On Tuesday, June 24, The New Republic hosted a special live event: “Where the Money Is: America’s Obscene Wealth Gap,” a conversation among TNR staff and contributing writers about extreme economic inequality in our country and how it affects our politics.
Undoubtedly, Donald Trump and his authoritarian MAGA are a threat to American democracy, but the bigger threat is the obscene wealth gap that allowed his rise. This conversation, which marked the launch of TNR’s July/August special issue on the same subject, built on our on exclusive polling, original reporting, and sharp commentary.
Watch the Full Event Here
This livestream featured four key contributors to the issue:
- Michael Tomasky, editor of The New Republic, introduces the issue with his editor’s letter, The Obscene Wealth Issue, which frames inequality as the defining crisis behind democratic backsliding.
- Timothy Noah, staff writer, traces five decades of elite capture and declining middle-class power in “How the Billionaires Took Over,” showing how wealth concentration birthed the modern oligarchy.
- Joe Conason, editor of The National Memo, delivers a scathing account of Trump’s second-term corruption in “Donald Trump’s Dirty Self-Dealing,” documenting how public office has become a personal profit center.
- Abigail Disney, award-winning filmmaker and philanthropist, contributes a powerful, first-person call to action in “The Rich Should Be Paying More—and Yes, That Means Me,” making the case for wealth taxes and moral accountability.
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