Background Briefing: November 7, 2023

One of the “Adults in the Room” on Trump’s Vengeful Plans For a Second Term

 We begin with alarming reports in The Washington Post and The New York Times about Trump’s vengeful plans for a second term outlining how he would invoke the Insurrection Act on day one and round up his enemies such as the so-called “adults in the room”, General Kelly, William Barr and General Milley who he has already threatened to execute. Joining us is the first high level official in the Trump White House to blow the whistle on Trump’s incompetence, ignorance and pettiness, Miles Taylor, a national security expert who works in Washington, DC. He served as chief of staff for Kirstjen Nielsen, the former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in the Trump administration, where he published an “Anonymous” essay in The New York Times, blowing the whistle on presidential misconduct. He later published the #1 national bestseller A Warning, revealed himself to be the author, and launched a campaign of ex-officials to oppose Donald Trump’s reelection. He has worked as an advisor in the George W. Bush administration, on Capitol Hill, as a CNN contributor, and is the cofounder of multiple democracy-reform groups. His latest book is Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump.

 

A Silver Lining in the Looming Specter of American Fascism Under the Dear Leader Donald Trump

Then we look further into the looming specter of American fascism with Trump the Dear Leader of a group of bottom feeders who were loyal to the end as the few adults left along with judges Trump appointed held the line on democracy and tossed out the “Kraken” election lawsuits. Joining us is Richard Hasen, Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a nationally-recognized expert in election law and campaign finance regulation, and is co-author of a leading casebook on election law. He served as founding co-editor of the quarterly peer-reviewed publication, Election Law Journal, and is the author of a number of books including The Voting Wars, Plutocrats United, The Justice of Contradictions, and Election Meltdown. His latest book is Cheap Speech: How Disinformation Poisons Our Politics―and How to Cure It and we discuss his latest article at Slate, “Terrifying Reports About Trump’s Plans for a Second Term Have One Bright Spot.”

 

An Examination of The New York Times Poll That Has Trump Ahead in 5 of the 6 Swing States

Then finally we examine a recent poll that has Trump ahead in 5 of the 6 swing states and speak with Seth Masket, a professor of political science and the director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver who studies political parties, campaigns and elections, and state legislatures. His books include Learning from Loss: The Democrats 2016-2020 and The Inevitable Party: Why Attempts to Kill the Party System Fail and How they Weaken Democracy, and he is currently working on a book project examining the Republican Party’s interpretations of the 2020 election and its preparations for 2024. We discuss his op-ed at The Los Angeles Times, “Biden is losing to Trump in a new poll. Does that pass the smell test?”