“It Will Be a Revenge Machine”: Why a Second Trump Administration Would Be Much Worse

RFK Jr. Problems • COVID Origins • McCarthy’s Damage Control [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( “It Will Be a Revenge Machine”: Why a Second Trump Administration Would Be Much Worse Good morning from the Hive newsroom! In an exclusive excerpt from his forthcoming book, Blowback, former Trump administration Department of Homeland Security official Miles Taylor, who once spoke out as “Anonymous,” [spells out]( what a second Donald Trump term could look like: “The possibilities for corruption are limitless…. During my tenure, we resisted political pressure to manipulate the formulas to favor certain regions over others, but a new MAGA team won’t be so reticent.” How do you solve a problem like covering a conspiracy-peddling presidential candidate (no, not Trump)? Charlotte Klein [explores]( how the media is grappling with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s candidacy. Plus, Katherine Eban [says]( it’s looking like the debate over COVID-19’s origins will never end, with a new intelligence report raising as many questions as it answers. Thanks for reading. [“It Will Be a Revenge Machine”: Why a Second Trump Administration Would Be Much Worse]( By [Miles Taylor]( [Expect career officials purged and MAGA loyalists in charge if Trump returns to the White House, warns Miles Taylor, the ex-DHS chief of staff who spoke out as “Anonymous” during the first term and, in an excerpt from his new book, Blowback, is sounding the alarm ahead of 2024.]( [Read more button](   [The Media Is Reckoning With How to Cover RFK Jr.’s Presidential Run]( By [Charlotte Klein]( [Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got his first national town hall with NewsNation, as the media grapples with another conspiratorial candidate. “There’s a difference between giving him a town hall and just covering his candidacy,” one network executive says.]( [Read more button](   [A New Intelligence Report Suggests That the Lab-Leak Wars Will Never End]( By [Katherine Eban]( [Given a 90-day deadline to share what they know about COVID’s origins, America’s divided intelligence agencies produced a slim report that leaves both major hypotheses on the table—and raises as many questions as it answers.]( [Read more button](   [Kevin McCarthy Seems to Be in Full Damage Control Mode After Questioning Trump’s Political Strength]( By [Caleb Ecarma]( [The House Speaker has already personally apologized to the former president and attempted to revise his statement in a follow-up interview.]( [Read more button](   [Donald Trump Is Now Claiming E. Jean Carroll Defamed Him]( By [Bess Levin]( [Maybe he should just stop talking about Carroll entirely.]( [Read more button](   Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn](   This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe](newsletter=vf) Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2023 Condé Nast