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Donald Trump, Jr., the Presidents eldest son, thinks that his father is getting a raw deal. In a recent appearance on Team Trump Onlinea nightly video series that serves as a substitute for campaign rallies and often attracts more than a million viewershe complained that his father is having to wage war against the deep-state guys and unchecked attacks from influencers on the other side. He said that each reporter at the White House briefings has an agenda, and that is to destroy Donald Trump. Joe Biden cant remember where he is fifty per cent of the time, Trump, Jr., said, but he can count on the media lackeys who are the marketing wing of the Democrat Party. The Democrats, he added, are becoming the party of socialism and communism. That includes Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaibyou know, the Hamas caucus in Congress. As for the COVID-19 outbreak, which has caused more than eighty thousand deaths in the U.S. to date, he said, China basically screwed the whole world.

Venom and victimization largely define the Presidents public persona, and the same holds true for the online campaign. Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee in early March, and the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to barnstorming a few weeks later, but the rhetoric of Trumps campaign has barely budged. On March 12th, as the coronavirus crisis was taking hold in the United States, it e-mailed its supporters a photograph of Trump, ruddy face fully made up, a flag pin in his lapel, sitting behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, looking steely. The e-mail said that there is no room for partisanship, and the President is calling on both parties in Congress to unite. The very next day, when Trump declared a national emergency, the campaign reverted to form, blasting Sleepy Joe and Crazy Bernie. Last weekend, after the Justice Department dropped its charges against Michael Flynn, Trumps former national-security adviser, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I., the campaign crowed, in a fund-raising text, Justice for Gen Flynn! A WITCH HUNT from day 1! ALL GIFTS TRIPLED TO DRAIN THE SWAMP.

Anyone who has attended Trumps rallies, where thousands of fans in MAGA hats whoop and cheer at his insults and diatribes, can attest that the President, ever a showman, knows how to play to his target audiences. And, yet, as Biden edges into the lead in key states, such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Florida, pollsters and political strategists are questioning whether Trumps perennial pitch can carry him to victory on November 3rd. His political base is loyal but narrow. When Democrats scored heavily in the suburbs in the 2018 midterms, and captured a majority in the House of Representatives, it was women voters who made the difference. A recent Quinnipiac poll in Florida showed Trump lagging behind Biden among women, and also among two groups that delivered crucial support in 2016: voters over the age of sixty-five and voters who dislike both candidates. When I asked Douglas Schwartz, the director of the Quinnipiac poll, about the survey, he said that Biden does better among both groups on honesty, leadership, and empathy. These numbers are a warning sign for his campaign, Schwartz said of the President.

The Trump campaign brags about an army of field organizers, the cell-phone numbers of tens of millions of supporters, and a new app that connects voters to news, virtual events, and volunteer opportunities, from fund-raising to voter registration. Each is a significant upgrade from Trumps 2016 effort, which relied on his outsized personality, his televised rallies, and the power of social media. The current operation, led by Brad Parscale, who ran Trumps successful Facebook marketing campaign in 2016, has raised more than seven hundred and thirty million dollars. In cash-on-hand, Biden lags tens of millions of dollars behind. Its not like a campaign of grievance and anger and fear hasnt been a pillar of American politics since there was an American politics, Cornell Belcher, a Democratic pollster who worked on Barack Obamas Presidential campaigns, said. Thats exactly how Trump won. Republicans are right to be worried, Belcher added, but even as Trump struggles to expand his base COVID-19 and the plunging economy are making predictions difficult. Given that environment, where people are afraid and anxiousand understandably socan you count out a candidate peddling grievance and fear?

In hundreds of different versions of its standard pitch, Trumps campaign complains, boasts, and beseeches. The President, his surrogates, and the campaign staff spray a familiar buckshot of belittling nicknames and insults at a cast that includes Sleepy Joe, Crazy Bernie, and Crooked Hillary, who were recently joined by Cheatin Obama. An e-mail on Monday, targeting Biden, asked supporters to show the Left that you REJECT their corrupt candidate, while one on Friday called Biden a certified CROOK. During a recent Team Trump Online broadcast, Parscale bragged about a roll of Hillary Clinton toilet paper that I use every time Im in a bad mood. I have boxes of it, and I take it into the bathroom, and its just enjoyable.

