Stuart Stevens
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Sr. Adv. @ProjectLincoln, author. Enjoy endurance events, though I do them badly. Same handle on Sez.us and Bluesky.
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Articles by Stuart Stevens
Simon Rosenberg & Stuart Stevens: Why Iowa’s the Dark Horse Battleground of 2026
Veteran strategists Simon Rosenberg and Stuart Stevens look at midterm campaign strategy, focusing on Democrat Josh Turek’s Iowa U.S. Senate race against Republican Ashley Hinson. Why are you seeing so many negative ads? It works. Positive messaging doesn’t persuade late-deciding voters, Stuart notes. They also talk about Democrats surprising people by being competitive in red states, thanks to voter fatigue with Trump and economic strain.
How Russia’s Playing in the Midterms | David Corn & Stuart Stevens on The Strategy Session
As if the war in Iran, the tariff battle with Canada, Trump’s ballroom, the arch, ICE kidnappings, and third-country deportations weren’t enough, there appears to be another Russian disinformation op targeting Dems in the midterms. Share Maybe it’s not a surprise, but it’s something we have to be wide awake for. Stuart Stevens welcomes Mother Jones reporter David Corn to Strategy Session to discuss his new book, How Russia Won, and so much more. Give to Lincoln Square
What We Saw in Ukraine | U.S. Space Force Col. (Ret.) Bree Fram & Stuart Stevens | The Strategy Session
Bree Fram is a retired U.S. Space Force colonel and astronautical engineer who served in the military for over two decades, including deployment during the Iraq War. She became one of the highest-ranking transgender officers in the U.S. armed forces after coming out in 2016, and later served as President of SPARTA, an organization supporting transgender military service members, before being pushed out of the service by the Trump administration.
Who’s the Trump of College Football? | Stuart Stevens with Author John Talty
LSU’s Lane Kiffin is one of the most colorful coaches in college football and he’s been compared to Donald Trump. Stuart Stevens has a lot of thoughts about what he’s done to the sport he loves.
‘It's a Death Squad’ | Stuart Stevens Joins Six Questions with Steven Beschloss
Stuart Stevens came up as one of the most effective strategists in the Republican Party. He helped elect George W. Bush, and worked with candidates like Mitt Romney and many, many others. He was also among the first to jump ship in the first Trump years. His book, It Was All a Lie, remains one of the most essential reads for understanding our current political moment.
Stuart Stevens on His Aid Work in Ukraine and the Global Fight Against Fascism
Stuart Stevens has spent a lot of time doing humanitarian work in Ukraine. He talks to us about what he saw on August 24 in Lviv, on Ukraine’s Independence Day. You can read more about Stuart’s journey here: Articles What I Saw on Independence Day In Lviv, Ukraine I spent last week’s Ukrainian Independence Day in Lviv, Ukraine. It was an unintentional choice, a function of scheduling the travel days of an aid convoy from Helsinki to Kyiv.
What I Saw on Independence Day In Lviv, Ukraine
I spent last week’s Ukrainian Independence Day in Lviv, Ukraine. It was an unintentional choice, a function of scheduling the travel days of an aid convoy from Helsinki to Kyiv. But it was the perfect place to consider a country caught between forces of darkness that tried to drag it into the past and a people determined to live in a better world of their own creation.
Simon Rosenberg & Stuart Stevens: Ukrainian Drone Advances Shows the Future Of War. Is the U.S. Paying Attention?
Stuart Stevens recently returned from another humanitarian trip to Ukraine. He joined Simon Rosenberg on Hopium Chronicles to explain how warfare is evolving in real time and issue a warning to the U.S. and the West to make sure they're ready for that future of fighting. Give to Lincoln Square
Lincoln Square offers a full lineup of must-watch shows: • Strategy Session with Rick Wilson, Joe Trippi, and Stuart Stevens • Enemies List with Rick Wilson • Punching Up with Maya May • Anchor Watch with Bobby Jones • That Trippi Show • Behind the Numbers with Rick & Andrew Wilson • First Draft with Susan J.
Stuart Stevens on Ukrainian Liberation Day
Lincoln Square's live interviews give you the reality check, truth, and facts to save the future! Guests include: Medhi Hasan • Ben Meislas • Simon Rosenberg • Adam Kinzinger • God • David Pepper • Rep. Jasmine Crockett • Tara Palmeri • Katie Phang • Rep. Jared Moskowitz Lincoln Square's live interviews give you the reality check, truth, and facts to save the future! Guests include: Medhi Hasan • Ben Meislas • Simon Rosenberg • Adam Kinzinger • God • David Pepper • Rep.
