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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 Claire Harvey. It's Friday, July twenty six.
Speaker 1: Anthony Albinizi is setting the scene for his first cabinet reshuffle,
Speaker 1: with Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Bernie quitting politics and pressure
Speaker 1: to dump underperforming Immigration Minister Andrew Giles. Australia has imposed
Speaker 1: sanctions and travel bands on seven Israelis and one religious
Speaker 1: youth group linked to beatings and sexual assaults against Palestinians.
Speaker 1: It comes as the conflict continues to rage in Gaza
Speaker 1: and Israeli PM Benjamin Netnia, who begs the UN for
Speaker 1: more weapons. That story is live now at the Australian
Speaker 1: dot Com Dot A you a presidential address to the
Speaker 1: United States and a decidedly luke warm endorsement of Kamala Harris.
Speaker 1: Today we unpacked Joe Biden's first public appearance since he
Speaker 1: stepped out of the race for the White House. Greg
Speaker 1: Sheridan is The Australian's Foreign editor. Greg Joe Biden started
Speaker 1: his speech in the Opal Office, referencing the fact that
Speaker 1: he was sitting behind the resolute desk.
Speaker 2: I follow Americans, I'm speaking of from behind the resolute
Speaker 2: tesk in the Oval Office.
Speaker 1: There were flags and golden curtains behind him. The symbolism
Speaker 1: was all about being the president. Wasn't at all about power?
Speaker 3: Yes it was, But he betrayed the symbolism, of course,
Speaker 3: by his very faltering delivery.
Speaker 2: You know, when I came to office, conventional wisdom was
Speaker 2: a China would inevitably pass, passing United Dates.
Speaker 4: I mean.
Speaker 3: In a very short address which he must have rehearsed
Speaker 3: five thousand times, he still couldn't read the teleprompter properly.
Speaker 3: But over office speeches inherently radiate the power of the presidency.
Speaker 3: Although in recent years they haven't been very successful, they
Speaker 3: have less and less magic about them. Over office speeches,
Speaker 3: they just looked so artificial.
Speaker 1: It became clear from quite early in this speech that
Speaker 1: he wasn't going to acknowledge that he was in cognitive
Speaker 1: decline or in any kind of distress. He talked about
Speaker 1: it being the honor of his life to have served
Speaker 1: as president, but presented himself as someone who was such
Speaker 1: a patriot that he was going to step aside.
Speaker 2: I reviewed this office. I love my country more. It's
Speaker 2: been the honor of my life to serve as your
Speaker 2: president with this secret task perfecting our union. It's not
Speaker 2: about me. It's about you, your families, your futures. It's
Speaker 2: about we the people. We can never forget that, and
Speaker 2: I never have.
Speaker 1: What did you think about that choice not to reference
Speaker 1: explicitly the fact that he was struggling.
Speaker 4: We look to be.
Speaker 3: Honest with your class. I've been in America several weeks now.
Speaker 3: I'm watching this on the West coast, and first of all,
Speaker 3: most Americans couldn't care less about politics, and especially if
Speaker 3: they're not in the battleground states. But secondly, the whole
Speaker 3: premise of Biden's speech was ridiculous. I mean, he was
Speaker 3: saying that fifty Democrats could beat Trump, and I my
Speaker 3: record as the best in the world, and I'm fabulous,
Speaker 3: But I've got to drop out to maintain democratic unity.
Speaker 2: You know, original weeks has become clear to me I
Speaker 2: need to unite my party in this critical endeavor. I
Speaker 2: believe I record as president, my leadership in the world
Speaker 2: I visioned for America's future all married it a second term,
Speaker 2: but nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving
Speaker 2: our democracy that includes personal ambition.
Speaker 4: So there's a logical flaw in this.
Speaker 3: Why is the Democratic Party so disunited if his record
Speaker 3: and prospects are so fantastic. So the question you ask
Speaker 3: is very acute. He said he was resigning to preserve unity,
Speaker 3: but he didn't say what had caused the disunity. And
Speaker 3: what has caused the disunity is that in the debate
Speaker 3: with Trump, he was obviously not competent. And I think
Speaker 3: it's very ineffective in politics when you try to deny
Speaker 3: what is just.
Speaker 4: Obvious before the voter's eyes.
Speaker 3: So you know, the liberal press will be weeping over
Speaker 3: this and saying, how you know what a noble, splendid
Speaker 3: Churchill in figure Biden is.
Speaker 4: But I thought the thing just lacked the slightest semblance
Speaker 4: of logic.
Speaker 3: He neither said I'm no longer confident, nor did he say,
Speaker 3: you know, thirty congressman and a half a dozen senators
Speaker 3: and a million fundraisers have all told me to quit
Speaker 3: because they won't support me any longer.
