The Republican Rift in Georgia, and the Protests Sweeping Nigeria

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

🗓️ 18 December 2020

⏱️ 31 minutes

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Summary

In the past month, a fracture has opened up in the G.O.P. between those who grudgingly accept Joe Biden’s win and those who falsely claim that the election was rigged. In Georgia, supporters of Donald Trump have turned on Republican election officials—in some cases, with threats of violence. The Atlanta-based staff writer Charles Bethea explains why this rift is dangerous for Republicans. Georgia’s two incumbent Senate seats are up for grabs in a runoff election in January; the G.O.P. needs to retain at least one to maintain its majority and to give Mitch McConnell near-veto power over the Biden agenda. But the more that the President and his followers attack the election, the less likely Republican voters are to turn out to vote—which would create an advantage for the Democratic Senate hopefuls. Bethea spoke with Gabe Sterling, an election official in Georgia; Lin Wood, an attorney who is fuelling conspiracy theories; and voters at a Trump rally in Valdosta. Plus, protests against police violence took place around the world this year; in Nigeria, they might lead to the undoing of a notoriously lawless and brutal police unit.

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.
0:10.1	This is the New Yorker Radio Hour.
0:11.9	I'm David Remnick.
0:13.3	First of all, I just wanted to ask how you're doing.
0:15.3	I hope the threats are decreasing, though I imagine, unfortunately, that might not be true.
0:20.7	No, the opposite is true.
0:24.6	I'm sorry to hear that. You still have to have security?
0:28.6	Oh, yeah. I mean, I don't want to get too deep into it, but essentially, we all do.
0:33.5	The GOP seems to be at war with itself in the state of Georgia, and that may be more than a figure of speech.
0:40.2	There was another site that was taken down last night that basically had an enemy's list that had the governor of Michigan, me, Brian Kemp,
0:49.2	and it had our pictures with a sniper kind of target on it, with our home address, with a picture of
0:55.0	our houses. Jesus. That's unbelievably scary. You try not to think about it. You try to think,
1:02.5	oh, these people are just venting, but that was, like, really wildly specific. The state
1:06.4	Republican officials who certified George's vote for Biden have been attacked by Donald Trump and his allies,
1:12.6	and they view the reporting of clear fact as betrayal.
1:16.4	That abuse has turned to threats of violence from Trump conspiracies on the ground.
1:21.1	And meanwhile, Georgia is in a unique political position.
1:24.1	It holds the nation's balance of power in its hands.
1:29.1	Both of Georgia's Senate seats are up for grabs in a runoff election. The GOP needs at least one of those seats in order to keep the
1:35.0	Republicans and Mitch McConnell in control of the Senate, exercising tremendous leverage over the
1:40.4	fate of the Biden administration. And yet, the constantly repeated lie
1:45.0	that the election was rigged
	...

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