WEBVTT - Does Biden actually want Kamala to win? 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:08.400 You can listen to the Front on your smart speaker 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:12.639 every morning to hear the latest episode. Just say play 0:00:12.680 --> 0:00:23.400 the news from The Australian. From the Australian, Here's what's 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:26.680 on the Front. I'm Claire Harvey. It's Friday, July twenty six. 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.760 Anthony Albinizi is setting the scene for his first cabinet reshuffle, 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:38.000 with Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Bernie quitting politics and pressure 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:44.839 to dump underperforming Immigration Minister Andrew Giles. Australia has imposed 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:48.680 sanctions and travel bands on seven Israelis and one religious 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:53.200 youth group linked to beatings and sexual assaults against Palestinians. 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:56.600 It comes as the conflict continues to rage in Gaza 0:00:56.920 --> 0:01:00.480 and Israeli PM Benjamin Netnia, who begs the UN for 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:04.040 more weapons. That story is live now at the Australian 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:09.440 dot Com Dot A you a presidential address to the 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:14.400 United States and a decidedly luke warm endorsement of Kamala Harris. 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:18.000 Today we unpacked Joe Biden's first public appearance since he 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:27.960 stepped out of the race for the White House. Greg 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:33.160 Sheridan is The Australian's Foreign editor. Greg Joe Biden started 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:36.520 his speech in the Opal Office, referencing the fact that 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:38.320 he was sitting behind the resolute desk. 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:43.280 I follow Americans, I'm speaking of from behind the resolute 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:44.560 tesk in the Oval Office. 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:48.840 There were flags and golden curtains behind him. The symbolism 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:52.080 was all about being the president. Wasn't at all about power? 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:55.440 Yes it was, But he betrayed the symbolism, of course, 0:01:55.520 --> 0:01:58.200 by his very faltering delivery. 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:01.840 You know, when I came to office, conventional wisdom was 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:06.640 a China would inevitably pass, passing United Dates. 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:07.280 I mean. 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:10.359 In a very short address which he must have rehearsed 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:14.000 five thousand times, he still couldn't read the teleprompter properly. 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:20.480 But over office speeches inherently radiate the power of the presidency. 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:24.040 Although in recent years they haven't been very successful, they 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:26.919 have less and less magic about them. Over office speeches, 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:28.519 they just looked so artificial. 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:32.240 It became clear from quite early in this speech that 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:36.840 he wasn't going to acknowledge that he was in cognitive 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:41.360 decline or in any kind of distress. He talked about 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:43.919 it being the honor of his life to have served 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:48.280 as president, but presented himself as someone who was such 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:50.280 a patriot that he was going to step aside. 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:55.440 I reviewed this office. I love my country more. It's 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:57.400 been the honor of my life to serve as your 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:03.480 president with this secret task perfecting our union. It's not 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:09.480 about me. It's about you, your families, your futures. It's 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:14.400 about we the people. We can never forget that, and 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:15.000 I never have. 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:18.440 What did you think about that choice not to reference 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:20.560 explicitly the fact that he was struggling. 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:22.000 We look to be. 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:24.720 Honest with your class. I've been in America several weeks now. 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:27.959 I'm watching this on the West coast, and first of all, 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:32.480 most Americans couldn't care less about politics, and especially if 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:35.960 they're not in the battleground states. But secondly, the whole 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:38.560 premise of Biden's speech was ridiculous. I mean, he was 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:41.760 saying that fifty Democrats could beat Trump, and I my 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:44.400 record as the best in the world, and I'm fabulous, 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:47.240 But I've got to drop out to maintain democratic unity. 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:50.840 You know, original weeks has become clear to me I 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:55.120 need to unite my party in this critical endeavor. I 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:59.960 believe I record as president, my leadership in the world 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:05.520 I visioned for America's future all married it a second term, 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:09.840 but nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:13.160 our democracy that includes personal ambition. 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:16.320 So there's a logical flaw in this. 