Another regular target is the Lamestream media, the enemy of the people, ever in cahoots with the Radical Left-wing MOB. Together, Trump warned in an e-mail earlier this year, these elements are pushing a non-stop propaganda campaign of LIES to try and destroy me. With nary a mention of his own wealthy backers, Trump slams the establishment, along with the Hollywood elite and foreign enemies, declaring, in one solicitation, They all HATE you, and thats why they want to steal your vote. Its US against THEM. The April 27th Team Trump Online session was led by Katrina Pierson, a former Tea Party activist, whose guests included Representative Dan Crenshaw, a military veteran from Texas. She described Barack Obama as a faint-hearted Commander-in-Chief, while Crenshaw told viewers that Democrats will lie through their teeth. Theyre doing it all the time.

In its texts and e-mails, the campaign seeks donations and valuable voter contact information by offering a steady supply of Trump-branded merchandise, from football jerseys, Christmas ornaments, and doormats to plastic straws, a swipe at liberal locales that have been banning them to help the environment. The offers have continued unabated during the COVID-19 crisis. Last Saturday, the campaign wrote supporters to say Trump knows that recent weeks have been extremely difficult for Americans from all across the Nation. The e-mail said that the President is grateful for your unwavering support and wants to do something special for you to show how much your loyalty means to him. The message continued, Hes asked us to give you EXCLUSIVE ACCESS to get our Official Trump-Pence Pint Glasses. The cost for a set: thirty-one dollars. But, we have an extremely limited supply, so we can only hold them until 11:59 PM TONIGHT.

I asked David Sable, the former head of the marketing agency Y. & R., to assess the Trump campaign as a marketing effort. His base loves it, said Sable, who explained that Trump has brand power derived from what he called the brand experience, which is part show, part substance. The key is to get those people to recruit other people. If you can do that, youre way ahead of the game. Thats basically the way the guy operates, Sable said. According to Sable, Trumps team, to its credit, understands simplicity. The Make America Great Again message, in 2016, was straightforward, and so is the Keep America Great message in 2020, according to Sable: At the end of the day, Ive done a great job, I will continue to do a great job, and I will fix this to get back to the great job I was doing.

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The Trump Campaign Brings Its Angry Tone to the Coronavirus Era - The New Yorker

MUSTARD!? Dont lets be silly! Lemon, thats different, thats yes! That should do it Mad Hatter

With a dash of lemon and plenty of jam, this Mad Hatter Loungefly Mini Backpack takes the tea cake! Spotted on Instagram on @GentlemansDisney, user Miguel Vargas has several photos of the upcoming release. Unlike previous teasers, these photos are not of Loungefly concept art, but of the real deal! Check out all the details that are making us sing, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat!

This Mad Hatter Loungefly release is the CUTEST thing! Styled much like the 2018 Cheshire Cat backpack that went to shopDisney, with the Wonderland character peeking over the top of the front pocket. The die cutout hair and hat, complete with 10/6 card really bring his joie de vivre forth and make us clink some Wonderland teacups.

As for the nitty-gritty sugarcube details, the mini backpack offers a soft heathered suede faux leather back (and tux front) with the padded straps weve come to know and love. The hardware for this Loungefly bag is a plain hammered metal zipper tab, with the colored and themed Loungefly Disney plate. There are two side pockets on the exterior of the backpack, helping us tote our goods back and forth from tea parties.

The interior for this Mad Hatter Loungefly bag is ADORABLE! Reminiscent of the Mad Tea Party at both Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Park, the white material is dotted with large teacups in bright colors. Its easy to find your pocket watch in the belly of this cute bag! There is also a Loungefly Mini Backpack version of the White Rabbit and the Queen of Hearts if youre looking to expand your Wonderland collection!

Loungefly announced on their Instagram just this week that they are experiencing delays, much like the rest of us. They are working hard to answer all questions, process shipping of orders, and launch new products, but be aware they are operating at a much slower pace (and slower delivery time) than normal. That may be why we havent yet seen the Tres Caballeros Mini Backpack that was supposed to come out in May 2020. Were still keeping our eyes peeled for a new window of merchandise!

Though we might not see the Mad Hatter backpack hitting shelves tomorrow, hes being produced, and were VERY happy to say that well have a spot of tea while we wait. According to other concept art, there may be a March Hare wallet and Dormouse keychain that accompanies this collection (ooh will we see a pin, too?) sit tight and move down until we hear about an estimated delivery date!

