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The Election He Can’t Let Go: Is Trump Fighting 2020 While Republicans Lose 2026? · The Briefing Room

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Speaker 1: There are politicians who study history, there are politicians who
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Speaker 1: attempt to make history, and then there are politicians who
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Speaker 1: become trapped inside their own versions of history. Now, I
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Speaker 1: bet you can figure out who that is, returning to
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Speaker 1: the same moment, the same argument, the same grievance, long
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Speaker 1: after the rest of the country has moved on. Donald
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Speaker 1: Trump is president again. He won in twenty twenty four.
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Speaker 1: He controls the White House, Republicans control Congress. He has
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Speaker 1: the authority to shape the president and influence the future.
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Speaker 1: And yet, six years after the twenty twenty presidential election,
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Speaker 1: Donald Trump continues returning to the election that he lost.
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Speaker 1: The rallies returned to it, the speeches or returned to it,
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Speaker 1: the investigations returned to it. And now, as Republicans prepare
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Speaker 1: for a difficult midterm election, Trump is returning physically and
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Speaker 1: politically to the state that may symbolize that loss more
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Speaker 1: than any other, my old home state of Georgia. But
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Speaker 1: now this time the consequences extend beyond Donald Trump's reputation.
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Speaker 1: Republicans need people to vote. They need their supporters to
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Speaker 1: trust the process enough to register, show up, complete a ballot,
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Speaker 1: and believe the ballot will count. And at the same time,
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Speaker 1: the leader of the Republican Party continues telling those supporters
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Speaker 1: that elections are corrupted, voter machines are questionable, officials can't
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Speaker 1: always be trusted, and unfavorable outcomes may be illegitimate. That
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Speaker 1: creates one of the strangest political contradictions of our time. Now,
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Speaker 1: how do you persuade people to participate in a system
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Speaker 1: that you've spent years teaching them to distrust? And can
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Speaker 1: Donald Trump help Republicans win the election in front of
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Speaker 1: them while he remains obsessed with the election behind him?
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Speaker 1: Today inside the briefing room, the election he can't let go.
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Speaker 1: Is Donald Trump fighting twenty twenty while Republicans lose in
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Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. This is the briefing report, Alive Rag.
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Speaker 1: This the brief of room. I got a nice firm
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Speaker 1: and let me officially welcome you to the briefing room.
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Speaker 1: I'm the host. Markets I can see you are listening
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Speaker 1: in the background to the sweet sounds of one George
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Speaker 1: morgana buddy love kicking that theme song to the briefing room.
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Speaker 1: Sounds so good, don't you agree? The briefing room is
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Speaker 1: brought to you by g and M getaways, whether you
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Speaker 1: are planning a family vacation, a cruise, a group excursion,
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Speaker 1: or the getaway that you've been putting off for far
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Speaker 1: too long, Let G and M getaways help you turn
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Speaker 1: the idea into an itinerary.
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Speaker 2: Act one, Back to Georgia.
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Speaker 1: So Donald Trump is headed back to Georgia. Now officially
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Speaker 1: he's there to support Republican Congressman Mike Collins, who is
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Speaker 1: challenging Democratic Senator John Ossoff and what could become one
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Speaker 1: of the most important center races in the country. But
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Speaker 1: Trump never simply visits Georgia. He returns to Georgia, at
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Speaker 1: least in his mind, and politically, those are two very
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Speaker 1: different things. Georgia was once considered dependable Republican territory in
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Speaker 1: presidential politics, but demographic changes, suburban movement, and years of
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Speaker 1: democratic organizing transformed the state into a genuine battleground and
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Speaker 1: a lot of that can be attributed to Stacy Abrams,
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Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Moving on, In twenty twenty, Joe
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Speaker 1: Biden narrowly carried Georgia. The vote was counted, it was audited,
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Speaker 1: it was recounted. Republican state officials certified the result. Trump
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Speaker 1: still refused to accept it. We all remember this. The
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Speaker 1: refusal became one of the defining dramas of the period
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Speaker 1: between election day and January sixth. Now, Trump is back
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Speaker 1: in Georgia, supporting a Republican Senate candidate, while again raising
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Speaker 1: allegations about the state's twenty twenty election. Republican officials are
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Speaker 1: concerned that continuing to tell conservative voters Georgia's elections are
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Speaker 1: corrupt could reduce their willingness to even participate in the
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Speaker 1: upcoming midterms, which is common sense. Think about the task
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Speaker 1: facing Mike Collins. He's got to tell Republican voters your
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Speaker 1: vote is urgently needed. This race could determine control of
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Speaker 1: the United States Senate. Donald Trump needs you to show up.
