Speaker 1: You can listen to the Front on your smart speaker
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Speaker 1: the news from The Australian. From the Australian, here's what's
Speaker 1: on the Front. I'm Christinamiot. It's Wednesday, July seventeenth. The
Speaker 1: International Monetary Fund isn't optimistic about Australia's growth prospects. It's
Speaker 1: downgraded the nation's economic outlook and its warned stubborn inflation
Speaker 1: could see households hit with further interest rate hikes in
Speaker 1: the coming months. America will drag Australia into a new
Speaker 1: World war. That's the warning from Senator David hue Bridge.
Speaker 1: The Greens defense spokesperson, says his party will push to
Speaker 1: cut defense spending and shred the government's nuclear submarine scheme
Speaker 1: in hopes of keeping the country out of a new
Speaker 1: global conflict. That story from our exclusive series on the
Speaker 1: Greens is live right now at the Australian dot com
Speaker 1: dot au. Donald J. Trump is officially the Republican Party's
Speaker 1: nominee for president, and he's named a risky running mate
Speaker 1: as his second in charge. Just days after an attempt
Speaker 1: was made on the former president's life at a rally
Speaker 1: in Pennsylvania. Trump has changed his tune, But how long
Speaker 1: will it last? That's today's episode.
Speaker 2: Today, people look at me, at my job and my
Speaker 2: Ivy League credentials and assume that I'm some sort of
Speaker 2: genius that only a truly extraordinary person could have made
Speaker 2: it to where I am today.
Speaker 1: That's the Ohio Senator jd Vance, reading an excerpt from
Speaker 1: his New York Times best selling book, He'll Billy Elegy.
Speaker 2: With all due respect to those people, I think that
Speaker 2: theory is a load of bullshit.
Speaker 1: Released in twenty sixteen, Hill Billy Elegy is a memoir
Speaker 1: about growing up poor in America's Appalachian Mountains.
Speaker 2: I am not a senator, a governor, or a former
Speaker 2: Cabinet secretary.
Speaker 1: That changed in early twenty twenty three when Jada Vance
Speaker 1: was sworn in as a senator in the one hundred
Speaker 1: and eighteenth United States Congress.
Speaker 2: So I didn't write this book because I've accomplished something extraordinary.
Speaker 2: I wrote this book because I've achieved something quite ordinary,
Speaker 2: which doesn't happen to most kids who grew up like me.
Speaker 1: On Tuesday, this happened. That announcement just made former President
Speaker 1: Donald Trump announcing he has chosen Ohio US Senator JD.
Speaker 1: Vance as is running me on his Truth social media
Speaker 1: platform just within the last hour. Here. Cameron Stewart is
Speaker 1: The Australian's chief international correspondent. He's in Wisconsin for the
Speaker 1: Republican National Convention where Jdvan was announced as Donald Trump's
Speaker 1: running mate. Cam Many Australians will know JD. Evans the author,
Speaker 1: But tell me what do we know about Jedvance the politician.
Speaker 3: Well, we don't know an enormous amount in the sense
Speaker 3: that he was only elected to the Senate in twenty
Speaker 3: twenty three, so it's only been a senator for eighteen months,
Speaker 3: so really not very long at all. But he has
Speaker 3: been very outspoken on issues. He's been very much a
Speaker 3: Trump ally, a Maga warrior if you like. He's taken
Speaker 3: quite hardline positions on abortion, choice, on border security, especially
Speaker 3: on Ukraine. He very much opposes US assistance for Ukraine.
Speaker 3: He's quite an isolationist. He's very conservative on family of
Speaker 3: values and issues like that. He's very much a Trump
Speaker 3: acolyte if you like. He's not a different type of Republican,
Speaker 3: which is unusual because when you choose a running mate,
Speaker 3: you usually go for someone who's a bit different to
Speaker 3: make your whole ticket a bit of a broad church.
Speaker 3: Donald Trump hasn't done that in this case, and I
Speaker 3: think that's probably a fairly high risk decision that he's made.
