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Michael Tesler

@tesler

Professor of Political Science | UC-Irvine

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27.09.2023
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Latest posts by Michael Tesler @tesler

Excited to share that Cindy Kam’s and my article is published online! We examine item refusal pre- and post-Dobbs and find a significant increase in women’s refusal to disclose their pregnancy status after the decision, with concerning implications for research, policy, and women’s health.

05.03.2026 18:20 👍 30 🔁 13 💬 1 📌 0

Olympic highlight in this house.

18.02.2026 17:36 👍 7505 🔁 1440 💬 37 📌 51

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.

This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

18.02.2026 17:39 👍 41052 🔁 10835 💬 476 📌 1026
Preview
An Open Letter to LeBron James on Israel, Gaza, and ‘Nothing But Great Things’ The NBA star’s recent praise for Israel, as the genocide continues, was as bewildering as it was shameful. What happened to his support for social justice?

My open letter to ⁦‪LeBron James‬⁩ after he said at the weekend that he had heard “nothing but great things” about Israel.

16.02.2026 14:07 👍 921 🔁 199 💬 89 📌 33
Preview
Millions of Americans Don’t Have Documents Proving Their Citizenship Readily Available Requiring Americans to prove their citizenship to register to vote would exclude millions of citizens from the political process.

We've got the numbers: Last year we published (in partnership with the @brennancenter.org and @umd-cdce.bsky.social) survey results showing that some 21.3 million Americans could be disenfranchised by the SAVE Act, which the House''ll vote on tomorrow.

Time to send this thing back to its grave.

10.02.2026 18:05 👍 373 🔁 212 💬 17 📌 8
For years, a cottage industry of political observers has contorted itself to obscure and occlude the obvious. That regardless of what others see in him, Trump’s entire political career — from his embrace of birtherism to his hatred of birthright citizenship — cannot be understood outside the context of his bitter, deep-seated racism.

Trump is not profound. He has been the same person this whole time. The question is why so many others have refused to see what he has never bothered to hide.

For years, a cottage industry of political observers has contorted itself to obscure and occlude the obvious. That regardless of what others see in him, Trump’s entire political career — from his embrace of birtherism to his hatred of birthright citizenship — cannot be understood outside the context of his bitter, deep-seated racism. Trump is not profound. He has been the same person this whole time. The question is why so many others have refused to see what he has never bothered to hide.

This, from @jamellebouie.net is exactly right. And I think so many folks have refused to see or admit what Trump is because admitting implicates them, or their families, so denial is easier.

08.02.2026 17:33 👍 2570 🔁 644 💬 39 📌 17

You can just say "yes, he is a racist" or "yes, obviously he is a racist" or "are you fucking kidding me, what kind of stupid question is that in 2026?"

07.02.2026 18:38 👍 1431 🔁 200 💬 71 📌 8
Preview
Iowa universities reviewing low-enrollment majors, could close or merge programs The University of Iowa is reviewing undergraduate majors with low enrollment – like African American studies and gender, women's, and sexuality studies – after the Board of Regents last year mandated ...

Iowa closing the African American studies major during Black history month is diabolical.

This article is from 4 days ago, but it is now official. The minor will continue.

05.02.2026 21:07 👍 420 🔁 173 💬 15 📌 6
Preview
The NFL hired zero Black head coaches. That tells you everything With 10 head-coaching vacancies this offseason, the hiring cycle echoed decades past as owners defaulted to their superficial practices.

Our @jerrybrewer.bsky.social with some well-directed heat at a hiring cycle that fell short in many ways, especially for Black coaches:

www.nytimes.com/athletic/701...

02.02.2026 16:32 👍 266 🔁 46 💬 8 📌 6
Preview
NBA's Anthony Edwards Blasted Over 'Pathetic' Response To Unrest In Minneapolis After ICE Shooting NBA star Anthony Edwards was blasted by social media users who weren't pleased with the athlete's response to unrest in Minnesota.

Respect, Wemby. So much greater in every way than the supposed next face of the NBA.