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Speaker 1: But he's standing beside a president who has spent years
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Speaker 1: suggesting that Georgia's system can't be trusted. That's not simply
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Speaker 1: mixed messaging. It is a strategic contradiction. A political party
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Speaker 1: survives by turning belief into participation. Voters don't merely need
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Speaker 1: support for your candidate. They gotta believe the act of
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Speaker 1: voting has meaning. They gotta believe they're getting in their
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Speaker 1: car traveling to the polling place, waiting in line, presenting identification,
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Speaker 1: completing the ballot, and submitting it can produce a legitimate,
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Speaker 1: a square, legitimate result. Now, once you teach people that
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Speaker 1: the machinery itself is fraudulent, participation can begin to feel pointless.
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Speaker 1: Why voted? The machine's are rigged, like you're saying, President Trump,
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Speaker 1: while organized, if unidentified forces determine the result, let you
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Speaker 1: tell it? Why volunteer? If the outcome is supposedly written
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Speaker 1: in advance, Why accept the defeat? If every defeat is
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Speaker 1: treated as proof of corruption? What exactly are you saying?
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Speaker 1: Mister President Trump's election claims may strengthen his emotional connection
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Speaker 1: with supporters who believe something was taken from him, But
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Speaker 1: what protects the leader may damage the entire party, because
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Speaker 1: it's not just about him. For years, we've allowed him,
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Speaker 1: they let me correct myself, have allowed him to believe this,
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Speaker 1: and so in many ways, the Republicans have brought this
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Speaker 1: upon themselves by letting him act like the man baby
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Speaker 1: in the room and letting him suck all the air
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Speaker 1: out of the room all of these years, and now
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Speaker 1: all of a sudden, it's not all about true, mister President.
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Speaker 1: Too late for that and what keeps one political grievance
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Speaker 1: alive may make future electoral victories more difficult. That's the
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Speaker 1: danger of Republicans now seeing Georgia. The twenty twenty argument
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Speaker 1: helped Trump avoid admitting that voters rejected him, but in
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Speaker 1: twenty six Republicans don't need an explanation for why Trump
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Speaker 1: lost Georgia six years ago. That's mood At this point,
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Speaker 1: they need a plan for how Mike Collins can win
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Speaker 1: Georgia right now. When you're behind, you need expansion. You
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Speaker 1: need persuadable voters. You need suburban voters. You need independence,
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Speaker 1: You need people who may not love your party but
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Speaker 1: are willing to consider your candidate. Returning to disputed election
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Speaker 1: claims does not necessarily expand a coalition. It may excite
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Speaker 1: the most loyal portion of it, which only helps Trump.
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Speaker 1: But there's a difference between exciting the people already with
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Speaker 1: you and attracting the people required to win who haven't
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Speaker 1: traditionally been with you. But he understands this. His ego
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Speaker 1: is too large for the mission at hand. Donald Trump
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Speaker 1: has always understood attention. The open question is whether attention
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Speaker 1: and persuasion are still the same thing.
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Speaker 2: You're inside the Briefing Room with Marcus Atkinson exclusively on
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Speaker 2: Black Sess Media ninety two point seven FM WICU HD
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Speaker 2: two streaming worldwide on the Black Sess Media app Act two.
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Speaker 2: The turnout trap.
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Speaker 1: The Republican concern in Georgia is not theoretical. The party
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Speaker 1: has seen versions of this problem before. This is not new.
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Speaker 1: After the twenty twenty election, Trump and some of his
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Speaker 1: allies spent weeks attacking Georgia's election system. Then, in twenty
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Speaker 1: one January of twenty one, to be exact, the state
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Speaker 1: held two Senate runoff elections. Republic can need it, Republicans
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Speaker 1: need it strong turnout, but many Conservative voters had just
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Speaker 1: endured weeks of messaging that the system was compromised. Democrats
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Speaker 1: won both seats. Wonder why no single message, person, or
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Speaker 1: event completely explains an election. Candidate quality matter, organization matter,
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Speaker 1: the political environment matter, The issues matter, but political messaging
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Speaker 1: that also matters. When leaders repeatedly tell supporters an election
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Speaker 1: can't be trusted, some supporters may respond not by fighting harder,
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Speaker 1: but by withdrawing. What's the point, Listen, We're all feeling
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Speaker 1: victimized by the rich and powerful anyways, On a regular basis. This,
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Speaker 1: my friend, is what they referred to as the turnout trap,
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Speaker 1: because election denial can be emotionally energizing while being behaviorally demobilizing.