Stuart Stevens on the NYT Publishing a Fraud
On Thursday, Stuart Stevens woke up to a piece in The New York Times written by Trump adviser Peter Navarro. In case you need reminding … it’s this guy: Stuart was, not surprisingly, upset. It’s one thing to platform bad people. Stephen Miller? Sure. He’s in a position of leadership and he hasn’t been convicted of crimes or proven to plagiarize. Steve Bannon? I mean … maybe?
Has the New York Times Lost its Mind?
Today, the Times Outlook section published a piece by convicted felon and well-documented academic fraudster Peter Navarro. They identified him as: “Peter Navarro, an assistant to President Trump and senior counselor for trade and manufacturing.” This is like publishing Jeffrey Epstein and identifying him as a “well-known financial advisor.” The Times could have credited the piece to Ron Vara, a character that Navarro invented and used as a source in many of his books.
Stuart Stevens & Simon Rosenberg: Iran Hands Trump the Bill
Another failure has been added to Trump’s mile-long rap sheet. His disastrous, unnecessary, and unconstitutional war has cost American taxpayers over $15 trillion. For reference, that’s over 15 Elon Musks. DOGE might’ve come in handy here. While America loses the war in Iran, Ukraine is reinventing warfare — fighting off the Russian invaders with cheap drones and smart strategy. Over in America, Trump’s invasion plan is to just throw money at the problem and hope it goes away.
Stuart Stevens on Why Scott Galloway Is Wrong About (Almost) Everything
Live Interviews Lincoln Square's live interviews give you the reality check, truth, and facts to save the future! Guests include: Medhi Hasan • Ben Meislas • Simon Rosenberg • Adam Kinzinger • God • David Pepper • Rep. Jasmine Crockett • Tara Palmeri • Katie Phang • Rep. Jared Moskowitz Lincoln Square's live interviews give you the reality check, truth, and facts to save the future! Guests include: Medhi Hasan • Ben Meislas • Simon Rosenberg • Adam Kinzinger • God • David Pepper • Rep.
Scott Galloway Is Wrong About Everything
Okay, maybe not everything. But on two of his favorite themes, he couldn’t be more wrong. Young men today are in a unique crisis. How to brand the Democratic Party. Scott, I love you, man — you’re brilliant, inquisitive, passionate — but when it comes to these ideas, you are, as they say in your adopted England, totally crackers. Okay, about this loony notion that somehow 2026 is a tough time to be a young American male. Let’s start with the obvious question: when was a better time?
GOP Fauci Hearing: The New McCarthyism | Stuart Stevens LIVE
In yet another attempt to rewrite the history of 2020 six years later, Republicans in Congress, led by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, grilled Dr. Anthony Fauci for hours over the response to COVID-19. Share Stuart Stevens pointed to some moments in history, like the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, that resemble this sham political theater against Dr. Fauci — and science itself.
Stuart Stevens on an Old Friend Who's Become a Trump Loyalist
Stuart Stevens talks about about discovering that Matthew “Yoshi” Taylor — an editor he hired for GOP campaigns back in the 2000s, including Romney’s 2012 presidential bid — is now doing creative work for Trump, including controversial Smithsonian and monument projects. Stuart recalls Yoshi once saving his life during a medical emergency in Albania. And he’s stunned by the transformation as a Trump propagandist, comparing it to watching a friend self-destruct.
The New York Times Profiled Trump’s New Artist. I Knew Him Before He Sold Out.
New York Times journalist Zachary Small recently wrote an article with the headline, The Artist and Filmmaker Helping Trump Reshape Washington. The subject was Matthew Taylor, a conceptual artist and filmmaker who worked for my political media firm for over a decade. Back then, we knew him as “Yoshi.” Now Taylor serves as a senior adviser at the National Endowment for the Humanities and Donald Trump has appointed Taylor to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.
What Bibi Netanyahu Is Really Like | The Strategy Session
This week, Speaker Mike Johnson said we need to "wrap up" the war in Iran. He is both right and wildly misguided. If only Trump would "wrap up" this disastrous war of choice. In fact, we're losing. We're running out of weapons to fight. And now our soldiers are dying. And yet Pete Hegseth's response is to offer testosterone hormone replacement therapy to male soldiers of a certain age. In this administration, the solutions to nonexistent problems also happen to be the cause of crisis-level problems.
