The 24 Seven: Cellphone Election
Providing clarity and grounding on the next four years of the second Trump administration through reporting and experience
Hey friends, here’s my latest 24 Seven — slight shift in focus as we move from the election into the transition to the second Trump administration. I write this in a style like I talk with my friends (minus the cursing, of course. Dafuq you think I’d do?)
I used to get a far amount of questions before the election, now I get a lot more. So, I’m reporting it out and rather than answer to every text, I figured I’d just put it all in one place.
And, friends, buy a paid subscription to support my independent journalism here. It’s just $5 a month, $50 a year. Building a core community frees me to keep reporting for you. And thanks.
I don’t do the scream-o stuff others do, it’s worthless and has contributed to a trust deficit in this country. As I write below, that type of hyperbole, disinformation and clickbait has splintered the country for easy money.
This is the hard normal readout (even if the AI image is kinda bonkers. I didn’t post some of the other ones here.)
If you don’t already, follow me on Threads at tom.lobianco, on Bluesky at tomlobianco.bsky.social and subscribe to The Ground Game Podcast I co-host with
Let’s get down to it.
1. The Cellphone Election
In 2016, Twitter had grown into a mainstream platform filled with government officials, celebrities and many more. It was the cutting edge back then, and through the first Trump administration. In 2020, the country was largely stuck inside during the Covid lockdowns as thousands upon thousands died during the pandemic and most of America, for better or worse, was plugged into their streaming services on TV and laptops.
This was the first election where cellphones, Big Tech platforms (from YouTube to TikTok and all points in between) evolved into the dominant force, sidelining the former mainstream media. And the new Mainstream Media, distinctly conservative and populist, emerged.
Yep. After decades upon decades of conservatives bashing newspapers, radio and TV as the “MSM”, it’s now they who carry that mantle. (I’d be surprised if the left starts using “MSM” as an epithet against the right, but who knows, a lot is still up in the air after Tuesday.)
For better or worse, there is a large part of the country, particularly working class, which gets their news from their cellphones. The Trump campaign and conservative mega-donors and influencers (and, to a degree, Russia) used that to incredible effect this election. The Democrats not so much.
2. The Second Trump Administration
The contours of a second Trump administration are shaping up fast and a lot smoother than in 2016. (Don’t look for stories about former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie being forced to trash binders of transition staff while being knifed by super-adviser Jared Kushner. But do look for Kushner’s hand in certain areas.)
As I wrote a few days ago, the various spheres of influence in Trump’s orbit are well-known.
For my left of center and traditional conservative readers, it is easy to admonish the legacy media at the moment. But don’t forget that the reporters who know Trump World best and have been slogging away covering him for years are over at outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post and many more. My advice would be skip the stories claiming Trump is definitely about to fire so-and-so aide, and look for thorough roundups of the state of things.
And, underestimate Susie Wiles at your peril. Of anyone in Trump’s inner orbit she has long had his trust and keeps out of the spotlight. Insanity and conflict in a second Trump White House is guaranteed, and that doesn’t mean she acts in an old-fashioned style of total gatekeeper to Trump — his previous chiefs of staff never acted that way either.
For more, I recommend this very good profile of Wiles from Politico’s Michael Kruse written way back in April.
3. Questions
Will Trump attempt to deport millions of undocumented immigrants a la 1954’s “Operation Wetback”?
Will Trump fire thousands of non-partisan career government workers by enacting “Schedule F”?
Would wide-sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports spur economic growth or increase inflation?
I will begin answering these and other questions in the next edition of The 24 Seven coming Monday. If you’ve got specific questions or items you’d like to hear about, email me at tom@24sight.news.
4. Permanent Combat
Russia called in bomb threats to Democratic Party strongholds and stopped many from casting their votes for Harris, and the Republican Party helped by filing legal motions to block extended voting hours.
The “swatting” of political opponents throughout the past year pre-saged this, it is part of the new reality. It’s possible the U.S. could do the same to Russia, but elections don’t matter there because it’s a dictatorship — highlighted by the jailing and likely murdering of former Putin political opponent Alexei Navalny.
5. Coulda, shoulda, woulda
There will be many Democratic Party postmortems and some clear soul-searching. (We might be reporting on a Democratic Party “autopsy” in a year or two the way we used to report about the Republican Party “autopsy” after 2012. RIP RNC autopsy.)
I’ll be watching to see how House and Senate Democrats, who hold strong numbers in terms of the minority at the moment (and, depending on final race calls in the House, have a small chance of potentially gaining the chamber) respond to Trump’s first years in office.
Here’s an old adage from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who re-emerged as a key player in the third Trump campaign: It’s a lot easier to toss a grenade, than to catch one.
As
and I discussed in our election recap on The Ground Game Podcast not long ago, the Dems will clearly have to figure out how to connect with America’s working class.But my guess is this will play out on the field more than anywhere else. The voters, after all, did reveal their concerns and preferences just a few days ago.
6. The Election is On
The last election is over, welcome to the next election.
A lot will still have to settle until Democrats figure out what they’re doing. And a lot could unsettle from Trump’s locked-down third campaign, depending on how the transition into the White House shakes out.
But the tacking is already on for the next round of races and there’s going to be some big battles just outside D.C. in Virginia, leading off with the governor’s race. Watch for more here and at the Ground Game Podcast in the coming weeks on the Virginia race, often considered a bellwether of national sentiment after a presidential election.
7. Housekeeping
So, since the election is over and it seems highly unlikely that former vice president Mike Pence, who ran against Trump in the Republican primary and testified to the federal grand jury about January 6th, will be talking more about the historic January 6th insurrection, I’m retiring my open letter to him and open-source notebook on his interactions with Trump and January 6th as a live section. You can always find them linked above.
My hope is that this does not become another lost piece of American history, like Reconstruction, but we’ll have to wait and see. January 6th happened, like it or not, and knowledge and understanding is important to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
I’m replacing it with a section dedicated to reporting on the incoming Trump administration and what that may mean, from tariffs to items in Project 2025. You can find that here.
If you have friends and family who are looking for clear, grounded answers on what’s happening, share this newsletter with them. And if you’d like to get in touch, email me - tom@24sight.news.
Excelsior,
Tom