Have you been waiting for a Mad Hatter Loungefly Alice in Wonderland release? Leave us a comment below!

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Lift A Cup of Tea To The New Mad Hatter Loungefly Mini Backpack - Inside the Magic

May 16th 2020

Editors note: The Economist is making some of its most important coverage of the covid-19 pandemic freely available to readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. To receive it, register here. For our coronavirus tracker and more coverage, see our hub

FOR A MAN acknowledged to be highly intelligent, Mike Pompeo has a long history of talking nonsense. As a greenhorn House member, brought to Congress by the Tea Party wave of 2010, he made his name by pushing conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton. He claimed, without evidence, that she was complicit in the murder of four Americans at an outpost in Benghazi, Libya, to a degree that was worse, in some ways, than Watergate. As Donald Trumps secretary of state, he has encouraged a comparison, popular with Trump-loving evangelicals, between the irreligious president and the Jewish heroine Esther. His recent insistence that covid-19 probably emerged from a Chinese laboratorya conclusion American spies appear not to sharewas of this pattern.

The world has taken that into account. While Mr Pompeo has enraged the Chinese, hardly anyone else outside the Republican base seems to have taken his allegation all that seriously. The other half of America discounted it on the basis that Mr Pompeo said it. Officials in Australia, Germany and elsewhere similarly cast doubt on it. It is hard to think the words of any previous American chief diplomat, a role traditionally considered supra-partisan to a degree, have carried less weight.

Yet, in an administration of mediocrities, Mr Pompeo remains a substantial figure. He is one of its last significant talents. Even his critics note his smartsfamously displayed in a stellar record at West Point and Harvard Law Schooland policy seriousness. His articulation of an America First foreign policy that engages with the world consistently but sceptically is a fair stab at making Trumpism coherent. Mr Pompeo, contrary to the impression he sometimes gives, is a serious grown-up, who has at least grudging respect from many in the foreign-policy establishment. His basic vision, of a confident America working with allies, is pretty standard foreign policy, suggests Leon Panetta, a former Democratic CIA director and defence secretary.

At the same time, almost uniquely among those who are neither related to the president nor rich, he has managed to retain Mr Trumps confidence. Since the sacking of John Bolton eight months ago, he has been the administrations foreign-policy tsar. Mark Esper and Robert OBrien, the defence secretary and national security adviser, are nonentities by comparison.

Hence his recent prominence, haranguing China and Afghanistans feuding leaders and this week flying to Israel to discuss annexation and Iran. Along the way he has secured a few small but worthwhile successes. Americas capitulation to the Taliban would have been even more hasty had Mr Pompeo not opened a diplomatic effort with Pakistan to slow it. This is a more nuanced record than Mr Pompeos conspiracy-theorising might suggest.

At the root of this is that he holds, and on occasion pushes, fairly conventional conservative views, yet is more willing to defer to Mr Trump than were Mr Bolton or any of the presidents other discarded advisers. Like Jim Mattis and John Kelly, the secretary of state has a bullish military manner that the president loves. But unlike the generals, Mr Pompeo, who served in the army for only a few years, is always ready to take orders. His China-baiting, an obvious effort to distract from Mr Trumps struggles with the pandemic, was a case in point. So, too, the many times he has found the words to defend presidential impulses he clearly abhorred: such as Mr Trumps threatened troop withdrawal from Syria.

Two particular reasons seem to explain Mr Pompeos flexibility. One is personal. After a promising early career, he spent 12 years in Kansas on a series of undistinguished business ventures. He then came to Washington, DC, hungry to make up for lost time. His attacks on Mrs Clinton were a statement of intent. Yet his subsequent climb is mainly due to Mr Trumps need for fresh faces for an administration that many Republicans were unwilling to join or, because of past criticism of the president, unwelcome in. Mr Pompeo could not otherwise have soared from a little-known congressman to a front-ranker with realistic presidential ambitions. No one in the administration owes Mr Trump more than he does.

