Partisanship and Racism from the Bully Pulpit
To the Point
KCRW
4.4 • 583 Ratings
🗓️ 25 July 2019
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Teddy Roosevelt coined the term “Bully Pulpit.” Other presidents have used it to get the nation behind them. For President Trump, it’s an instrument of division. Republicans have given up on a “big tent” party. Reporters have to repeat overtly racist attacks on Congresswomen of color.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Armin Alme. You're about to hear our To The Point podcast on President Trump in the bully pulpit and how he uses it, particularly when he makes statements that can only be called racist. |
| 0:11.9 | First, before you hear it, you might pause for a moment and let us know how To The Point fits into your life. |
| 0:17.7 | Go to KCRW.com and hit the donate button. Think about why to the point |
| 0:22.7 | is important. Why you listen. You're the reason we do this, and your support really matters. Again, |
| 0:29.6 | that's kCRW.com and hit the donate button. Nothing to it. Now here's the podcast. Hello again. I'm Armin Alney. |
| 0:41.3 | With Donald Trump's campaign for re-election just months away, he continues to divide Americans, |
| 0:46.6 | especially on the issue of race. At a rally in South Carolina this month, the audience chanted |
| 0:52.2 | a phrase picked up from one of his tweets |
| 0:54.5 | against a Democratic Congresswoman of color. And obviously and importantly, Omar has a history |
| 1:03.6 | of launching vicious anti-Semitic screams. Trump's use of the bully pulpit has created challenges for Republicans in his own party and for the media. |
| 1:19.6 | But that's not all. |
| 1:21.6 | It's about all of us. |
| 1:22.6 | And our faith leaders and our university leaders, where are they? |
| 1:28.3 | They're the ones who should also be leading the charge for a national dialogue to discuss |
| 1:33.7 | the consequences of this carefree racism. |
| 1:38.2 | Because what can hurt us over time is that bigots believe that they have an open door, that there's no social stigma or cost |
| 1:47.9 | to open intolerance because there are bigots out there and they are looking for this opportunity. |
| 1:54.7 | That's historian Tim Naftali. We'll hear more from him later. But first, a newscaster |
| 1:59.9 | introducing a comment from Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican up for re-election this year in South Carolina. |
| 2:05.7 | Well, we all know that AOC and this crowd are a bunch of communists. |
| 2:11.5 | They hate Israel. |
| 2:12.6 | They hate our own country. |
... |
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