Speaker 1: Did he seem to you like someone who's been dragged
Speaker 1: to this moment and who still doesn't really acknowledge that
Speaker 1: he is into client.
Speaker 4: Oh yes, absolutely so.
Speaker 3: According to Joe Biden, he has selflessly trying to run
Speaker 3: again even though he would win, and his record is
Speaker 3: unequaled in the world, and America is the greatest position
Speaker 3: it's ever been in that lacks no logic. So what
Speaker 3: that means is is a guy denying reality. But you know,
Speaker 3: he's a sort of an old fashioned political pro and
Speaker 3: he has at least been able to take the message
Speaker 3: that this is an offer you can't refuse, you know,
Speaker 3: I mean, the Democratic Marfia has come to him and said, look,
Speaker 3: let me make you an offer you can't refuse.
Speaker 4: So you're either going to resign.
Speaker 3: Your candidacy nobly and we're all going to weep about
Speaker 3: what a saint you are, or you're going to get
Speaker 3: beaten by Trump eighty twenty because none of us is
Speaker 3: going to support you. And you know, it's not too
Speaker 3: late for us to swing behind a third party candidate.
Speaker 3: And all kinds of threats were, no doubt made behind
Speaker 3: the scenes, and you know, we'll look again at Hunter's
Speaker 3: situation and who knows what sort of things were said privately,
Speaker 3: but he was bludgeoned into this decision.
Speaker 4: There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 2: I'm going to call for a Supreme Court reform because
Speaker 2: this is critical to our democracy. Supreme Court reform. You know,
Speaker 2: I'll keep working when sure American remains strong, secure, and
Speaker 2: the leader of the free world.
Speaker 1: One of the first ideas he invoked was Supreme Court reform. Now,
Speaker 1: I was watching this speech on the YouTube feed of
Speaker 1: the Associated Press, which was also running a comments thread
Speaker 1: from people who were watching. Forty eight thousand people watching,
Speaker 1: and that remarks Supreme Court reform prompted a wave of
Speaker 1: kind WTF, you know, what.
Speaker 4: The hell is he talking about? So what is he
Speaker 4: talking about?
Speaker 3: It's a very good example of the bidon non secuitur.
Speaker 3: So early on in the speech, he says, we must
Speaker 3: stop thinking of people we disagree with as enemies.
Speaker 4: They're just fellow Americans we disagree with.
Speaker 3: Then he says, but this election is for the preservation
Speaker 3: of American democracy, meaning that my opponents are fascists, they're
Speaker 3: all anti Democrats, and if you elect them, that's the
Speaker 3: end of American democracy. Similarly, there's a contradiction with the courts.
Speaker 3: When the courts are delivering decisions which Biden the Democrats like,
Speaker 3: they say, the Republicans are intensely irresponsible for undermining the
Speaker 3: court and the court system, which is independent of politics,
Speaker 3: and which sometimes gives you decisions you like, sometimes gives
Speaker 3: you decisions you don't like, and you should put up
Speaker 3: with the decisions you don't like and not undermine the system.
Speaker 5: At the Supreme Court today, an historic upheaval in a
Speaker 5: sweeping ruling that overturned a half a century of presidents,
Speaker 5: five justices ended the right of American women to choose
Speaker 5: abortion under the Constitution.
Speaker 3: But then if the Court gives a series of decisions
Speaker 3: that the Democrats don't like, it all of a sudden
Speaker 3: becomes a corrupt Supreme Court and they no longer want
Speaker 3: the judiciary to exercise the power of the judiciary. Now, theoretically,
Speaker 3: there are many ways you could reform the court. You
Speaker 3: could legislate for another twenty justices and appoint them all yourself,
Speaker 3: and then you've got a wonderfully stacked court. But that'd
Speaker 3: be very hard to do because you'd have to get
Speaker 3: the legislation through their House of Representatives and the Senate.
Speaker 3: Or you could legislate for term limits. But the independence
Speaker 3: of the Supreme Court justices has always meant that they
Speaker 3: can't be fired. There is no term limit and there's
Speaker 3: only a certain number of them. And if you make
Speaker 3: the court something which the administration can shape absolutely. I
Speaker 3: mean the Australian High Court only has a certain number
Speaker 3: of members. The government appoints the members. That doesn't have
Speaker 3: to go through the Parliament or anything. But it only
Speaker 3: has a certain number of members. If you enlarge it
Speaker 3: by twenty or something, then every incoming administration can just
Speaker 3: appoint twenty new judges and the court becomes completely politicized,
Speaker 3: even much more than it has been with fifty years
Speaker 3: of judicial activism under it's spelt.
