Background Briefing: November 4, 2024
Trump’s Not-So-Veiled Threat That “Bad Things Could Happen” If He Loses the Election
We begin with Trump’s not-so-veiled threat he issued on Sunday to ABC News when asked by Jonathan Karl whether he thinks there’s any way he could lose the election, “Yeah, I guess, you know, I guess you could lose, can lose. I mean, that happens, right?” “But I think I have a pretty substantial lead. But, you could say — yeah, yeah, you could lose. Bad things could happen. You know, things happen, but it’s going to be interesting. Joining us to assess the portent of post-election violence stoked by Trump is Jared Holt, a senior research manager at Institute for Strategic Dialogue where he researches hate and extremist movements in the United States and their relationships to the internet. He specializes in Alt-Right and so-called “New Right” media, in addition to the larger culture and influence of right-wing social media.
The Pernicious GOP Operation Underway to Purge Voter Rolls
Then we will look into a pernicious operation underway to empower partisan GOP vigilantes to challenge and purge voter rolls without voters knowing and having little recourse to restore their rights. Joining us is Greg Palast, a journalist who previously worked as a government consultant and an investigator for labor unions. The author of the New York Times and international bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Armed Madhouse, he is the recipient of the George Orwell Courage in Journalism Prize for his BBC television documentary, Bush Family Fortunes. His latest film is Vigilantes Inc: America’s New Vote Suppression Hitmen produced by Martin Sheen and narrated by Rosario Dawson and Leonardo DiCaprio just released the film for free streaming at SaveYourVote.org.
Kamala Needs to Win Big Because Trump’s GOP Will Cheat Rather Than Compete
Then finally we will discuss recent indications that Kamala Harris may win big in order to overcome the GOP’s playbook of dirty tricks with David Faris, a professor of political science at Roosevelt University in Chicago and a regular contributor to Slate, The Week and Newsweek. He is the author of Dissent and Revolution in a Digital Age: Social Media, Blogging and Activism in Egypt, Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics and, most recently, The Kids Are All Left: How Young Voters Will Unite America. We will discuss his latest article at Slate, “How Freaked Out Should I Be, Really, About Jill Stein?”