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Democrats, Republicans and a Capitol rioter · The Front

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Christinamio.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: It's Monday, November four. Top government bureaucrats will be grilled
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: over Anthony Albanesi's relationship with former Quantus boss Alan Joyce
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: this week. Coalition senators have indicated they want to determine
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: if the PM used his authority as Transport Minister to
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: protect the airline from competition. Those stories a live right
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: now at the Australian dot com dot au. The student
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: deads of three million Australians will be slashed without affecting
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: the government's bottom line, but experts say that creative accounting
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: is hiding big deficits in the budget. There's just a
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: few sleeps until Americans decide if Kamala Harris or Donald
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Trump will be their next president. In today's episode, our
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: correspondent speaks to Democrat and Republican voters on the ground
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  Speaker 1: and catches up with one of the most unique players
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  Speaker 1: in American politics. On January sixth, twenty twenty one, Cameron
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  Speaker 1: Stewart was making his way to the White House to
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  Speaker 1: hear then President Donald Trump speak. Cam was The Australian's
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Washington correspondent at the time, and Trump, the incumbent, had
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  Speaker 1: just been robbed, he says, of a second consecutive term
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: as president.
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  Speaker 2: Our country has had enough.
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  Speaker 3: We will not take it anymore. And that's what this
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  Speaker 3: is all about.
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  Speaker 4: And to use a favorite term that all of you
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  Speaker 4: people really came up with, we will stop the steal.
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  Speaker 1: It was there in the street that Cam had a
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  Speaker 1: chance encounter with a bare chested man wearing a fur
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  Speaker 1: head replete with horns. His bearded face was painted in red,
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  Speaker 1: white and blue. In the hours that followed, thousands of
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  Speaker 1: Trump supporters would storm the Capitol Building, motivated by a
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  Speaker 1: belief the election had been stolen from their leader.
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  Speaker 4: I know that everyone here will soon be marching over
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  Speaker 4: to the Capitol Building to peacefully and patriotically make your
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  Speaker 4: voices heard.
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  Speaker 1: As the throngs overwhelmed every inch of the Capitol Building,
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  Speaker 1: that man horned hat and all sat atop the chair
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  Speaker 1: of the speaker as chaos rained down around him. Jacob
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Chansley came to be known as the Quenon Shaman, a
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  Speaker 1: symbol of the Capital riots and of the resistance against
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  Speaker 1: what he calls the deep state that he believes installed
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Joe Biden as Trump's successor. Last week, Cam crossed paths
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  Speaker 1: with him again, this time on the fringe of the
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  Speaker 1: Arizona Desert in Phoenix, where he is.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: I've always wondered what he thinks of American politics four
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: years that it and it was interesting to speak to him.
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  Speaker 2: He's very much of that I guess, far right fringe
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  Speaker 2: of American politics, where he's very conspiratorial, the very anti government,
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  Speaker 2: anti institutions. He doesn't trust them, really thinks that the
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  Speaker 2: deep state is controlling a lot of what happens in
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  Speaker 2: American politics. And he certainly doesn't believe that if Kamla
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  Speaker 2: House wins the election that it will have been a
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  Speaker 2: fair election.
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  Speaker 4: Oh, the end of America as we know it. The
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  Speaker 4: reason why I say that is this there, first of all,
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  Speaker 4: importing a bunch of voters from all over the world,
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  Speaker 4: and if they give them citizenship, especially in these swing states,
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  Speaker 4: then they're going to change the swing states from swing
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  Speaker 4: states to blue states. If we start talking about.
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  Speaker 2: This, it's very interesting to get those perspectives because in America,
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  Speaker 2: this sort of far right, conspiratorial fringe, if you like,
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  Speaker 2: is not really that much of a fringe. January the
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  Speaker 2: sixth happened. These people are players to some degree in
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: American politics, so I thought it'd be really interesting for
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: the readers to get a bit of a sense of that,
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  Speaker 2: and certainly, to be fair to him, he wouldn't strike
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  Speaker 2: met all as a violent person or anything like that.
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  Speaker 2: He's a guy who's basically very much caught up in
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  Speaker 2: these unusual beliefs.
