Bluesky

People are finally beginning to call for other countries to boycott Donald Trump’s upcoming World Cup—and not just usual suspects like me and The Nation’s Dave Zirin. Oke Göttlich, a powerful German soccer administrator, said that, in the wake of the execution of Alex Pretti in Minnesota, the time has come to talk seriously about boycotting the tournament. Sepp Blatter, the former head of FIFA (the international governing committee of global soccer) suggested that fans shouldn’t travel to the tournament because of rising safety concerns in the United States.

This is going to sound weird to non–sports fans, but boycotting the World Cup is one of the most significant sanctions members of the international community can take against the United States right now. The World Cup is the most watched sporting event in the world. The US has been begging to host a tournament for decades. This World Cup, which runs from early June through mid-July, is a perfect opportunity for the world to stand against this country’s fascist regime.

Indeed, the fates have aligned to make this World Cup the perfect one to make a statement—for two reasons. The first is that more countries are involved: The tournament has expanded to 48 teams this year, up from 32 in previous years, which means that more people than ever will be involved in the proceedings—and possible protests. The second reason is that those 48 countries wouldn’t actually have to boycott the entire World Cup, because this year’s tournament is also being hosted by two other countries—Canada and Mexico. Teams could refuse to play in the US while happily playing in Canada or Mexico. It would be a powerful statement.

That statement won’t come from FIFA, however. FIFA is one of the most corrupt organizations in the entire world, and its current president, Gianni Infantino, was last seen licking Trump’s boots and handing him a “peace prize.” Nor is it likely to come from the powerful soccer-playing countries in Western Europe. If France, Germany, and Great Britain were to pull out of the US portions of the tournament, many other countries would follow—but, sadly, the leaders of those nations appear eager to play Neville Chamberlain to Trump’s Hitler.

Teams from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia could take a moral stand, but there are complications. Some of the teams involved are also run by repressive authoritarians. Others are financially dependent on FIFA and the World Cup to fund their soccer federations, while still others have entire economies beholden to the United States. On the other hand, a lot of those countries damn well know that if they did what the US is doing, they’d be boycotted and sanctioned and probably invaded by white people promising to restore “freedom” in exchange for all their oil and minerals. So it’s at least possible that some of them could take a moral stand. South Africa is in the tournament, and South Africa knows how to handle white people like Elon Musk.

A boycott by all or some of the South American teams would make the whole tournament a joke. We know that the defending World Cup champion, Argentina, with its fascist-curious Trump-puppet president will show up (as will Ecuador, whose president is also friendly with our reigning despot), but some of the other nations that made the field—Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay—could be a different story. Their fans arguably face a real risk if they attend the matches. Could an American fan of, say, Colombia even go to a game without fear of being detained and deported by ICE, regardless of their actual citizenship status? Would a fan of Brazil feel safe traveling to the United States? The US is a clear and present danger to those people. If these soccer federations think about their fans, and the fact that their fans could be targeted by racist DHS agents, they might be convinced to do the right thing and boycott the US portions of the tournament.

The United States is an international pariah. It should be treated like one. Boycotting the World Cup is the obvious place to start.

The Bad and the Ugly

• Republicans in Congress have proposed a new anti-voting bill, dubbed the “Make Elections Great Again Act,” because they’re all in a cult. This one is the most dangerous attack on voting rights yet. In addition to all of the Republicans’ usual voter suppression tricks (voter ID, ending universal mail-in ballots), the bill authorizes the federal government to purge state voter registration rolls. I’ve been told my whole life, by Republicans, that nationalizing federal elections violates state’s rights and the Constitution. But apparently it’s OK if the goal is to keep people from voting.
• The family of a Venezuelan fisherman killed in one of Trump’s illegal boat strikes has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the United States.
• The Supreme Court agreed to take up a major immigration case that will answer the question of whether ICE and CBP are allowed to reject the presumption of innocence for legal permanent residents. The facts of the case are a little complicated, but it essentially boils down to whether criminal charges (as opposed to a criminal conviction) can be used as a reason to deport a legal permanent resident. I’m sure alleged attempted rapist Brett Kavanaugh will say that the presumption of innocence does not apply to non-white people in this country.
• I regret to inform you that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton still exists, and he’s still suing doctors outside of Texas who provide abortion pills to people inside the state. I know it feels like “old news,” especially in the wake of all the murders in Minnesota, but women do not have to be shot in the face to lose their rights.
• RFK Jr. and the MAHA movement seem particularly dedicated to bringing back measles—and their efforts are really paying off: South Carolina is experiencing the largest measles outbreak since the disease was “eradicated.” If we had a functioning press corps, RFK Jr. would not be able to enjoy a nice meal of bear meat without having to answer for this.