The other explanation is that Mr Pompeo represents a broader politicisation of foreign policy, which predates Mr Trump. In 2013 he and Tom Cotton, then a fellow House member but since elected to the Senate, wrote a column urging Republicans to grant Barack Obamas request for congressional support for an attack on Syria. It is hard to imagine themtwo ultra-partisan Republicanssupporting any Democratic initiative now. This seepage of partisanship into one of the few remaining holdouts was perhaps inevitable. Yet it has accelerated under Mr Trump, in part because blaming the other side is the easiest way for establishment Republicans to justify his protectionism and other offences against conservative orthodoxy. It is no coincidence that Mr Pompeos signature concern, his extreme hostility to the Iranian regime and the nuclear deal Mr Obama made with it, is one of the most polarising there is. This makes it an issue the secretary of state might privately cite, if he ever felt the need back in Kansas one day, to justify any number of compromises for Mr Trump.

The hyper-partisanship of foreign policy Mr Pompeo has come to represent is a dreadful lookout, unworthy of his talents. It carries a risk of endless instability, with successive administrations seeking to undo their predecessors legacy, just as Mr Trump has sought to dismantle Mr Obamas. It also introduces a new rationale for American diplomacy as far removed from its expansive, globally minded strengths as it is possible to imagine. This wretched moment exemplifies that. On current form, Mr Pompeo will not be remembered for squeezing Iran. He will be remembered for undercutting the worlds reasonable case against Chinas handling of the virus by throwing mud for his boss in the midst of a pandemic. That is not American leadership.

Editors note: The Economist is making some of its most important coverage of the covid-19 pandemic freely available to readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. To receive it, register here. For our coronavirus tracker and more coverage, see our hub

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline "Mike Pompeos followership"

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Mike Pompeos politicisation of foreign policy is unworthy of him - The Economist

A shadowy right-wing nonprofit is helping coordinate coronavirus response strategy and promoting the lockdown protests.

Working alongside close allies that have helped coordinate the protests, including Stephen Moore of the Heritage Foundation and FreedomWorks, Council for National Policy Action (CNP Action) has been hosting conference calls and publishing action memos around reopening states' economies.

CNP Action is the 501(c)(4) nonprofit affiliate of the Council for National Policy (CNP), a coalition of far-right political advocacy and think tank figures that has worked largely behind the scenes since its founding in 1981. CNPs membership includes conservative Republicans and right-wing extremists who work together to shape policy.Trump allies, including senior adviser Kellyanne Conway and former chief adviser Steve Bannon, were CNP members as of 2014. Vice President Mike Pence and Trump's lawyer Jay Sekulew have also been members, according to arecently published bookby Anne Nelson.

Since last month, CNP Action has hosted weekly conference calls to coordinate coronavirus response tactics. Thefirst callfeatured Moore, who founded the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, the Heritage Foundations Ed Meese, and Al Regnery, chairman of CNPsConservative Action Projectand the cousin of prominent white nationalistWilliam Regnery.

Moore has called the lockdown protesters "the modern-day Rosa Parks" for "protesting against injustice and a loss of liberties."

Theemailannouncing the second call, which featured ALEC CEO Lisa Nelson and State Policy Network CEO Tracie Sharp, links to information about an April 21car protestat the Alabama Capitol Building in Montgomery, organized by the anti-LGBTQ group Eagle Forum. The forum's founder, the late Phyllis Schlafly, was a CNP member, and several current staffers are part of the CNP-connected "Save Our Country Task Force."

The announcement directed readers to the private Facebook page of the groupReOpen PA, which was one of three groups that organized anApril 20 lockdown protestat the Pennsylvania state capitol. The other two groups' Facebook pages have been deactivated.

In anannouncementof the third call, CNP Action directs allies to send links to op-eds, articles, and social media posts to a TeaPartyPatriots.org email address, indicating that the group is involved in CNP's organizing efforts. "The Save Our Country Task Force will send it out for others in the coalition to share and cross-promote for a multiplying effect," the announcement says.

"We need to share the stories of people who have been affected by the lockdowns, to show that we must be concerned with both sides of this crisis,"statesthe Tea Party Patriots Action website.

The Save Our Country Task Force is an overlapping group, tied closely to ALEC, that's chaired by Trump economic adviserArt Lafferand includes Moore and CNP's president Bill Walton, a trustee of the Heritage Foundation, in its leadership. Laffer sits on ALEC's Board of Scholars and co-authors ALECs annual Rich States, Poor States publication with Moore. Last year, TrumpgaveLaffer, a former Ronald Reagan adviser and a supply-side economics evangelist, a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

On the May 4 call, Robert Alt of the Charles Koch-fundedBuckeye Institutespoke, and his remarks were posted online.

