, are trying to preemptively tar as extremists the citizens who gather to resist Trump and his assault on American democracy. Miller, I’m sure, has learned a lot since he came knocking on my door, a lonely Senate aide seeking attention and across-the-aisle company. One lesson appears to be that hyperbole, lies, and demonization are essential tools for an authoritarian looking to crush democratic opposition and impose autocratic rule. But I doubt Miller has changed much. He’s still a zealot—but one who finally figured out how to transform his fanaticism into influence and power.

Subtlety is not one of Stephen Miller’s strong suits. Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, who alternately has been called the administration’s “attack dog” and “the president’s id,” has a well-known penchant for the kind of breathless, overheated language that would make the hackiest of hacks blush. Scroll through his X feed and you’ll find some real doozies, everything from “The entire Democrat party is now operating in service of a single issue and objective: unlimited mass third world migration” to “We are living under a judicial tyranny” to “The days of China pillaging America are over.” So it came as no surprise that he went The Full Miller in the wake of the murder of MAGA activist Charlie Kirk earlier this week. As conservative leaders, right-wing influencers, and even the federal government promised retribution on the left for its supposed complicity in and celebration of Kirk’s shooting, Miller ratcheted up the rhetoric in his own uniquely toxic way. On Thursday morning, the day after the shooting at Utah Valley University, Miller tweeted: > There is an ideology that has steadily been growing in this country which > hates everything that is good, righteous and beautiful and celebrates > everything that is warped, twisted and depraved. It is an ideology at war with > family and nature. It is envious, malicious, and soulless. It is an ideology > that looks upon the perfect family with bitter rage while embracing the serial > criminal with tender warmth. Its adherents organize constantly to tear down > and destroy every mark of grace and beauty while lifting up everything > monstrous and foul. It is an ideology that leads, always, inevitably and > willfully, to violence — violence against those uphold order, who uphold > faith, who uphold family, who uphold all that is noble and virtuous in this > world. It is an ideology whose one unifying thread is the insatiable thirst > for destruction. > > We see the workings of this ideology in every posting online cheering the evil > assassination that cruelly robbed this nation of one of its greatest men. > Postings from those in positions of institutional authority — educators, > healthcare workers, therapists, government employees — reveling in the vile > and the sinister with the most chilling glee. > > The fate of millions depends upon the defeat of this wicked ideology. The fate > of our children, our society, our civilization hinges on it. > > Now we devote ourselves, with love and unyielding determination, to finishing > the indispensable work to which Charlie bravely devoted his life and gave his > last measure of devotion. We’ve come to take this sort of demonization and incendiary language for granted. But: It is not, in any way, normal. As Current Affairs wrote in a June piece titled, “The Brainless Propaganda of Stephen Miller,” “Even by the standards of right-wing rhetoric, Miller’s public statements are uncommonly shameless. He treats his audience as stupid and gullible.” Miller’s tweet, though, was just a warm-up. Appearing on Fox News on Friday night, he threatened “all the domestic terrorists in this country spreading this evil hate”: > Stephen Miller: "The last message that Charlie Kirk gave to me before he > joined his creator in heaven was he said that we have to dismantle and take on > the radical left organizations in this country that are fomenting violence. > That was the last message that he sent me … we are… pic.twitter.com/j0Gumd9V5i > > — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 13, 2025 The message here is clear: No matter the motives and political leanings of the suspected shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, Miller and the White House see Kirk’s death as an opportunity to go on the offensive against their perceived enemies. How wide a net will they cast? For now, it’s still unclear. But a tweet on Saturday morning suggests Miller sees foes in every corner of American society: > In recent days we have learned just how many Americans in positions of > authority—child services, law clerks, hospital nurses, teachers, gov’t > workers, even DOD employees—have been deeply and violently radicalized. The > consequence of a vast, organized ecosystem of indoctrination. > > — Stephen Miller (@StephenM) September 13, 2025