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:19.960 Why is the Democratic Party so disunited if his record 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:23.680 and prospects are so fantastic. So the question you ask 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:27.440 is very acute. He said he was resigning to preserve unity, 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:31.039 but he didn't say what had caused the disunity. And 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:34.120 what has caused the disunity is that in the debate 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:38.640 with Trump, he was obviously not competent. And I think 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:42.080 it's very ineffective in politics when you try to deny 0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:43.440 what is just. 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:45.000 Obvious before the voter's eyes. 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:48.440 So you know, the liberal press will be weeping over 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:51.640 this and saying, how you know what a noble, splendid 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:53.359 Churchill in figure Biden is. 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:57.880 But I thought the thing just lacked the slightest semblance 0:04:57.880 --> 0:04:58.320 of logic. 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:02.600 He neither said I'm no longer confident, nor did he say, 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:05.520 you know, thirty congressman and a half a dozen senators 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:08.360 and a million fundraisers have all told me to quit 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:10.320 because they won't support me any longer. 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:13.640 Did he seem to you like someone who's been dragged 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:16.320 to this moment and who still doesn't really acknowledge that 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:17.200 he is into client. 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:19.159 Oh yes, absolutely so. 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:24.080 According to Joe Biden, he has selflessly trying to run 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:28.000 again even though he would win, and his record is 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:33.000 unequaled in the world, and America is the greatest position 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:36.640 it's ever been in that lacks no logic. So what 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:41.120 that means is is a guy denying reality. But you know, 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:46.560 he's a sort of an old fashioned political pro and 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:50.000 he has at least been able to take the message 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:52.440 that this is an offer you can't refuse, you know, 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:55.159 I mean, the Democratic Marfia has come to him and said, look, 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:57.240 let me make you an offer you can't refuse. 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.200 So you're either going to resign. 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:03.720 Your candidacy nobly and we're all going to weep about 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:06.560 what a saint you are, or you're going to get 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:09.000 beaten by Trump eighty twenty because none of us is 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:11.160 going to support you. And you know, it's not too 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:13.360 late for us to swing behind a third party candidate. 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:16.440 And all kinds of threats were, no doubt made behind 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:18.640 the scenes, and you know, we'll look again at Hunter's 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:22.280 situation and who knows what sort of things were said privately, 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:25.200 but he was bludgeoned into this decision. 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:26.200 There's no doubt about that. 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:30.680 I'm going to call for a Supreme Court reform because 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:35.960 this is critical to our democracy. Supreme Court reform. You know, 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:42.360 I'll keep working when sure American remains strong, secure, and 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:43.599 the leader of the free world. 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:49.800 One of the first ideas he invoked was Supreme Court reform. Now, 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:53.240 I was watching this speech on the YouTube feed of 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.480 the Associated Press, which was also running a comments thread 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:58.960 from people who were watching. Forty eight thousand people watching, 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:02.680 and that remarks Supreme Court reform prompted a wave of 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:04.960 kind WTF, you know, what. 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.760 The hell is he talking about? So what is he 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:08.400 talking about? 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:11.200 It's a very good example of the bidon non secuitur. 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:14.800 So early on in the speech, he says, we must 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.800 stop thinking of people we disagree with as enemies. 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:19.920 They're just fellow Americans we disagree with. 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:26.040 Then he says, but this election is for the preservation 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:30.360 of American democracy, meaning that my opponents are fascists, they're 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:33.080 all anti Democrats, and if you elect them, that's the 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:37.520 end of American democracy. Similarly, there's a contradiction with the courts. 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:41.880 When the courts are delivering decisions which Biden the Democrats like, 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:47.400 they say, the Republicans are intensely irresponsible for undermining the 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:51.120 court and the court system, which is independent of politics, 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:54.160 and which sometimes gives you decisions you like, sometimes gives 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:56.480 you decisions you don't like, and you should put up 0:07:56.480 --> 0:08:00.600 with the decisions you don't like and not undermine the system. 