An announcement for thefourth weekly CNP Action calllinks to the ReOpen PA Facebook page as well as to a "Zoom Grassroots Briefingon #ReOpenAmerica with Steve Moore and [conservative pollster] Scott Rasmussen." Moore and FreedomWorks have been helping coordinate on-the-ground lockdown protests.

The announcement links to the Open the States website, a project of Convention of States Action, which has alsohelped coordinate protests. "Check out the Open the States online community to connect with other Americans concerned about how the COVID-19 response is affecting our communities and liberties," it states.

The call took place on May 11 and featured Mercedes Schlapp, a lobbyist and senior advisor to Donald Trump's campaign, and her husband, Matt Schlapp, a lobbyist and the head of the American Conservative Union. No one mentioned the protests, but the speakers disputed the severity of the coronavirus. In one exchange, Walton and the Schlapps tried to downplay the risks of the deadly virus.

WALTON, introducing a caller's question: We're now discovering, as the science rolls out, that there are tens of millions more people infected with this virus than previously imagined.... It's decidedly reduced the lethality of it.

MERCEDES SCHLAPP: ...I think that the reality is, is that when they looked at the modeling...it depends what assumptions you put into the modeling to see, and so I think the thing is, let's go from millions of deaths to having more like, if you can get it down to not millions of deaths we're in better position.

MATT SCHLAPP: ...Even if youre in some of these really, really serious demographic categories, the survival rate is so high, so we should feel optimistic about it instead of pessimistic.

The call largely revolved around what the Trump campaign is doing to win the election in the face of the current crisis.

CNP did not respond to a request for comment.

The Southern Poverty Law Center published a leaked full roster of CNP from 2014, which identified 413 members. "The list is surprising, not so much for the conservatives who dominate it," wrote Heidi Beirich and Mark Potok, "but for the many real extremists who are included."

At the time, populating CNP's executive committee, board of directors, board of governors, and general membership werea number of extremistsfrom hate groups such as the anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council and Liberty Counsel; the neo-Confederate League of the South; and the anti-Muslim Center for Security Policy.

On the board of governors was Michael Peroutka, who was on the board of League of the South and appeared on a white nationalist radio show. Also involved with CNP were Liberty Councils Mat Staver, who has tried to re-criminalize gay sex; Alan Sears of the anti-LGTBQ hate group Alliance Defending Freedom;Tim Wildmon, president of the anti-LGBTQ hate group the American Family Association; and conspiracy theorists Jerome Corsi, who was investigated in the Trump-Russia probe, and Joseph Farah.

The recent CNP Action announcements link to a Liberty Counsel initiative led by Mat Staver called ReOpen Church.

CNP's founders include multiple members of the conspiracist John Birch Society and Paul Weyrich, co-founder of the Heritage Foundation and ALEC.

As of2018, the most recent tax year on record for CNP, the board of directors included Tony Perkins, who was president at the time, and Kenneth Blackwell of the Family Research Council. The current board of governors and general membership rosters are unknown.

Perkins will be a speaker during next week's CNP Action call on May 18.

In 2018, CNP Action had asmall budget, having spent $127,000 and received only $95,000 in contributions. Bill Walton was chairman, and Blackwell, Adam Brandon-the president of FreedomWorks-and Perkins were directors.

CNP is a much larger operation, having spent $2.9 million and taken in a total of over $3.2 million in 2018.

Richard DeVos, the father-in-law of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, is a former president of CNP, and his family foundation has funded the group. DeVos's parents' family charity, the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation, are regular donors, having given money in the 2018 fiscal year, the most recent on record.

The family foundation of Robert Mercer gave $75,000 to CNP from 2013-14. Another right-wing political megadonor, Foster Friess, has been part of CNP and likely funded the organization.

Tim Phillips, a Tea Party organizer and president of Koch's Americans for Prosperity, was listed as a member of CNP's Board of Governors in 2014. The Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, which is now defunct but was run by the Koch family, donated $75,000 to CNP from 2011-12.

Institutional donors include the Family Research Council, theHeritage Foundation, andJudicial Watch, as well as from the donor-advised fund sponsors the National Christian Foundation and National Philanthropic Trust.

Image from ReOpen PA's April 20 protest byPaul Weaveron Flickr.

