Defending Democracy with Marc Elias

Trump is threatening to bypass Congress entirely to impose voter ID before the 2026 midterms — and to make matters worse, the Save America Act just got a lot more extreme. Marc Elias breaks down Trump's late-night social media rants, why his panic over Democratic victories is driving this voter suppression push, and why Trump is living in a constitutional delusion.

Support Democracy Docket's mission:
https://newsletters.democracydocket.com/anchor-youtube-tuesday

00:00 Trump’s New Push for the “Save America Act”
01:32 Separating Trump’s Noise From the Real Threat
04:18 Trump’s Truth Social Demands and the Filibuster Fight
07:44 Trump Threatens to Block All Other Legislation
10:06 What the Bill Would Do to Voter ID and Citizenship
16:23 Who These Voting Restrictions Actually Target
20:36 Why Congress Can’t Pass Trump’s Plan
26:02 Why the Real Check on Trump Is the Courts and Voters

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper just won his Senate primary — and he may be Democrats' best shot at flipping the U.S. Senate. In this video, Gov. Cooper tells Marc Elias why he's running, what's at stake, and why North Carolina is the #1 red-to-blue Senate seat in the country.

Cooper breaks down his record as governor — 640,000 new jobs, Medicaid expansion for 715,000 North Carolinians, and a commitment to carbon zero by
2050 — and explains why all of it is now at risk. He also takes on his opponent, Michael Watley: a DC insider, big oil lobbyist, and 2020 election denier who served as what Marc Elias calls "the field general of election deniers."

Support Democracy Docket's mission:
https://newsletters.democracydocket.com/anchor-youtube-friday

00:00 The Stakes of the 2026 Elections
01:16 Why Roy Cooper Is Running for Senate
04:41 Cooper’s Record as Governor of North Carolina
10:09 Fighting Voter Suppression and Election Denial
16:05 The Battle Over North Carolina’s Board of Elections
22:04 The Moore v. Harper Case and the Fight Over Election Law
22:51 Restoring Separation of Powers in Washington
28:11 Taking On Michael Whatley and the Election Denial Movement
37:21 Cooper’s Final Message to Voters

One year ago, Donald Trump launched his war on law firms with unconstitutional executive orders targeting firms he didn't like. Four firms fought back and won. Nine others capitulated, pledging over $1 billion in free legal services to Trump-favored causes. And 187 of the top 200 law firms said nothing.
Now, in an unprecedented move, Trump's Department of Justice dismissed its own appeal against the firms that fought back — only to reinstate it the very next morning. Marc Elias, who has practiced law for 30 years, explains why this has never happened before, what it means for the rule of law, and what it reveals about the DOJ's lack of independence from the White House.

Support Democracy Docket's mission:
https://newsletters.democracydocket.com/anchor-youtube-thursday

00:00 Trump’s War on Law Firms
01:10 A Year of Retaliation and Executive Orders
01:53 Targeting Perkins Coie
06:01 Paul Weiss Capitulates
10:45 The Silent Majority of Big Law
14:49 The Four Firms That Fought — And Won
17:22 DOJ Dismisses the Appeal
21:15 DOJ Reverses Itself in 24 Hours
25:36 Why Trump Got Angry
28:09 Why Letting the Appeal Proceed Could Backfire
30:38 A Reckoning for the Nine Firms
33:14 Who Stands Up — And Who Stays Silent
35:17 What You Can Do

The 2026 midterms are the greatest threat to Trump's power -- and he knows it. Marc Elias exposes Trump's three-pronged plot to protect his majority: False claims of foreign government election interference, a DOJ push to obtain your voter data, and a leaked executive order that would let Trump dictate voting rules to every state.

This is the most dangerous threat to your vote in modern American history.

Support Democracy Docket's mission:
https://newsletters.democracydocket.com/anchor-youtube-tuesday

00:00 The 2026 Election Power Grab
01:09 Trump’s Election Strategy and Fear of Voters
04:41 Iran, Foreign Interference Claims, and National Security
09:05 Executive Orders and Control Over Voting
11:24 DOJ’s Push for Sensitive Voter Data
16:38 Media Silence and Institutional Failure
18:06 AI, Surveillance, and the Anthropic Clash
21:54 Connecting the Dots to 2026
26:12 What You Can Do to Fight Back

Marc Elias breaks down the bombshell Washington Post report detailing how anti-voting activists are crafting an emergency executive order allowing Donald Trump to take unprecedented control over elections — all on the basis of a conspiracy theory that China interfered in the 2020 election

He explores the specifics of the leaked "National Emergency" Executive Order, how this move would allow him to seize control of voting machines and ballot data, and what pro-democracy lawyers are doing right now to prepare for this constitutional crisis.

Support Democracy Docket's mission:
https://newsletters.democracydocket.com/anchor-youtube-friday

Follow Democracy Docket:
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/democracydocket.com
Instagram⁠: https://instagram.com/democracydocket
Facebook⁠: https://facebook.com/democracydocket
X/Twitter⁠: https://twitter.com/DemocracyDocket
TikTok⁠: https://tiktok.com/@democracydocket
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@democracydocket

00:00 The Plot to Subvert the 2026 Election
01:07 The Escalation From Redistricting to Election Subversion
03:27 Trump’s “Irrefutable” Legal Theory
08:16 Why This Emergency Power Claim Is Garbage
10:25 Federal Court: The President Has No Role in Election Rules
12:22 The Crackpot Lawyer Behind the Executive Order
16:23 Sued by Trump — And Winning
18:00 DOJ’s 30 Lawsuits to Seize Voter Data
19:56 Why They Want Your Voter File
21:18 Three Ways You Must Fight Back
24:46 Protect Your Vote Before It’s Too Late
26:34 Steps YOU Can Take