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Is this Donald Trump 2.0? · The Front

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  Speaker 1: the news from The Australian. From the Australian, here's what's
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  Speaker 1: on the Front. I'm Christinamiot. It's Wednesday, July seventeenth. The
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  Speaker 1: International Monetary Fund isn't optimistic about Australia's growth prospects. It's
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  Speaker 1: downgraded the nation's economic outlook and its warned stubborn inflation
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  Speaker 1: could see households hit with further interest rate hikes in
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  Speaker 1: the coming months. America will drag Australia into a new
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  Speaker 1: World war. That's the warning from Senator David hue Bridge.
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  Speaker 1: The Greens defense spokesperson, says his party will push to
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  Speaker 1: cut defense spending and shred the government's nuclear submarine scheme
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  Speaker 1: in hopes of keeping the country out of a new
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  Speaker 1: global conflict. That story from our exclusive series on the
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  Speaker 1: Greens is live right now at the Australian dot com
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  Speaker 1: dot au.
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  Speaker 2: Donald J. Trump is officially the Republican Party's nominee for president,
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  Speaker 2: and he's named a risky running mate as his second
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  Speaker 2: in charge. Just days after an attempt was made on
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  Speaker 2: the former president's life at a rally in Pennsylvania. Trump
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  Speaker 2: has changed his tune, But how long will it last?
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  Speaker 2: That's today's episode.
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  Speaker 3: Today, people look at me, at my job and my
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  Speaker 3: Ivy League credentials and assume that I'm some sort of
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  Speaker 3: genius that only a truly extraordinary person could have made
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  Speaker 3: it to where I am today.
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  Speaker 2: That's the Ohio Senator jd Vance, reading an excerpt from
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  Speaker 2: his New York Times best selling book, He'll Billy Elegy.
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  Speaker 3: With all due respect to those people, I think that
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  Speaker 3: theory is a load of bullshit.
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  Speaker 2: Released in twenty sixteen, Hill Billy Elegy is a memoir
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  Speaker 2: about growing up poor in America's Appalachian Mountains.
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  Speaker 3: I am not a senator, a governor, or a former
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  Speaker 3: Cabinet secretary.
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  Speaker 2: That changed in early twenty twenty three when Jada Vance
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  Speaker 2: was sworn in as a senator in the one hundred
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  Speaker 2: and eighteenth United States Congress.
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  Speaker 3: So I didn't write this book because I've accomplished something extraordinary.
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  Speaker 3: I wrote this book because I've achieved something quite ordinary,
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  Speaker 3: which doesn't happen to most kids who grew up like me.
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  Speaker 2: On Tuesday, this happened. That announcement just made former President
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  Speaker 2: Donald Trump announcing he has chosen Ohio US Senator JD.
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  Speaker 2: Vance as is running me on his Truth social media
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  Speaker 2: platform just within the last hour.
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  Speaker 1: Here.
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  Speaker 2: Cameron Stewart is The Australian's chief international correspondent. He's in
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  Speaker 2: Wisconsin for the Republican National Convention where Jdvan was announced
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  Speaker 2: as Donald Trump's running mate. Cam Many Australians will know JD.
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  Speaker 2: Evans the author, But tell me what do we know
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  Speaker 2: about Jedvance the politician.
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  Speaker 4: Well, we don't know an enormous amount in the sense
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  Speaker 4: that he was only elected to the Senate in twenty
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  Speaker 4: twenty three, so it's only been a senator for eighteen months,
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  Speaker 4: so really not very long at all. But he has
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  Speaker 4: been very outspoken on issues. He's been very much a Trump.
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  Speaker 5: Ally, a Maga warrior if you like.
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  Speaker 4: He's taken quite hardline positions on abortion, choice, on border security,
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  Speaker 4: especially on Ukraine. He very much opposes US assistance for Ukraine.
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  Speaker 4: He's quite an isolationist. He's very conservative on family of
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  Speaker 4: values and issues like that. He's very much a Trump
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  Speaker 4: acolyte if you like. He's not a different type of Republican,
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  Speaker 4: which is unusual because when you choose a running mate,
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  Speaker 4: you usually go for someone who's a bit different to
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  Speaker 4: make your whole ticket a bit of a broad church.
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  Speaker 4: Donald Trump hasn't done that in this case, and I
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  Speaker 4: think that's probably a fairly high risk decision that he's made.
