Outmaneuvering MAGA: Christopher Armitage & Sumathy Kumar on Soft Secession [Full Uncut Conversation]

Synopsis:  By leveraging federalism, activists are finding creative ways to outmaneuver the MAGA Right at the state and municipal level, from withholding funds to building affordable housing.

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Description: 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.

“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.” -Christopher Armitage

“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

Watch the episode released on YouTube; PBS World Channel 11:30am ET Sundays and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast February 11th, 2026.

Full Episode Notes are located HERE.

Full Conversation Release: While our weekly shows are edited to time for broadcast on Public TV and community radio, we offer to our members and podcast subscribers the full uncut conversation. 

Music Credit:  'Thrum of Soil' by Bluedot Sessions, 'Steppin' by Podington Bear, and original sound design by Jeannie Hopper

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RESOURCES:

*Recommended book:

“Oppositional Federalism” by Christopher Armitage: *Get the Book

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Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:

•  D.A. Larry Krasner Facing Impeachment: Criminal Justice Reform in the Crosshairs:  Watch / Listen: Episode Cut

•  Organizing for Gaza Ceasefire Through Policy & Protest: Meet JVP & NY Assemblymember Mamdani: Watch / Listen: Episode Cut and Full Uncut Conversation

•  Overcoming the Housing Crisis: The Story of the Cooper Square Community Land Trust: Watch / Listen: Episode Cut

•. A Public Bank for Public Good:  Watch / Listen

Related Articles and Resources:

•  DSA’s Sumathy Kumar & the Socialists in Office Committee, by Stephanie Luce, August 20, 2021, Convergence

•  The Cost-of-Living Crisis Explains Everything, by Annie Lowrey, November 11, 2024, The Atlantic

•  It’s Time for Americans to Start Talking About “Soft Secession”, by Christopher Armitage, August 18, 2025, The Existentialist Republic

•. ICYMI:  New analysis shows democratic AGS who sued protected their states’ public health funding, while GOP-led states lost out, August 28, 2025, Democratic Attorneys General Association

•  New York law aims to stop funding of illegal Israeli settlements in West Bank, by Chris McGreal, May 17, 2023, The Guardian

•. What is The Montana Plan? Transparent Election Initiative

•  Experts Say Blue States Can Stop Paying Federal Taxes, There’s Precedent, by Christopher Armitage, November 10, 2025, The Existentialist Republic

•  Building “Mass Governance” in Zohran Mamdani’s New York City, by Sumathy Kumar and Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Jacobin Magazine

•  Trump Lawsuit Against IRS Puts Him on Both Sides of the Same Case, by Richard Rubin, C Ryan Barber and Annie Linskey, February 1, 2026, The Wall Street Journal

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