Speaker 1: So, is that a gift to Trump and the Republicans
Speaker 1: to suddenly throw into the minds of people who hadn't
Speaker 1: thought about it before that the constitution of the Supreme
Speaker 1: Court is now up for grams.
Speaker 3: Yes, I think that is probably a mistake for the
Speaker 3: Democrats to campaign on that. But Kamala Harris doesn't have
Speaker 3: many issues she can campaign on. Despite what Biden said,
Speaker 3: you know, the border has been a disaster. I legal
Speaker 3: immigration has been a disaster. Inflation is problematic, crime is
Speaker 3: very disturbing to people. But the main thing she's going
Speaker 3: to campaign on, I think is abortion rights.
Speaker 6: We'll believe reproductive freedom will stop Donald Trump's extreme abortion
Speaker 6: bands because we trust women to make decisions about their
Speaker 6: own body and not have their government tell them what
Speaker 6: to do.
Speaker 3: Because restrictions on abortion, whether they're ethical, on proper or not,
Speaker 3: are unpopular across the United States, and the Supreme Court
Speaker 3: reform will be seen as a way of getting back
Speaker 3: to a position where the federal authorities guarantee abortion rights
Speaker 3: from the moment of conception to the moment of birth,
Speaker 3: Whereas what the Supreme Court has done in overturning Roe
Speaker 3: versus Way is effectively meant that every state can legislate
Speaker 3: however it likes.
Speaker 7: Florida's six week abortion band goes into effect today, that
Speaker 7: significantly shorter than the fifteen week band that had been
Speaker 7: in place up until this point. Now almost every state.
Speaker 1: In the South has restrictions on the procedure.
Speaker 7: Arizona will soon be the latest state with a near
Speaker 7: total abortion ban after that state Supreme Court revived a
Speaker 7: one hundred and sixty year old law. The law provides
Speaker 7: no exceptions for rape or incest, and in its four
Speaker 7: to two opinion, the conservative majority wrote quote, physicians are
Speaker 7: now unnoticed that all abortions except those necessary to save
Speaker 7: a woman's life, are illegal.
Speaker 3: So I suspect that Kamala Harris will think she can
Speaker 3: energize young voters, voters with a feminist consciousness, college activists
Speaker 3: and so on on the abortion issue, and the Supreme
Speaker 3: Court is linked to that. It's almost inconceivable that any
Speaker 3: administration would get Supreme Court reformed through because you would
Speaker 3: think that the Senate would block it under any configuration.
Speaker 1: Coming up. Joe Biden has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris
Speaker 1: to run for resident, but did his address reveal what
Speaker 1: he really thinks about his second in command? And if
Speaker 1: you're looking for up to date analysis on the American election,
Speaker 1: written by some of the sharpest political commentators in the world,
Speaker 1: head to the Australian dot com dot u. In front
Speaker 1: of a screaming crowd of Republican faithful, Donald Trump took
Speaker 1: to the stage in North Carolina.
Speaker 8: Thank you very much, Thank you, Richard.
Speaker 1: This was his first rally since President Joe Biden announced
Speaker 1: he wouldn't contend the election. It was vintage Trump.
Speaker 8: So now we have a new victim to defeat lion,
Speaker 8: Kamala Harris, lion l Yianna pass the most inc and
Speaker 8: far left a vice president and American history. By the way,
Speaker 8: they did a poll, she was rated the worst vice
Speaker 8: president in history. I've never seen that poll before, but
Speaker 8: that's the poll.
Speaker 1: A few hours later, Joe Biden would address the nation.
Speaker 1: This was his time to throw his support behind the
Speaker 1: de facto democratic nominee to dilute the vitriol of Donald Trump.
Speaker 2: Just a few months. The American people choose the course
Speaker 2: of America's future. I made my choice, I made my
Speaker 2: views known. I like to thank our great Vice President
Speaker 2: Kamala Harris. She experienced, she's tough, she's capable, She's been
Speaker 2: an incredible partner to me and the leader for our country.
Speaker 1: That took twenty seconds, and that's all Joe Biden said
Speaker 1: on the topic of Kamala Harris, the woman who hopes
Speaker 1: to become the forty eighth president of the United States
Speaker 1: of America. Hardly a glowing endorsement.
Speaker 3: I thought there was a bit strange, really quit So
Speaker 3: obviously Biden kind of hates Kamala Harris because she's edged
Speaker 3: him out of the presidency, but you would think he'd
Speaker 3: be ruthless enough to know that it's much better for
Speaker 3: him if she wins, much much better for him. First
Speaker 3: of all, he certainly won't be prosecuted for anything, nor
Speaker 3: will his family. And secondly, his resignation and his legacy
Speaker 3: will look much better. But he didn't do anything for
Speaker 3: her in this speech much now.
