Admiral James Stavridis: The aftermath of the capitol riot
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 8 January 2021
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Trump inspired insurrection on Capitol Hill failed. But the wounds to America’s body politic are now raw and deep. The President remains Commander in Chief with his finger on the nuclear button, but is that tenable for the next two weeks? What are the dramatic death throes of the Trump presidency doing to America’s standing in the wider world? Stephen Sackur speaks to retired US admiral and former Supreme Commander of Nato’s armed forces James Stavridis. How deep is the hole America is in?
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Sacker. The images of a violent mob storming the US Congress |
| 0:08.4 | will live long in the memory, not just of Americans, but of the wider world too. This was a form of |
| 0:14.9 | political chaos and thuggery not supposed to happen in the world's preeminent democracy, the self-styled exceptional nation. |
| 0:24.2 | The Trump presidency has exposed some uncomfortable truths about the polarized, dysfunctional |
| 0:31.1 | nature of the U.S. body politic. And although the attempted insurrection failed, |
| 0:36.6 | the wounds inflicted are raw and deep. |
| 0:40.2 | The immediate questions concern how America's government functions with Mr. Trump in office for |
| 0:45.4 | another two weeks, but longer term, the questions multiply. |
| 0:49.5 | How does President-elect Biden make good on his promise to heal and unify? |
| 0:55.9 | What is the impact of all of this on America's standing in the world? |
| 1:00.6 | My guest today is Admiral James Stavridis, |
| 1:03.5 | who served for 37 years in the U.S. military, |
| 1:06.8 | culminating in his role as supreme commander of NATO forces in Europe until 2013. His is now an |
| 1:14.0 | influential voice on national security matters in the US. Just how big a hole is his country now in? |
| 1:22.2 | Admiral James Davrides in Florida, welcome to hard talk. You served for 37 years in the US military. I wonder what |
| 1:31.3 | was your overriding emotion when you saw that mob, a violent mob, stormed the US Congress, and |
| 1:39.3 | apparently, to all intents and purposes, egged on and incited by your president, Donald Trump. |
| 1:47.6 | I was angry, and it felt to me a bit like 9-11. |
| 1:52.3 | I was in the Pentagon on 9-11. |
| 1:54.5 | I literally watched the airplane hit the Pentagon. |
| 1:58.5 | And the day after, the next morning, President Bush came to the Pentagon. |
| 2:03.7 | He assembled all the admirals and generals, our very senior military leadership. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.