Transcript

12.16.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Tuesday,
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December sixteenth, twenty twenty five. As a reminder, Radio I
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is a reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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printed material. Your reader for today is Cindy Fraser. Today's
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front page headlines from the Washington Post are son of
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Rob Michel Reiner is arrested in parents slaying. Police take
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Nick Reiner into custody after couple found debt in LA home.
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Next plan would reshape military big power shifts at highest ranks.
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Proposal to cut number of commands generals. Next. Rob Reiner
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nineteen forty seven to twenty twenty five, a child of
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Hollywood became one of its enduring guardians. Next MAGA figures
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Warren Trump the bas is checking out. He's advised to
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reconnect with restless supporters as mid terms loom. Our next
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headline Hyatt air Pritzker testing Democrats, appetite for billionaires, vast
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fortune that fueled Illinois governor's rise gives some liberals pause.
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And the final headline from today's front page Islamic State
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reservices in link to Sydney attack. Experts say it continues
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to inspire violence more than other terror groups. Now let's
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turn to our first item entitled son of Rob Michelle
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Reiner is arrested in parents slaying. Police take Nick Reiner
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into custody after couple found dead in LA home. Boy
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Sonya Rau, Amber Ferguson and Reese Siebaldt, the thirty two
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year old son of filmmaker Rob Reiner and photographer Michelle
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Singer Reiner, was arrested on suspicion of murder in his
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parents' deaths. The Los Angeles Police Department said Monday, a
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harrowing development in killings at hand astonished Hollywood. The couple's
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bodies were discovered at their Brightwood home after three thirty
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p m. On Sunday, According to a spokesperson for the
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Los Angeles Fire Department, which responded to a request from
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medical aid, Nick Reiner was taken into custody at nine
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fifteen that night and booked at five o four a m. Monday.
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He is being held in the Los Angeles County Jail
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with no bail. As a result of the initial investigation,
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it was determined that the Rhiners were victims of homicide.
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The investigation further revealed that Nick Reiner was responsible for
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their deaths. The LAPD said in a news release the
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case is being handled by the department's Robbery Homicide Division.
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On Tuesday, it will be sent to the Los Angeles
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County District Attorney's Office for filing consideration. The entertainment industry
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is reeling from the news of the Hiner's deaths, which
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caped a weekend filled with domestic and international tragedy. A
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makeshift memorial sprang up at Reiner's star on the Hollywood
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Walk of Fame, where fans laid flowers and lit candles.
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As of Monday, the Brentwood Street, where the slain couple lived,
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remained cordoned off by police tape. Reiner, the seventy eight
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year old son of comedy legend Car Reiner, enjoyed a
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successful directing and acting career that spanned decades. He had
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been married to his wife, Singer Reiner, for thirty six years.
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In addition to Nick, the couple shared a son, Jake,
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and a daughter, Romy. Reiner, who was previously married to
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actress and director Penny Marshall, was also the adoptive father
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of her daughter, Tracy Reiner. It is with profound sorrow
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that we announced the tragic passing of Michelle and Rob Reiner.
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The family said in a statement shared with multiple media outlets,
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we are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask
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for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time. Reiner and his
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son Nick collaborated on the twenty fifteen film Being Charlie,
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which was inspired by Nick's history of drug addiction. Ryner
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directed the family drama starring Carrie Elvis and Nick Robinson
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as father and son, and Nick co wrote the screenplay
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with Matt Elsaphon, whom he met in rehab. Substantial portions
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of the story came directly from the reiners lives, including
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times when the title character is living on the street
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or in homeless shelters. When the film premiered at the
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Toronto International Film Festival, Nick told the Los Angeles Times,
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I really wasn't sure I wanted to do this. His
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father added, it was very, very hard going through it
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the first time, with these painful and difficult highs and lows,
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and then making the movie dredged it all up again. Still,
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Reiner said the filmmaking process helped him process his son's
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rehab stants and their fights to be honest. By the
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time we got to the point of making the movie,
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it didn't matter if we actually did, he said, because
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our relationship had gotten so much closer. The son of
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entertainers Carl and Estelle Reiner, Rob Reiner earned two Emmy
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Awards for his role as Mike Meathead Stivic on the
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sitcom All in the Family, and turned in memorable performances
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in movies such as Sleepless in Seattle and Throw Momma
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from the Train. Beginning with This Is Spinal Tap in
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nineteen eighty four, Reiner directed a run of indelible films,
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including stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally, A Few
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Good Men, The American President, and more. His prolific career
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extended into the twenty twenties, when he directed a documentary
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about his friend Albert Brooks. Had a recurring role this
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summer in season four of The Bear, and recently released
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a Spinal Tap sequel, The End Continues. Singer Reiner worked
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as a photographer in the late nineteen eighties, picking up
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film set jobs to supplement her income. She is credited
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with photographing Donald Trump for the cover image of his
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nineteen eighty seven book The Art of the Deal. The
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day after the Reiners died, Trump bashed the director on
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Truth Social and he attributed the couple's deaths to quote
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trump derangement syndrome. One faithful assignment brought Singer Reiner to
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the New York set of When Harry Met Sally, where
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she and Reiner met and fell for each other before
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marrying in nineteen eighty nine. Their love story inspired Reiner
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to change the ending of his iconic film. Originally, Harry
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and Sally didn't get together, Reiner told The Guardian in
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twenty eighteen. But then I met Michel and I thought, Okay,
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I see how this works. Their marriage evolved into a
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creative partnership. Singer Reiner worked on several of her husband's films,
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including as a special photographer on Misery. She was also
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involved in Reiner's advocacy work. In the past decade, Singer
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Reiner collaborated with him as a producer on projects such
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as the twenty seventeen drama Shocknah, the twenty twenty three
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documentary Albert Brooks Defending My Life, and Spinal Tap II.
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The End Continues. This year, Reiner was a beloved figure
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in Los Angeles a celebrity whose fame and influence transcended
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the entertainment industry. He was involved in state and national politics,
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advocating for early childhood education and the legalization of same
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sex marriage. California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, called Reiner
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a big hearted genius who made this date a better
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place through his good works. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass
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described his death as a devastating loss for our city
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and our country. Friends of the Reiner family expressed their
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grief after news of the couple's death surfaced. Alas, who
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starred in The Princess Bride before re teeming with Reiner
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on being Charlie, posted to Instagram a photograph of their
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chairs on the nineteen eighty Sevenvan's film set and wrote
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no words. Kathy Bates, who won an Academy Award for
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her lead performance in Ryner's nineteen ninety psychological thriller Misery,
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shared in his statement that she was horrified hearing this
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terrible news. I loved rob She said he was brilliant
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and kind, a man who made films of every genre
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to challenge himself as an artist. He also fought courageously
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for his political beliefs. He changed the course of my life.