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Speaker 1: It can intensify anger but weaken confidence. It can raise
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Speaker 1: money but lower faith. It can create a community of
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Speaker 1: grievance without creating a majority of voters. And this is
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Speaker 1: where Trump's personal political needs and the Republican Party's institutional
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Speaker 1: needs may no longer be identical. Donald Trump needs the
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Speaker 1: story of twenty twenty to remain unresolved because accepting the
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Speaker 1: result will require accepting that, well, quite frankly, that he lost,
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Speaker 1: He was rejected, and his ego can't take that now.
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Speaker 1: On the opposite end of the spectrum, politically, the Republican
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Speaker 1: Party needs twenty twenty to become history because it has
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Speaker 1: another election to win. Trump benefits when every race is
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Speaker 1: a referendum on him. Congressional candidates don't always benefit from that, though.
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Speaker 1: Trump benefits when the political conversation centers on whether he
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Speaker 1: was treated fairly. A senate candidate benefits when the conversation
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Speaker 1: centers on what voters will gain by putting that candidate
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Speaker 1: in office. Not Trump again, because he can't he can't
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Speaker 1: go back into office. He is a lame duck. Trump's
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Speaker 1: political identity is powered by conflict. A down ballot candidate's
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Speaker 1: survival may depend on reassurance. Those are not always compatible strategies.
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Speaker 1: I mean Trump is used nationally televised remarks to revisit
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Speaker 1: allegations surrounding the twenty twenty election. I mean you have
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Speaker 1: heard that, right, I mean criticizing voting systems and promoting
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Speaker 1: stricter voting requirements. That demonstrates that this is not a
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Speaker 1: casual reference. He makes only when reporters provoke them. It's
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Speaker 1: a deliberate effort, effort to return election security to the
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Speaker 1: center of the national agenda. But here's the question Republicans
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Speaker 1: have got to be asking privately, is this the agenda
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Speaker 1: voters wanted the center of the twenty twenty six campaign.
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Speaker 1: A president can command attention, we get that he cannot
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Speaker 1: command the concerns occupying a family's kitchen table. He can
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Speaker 1: choose the subject of a speech, but he can't always
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Speaker 1: choose the subject voters carry into the voting booth. And
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Speaker 1: right now, many voters are carrying concerns that have nothing
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Speaker 1: to do with ballot machines In Georgia six years ago.
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Speaker 1: They're carrying grocery bills, gas costs, rent payments, insurance premiums,
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Speaker 1: childcare expenses, war fatigue. They're exhausted, uncertainty about jobs, interest rates,
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Speaker 1: about whether the country is moving towards stability or deeper conflict.
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Speaker 1: When p people feel financially pressure, they don't necessarily reward
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Speaker 1: a president for explaining the past. They ask what he
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Speaker 1: is doing about the president as long as the prices
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Speaker 1: are what they are. Let me put this candidly and clearly.
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Speaker 1: People could give a damn about twenty twenty that was then.
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Speaker 1: Even if they were tempted to believe he was cheated,
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Speaker 1: that ain't got isshed to do with the fact that
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Speaker 1: this gas hell I filled up my rolever the other
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Speaker 1: day that was one hundred and two dollars. One hundred
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Speaker 1: and two dollars. Maybe this is a stretch, but I
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Speaker 1: believe that this is what people are bringing into the
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Speaker 1: ballot box this coming midterms.
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Speaker 2: Act three, the problems voters actually feel.
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Speaker 1: And it's not like the president doesn't understand this because
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Speaker 1: he ran on a whole bunch of grandiose promises. Donald
10:45
Speaker 1: Trump won the twenty four election partly by promising to
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Speaker 1: reduce the cost of living and keep the United States
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Speaker 1: out of expensive foreign conflicts. That sounds like the complete
10:54
Speaker 1: opposite of everything we're doing right now, does it not?
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Speaker 1: I mean, can we not all agree on that those
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Speaker 1: promises spoke directly to voters who were tired. They were exhausted.
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Speaker 1: They were tired of inflation, instability Washington. They were tired
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Speaker 1: of being told that economic statistics were improving while their
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Speaker 1: personal expenses remained high. They were just exhausted. But the
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Speaker 1: political environment in twenty six doesn't resemble the promise whatsoever.
