What Sanders said at Berniechella
Plus: Gaga goes full goth at Coachella
Charli XCX brought plenty of surprise guests for her set at Coachella, but the weekend’s biggest unexpected cameo was Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who told attendees the future of this country “is dependent on your generation.” Meanwhile, Big Law bows to Trump and Trump temporarily bows to public pressure over his tariffs.
Welcome to this week’s issue of Whig. Read to the end for the first pop star to sing a song in space. — Hunter
Trump says he paused some tariffs because people were “getting a little bit yippy”:
Mounting pressure from the market, Republicans, and business leaders seems to have finally gotten to him. After Trump announced a 90-day pause on many of his tariffs last Wednesday, he told the press he paused them because “people were jumping a little bit out of line” and “getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid.” Yeah, you could say that.
Shapiro’s home in Harrisburg attacked:
A suspect was charged today in connection with an arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D) Harrisburg home on Sunday. Shapiro, his wife, and others were in the home when the arson began but no one was injured.
“This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society,” Shapiro said in public remarks Monday. “And I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other… it is not OK and it has to stop.”
Big Law bows to Trump:
Five top law firms reached agreements with Trump last week to provide $940 million in pro bono legal work to causes aligned with his administration. The agreements came after Trump signed executive orders that targeted top firms that represent people he considers his enemies.
Former President Barack Obama spoke out earlier this month against law firms, universities, media companies, and others who capitulate when Trump weaponizes the power of his office to threaten them. Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social Friday that he reached agreements with the firms and would withdraw claims against them.
El Salvador’s leader says he won’t return mistakenly deported man to the U.S.:
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele met today with Trump at the White House and told reporters he wouldn’t return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man the Justice Department says was accidentally deported to an El Salvador prison. “I'm not going to do it. The question is preposterous,” Bukele said.
Trump’s allegedly lost 20 pounds since 2020:
Trump had his first physical exam of his second term last Friday at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. According to White House physician Sean Barbabella, Trump weighs 224 lbs., down from 244 lbs. in his last exam of his first term in 2020.
Barbabella said Trump was current on all recommended vaccinations and travel-related immunizations, taking two drugs for his cholesterol, Rosuvastatin and Ezetimibe, and “in excellent health.”
It’s true, they moved the Obama portrait at the White House:
The White House announced on Friday it added a framed painting depicting Trump after the failed assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year to the building’s decor. The new painting is displayed in the Grand Foyer, replacing the painting of Obama unveiled in 2022 for the White House collection painted by artist Robert McCurdy, which has been moved. “Some new artwork at the White House 👀,” the official White House social media accounts wrote.
Vance dropped the College Football National Championship trophy:
The national champion Ohio State Buckeyes football team visited the White House Monday with their trophy and when Ohio State grad and Vice President J.D. Vance tried to lift it, he dropped it. “I didn’t want anyone after Ohio State to get the trophy so I decided to break it,” Vance wrote on X.
What Sanders said at Berniechella:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) continued their joint Fight Oligarcy Tour to California with a stop in Los Angeles Saturday. After, Sanders made his debut at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival where he introduced Clairo at the Outdoor Theatre (read on to today’s Culture Matters section for full Coachella coverage).
Sanders, who was introduced by Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), thanked Clairo for inviting him, and he told the crowd, “this country faces some very difficult challenges and the future of what happens to America is dependent on your generation.”
“Now you can turn away and you can ignore what goes on, but if you do that you do it at your own peril,” Sanders said in his speech. “We need you to stand up to fight for justice, to fight for economic justice, social justice, and racial justice.”
Gaga goes full goth at Coachella:
Lady Gaga headlined Coachella for her second time Friday with a setlist heavy on tracks from Mayhem and some of her greatest hits from her first 2.5 albums. And yes, I made a playlist and have been spinning it ever since.
Called “Mayhem in the Desert,” the set featured multiple costume changes, include an oversized red cape designed by Sam Lewis for the opening act set in an opera house, while for “Bad Romance,” her closing number, she wore white wings by Paris label Matières Fécales with monster claws (below), according to Vogue.
“I always feel so blessed to be with the audience because you always teach me something profound,” Gaga told the crowd. “The truth is, we’re all one.”