The chaos that unfolded in Los Angeles over the weekend was sparked by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at workplaces, a controversial policy that seems designed to appease the Trump administration’s desire to increase the number of deportations at all costs. The policy to raid workplaces, reportedly pushed by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and other top Trump administration officials, comes as ICE has tried to increase its deportation numbers. “Stephen Miller wants everybody arrested. ‘Why aren’t you at Home Depot? Why aren’t you at 7-Eleven?'” one ICE official told the Washington Examiner last month. White House Border Czar Tom Homan has also told reporters: “You’re going to see more work site enforcement than you’ve ever seen in the history of this nation. We’re going to flood the zone.” This weekend, there was backlash in Los Angeles. ICE targeted places with large numbers of immigrant workers, including the garment district and a Home Depot in the city of Paramount. At a news conference on Friday, Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said there were seven raids throughout LA and that more than 45 people had been detained. Local news outlet KTLA also reported that raids took place at two clothing stores, and that the Department of Justice told reporters Friday raids were focusing on workers with “fictitious employee documents.” (In a post on X Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said its operations in LA this past week led to 118 arrests, though it was not immediately clear how many of those came from workplace raids.) The raids kicked off protests, which led to violent clashes between citizens and law enforcement. Among those arrested was union leader David Huerta, President of SEIU California and SEIU-United Service Workers West, which represents more than 750,000 service workers statewide. US Attorney Bill Essayli said in a post on X that Huerta “was arrested for interfering with federal officers and will face arraignment in federal court on Monday.” The union countered that Huerta was “peacefully observing” and said he was treated for injuries sustained during his arrest; SEIU is planning to hold a Monday morning rally on his behalf in downtown LA. In a post on Truth Social Saturday night, Trump called California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass “incompetent” and alleged without evidence that the protesters were “often paid troublemakers.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced in a statement Saturday night that Trump was deploying 2,000 members of the National Guard to LA—the first time since 1965 a president has done so without a request from the state’s governor, according to the Brennan Center. As of about midnight Sunday, though, the National Guard had not yet been deployed, according to Bass, despite claims from Republicans they had quelled protests. Miller’s call for “everybody” to be arrested is a key distinction from Trump’s campaign trail pledge to focus on deporting “criminals.” But as my colleague Isabela Dias writes, they have expanded the definition of that work to encompass anybody who enters the country illegally: > How has the White House squared this? By labeling all undocumented immigrants > as criminals, even though unlawful presence in the country is a civil, not > criminal, violation. When asked for the number of ICE arrests conducted so far > that have specifically targeted immigrants with criminal records, press > secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “all of them,” adding, “because they > illegally broke our nation’s laws, and, therefore, they are criminals.” Workplace raids were also a feature of the first Trump administration: ICE officials turned up at poultry plants in Mississippi, 7-Elevens, a meatpacking plant in Tennessee, and other sites in Ohio. But experts say they are not even the most effective way to increase deportations, given their cost and the effort involved. And as Isabela has written, these raids, coupled with subsequent deportations, could cripple the US workforce—particularly in industries such as construction, food services, health care, and domestic labor: > According to a 2016 report by the Center for American Progress, deporting 7 > million workers would “reduce national employment by an amount similar to that > experienced during the Great Recession.” GDP would immediately contract by 1.4 > percent, and, eventually, by 2.6 percent. In 20 years, the US economy would > shrink nearly 6 percent—or $1.6 trillion. Trump’s plan would lead to a dire > shortage of low-wage workers, which would “bring on a recession while > reigniting inflation,” predicts Robert J. Shapiro, a former undersecretary of > commerce in the Clinton administration. This may come as a shock to most Americans. A new CBS News/YouGov poll out Sunday shows that the majority of Americans—53 percent—believe the Trump administration is prioritizing the deportation of “dangerous criminals.” But the latest raids show that workers are among Trump’s targets, regardless of whether or not they have a criminal record. As Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said at the news conference on Friday: “Looking like an immigrant does not make you a criminal.”