America's Moment of Reckoning. With Jonathan Alter
The Bill Press Pod
BP Pods
4.7 • 601 Ratings
🗓️ 22 October 2024
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today's guest on the Bill Press Pod is veteran journalist and presidential historian Jonathan Alter. His new book, American Reckoning: Inside Trump’s Trial―and My Own is out today.
Alter believes this election is the most pivotal since the Civil War, with democracy itself at stake. A Trump victory could lead to the establishment of an authoritarian, even fascist government. The conviction of Trump on 34 felony counts earlier this year was a major "reckoning" for him, but for Bill, the lack of consequences so far has been disappointing. Alter argues this conviction should still be a major factor for voters. Alter recounts how Nancy Pelosi maneuvered to replace Biden with Harris on the ticket, which he views as a "black swan" event that could save American democracy if Harris wins.
Alter expresses disillusionment with the media's failure to adequately inform and warn voters about the stakes of this election and the threat posed by Trump. He urges voters, including those who dislike both candidates, to recognize the gravity of the choice.
Alter maintains a sense of cautious optimism that the "angels of our nature" will ultimately prevail, even if Trump wins this election. But he emphasizes the critical importance of this vote for the future of American democracy. Jonathan’s Newsletter is here: OldGoats.substack.com/
Jon referenced this eye-opening video with Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly. You can see it here: https://x.com/4_the_babies/status/1847700427342819376
Today's Bill Press Pod is supported by the Laborers' International Union of North America. More information at LIUNA.org
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, good friends. Good to see you and welcome back to the Bill Press pod. So here we are, |
| 0:13.2 | with Election Day now only two weeks away, and there's still no clear idea how this presidential |
| 0:18.7 | contest is going to end up in the survival or the destruction |
| 0:22.8 | of our democracy. With America going forward or backward, at one point, remember, we thought |
| 0:29.2 | it was all over. Yeah, I'm talking about May 30th, the day Donald Trump was convicted on 34 counts |
| 0:35.6 | for covering up hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. On that day, |
| 0:41.1 | Donald Trump became a convicted felon. He still is, but nothing happened then, and his conviction |
| 0:46.9 | has all but been forgotten since. You may remember that our good friend Jonathan Alter was in the |
| 0:53.2 | courtroom for that trial every day, |
| 0:55.0 | and he's now written a great new book, not just about what happened in the courtroom, |
| 1:00.1 | but about what lessons we should all learn from that trial, about Donald Trump, about the Republican Party, |
| 1:06.6 | about the media, and about our fragile democracy. |
| 1:10.4 | His new book, American Reckoning, Inside Trump's Trial and My Own, |
| 1:15.6 | was just published today, out today. |
| 1:18.8 | And Jonathan's back on the podcast today with a look back to the trial |
| 1:22.8 | and a look ahead to November 5. |
| 1:26.4 | Jonathan Alter, welcome back to you, Bill Press 5. Good to talk to you again. Jonathan Alter, welcome back to Bill Press 5. |
| 1:29.0 | Good to talk to you again. |
| 1:30.6 | Great to be with you, Bill. |
| 1:32.6 | So two weeks, here we go. |
| 1:34.7 | My God, it's been a long haul. |
| 1:37.0 | And maybe a couple of months, what, since Kamala Harris took over, you say in your book, |
... |
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