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Michel was a gifted photographer. My heart breaks for them both.
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Jerry O'Connell, who was eleven years old when he starred
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in the coming of age drama Stand By Me, said
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Monday on CBS Mornings that Reiner was like a father
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to me. Everything I have is because of Rob Reiner.
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O'Connell said, it's just a sad, shocking day. Actress Jamie
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Lee Curtis and her husband Christopher Guest, who co wrote
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and starred in both Spinal Tap films with Reiner, issued
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a joint statement describing themselves as numb and sad and
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shocked about the violent, tragic deaths of our dear friends,
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Rob and Michelle Singer Rainer. Our only focus and care
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right now is for their children and immediate families, and
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we will offer all support possible to help them. The
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couple wrote, we have lost great friends. Please give us
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time to grieve. New Girl creator Elizabeth Merriweather and cast
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members such as Zoey Deschanel, Lamourne Morris, and Hanna Simone
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expressed their condolences on Instagram. Reiner was featured in several
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episodes as the father of day, Chanelle's protagonist, Curtis played
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Daichanelle's mother and Rhiner's ex wife. Rob Reiner was the
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absolute warmest, funniest, most generous of spirits, Daschanell wrote, alongside
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photos of her, shelf and Reiner in the sitcom, A
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truly good human being, an incredible artist, and such a
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playful and fun collaborator. I cherish the time we spend
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working together and the many films he made that have
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shaped who I am. The next item from today's front
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page is entitled plan would reshape military big power shifts
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at highest ranks proposal to cut number of commands Generals
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by Dan Lemouth, Tera Copp, Noah Robertson and Alex Horton.
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Senior Pentagon officials are preparing a plan to downgrade several
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of the U. S Military's major headquarters and shift the
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balance of power among its top generals in a major
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consolidation sought by Defense Secretary Pete Hegsath. People familiar with
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the matter said, if adopted, the plan would usher in
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some of the most significant changes at the military's highest
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ranks in decades, in part following through on Hegsas's promise
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to break the status quo and slash the number of
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four star generals in the military. It would reduce in
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prominence the headquarters of US Central Command, US European Command,
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and US Africa Command by placing them under the control
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of a new organization known as U S International Command.
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According to five people familiar with the matter, Joint Chiefs
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Chairman Dan Kine is expected to detail the proposal, which
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has not previously been reported, for Hexath in the coming days.
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Such moves would compliment other efforts by the administration to
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shift resources from the Middle East and Europe and focus
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foremost on expanding military operations in the Western Hemisphere, these
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people said. Like others interviewed for this report, they spoke
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on the condition of anonymity to discuss the effort before
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it is conveyed to the Secretary. Hexath's team said in
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a statement that they would not comment on quote rumored
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internal discussions or quote predecisional matters. Any insinuation that there
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is a divide among officials over the issue is quote
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completely false. Everyone in the department is working to achieve
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the same goal under this administration. The statement said. The
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Pentagon has shared little to no details with Congress. A
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lack of communication that has perturbed members of the Republican
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led Senate and House Armed Services Committees. According to two
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people familiar with how the panels have prepared for the proposal,
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top officers at the commands involved are awaiting more details
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as well. Officials said the plan also calls for realigning
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U S Southern Command and US Northern Command, which oversee
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military operations throughout the Western Hemisphere, under a new headquarters
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to be known as US America's Command or American. People
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familiar with the matter said that concept was reported earlier
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this year by NBC News. Pentagon officials also discussed creating
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a U S Arctic Command that would report to American,
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but that idea appears to have been abandoned, people familiar
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with the matter said, combined, the moves would reduce the
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number of top military headquarters known as combatant commands, from
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eleven to eight, while cutting the number of four star
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generals and admirals who report directly to Hegsath. Other remaining
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combatant commands would be U S Indo Pacific Command, US
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Cyber Command, US Special Operations Command, U S Space Command,
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U S Strategic Command, and U S Transportation Command. Those
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familiar with a plan set. It alliance with the Trumpet
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Administration's National Security Strategy release this month, which declares that
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the days of the United States propping up the entire
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world order like Atlas are over. The proposal was organized
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by the Pentagon's Joint Staff under the supervision of Kane,
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and is due to be shared with Hegseath as soon
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as this week as a preferred course of action among
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senior military officials. It grew from a request made by
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Hegseath in the spring to look for ways to improve
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how troops are commanded and controlled. A senior defense official
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familiar with a discussion set, adding that Hegsath as kept
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in touch with Kine about the issue over the past
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several months. Any changes would need the approval of HEXP
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and President Donald Trump. The moves would come in the
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Pentagon's Unified Command Plan, which lays out the roles of
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the military's major headquarters. Lawmakers have taken the extraordinary step
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of requiring the Pentagon to submit a detailed blueprint that
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describes the ir realignment's potential costs and impacts on America's alliances.
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The measure included in Congress's annual Defense policy bill would
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withhold money to enact the effort until at least sixty
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days after the Pentagon provides lawmakers with those materials. The
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bill has cleared the House and is expected to pass
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the Senate this week. The senior defense official said the
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proposed realignment is meant to speed decision making and adaptation
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among military commanders. Quote decay had been observed in how
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the u S military commands and controls troops, he added,
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suggesting that the need for sweeping change is urgent. Time
15:04
ain't on our side, man, the senior defense officials said,
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describing internal conversations around the plan, the saying here is
15:12
if not us, who, and if not now when the
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potential reorganization comes. As Hexeth has begun broader efforts to
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call the total number of generals and admirals across the military,
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he also has fired or otherwise forced out more than
15:29
twenty senior officers, threatened others with polygraph tests to determine
15:33
whether they have leaked information to the news media, and
15:37
told those remaining that if they do not like the
15:39
administration's policies, they should do the honorable thing and resign.
15:44
Chuck Hagel, who served as Defense Secretary during the Obama
15:47
administration and as a Republican member of the Senate before that,
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expressed concerns about the Trump administration's ambitions. There are different dynamics, needs,
15:58
and security threats throughout the globe, he said. The world
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isn't getting any less complicated. Hegel said in an interview,
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you want commands that have the capability of heading off
16:10
problems before they become big problems, and I think you
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lose some of that when you unify or consolidate too
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Many senior military officials considered about two dozen other concepts.