27.01.2026 21:02 👍 8 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
Slide with a mural depicting Trump, Xi, and Putin reads:
Foreign Policy under Trump 2.0
Presentation for the Great Decisions program
St. Mark Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach
January 26, 2026

Dr. Erin Lockwood
University of California Irvine, Dept. of Political Science
@erinkaylockwood.bsky.social

Slide with a mural depicting Trump, Xi, and Putin reads: Foreign Policy under Trump 2.0 Presentation for the Great Decisions program St. Mark Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach January 26, 2026 Dr. Erin Lockwood University of California Irvine, Dept. of Political Science @erinkaylockwood.bsky.social

I was invited to give a talk in the community last night on Trump's second-term foreign policy. I thought I'd share my slides and bullet points here too.

27.01.2026 17:03 👍 62 🔁 24 💬 1 📌 6

Wild to for a jewish organization to be like "well if mamdani wasn't such a fucking rootless cosompolitan" bsky.app/profile/joel...

26.01.2026 16:15 👍 1127 🔁 166 💬 23 📌 4

to the extent that there is a “carrot” to trumpism it is the same carrot that slaveholders offered to lower class white men: “you can be an overseer”

26.01.2026 14:43 👍 6022 🔁 1338 💬 82 📌 40

FOLLOWING THE NEWS OF YET ANOTHER FATAL SHOOTING IN
MINNEAPOLIS, A CITY THAT HAS BEEN ON THE FOREFRONT OF THE
FIGHT AGAINST INJUSTICES, NBA PLAYERS CAN NO
LONGER REMAIN SILENT.
NOW MORE THAN EVER, WE MUST DEFEND THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE IN MINNESOTA PROTESTING AND RISKING THEIR LIVES TO DEMAND JUSTICE.
THE FRATERNITY OF NBA PLAYERS, LIKE THE UNITED STATES ITSELF, IS A COMMUNITY ENRICHED BY ITS GLOBAL CITIZENS, AND WE REFUSE TO LET THE FLAMES OF DIVISION THREATEN THE CIVIL
LIBERTIES THAT ARE MEANT TO PROTECT US ALL.
THE NBPA AND ITS MEMBERS EXTEND OUR DEEPEST CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILIES OF ALEX PRETTI AND RENEE GOOD, JUST AS OUR THOUGHTS REMAIN FOCUSED ON THE SAFETY AND WELL-BEING OF ALL MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY.
NBPA

FOLLOWING THE NEWS OF YET ANOTHER FATAL SHOOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS, A CITY THAT HAS BEEN ON THE FOREFRONT OF THE FIGHT AGAINST INJUSTICES, NBA PLAYERS CAN NO LONGER REMAIN SILENT. NOW MORE THAN EVER, WE MUST DEFEND THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE IN MINNESOTA PROTESTING AND RISKING THEIR LIVES TO DEMAND JUSTICE. THE FRATERNITY OF NBA PLAYERS, LIKE THE UNITED STATES ITSELF, IS A COMMUNITY ENRICHED BY ITS GLOBAL CITIZENS, AND WE REFUSE TO LET THE FLAMES OF DIVISION THREATEN THE CIVIL LIBERTIES THAT ARE MEANT TO PROTECT US ALL. THE NBPA AND ITS MEMBERS EXTEND OUR DEEPEST CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILIES OF ALEX PRETTI AND RENEE GOOD, JUST AS OUR THOUGHTS REMAIN FOCUSED ON THE SAFETY AND WELL-BEING OF ALL MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY. NBPA

The National Basketball Players Association has released a statement on the killings in Minneapolis:

“Following the news of yet another fatal shooting in Minneapolis, a city that has been on the forefront of fight against injustices, NBA players can no longer remain silent”

25.01.2026 21:25 👍 4477 🔁 1107 💬 89 📌 67
Post image

Unrivaled co-founder and WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart held up an “Abolish ICE” sign during player intros ahead of Mist’s game this afternoon.

Photo via @unrivaledwbb.bsky.social

25.01.2026 18:12 👍 10214 🔁 1912 💬 82 📌 181
Post image Post image Post image Post image

The latest from YouGov (n ~ 3.4k). An outright majority say ICE's tactics are too forceful.

