Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
There are countless strategies for resisting authoritarianism — many of which we’ve discussed on this program. This time, we’re looking at ways to stop the MAGA Right using the power of cities and states. What’s possible when people take federalism seriously and partner with state officials to protect their constitutional freedoms — and elections — from being violated by the federal government? Our guests are organizers and strategists with experience and plans for outmaneuvering MAGA at the state and municipal level. Christopher Armitage is a U.S. Air Force veteran, former law enforcement officer, writer, and founder of “The Existentialist Republic” on Substack. He is the author of a handbook on “Oppositional Federalism”. Sumathy Kumar is the Executive Director of Housing Justice for All and the New York State Tenant Bloc. She was the former Co-Chair of the NYC Democratic Socialists of America and under her leadership, NYC-DSA elected six socialist legislators to the New York State Legislature, including mayor Zohran Mamdani. From withholding federal revenue to building social housing, hear the creative ways people and local governments can turn up the heat. All that, plus a commentary from Laura on state-level resistance against slavery in the 1850s.
“We need to take power away from the Trump administration and from the GOP. That means taking that power and putting it locally . . . Being able to provide a good quality of life in an affordable environment for your residents is soft succession.”
“Tenants are half the state in New York, they're 70% of the city . . . What I tell people is that you're not by yourself, you're with millions of other people who want this. It is scary to resist what's happening, especially when we see what ICE is doing, what the federal government is doing to people who stand up. But they are doing that because they are feeling threatened by the resistance . . .” - Sumathy Kumar
Guests:
Christopher Armitage: Journalist & Policy Strategist; Substack, The Existentialist Republic; Author, Oppositional Federalism
Sumathy Kumar: Executive Director, Housing Justice for All & NY State Tenant Bloc
Stay informed and engaged! Don't miss out on our captivating weekly episodes that dive deep into the heart of our economy, culture, and politics. SUBSCRIBE HERE youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lg?sub_confirmation=1
🎧 PODCAST: Listen to this week's episode on major podcast platforms: lauraflanders.simplecast.com/episodes/outmaneuvering-maga-christopher-armitage-sumathy-kumar-on-soft-secession-episode-cut-b1-tkqvy Podcast subscribers also receive the full, uncut conversation from this week's show: lauraflanders.simplecast.com/episodes/outmaneuvering-maga-christopher-armitage-sumathy-kumar-on-soft-secession-full-uncut-conversation
✏️SHOW NOTES: Visit our Patreon for Show Notes and learn more about this week's episode: patreon.com/posts/150121223
Laura Flanders & Friends is non-commercial independent media that relies on the contributions of viewers and listeners.
📩Newsletter: For more in-depth analysis, including a weekly newsletter and commentaries by Laura Flanders, subscribe on Substack: lauraflanders.substack.com
Follow the show and Laura Flanders on Bluesky!
https://bsky.app/profile/lauraflanders.org
https://bsky.app/profile/gritlaura.bsky.social
DONATE TODAY at lauraflanders.org/donate or consider becoming a PATREON partner at patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriends
🔔Subscribe to get weekly episodes that prompt you to think critically about the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to hit the 'Like' button and share it with your network.
CREDITS:
Executive Producer: Laura Flanders
Supervising Producer: Sabrina Artel
Senior Producer: Jeremiah Cothren
Senior Consulting Producer: Rory O’Connor
Senior Video Editor: David Neumann
Video Editor: Veronica Delgado
Audio Director: Jeannie Hopper
Development Director: Sarah Miller
Communications Director: Janet Hernandez
00:00 - A Critique of the GOP, Economic Challenges
6:05 - Defining "Oppositional Federalism" and Soft Secession
8:35 - Leveraging States’ Fiscal Power
15:48 - Public Banking and Social Housing Models
There are countless strategies for resisting authoritarianism — many of which we’ve discussed on this program. This time, we’re looking at ways to stop the MAGA Right using the power of cities and states. What’s possible when people take federalism seriously and partner with state officials to protect their constitutional freedoms — and elections — from being violated by the federal government? Our guests are organizers and strategists with experience and plans for outmaneuvering MAGA at the state and municipal level. Christopher Armitage is a U.S. Air Force veteran, former law enforcement officer, writer, and founder of “The Existentialist Republic” on Substack. He is the author of a handbook on “Oppositional Federalism”. Sumathy Kumar is the Executive Director of Housing Justice for All and the New York State Tenant Bloc. She was the former Co-Chair of the NYC Democratic Socialists of America and under her leadership, NYC-DSA elected six socialist legislators to the New York State Legislature, including mayor Zohran Mamdani. From withholding federal revenue to building social housing, hear the creative ways people and local governments can turn up the heat. All that, plus a commentary from Laura on state-level resistance against slavery in the 1850s.