16:21
The senior defense official said at least one discussion called
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for a reduction to six total combatant commands. Under that plan,
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special Operations Command, Space Command, and Cyber Command would be
16:34
downgraded and placed under the control of a new US
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Global Command, said other officials familiar with a discussion. Cain
16:43
is expected to share at least two other courses of
16:46
action with hegset people familiar with the matter. Set. One
16:49
concept calls for creating two commands to house all of
16:53
the others, with all major geographic organizations such as Central
16:57
Command and European Command placed onunder the control of an
17:00
entity that would be called Operational Command. Other major headquarters,
17:05
such as Transportation Command and Space Command would fall under
17:09
an organization called Support Command. One proposal suggested the creation
17:13
of a new headquarters unit, joined Task Force War, to
17:17
be based at the Pentagon. It would focus on planning
17:20
and strategy when the United States was not at war,
17:23
and be capable of controlling forces anywhere in the world
17:27
when there was a conflict. People familiar with the matter
17:29
said the idea didn't test well in exercises with military
17:34
officials and appears unlikely to be adopted, the senior defense
17:38
officials said. Top military officials expressed concerns that such an
17:42
organization would not possess the same regional expertise and relationships
17:47
inherent to the military's current construct. Even if you have
17:51
some of your best people in such a task force,
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the senior official said, you don't have a fingertip feel
17:57
for what is occurring in a region. A second official
18:01
said it seemed very confusing to have top commanders in
18:04
a region prepare for a conflict there, only to hand
18:07
those plans over to another commander when something occurred. Another
18:12
plan sought to reorganize a military by domain, with operations
18:16
organized and led by whether they occurred on land or
18:19
in air, sea, space, or cyber space. People familiar with
18:23
the matter said the idea had supporters in the Space Force,
18:27
but had few other proponents. People familiar with the matter
18:30
said it also limited the Marine Corps influence, with it
18:34
falling under the control of the Navy Department, even as
18:37
the other branches of service were elevated. Military officials involved
18:41
in the reorganization effort also considered whether to elevate the
18:45
chairman's role to allow him to command forces rather than
18:49
serving as a senior military adviser to both the president
18:52
and the Defense Secretary. That could have occurred through the
18:56
Joint Task Force War Framework, two officials said, but the
19:00
concept seemed murky. The idea also could have been complicated
19:04
by the Goldwater Nichols Act of nineteen eighty six, landmark
19:08
legislation that reorganized the military and defined the chairman's role.
19:13
Under the law, the Chairman is considered the principal military
19:16
adviser to the President, the Defense Secretary, and other senior officials.
19:21
Operations are controlled through a chain of command that runs
19:24
from combatant commanders to the Defense Secretary to the President.
19:30
Next is an item entitled Rob Reiner nineteen forty seven
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to twenty twenty five, a child of Hollywood, became one
19:38
of its enduring guardians by Ethan Beck and Jedta Yuan.
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Rob Reiner, who followed his father into show business, rose
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to prominence as an actor and ranged across Hollywood genres
19:51
as the director of crowd pleasing films, including The Princess
19:54
Brye and When Harry met Sally was found dead December
19:58
fourteenth along with his wife, photographer Michele Singer Reiner, he
20:02
was seventy eight. Their family confirmed the deaths in a
20:06
statement after the couple were found at their Los Angeles
20:09
home in an apparent homicide. A Los Angeles Police Department
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spokesperson said Monday that the Reiner's son, Nick, thirty two,
20:18
was arrested on murder charges. The eldest son of comic
20:21
writer and performer Call Reiner, Mister Hiner became the mainstay
20:25
of nineteen seventy's television as a star of the CBS
20:29
sitcom All in the Family. He won two Emmy Awards
20:32
as Mike Meathead Stivick, the counter cultural son in law
20:36
to conservative patriarch Archie Bunker, and went on to an
20:39
acclaimed career behind the camera, directing films that range from
20:43
the coming of age story Stand by Me to the
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courtroom drama A Few Good Men, which brought him an
20:49
Oscar nomination for Best Picture. He loves actors. Tom Cruise,
20:54
who starred as a military lawyer in the film, told
20:57
The New York Times in nineteen ninety two he loves
21:00
what he's doing. I'd catch him watching someone else's close
21:03
up and he'd be mouthing the dialog. He doesn't even
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realize he does it. He's a guy who wants, almost
21:10
wills his actors to be great. Outside his film and
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TV work, mister Hiner was known as a liberal political activist,
21:18
championing the right to same sex marriage and emerging as
21:21
an outspooken critic of President Donald Trump. As he told it,
21:25
he was inspired to venture into politics partly because of
21:29
his role on All in the Family, with which he
21:31
remained closely identified long after the show went off the air.
21:35
I could win the Nobel Prize, he joked in two
21:38
thousand three, and they'd write meet heead wins the Nobel Prize.
21:43
A prolific filmmaker with an ear from memorable dialogue, mister
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Reiner didn't stick to one genre as a director. He
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made his directorial debut in nineteen eighty four with a
21:53
mockumentary This Ispinal Tap, which followed a fictional heavy metal
21:58
group through the absurdities of the world rock and roll lifestyle.
22:01
Mister Runner improvised scenes alongside his friends Christopher Guest and
22:05
Michael mc kean, resulting in ludicrously funny lines, including one
22:10
involving an unusually loud guitar ant. There's barely a day
22:14
goes by that I don't hear somebody say, well, let's
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turn this up to eleven. Oh, this goes up to eleven.
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I'm watching sports and they'll say something like that, mister
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Hiner told The Washington Post in September. It's a weird
22:28
thing to know that something you created is just a
22:30
little gad all of a sudden becomes part of the lexicon.
22:35
While mister Renner's films often had a comedic bend, he
22:38
was eager to experiment with new tones and angles. With
22:42
nineteen eighty five's The Sure Thing, he tried out romantic comedy.
22:46
His follow up, Stand by Me was somewhat darker, a
22:50
Stephen King adaptation about a group of children who followed
22:53
train tracks to find the body of a missing boy.
22:57
Then came The Princess Bride, and at aation of a
23:00
fantasy adventure novel by William Goldman that he loved. It's
23:05
an odd ball movie when you think about it, mister
23:07
Hiner said, It's got romance, it's got swashbuckling, it's got satire.
