The 46th: Joe Biden to the Rescue (Plan)

Matter of Opinion

New York Times Opinion

Society & Culture, Ross Douthat, News, New York Times, Journalism

4.2 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2021

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For the final episode in “The 46th” series, Michelle and Ross commemorate the inauguration of the 46th president with a debate about America’s post-Trump future. Ross compliments the ceremony’s “vague Hunger Games vibe,” and Michelle exhales for the first time in four years. Then, the pair discuss the uphill task for President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to govern a country devastated by a pandemic, extreme political division and a staggering economy. Biden economic adviser Jared Bernstein joins the duo to allay their doubts and volley questions about the new president’s “Rescue Plan” to resuscitate America’s work force and even out an inequitable economy. Finally, Jared offers the show a little class in a classical favorite. For background reading on this episode, visit nytimes.com/theargument.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Michelle Goldberg.
0:01.6	I'm Ross Douthet, and this is the argument.
0:11.0	This week, it's Goodbye Donald Trump, Hello Joe Biden.
0:15.3	For the last episode of our series, the 46th, tracking the presidential transition and pre-sewing
0:20.5	the Biden era, we'll talk to one of the new president's economic advisors about how fast
0:25.6	America can get well again in every sense of the word.
0:29.7	The first, the Biden inaugural, and of course, the Trump farewell.
0:40.6	So here's where the producers can insert Beethoven's ninth symphony.
0:46.8	So the wheel has turned.
0:49.5	The Trump era is finished.
0:52.0	We're going to talk about his exit, the flurry of pardons and the sparsely populated send
0:57.1	off, and then Joe Biden's bid for unity in his inaugural address.
1:01.5	But first, Michelle, we knew each other before the Trump presidency somewhat, but I wouldn't
1:07.2	say all that well.
1:09.0	And his administration encompassed the entire lifetime of this show.
1:13.3	So I was wondering before we sat down to taping, will you be an entirely different person?
1:19.4	Is there a Michelle I've never known who showed up for this show?
1:23.2	I think that if this had been normal times, the answer would be yes, because I've been
1:28.7	in an acute state of psychological crisis since the election of 2016.
1:35.8	I mean, I just remember getting to the end of it.
1:39.1	I had to toddler and a baby and getting to the end of it and feeling like, finally, I've
1:43.7	reached the end of the marathon.
	...

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