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Speaker 1: I mean. The US is now months into a war
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Speaker 1: on Iran. American service members have been killed, hundreds of
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Speaker 1: reportedly been wounded. To financial costs continues climbing. Behind every
11:28
Speaker 1: number is a family receiving the most devastating news imaginable.
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Speaker 1: Behind every ceremony is a reminder that foreign policy is
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Speaker 1: not an abstract television debate. It is measured in lives,
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Speaker 1: in injuries, deployments, and empty spaces at family tables. It's
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Speaker 1: measured in real stuff, according to everyday people. The political
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Speaker 1: consequences are beginning to appear, my friends. Polls can change,
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Speaker 1: events can change, Wars can change, but the economy can
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Speaker 1: improve or deteriorate before election day. But political campaigns have
12:02
Speaker 1: got to deal with conditions as voters experience them, not
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Speaker 1: simply as leaders describe them. That's not reality. And this
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Speaker 1: is why to return to twenty twenty maybe more dangerous
12:11
Speaker 1: now than it even was before. The country's dealing with
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Speaker 1: consequences that are right now, that are immediate. Trump is
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Speaker 1: offering a grievance that's historical. Americans are asking whether their
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Speaker 1: lives are affordable. Trump is asking them to revisit voting machines.
12:25
Speaker 1: Families are watching the cost of gasoline. Trump is revisiting
12:28
Speaker 1: ballots in Volton County. Military families are watching casualty reports.
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Speaker 1: While Trump is returning the claims about the election he lost.
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Speaker 1: That doesn't mean election security is unimportant, folks. Every legitimate
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Speaker 1: vote should be protected. We all know that, we all
12:43
Speaker 1: agree on that. We've agreed on that for years. Every
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Speaker 1: lawful voter should be able to participate. They shouldn't be dead, folks.
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Speaker 1: Voting Voting systems should be secure, transparent, are regularly audited.
12:54
Speaker 1: But protecting elections and undermining confidence in elections are not
12:59
Speaker 1: thus same thing. Election security requires evidence precision and solutions.
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Speaker 1: Election denial frequently begins with the preferred conclusion, a preordained conclusion,
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Speaker 1: and searches for justification after the fact. It's the trust
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Speaker 1: to me method, it's the believe me methods. Look, I'm
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Speaker 1: trying to tell you, I swear to God, all the
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Speaker 1: things that liars say when they're trying to get people
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Speaker 1: on their team without presenting evidence. One strengthens democracy by
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Speaker 1: improving the system. The other weakens democracy by teaching people
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Speaker 1: that only victories are legit because you notice when he won, Oh,
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Speaker 1: everything was as ran as it was supposed to run.
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Speaker 1: And that principle is impossible to sustain. A democratic system
13:45
Speaker 1: can't function if each party accepts only the elections it wins. Eventually,
13:50
Speaker 1: every defeat becomes theft, every judge becomes corrupt, every election
13:54
Speaker 1: worker becomes suspicious, and every opposing voter becomes part of
13:57
Speaker 1: some grandiose conspiracy. I mean, come on, how long can
14:00
Speaker 1: you possibly keep that up? Every election becomes a prelude
14:05
Speaker 1: to conflict rather than a peaceful transfer of authority. I mean,
14:08
Speaker 1: don't you miss the days when somebody comes up and
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Speaker 1: accepts defeat and they give you the and they give
14:13
Speaker 1: their concession speech. Didn't that make you feel like America
14:17
Speaker 1: was special? Didn't that make you feel like we were
14:19
Speaker 1: a part of something that was a touch above other countries?
14:23
Speaker 1: And yet we are the furthest thing away from that. Now,
14:27
Speaker 1: that method that he's using may be useful to a
14:30
Speaker 1: politician who needs permanent outrage in order to function. It's
14:34
Speaker 1: a dangerous recipe, though, for a country that needs continuity,
14:38
Speaker 1: for a country that has been priding themselves on we're different.
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Speaker 1: Dare we say we may be better than the way
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Speaker 1: the rest of these countries do things? And that has
14:46
Speaker 1: gone out the window. That's going to come home to
14:49
Speaker 1: roost this midterm season.
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Speaker 2: Act four, when personal grievance becomes party strategy.
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Speaker 1: This president's power has always come from making a per
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Speaker 1: political An investigation of Trump becomes an investigation of his supporters.
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Speaker 1: A criticism of Trump becomes an insult to the movement.