23:12
The same movie that has these great sword fights has
23:14
a guy saying, never get involved in a land war
23:17
in Asia. The very weird, odd mix of things. In
23:21
nineteen eighty seven, mister Reiner co founded the production company
23:25
Castle Rock Entertainment, which went on to produce one of
23:28
the most successful sitcoms of its time, Seinfeld, as well
23:32
as movies including The Shawshank Redemption. He had a hand
23:36
in the company even as he directed a streak of
23:39
classic films that included nineteen eighty nine's Nora Ephron penned
23:43
rom com When Harry Met Sally, which established him as
23:47
one of Hollywood's very best directors of comedy. As film
23:50
critic Roger Ebert put it at the time, mister Reiner
23:54
met Michelle Singer while working on the movie. Their romance
23:58
inspired him to change the film, altering what was supposed
24:01
to be a more Downbeak conclusion with echoes of Annie
24:05
Hall to a happy ending for the couple. The film
24:08
was also personal in another way. Mister Hiner's mother, actress
24:12
and singer Estelle Reiner, delivered the dead pen I'll have
24:16
what She's having Lyne during the diner scene. Along with
24:21
movies including Flipped and and So It Goes. When Harry
24:25
Met Sally was one of several that mister Hiner directed
24:29
that explored his views of men and women and what
24:31
brings people together. Women, he told The Post in twenty fourteen,
24:36
are more emotionally developed and are more evolved as people.
24:40
They know what they want in life, and they know
24:42
what's important. Men, he said, run around like idiots until
24:46
they find some one who can make them see what's important.
24:48
And then they say, oh, I see. And basically that's
24:53
the same story I've told over and over. I say
24:56
it in different ways, but it's this wonderful dance we
24:59
do no matter what age. We are a funny household.
25:04
Robert Norman Reiner was born in the Bronx on March sixth,
25:07
nineteen forty seven, growing up in nearby New Rochelle, New York.
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He was surrounded by his father's showbiz friends, including Sid Caesar,
25:16
Norman Lear, and Mel Brooks, with whom Carl Reiner formed
25:19
a long running comedy team. When you're a kid, you
25:23
just think your family is like every other, mister Hiner said,
25:27
you don't have anything to compare it to. You're just
25:29
living in that world. But then I'd go over to
25:32
my friend's houses and it wasn't as funny over there.
25:36
Growing up in the shadow of his father, a TV
25:38
pioneer who created the Dick Van Dyke Show, wasn't always easy.
25:43
I was just a strange kid to him, mister Hiner
25:46
told an interviewer in two thousand and three, he didn't
25:49
relate to me because he didn't understand what this oddball
25:52
kid was doing. His most personal film, he said, was
25:56
stand By Me, because it's all about a young boy
25:59
who thinks that his father doesn't love him. Still, he added,
26:03
he came to understand that the love was there. Now
26:06
we have a great relationship. Mister Reiner graduated from high
26:10
school in Beverly Hills, where he discovered his love of
26:13
acting in a drama class. While performing alongside Richard Dreyfus
26:17
and Larry Bishop. The three of them later started a
26:20
comedy troupe as students at UCLA. Another classmate, actor and comedian,
26:25
Albert Brooks, became the subject of one of mister Hiner's
26:28
final films as a director, the twenty twenty three documentary
26:32
Albert Brooks Defending My Life. By the late nineteen sixties,
26:37
mister Reiner was appearing in bit parts on television, a
26:40
delivery boy in Batman, a printer's apprentice on The Anie
26:44
Griffith Show, and collaborating with Steve Martin, whom he met
26:48
while writing for the Smothers Brother's comedy Hour. He married
26:52
actress and director Penny Marshall, later known for starring on
26:55
Laverne and Shirley, in nineteen seventy one, just as he
26:59
began playing Meat had on All in the Family. The
27:02
couple had grown up across the street from each other
27:04
in the Bronx, but never met, and later connected while
27:08
appearing in the ABC sitcom The Odd Couple. They divorced
27:12
in nineteen eighty one, but Reiner adopted Michele's daughter Tracy
27:15
during their marriage and continued to be her father. Eight
27:19
years later, mister Reiner married Singer, a photographer who had
27:23
taken the cover photo for Trump's nineteen eighty seven book
27:26
The Art of the Deal. She has a lot to
27:29
atone for, mister Reiner later joked. The couple had three children, Jack, Nick,
27:35
and Rooney. Mister Reiner and his son Nick collaborated on
27:38
the twenty fifteen film Being Charlie, which was inspired by
27:42
Nick's history of drug addiction. Making the movie dredged it
27:45
all up again, mister Hiner told The Los Angeles Times,
27:49
adding that working on the film proved painful but only
27:53
deepened his connection with his son. By the time we
27:56
got to the point of making the movie, it didn't
27:59
matter if we actually did, he said, because our relationship
28:02
had gotten so much closer. Mister Rhyner directed at a
28:06
fast clip, putting out seven movies in the nineteen nineties alone.
28:10
He continued to bounce between genres that decade, notably trying
28:14
his hand at warr with a Stephen King adaptation Misery,
28:18
about a novelist James Kahn held captive by a hammer
28:22
wielding fan. The film earned Kathy Bates an Academy Award
28:25
for Best Actress. After the success of a few good
28:29
Men starring Crewise. Mister Ner returned to the courtroom drama
28:33
with Ghosts of Mississippi. He also popularized the concept of
28:38
the bucket list with his two thousand seven buddy comedy
28:41
of the same name, and explored his political interests in movies,
28:45
including The American President featuring Michael Douglas as a widowed
28:48
commander in chief, and L b J starring Woody Harrelson
28:53
as a titular president. A long time Democrat, mister Riner
28:57
supported California state propositions to fun preschool and tax tobacco products,
29:02
opposing public smoking so strongly that he was characterized in
29:05
an episode of South Park. He was cited as a
29:09
potential candidate for California governor in two thousand and six,
29:12
and campaigned extensively for presidential candidates, including Al Gore, Barack Obama,
29:18
and Joe Biden. Rob's achievements in film and television gave
29:22
us some of our most cherished stories on the screen,
29:25
Obama wrote in a tribute on social media, adding that
29:28
mister Reiner and his wife will be remembered for the
29:31
values they championed and the countless people they inspired. Mister
29:36
Reiner's more than two dozen feature films included duds such
29:39
as North, a family comedy sometimes derided as one of
29:43
the worst movies ever made, but he kept busy on
29:47
both sides of the camera, appearing on screen in films
29:51
such as Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street as
29:54
a title character's comically short tempered father, and in TV
29:58
shows including New Girl for hers. Just this year, he
30:03
directed a Spinal Tap sequel that reunited him with the
30:06
film's original cast, and was a guest star on FX's
30:09
hit The Bear. If his output had slowed somewhat as
30:13
a director, who was only because he no longer had
30:16
anything to prove. As you get older, all those dumb cliches,
30:20
they're all true, he said in an interview with The
30:22
A V Club in twenty sixteen. You only have a
30:26
certain amount of time left, and you should only spend
30:29
it doing the things you want to do. Harrison Smith
30:33
contributed to this report. Next an item entitled Maga figures
30:39
Warren Trump the bass is checking out. He's advised to
30:43
reconnect with restless supporters as mid terms loom by Natalie Allison,
30:48
Kadiagoba and Hannah Noles. As Donald Trump ate his crabcake
30:53
lunch inside the White House last month, conservative polster Mark
30:57
Mitchell tried to explain that there was a disconnect between
31:00
what the administration seemed to be focused on and what
31:03
Trump's passionate basis supporters wanted to see. Sir, you got
31:08
shot at the Butler rally, Mitchell said, invoking the really
31:11
strong optics of Trump raising his fist in defiance after
31:15
the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July twenty twenty four.
