Jackie Calmes is an opinion columnist for the Los Angeles Times in Washington, D.C. Before joining The Times in 2017 as White House editor, she worked at the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, covering the White House, Congress and national politics. She served as the chief political correspondent and chief economic correspondent at each paper. In 2004, she received the Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize for Reporting on the Presidency. Calmes began her career in Texas covering state politics and moved to Washington in 1984 to work for Congressional Quarterly. She was a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. She is the author of “Dissent: The Radicalization of the Republican Party and Its Capture of the Court.”
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Latest From This Author
Kamala Harris must be cogent on kitchen-table issues, but her best debate weapon against America’s crazy uncle, the misogynist in chief, the nation’s barstool bigot, may be that laugh.
Sept. 8, 2024
Trump’s hapless and contradictory flailing on abortion is a prime signal: This man shouldn’t get another term.
Sept. 5, 2024
Voters won’t have a verdict on Trump’s Jan. 6 behavior, but Jack Smith’s retooled indictment is a potent reminder: If the former president doesn’t win in November, he will be held accountable.
Sept. 1, 2024
Kamala Harris isn’t making a big deal out of the first woman president thing. Does that mean America is ready?
Aug. 21, 2024
Democrats should party while they can in Chicago. For the next 10 weeks, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will face trench warfare with a gutter-dwelling Donald Trump.
Aug. 18, 2024
A lawsuit by 9/11 families has revealed new evidence of Saudi Arabian involvement. Congress should investigate — again.
Aug. 15, 2024
The former president’s pathological lying, incoherence and memory problems should be front and center in the campaign for the White House.
Aug. 12, 2024
The former House speaker is promoting a new book detailing her consequential dealmaking in Congress. But she’s circumspect about her role in Biden’s decision to quit the 2024 election.
Aug. 9, 2024
The former president’s campaign disavows the Heritage Foundation’s agenda for Trump 2.0. Be skeptical. Be very skeptical.
Aug. 4, 2024
J.D. Vance’s ‘cat lady’ missteps have the former president defending and explaining, and in politics, if you’re explaining, you’re losing.
Aug. 1, 2024