>>> IT DOESN’T HAPPEN BY
ACCIDENT.
THE PRESIDENT’S DECISION TO GO
DEEP ON RACE AS WE HEAD INTO
THIS ELECTION IS NOT SITTING
WELL WITH VOTERS.
A NEW ABC NEWS/IPSOS POLL SHOWS
A MAJORITY OF AMERICANS, 67%, DO
NOT APPROVE OF HOW HE IS
HANDLING RACE RELATIONS.
AN AD BY THE REPUBLICAN GROUP
THE LINCOLN PROJECT COMPARED
DONALD TRUMP TO FORMER ALABAMA
GOVERNOR AND VETERAN
SEGREGATIONIST GEORGE WALLACE
BACK IN THE 1960s.
INDEED, ANY LOOK THROUGH THE
ARCHIVES PROVES TO YOU THERE ARE
ECHOS, SIMILARITIES BETWEEN WHAT
WE’RE HEARING NOW AND WHAT WE
HEARD FROM WALLACE BACK THEN.
>> THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN
OUR COUNTRY IS MAINTAINING LAW
AND ORDER.
>> RIGHT NOW I THINK THE NATION
NEEDS LAW AND ORDER.
>> I WOULD USE THE OFFICE OF THE
PRESIDENCY TO RESTORE ORDER IN
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
IF I HAD TO CALL FEDERAL TROOPS
INTO THIS CITY.
>> WHEN RIOTING AND LOOTING
BROKE OUT IN OUR NATION’S
CAPITAL, I QUICKLY DEPLOYED -- I
CAME IN.
I DEPLOYED THE NATIONAL GUARD
VERY QUICKLY.
>> AND I WOULD GIVE MY MORAL
SUPPORT TO THE POLICE IN THE
COUNTRY.
>> I WILL ALWAYS SUPPORT THE
INCREDIBLE MEN AND WOMEN OF LAW
ENFORCEMENT.
>> I DON’T REGARD MYSELF AS A
RACIST, AND I THINK THE BIGGEST
RACISTS IN THE WORLD ARE THOSE
THAT CALL OTHER FOLKS RACISTS.
>> THE WORLD IS SO OVERUSES.
IT’S SUCH A DISGRACED.
I CAN TELL YOU I’M THE LEAST
RACIST PERSON THERE IS IN THE
WORLD.
>> JON MEACHAM IS OUR GUEST FOR
THIS SEGMENT.
JON, WHAT DEMOGRAPHIC IS THE
PRESIDENT CHASING HERE?
ARE WE SUDDENLY PRODUCING, BY
PERCENTAGE, MORE PEOPLE WHO FEEL
THE WRONG TEAM WON IN THE CIVIL
WAR?
>> I DON’T THINK THERE ARE MORE,
AND IN FACT I THINK IT’S
SHRINKING EVER MORE.
IT’S REMARKABLE AGAIN THAT IT’S
TAKEN THIS LONG TO BE ABLE TO
SAY THAT.
BUT THEY ARE DEVOTED.
THEY ARE VOCAL, AND THEY VOTE.
AND LET’S NOT KID OURSELVES
HERE.
I THINK I’VE PICKED UP -- I
SUSPECT YOU HAVE TOO -- NOT A
SENSE OF OVERCONFIDENCE IN THE
CENTER AND THE LEFT ABOUT VICE
PRESIDENT BIDEN, BUT A SENSE OF
CONFIDENCE AT LEAST.
DONALD TRUMP IS NOT AN
ABERRATION IN THE BROAD SWEEP OF
AMERICAN HISTORY.
HE IS THE FULLEST MANIFESTATION
OF FORCES THAT WE HAVE TO DO
EVERYTHING WE CAN TO MAKE
ABERRANT.
HE IS VERY MUCH IN THE WALLACE
TRADITION.
WALLACE WAS VERY MUCH IN THE
STROM THURMOND TRADITION.
YOU CAN DO THE SAME SORT OF
THING WITH STROM THURMOND’S 1948
STATES’ RIGHTS CAMPAIGN WHEN HE
RAN IN THAT FOUR-WAY RACE IN
1948.
GO BACK TO THE WOODROW WILSON
ERA, THE EUGENICS ERA, WHICH
T.R. WAS A STUDENT AND AN
ADVOCATE.
GO BACK TO RECONSTRUCTION.
GO BACK TO THE CIVIL WAR.
GO BACK TO THE ANTEBELLUM ORDER
WHERE WE MADE FUNDAMENTAL WHITE
SUPREMACIST DECISIONS ABOUT HOW
WE WERE GOING TO ORGANIZE THE
REPUBLIC.
I’M A WHITE SOUTHERN
EPISCOPALIAN.
I’M SITTING IN THE STATE OF
TENNESSEE.
THINGS TEND TO WORK OUT FOR
PEOPLE WHO LOOK LIKE ME.
AMERICA IS AT HER BEST WHEN WE,
ALL OF US, DO WHAT WE CAN TO
ACTUALLY LIVE UP TO THE
IMPLICATIONS OF WHAT JEFFERSON
WROTE IN THAT SENTENCE IN THE
SUMMER OF 1776.
SO TRUMP IS TOP OF MIND.
HE WANTS TO BE TOP OF MIND.
I THINK EVERY PREVIOUS AMERICAN
PRESIDENT MIGHT HAVE KILLED FOR
HIS CULTURAL MIND SHARE.
BUT REMEMBER, EVEN IF HE IS
DEFEATED, THE FORCES THAT
ELECTED HIM AND THE FORCES THAT
GAVE GEORGE WALLACE, WHOM YOU
JUST SHOWED -- WALLACE GOT 13.5%
OF THE POPULAR VOTE IN 1968 AND
CARRIED FIVE STATES ON A
SEGREGATIONIST PLATFORM 50 YEARS
AGO.
AND 1968 ENDED, A YEAR OF GREAT
CHAOS, WITH A NIXON PLUS
WALLACE, 55% OF THE COUNTRY
VOTED FOR NIXON OR WALLACE.
SO IF YOU BELIEVE DEEPLY IN
REDEEMING THE COUNTRY FOR A TIME
FROM TRUMP, YOU HAVE TO BE
DEVOTED TO THIS CAMPAIGN, AND