In a remotely sane universe, this would be disqualifying and career-ending. The political world would recoil, and the fundamental decency of the America people would be outraged. The raw rancid racism is neither a joke nor a close call. In Trump’s world… open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

I was just denied entry to the Dilley detention facility while my constituent, seven-year-old Diana, remains inside. What kind of sick, horrific conditions are children being forced to endure in there? I will be back tomorrow. Accountability can’t wait.

The newsroom Bezos once poured money into and celebrated as a proud achievement already lost 400 people in the last three years.

Trump mocks the idea of praying during a meal at the National Prayer Breakfast: “Mike Johnson is a very religious person... He’ll say to me sometimes at lunch, ‘Sir, may we pray?’ I say, ‘Excuse me?’ You know, we’re having lunch.”

The last few years have also been a masterclass in the Art of the Grovel: Fat cat law firms, broligarchs, Republicans, and the dickless men who make penis-shaped rockets to compensate. I refer, of course, to Jeff Bezos... open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

Gutless Billionaire Guts the Post open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

"Criminality is so rampant inside CBP that it has seen one of its own agents or officers arrested every 24 to 36 hours since 2005. CBP’s misconduct scandal is so long-running that today it would be old enough to drink." open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

Preview of tomorrow’s ‘To the Contrary” podcast: CBP has a long history of criminal behavior… The per capita crime rate of CBP officers is higher than rate for undocumented immigrants. A stunning level of misconduct…

Preview of tomorrow’s ‘To the Contrary” podcast: How fuqqed-up are ICE/CBP? Listen to these numbers from Garrett Graff…

Whatever happened to the whole “Don’t Tread on Me” crowd? Where did the Proud Boys go? A preview of tomorrow’s “To the Contrary” Podcast w/ Garrett Graff….

I expected the cuts would be bad but I'm honestly stunned and sickened seeing how many great journalists the Washington Post just lost. People who nailed huge investigations, documented war zones, exposed horrific crimes, dropped all at once for failures they did not cause.

Unbelievable

But Bezos had $75 million to spend on Melania’s vanity project.

What is happening in the camps and warehouses where tens of thousands of detainees are being held? What will the history of our time say about what the United States of America is doing to human beings? We won’t be able to say that we didn’t know: open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

For those keeping score at home:

What Are They Doing When No One is Looking? open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

“The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’ We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.” — Donald J. Trump Are you ready now to take the warnings both literally and seriously? open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

From today’s “To the Contrary” Podcast with @Harry Litman: how alarmed should we be by Trump’s latest election threats?

If you want to hear a sane voice from the US, listen to Charlie Sykes. He’s the living proof that you can be a conservative and not lose your mind, not bend your knee to the depraved craziness that is MAGA podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/t...

“The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’ We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.” — Donald J. Trump Are you ready now to take the warnings both literally and seriously? open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

Principled conservatives are gathering! Join us to learn about our plans for 2026 and 2028 and to hear from conservative leaders like Michael Steele and Charlie Sykes Signup here to join us live or online: www.ourrepublicanlegacy.com/national-com...

Freeing Liam open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

Feed: "To the Contrary" By: Charlie Sykes on Friday, January 30, 2026

Charlie Sykes: It is, in fact, a notable achievement. True awfulness — and a 6% Rotten Tomatoes Score — does not happen by accident. There are many chefs responsible for this stew of awfulness, from the pathetically venal Jeff Bezos, to the fumbly film director, to the charmless First Lady herself.

Feed: "To the Contrary" By: Charlie Sykes on Saturday, January 31, 2026

Trump's Bonfire of Credibility open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

From today’s “To the Contrast” Podcast…

Wouldn’t the “Melania” doc have been a lot more interesting if it had included the First Couple’s conversations about… Epstein? open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

I thought we should start with the reviews of the new “Melania” movie and end with dogs. In between, we’ll dumpster-dive into the latest Epstein files, the arrest of Don Lemon, and the DOJ kabuki dance on the ICE killings in Minneapolis. open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

So now that we have this huge Epstein file dump, does that mean that we’re going to be bombing Iran this weekend?

From today’s “To the Contrast” Podcast…

ICE anonymity: a permission to be brutal? A preview of today’s ‘To the Contrary” podcast with Kristy Greenberg. Subscribe to get the full podcast.

So now that we have this huge Epstein file dump, does that mean that we’re going to be bombing Iran this weekend?

I’m not a doctor and can’t make a judgment about whether this is a product of dementia, cognitive decline, pharmaceutical abuse, or just Trump's incontinence. But even in the court of the Mad Emperor Caligula, I suspect, they knew how to recognize insanity. charliesykes.substack.com/p/lets-not-s...

Let's Not Sanewash This open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

Ossoff: "This is a seismic event. This should have people across the country absolutely shook. This is a huge deal. This is an FBI raid on the Fulton County Elections office ... This is a shot across the bow at the midterm elections. He tried to steal power when he lost it in 2020."

Joining @Deadline White House later in the 5 ET hour to discuss…

They don't call him Nutlick for nothing.

Finally got around to a bit of research I'd been meaning to explore, and: There is no documented instance of an ICE officer being identified and assaulted while off duty because he wasn't masked. www.pbump.net/o/ices-excus...

In newly-surfaced video, defrocked Brute Squad leader Greg Bovino rallies the troops by declaring: “Everybody fucking gets it... this is our fucking city!” As it turned out, he was wrong. Minneapolis was not his city. And now he’s out... open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

A breaking point for normies? charliesykes.substack.com/p/a-breaking...

In newly-surfaced video, defrocked Brute Squad leader Greg Bovino rallies the troops by declaring: “Everybody fucking gets it... this is our fucking city!” As it turned out, he was wrong. Minneapolis was not his city. And now he’s out... open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

Trump had a theory. It turned out to be wrong. Preview of today’s ‘To the Contrary” Podcast w/ Mike Pesca. Subscribe to get the full video when it's released.

Who could possibly have known it would come to this? If only we had been warned.

In Minnesota, he was humbled not by great powers, but by average citizens armed with cellphones. And those phones turned out to be Trump’s kryptonite. open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

Charlie Sykes with the dope GoT reference: “For Donald Trump, chaos is a ladder…to power” #theWeeknight #msnow

Joining @weeknightmsnow.bsky.social in 7 ET hour to discuss…

🎯

The puppy-killing ICE Barbie has been benched; Greg Bovino, the cosplaying Himmler has been fired. And Trump has dispatched Border Czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis. But we should stifle any naive exuberance about what’s happening here. open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

The puppy-killing ICE Barbie has been benched; Greg Bovino, the cosplaying Himmler has been fired. And Trump has dispatched Border Czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis. But we should stifle any naive exuberance about what’s happening here. open.substack.com/pub/charlies...