ICE approval: -19
Approval of protests against ICE: +8
"Abolish ICE:" +5

today.yougov.com/topics/overv...

25.01.2026 02:02 👍 42 🔁 18 💬 2 📌 4

Imagine how much they’d be lying about what happened without all the videos showing it from multiple angles.

24.01.2026 22:24 👍 22226 🔁 4474 💬 484 📌 205

Alex Jeffrey Pretti was an ICU nurse at a VA hospital. His life, through his profession, was dedicated to serving his community and our country.

As so many have now seen on video, his final act before he was killed by federal agents was doing everything in his power to protect his community.

24.01.2026 23:18 👍 15145 🔁 4266 💬 421 📌 153

Just staggered by the complete moral void of not even *pretending* to wait for more information before pivoting to “the opponent of the state deserved it.” It is so insanely depraved. Soulless.

24.01.2026 19:34 👍 9395 🔁 1990 💬 144 📌 54

On the year anniversary week of Trump in office for a second time, we seem to have literal death squads patrolling the streets of Democratic-run cities.

But sure it was all Trump Derangement Syndrome when some of us were warning about the impending fascism back in 2024. 🤷🏽‍♂️😡

24.01.2026 19:23 👍 2603 🔁 560 💬 57 📌 15

The GOP is consistent. When they said state’s rights they meant “white supremacy“ and when they said “tyranny” they were mad about federal interference with white supremacy.

ICE is white supremacist, so they support it. They aren’t hypocritical on this.

24.01.2026 19:07 👍 193 🔁 61 💬 0 📌 3

I do not understand why the Democrat establishment is not calling for national mobilization. Everything the government is doing is unpopular (poll-tested), Americans want to fight for their rights, and for their neighbors, and for NATO, all of it. Democrat leaders are failing and I don't understand

24.01.2026 17:14 👍 358 🔁 72 💬 24 📌 8

Abolish/defund ICE to fund health care might be a good electoral and policy position. But that is currently the stance of only a few elected Dems. The mainstream stance is saying ICE under Trump is bad and offering vague reform ideas while allowing bills to pass that keep ICE operating as is.

24.01.2026 18:22 👍 140 🔁 28 💬 3 📌 1
Photo of five Jewish clergy wearing talit over their winter coats.

Photo of five Jewish clergy wearing talit over their winter coats.


Photo of a rabbi holding a sign that says this rabbi loves immigrants

Photo of a rabbi holding a sign that says this rabbi loves immigrants

Meanwhile in Minneapolis...
...some very cold, very determined NYC rabbis experiencing Minnesota winter for the first time. Cold can't stop us from answering the call to support Minneapolitans demand ICE OUT OF MINNEAPOLIS!

23.01.2026 21:52 👍 462 🔁 101 💬 17 📌 5

News cycles move fast, but it’s sometimes worth slowing down to reckon with what this government is doing. In service of its racial project, it is willing to beat, kill, and subordinate anyone it deems a threat. This is a violent white nationalist project.

23.01.2026 19:42 👍 352 🔁 121 💬 2 📌 7

So all colleges and universities will bring back the DEI stuff they cut when obeying in advance right...............................................................................................................................................right?

21.01.2026 19:42 👍 1060 🔁 392 💬 8 📌 8

The president
-Is occupying a major city with armed paramilitiaries
-Is blackmailing treaty allies to hand over their sovereign territory
-Is trying to set himself up as chairman for life of a UN rival with $1B fees for permanent membership
-Is talking about canceling elections

18.01.2026 17:45 👍 3198 🔁 1151 💬 118 📌 104
Preview
Trump appalls with attack on Civil Rights Act: 'White people very badly treated' Critics pounced on President Donald Trump Monday after he complained to the New York Times that the Civil Rights Act – the landmark 1964 legislation that outlawed racial discrimination – was “unfair i...

once again shoutout to every dipshit who insisted it was hysterical to talk about trump and white supremacy in the same breath www.rawstory.com/trump-267487...

12.01.2026 14:51 👍 10464 🔁 2578 💬 170 📌 135
Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell
Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell YouTube video by Federal Reserve

Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...

12.01.2026 00:35 👍 24037 🔁 9202 💬 1150 📌 2892