15:08
Speaker 1: A legal case against Trump becomes proof that the system
15:11
Speaker 1: is attacking ordinary people. A defeat for Trump becomes evidence
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Speaker 1: that the entire country was cheated. I mean, this approach
15:19
Speaker 1: creates intense loyalty, because supporters don't merely vote for the
15:23
Speaker 1: candidate they see themselves inside his struggle. Albeit they have
15:26
Speaker 1: ignored completely his past, and if and when you inspect that,
15:31
Speaker 1: you see that he has had constant disdain for quote
15:34
Speaker 1: unquote everyday people. As John Legend would say, he's never
15:39
Speaker 1: liked everyday people. He's always been above everyday people. But yet,
15:42
Speaker 1: and still he has con people into believing that all
15:46
Speaker 1: of these things are real. They see themselves inside his struggle.
15:49
Speaker 1: He's achieved that goal. When Trump says, they're coming after
15:52
Speaker 1: me because I stand between them and you, politics becomes
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Speaker 1: personal identification. His victories become theirs, his humiliation theirs, his
16:01
Speaker 1: enemies theirs. But that relationship creates a problem for the
16:04
Speaker 1: Republican Party. A political party is supposed to outlive an
16:07
Speaker 1: individual politician. It's got to recruit new leaders, and it
16:11
Speaker 1: must adjust to changing voters. Everything is constant change. It's
16:16
Speaker 1: got to compete in districts that don't resemble the candidate's
16:18
Speaker 1: strongest territory. It's got to develop an agenda that can
16:22
Speaker 1: continue after the central figure leaves the stage. Trump Ism, however,
16:27
Speaker 1: remains deeply attached to Trump's personal experiences, his relationships, his
16:31
Speaker 1: personal battles, and his personal sense of betrayal. Everything is
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Speaker 1: orbiting around me me me me, me me me. It's
16:39
Speaker 1: like the man is getting his voice ready to sing
16:41
Speaker 1: something me me me me me me me me me me,
16:44
Speaker 1: and the Republican Party is just tired of it. This
16:46
Speaker 1: is why the Republican Party can discuss twenty six while
16:49
Speaker 1: Trump continues discussing twenty twenty me me, me me me.
16:54
Speaker 1: The Party continues to think institutionally while Trump is thinking autobiographically.
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Speaker 1: The party asks, how do we keep the Senate? Trump asked,
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Speaker 1: who will admit that I was right? The party asked,
17:04
Speaker 1: how do we protect the House? Trump asked who would
17:06
Speaker 1: remain loyal? The party asked what voters want now? What
17:09
Speaker 1: do they want now? Trump asks, who's willing to fight
17:12
Speaker 1: over what happened then? Because I still need soldiers. You
17:15
Speaker 1: guys are worried about the voters right now. I need
17:17
Speaker 1: soldiers right now to fight my fight, to feel my plight.
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Speaker 1: Those questions can overlap when Trump is popular and the
17:25
Speaker 1: party is winning, but they become far more difficult when
17:28
Speaker 1: his approval numbers are low and they are and Republican
17:32
Speaker 1: candidates need voters who are not already a part of
17:35
Speaker 1: the movement. Therein lies the problem. This makes Georgia a
17:39
Speaker 1: laboratory for the entire Republican Party. Can Trump transfer his
17:44
Speaker 1: support to Mike Collins? Can Collins motivate the Trump base
17:47
Speaker 1: without inheriting all of Trump's liabilities? Can the campaign make
17:51
Speaker 1: the election about Senator also Off rather than about Trump.
17:54
Speaker 1: Can Republicans promote election integrity without convincing their own voters
17:58
Speaker 1: that voting is useless? These are all very legitimate questions.
18:04
Speaker 1: And can a candidate run with Donald Trump when Donald
18:06
Speaker 1: Trump is running against his own pass Get whip me now.
18:11
Speaker 1: Trump's influence remains enormous, but the influence and assistance are
18:16
Speaker 1: not always identical. A leader can dominate a party while
18:19
Speaker 1: making individual races harder. It can attract thousands to an
18:22
Speaker 1: arena while repelling swing voters watching from home. This person
18:26
Speaker 1: can raise millions of dollars while making a campaign about
18:29
Speaker 1: controversies the candidate would rather avoid. A leader can deliver
18:33
Speaker 1: the base while limiting the coalition. That's why the calculation
18:38
Speaker 1: every Republican candidate must make is that they need Trump.
