What, specifically, has Biden done that is "suicide for our country" (somewhat paraphrasing Bill Bar and Chris Sununu)? I guess, I'm wondering what concerns they have about Biden's policies that have overcome their objection to Trump's behavior both in office and his attempt to subvert the 2020 election results. Looking at the quantifiable metrics, Biden seems to be a *much* better President than Trump.
Hi Chris. I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist but I’m pretty sure a large part of the Republican Party has been infiltrated by the Kremlin. What do you think? And if so why isn’t it reported about more?
Can speaker Johnson get rid of the rule that one member can bring up a vote for his removal? If he can, how does he do it? If he can, why hasn’t he done it?
Do you feel like Trump has exposed and is exposing flaws in our legal system? The power he has to drag things out and delay, delay, delay, it just doesn’t feel right. And the ability he has to intimidate potential jurors, witnesses, etc. is a huge problem. It feels like there are limits as to what can be done to deal with that. Yes, I very much believe him to be guilty and deserving of punishment, so I’m not objective in saying this. But the idea that someone can manipulate the legal process to such a degree does seem like a problem. Any thoughts?
Hi Chris, how much do you think these right wing provocateurs generally believe what they are saying and how much do you think is a gimmick like pro wrestling?
As the trial wears on do you think it will affect Trump positively or negatively? I am hoping he blows during the testimony. If he does can Merchan hold him in contempt?
Hi Chris. Thanks again for a great Substack. My question is around the slide of the Congress Republicans to the right. It started with Newt Gingrich and each Congress or series of Congresses has had their share of "extremists" and the Speaker (or leader of the minority, as the case may be) is happy to let them loose a little bit, but then it goes to the extreme and they cannot control what they have allowed (I won't say unleashed as it is more subtle than that). The next thing, the Speaker is booted out in favour of someone more extreme and the cycle starts again. My question is this: Is MTG (and her sub-group of the Freedom Caucaus -or the whole Caucaus for that matter) that next iteration? While she has been 100% in Trump's corner, she seems to have come a little unleashed from the core extremist line and even Trump cannot seem to bring her into line. It appears that she and this group might be the next kingpins in the Republican party and that the cycle is going faster than it has in the past.
How long can Speaker Mike Johnson maintain his highwire act of balancing between keeping Trump happy and giving Dems leverage because he needs them to pass legislation and keep his position as Speaker? Is there really any path to Hakeem Jeffries becoming speaker amongst this chaos?
What are the odds Trump lands in jail over his tweets and/or courtroom behavior? (I'm thinking pretty high.) If so, while obviously something he can loudly whine about, is it likely to have any impact on his actions? (I am guessing not.)
We've already had one empaneled juror in the Trump trial dismissed because certain aspects of her identity were revealed. I know the jurors will remain anonymous to the public, but clearly both the prosecutors and the defense will know who these jurors are. Trump is literally on trial for paying hush money to a porn star, so don't we have to be worried about him or one of his cronies trying to buy off one of the jurors? The guy who finds Trump "fascinating" and "mysterious" seems like a possible target to me. Heck, they may not even have to buy him off....which is another concern.
Chris- Do you think after Trump is finally convicted Biden will call him a felon? I understand Biden is keeping out of these cases to appear as non-biased as possible. Wouldn't it be a campaign strategy mistake to not remind everyone that his opponent is literally a criminal?
I teach AP US History and, as part of the course, I teach party systems- the turning points in American history where there's major movement (i.e. the end of the Federalists/Democratic-Republicans in 1824). The 1968 election is fairly widely regarded as the last turning point.
Do you think the 2016 election is a fundamental change in the Republican Party (or 2010 with the Tea Party), or do you think we will look back on this period as a blip in Republican politics and the two parties will revert back to "normal" after Trump eventually exits?
Second try with this one: What do you think about a year of mandatory national service for Americans? As a way to address polarization / silos / national anomie / demonization of fellow Americans, and to remind everyone about civic responsibility, and to get some necessary shit done.
"Joe Biden is on the comeback trail — although we don’t know how long it will last." This seems to be a sadly typical horserace journalism snark, huh? My question is: Almost every time a new poll comes out showing Trump leading, loads of mainstream journalists (read Cillizza, Chris; Holt, Lester...and numerous others) have touted those polls. In recent weeks there have been enough polls showing Biden momentum but those polls have been given little attention or the reaction has been dismissive. Why?? Jen Rubin has been making a strong case to either ignore the polls or stop writing clickbait. Her position seems very reasonably to me.
Polling through the final months of the 2020 presidential race had Biden ahead of Trump by 6-8%. In Nov, Biden won by 4.6%. Seven months away from Nov this year, Biden and Trump are basically even in the polls with the momentum moving towards Biden. In 2020 Biden received 81 million votes and Trump received 74 million. The vast majority of Biden voters have not abandoned him. Some significant number of Trump voters won't vote for him again for both policy and character reasons. Biden has a very active, well funded reelection campaign going on while Trump will be stuck in court rooms for months. Given these facts, how do you see 2024 turning out?
Hi Chris, for years Trump has had issue telling the truth for a variety of self serving reasons. His supporters like to point out that all politicians lie. While this is true to a point (lies of omission, massive amounts of rounding, stories of people they “met”) they were all within an acceptable bounds. Trump went well beyond this norm.
Over the last year, Biden has said some amazing (not in a good way) things. My question is why? He strikes me as one of those people who has never let the truth get in the way of a good story. However some of the things he has said recently are troubling to say the least.
