Jane Mayer on the G.O.P.’s Post-Trump Game

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Arts, News, Wnyc, Books, David, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Yorker, New, Remnick

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 13 November 2020

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

The President’s fantastical allegations about “illegal ballots” are being indulged by quite a number of prominent Republicans in Washington, who have declined to acknowledge Joe Biden as President-elect. If Republicans in some key state legislatures go further and appoint electors who disregard their states’ popular votes, the electoral chaos would be disastrous. To understand how the politicians may proceed, David Remnick spoke with Jane Mayer, who has written extensively about today’s GO.P. and the forces that drive it.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:09.0	Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. It should come as no surprise at all that Donald Trump, having lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, is going to do the transition his way,
0:22.3	chaotically, vengefully, and in a state of utter denial.
0:27.0	And we all get to come along for the ride.
0:29.6	But the president's fantasies about so-called illegal ballots are being indulged
0:33.6	by a great number of prominent Republicans.
0:37.3	With the possibility of electoral chaos to come where we go from here remains a hugely open
0:42.9	question.
0:44.3	I called up Jane Mayer to ask her about some of the reports that are coming out of the White
0:48.1	House.
0:49.1	Jane's written extensively for the New Yorker about today's GOP and the forces that drive
0:53.9	it. Jane, how are you?
0:56.1	Good. Glad to be with you. So Jane, as we talk on a Wednesday morning, what's the mood in
1:02.4	Washington? Is there a sense that a peaceful transition of power is still possible?
1:07.9	So one week out from the election, I think what we're seeing is a mood of
1:14.6	sort of elation among Biden supporters kind of souring towards a mood of some nervousness that
1:23.9	there still has not been a concession from Trump and a sense that the Republican establishment,
1:32.8	not just Trump alone, is now digging in for a fight.
1:36.6	So what is the implications of that? What can that mean at its worst?
1:40.1	Oh, I mean, I think it's incredibly dangerous. That's what we're all, you know, worrying about is that there's a possibility that somehow this could really disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.
1:51.5	So where could this lead?
1:52.7	Well, it seems like the law is quite clear.
	...

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