31:20
You said fight, fight, fight, but nobody ever clarified what
31:24
that means, Mitchell continued, and right now your fight fight
31:28
fighting Marjorie Taylor Green, and not actually fight fight fighting
31:32
for Americans. The head polster at Rasmussen Reports warned Trump
31:38
that many of his supporters believed that he hadn't drained
31:41
the swamp in Washington, and suggested that the president refocused
31:45
with a plan to embrace pragmatic economic populism to the
31:49
extent to which we are talking about the economic populism message.
31:53
He wasn't as interested as I would have hoped, Mitchell said,
31:56
adding that it was a long ranging conversation. Mitchell's critique
32:01
echoes a growing course of NAGA faithful, raising concerns over
32:05
what they see as Trump's second term shortcomings. In recent weeks,
32:09
pockets of his base, known for its unwavering dedication to
32:13
Trump and its MAGA agenda, have accused him of focusing
32:16
too much on foreign affairs, failing to address the cost
32:20
of living issues he pledged to fix, aligning himself too
32:23
closely with billionaires and tech moguls, and resisting the release
32:27
of more investigative files on the deceased sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
32:32
Across a conservative spectrum, a steady drum beat of commentators
32:36
has warned that Trump's coalition is weakened and that the
32:40
party is headed for defeat in mint term elections in November.
32:44
There are concerns that the base won't show up over
32:47
frustrations that Trump hasn't pursued the NAGA agenda aggressively enough,
32:52
and others worry that economic concerns could threaten his standing
32:56
with independent voters, a key block in the mid terms.
33:00
Trump's advisors have taken note of the criticism from within
33:03
Mecca and see it as part of the cyclical feedback
33:06
the administration will receive throughout his turn as one senior
33:10
White House official put it, Trump's staff members have planned
33:13
for him to begin holding near weekly rallies to tout
33:16
his accomplishments after spending little time on the stump this year,
33:20
two officials told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition
33:24
of anonymity to detail internal conversations, But on his first
33:28
off of that effort, at a casino in Pennsylvania last week,
33:32
Trump again locked the word offfordability and played down concerns
33:36
about rising costs and inflation, before acknowledging I can say
33:41
affordability is a hoax because I agree the crisis were
33:43
too high. His advisers expect that complaints from the base
33:48
could become louder as a mid terms approach, but will
33:51
subside as more of his policies take effect. Eventually, an
33:55
advis equipped the cycle will restart with a new set
33:59
of criticisms. Chief among the recent critics has been Green,
34:03
Republican from Georgia, whose complaints led to Trump disavowing her
34:07
last month. She subsequently decided to resign from Congress. I'm
34:12
an early indicator, unlike a Bellweather, said Green, who stood
34:16
by Trump during his political exile after the January sixth,
34:19
twenty twenty one attack on the u s. Capital and
34:22
has private herself on being closely attuned to Trump's face.
34:26
I say it, and then within forty six months, everybody's
34:30
saying the same thing. In an interview with a Post,
34:34
Green said most of Trump's long time supporters still want
34:37
to see him succeed, but the base is jaded. They
34:40
know what they elected him to do, she said, and
34:43
they're aware he's not doing it. Driving eighty miles an
34:47
hour at a brick wall. Public poland has shown mixed
34:51
signals about how much Trump's support has slipped among Republicans.
34:55
He maintained support from the vast majority of the party,
34:58
though recent Poland shows he has dipped below the usual
35:02
ninety percent approval mark, but his approval rating overall has
35:06
lagged in recent weeks. It reached its worst with voters
35:09
in late November and has ticked up slightly since, though
35:13
it remains lower than at this point in his first term.
35:16
An economous Yugov poll conducted this month found that forty
35:20
one percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is
35:23
doing and fifty five percent disapproved, a net improvement of
35:27
five percentage points from a week earlier. That apparent softness
35:32
has coincided with some Republican pushback against aspects of the
35:36
Trump agenda, including when GOP state senators in Indiana last
35:40
week blocked a White House led effort to redraw the
35:43
state's congressional maps, and on Thursday, twenty Republicans in Congress
35:49
joined Democrats in another rebuke, supporting a bill that would
35:53
overturn Trump's executive order limiting union rights for federal workers.
35:58
What remains to be seen is whether that brewing dissatisfaction
36:01
will grow, or whether Trump can more aggressively focus on
36:05
issues that quiet it is content. He said Tuesday that
36:09
his remaining three years in office amounts to an eternity
36:12
in Trump time to carry out his agenda. Still, the
36:17
course of supporters willing to speak out has become louder.
36:21
Mitchell was invited to the White House by Vice President J. D. Vance,
36:25
who follows him on x and has communicated with them
36:28
about polling in recent months. Before lunch with Trump, Mitchell
36:32
met with fans, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wilds
36:35
and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Mitchell is not part
36:39
of the president's political operation, but Trump's advisors were interested
36:43
in hearing his outside perspective, a White House official told
36:47
the Post. Mitchell said in an interview that Trump listened
36:51
to his concerns and asked questions, but eventually pivoted to
36:54
one of his favorite conversation topics, golf. He gushed about
36:58
two of his golf partners, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republicans from
37:02
South Carolina, and Fox News host Bred Baer, both of
37:06
whom are subjects of magafaction ire. Trump also bragged about
37:10
how much money he had raised during a golf fundraiser
37:13
for Graham the weekend before, a day after he declared
37:16
that he was rescinding his support for Green. Mitchell suggested
37:20
that it would have been better for the administration to
37:22
acknowledge early on that repaired in the economy would take
37:26
significant changes and would not occur overnight. The very first
37:30
thing they shouldn't have done is lower gas prices one
37:33
dollar and then say the golden ages here, he said.
