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Wikileaks, Twitter, Cable News Fuel Tunisia Uprising Perfect Storm

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It is not everyday you get off a plane to visit friends and your second night in a country is attending a reception for national human rights activists at the British High Commissioner’s office and later in the week, to privately meet one of the main leaders of the opposition in my friends’ home, an official U.S. embassy residence. But in 2002, I traveled to Tunisia during spring break of graduate school to visit dear friends who were posted to the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia’s capital.  This was not a typical tourist vacation, although visiting the ruins of Carthage and walking through the pristine excavation of a classic Roman-era gladiator stadium was one part of my trip.

I was smitten by Tunisia’s beauty and history that belied the everyday misery of living under autocratic dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, whose photograph was published every day on the front pages of  Tunisian newspapers, above the fold, by unspoken decree. Opposition political parties barely existed, and in name only because the government went out of its way to ensure that no business would rent a meeting room to them, and by making group meetings nearly impossible organizations outside of the government could not take root, due to oppressive security forces.

Tunisia, a country of less than eleven million people located in the upper-most Northern Arabic Africa, is a former French colony and an outpost of the Roman Empire where its officers retired on the Mediterranean Sea. U.S.-Tunisia ties are deep, forged in U.S. and Tunisian bloodshed during the World War II invasion of North Africa where more than 2,800 of our war dead are buried in consecrated ground.

In recent days, the Tunisian people, dominated by the young, educated and under or unemployed, known as the Middle East and North Africa “youth bulge,” ran its former “president for life”–Ben Ali–out of the country, only to have his political ally, the former Prime Minster Mohamed Ghannouchi, declare he was in charge. But less than 24 hours later, he also stepped away, as 10,000 rioters hit the Tunisian streets, emboldened by their success in sacking Ben Ali, determining  Ghannouchi unacceptable, tarnished by his close alliance to Ben Ali, who wisely turned over Tunisia’s spinning presidency to Fouad Mebazaa, former speaker of the parliament, the constitutionally designated successor to the presidency.

So today, at least for the moment, Ghannouchi has been asked by the new president to form a government.  Ghannouchi, so lacking in charisma and political backbone, became known as “Monsieur Oui Oui” (“Mr. Yes Yes,” and no, you can’t make this up) during Ben Ali’s 23-year tenure, and has indicated that he will open up the political process to everyone by forming a national unity government expected to be announced today.

He is the only figure who now stands between official Tunisia and a political and social abyss.

What is going on here? Rioters in streets throughout the country, accompanied by outraged masses of young men, who plundered, sacked and burned mansions belonging to Ben Ali’s self-engorged, corrupt family members, reflected a boiling-over on the Arab streets that mustered a massive push-back against Ben Ali’s punitive, coercive, dictatorial leadership and ran him out.  Ben Ali appealed to France’s Sarkozy for succor and was told “non,” but the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia agreed to take him in. What were they thinking in Riyadh, as the internet piled up with criticism from Saudi citizens of its Royal family?

https://youtube.com/watch?v=uJgRsND8iIw%3Ffs%3D1%26hl%3Den_US

Yes, the internet played a central role in Tunisia’s uprising, by using Facebook and Twitter, people gathered on the streets throughout the country, even though the government tried to shut it down. But in Tunisia’s case, unlike Tehran, an added weapon in the quills of the opposition was Al Jazzera Television, the “24/7,” all encompassing and ubiquitious Arabic language broadcaster, followed by the entire Arab world.

And Al-Jazzera is a big factor. The Financial Times Middle East Editor wrote an opinion editorial published on Saturday, advising Arab leaders to watch Al-Jazzera if they really want to know what is going on in their respective countries.

A third factor was Wikileak’s release of U.S. State Department cables on Tunisia, which was picked up by cyber activists in Tunisia. State Department officers had extensively reported the extreme government corruption and egregious human rights abuses carried out by the Ben Ali government that galvanized the rioters.