Ukraine Is Winning | Ken Harbaugh Joins The Strategy Session
Ukraine is winning. Full stop. Some reporting puts Russian casualties at 30,000 … per month. Former Navy pilot Ken Harbaugh told Stuart Stevens that life expectancy for Russians at the front line is measured in minutes. Ken Harbaugh has seen it firsthand. His coverage of the war has taken him deep into the fighting, where he’s met some of the brave men and women of the Ukrainian resistance. He joined Stuart to talk about that resistance and his latest article for The Atlantic.
How Lindsey Graham Transformed from Trump Critic to Staunch Ally | Stuart Stevens LIVE
Stuart Stevens took a moment to reflect on Lindsey Graham's death with characteristic directness. As someone who knew Graham personally from his days as a Mitt Romney adviser, Stuart has some interesting insights into the Republican senator’s evolution on Trump. Stuart didn't sugarcoat the complicated arc — Graham spent years calling Trump every name in the book before becoming one of his most reliable defenders.
The Obituary Lindsey Graham Could Have Had
Lindsey Olin Graham, 71, United States Senator from South Carolina, died on July 11, 2026, at his home on Capitol Hill after a brief illness. While many Republican leaders abandoned the principles they had spent their careers professing, Senator Graham remained true to his convictions. A close friend of John McCain, he carried forward McCain’s belief that America comes before party and that character matters more than ambition. In an era that demanded courage, Lindsey Graham found it.
Whatever Happens In Maine, Democrats Need to Tie Susan Collins to Donald Trump's Failed Policies | Stuart Stevens & Steven Beschloss
As a rare treat to end the week, Steven Beschloss, host of Six Questions and writer at America, America, and fellow Lincoln Square host Stuart Stevens wrap up a wild week in politics. The main story this week, Graham Platner’s conflagration in Maine, weighed heavy on Steven’s and Stuart’s minds. They called out both angry “bro” culture and the tone of Platner’s video addressing Democrats in Maine and across the country. And Stuart has a dire warning for Platner.
Platner Out, McConnell Missing, Trump Must Pay E. Jean Carroll | Stuart Stevens & Tara Palmeri
Tara Palmeri and Stuart Stevens covered a lot of ground, starting with Graham Platner's overdue exit from the U.S. Senate race. Stuart delivered a blunt message that his only path to any future is helping elect a Democrat in Maine.
Stuart Stevens to Graham Platner: Drop Out, Apologize, & Stay Out of Sight Until Election Day
Stuart Stevens delivered a blunt, unsparing message to Graham Platner — part political reality check from a veteran strategist, part moral dressing-down. The bottom line: Platner has exactly one path to any kind of future, and it’s helping elect a Democrat in Maine. If Susan Collins wins because Platner stayed in or sabotaged his own succession, he becomes the man who kept Donald Trump in power. Full stop. That’s his legacy.
Trump & His Special Travel Toilet Take NATO | Rick Wilson, Joe Trippi, & Stuart Stevens on The Strategy Session
The midterms are getting weird and it’s only early July. Graham Platner has lost all support among Democrats. Mitch McConnell is, perhaps, not even alive. And instead of campaigning in his tight Texas Senate race, Ken Paxton is philandering in London over the Fourth of July weekend. And then there’s Donald Trump, waddling into a global summit with his own personal toilet.
Time for Democrats to Fight! | Simon Rosenberg & Stuart Stevens LIVE
Stuart Stevens, author, political strategist, and Senior Advisor of The Lincoln Project, joins Simon Rosenberg to discuss Ukraine, traditional democracy, and Trump’s hubris. Through all of this it can be hard to find hope, but that’s where Simon’s Substack, Hopium Chronicles, comes in — bringing updates, fundraising, and hope for a better future with every post. Thank you to everyone who joined us for this lively conversation with Simon Rosenberg and Stuart Stevens.
We Have No Lincoln
The Fourth of July wasn’t much of a holiday where I grew up. I was raised in Mississippi, where the Fourth of July wasn’t just America’s birthday. It was also the anniversary of two defeats that broke the Confederacy. Gettysburg on July 3. Vicksburg on July 4. It wasn’t like we paraded in Confederate uniforms or staged re-enactments where this time “we” won. But it was a muted holiday, more bittersweet than joyful.
We Have No Lincoln
The Fourth of July wasn’t much of a holiday where I grew up. I was raised in Mississippi, where the Fourth of July wasn’t just America’s birthday. It was also the anniversary of two defeats that broke the Confederacy. Gettysburg on July 3. Vicksburg on July 4. It wasn’t like we paraded in Confederate uniforms or staged re-enactments where this time “we” won. But it was a muted holiday, more bittersweet than joyful.
