The Founding Fathers planted a bomb in the Constitution. Donald Trump lit the fuse.

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Support our nonprofit journalism]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     April 23, 2024 Hey there. I'm Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones, with some exciting news to share: My new book, [Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People—and the Fight to Resist It](, is out today. The book examines how the crisis facing American democracy is much older and deeper than Donald Trump. I trace the debate between democratic and anti-democratic forces all the way back to the Founding Fathers, who created political institutions such as the Electoral College and the US Senate that weren’t all that democratic. As I wrote in an [exclusive excerpt]( for Mother Jones, those anti-democratic compromises laid the groundwork for Trump and the reactionary MAGA movement we have today. It's as if our Founding Fathers, in ways they could not have anticipated, placed a ticking time bomb at the heart of American politics—[and this could be the year it explodes](. Just consider these three stunning stats: –For the first time in US history, five of six conservative justices on the Supreme Court were appointed by Republican presidents who initially lost the popular vote and confirmed by senators elected by a minority of Americans. —By 2040, roughly 70 percent of Americans will live in 15 states with 30 senators, while the other 30 percent—who are whiter, older, and more rural than the country as a whole—will elect 70 senators. —Before the 2000 election, only three times in US history had the loser of the popular vote won the Electoral College. But that’s happened twice in 16 years since then and almost occurred a third time in 2020. At this pivotal moment for democracy, when so many of our fundamental rights are at stake, I hope you’ll take a moment to [catch my new book](, the [excerpt in Mother Jones](, and the [terrific videos]( produced by my colleague Sam Van Pykeren. Let us know what you think! —Ari Berman Advertisement [Advocate]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [How Columbia’s Student Radio Station Is Meeting the Moment]( "We can keep this up as long as the protests keep going." BY NAJIB AMINY AND JACOB ROSENBERG SPONSORED CONTENT BY PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE   ADVOCATE, A New Graphic Memoir from Eddie Ahn A moving graphic memoir following Eddie Ahn, an environmental justice lawyer and activist striving to serve diverse communities in San Francisco amidst environmental catastrophes, an accelerating tide of racial and economic inequality, burnout, and his family’s expectations. [Get Advocate here.]( [Trending] [Biden unveils $7 billion "solar for all" investment for Earth Day]( BY RICHARD LUSCOMBE   [Terry Anderson was a pawn in a nasty game, and a hero for journalists]( BY ROBERT J. ROSENTHAL   [Ben & Jerry’s parent backpedals on social and environmental vows]( BY ROB DAVIES   [These Floridians rebuilt houses in flood zones. Now FEMA is cracking down.]( BY JAKE BITTLE Advertisement [Advocate]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [Minority rule is threatening American democracy like never before]( The Founding Fathers planted a bomb in the Constitution. Donald Trump lit the fuse. BY ARI BERMAN MOTHER JONES MEMBERSHIP UPDATE   An important update on our finances We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals—and we can’t sustain coming up short on [donations]( month after month. It is [impossibly hard]( in the news business right now, and the [crisis]( facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. Neither is Mother Jones. Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and [joined forces]( with the Center for Investigative Reporting, which creates the amazing podcast and public radio show [Reveal]( and other investigative projects. It’s going to be hard making it all work, and we simply can’t afford to fall behind our fundraising targets month after month. If you can part with even just a few bucks, [please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today](. And thank you so much to everyone who recently has. We’re grateful. [Donate]( Did you enjoy this newsletter? Share it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755