Jordan Klepper is more determined than ever to wrap his mind around the MAGA mindset. A Daily Show correspondent since 2014 (with a two-year hiatus at the start of Trump’s first term that yielded the TV special Jordan Klepper Solves Guns and his own late-night news satire, The Opposition), Klepper is currently one of the storied program’s regular rotating hosts.
QAnon
Posted inCommunity/News
Self-styled ‘Iowa witch’ Kari Lake is hoping her MAGA mission from God will lead to D.C.
These days, Iowa-raised Trump ally Kari Lake is best known for losing — and refusing to concede — her 2022 bid for Arizona governor. But in May 2016, Lake was putting her journalism degree from the University of Iowa to good use, and even scored an interview with President Barack Obama. “I don’t remember at […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State’ by Kerry Howley
Kerry Howley, you had me the title. Maybe your brain hasn’t been colonized but internet worms for the better part of three decades, but I for one recognized immediately the reference to a viral video from 2014 in which a middle-aged white woman presents a practiced two-minute spiel, including visual aids, breaking down all the […]
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Iowan Doug Jensen sentenced to five years in prison for ‘leading role’ in Jan. 6 insurrection
One of the most notorious faces — and T-shirts — photographed inside the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021 belonged to an Iowan, Doug Jensen. On Friday morning, the 43-year-old former Des Moines construction worker was sentenced to five years in federal prison. This is just short of the 64 months’ imprisonment requested by […]
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Prosecutors recommend more than five years in prison for Iowan who led mob on Jan. 6
Doug Jensen of Des Moines is facing more than six years in federal prison for his leading role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. In a sentencing memorandum filed in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, federal prosecutors recommended Jensen serve “64 months’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, […]
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Forty years after the Johnny Gosch disappearance, fear continues to fuel conspiracy theories in Iowa and beyond
Listen an audio version of this article here, or using the player at the bottom of the page. On Sept. 20, 1984, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech in Cedar Rapids as part of his reelection campaign. In it, he advocated for slashing taxes and “the simple values of faith, family, neighborhood and good, hard […]
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‘We are under spiritual attack’: How Iowa’s anti-mask parents became a GOP force — and why they’re leveraging their power to ban books
This month, central Iowa parents seeking to have books they deem “pornographic” removed from school libraries prepared to kick things up a notch. A few of the parents crafted a letter to send to Polk County Attorney John Sarcone, asking for a criminal investigation of the West Des Moines Community School District. “On a continuous […]
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The conspiracy-theory influence on Iowa’s laws and lawmakers
Donald Trump was not welcomed back into the Oval Office on Friday, Aug. 13, as some MAGA loyal predicted. But the failure of such Trumpian prophecies usually does little to dull the fervor of right-wing conspiracy theorists. Encouraged by online influencers and politicians who stand to benefit from the spread of misinformation, an array of […]
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Iowan facing Jan. 6 charges claims he ‘got taken’ by QAnon, is granted pretrial release
According to a D.C. judge, Iowan Doug Jensen’s behavior during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection — videos and photos of which went viral in the wake of the chaos — was neither the worst nor the most benign that day. “Mr. Jensen’s conduct falls somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of offenses that Jan. […]
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How UI grad Liz Crokin became one of QAnon’s biggest influencers
Content warning: This article contains references to sexual assault, child abuse and racism. “QAnon Congresswoman” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was red-pilled (that is, fell down the rabbit hole of far-right online conspiracy theories) back in 2017. “I first heard about [Q] from Liz Crokin,” Greene said in a Facebook Live video from November 2017. “She’s […]
