Background Briefing: October 23, 2022

 

Friday’s Subpoena From the January 6 Committee and Trump’s Next Move

We begin with Friday’s subpoena issued to Donald Trump by the House January 6 Committee and assess what Trump’s next move might be as well as discuss the sentencing of Stephen Bannon to four months in jail for defying a congressional subpoena to testify before the House January 6 Committee. Joining us is Dennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor and Chief Assistant City Attorney in San Francisco who has won cases of significance in the United States Supreme Court and the California Supreme Court. He currently focuses on affirmative litigation and defending cases involving civil rights and democratic norms under attack, and we discuss his article at Slate, “Why the Bannon Prison Sentence and Trump Jan. 6 Subpoena Matter.”

 

The Senate Race in Ohio as a Referendum On the Direction the Democratic Party Has Taken in Recent Decades

Then we examine the senate race in Ohio which is in many ways a referendum on the direction the Democratic Party has taken in the recent decades away from support for unions and working Americans particularly in the industrial midwest and speak with Alec MacGillis, who covers politics and government for ProPublica. He previously reported for The New Republic, The Washington Post, and the Baltimore Sun and is the author of Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America. We discuss his article at The New York Times, “Tim Ryan Is Winning the War for the Soul of the Democratic Party.”

 

The Education Divide in America and How Republicans Exploit it

Then finally we look further into our political divide and assess the role of education in this country in which the Democrats are now losing non-college-educated whites by a two-to-one margin while securing 60% of the college-educated vote as Trump and the Republicans exploit the values divide between educated professionals they portray as liberal elitists and white working people. Joining us is Eric Levitz, who writes for New York Magazine’s Daily Intelligencer and we discuss his latest article, “How the Diploma Divide Is Remaking American Politics: Education is at the heart of this country’s many divisions.”