Does Biden have nothing to lose?
Left, Right & Center
KCRW
3.9 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 2 September 2022
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, President Biden gave several campaign-style speeches, emphasizing the “soul of the nation.” On Thursday, he argued that “MAGA forces” are putting fair elections, privacy, personal rights and economic security at risk.
Biden is a first-term president with low approval ratings, which historically means Democrats will get throttled during the midterms. What rebuttal might Republicans or former President Trump give?
Meanwhile on Tuesday, the world mourned the death of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who was a main player in ending the Cold War. How has American politics changed since December 1991?
Host David Greene discusses with Elizabeth Bruenig, staff writer at The Atlantic, on the left; and Tim Carney, columnist at the Washington Examiner, on the right.
Plus, special guest Danielle Allen, professor at Harvard University and director of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics, argues that social media has undermined our constitutional democracy.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is David Green. I am co-founder of Fearless Media and your host here on Left Right |
| 0:05.6 | and Center. This is the show where we take on all the political issues, even the complicated |
| 0:09.9 | ones that might be dividing your own family these days and we try to understand the issues |
| 0:14.6 | from all sides. Well, President Biden is on the offensive. As a first term president, with |
| 0:21.0 | weak approval ratings, history says his party will get throttled in these midterms, so maybe |
| 0:25.8 | he feels like he has nothing to lose here. He gave several campaign-style speeches in Pennsylvania |
| 0:30.8 | this week, culminating with one primetime on Thursday night in Philadelphia. It was full of symbolism. |
| 0:36.8 | He was speaking right outside Independence Hall. Biden argued that Donald Trump and |
| 0:41.8 | MAGA Republicans, a phrase he used quite often in the speech, are trying to turn our country |
| 0:46.4 | backwards. He said they don't respect the Constitution, that they support angry mobs and support |
| 0:52.4 | stopping peaceful transfers of power. Biden went on to say that blind loyalty to a single |
| 0:57.7 | leader and willingness to engage in political violence is fatal to democracy. The president |
| 1:04.0 | sure seems to be trying to put himself and Donald Trump and the stakes for democracy all |
| 1:09.0 | at the center of these midterms now. It is a risky strategy. We have to say given Trump's |
| 1:13.2 | support and given the danger that some Republican voters could feel judged and attacked by the |
| 1:18.2 | president. But it also may frame where we go from here this fall for better or worse for Democrats. |
| 1:23.9 | So let's bring in our left right and center panel. I'm your host in your center on the left. |
| 1:28.2 | We have Elizabeth Brunig, staff writer at the Atlantic and on the right we have Tim Karni, |
| 1:31.9 | columnist at the Washington Examiner and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. |
| 1:35.9 | Hello to you both. Hello. Hey, thanks for having me back. Yeah, thanks for coming back. |
| 1:40.3 | So Liz, let me ask you about Biden's Philadelphia moment Thursday night. I mean, |
| 1:48.0 | prime time address, build as a speech about the soul of democracy. Biden called this an inflection |
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