Speaker 1: Jade Vans and Donald Trump haven't always been on the
Speaker 1: same page.
Speaker 3: Yes, you're right, certainly. In twenty sixteen, Jady Vance was
Speaker 3: very critical of Donald Trump. He said he would be
Speaker 3: Americus Hitler. He said he was no piod on society.
Speaker 3: He was very very critical. He said he was never Trumper,
Speaker 3: and it certainly didn't look like he was ever going
Speaker 3: to be a fan of Donald Trump. But about twenty eighteen,
Speaker 3: Vance started to soften his view, and then in twenty
Speaker 3: twenty he said, I'm wrong Trump, You've been a great president.
Speaker 3: And then of course he wanted to get elected to
Speaker 3: the Senate and he apologized for his previous criticisms of Trump,
Speaker 3: and Trump came to the party, Trump backed him, and
Speaker 3: so it's been a journey for both men, I think.
Speaker 3: But I think that Vance has been so outspoken in
Speaker 3: the last couple of years in support of Trump. He
Speaker 3: really is one of his biggest and loudest allies, and
Speaker 3: so whatever, thanks there was betweenty two. I think he's
Speaker 3: long gone.
Speaker 1: Last weekend, the presidential race was fundamentally altered when twenty
Speaker 1: year old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on Donald Trump
Speaker 1: at a pre convention rally in Pennsylvania. In the day since,
Speaker 1: Donald Trump has restyled himself as America's great unifier. So
Speaker 1: what does that mean for Trump two point zero?
Speaker 3: Well, all of America is looking at this question. I mean,
Speaker 3: it's a fascinating concept. Donald Trump has a genuine near
Speaker 3: death experience and within forty eight hours, so the Republicans,
Speaker 3: he says, calm down, we're going to be unifiers here.
Speaker 3: But Donald Trump's whole modus operandi as a politician has
Speaker 3: been an US and them idea. That's what he does.
Speaker 3: He's very good at the politics of green events. And
Speaker 3: I just fight it hard to imagine that for the
Speaker 3: next three and a half months before the next election,
Speaker 3: that Donald Trump is not going to be Donald Trump
Speaker 3: that is going to be a kind of gentler, unifying soul.
Speaker 3: I just don't think that that is him, and I
Speaker 3: don't think he'll be able to keep doing that for
Speaker 3: very long. So my guess would be this is a
Speaker 3: very temporary thing. I think we will see Trump back
Speaker 3: to his loudest, roaring best soon.
Speaker 1: And what does the addition of JD. Vance to this
Speaker 1: equation mean for the November election.
Speaker 3: Vance is such a mega type of politician that he
Speaker 3: will appeal to Trump supporters, but he probably won't appeal
Speaker 3: hugely with those people who aren't Trump supporters. And what
Speaker 3: Trump chose not to do was choose, say Marco Rubio,
Speaker 3: one of the other contenders that would have appealed to
Speaker 3: the Hispanic vote, and as you say, Senator Tim Scott
Speaker 3: of South Carolina, which would have appealed to the African
Speaker 3: American vote, or even Nicki Hardey, which of course would
Speaker 3: have appealed to women. So Trump is enormous confidence, if
Speaker 3: not hubris, in his decision. Here. He's basically saying, my
Speaker 3: party is the party of MAGA, this is my running mate.
Speaker 3: We will win regardless. But if Trump does not win
Speaker 3: in November, now he is certainly of a clear front
Speaker 3: run of the moment. But if he does not win
Speaker 3: in November, I think this decision will be looked at
Speaker 3: by many commentators as the reason why.
Speaker 1: The Republican National Convention runs until Thursday with the focus
Speaker 1: on the economy on day one, and there will be
Speaker 1: a different theme every day for the convention.
Speaker 4: Today's theme will be make America weleview once again.
Speaker 1: Cam, there's still, as you said, a few days of
Speaker 1: the Republican National Convention to go. You were there, what
Speaker 1: was the vibe like and what are you expecting to
Speaker 1: see for the rest of the week.
Speaker 3: The first night was such a piece of political theater.
