Congress Ain’t Gettin’ Any Younger, Folks
What A Day
What A Day
4.6 • 12.6K Ratings
🗓️ 7 January 2025
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Congress certified President-elect Donald Trump’s victory Monday, exactly four years after he denied President Joe Biden the same courtesy by inciting a violent mob of insurrectionists to march to the Capitol. At 78 years old, Trump will be the oldest president ever sworn into office, edging out Biden by just a few months. And at 82, Biden will walk away as the oldest sitting president ever. In fact, nearly a quarter of Congress is 70 or older. Ken Klippenstein, an independent journalist covering national security, explains the problems an aging Congress poses.
And in headlines: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he’ll step down after nearly a decade in the role, a New York judge denied Trump’s request to postpone sentencing in his hush money case, and the former chairman of the Proud Boys asked Trump for a presidential pardon.
Show Notes:
- Check out Ken's Substack – https://www.kenklippenstein.com/
- Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8
- What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
- Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
- For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | It's Tuesday, January 7th. |
| 0:03.8 | I'm Jane Koston, and this is What a Day, the show that is taking a break from Discourse. |
| 0:08.9 | Which Discourse? All the Discourse. |
| 0:11.6 | Twitter Discourse. Blue Sky Discourse. Discourse. Discord Discourse. I have Discourced, and now I'm'm discoursed out. |
| 0:30.7 | On today's show, Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announces his resignation. |
| 0:34.4 | And the former leader of the proud boys is asking Trump for a pardon. |
| 0:35.7 | Let's get into it. |
| 0:40.2 | The certification of the 2024 election went off without a hitch on Monday. |
| 0:45.6 | The 119th Congress confirmed President-elect Donald Trump's victory, exactly four years after Trump denied President Joe Biden the same courtesy by inciting a violent mob of |
| 0:49.4 | insurrectionists to march to the Capitol. Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the ceremony, |
| 0:54.1 | certifying her own |
| 0:54.9 | loss. This announcement of the state of the vote by the president of the Senate shall be deemed a |
| 1:01.6 | sufficient declaration of the persons elected president and vice president of the United States. |
| 1:09.5 | Speaking after, she said she was just doing her duty. |
| 1:12.7 | It was about what should be the norm and what the American people should be able to take for |
| 1:18.2 | granting, which is that one of the most important pillars of our democracy is that there |
| 1:23.0 | will be a peaceful transfer of power. And today, I did what I have done my entire career, |
| 1:30.3 | which is take seriously the oath that I have taken many times to support and defend the |
| 1:35.7 | Constitution of the United States. One person's civic duty is another state-sanctioned |
| 1:40.6 | torture, I guess. Monday's certification sets a stage for Trump's inauguration in two weeks. |
| 1:46.0 | At 78 years old, he'll be the oldest president ever sworn into office. He'll edge out Biden by just a few |
| 1:51.6 | months. And at 82, Biden will walk away as the oldest sitting president ever. It speaks to a bigger |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from What A Day, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of What A Day and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.