Coachella, the best of the rest:
There was so much music this weekend at Indio, California’s signature music festival, and for those who missed it, you can always catch weekend two on the YouTube livestream for couch-ella. Here’s your TLDR of weekend one:
Green Day made their Coachella debut with hits including “American Idiot,” which lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong changed the lyrics to to say, “I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda,” and a firework went off during their performance that set a palm tree on fire
Charli XCX brought Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat to life by bringing on three special guests, Troye Sivan for “Talk Talk,” Lorde for “Girl, So Confusing,” and Billie Eilish for “Guess,” while a closing message written out on her video screens read in part, “Does this mean that Brat Summer is finally over?????… I just want this moment to last forever... PLEASE DON'T LET IT BE OVER” (editor’s note: Brat Summer is eternal)
Travis Scott played with a 60-piece brass band
Missy Elliott dressed as a Transformer
Britney is releasing a special 25th anniversary edition of Oops!… I Did It Again:
To mark 25 years of Britney Spears’ blockbuster teen pop sophomore album next month, RCA Records announced its releasing a special edition Oops!… I Did It Again (25th Anniversary) on May 16. The album will contain the original 12-track album, plus four B-sides and six remixes, two of which were remixed especially for the anniversary. It will be available to stream and released as a two-LP set with a 20-page booklet. Inject it into my veins.
Friday was the 25th anniversary of the “Oops!… I Did It Again” single and music video release and fun fact: did you know the model who played Britney’s astronaut boyfriend in the video, Eli Swanson, is now 47 and an orthopedic trauma surgeon in Arizona? He told People the space suit he wore in the video was authentic from NASA and that Britney was sweet. “She was very, very nice,” he said. “Very humble.”
For the uninitiated, Oops! sold more than 1.3 million copies in its first week in 2000, setting a record for the fastest-selling album by a female artist in history until Adele’s 25 broke the record 15 years later. In their original review of the album, Rolling Stone wrote, “the great thing about Oops!, under the cheese surface, is complex, fierce, and downright scary, making [Spears] a true child of rock & roll tradition.”
Kesha honored with LGBT Community Center Visionary Award:
Kesha was awarded by New York City’s LGBT Community Center last Thursday with its Visionary Award. In her acceptance speech, the singer thanked the LGBT community “for being my home” and said, “I will fight for each and every one of your rights the same way you have fought and stood up for mine for the rest of my life.”
“What we live through makes us stronger and gives us empathy for the person sitting next to us,” she said. “In the midst of all of this hate and chaos, and people trying to take away our freedoms, the most political thing we can do is love ourselves and love one another.”
Lizzo’s graphic tees on SNL featured pointed messages:
Lizzo got into some trouble with the Britney Army earlier this month after saying in a podcast interview that “Britney Spears is doing a Janet [Jackson] impression,” which I don’t understand (Where’s the shade?? Britney has always been a student of Miss Jackson and Madonna. It’s all love.).
Anyways, as if to show she meant no harm, Lizzo wore a Britney tee for a promotional video for her appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend. Then on the show, she wore two black t-shirts with political messages, one referencing Trump’s tariffs that said “Tariffed” in red letters, and another that said, “Black Women Were Right” during curtain call. We see you, Lizzo.
Bowen Yang says he’s doing the best he can impersonating Vance:
Bowen Yang told The Daily Show he finds his role impersonating the Veep a challenge and he’d be fine if someone else took on the role of Vance instead. “I really find him challenging,” Yang said. “I worked with an accent coach. We had to find the middle between Appalachian and Ohio… I’m just telling you guys I’m doing my best.” Don’t worry, Bowen, you’re doing great.
They’re exporting SNL to the U.K.:
Live from London, it’s Saturday night. British broadcaster Sky UK announced last week it’s bringing the American comedy show to the U.K. with a remake to be executive produced by SNL creator Lorne Michaels. What do you think, will it translate or not?
Katy Perry sang “What a Wonderful World” in space:
That’s one small song for a pop star, one giant moment for pop culture. While she was in space for a few minutes today along with Gayle King, Lauren Sanchez, and the first all-female space crew aboard one of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rockets, Katy Perry became the first pop star to sing a song in space after she sang Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.”
“We'd been asking her to sing all the time and she wouldn't,” King told reporters after the flight. “Everybody said, ‘Sing ‘Roar,’ sing ‘Firework,’ and she said, ‘It's not about me. I wanted to talk about the world.” That’s beautiful, Katy.
Thanks for reading! See you next week. ⭐