Will Harris Get Trump to Self-Destruct at the Debate?

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Obama, News, Wnyc, Washington, Barack, President, Lizza, Wickenden

4.2 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 7 September 2024

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Washington Roundtable revisits Vice-President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s past debate performances and considers how the candidates might approach next week’s showdown. “Trump doesn’t do subdued self-defense,” Evan Osnos says. “He’ll come back furious and basically do a lot of the work for [Harris] of showing, to borrow one of his favorite adjectives, what a ‘nasty’ guy he is. I think that could be pretty effective for her.” Plus, where the fund-raising race stands with Election Day only two months away.

This week’s reading:

“Can Red-Baiting Save Trump’s Flailing Campaign?,” by Susan B. Glasser
“How Kamala Harris’s Coalition Changes the Race for Congress,” by Isaac Chotiner
“Do Celebrity Presidential Endorsements Matter?,” by Tyler Foggatt

To discover more podcasts from The New Yorker, visit newyorker.com/podcasts. To send in feedback on this episode, write to [email protected] with “The Political Scene” in the subject line.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I was at dinner the other night and two of the people at the table were just kind of
0:05.1	marveling about the fact that they're like, God, I thought I understood, I thought I
0:08.8	knew J.D. Vance. I mean, there's a, I don't think I can think of somebody who's had as dramatic and rapid a
0:14.9	transformation in his reputation in Washington over the course of the last few years
0:18.5	before he was in office but when he was just a kind of you know an author
0:22.1	there was this feeling that, oh, this guy could
0:25.0	go in a lot of different directions politically. And to see him now as the most slavish
0:29.6	lap dog for Trump, it's just the kind of thing that comes up a lot at dinner tables these days.
0:34.0	Well, that's how he got his Senate seat, right, is prostrating himself to Trump.
0:39.0	Trump marveled on the rally stage.
0:42.0	When JD Vance ran for Senate Senate he was laughing at him and say can you believe
0:46.1	this guy he criticizes me now he's begging me for my endorsement which I think is the modern GOP.
0:54.0	It's what qualified him, right?
0:56.0	Anybody who will give up all of their moral compunctions and swear fealty.
1:02.0	What could be better for Donald Trump as a running mate basically?
1:07.8	Welcome to the political scene, a weekly discussion about the big questions in American politics.
1:14.0	I'm Jane Mayer, and I'm joined by my colleagues
1:17.0	Susan Glasser and Evan Osnost.
1:19.0	Hi, Susan.
1:20.0	Hey there, so great to be with you.
1:22.0	Hi, Evan. Good there, so great to be with you. Hi Evan.
1:23.0	Good morning, guys.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WNYC Studios and The New Yorker, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.