ICYMI: Stuart Stevens Says Republicans Betrayed America and Warns about Russia
Missed a show this week? The news is moving fast, but we’ve got you covered. Here are five essential Lincoln Square clips featuring the week's sharpest analysis and clearest warnings. Check out our weekly watchlist to get the highlights, cut through the chaos, and stay active in the fight for democracy. StuartStevens delivers a blistering warning about Donald Trump, Russia, Ukraine, and the Republican Party’s surrender to power.
Great Depression Vibes in Rural America | The Strategy Session with Rick Wilson, Stuart Stevens, & Joe Trippi
Rick Wilson, Joe Trippi, and Stuart Stevens look at some stunning developments in polling in rural America, where Donald Trump has hurt farmers and the surrounding communities with his policies on this latest edition of Strategy Session. Trippi, who is mapping out Iowa again for another set of his On the Ground show, points out that farmers are barely hanging on not only because of his tariffs. And now they have to deal with the screwworm outbreak.
Stuart Stevens' Reflections on Father's Day
Our fathers and grandfathers came back from the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific, coached their kids’ little league teams, went to work, supported their families, and, by and large, led moral lives of service. That’s not true for everyone, of course, but now? Well. We have lost our sense of collective decency. The erosion of our values didn’t start with Donald Trump, but it’s being stoked by him and the Republicans who refuse to hold him accountable.
The Trust-Fund Brats of American Democracy
I thought about my father on Father’s Day. Like so many men of his generation, he rarely spoke about the war. He was an FBI agent when the war broke out, chasing possible German spies around New York City, going to Broadway theaters at night, and having the time of his life. He resigned from the FBI, joined the Navy, and spent three years fighting in the South Pacific, 28 island landings.
ICYMI: George Conway on Trump's Constant Corruption
Missed a show this week? The news is moving fast, but we’ve got you covered. Here are five essential Lincoln Square clips featuring the week's sharpest analysis and clearest warnings. Check out our weekly watchlist to get the highlights, cut through the chaos, and stay active in the fight for democracy. Joe Trippi argues that 2026 isn't shaping up to be a traditional Democratic wave election.
Trump's Epic Meltdown | Stuart Stevens & Simon Rosenberg LIVE
When Trump won in ‘24, Simon Rosenberg said he never imagined he’d be in this political shape at this moment. That is to say … he’s struggling. If you need receipts, check out Simon’s piece from his Substack, Hopium Chronicles. Trump’s meltdown is epic, indeed, and he’s beginning to take on the appearance of a caged animal. He and the MAGA base are crying foul at the Los Angeles mayoral race because their chosen candidate (a reality star, obviously) didn’t make the final cut.
Trump's Elite Enablers
We talk a lot about the degrading compromises required of Republican elected officials in the Trump era. But the politicians are only the tiny tip of a vast political ecosystem. Behind those elected officials is a billion-dollar campaign industry of consultants and staff who make the ads, organize the events, write the speeches. They fill the roles that winning campaigns require. For a long time, I was part of that world. I was lucky in who I got to work for.
My Dear John (Cornyn) Letter
Oh, John. It didn’t have to be this way. When we first met, you were a highly respected Texas Supreme Court Justice. That was 1997, and you were thinking about running for Texas Attorney General. You were reluctant to leave a job you found intellectually rewarding for that thing called politics. When you ran for AG, you had high standards about the kind of campaign we could run. When we wanted to paint you as the toughest sheriff west of the Pecos, you said no.
LIVE from Europe: Stuart Stevens with a Special Message on Memorial Day
Stuart Stevens is on another humanitarian aid mission for Ukraine. While traveling through the Baltics, he stopped to check in with us to discuss why a Ukrainian victory is so important to all of us here in America. Donald Trump may have betrayed Ukraine, but they are fighting for democracy — and it’s a fight they must win. Share It’s a poignant message on Memorial Day. Let us know how you’re observing Memorial Day in the comments.
The GOP's Extremism, Explained | Talking Feds' Harry Litman & Stuart Stevens LIVE
Harry Litman welcomed Lincoln Square's Stuart Stevens on Talking Feds to talk through the extremist movement that has become the Republican Party. After a wildly expensive race in Kentucky, Thomas Massie lost to a Trump-approved candidate. But it’s worth mentioning that, while Massie certainly made moral choices regarding the Epstein files, he was still a far-right figure, voting with Trump much of the time. But it wasn’t enough.