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  Speaker 2: Jade Vans and Donald Trump haven't always been on the
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  Speaker 2: same page.
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  Speaker 4: Yes, you're right, certainly. In twenty sixteen, JD. Vance was
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  Speaker 4: very critical of Donald Trump. He said he would be
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  Speaker 4: America's hitler. He said he was no piod on society.
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  Speaker 5: He was very very critical.
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  Speaker 4: He said he was never Trumper, and it certainly didn't
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  Speaker 4: look like he was ever going to be a fan
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  Speaker 4: of Donald Trump. But about twenty eighteen, Vance started to
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  Speaker 4: soften his view, and then in twenty twenty he said,
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  Speaker 4: I'm wrong Trump, You've been a great president. And then
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  Speaker 4: of course he wanted to get elected to the Senate
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  Speaker 4: and he apologized for his previous criticisms of Trump, and
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  Speaker 4: Trump came to the party, Trump backed him, and so
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  Speaker 4: it's been a journey for both men, I think. But
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  Speaker 4: I think that Vance has been so outspoken in the
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  Speaker 4: last couple of years in support of Trump. He really
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  Speaker 4: is one of his biggest and loudest allies and so whatever,
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  Speaker 4: thanks there was betweenty two.
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  Speaker 5: I think he's long gone.
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  Speaker 2: Last weekend, the presidential race was fundamentally altered when twenty
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  Speaker 2: year old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on Donald Trump
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  Speaker 2: at a pre convention rally in Pennsylvania. In the day since,
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  Speaker 2: Donald Trump has restyled himself as America's great unifier. So
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  Speaker 2: what does that mean for Trump two point zero?
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  Speaker 4: Well, all of America is looking at this question. I mean,
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  Speaker 4: it's a fascinating concept. Donald Trump has a genuine near
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  Speaker 4: death experience and within forty eight hours, so the Republicans,
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  Speaker 4: he says, calm down, we're going to be unifiers here.
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  Speaker 4: But Donald Trump's whole modus operandi as a politician has
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  Speaker 4: been an US and them idea. That's what he does.
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  Speaker 4: He's very good at the politics of green events. And
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  Speaker 4: I just fight it hard to imagine that for the
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  Speaker 4: next three and a half months before the next election
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  Speaker 4: that Donald Trump is not going to be Donald Trump
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  Speaker 4: that is going to be a kind of gentler, unifying soul.
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  Speaker 4: I just don't think that that is him, and I
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  Speaker 4: don't think he'll be able to keep doing that for
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  Speaker 4: very long. So my guess would be this is a
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  Speaker 4: very temporary thing. I think we.
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  Speaker 5: Will see Trump back to his loudest, roaring best soon.
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  Speaker 2: And what does the addition of JD. Vance to this
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  Speaker 2: equation mean for the November election.
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  Speaker 4: Vance is such a mega type of politician that he
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  Speaker 4: will appeal to Trump supporters, but he probably won't appeal
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  Speaker 4: hugely with those people who.
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  Speaker 5: Aren't Trump supporters.
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  Speaker 4: And what Trump chose not to do was choose, say
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  Speaker 4: Marco Rubio, one of the other contenders that would have
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  Speaker 4: appealed to the Hispanic vote, and as you say, Senator
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  Speaker 4: Tim Scott of South Carolina, which would have appealed to
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  Speaker 4: the African American vote, or even Nicki Hardey, which of
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  Speaker 4: course would have appealed to women. So Trump is enormous confidence,
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  Speaker 4: if not hubris, in his decision.
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  Speaker 5: Here.
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  Speaker 4: He's basically saying, my party is the party of MAGA,
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  Speaker 4: this is my running mate.
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  Speaker 5: We will win regardless.
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  Speaker 4: But if Trump does not win in November, now he
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  Speaker 4: is certainly of a clear front run of the moment.
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  Speaker 4: But if he does not win in November, I think
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  Speaker 4: this decision will be looked at by many commentators as
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  Speaker 4: the reason why.
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  Speaker 2: The Republican National Convention runs until Thursday with the focus
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  Speaker 2: on the economy on day one, and there will be
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  Speaker 2: a different theme every day for the convention.
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  Speaker 6: Today's theme will be make America weleview once again.
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  Speaker 2: Cam, there's still, as you said, a few days of
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  Speaker 2: the Republican National Convention to go. You were there, what
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  Speaker 2: was the vibe like and what are you expecting to
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  Speaker 2: see for the rest of the week.
