FOR HHS AND CORONAVIRUS RELIEF
AND HOW THINGS COULD CHANGE
DRAMATICALLY AS SOON AS HE
ASSUMES OFFICE.
LET’S BRING IN STAFF WRITER FOR
THE NEW YORKER, STEVE CALL.
DONALD TRUMP, GEORGE WALLACE AND
THE INFLUENCE OF LOSERS, AND HE
WRITES IN PART, QUOTE, OVER THE
NEXT FOUR YEARS, THE POST TRUMP
REPUBLICAN PARTY WILL SEEK TO
CONSOLIDATE THE VOTERS IN ITS
ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS EVEN IF HIS
INFLUENCE IS DIMINISHED.
SOME WILL TRY IT TRUMP’S WAY.
THE MOST WORRYING PART OF
TRUMP’S LEGACY IS HIS NO LONGER
AMBIGUOUS DISDAIN FOR ELECTIONS
AND THE CONSTITUTION.
OUT OF THE INSTINCT FOR
SELF-PRESERVATION AND ATTRACTION
TO AUTHORITARIANISM AND A
WOUNDED EGO, TRUMP HAS LAUNCHED
AN ABSURDLY INEPT BUT STILL
FRIGHTENING ATTEMPT TO OVERTURN
THE 2020 RESULTS BY SHEER FORCE
OF WILL AND I WOULD ONLY SAY,
JOE AND STEVE, THAT I THINK IT’S
BEYOND AN ATTRACTION TO
AUTHORITARIANISM.
I THINK HE’S THERE.
HE DOESN’T UNDERSTAND DEMOCRACY
AND HE DOESN’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT
IT.
HE DOESN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT’S
PRECIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL AND WORTH
SAVING ABOUT IT.
>> WELL, HE NEVER HAS.
HE SAID THAT ARTICLE 2 OF THE
CONSTITUTION IS GIVING HIM
SUPREME POWER TO DO WHAT HE
WANTS TO DO FOR AS LONG AS HE’S
WANTED TO DO IT.
HE’S QUESTIONED THE FEDERAL
JUDICIARY --
>> LOOK AT THE PEOPLE SHOWING.
>> THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY HAS
SHOWN HIM IN SHORT COURSE OVER
THE PAST FOUR YEARS ACTUALLY WHO
DOES STILL HAVE POWER.
BUT YEAH, THE INFLUENCE THAT
STEVE IS TALKING ABOUT IS NOT
JUST NOW BUT WHAT HAPPENS IN THE
FUTURE AND STEVE, AS I WAS
READING YOUR ARTICLE, YOU’RE
EXACTLY RIGHT.
IT’S NOT WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW.
IT’S WHAT IMPACT HE’LL HAVE FOR
EIGHT YEARS FROM NOW.
I WAS THINKING ABOUT ROSS PEROT
AND HOW PAT BUCHANAN’S ELECTION
IN ’92 IMPACTED ROSS PEROT IN
’94 AND IMPACTED THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY MOVING FORWARD EVERY BIT
AS MUCH AS MAINSTREAM
REPUBLICANISM DID.
>> YEAH.
I WAS LISTENING TO YOUR
CONVERSATION EARLIER AND IN
ADDITION TO BEING ECSTATIC THAT
YOU WERE READING AND PROMOTING
JOAN DIDION WHICH IS ALWAYS THE
SOLUTION TO A COMPLICATED CRISIS
LIKE WE’RE IN, I WAS THINKING
ABOUT HOW WHAT’S DIFFERENT
BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, I THINK TRACING ALL THE QUAY BACK TO THE
TRACING ALL THE QUAY BACK TO THE
1960s WAS HELPFUL AND I WAS
STRUCK BY THE GEORGE WALLACE
UNSUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN IN 1968
AND THE INFLUENCE ON THE
SOUTHERN STRATEGY AFTERWARDS AND
YOU’RE RIGHT TO MENTION PEROT
AND THE RISE OF POPULISM IN THE
1990s.
OBVIOUSLY IT’S 50 YEARS ON FROM
THE ’60s, IT’S DIFFERENT
COUNTRY, I WONDER IF THE ROLE OF
DISINFORMATION AND THE WAY OUR
MEDIA DISTRIBUTES IT THROUGH
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AND JUST
THE SATURATED MEDIA CULTURE THAT
WE’RE IN DOESN’T CREATE A
DIFFERENT KIND OF DANGER THAN
THE ONE JOAN DIDION OBSERVED IN
SAN FRANCISCO IN ’67 AND ’68.
THIS IS THE PART I CAN’T REALLY
GET MY HEAD AROUND.
WHAT IS THE HALF LIFE OF THESE
LIES, THIS PROPAGANDA MACHINE.
YOU KNOW, IT IS A STRUCTURE.
WE HAVE A RESEARCH CENTER AT
COLUMBIA THAT LOOKS AT
DISINFORMATION AND HUNDREDS AND
HUNDREDS OF LOCAL NEWS SITES
HAVE BEEN CREATED BY POLITICAL
GROUPS.
MASQUERADEING AS YOUR LOCAL NEWS
SITE AND POURING OUT THE
MESSAGING YOU HAVE HEARD FROM
THE PRESIDENT IN GEORGIA OVER
THE WEEKEND.
WE HAVE TO BE AWARE THERE ARE
SOME THINGS THAT ARE DISTURBING