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  Speaker 1: Jacob Chansley served twenty seven months in prison for his
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  Speaker 1: part in the events of January sixth. His horn, headdress
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: and the spear he carried into the Capitol have been
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  Speaker 1: confiscated by the FBI. Because of his conviction, he can't vote,
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  Speaker 1: but he believes Donald Trump will win in a landslide
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  Speaker 1: when his countrymen cast their ballots on Tuesday. The polls
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  Speaker 1: suggest otherwise.
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  Speaker 2: It's fascinating because I think for the last ten days
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: we've seen a slow rise in Trump's approval ratings and
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: poles across the board, to such that he's passed Kamala
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: Harris only very narrowly in five of the seven swing
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: states which will determine the election. But this momentum has
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: stalled somewhat, and Harris, according to at least one new pole,
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  Speaker 2: is actually up still in the three so.
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: Called blue Wall states.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: The way Harris will win this presidency is if she
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: wins three states, simple as that, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania,
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  Speaker 2: the so called blue Wall states. She's got a much
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: better chance of winning all three of those than she
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  Speaker 2: has the other states Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, and Nevada.
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  Speaker 2: And so that's her ticket to victory. And at this minute,
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  Speaker 2: she's holding irm and she's actually, depending on the polls
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  Speaker 2: you read, she's certainly looking reasonably good in Michigan and
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  Speaker 2: Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which is frankly the state that will
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  Speaker 2: decide the election is an absolute toss of the coins.
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  Speaker 2: So I think Krmala Harris has actually come back a
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  Speaker 2: little bit in a way that some people perhaps weren't expecting. So,
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  Speaker 2: you know, good luck in predicting it. But I think
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  Speaker 2: that those people who were assuming that Trump is sliding
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  Speaker 2: ahead and might have a quite a comfortable victory, it
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  Speaker 2: certainly doesn't look like that at this minute.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: In twenty sixteen, polsters predicted a resounding victory for the
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  Speaker 1: Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, but wins by Donald Trump in
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  Speaker 1: key battleground states like Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Ohio
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  Speaker 1: saw him elected as the United States forty fifth president,
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  Speaker 1: and prompted a reckoning among polsters. What went wrong with
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  Speaker 1: the numbers? How did the polls miss this? Okay, so
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: we know who won the presidential election, we know who lost,
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  Speaker 1: But how come so many pre election polls missed it?
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  Speaker 1: Despite efforts to restore confidence during the twenty twenty election,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: the polls underestimated the Trump vote yet again, and a
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  Speaker 1: predicted Republican wave failed to eventuate during the mid terms.
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  Speaker 1: So the question now becomes how much credence should we
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  Speaker 1: give to the polls this time around?
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  Speaker 2: They've been wrong three times in three big contests. However,
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  Speaker 2: they've been wrong in different directions. The polsters always say
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: they're improving things, and these poles are going to be
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  Speaker 2: the best that we've ever seen. My god, because they're
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  Speaker 2: so close, Each of the seven swing states is still
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: within the margin of era according to the polls, and
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  Speaker 2: because they're so close, they would have to be very
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  Speaker 2: accurate to be entirely right. So I think the answer
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  Speaker 2: is the polls probably will not turn out to be
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  Speaker 2: as accurate as we think, but only because it's so
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: close between the candidates.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: Coming up the big issues dividing American voters ahead of
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Tuesday's election. Cameron Stewart has returned to his old stomping
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: ground in the US ahead of Tuesday's presidential election. There
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: he's been talking with voters from across the political spectrum
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: and the geographical divide.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: I've traveled through Arizona, through Nevada, and I'm now in Detroit, Michigan,
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  Speaker 2: So that's two key swing states. And I've spoken to
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  Speaker 2: people from a whole range of suburbs in those places,
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  Speaker 2: like the wealthier suburbs, poorer suburbs, speaking of African Americans,
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  Speaker 2: Native Americans, a whole range of different type of voting demographics.
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  Speaker 2: And look, it's just fascinating what is really concerning people
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  Speaker 2: here in America. And of course, obviously what concerns Republican
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: voters or Trump voters is quite different to what concerns
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  Speaker 2: Kamala Harris voters.