37:38
Green also believes that Trump is missing an opportunity to
37:41
connect with his base on affordability. People understand that it
37:45
takes time to stabilize the economy, she said, but they
37:49
take issue with Trump's claims that concerns about affordability are
37:52
part of a Democrat hoax. No, it's not, and the
37:56
health care situation is serious. It's dire, and Republicans are
38:01
only just now taking it serious, Greene said, referring to
38:04
expiring health care subsidies that will cause insurance prices to
38:08
surge for Americans enrolled in Affordable Care Act plans. This
38:13
is a country driving eighty miles an hour at a
38:15
brick wall on January one when the subsidies expire. Punchy
38:20
tweets cool video edits no follow through. Savanna Hernandez, a
38:25
conservative commentator who serves as a Turning Point USA contributor,
38:29
described the second Trump term so far as underwhelming, while
38:34
crediting Trump with making positive, lasting changes to the conservative movement.
38:39
She was among the influencers the White House assembled for
38:42
an Antitha roundtable with Trump in October to discuss how
38:46
to stop a loosely knit movement of far left activists
38:49
who have at times incited violence during protests. But on
38:53
that and a host of other issues Trump's face cares about,
38:57
including the administration's goal to deport more than one million
39:00
undocumented immigrants this year, which it is not expected to reach.
39:04
Accountability for what it believes were government agencies being quote
39:08
weaponized against conservatives, and vows to make life more affordable.
39:13
Hernandez said he has fallen short. All we've really seen
39:17
is punchy tweets, cool video edits, but really no follow
39:22
through on any of the promises, She said of the
39:24
messaging coming from the White House. And if he listened
39:28
to his face and he was connected to us, even
39:30
just through social media, you would see that the average
39:33
person is still struggling to buy groceries, that the housing
39:37
crisis is still on the mind of everybody, that inflation
39:41
is still a really big issue. And when Americans see
39:44
billions of dollars going overseas to any country, it really
39:48
feels like a betrayal when we're struggling here at home,
39:51
Hernandez said. Two senior White House officials said Trump has
39:55
shown a range of feedback from MAGGA commentatives, including criticism
39:59
of about his performance on nearly a daily basis. In
40:03
a statement, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt called Trump
40:07
the proud founder and undisputed leader of MAGA, the greatest
40:11
political movement in American history. President Trump is delivering on
40:16
his core campaign promises across the board, keeping his word
40:19
to the nearly eighty million patriots who elected him in
40:22
a landslide, and fighting every day to make America greater
40:25
than ever before, she said. Other MAGA aligned voices downplayed
40:30
the extent to which criticism within the movement is a
40:32
warning sign. Jack Posobec, a long time activist and conservative
40:37
media figure, described Trump's second term performance as light years
40:41
beyond his first term. He will always have this sliver
40:44
of people. It's a very online group of people, a
40:47
very active group of people who would say they want more,
40:50
they want more, they want more, Pasovic said in an interview.
40:54
And I get that. Isabel Brown, another conservative podcaster, said
40:59
the complaints and within MEGA are a signal of a
41:02
healthy conservative debate. Populous voices urged Trump to course corect
41:08
in Georgia. Thirty six year old Jesse Meadows, a Trump
41:11
voter who describes herself as MEGA, grew frustrated this year
41:15
as prices remained high and the President responded dismissively to
41:19
the push to release more Epstein files. Her disappointment hardened
41:23
as Trump attacked Green and Representative Thomas Massey, Republican from Kentucky,
41:28
who also pushed for the release of the files. Trump's
41:32
posts having favorable polls and success bringing down inflation seemed
41:36
like his own version of fake news. Meadows said she
41:40
voted for Democratic candidates in Public Service Commission elections in
41:44
Georgia in November that flipped the seats from the GOP,
41:48
and she said that going forward she will back candidates
41:51
she considers America first, regardless of party. If I had
41:56
known what Trump was going to turn into now, I
41:58
would have stayed home. Meta said Many supporters like her
42:03
have been turned off by seeing what was once a
42:05
full calendar of rallies in Middle America replaced with opulent
42:09
events with business leaders, deal signings with billionaires, and travel abroad.
42:15
While meeting with Trump, Mitchell told him that his base
42:18
wanted to see him smash the oligarchy, not be the oligarchy.
42:23
Building billion their funded ball wounds and jet setting round
42:26
the world and trillion dollar investment deals looks a lot
42:30
like oligarchy stuff, Mitchell said. Despite acknowledging Trump's departures from
42:35
his base on such issues as foreign and tech policy,
42:39
some top populous voices in his movement insist he is
42:43
course correcting to win back support ahead of the mid terms.
42:47
Trump is pivoting into a much harder populist, nationalist stance
42:51
on deportations, drug cartel's Third World fraud tariffs, said Stephen K. Bannon,
42:57
his former advisor turned influential talk show host. It's only
43:02
harder from here to November twenty twenty sixth Fannin, who
43:05
has been outspoken against efforts by the wealthy tech executives
43:09
to influence Trump's policies, told The Post, rolegarts didn't sign
43:13
up for the wet work of modern politics, they will
43:16
be the first off the bus. MAGA influencers have cringed
43:21
at some of Trump's comments they view as out of
43:23
touch with his base, especially his assertion on Fox News
43:27
that the United States needs foreign workers because it does
43:31
not have enough talented people. Not long after, Trump acknowledged
43:35
that his base wasn't happy with his decision to welcome
43:38
foreign tech workers to the country, but said his poll
43:41
numbers would go up among smart people. Brahim Cassam, a
43:46
British right wing political strategist living in Washington who is
43:50
editor of the conservative National Pulse, set his phone lit
43:54
up with complaints when Trump made the poll comment. I'm
43:58
just saying, listen to the people that electedgy because right now,
44:02
apart from the deportation stuff, you're not really connecting with them,
44:06
Cassam said in response to a request for comment from
44:11
the White House. In addition to Lovett, Vance provided the
44:14
Post with a statement touting a reduction in the number
44:17
of legal immigrants in the country and Trump's work with
44:20
pharmaceutical companies to lower drug crises for some Americans, among
44:24
other accomplishments. Is there more work to do, of course
44:28
there is, Van said, and no one is more committed
44:31
to doing it than the President of the United States
44:33
and his team. Other Trump supporters said that although not
44:37
everything as panned out as they hoped, they remained confident
44:40
about the president. He is not a king, said Jerry
44:43
Ramsay eighty one from Marietta, Georgia. He can't just say
44:47
you got to cut the price of a hamburger. Within
44:50
another year, I think things will be rocking on pretty good.
