Ep. 391 — Charlie Sykes

The Axe Files with David Axelrod

CNN

News

4.6 • 7.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 June 2020

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Charlie Sykes is a longtime conservative commentator and the founder and editor-at-large of The Bulwark. He joins David to talk about his father’s roots in Democratic politics, the growing politicization of the media over the course of his career, why he no longer considers himself a member of the Republican Party, and his assessment of the state of play in his home state of Wisconsin ahead of the November election.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Music
0:06.0	And now, from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN Audio, the Axe Files, with
0:12.5	your host David Axelrod.
0:17.0	Once Charlie Sykes was the king of conservative talk radio in Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin,
0:26.1	had a lot to do with the election of Scott Walker, of Ron Johnson, and the resurgence of
0:30.3	Republican dominance there.
0:32.8	But then in 2016, he split with a party over the nomination of Donald Trump, lost his
0:38.2	radio gig, and set out in a new direction as the leader of the Republican and conservative
0:44.2	resistance.
0:45.2	He now runs a social media site called the Bullwork, which is a home for anti-Trump conservative
0:52.3	writings and commentary.
0:54.6	I sat down with Charlie this week to talk about his journey and the state of politics and
1:00.2	conservatism today.
1:08.1	Charlie Sykes, it's really good to see you.
1:11.5	There's so much to talk about that's going on right now, but your journey is really
1:17.0	almost unique from liberal and growing up in a really liberal household to sort of the
1:24.0	quintessential conservative talk show host.
1:26.7	I remember what a power you were in Republican politics up there in Wisconsin.
1:31.9	And now a post date, a very consistent voice about Trumpism and the dangers for the Republican
1:39.1	party.
1:40.2	There's so much to talk about that's going on now, as I said, but let's review that incredible
1:44.7	journey first and explain how Charlie Sykes got to this moment.
	...

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