“We need to take power away from the Trump administration and from the GOP. That means taking that power and putting it locally . . . Being able to provide a good quality of life in an affordable environment for your residents is soft succession.”
“Tenants are half the state in New York, they're 70% of the city . . . What I tell people is that you're not by yourself, you're with millions of other people who want this. It is scary to resist what's happening, especially when we see what ICE is doing, what the federal government is doing to people who stand up. But they are doing that because they are feeling threatened by the resistance . . .” - Sumathy Kumar
Guests:
Christopher Armitage: Journalist & Policy Strategist; Substack, The Existentialist Republic; Author, Oppositional Federalism
Sumathy Kumar: Executive Director, Housing Justice for All & NY State Tenant Bloc
Stay informed and engaged! Don't miss out on our captivating weekly episodes that dive deep into the heart of our economy, culture, and politics. SUBSCRIBE HERE youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lg?sub_confirmation=1
🎧 PODCAST: Listen to this week's episode on major podcast platforms: lauraflanders.simplecast.com/episodes/outmaneuvering-maga-christopher-armitage-sumathy-kumar-on-soft-secession-episode-cut-b1-tkqvy Podcast subscribers also receive the full, uncut conversation from this week's show: lauraflanders.simplecast.com/episodes/outmaneuvering-maga-christopher-armitage-sumathy-kumar-on-soft-secession-full-uncut-conversation
✏️SHOW NOTES: Visit our Patreon for Show Notes and learn more about this week's episode: patreon.com/posts/150121223
Laura Flanders & Friends is non-commercial independent media that relies on the contributions of viewers and listeners.
📩Newsletter: For more in-depth analysis, including a weekly newsletter and commentaries by Laura Flanders, subscribe on Substack: lauraflanders.substack.com
Follow the show and Laura Flanders on Bluesky!
https://bsky.app/profile/lauraflanders.org
https://bsky.app/profile/gritlaura.bsky.social
DONATE TODAY at lauraflanders.org/donate or consider becoming a PATREON partner at patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriends
🔔Subscribe to get weekly episodes that prompt you to think critically about the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to hit the 'Like' button and share it with your network.
CREDITS:
Executive Producer: Laura Flanders
Supervising Producer: Sabrina Artel
Senior Producer: Jeremiah Cothren
Senior Consulting Producer: Rory O’Connor
Senior Video Editor: David Neumann
Video Editor: Veronica Delgado
Audio Director: Jeannie Hopper
Development Director: Sarah Miller
Communications Director: Janet Hernandez
00:00 - A Critique of the GOP, Economic Challenges
6:05 - Defining "Oppositional Federalism" and Soft Secession
8:35 - Leveraging States’ Fiscal Power
15:48 - Public Banking and Social Housing Models
![Mamdani is changing the world. And thats why the mainstream media is going after him. [EXCERPT]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/l5_KeQwLE-Q/mqdefault.jpg "Mamdani is changing the world. And thats why the mainstream media is going after him. [EXCERPT]
This conversation with guests from Epicenter NYC, In These Times and The Arab American News is an excerpt from our episode Mamdani v. The Establishment: What His Campaign Means for America. Watch the full report here: https://youtu.be/xl5K-Qkf7Vk. This episode first aired October 2025.
