Zero in on Stephen Miller as a supervillain
Democrats should make Trump’s unlikable adviser the face of the GOP
Stephen Miller is the fevered brain that is pushing a Trump dictatorship.
He’s the head cheerleader for white nationalism, the architect of state terror against immigrants, and a determined enemy of the rule of law, except for the law of the jungle — the law of brute force.
He’s the 21st century American version of a Nazi.
And he has the ear of the convicted felon in the White House, which makes him one of the most dangerous people alive.
Both the news media and Democrats need to make Miller the ugly poster child for the fascist assault on our country.
It’s in the media’s interest to do so because awareness of Miller’s influence helps the public understand the regime’s frightening goals.
It’s in the Democrats’ interest to do so because Miller is an offputting creep who can be accurately cast as a Republican supervillain during the midterms. He even looks like Dr. Evil. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis compares him to Grima Wormtongue, the sycophantic adviser to the king in “The Lord of the Rings.”
Even as a young person, Miller was an annoying punk. At Santa Monica High School in California, he’s remembered for a speech in which he said: “Am I the only one who is sick and tired of being told to pick up my trash, when we have plenty of janitors who are paid to do it for us?”
Miller graduated from Duke, where he wrote a right-wing column for the student newspaper. He went on to work as a congressional staffer, but found his full flower selling toxic hate to Trump. When Miller’s input on early Trump policies such as the Muslim ban became clear in 2017, Miller went on TV to declare that “the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned.” That raised eyebrows. Powers that “will not be questioned” – in a democracy?
The early overexposure of Miller prompted Trump to keep him in a mostly behind-the-scenes role, but a substantial one. When Trump 2.0 happened, Miller became deputy chief of staff and drove the campaign to deport millions of immigrants, including those with no criminal record.
Miller has set a goal of 3,000 deportations per day, but the regime’s masked agents have fallen short despite their often illegal tactics. After Border Patrol murdered Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis street, Miller lied that he was “a domestic terrorist” and a “would-be assassin.”
While Trump’s racist demagoguery seems motivated by his personal lust for money and power, Miller comes across as more of an ideological hater. He declares entire groups of people to be unworthy of human rights.
Last week, he used the fight against drug cartels as an excuse to urge Latin American defense officials to commit violence against “savages” without worrying about legalities. “You’re dealing with a lot of lawyers in your own country, I’m sure,” he said. ”You have my permission not to listen to them.”
After the Trump regime’s illegal war against Iran included blowing up a girls’ school, Miller praised the military because they were “not fighting politically correct.” Miller supports the idea that the U.S. government can kill at will – pushing the old, discredited notion that “might makes right.”
Discussing the deadly raid on Venezuela that led to the United States stealing the country’s oil, he said: “You can talk all you want about international niceties and everything else, but we live in a world … that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. Those are the iron laws of the world.”
No doubt, Hitler, Stalin, and Mao felt the same way.
In 2024, Miller made it clear that immigrants from certain countries are simply unwelcome: “If you import the Third World, you become the Third World.”
Last month, he tweeted: “Various societies have tried sourcing cheap labor from non-functioning states. The West is the first to import failed-state labor with full political rights: welfare, voting, and citizenship for the migrants and their families. When citizenship is global, self-rule is impossible.”
This view goes against the entire American experience, in which people dissatisfied with life in their “non-functioning states” came here and made good – including Miller’s own great-great grandfather, Wolf Laib Glosser, who fled Russian-held Belarus in 1903.
It’s also dishonest for Miller to suggest that immigrants are a drain on welfare. A recent study by the libertarian Cato Institute found that immigrants pay more in taxes than they get back in government benefits, and it’s not even close. Another slam against immigrants – that they bring crime – is flat wrong: Immigrants commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans.
Some journalists realize the destructive influence that Miller wields. Praiseworthy news outlets include the “PBS NewsHour,” NBC News, and The New Republic, whose Greg Sargent wrote an outstanding story last December headlined “Inside Stephen Miller’s Dark Plot to Build a MAGA Terror State.”
But will Democrats make the obnoxious and unlikable Miller a key target in their midterms messaging? Will they run against Miller’s extremism and in solidarity with the vital contributions of immigrants?
One of the most cartoonishly wicked members of the Trump regime, Kristi Noem, got fired last week. Perhaps the harsh spotlight previously trained on her can be shifted to Miller.
Sen. Tillis said Sunday that Miller was a “big problem” for Trump. But he’ll be a problem only if Democrats seize the opportunity to make him a liability for the entire Republican Party in the midterms.
This week’s media atrocity
Nexstar, the nation’s leading owner of local TV stations, needs the Trump regime’s approval to merge with Tegna and become even bigger. So Nexstar curried favor last week with a reprehensible ad for its NewsNation cable channel that took the side of Trump liar-in-chief Karoline Leavitt in denouncing CNN and specifically reporter Kaitlan Collins for asking Trump tough questions. An absolutely shameful move by Nexstar.
Join COURIER and 3.14 Action on March 12 for MAHA & the Midterms: How Trump and RFK Jr.’s Agenda Costs Americans.
This live conversation will examine how political choices are reshaping healthcare access ahead of the midterms. We’ll break down how Trump, RFK Jr., and the broader MAHA agenda are impacting public health, who benefits, and what’s at stake for families across the country.
Featured Speakers include:
Hank Green, Author + Creator
Dr. Mary Trump, Psychologist + Author
U.S. Representative Lauren Underwood, Member of Congress + Registered Nurse
Shaughnessy Naughton, 314 Action President
Dr. Vin Gupta, Physician + Medical Analyst
Stay tuned for more speaker announcements.
Don’t miss this conversation. RSVP today!
Yes we need to put the pressure on the remove Miller. I am not adept at altering photos, but it is not hard to imagine Herr Miller in an SS officer’s uniform. Even that image though does not reflect the evil that man has wrought. He truly must have a black soul.
It's Miller Time - as in, FIRE Miller time!