Speaker 3: Trump was not on the schedule. He turned up on
Speaker 3: the screen with his WRIGHTI a bandage, and the rule
Speaker 3: was absolutely definitely it was like BMCG on Grand final Day.
Speaker 4: Please welcome the next President of the United States, Donald J.
Speaker 2: Trump.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's really interesting how truly the Republican faithful
Speaker 3: adore him. It was just one of those things. He
Speaker 3: really didn't do anything. He said, walk in, smile, wave,
Speaker 3: and then walk out. But it was just really powerful
Speaker 3: political theater. And this is the sort of stuff that
Speaker 3: makes him really popular amongst his fans. And now what
Speaker 3: we're going to see for the rest of the convention
Speaker 3: is a series of really interesting speeches. Nikki Haley is
Speaker 3: due to speak tomorrow night. Of course, she was the
Speaker 3: person that Trump vanquished for the primary it's interesting she's
Speaker 3: coming in to speak. I think that's a fascinating decision.
Speaker 3: It shows that the Republicans are trying to unify themselves.
Speaker 3: It's going to be an incredible week. And the interesting
Speaker 3: thing is that this has actually reduced to focus briefly
Speaker 3: on Joe Biden. However, I think once this Republican convention
Speaker 3: finishes this week, we will switch straight back to the
Speaker 3: problems that Joe Biden has.
Speaker 1: Coming up. What Donald Trump's big day means for the Democrats.
Speaker 1: Subscribers to The Australian are first to hear reporting and
Speaker 1: analysis from our correspondents in the United States. Join us
Speaker 1: at the Australian dot com dot au. It's a lot
Speaker 1: cheaper than running a presidential campaign. We'll be back after
Speaker 1: this break. A little over a month from now. On
Speaker 1: August nineteen, the Democrats will descend on Chicago for their
Speaker 1: party's national convention. But where Donald Trump was basically a
Speaker 1: sure thing, who the Democrats will name as their nominee
Speaker 1: is less clear. Calls for the incumbent Joe Biden to
Speaker 1: step aside have mounted in recent weeks after a string
Speaker 1: of gaffes caused many to question in his fitness for
Speaker 1: the top job.
Speaker 4: I've said before, Russia will not prevail this war, and
Speaker 4: now I want to hand it over to the President
Speaker 4: of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination.
Speaker 4: Ladies and gentlemen, President putin President Prudent. You've got big
Speaker 4: President Prus, President Lenskin. I'm so focused on being putin.
Speaker 4: We gotta worry about it anyway. It's President.
Speaker 2: I'm better.
Speaker 1: You are a hell better. But there are also concerns
Speaker 1: about the ability of the current Vice president, Kamala Harris,
Speaker 1: to defeat Donald Trump in the November election. Here is
Speaker 1: Cameron Stewart.
Speaker 3: Well, the great mystak of the Democratic You mention is
Speaker 3: who will be the nominee. Biden, of course, in theory,
Speaker 3: should be the nominee. But really, if the Democrats are
Speaker 3: going to make a change, and I think there is
Speaker 3: still a lot of pressure within the Democratic Party for
Speaker 3: Biden to step down, We're just not seeing it right
Speaker 3: now because of the Republican Convention this week, but I
Speaker 3: think that they will have to put that pressure on
Speaker 3: before the Democratic invention. Whoever gets nominated at that convention,
Speaker 3: I think we'll tackle Donald Trump in November. So these
Speaker 3: are the crucial couple of weeks for the Democrats to
Speaker 3: make up their mind to sort it out. But I
Speaker 3: think the next few weeks could thribe any sort of situation.
Speaker 3: We really don't know. It's a fascinating time in American politics.
Speaker 1: Cameron Stewart is the Australian's chief international correspondent. Come back
Speaker 1: to the front tomorrow to hear all the action from
Speaker 1: The Australian's Global Food Forum, happening today in Brisbane. And
Speaker 1: you can keep up to date with all the nation's
Speaker 1: best journalism anytime at the Australian dot com dot au