But the fact remains that Tunisia’s young, educated  population has no hope of gaining employment that will provide a decent quality of life; with few resources to bribe corrupt officials, anger boiled over into pure rage on Tunisia’s streets when college graduate and unemployed Mohammed Bouazizi burned himself to death on Dec. 17, in response to security forces who took away his vegetable cart in a Sidi Bouzid market because he did not have a proper license.  Since then at least 60 others have died–many by the sniper rifles shot by security forces.

There have been food riots in Algeria during the past two weeks in response to rocketing prices and unemployment there that has resulted in the deaths of at least three people and many more injured, because a standard food basket for a family of four now costs nearly 60 percent of monthly income.  Last night and earlier today, following Mohamed Bouazizi’s electrifying act of civil disobedience in Tunisia by killing himself, two other men have lit a match in self-sacrifice in Algiers and Cairo. Arab capitals in Morocco, Jordan, Syria and Egypt are nervous for good reasons. It appears that an Arab youth led revolution has been unleashed in the fires of Tunisia.

Their respective leaders should tune their televisions to Al-Jazzera and track Twitter for further developments. But left to their own devices, they are likely to confront primal urges for freedom with thuggery and violence–a cautionary tale.

Tanya L. Domi is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs atColumbia University, who teaches about human rights in Eurasia and is a Harriman Instituteaffiliated faculty member. Prior to teaching at Columbia, Domi worked internationally for more than a decade on issues related to democratic transitional development, including political and media development, human rights, gender issues, sex trafficking, and media freedom.

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Targeted by Trump Senator Scorches President’s Pet Project

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May 19, 2026

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A GOP senator Trump successfully ousted is now costing him a vote for his ballroom.

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who just days ago lost his primary race to a Trump-endorsed Republican, says he’s a no on the $1 billion the administration is asking for security upgrades to the $400 million ballroom.

Cassidy had voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, and the president responded by endorsing his opponent.

“I just know where I am on the ballroom,” Cassidy said Tuesday afternoon, according to Semafor congressional bureau chief Burgess Everett.

The two-term Republican challenged the administration’s building process.

“They’ve not put out a bid, they’ve not done architectural, they’ve not done engineering, they’ve not done environmental, they haven’t done any of that, they’ve not done historic, which I’m sure they’re meant to do,” he said. “And so they don’t know how much money they should ask for, but they picked a number.”

“That’s not the way to run the government,” Cassidy added. “So they just want a pot of money, and I think they need to give us more detail.”

The Senate is expected to vote on Wednesday on reconciliation legislation that originally was slated to include the $1 billion funding for the Secret Service, which includes the security enhancements.

Cassidy is “noncommittal” on the reconciliation bill itself as well, Everett noted.

Senate Republicans, Politico’s Jordain Carney reports, are “currently short of the votes to include East Wing/ballroom security funding in their reconciliation bill.”

Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune, when asked about funding the $1 billion, appeared to focus his attention on the main aspects of the legislation.

“The principal objective in this reconciliation bill is to ensure that ICE and CBP are funded,” he said.

The president took time on Tuesday to share specific details about the ballroom and the security construction with reporters.

“All of these columns, they go directly right to the roof of the building,” Trump said of the ballroom in remarks to the press pool. “And again, we call it a drone port. It’s set up for unlimited numbers of drones.”

“When this is finished,” he said, “my term ends shortly after that. This is really for other presidents, this is not for me. This is my gift to the United States of America. I’m going to be able to use it very little.”

 

Image via Reuters 

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Trump Finally Found a CNN Analyst He Likes

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8 hours ago

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May 19, 2026

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President Donald Trump praised a CNN analyst who has repeatedly highlighted his sinking poll numbers — a striking turn given his long battle with the network.

On the same day that CNN data analyst Harry Enten asked of the president’s poll numbers, “How low can you go?” Trump called him an “honorable guy” who gives “the good and the bad,” as The Daily Beast reported.

“Mr. President,” a reporter asked on Tuesday, “why is the establishment media claiming so desperately that MAGA is divided?”

“Well, I think it’s the strongest it’s ever been,” Trump replied. “I think MAGA’s never been more together, actually.”