44:54
Our next item is entitled Hyatt air Pritzker testing Democrats
44:58
appetite for billionaires. Vast fortune that fueled Illinois governor's rise
45:04
gives some liberals pause. By mav Preston from Springfield, Illinois
45:10
on the late summer afternoon, as at Illinois State fairgrounds,
45:13
Hundreds of Democrats sipped cold beer from clear plastic JB
45:17
Party cups as they waited under a large tent to
45:20
hear their governor's fiery populist attacks on President Donald Trump's agenda.
45:25
Cutting a broad figure in a casual, short sleeved button down,
45:29
J Robert J. B. Pritzker sixty thundered from the stage
45:33
about medicaid, medicare, voting rights, civil rights, and food assistants,
45:38
accusing Trump and his party of demolishing the social safety net. MAGA.
45:44
Republicans are trying to take away everything that matters to
45:47
working families, said Pritzker, who is seeking a third term
45:51
next year. Are you ready for the fight? Left unsaid
45:55
by Prisker that day in August. He is the wealthiest
45:58
officeholder in the United Slime States other than Trump, as
46:02
a scion of the Hyatt Hotels family, with a personal
46:05
fortune worth three point nine billion dollars, according to Forbes.
46:09
For years, Krisker has banquelled an array of liberal causes
46:13
and his own political career at a nearly unrivaled clip,
46:17
pouring more than five hundred eight million dollars into state
46:20
and federal election since twenty fifteen, including at least three
46:24
hundred forty eight million dollars for his campaigns. Krisker's personal
46:29
fortune has given him a ready made war chess that
46:32
has powered his assent as a Democratic donor, candidate, and
46:35
officeholder during the past three decades. A close examination of
46:39
his career shows his money opened doors to a lead
46:42
fundraising circles and close relationships with Hillary Clinton and other
46:47
powerful Democrats. Instantly turned on a cash figot in his
46:51
first run for governor, endeared him to abortion rights after this,
46:55
as he cut checks for ballot measures in a raft
46:57
of states and covered the costs of t travel on
47:00
private jets, all without the time consuming task of dialing
47:04
other wealthy patrons to donate to him. To some, that
47:08
makes him an avatar of a problematic combination of money
47:12
and politics. Many other Democrats argue that his wealth has
47:16
given him the freedom to champion policies that benefit everyday
47:20
people without the constraints of owing favors to donors. For years,
47:25
Kritzker has fended off rivals in both parties who portrayed
47:29
him as a trust fund baby who has been buying
47:31
off elected officials by presenting himself as an advocate for
47:35
the working class. Now he is using that strategy to
47:41
lay a foundation for what could be his most ambitious
47:44
political endeavor yet, a run for president in twenty twenty eight.
47:50
As he forcefully challenges Trump's agenda on immigration, redistricting, domestic
47:55
military deployments, and the economy, Kritzker is testing his party's
47:59
appetite for a leader from the same one percent that
48:02
many have railed against in recent years. While Democrats have
48:07
a history of falling in love with charismatic aristocrats who
48:10
take up the cause of the poor, including Franklin D.
48:13
Roosevelt and Robert F. Kennedy, this might be a different moment.
48:17
Black wing Democrats have increasingly villainized wealth, with Senator Bernie Sanders,
48:23
independent from Vermont, blaming the oligarchy for the country's ills
48:27
and arguing billionaires shouldn't even exist, a position fellow Democratic
48:32
socialist Zoronmon Daumin, the mayor elect of New York, has
48:36
adopted the party that has spent years accusing Trump and
48:40
is wealthy allies of self dealing. Is searching for ways
48:44
to reconnect with working class voters that it is lost
48:47
to Trump's America First Appeals I can't see how billionaire
48:51
would be a good person to represent this entire country,
48:54
said Carmen Borgia twenty six, a graphic designer who carried
48:58
a sign that said no such thing as an ethical
49:01
billionaire and an anti Trump No King's rally this fall
49:05
in Washington. She said she could not support a presidential
49:09
candidate with that much wealth. They can't relate to most Americans.
49:13
It's just something I am passionate about. Other Democrats see
49:18
Pritzker as he answer to Trump's brand of populism. He's
49:21
got a really good opportunity to show that not all
49:24
billionaires are bad, said Democratic strategist Joe Kaiso, a former
49:29
aid for both of Sanders's presidential campaigns. Kritzker has for
49:34
years sought to deflect concerns about his wealth using a
49:37
repertoire of self deprecating lines, a folksy Midwestern persona, an
49:42
embrace of raising taxes on the rich to help middle
49:44
class people, and sharp counterpunches. One of his biggest applause
49:49
lines at the twenty twenty four National Democratic Convention in Chicago,
49:53
which he helped land for the city after promising Democratic
49:57
officials that the more than eighty million dollar affair would
50:00
be debt free. Was that the audience should take it
50:03
from an actual billionaire that Trump was rich in only
50:06
one thing, stupidity. He drew laughter at a more intimate
50:10
Nevada delegation breakfast that week, after telling delegates that few
50:14
Illinois voters were looking for a white Ukrainian American Jewish
50:17
billionaire to be their candidate when he first ran for
50:20
governor in the twenty eighteen election. A belief in kindness
50:25
and empathy in government, Pritzker argues, distinguishes him from Trump
50:29
and his wealthy as allies. He points was push for
50:32
policies such as for giving up to one billion dollars
50:35
in medical debt for working class families and raising his
50:38
dates minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour as examples
50:42
of fighting for those who need it. That record, i think,
50:45
belies the idea that every billionaire is a terrible person
50:49
or is working against the interests of average working folks,
50:53
Pritzker said in a March interview with The Washington Post.
50:56
Your policies have to be about the people who need
50:59
government the money. That appeal is being tested as Pritzker
51:03
introduces himself outside Illinois as one of the most forceful
51:07
critics of Trump. His pitch has done little to quell
51:10
the criticism of activists who have raised concerns about the
51:13
intermingling of money and politics and the barrier's less privileged
51:17
people face to entering public office. There's very few people
51:21
who can afford to spend even a fraction of the
51:24
money that Pritzker spent on his campaigns, said Alisa Kaplan,
51:28
executive director of Reform for Illinois, a group that advocates
51:32
for greater transparency and public financing in elections. You really
51:36
want a system where that's your pool of talent for
51:39
your representatives. I think it's dangerous, she said, because even
51:44
if you have this exception of the quote unquote good billionaire,
51:48
it's not a good basis for a political system. Early
51:52
exposure to business and politics. In the Pritzker family law,
51:56
the Illinois governor's great grandfather, moons Large Nicholas Pritzker, emigrated
52:01
from Ukraine to the U s in eighteen eighty one
52:04
when he was ten, after he his father and his
52:07
brother Abram fled the Pilgrim's targeting Jews in Eastern Europe.