18:43
Speaker 1: There's no doubt about that. They may also need space
18:45
Speaker 1: for Trump, and there is very little space available inside
18:51
Speaker 1: a party organized around loyalty to one may that does
18:55
Speaker 1: need to be figured out. All right, I think the
18:58
Speaker 1: point has been made. Let me give you my final
19:00
Speaker 1: thoughts on this thing and bring this segment to a
19:01
Speaker 1: conclusion before we run off to barbershop court, because you
19:04
Speaker 1: know we're going. The central question is not whether Donald
19:08
Speaker 1: Trump will stop discussing the twenty twenty election. There's little
19:11
Speaker 1: evidence that he intends to do so. There's a lot
19:13
Speaker 1: of evidence that he is always going to talk about
19:16
Speaker 1: twenty twenty. He'll be in some nursing home for former
19:18
Speaker 1: presidents talking about the twenty twenty election. He will be
19:21
Speaker 1: trying to get nurses fired if they don't agree with
19:23
Speaker 1: him that that election was stolen. This we all understand.
19:27
Speaker 1: The real question is what that fixation now cost the
19:30
Speaker 1: Republican Party. For Trump, twenty twenty is unfinished business. I'll
19:34
Speaker 1: never get over it ever, never ever. The Republican candidates
19:38
Speaker 1: though twenty twenty six is an approaching deadline. He wants vindication,
19:43
Speaker 1: but they need votes. He wants the country to revisit
19:48
Speaker 1: the circumstances of his defeat, to go back to the
19:50
Speaker 1: scene of the quote unquote crime, but they need voters
19:53
Speaker 1: to evaluate the conditions of his presidency, and those conditions
19:58
Speaker 1: include low approval numbers, very low, very low, anxiety about
20:03
Speaker 1: the cost of living, an expensive war, and a public
20:06
Speaker 1: that may be growing exhausted by permanent political conflict. You know,
20:11
Speaker 1: Donald Trump has often succeeded by forcing the political system
20:15
Speaker 1: to live inside of his reality, his alternate reality. Republican
20:20
Speaker 1: candidates now face the possibility that voters will refuse to
20:24
Speaker 1: remain there with him, and I don't want to go now.
20:28
Speaker 1: You may be living in a community of one President Trump.
20:33
Speaker 1: Georgia won't answer every question about the midterms. One rally
20:36
Speaker 1: won't determine control of the Senate, one poll won't establish
20:40
Speaker 1: the final outcome. But the state exposes the contradiction clearly.
20:46
Speaker 1: The president is asking voters to save the Republican future
20:48
Speaker 1: while continuing to tell them that the electoral system can't
20:52
Speaker 1: be trusted. Eventually, the party's got to decide what it
20:55
Speaker 1: needs more Donald Trump's grievance or the voter's confidence. I
20:58
Speaker 1: think this is an easy one, but because of the
21:01
Speaker 1: personality of this president, it is not so easy in
21:04
Speaker 1: real time. And this is the ribbon that I want
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Speaker 1: to put on this gift to you. A movement can
21:09
Speaker 1: survive on anger, but a democracy cannot survive without belief.
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21:49
Speaker 1: Now. The main story raised questions about Trump, Georgia and
21:52
Speaker 1: the Republican midterms, but Barbershop Court is not here to
21:55
Speaker 1: repeat that same argument with three different aircuts. Oh no, no, no,
21:58
Speaker 1: We're going to take larger political problems surrounding this moment
22:01
Speaker 1: and put them in the chair. Loyalty versus electability, presidential
22:05
Speaker 1: power versus media responsibility, and the mysterious ability of politicians
22:10
Speaker 1: to forget who they support it once the polling turns ugly. No, prosecutors,
22:15
Speaker 1: no defense attorneys, just the facts, the contradictions, a little
22:19
Speaker 1: common sense, and the kind of verdict you normally hear
22:21
Speaker 1: after somebody says, now, let me tell you what's really
22:24
Speaker 1: going on. The clippers are buzzing', the chairs are filled.
22:27
Speaker 1: Barbershop Court is now in session. Please play the very
22:32
Speaker 1: serious music of consequence.
22:39
Speaker 4: Whole Rise. Barbershop Court is now in sessional. The Honorable
22:44
Speaker 4: Judge Marcus presiding, Case one loyalty versus electability.
22:53
Speaker 1: Herein lies the case should a political party nominate the
22:56
Speaker 1: person most loyal to its leader or the person most
22:59
Speaker 1: likely to win the actual election, because those are not
23:02
Speaker 1: always the same person. Sometimes the most loyal candidate is
23:05
Speaker 1: also strong discipline and capable of building a coalition on
23:10
Speaker 1: his or her own. Other times, the resume has basically,
23:13
Speaker 1: I love Trump so much, I agree with Trump. I
23:15
Speaker 1: would never criticize Trump. Trump is my guy. Did I
23:18
Speaker 1: tell you I love his hair? We don't need that
23:20
Speaker 1: right about now. And apparently that's enough experience to oversee
23:23
Speaker 1: a federal budget larger than the economy of several countries unacceptable.