Noting that Enten has called Trump’s poll numbers “downright atrocious” and some of “the ugliest numbers” he has ever seen, The Daily Beast reported that Trump “proceeded to launch into a rave review of Enten.”

“I mean, I appreciate the question because even CNN, they did a poll two, three weeks ago,” Trump continued. “They said Trump is at 100 percent.”

“That’s Harry Enten,” Trump said. “I like Harry Enten. You know, he’s got a lot of energy. I like him. But he did a poll and he’s a good pro. And he gives the good and the bad, but I think he’s an honorable guy. He did a lot of good.”

Back in March, Enten had declared Trump had unanimous approval among his MAGA base — even if he was falling among some conservatives.

“You don’t have to be a mathematical genius to know you can’t go higher than 100 percent,” Enten said. “The bottom line is this: if you are a member of MAGA, you approve of Donald Trump.”

Clearly that had stuck with the president.

“MAGA is most of the Republican Party,” Trump said on Tuesday. “The RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) are gone to a large extent.”

Last week, Enten also had bad news for the president.

“The bottom has completely fallen out when it comes to Donald Trump and Latino voters,” he said on Friday. Latino voters from 2024 “have abandoned him with the utmost, just, dislike of what he is doing so far — just 28 percent, a drop of 18 points.”

“Again, the bottom has just completely fallen out, and, of course, when you look across that political map, there are so many races that will be involving a lot of Latino voters, and when you see numbers like this, I just go, ‘Uh oh,’ if I am a Republican running for Congress,” he said.

 

Image via Reuters 

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‘Supremely Disappointed’: Republicans Furious Over Latest Trump Endorsement

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10 hours ago

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May 19, 2026

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President Donald Trump’s 11th-hour endorsement in the Texas GOP primary went to far-right Attorney General Ken Paxton over establishment Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn, dealing an severe blow to the lawmaker’s chances, angering some prominent GOP lawmakers, and likely boosting the chances of underdog Democrat James Talarico winning the seat in the red Lone Star State.

“Ton of concern among GOP [senators] about Trump’s endorsement of Paxton,” CNN’s Manu Raju reported. “Fear it will cost them a lot more money to save a seat in a red state.”

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said that Trump’s Paxton endorsement “puts that seat in jeopardy” and asked, “how does that help strengthen the president’s hand when we lose a state like Texas?”

“Supremely disappointed,” is how she characterized her reaction.

U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) declared Paxton is “an ethically challenged individual,” reports Semafor congressional bureau chief Burgess Everett.

“John Cornyn is an outstanding senator and deserved, in my judgment, the president’s support,” she said. “Obviously, it’s the president’s call, but I’m disappointed that he did it.”

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a top Trump ally, said, “I think Paxton can win. I think it’d be three times more expensive.”

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson said he was “speechless” and added, “really have no comment.”

Described as “not happy looking,” Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has supported Senator Cornyn, acknowledged it was President Trump’s decision to make.

Punchbowl News’ Andrew Desiderio reported that Thune was “stone-faced” after the endorsement, and appeared “pretty deep” in anger.

“Most GOP senators really want him to endorse Cornyn,” Everett had reported about 90 minutes before the Trump-Paxton endorsement dropped.

U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) had said, “I would like to see him support John Cornyn in Texas. I’ve made that clear.”

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) had said, “I am hopeful that he backs Sen. Cornyn. John has been a steadfast ally of the president and I hope the president sees that.”

Congressional reporter Jamie Dupree described U.S. Senator Roger Wicker’s (R-MS) response as “stone cold silent.”

Professor Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, called Trump’s endorsement of Paxton “Great News for Talarico,” “Bad News for GOP money reserves,” and declared, “If ever there’s a year when a D can win statewide in TX, it’s 2026.”

Talarico responded to the Trump endorsement: “As I said on primary night, it doesn’t matter who wins this runoff. We already know who we’re running against: the billionaire mega-donors and their corrupt political system.”

 

Image via Reuters 

 

 

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