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:05.120 At the Supreme Court today, an historic upheaval in a 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:08.240 sweeping ruling that overturned a half a century of presidents, 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:11.440 five justices ended the right of American women to choose 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:13.000 abortion under the Constitution. 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:17.880 But then if the Court gives a series of decisions 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:20.400 that the Democrats don't like, it all of a sudden 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:25.120 becomes a corrupt Supreme Court and they no longer want 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:29.800 the judiciary to exercise the power of the judiciary. Now, theoretically, 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:31.640 there are many ways you could reform the court. You 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:36.600 could legislate for another twenty justices and appoint them all yourself, 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:39.560 and then you've got a wonderfully stacked court. But that'd 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:41.360 be very hard to do because you'd have to get 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:44.720 the legislation through their House of Representatives and the Senate. 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:48.479 Or you could legislate for term limits. But the independence 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.600 of the Supreme Court justices has always meant that they 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:54.320 can't be fired. There is no term limit and there's 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:56.680 only a certain number of them. And if you make 0:08:56.720 --> 0:09:00.760 the court something which the administration can shape absolutely. I 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:03.600 mean the Australian High Court only has a certain number 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:06.120 of members. The government appoints the members. That doesn't have 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:08.960 to go through the Parliament or anything. But it only 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:11.120 has a certain number of members. If you enlarge it 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:14.120 by twenty or something, then every incoming administration can just 0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:18.960 appoint twenty new judges and the court becomes completely politicized, 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:22.160 even much more than it has been with fifty years 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:23.880 of judicial activism under it's spelt. 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:27.400 So, is that a gift to Trump and the Republicans 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.280 to suddenly throw into the minds of people who hadn't 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.319 thought about it before that the constitution of the Supreme 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:34.559 Court is now up for grams. 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:36.880 Yes, I think that is probably a mistake for the 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:40.960 Democrats to campaign on that. But Kamala Harris doesn't have 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:44.680 many issues she can campaign on. Despite what Biden said, 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:47.400 you know, the border has been a disaster. I legal 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:51.160 immigration has been a disaster. Inflation is problematic, crime is 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:55.120 very disturbing to people. But the main thing she's going 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:57.320 to campaign on, I think is abortion rights. 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:09.640 We'll believe reproductive freedom will stop Donald Trump's extreme abortion 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:15.000 bands because we trust women to make decisions about their 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:19.800 own body and not have their government tell them what 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:20.560 to do. 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:27.520 Because restrictions on abortion, whether they're ethical, on proper or not, 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:32.600 are unpopular across the United States, and the Supreme Court 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:36.400 reform will be seen as a way of getting back 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:41.440 to a position where the federal authorities guarantee abortion rights 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:43.840 from the moment of conception to the moment of birth, 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:47.360 Whereas what the Supreme Court has done in overturning Roe 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:50.840 versus Way is effectively meant that every state can legislate 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:51.960 however it likes. 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:56.440 Florida's six week abortion band goes into effect today, that 0:10:56.760 --> 0:11:00.200 significantly shorter than the fifteen week band that had been 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:03.760 in place up until this point. Now almost every state. 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:05.640 In the South has restrictions on the procedure. 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:09.000 Arizona will soon be the latest state with a near 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:12.880 total abortion ban after that state Supreme Court revived a 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:16.040 one hundred and sixty year old law. The law provides 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:19.440 no exceptions for rape or incest, and in its four 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:23.280 to two opinion, the conservative majority wrote quote, physicians are 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:27.200 now unnoticed that all abortions except those necessary to save 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:28.720 a woman's life, are illegal. 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:33.120 So I suspect that Kamala Harris will think she can 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:38.199 energize young voters, voters with a feminist consciousness, college activists 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.360 and so on on the abortion issue, and the Supreme 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:44.719 Court is linked to that. It's almost inconceivable that any 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:48.080 administration would get Supreme Court reformed through because you would 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:51.600 think that the Senate would block it under any configuration. 