Sen. Bill Cassidy's Deal with the Devil (Trump) | Stuart Stevens LIVE
Senator Bill Cassidy built a career and a reputation as a champion of public health. He’s a Republican, of course, which puts him in a precarious spot, at least inasmuch as every Republican can either support Trump … or do the right thing. When it came time to vote on the nomination of RFK Jr. as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, Cassidy knew that a no vote would potentially be the end of his Senate career.
Dems Have the Energy. But Republicans Are Working Overtime to Steal the Midterms. | The Strategy Session
“What we need in 2026 is such a lopsided victory that it’s un-stealable.” ~ Joe Trippi. It’s a great sentiment, but as Southern states begin their wild redistricting efforts, is a landslide still possible? As Trippi says in this episode, there is more energy on the Dem side and with Dem voters than these guys have seen in decades — if not in their entire careers. Put that aside for a second, however, because the Republicans under Trump aren’t just redistricting.
How Roger Wicker Enabled the Dismantling of the U.S. Military
Illustration by Riley Levine I know Roger Wicker. I worked for him when he ran for the Senate. Our fathers were both prominent in the Mississippi legal establishment — his dad a circuit judge, mine a founding partner of what became the state’s largest law firm. We both served as congressional pages for Democratic Mississippi congressmen. We’re fanatical Ole Miss fans. The last time I saw him in person, before all this, was at the Mississippi Book Festival in the summer of 2016.
Trump's Failures, Ukraine's Resolve, & Zelenskyy's Momentum | Hopium Chronicles' Simon Rosenberg & Stuart Stevens
There is a lot happening in the U.S. and around the globe, from MAGA-aligned justices on the Supreme Court dismantling the Voting Rights Act to climbing prices and uncertainty with Donald Trump’s war of choice with Iran. And while these issues are important, there is still a war happening in Ukraine, now in its fifth year since Russia invaded.
How Republicans Betrayed Democracy | Stuart Stevens LIVE
“Putin is a war criminal who should be in jail for the rest of his life, if not executed.” That’s what Roger Wicker, the Republican Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on CNN in In February 2025. Give to Lincoln Square Stuart Stevens know the Senator well. He used to work for him. But now Stuart sees a powerful Senator throwing in with our buffoonish Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and betraying both our allies in Ukraine and democracy writ large.
BREAKING: Stuart Stevens on the Huge Redistricting Win in Virginia
On Donald Trump’s orders, Texas Republicans tried to gerrymander their way to keep power in the midterms. Gavin Newsom called their bluff in California last fall with a ballot measure. And Virginia followed Tuesday night with voters approving their own referendum. Welcome to the law of unintended consequences, GOP. Stuart Stevens gave us all the breaking news out of Virginia and then took us through the history of his former party, as no one can, particularly on issues of race.
Virginia Could Change the Midterms | Rick Wilson, Joe Trippi, & Stuart Stevens on The Strategy Session
Major shifts are happening across the political map — and they’re not being fully captured in traditional coverage. Rick Wilson, Joe Trippi, and Stuart Stevens break down the Virginia redistricting fight, where Democrats have the chance to counter GOP gerrymandering in red states like Texas. Republican enthusiasm is collapsing, and new states and new seats are suddenly in play heading into 2026. Share
From Berlin to Budapest: How Republicans Surrendered the Fight for Freedom
Illustration by Riley Levine I was in Berlin with a film crew when the wall came down. A Congressman running for the Senate had family ties in East Germany, and we thought it could make for some powerful scenes reuniting with family members. Less than a thousand days earlier, Ronald Reagan demanded, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Eight hundred and eighty-eight days was all it took for Reagan’s moral challenge to be answered by history.
Stuart Stevens LIVE WITH BREAKING NEWS: Orbán Goes Down & JD Vance's Very Bad Week
JD Vance couldn’t get a peace deal in Iran and he failed to get Viktor Orbán reelected in Hungary. In a special live after Orbán conceded, Stuart Stevens notes his 2022 speech where he claimed that Hungarians "do not want to become peoples of mixed race." "Viktor Orbán is the heart and soul of blood and soil politics in the West,” Stuart said.
How Trump Is Breaking Our Military | Stuart Stevens Talks to Author Lucian Truscott
Lucian Truscott is a screenwriter, novelist, and veteran journalist who has covered a variety of subjects, from the horrors of war to the impact of music on culture. Fellow author Stuart Stevens has admired his work for a long time. Lucian, who also writes the Lucian Truscott Newsletter on Substack, joined Stuart to examine how the military functions under Pete Hegseth to compared to past Defense secretaries who Truscott has covered throughout his long career.
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