GOP Now Stands for: Grifters Over Principles

Exposing the corruption they want you to forget: Trump’s billion-dollar grift, GOP complicity, and the courage it takes to fight back when democracy is on life support.

Guest article by Michael Cohen

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength." And let me tell you, after the past eight years of being dragged, shackled, humiliated, and nearly erased, those words don’t just resonate—they echo through every fiber of my being.

Because courage isn’t standing behind a gold-draped podium, pretending to be strong while hiding behind lawyers, NDAs, and an army of online trolls. No. Real courage is waking up every day when your life has been bulldozed by the very man you once swore loyalty to. It’s facing your mistakes head-on, testifying under oath while your former boss unleashes the dogs of hell against you. Courage is holding your head high when half the country would rather you vanish, and the other half wants you to spill your guts—which I did, by the way, and I haven’t stopped.

But we’re living in a moment now where truth, decency, and courage are being drowned out by propaganda, apathy, and unchecked criminality. Let’s talk about that $400 million Qatari aircraft gifted to Trump. That’s not a metaphor. That’s a real, actual Boeing 747, tailored like a flying palace, handed over like a mobster’s thank-you note. And what do we get from the GOP? Crickets. No hearings. No outrage. No subpoenas. Just more gaslighting and deflections. If Barack Obama or Joe Biden had so much as borrowed a luxury golf cart from a foreign leader, there would have been impeachment articles drafted before breakfast.

We’re witnessing the normalization of corruption. The numbing of the American people. They’re tired—and that’s exactly what the Trump machine counts on. Because when you’re exhausted, you stop caring. When you’re overwhelmed, you tune out. And while you're distracted by the next viral outrage, the grift grows louder, bolder, more grotesque.

The rule of law isn’t just under attack; it’s bleeding out in the middle of the street, while Jim Jordan, Elise Stefanik, and Marco Rubio hold the murder weapon and claim it was self-defense. These are people who swore oaths. Who were elected to protect the Constitution. And instead, they’re busy defending a man who sells out our country for personal gain—who treats the presidency like a business opportunity, a brand extension, a criminal enterprise dressed up in red, white, and blue.

How many times do we have to catch him with his hand in the cookie jar before someone smacks it away? The Qatar plane is just the latest in a long line of open-air bribery schemes: the Saudi golf deals, the Chinese trademarks, the Kushner $2 billion payday—take your pick. It’s all out in the open. There’s no subtlety to it anymore. It’s not even clever. And that’s the point. They want to overwhelm you. Flood the zone with so much criminality that you give up trying to keep track.

But we can’t give up. We won’t give up.

Because Roosevelt was right: courage is going on when you don’t have the strength. And that’s exactly what we need to do right now—as a nation. As voters. As people who still believe in justice, in facts, in accountability. We have to move forward even when it feels hopeless. Even when the system seems broken beyond repair. Because the alternative is surrender—and that is not an option.

I’ve seen what surrender looks like. I lived it. I was inside the belly of the beast, feeding it, defending it, lying for it. I know the cost of cowardice. I know what happens when you exchange your integrity for proximity to power. And I’m telling you—no matter how loud their propaganda machine gets, no matter how many cronies they stack into the Cabinet or the courts or the airwaves, it only takes one person to say “enough” to begin the unraveling.

Then, one becomes two. Two becomes ten. Ten becomes millions. That’s how we take our country back.

And don’t think for a second that the chaos isn’t intentional. From tariffs tanking global markets to gutted regulatory agencies, from education being handed to WWE executives to foreign policy dictated by real estate deals—the goal is destruction. The goal is disorientation. A disempowered public is a pliable public. If you can’t make sense of what’s happening, you’re easier to control.

But here’s the truth they can’t erase: we still have each other. We still have our voices, our votes, our values. They can steal the headlines, but they can’t steal our courage. Not unless we hand it over.

So to everyone out there who feels like you’re running on empty—emotionally, politically, spiritually—I see you. I am you. And I’m telling you, keep going. Speak out. Show up. They want us demoralized, divided, and docile. But we are none of those things, and we never will be.

We are survivors. And we’re not just going on—we’re coming for the truth, for justice, and for the soul of this country.

Because that’s where real strength lives.
And that’s what terrifies them most.

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PERSONAL NOTE: I CAN’T DO THIS ALONE.
If you’re reading this, it means you care. You care about truth. About justice. About saving our democracy from the grip of grifters, liars, and power-hungry con men. But let’s be real—I can’t carry this weight on my own.

I’m asking—no, urging—you, my loyal Substack readers, to help grow this platform into a force they can’t ignore. We’re not building a newsletter; we’re building a movement. One loud enough, sharp enough, and relentless enough to push back against the lies and hold the corrupt to account.

Now more than ever, independent journalism needs you. Your support keeps this alive—not corporate sponsors, not shady billionaires with agendas. You.

And yes, as a personal thank you, the first 240 Founding Members will receive a rare, signed, numbered Substack edition of my New York Times bestseller, Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the U.S. Department of Justice Against His Critics. A collector’s item, and a statement.

But this is bigger than a book. It’s about standing up while others stay silent. It’s about building a community that calls out the bullshit and fights like hell for what’s right.

So here’s what you can do:

1. Become a supporter.

2. Share this Substack with family and friends.

3. Bring your people into the fight.

Do your part. Stand up. Speak out. The time is now—and together, we will be heard.