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Secretive Right-Wing Nonprofit Plays Role in COVID-19 Organizing - PR Watch

TAMPA All over the country, the groups have grabbed headlines, storming state capitols, dramatically staring down law enforcement officers while forcefully declaring what they believe to be their rights.

Not so in Florida.

Sure, there have been rallies. In late April, some 200 showed up to a Tampa television station toting messages like Quarantine for the sick. Vitamins for the rest and End quarantine now! For hours, they waved signs on Kennedy Boulevard and disregarded social distancing recommendations.

There are Facebook groups: About 10,000 are signed onto a page called Reopen Florida.

But Floridas reopen movement has been a more modest affair compared to those that have disrupted other states. An analysis by the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, a non-profit watchdog of far-right extremists, found that Facebook groups dedicated to reopening Florida have just a fraction of the following of other states groups. For example, Michiganders against excessive quarantine had some 382,400 members as of Friday.

And unlike other states, such as Michigan or Ohio, denunciations of the governors safer-at-home order havent come from one of the states highest political offices.

Devin Burghart studies these movements for a living as the president of the institute. He said Gov. Ron DeSantis, a staunch conservative, hasnt gotten much pushback from the reopen crowd because he has built up years of good will fighting for many of their causes.

You have a much more sympathetic governor to these causes, Burghart said.

DeSantis has dedicated substantial portions of recent news conferences aiming fire at a favorite target of Trumps base: reporters and the experts they quote. He says they stoked panic at the pandemics outset. If the Reopen Florida Facebook group is any gauge, thats music to the ears of the most conservative Floridians some of whom doubt the coronavirus is any more dangerous than the seasonal flu. (It is.)

Yet, DeSantis record in handling the crisis shows hes taken the disease seriously. He did issue a shutdown order on April 1, after all. And, at least at first, DeSantis actions to reopen the state were more cautious than the recommendations from the White House and other Republican-led states. Movie theaters, for example, are still closed under the governors executive order. Not so in Texas.

Some in the Reopen groups have picked up on DeSantis caution.

Im not fully satisfied with his response, said Tara Hill, a moderator on the Reopen Florida Facebook group. However, I think his intentions are toward reopening the state.

So far, that viewpoint from the right is an exception. FreedomWorks, a conservative advocacy nonprofit that played a major role in the Tea Party movement, actively promotes Reopen protests on its website. Earlier this month, the group put out a scorecard which graded Americas 50 governors on their reopening plans. It was essentially a qualitative assessment: the better a governor balanced the health needs of their state with the daunting economic reality, the higher they scored. DeSantis was one of nine governors to score an A. Eight were Republicans. (Washington D.C. and its mayor were also included in the scorecard.)

Adam Brandon, the president of FreedomWorks, said the grades are subject to change with the evolving executive orders. But so far, Brandon says, DeSantis has closed what needs closing and started to open what can be safely opened.

You have to be smarter than just these blanket approaches, Brandon said. Its pretty clear when you look at the graphs who gets sick and who doesnt.

Although the state has significantly ramped up its testing capacity in recent weeks, experts say Florida is still not testing enough people to fully reopen the economy. Last week, the state tested about 18,600 people per day. Dr. Charles Lockwood, the dean of University of South Floridas College of Medicine who has said he supports the governors approach to reopening, said in April the state needs to be testing about 33,000 people every day.

Such numbers are unpersuasive to the reopen crowd.

A primary reason for that is the economic desperation brought about by the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Burghart said. But, like the Tea Party before it, theres also more at play.

National conservative groups like Freedomworks are happy to help grassroots activists who align with their small government message. (Brandon said Freedomworks has not spent money to help organize the Reopen protests.) And like the Tea Party, the movement is uniting disparate factions skeptical of Big Government: Donald Trump superfans, conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccine crusaders.

However, there is one major difference between the two movements: timing. The Reopen campaign has already amassed an online following of over 2 million Facebook users across hundreds of groups, according to the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights analysis. It took months for the Tea Party to accomplish what the Reopen movement has in weeks.

Burghart said even if the Reopen movement isnt dictating the conversation in Florida yet standard bearers of the right like Ron DeSantis may have to tread carefully. If one lesson can be applied from the Tea Party, its that conservatives alienate the grassroots base at their own risk.

They have an outsized influence on the dialogue, Burghart said.

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The movement to reopen Florida has been somewhat subdued. Why is that? - Tampa Bay Times