52:11
According to Pritzker's account of an unpublished family history written
52:15
by his great grandfather. For their first eight to nine
52:18
months in Chicago, the family eaked at a mere existence,
52:22
and the ten year old boy slept many nights in
52:24
the LaSalle Street tunnel, avoiding the coal by packing newspapers around.
52:29
My thief legs and wrists, Nicholas Pritzker wrote in another
52:32
description that passage was included in a history of the
52:36
family that a distant Pritzker cousin published in nineteen sixty two.
52:40
There's no doubt that I was one of the luckiest
52:42
people alive, Pritzker said in a summer interview in the
52:46
black and white Pennant library of the historic Governor's Mansion
52:49
in Springfield, which he and his wife helped restore with
52:52
eight hundred fifty thousand dollars of their own money. But
52:56
it really grounds you when you understand that you came
52:58
from a family that a with nothing, that it wasn't
53:02
always like this. Nicholas Pritzker began his career shining shoes
53:07
and selling newspapers, ultimately going to law school and starting
53:11
a law firm that his children expanded through the generations
53:14
into a thriving real estate and manufacturing enterprise. According to
53:18
court documents and news reports. In nineteen fifty seven, Prisker's
53:23
uncle Jay Pritzker bottom hotel near the Los Angeles International Airport.
53:28
Pritzker's parents, Donald and Sue Pritzker moved the family to
53:32
California to run it. A year later, pan Ann began
53:35
flying Boeing seven O seven, ushering in the jet age
53:39
of business travel. The Pritskers expanded into other hotels near airports,
53:44
laying the foundation for what would become the Hyatt Hotel's empire.
53:48
Pritsker was from an early age a close observer of
53:51
his parents' business pursuits, recalling how his mother immersed herself
53:55
in the design of each hotel, from the experience each
53:59
guest had wattering through the door to the hospitality services
54:02
offered to VIPs. At home, the family living room was
54:06
a hub of the liberal social and political activity during
54:09
the nineteen seventies, when his parents welcomed guests including Nancy Pelosi,
54:14
Jerry Brown, and Barbara Boxer, he said. Pritzker, the youngest child,
54:20
said he often accompanied his mother to rallies and meetings
54:23
in the seventies as she advocated for abortion rights and
54:26
gay rights. He remembers her sitting him and his siblings,
54:29
Penny and Anthony, assembly line style at the dining room
54:32
table to stuff envelopes with political literature, seal them, and
54:37
stamp them. Tragedy struck when Pritzker was seven. His father
54:42
died of a heart attack at thirty nine after playing tennis.
54:45
His mother struggled with alcoholism and depression after losing her husband.
54:49
Pritzker said she was in and out of treatment, and
54:53
he recalled waiting up some nights to pry the cigarette
54:56
from his mother's hands after she fell asleep Whilesker was
55:00
away at boarding school. His mother died ten years after
55:04
her husband's death, when she leaped from the moving cap
55:06
of a truck that was towing her Cadillac, according to
55:09
news reports from the time. Pritzker went on to major
55:13
in political science at Duke University and got an early
55:16
taste of campaigning in North Carolina while he was still
55:19
in school as a logistics aid for the U. S.
55:22
Senate campaign of Terry Sandford, a former governor who served
55:25
as Duke's president. Mark Pool, a North Carolina contemporary who
55:30
became close friends with Pritzker and would later manage his
55:33
first run for office, recalled how Pritzker threw himself into
55:36
the work, driving an a saw from one end of
55:39
the stay to the other, gathering the concerns of North
55:42
Carolina voters so he could grieve Sandford before each event.
55:46
After Sandford won his Senate seat, Kritzker worked in Washington
55:50
as his legislative assistant. He met his wife, Mary Catherine,
55:54
who came from a prominent Democratic South Dakota political family
55:57
and is known as m K on a nineteen eighty
56:00
eight blind lunch date at a cafe in the U. S.
56:03
Capitel complex while he was working for then Senator Alan Dixon,
56:07
Democrat of Illinois, and she was working for then Senator
56:10
Tom Dashley, Democrat of South Dakota. According to a Pritsker's
56:14
both person Chrisker showed a continued interest in politics, founding
56:19
Democratic Leadership for the twenty first Century, a group that
56:22
was focused on bringing more young leaders into democratic politics
56:26
in nineteen ninety one while he was a student at
56:28
Northwestern University School of Law. The Internet was taking off
56:32
in nineteen ninety three when Kritsker graduated, and in nineteen
56:36
ninety six he started New World Ventures, a tech focused
56:39
venture capital firm that focused in part on Chicago Bay's
56:43
start ups. He avoided taking a job in the family business, inspired,
56:47
he said, by his father's example of striking out on
56:50
his own. Nineteen ninety seven, when the incumbent retired in
56:55
illinois ninth Congressional District, which included the North side of
56:58
Chicago and had significant Jewish population, Pritzker saw an opportunity.
57:04
He entered the nineteen ninety eight race at thirty two
57:07
with long odds, facing two Democratic opponents with more established
57:11
political networks. Representative Jan Schakowski was then a state representative
57:16
and Pritzker's other main rival, Howard Carroll, was a state senator.
57:21
Because the Pritzker family business and the High Hotel Corporation
57:25
had been headquartered in Chicago, and because the family was
57:28
involved in philanthropic endeavors, many voters revered the Pritzker name. Pritzker, however,
57:35
quickly encountered critics skeptical of his thin resume. Tom Minard,
57:39
who managed Carroll's campaign, recalled a form in which a
57:43
student quiz Kritsker about why internships in Washington qualified him
57:48
to be a member of Congress. Pritzker often found himself
57:52
questioning whether people were in it because they wanted to
57:55
be in the gravitational pull of of Pritzker or because
57:58
they were truly royal to him. According to Poole, who
58:01
recalled receiving some asks that were off putting to Pritzkert,
58:05
there'd be a group that would come to us and say,
58:08
we'd like to honor your candidate as Men of the Year,
58:10
and it is only going to cost you fifty thousand dollars,
58:13
Poole said. We are trying to cut into what we
58:16
knew were difficult dynamics with the race without being seen
58:20
as buy in the election. Due to the constraints of time,
58:24
we will be unable to complete this item. This conclusive
58:28
reading of the Washington Post for to Day, Tuesday, December sixteenth,
58:32
twenty twenty five. Your reader for to Day has been
58:35
sending Fraser