Jack Kingston: Can Trump win?
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 20 October 2020
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In a few days time Americans will give their verdict on President Donald Trump. Do they want four more years of Trump in the White House, or will they opt for the other septuagenarian Joe Biden - wholly different in style and worldview? Stephen Sackur speaks to the former Republican Congressman and loyal Trump campaigner Jack Kingston. The polls consistently say Trump is in big trouble. Is there good reason to think they are wrong?
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Sacker. On November the 3rd, Americans must |
| 0:06.2 | decide whether to extend Donald Trump's presidential term for another four years or turf him out of |
| 0:12.6 | the White House. The polls suggest the nation is ready for a different kind of septuagenarian. Democrat, |
| 0:19.6 | Joe Biden, has enjoyed a significant lead in the polls for months, |
| 0:23.6 | but Mr. Trump, recently recovered from his bout of coronavirus, beat the odds in 2016, |
| 0:29.8 | and remains outwardly confident he can do it again. Now, of course, he has a track record to be judged on, |
| 0:43.5 | from his handling of the pandemic to his stewardship of the nation's economy and national security. |
| 0:49.5 | Americans will make their own assessment of the man who pledged to make America great again. |
| 0:56.2 | My guest is Jack Kingston, a former Republican congressman who is a vocal and loyal Trump backer on the campaign trail. This election feels a lot like a referendum on Donald Trump's leadership. |
| 1:02.2 | It's their good reason to believe Americans want four more years of it. Well, Jack Kingston joins me |
| 1:08.9 | now from Washington, D.C. Welcome to Hard Talk. Thank you, |
| 1:12.5 | Stephen. You are a loyal Trump campaigner. It strikes me that when you're in a position like |
| 1:18.7 | yours, there's a fine line to tread between optimism and realism. In the spirit of realism, |
| 1:25.2 | can you acknowledge to me that the Trump campaign is in deep trouble? |
| 1:29.3 | It's a tough, competitive race, but we know that last time 2016 we went into election day, having hardly won a single poll. |
| 1:39.3 | I think something's going on in polls. I've read lots of them, not just for presidential races, but for my own |
| 1:44.4 | races and many other candidates. And they've been wrong many, many times. I'm not saying that |
| 1:49.5 | they're not useful, but they're not 100 percent reliable. So as I look back at 2016, I think |
| 1:56.3 | here we are again. But another thing, Stephen, is if you look at the, where is Joe Biden spending |
| 2:01.8 | his time, and he's in the same states that we are, Arizona, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, |
| 2:07.7 | Ohio, the so-called swing states. If he had the double-digit leads, which some outlets |
| 2:15.6 | are reporting that he has, he would not be going to those states. Instead, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.