How the case against Trump made for good TV
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 28 July 2022
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In eight slick, highly produced sessions that played out like a Netflix series, the House Select Committee for investigating the Capitol riots of January 6th, 2021, made a compelling case against former president Donald Trump. But beyond good ratings, what impact did they actually have, particularly on their main target?
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Guest: Hugh Tomlinson, Washington Reporter, The Times.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Select Committee to investigate the January 6 attack on a United States Capitol will be in order. |
| 0:13.0 | When the House Select Committee began its hearings last month, more than 500 days after the storming of the U.S. Capitol, |
| 0:21.0 | no one quite knew what to expect, or even how many Americans would bother to tune in. |
| 0:30.0 | After all, congressional hearings are not exactly known for their entertainment value. |
| 0:37.0 | The committee members knew that better than anyone. |
| 0:44.0 | This will be a multimedia presentation with a video, with documentary kind of feel to it. |
| 0:51.0 | This will be the most highly produced congressional hearing in history. |
| 0:54.0 | What followed was a slick, limited series drama where the story of what has been described as an attempted coup was told over eight gripping episodes. |
| 1:09.0 | This summer's most compelling drama, the January 6 committee hearings. |
| 1:14.0 | Episode 1 was a huge hit because at least 20 million people watched Thursday's hearing. |
| 1:21.0 | 20 million people, that's the kind of audience usually reserved for Sunday night football. |
| 1:30.0 | But beyond the impressive ratings did have a real impact. |
| 1:36.0 | And would it bring any consequences for its main target, Donald Trump, as he eyes a second presidential run? |
| 1:44.0 | Your listening to stories of our times, from the times of the Sunday times, I'm David Aronovich, today, made for streaming, the January 6 hearings. |
| 1:55.0 | It's fair to say that initial expectations for the hearings were pretty low. |
| 2:10.0 | Congressional hearings like this are generally dry, turgid affairs, usually hamstrung by political grandstanding. |
| 2:17.0 | Hugh Tomlinson, Washington reporter at the time, has been tuning into every single congressional hearing. |
| 2:22.0 | When the first batch of hearings came to an end last Thursday, Hugh was finally able to take a holiday. |
| 2:28.0 | Which is why you can hear the idyllic chirping of birds behind him. He spoke to us from a cabin in Maine. |
| 2:35.0 | From the first hearing last month, we shared on primetime evening television across almost every major network. |
| 2:40.0 | It was clear that the January 6 hearings were going to be very different. It's been extraordinary. |
| 2:45.0 | Now, can you just remind us before we go any further, why are these hearings happening? |
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