Wherever you are in the county, you’ve probably heard the name “Zohran Mamdani”. New York City’s mayoral race is a national story, and it’s hard to overstate the significance of the leading candidate in this moment. If elected, Mamdani would become the first Muslim-American and only the second Democratic Socialist Mayor of the largest city in the U.S. His victory, on a promise to make New York affordable for working people, would have implications for politics everywhere. The race is already garnering both excitement and anxiety. President Trump is threatening to withhold federal funding for New York City if Mamdani wins. From Chicago to Dearborn, Michigan, journalists are watching. In this installment of “Meet the BIPOC Press”, Laura Flanders speaks with Felipe De La Hoz, investigative immigration and policy reporter whose work has been featured in The Intercept, The Washington Post, New York Mag and The Nation; Osama Siblani, publisher and founder of The Arab American News, the largest Arab American newspaper in the U.S., and Asha Ransby-Sporn, organizer and writer for In These Times and co-founder of Black Youth Project 100, where she led the groups national organizing program. Join us as we explore what a Mamdani victory would signal for the nation.
“. . . Theres this sense that [Left-leaning candidates] have to essentially be apologizing for their policy prescriptions and their stances. Mamdani has not done that . . . For the most part, he very much embraces who he is and what his policy prescriptions are.” - Felipe De La Hoz
“More so than I am concerned with Black people being pulled to the Right or being pulled in by Trump . . . I think what we see are people who are disengaged and feel like our political system isnt going to deliver for them at all. Who feel let down by the establishment Democratic party that has sold all of us out for decades, and Black people have borne an enormous amount of the brunt of that impact.” - Asha Ransby-Sporn
“I hate giving labels. I dont look at Mandani as a progressive. I look at him as representing the anger and anguish of people who have been left behind with the political apparatus.” - Osama Siblani
GUESTS:
Felipe De La Hoz: Immigration & Policy Reporter, Epicenter NYC
Asha Ransby-Sporn: Writer & Political Strategist; Columnist, In These Times
Osama Siblani: Publisher, The Arab American News
Stay informed and engaged! Dont miss out on our captivating weekly episodes that dive deep into the heart of our economy, culture, and politics. SUBSCRIBE HERE https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lg?sub_confirmation=1
🎧 PODCAST: Listen to this weeks episode on major podcast platforms: https://lauraflanders.simplecast.com/episodes/mamdani-v-the-establishment-what-his-campaign-means-for-america-meet-the-bipoc-press-series-episode-cut Podcast subscribers also receive the full, uncut conversation from this weeks show: https://lauraflanders.simplecast.com/episodes/mamdani-v-the-establishment-what-his-campaign-means-for-america-uncut-conversation-meet-the-bipoc-press-series
✏️SHOW NOTES: Visit our Patreon for Show Notes and learn more about this weeks episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/141982652
Laura Flanders & Friends is non-commercial independent media that relies on the contributions of viewers and listeners.
Follow the show and Laura Flanders on Bluesky!
https://bsky.app/profile/lauraflanders.org
https://bsky.app/profile/gritlaura.bsky.social
DONATE TODAY at https://lauraflanders.org/donate or consider becoming a PATREON partner at https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriends
🔔Subscribe to get weekly episodes that prompt you to think critically about the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, dont forget to hit the Like button and share it with your network.
📩Newsletter: For more in-depth analysis, including uncut interviews and commentaries, subscribe to our free newsletter at lauraflanders.org.
CREDITS:
Executive Producer: Laura Flanders
Supervising Producer: Sabrina Artel
Senior Producer: Jeremiah Cothren
Senior Consulting Producer: Rory O’Connor
Senior Video Editor: David Neumann
Video Editor: Veronica Delgado
Audio Director: Jeannie Hopper
Development Director: Sarah Miller
Communications Director: Janet Hernandez
Thumbnail photo by Zohran for NYC.")
![Public Safety in Public Hands: The Newark Model [EXCERPT]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mAwALkZIvcE/mqdefault.jpg "Public Safety in Public Hands: The Newark Model [EXCERPT]
This conversation is an excerpt from our episode Public Safety in Public Hands: The Newark Model. Watch the full report here: https://youtu.be/6XbcRQwxim8. This episode first aired September 2020.")