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  Speaker 4: The first night was such a piece of political theater.
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  Speaker 4: Trump was not on the schedule. He turned up on
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  Speaker 4: the screen with his WRIGHTI a bandage, and the rule
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  Speaker 4: was absolutely Deafinitely it was like BMCG on Grand final Day,
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  Speaker 4: Please welcome the next President of the United States, Donald J.
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  Speaker 3: Trump.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, it's really interesting how truly the Republican faithful
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  Speaker 4: adore him. It was just one of those things. He
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  Speaker 4: really didn't do anything. He said, walk in, smile, wave,
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  Speaker 4: and then walk out. But it was just really powerful
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  Speaker 4: political theater. And this is the sort of stuff that
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  Speaker 4: makes him really popular amongst his fans. And now what
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  Speaker 4: we're going to see for the rest of the convention
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  Speaker 4: is a series of really interesting speeches. Nikki Haley is
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  Speaker 4: due to speak tomorrow night. Of course, she was the
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  Speaker 4: person that Trump vanquished for the primary. It's interesting she's
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  Speaker 4: coming in to speak. I think that's a fascinating decision.
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  Speaker 4: It shows that the Republicans are trying to unify themselves.
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  Speaker 4: It's going to be an incredible week. And the interesting
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  Speaker 4: thing is that this has actually reduced to focus briefly
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  Speaker 4: on Joe Biden. However, I think once this Republican convention
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  Speaker 4: finishes this week, we will switch straight back to the
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  Speaker 4: problems that Joe Biden has.
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  Speaker 2: Coming up. What Donald Trump's big day means for the Democrats.
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  Speaker 2: Subscribers to The Australian are first to hear reporting and
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  Speaker 2: analysis from our correspondents in the United States. Join us
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  Speaker 2: at the Australian dot com dot au. It's a lot
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  Speaker 2: cheaper than running a presidential campaign. We'll be back after
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  Speaker 2: this break. A little over a month from now. On
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  Speaker 2: August nineteen, the Democrats will descend on Chicago for their
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  Speaker 2: party's national convention. But where Donald Trump was basically a
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  Speaker 2: sure thing, who the Democrats will name as their nominee
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  Speaker 2: is less clear. Calls for the incumbent Joe Biden to
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  Speaker 2: step aside have mounted in recent weeks after a string
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  Speaker 2: of gaffes caused many to question in his fitness for
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  Speaker 2: the top job.
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  Speaker 6: I've said before, Russia will not prevail this war, and
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  Speaker 6: now I want to hand it over to the President
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  Speaker 6: of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination.
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  Speaker 5: Ladies and gentlemen, President putin, President Prudent.
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  Speaker 6: You've got big President Prus, President Lenskin. I'm so focused
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  Speaker 6: on being putin. We gotta worry about it anyway. It's President.
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  Speaker 5: I'm better. You are a hell better.
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  Speaker 2: But there are also concerns about the ability of the
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  Speaker 2: current Vice president, Kamala Harris, to defeat Donald Trump in
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  Speaker 2: the November election. Here is Cameron.
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  Speaker 4: Stewart, Well, the great mystak of the Democratic You mention
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  Speaker 4: is who will be the nominee. Biden, of course, in theory,
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  Speaker 4: should be the nominee. But really, if the Democrats are
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  Speaker 4: going to make a change, and I think there is
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  Speaker 4: still a lot of pressure within the Democratic Party for
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  Speaker 4: Biden to step down, We're just not seeing it right
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  Speaker 4: now because of the Republican Convention this week, but I
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  Speaker 4: think that they will have to put that pressure on
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  Speaker 4: before the Democratic invention. Whoever gets nominated at that convention,
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  Speaker 4: I think we'll tackle Donald Trump in November. So these
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  Speaker 4: are the crucial couple of weeks for the Democrats to
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  Speaker 4: make up their mind to sort it out. But I
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  Speaker 4: think the next few weeks could thribe any sort of situation.
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  Speaker 4: We really don't know. It's a fascinating time in American politics.
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  Speaker 2: Cameron Stewart is the Australian's chief international correspondent. Come back
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  Speaker 2: to the front tomorrow to hear all the action from
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  Speaker 2: The Australian's Global Food Forum, happening today in Brisbane. And
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  Speaker 2: you can keep up to date with all the nation's
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  Speaker 2: best journalism anytime at the Australian dot com dot au