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  Speaker 1: In September, inflation in America dropped to its lowest point
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  Speaker 1: in three years. The US Federal Reserve has cut the
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  Speaker 1: cash rate by fifty basis points since then, and is
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  Speaker 1: widely tipped to do it again at its upcoming meetings.
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  Speaker 1: Further easing pressure on mortgage holders. The cost of fuel
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  Speaker 1: has dropped by more than ten percent since mid twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty three, but the cost of staples like food and
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: household energy expenditure remains stubbornly high.
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  Speaker 2: But certainly across the spectrum, the biggest issue for the
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Republican voters for sure is price rises. It's inflation. They
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: just say that Trump is better for the economy than
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: Harris because the economy is strong during his first four years,
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: but they do definitely greatly dislike the price rises that
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: have happened. Voters here in America are simply looking at
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: the cup of coffee is now double what it was
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  Speaker 2: when Biden came into power, the grocery bills double, et cetera,
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  Speaker 2: et cetera. So the great question is to what extent
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: they will punish Kamala Harris for that, because they certainly
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  Speaker 2: blame her as much as Biden for that inflation.
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  Speaker 1: Republican voters also see Kamala Harris as being weak on
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  Speaker 1: border control. She was appointed by Joe Biden to stem
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: the flow of illegal border crossings, but no real progress
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: was made until the middle of this year, when tighter
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: controls were enacted by comparison. Immigration is Donald Trump's favorite subject,
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: and he's been effective at communicating his plan to deport
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: more than ten million undocumented immigrants by force if necessary.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Republicans always say to me they're very disappointed in the
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: border because the first three and a half years of
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: the Biden administration was very loose border control. But that
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: residual effect, just the inflation effect, is still really annoying
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Republican voters.
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  Speaker 3: I don't like what's happened in the last four years.
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  Speaker 3: I don't like what they do at the border, and
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  Speaker 3: just one wise, to me, it was a copse betrayal
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  Speaker 3: of America policies, America as we know it.
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  Speaker 2: The third motivator for Republicans is Kamala Harris. They say
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: regularly she's not experienced enough what she doing there. A
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: couple of them told me that they believe she's faking it,
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: that she's much more to the left than what she's
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: betraying herself as. And they say that this move to
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: the center from Karmala Harris that we've seen during this
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: campaign is in fact fake. They also don't see her
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: as particularly strong. They're concerned that she won't stand up
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: to other countries around the world in a time of crisis.
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: This will be my third time voting for Donald Trump.
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  Speaker 5: I don't care if you're a man, or a woman
• 11:07
  Speaker 5: or a giraffe. Like she can't do the job, you know.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: The Democrats CAM spoken to, on the other hand, have
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: a much more narrow focus. That's the state of America's
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: healthcare system and specifically abortion access.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: And as far as the Democrats go, their main issue
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: quite frequently has been abortion, and not just the women
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: I've spoken to, but men as well. Reproductive rights is
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: a very big ticket for the Democrats. They're very disappointed
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: that Republicans have tried to shut down abortion access since
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: Rovers's Way was struck down by the Supreme Court. The
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: other big issue and arguably the biggest issue for all
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: the Democrat but this is simply Trump. It's simply a
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: dislike of who he is as a person. They say
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: he's distrustful, he's thuggish, is his tasteful, Everything about his
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  Speaker 2: personality is what they don't like.
• 12:02
  Speaker 5: I voted for Camarala, Harris and Chiehuas Why Because I
• 12:07
  Speaker 5: want us to stay very, very together. I grew up
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: in segregation, so I know where it's like and I
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: never want that for my grandkids.
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  Speaker 2: Some of them have relatively different viewpoints. One told me
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: gun control was his biggest issue. Another two ladies I
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: spoke to today who are recovering from cancer, said the
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: fear that Trump might repeal the Affordable Care Act known
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: as a barmacare, was a big motivating factor. So look,
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: every voter if it's understandably motivated by their own things.
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  Speaker 2: But that's the themes that I'm seeing here on the
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: ground in America.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: Cameron Stewart is the Australian's chief international correspondent. You can
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: read all our correspondents reporting and analysis of the upcoming
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: US election right now at the Australian dot com dot
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: au