Inspired Takes

• Adam Serwer was on the ground in Minnesota and issued a beautiful report on how the people are feeling, organizing, and resisting.
• I haven’t fully explored the hypocrisy of how this country treats white protests versus Black protests. But Michael Harriot has. His piece is what I’m actually talking about with my Black friends, when white people aren’t listening.
• That said, when white people are listening, I support The Nation’s nomination of the city of Minneapolis for the Nobel Peace Prize.
• The indispensable Radly Balko wrote a piece comparing the resistance in Minneapolis to the resistance in… Lexington ahead of the revolutionary war. It’s a hell of a parallel.

Worst Argument of the Week

The New York Times released a video that purports to show an altercation between ICE and Alex Pretti a week before his murder. The video shows Pretti smashing the taillight of an ICE vehicle before the agents beat him up.

The Times (and right-wing cultists) seems to think this video proves that Pretti was a violent man who deserved to be executed without trial. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, who wrote the story for the Times, played the role of ICE water-carrier when he wrote, “The footage adds to what is known about the 37-year-old nurse.”

No, you fascist-sympathizing fuck, the footage adds to what we know about ICE. In a court of law, that footage could be evidence of the motive behind ICE’s murder of that man. It could be evidence of premeditation. It potentially shows that Pretti was targeted by ICE for retribution and death. If federal agents had a preexisting “beef” with Pretti, if Pretti were known to people in the field and then they killed him, that’s compelling evidence that the killing was intentional.

It is common in our media to prosecute the victim. That’s what the Times (and Fox and the whole right-wing media echosphere) is trying to do now. But the people who should be on trial here are ICE. You show me a video where violent individuals had a prior altercation with a man, and then days later that man ends up getting shot in the back of the head, and I’m going to tell you that video is evidence of premeditated murder in the first degree.

Perhaps I should tell The New York Times “thank you.” In their effort to smear Pretti, they may have just aggravated the charges against his murderers.

What I Wrote

I wrote about how Trump flinched in Minnesota, and that shows that the people are more powerful than the law or the opposition party ever will be.

In News Unrelated to the Current Chaos

Let me be clear, I do not want another social media platform. I can’t handle it. You young people have no idea how hard it is to keep switching up platforms. I’m old, so very old. I can barely frost the thermoplastic polyurethane on my screen protector.

That said, I will probably sign up for UpScrolled. UpScrolled is the new competitor to TikTok that has been surging in popularity since TikTok’s US operations were formally taken over by Trump-adjacent business interests this week. It was created by Issam Hijazi, whom Al Jazeera describes as a “Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian entrepreneur.” That’s a pretty big demographic contrast to Larry Ellison, the Benjamin Netanyahu buddy (and, you know, founder of Oracle and one of the three richest people alive) who acquired a large stake in TikTok once it was forced into US hands.

TikTok users are (rightly) worried about censorship on the new TikTok, and a silencing of any views that don’t support fascism and genocide. It’s a valid concern, considering what Elon Musk has done to Twitter. UpScrolled is to TikTok as BlueSky is to Twitter, or so the story goes.

So I’ll probably join. But I really don’t want to. I don’t want to join anything else. Goddamnit, I miss my Tumblr account.

***

If you enjoyed this installment of Elie v. U.S., click here to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Friday.