23:28
Speaker 1: Primary voters often reward intensity. They want to know that
23:31
Speaker 1: a candidate believes in the moment understands their frustration and
23:35
Speaker 1: will not arrive in Washington only become another professionally moisturized
23:39
Speaker 1: politician who suddenly forgets every promise made during the campaign,
23:43
Speaker 1: like the last guy did. That concern is legitimate. People
23:47
Speaker 1: have repeatedly elected candidates who spent the primary talking like revolutionaries,
23:51
Speaker 1: then reached Washington and immediately started speaking fluent lobbyists. So
23:56
Speaker 1: loyalty matters, trust matters. A candidate should not borrow movement's
24:00
Speaker 1: energy to win office and then treat the people who
24:02
Speaker 1: elected them like an embarrassing relative at a company Christmas party.
24:06
Speaker 1: Who you talking about that person over there snipping on
24:08
Speaker 1: that cod forty five. I don't know that person. That
24:10
Speaker 1: ain't what we want. But loyalty cannot be the entire
24:14
Speaker 1: job description that has gotten that has gotten the Republican
24:18
Speaker 1: Party in enough trouble as is, Eventually the candidate has
24:22
Speaker 1: to persuade somebody who's not already wearing the campaign hat,
24:26
Speaker 1: especially the red one. General elections involve independence, moderate suburban voters,
24:31
Speaker 1: and people who may not be deeply committed to either party.
24:34
Speaker 1: Those voters they want to know whether the candida understands
24:37
Speaker 1: healthcare taxes, education, war, infrastructure, and the basic difference between
24:43
Speaker 1: governing and posting. Hear me clearly, jury, Are you hearing me?
24:47
Speaker 4: Now?
24:47
Speaker 1: Are you picking up what I'm putting down? A viral
24:50
Speaker 1: clip is not legislation, people, A clever insol is not
24:54
Speaker 1: economic policy, and yelling America first does not automatically mean
24:58
Speaker 1: you know what is listed second, third, or fourth in
25:01
Speaker 1: the federal budget. Political parties exist to win elections and government.
25:05
Speaker 1: There's no moral victory in the Senate. Nobody says, well,
25:09
Speaker 1: we lost to see but our candidate was extremely loyal.
25:11
Speaker 1: That does not confirm judges. It doesn't pass budgets. That
25:15
Speaker 1: does not stop the opposing party from doing everything you
25:17
Speaker 1: spend the campaign warning people about the same time, party
25:21
Speaker 1: leaders abuse the word electability. Sometimes electable means experience and
25:26
Speaker 1: broadly appealing. Sometimes it means donors are comfortable, consultants have
25:30
Speaker 1: already been hired, and nobody expects the candidate to disturb
25:32
Speaker 1: the furniture. That's how voters end up being told to
25:35
Speaker 1: choose the safe candidate, only to discover that the safe
25:39
Speaker 1: candidate has the charisma of an automatic voicemail menu. Do
25:43
Speaker 1: you really want that? People? Is that really what you're
25:45
Speaker 1: asking for. So the real question is not loyalty or electability.
25:48
Speaker 1: It is whether loyalty has become a substitute for qualification
25:52
Speaker 1: and whether electability has become an excuse for offering voters
25:56
Speaker 1: absolutely nothing. And I've got to get to my verte
26:00
Speaker 1: because I've gotten myself all worked up in a lather.
26:02
Speaker 1: Loyalty belongs in the conversation, it absolutely does, but it
26:05
Speaker 1: does not belong at the top of the resume. A
26:08
Speaker 1: serious candidate has to demonstrate judgment, competence, discipline, and the
26:12
Speaker 1: ability to reach beyond the people already committed to the cause.
26:16
Speaker 1: That's what you call governing. My verdict, electability wins, but
26:19
Speaker 1: the candidate still has to stand for something, damn it,
26:23
Speaker 1: besides being acceptable at a donor luncheon. That just ain't
26:26
Speaker 1: gonna get it. Let's move on to the new.
26:28
Speaker 4: Case case two. Should networks carry live presidential speeches?