What, specifically, has Biden done that is "suicide for our country" (somewhat paraphrasing Bill Bar and Chris Sununu)? I guess, I'm wondering what concerns they have about Biden's policies that have overcome their objection to Trump's behavior both in office and his attempt to subvert the 2020 election results. Looking at the quantifiable metrics, Biden seems to be a *much* better President than Trump.
Hi Chris. I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist but I’m pretty sure a large part of the Republican Party has been infiltrated by the Kremlin. What do you think? And if so why isn’t it reported about more?
Can speaker Johnson get rid of the rule that one member can bring up a vote for his removal? If he can, how does he do it? If he can, why hasn’t he done it?
Do you feel like Trump has exposed and is exposing flaws in our legal system? The power he has to drag things out and delay, delay, delay, it just doesn’t feel right. And the ability he has to intimidate potential jurors, witnesses, etc. is a huge problem. It feels like there are limits as to what can be done to deal with that. Yes, I very much believe him to be guilty and deserving of punishment, so I’m not objective in saying this. But the idea that someone can manipulate the legal process to such a degree does seem like a problem. Any thoughts?
Hi Chris, how much do you think these right wing provocateurs generally believe what they are saying and how much do you think is a gimmick like pro wrestling?
As the trial wears on do you think it will affect Trump positively or negatively? I am hoping he blows during the testimony. If he does can Merchan hold him in contempt?
Hi Chris. Thanks again for a great Substack. My question is around the slide of the Congress Republicans to the right. It started with Newt Gingrich and each Congress or series of Congresses has had their share of "extremists" and the Speaker (or leader of the minority, as the case may be) is happy to let them loose a little bit, but then it goes to the extreme and they cannot control what they have allowed (I won't say unleashed as it is more subtle than that). The next thing, the Speaker is booted out in favour of someone more extreme and the cycle starts again. My question is this: Is MTG (and her sub-group of the Freedom Caucaus -or the whole Caucaus for that matter) that next iteration? While she has been 100% in Trump's corner, she seems to have come a little unleashed from the core extremist line and even Trump cannot seem to bring her into line. It appears that she and this group might be the next kingpins in the Republican party and that the cycle is going faster than it has in the past.
How long can Speaker Mike Johnson maintain his highwire act of balancing between keeping Trump happy and giving Dems leverage because he needs them to pass legislation and keep his position as Speaker? Is there really any path to Hakeem Jeffries becoming speaker amongst this chaos?
What are the odds Trump lands in jail over his tweets and/or courtroom behavior? (I'm thinking pretty high.) If so, while obviously something he can loudly whine about, is it likely to have any impact on his actions? (I am guessing not.)
We've already had one empaneled juror in the Trump trial dismissed because certain aspects of her identity were revealed. I know the jurors will remain anonymous to the public, but clearly both the prosecutors and the defense will know who these jurors are. Trump is literally on trial for paying hush money to a porn star, so don't we have to be worried about him or one of his cronies trying to buy off one of the jurors? The guy who finds Trump "fascinating" and "mysterious" seems like a possible target to me. Heck, they may not even have to buy him off....which is another concern.
Chris- Do you think after Trump is finally convicted Biden will call him a felon? I understand Biden is keeping out of these cases to appear as non-biased as possible. Wouldn't it be a campaign strategy mistake to not remind everyone that his opponent is literally a criminal?
I teach AP US History and, as part of the course, I teach party systems- the turning points in American history where there's major movement (i.e. the end of the Federalists/Democratic-Republicans in 1824). The 1968 election is fairly widely regarded as the last turning point.
Do you think the 2016 election is a fundamental change in the Republican Party (or 2010 with the Tea Party), or do you think we will look back on this period as a blip in Republican politics and the two parties will revert back to "normal" after Trump eventually exits?
Hi Chris,
Second try with this one: What do you think about a year of mandatory national service for Americans? As a way to address polarization / silos / national anomie / demonization of fellow Americans, and to remind everyone about civic responsibility, and to get some necessary shit done.
"Joe Biden is on the comeback trail — although we don’t know how long it will last." This seems to be a sadly typical horserace journalism snark, huh? My question is: Almost every time a new poll comes out showing Trump leading, loads of mainstream journalists (read Cillizza, Chris; Holt, Lester...and numerous others) have touted those polls. In recent weeks there have been enough polls showing Biden momentum but those polls have been given little attention or the reaction has been dismissive. Why?? Jen Rubin has been making a strong case to either ignore the polls or stop writing clickbait. Her position seems very reasonably to me.
Polling through the final months of the 2020 presidential race had Biden ahead of Trump by 6-8%. In Nov, Biden won by 4.6%. Seven months away from Nov this year, Biden and Trump are basically even in the polls with the momentum moving towards Biden. In 2020 Biden received 81 million votes and Trump received 74 million. The vast majority of Biden voters have not abandoned him. Some significant number of Trump voters won't vote for him again for both policy and character reasons. Biden has a very active, well funded reelection campaign going on while Trump will be stuck in court rooms for months. Given these facts, how do you see 2024 turning out?
Hi Chris, for years Trump has had issue telling the truth for a variety of self serving reasons. His supporters like to point out that all politicians lie. While this is true to a point (lies of omission, massive amounts of rounding, stories of people they “met”) they were all within an acceptable bounds. Trump went well beyond this norm.
Over the last year, Biden has said some amazing (not in a good way) things. My question is why? He strikes me as one of those people who has never let the truth get in the way of a good story. However some of the things he has said recently are troubling to say the least.