Speaker 4: Of course, he never liked her.
Speaker 3: He never, I mean, he chose her because he boxed
Speaker 3: himself into a corner saying that he would have to
Speaker 3: choose a nominee, a vice presidential nominee who was an
Speaker 3: African American woman, and she was the most prominent African
Speaker 3: American woman at the same time. He was quite happy
Speaker 3: to choose her because she was so profoundly mediocre that
Speaker 3: she would never pose any threat to him. So he
Speaker 3: foresaw this moment and like a lot of presidents in history,
Speaker 3: chose a mediocre vice president on purpose. You know, Richard
Speaker 3: Nixon chose both Spiro Agnew and Gerald Ford, as is
Speaker 3: abundantly clear in all the biographies, because he thought they
Speaker 3: were both such mediocre dunderheads that nobody would ever try
Speaker 3: to over him. Dwight Eisenhower chose Richard Nixon for much
Speaker 3: the same reason. And leaders do this, especially in secure leaders.
Speaker 3: The only leader who really chose a coequal but Ronald
Speaker 3: Reagan chose Bush Senior and Bill Clinton chose Al Gore.
Speaker 3: But they're the only two examples in probably the last
Speaker 3: sixty years where you could say a president chose someone
Speaker 3: who really would be a very viable replacement for them.
Speaker 1: Biden's speech had a vibe of this is it over
Speaker 1: to you, Kamala. So now the handover from Biden is done,
Speaker 1: what are her prospects?
Speaker 4: Remember Kamala Harris.
Speaker 3: She ran in the twenty twenty Democratic presidential primary, and
Speaker 3: her campaign was so poor that she actually quit before
Speaker 3: the first care or primary was held. She had no
Speaker 3: votes from anyone. Now, she might still win the presidency
Speaker 3: because half the nation likes Trump and half the nation
Speaker 3: hates him, and that half the nation who hates him
Speaker 3: will certainly vote for her, and the pro Democrat media,
Speaker 3: you know, CNN and the New York Times and so on,
Speaker 3: will paint her as a magnificent, genius, fabulous blah blah
Speaker 3: blah blah.
Speaker 4: She failed her first bar exit.
Speaker 3: You know, she won her first election in California by
Speaker 3: less than one percent, when every other Democrat running for
Speaker 3: statewide office run by more than ten percent. There is
Speaker 3: no evidence at all that she is either a vote
Speaker 3: winner or a competent person. And then as Vice president,
Speaker 3: everything she's touched has turned to misery. She had the
Speaker 3: assignment of fixing the southern border and that was an
Speaker 3: absolute disaster, and then she ran away from that assignment,
Speaker 3: and then Biden never gave her really a serious job
Speaker 3: to do as vice president. So Kamala Harris, even though
Speaker 3: I think she is extraordinarily mediocre and poor as a
Speaker 3: presidential candidate, nonetheless could win. We had two old men
Speaker 3: who both of them the whole of the United States detested.
Speaker 3: The polls were overwhelming that Americans wished neither of them
Speaker 3: was running. So Biden has been replaced. But because he's
Speaker 3: so selfishly clung to office for so long, the Democrats
Speaker 3: haven't been able to have a primary.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 3: It's hard to imagine Kamala Harris would have beaten Gretchen
Speaker 3: Whitmer or Shapiro or any of these powerful governors in
Speaker 3: all our primary and she's been handed the job, just
Speaker 3: as she was handed the jobs in California. Now, of course,
Speaker 3: the campaign will bear a bingdong battle between Kamala Harris,
Speaker 3: who is a California Liberal, and Trump, who is a
Speaker 3: kind of wild rhetorically wild nationalist. So it's intensely unpredictable.
Speaker 3: It's a better choice than Biden versus Trump, I guess,
Speaker 3: because Kamala Harris has not ended the sort of mental
Speaker 3: decline that Biden.
Speaker 4: Has entered, but is still a pretty poor choice.
Speaker 3: For a country as big and magnificent as the United
Speaker 3: States to produce Kamala Harrison Donald Trump as their two
Speaker 3: presidential alternatives. I mean, frankly, I'd like to buy both
Speaker 3: of them at my estimate, sell them both at their estimate.
Speaker 3: I think i'd be Quin's ahead.
Speaker 1: Greg Sheridan is the Australians Foreign Editor. Thanks for joining
Speaker 1: us on the front this week. Our team is Stephanie Coombs,
Speaker 1: Joshua Burton, Jasper leak Leat, Sam mcglue, Christian Amiot, Tiffany
Speaker 1: Demac and me Claire Harvey.