26:34
Speaker 1: Here's the question, folks. When the president requests national airtime,
26:37
Speaker 1: should television networks carry that speech live, even when executives
26:41
Speaker 1: believe the address may contain misleading and unsupported claims. This
26:44
Speaker 1: is the thing that's been making me pull my hair
26:46
Speaker 1: out with this entire presidency with the orange crush this guy.
26:49
Speaker 1: This makes me crazy, especially somebody in media. This is
26:52
Speaker 1: the legitimate question of the day. This is complicated because
26:56
Speaker 1: the president is not just another guest doing the evening
26:58
Speaker 1: cable news circuit. The president controls the military, signs of legislation,
27:02
Speaker 1: directs federal agencies, and can move financial markets with one sentence.
27:07
Speaker 1: When the president speaks from the White House, it is news.
27:10
Speaker 1: That is power. The public has a legitimate interest in
27:13
Speaker 1: hearing directly from the person holding that office, and there
27:15
Speaker 1: is a danger when media companies decide they know which
27:19
Speaker 1: presidential re marks the public should be allowed to hear
27:21
Speaker 1: and which ones not to play. That's dangerous territory. Also,
27:25
Speaker 1: nobody elected the programming director of the network to serve
27:28
Speaker 1: as the national babysitter. Viewers are grown, we call them
27:31
Speaker 1: in our community, grown folk. They can hear speech, they
27:34
Speaker 1: can consider the argument, they can evaluate the evidence point blank.
27:38
Speaker 1: But live television also has enormous power, folks. A common statement,
27:43
Speaker 1: a false statement can reach millions of people before reporting
27:46
Speaker 1: gets halfway through saying for context, the lie arrives in
27:50
Speaker 1: a limousine. You can't unring that bell, as they say,
27:53
Speaker 1: let us not forget the networks have journalistic responsibilities. These
27:56
Speaker 1: people are not simply extension courts plugged into the oval office.
27:59
Speaker 1: But they also should not avoid covering the speech because
28:02
Speaker 1: the content is politically inconvenient or because executives fear criticism.
28:06
Speaker 1: The solution is context carry urgent national addresses live for
28:11
Speaker 1: heavily political speeches, use a short delay, provide factual information
28:16
Speaker 1: on screen, and make the entire speech available so nobody
28:19
Speaker 1: can claim it was hidden. The goal shouldn't be to
28:21
Speaker 1: protect viewers from the president. It should be to protect
28:23
Speaker 1: viewers from receiving political theater disguised as emergency information. There
28:27
Speaker 1: in lies the distinction. My verdict dis simple. Folks, cover
28:31
Speaker 1: the speech, preserve the full remarks at context immediately. The
28:36
Speaker 1: presidency deserves attention, but not surrender. Hey hey, let's up
28:40
Speaker 1: at a three gavel thing. I got one more case
28:42
Speaker 1: to go.
28:42
Speaker 2: You served are out of time?
28:44
Speaker 1: Oh just damn, last I checked. I was the host,
28:47
Speaker 1: not you. I'm the host. I'm the host. Heavin that
28:51
Speaker 1: sound like Trump? Let me just go to the two
28:53
Speaker 1: cases instead of three. Two cases, two verdicts, and one
28:56
Speaker 1: principle connecting. The political parties have got to decide whether
28:59
Speaker 1: they're purpose is to serve one personality or build a
29:02
Speaker 1: governing coalition. Because loyalty can inspire, it can also blind people.
29:06
Speaker 1: Though this has been the briefing room of Marcus Akinson.
29:09
Speaker 1: Today's program was brought to you by GMIM get away.
29:12
Speaker 1: Stop postponing the memories, start planning the journey today, will
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Speaker 1: and unlocking the culture. Until next time, Listen closely, question confidently,
29:27
Speaker 1: and never allow the loudest version of a story to
29:29
Speaker 1: become the only version. You were met, you examined, And
29:32
Speaker 1: while my bailiff is being insubordinate, buddy love, I know
29:36
Speaker 1: I can count when you come back in and give
29:37
Speaker 1: us that theme song to the briefing room. Sounds so
29:40
Speaker 1: good that y'all, don't you agree? My name is Marcus Jackson.
29:42
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time. He's the brief for room.
29:45
Speaker 2: I got a nice firm gripth on a sweeper room.
29:48
Speaker 1: We're feeling dirt from und it man.
29:50
Speaker 4: I entertained questions later, now all to the.
29:52
Speaker 1: Fact, report it live and direct.
29:54
Speaker 2: Just the brief for room breathing room,