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:59.320 Coming up. Joe Biden has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:02.560 to run for resident, but did his address reveal what 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:05.960 he really thinks about his second in command? And if 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:08.640 you're looking for up to date analysis on the American election, 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:12.320 written by some of the sharpest political commentators in the world, 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:30.000 head to the Australian dot com dot u. In front 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:34.440 of a screaming crowd of Republican faithful, Donald Trump took 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:36.920 to the stage in North Carolina. 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:39.840 Thank you very much, Thank you, Richard. 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:43.720 This was his first rally since President Joe Biden announced 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:48.160 he wouldn't contend the election. It was vintage Trump. 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:51.560 So now we have a new victim to defeat lion, 0:12:52.280 --> 0:13:00.840 Kamala Harris, lion l Yianna pass the most inc and 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:04.240 far left a vice president and American history. By the way, 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:07.880 they did a poll, she was rated the worst vice 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:10.600 president in history. I've never seen that poll before, but 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:11.320 that's the poll. 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.240 A few hours later, Joe Biden would address the nation. 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:18.320 This was his time to throw his support behind the 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:23.440 de facto democratic nominee to dilute the vitriol of Donald Trump. 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:26.600 Just a few months. The American people choose the course 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:30.640 of America's future. I made my choice, I made my 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:34.160 views known. I like to thank our great Vice President 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:38.880 Kamala Harris. She experienced, she's tough, she's capable, She's been 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:42.199 an incredible partner to me and the leader for our country. 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:46.560 That took twenty seconds, and that's all Joe Biden said 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.880 on the topic of Kamala Harris, the woman who hopes 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:53.080 to become the forty eighth president of the United States 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.400 of America. Hardly a glowing endorsement. 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:00.840 I thought there was a bit strange, really quit So 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:05.000 obviously Biden kind of hates Kamala Harris because she's edged 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:08.040 him out of the presidency, but you would think he'd 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:12.079 be ruthless enough to know that it's much better for 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:14.960 him if she wins, much much better for him. First 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.559 of all, he certainly won't be prosecuted for anything, nor 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:22.080 will his family. And secondly, his resignation and his legacy 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:25.080 will look much better. But he didn't do anything for 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:28.000 her in this speech much now. 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:29.480 Of course, he never liked her. 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:32.440 He never, I mean, he chose her because he boxed 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:34.520 himself into a corner saying that he would have to 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:38.560 choose a nominee, a vice presidential nominee who was an 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.440 African American woman, and she was the most prominent African 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:44.240 American woman at the same time. He was quite happy 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:48.840 to choose her because she was so profoundly mediocre that 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:51.640 she would never pose any threat to him. So he 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:55.640 foresaw this moment and like a lot of presidents in history, 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:59.040 chose a mediocre vice president on purpose. You know, Richard 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:02.960 Nixon chose both Spiro Agnew and Gerald Ford, as is 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:06.280 abundantly clear in all the biographies, because he thought they 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:10.120 were both such mediocre dunderheads that nobody would ever try 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:14.640 to over him. Dwight Eisenhower chose Richard Nixon for much 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:18.480 the same reason. And leaders do this, especially in secure leaders. 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:21.440 The only leader who really chose a coequal but Ronald 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:25.600 Reagan chose Bush Senior and Bill Clinton chose Al Gore. 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:28.200 But they're the only two examples in probably the last 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:30.680 sixty years where you could say a president chose someone 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:37.600 who really would be a very viable replacement for them. 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:41.080 Biden's speech had a vibe of this is it over 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:45.080 to you, Kamala. So now the handover from Biden is done, 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:46.480 what are her prospects? 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:48.400 Remember Kamala Harris. 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:53.360 She ran in the twenty twenty Democratic presidential primary, and 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:58.760 her campaign was so poor that she actually quit before 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:02.000 the first care or primary was held. She had no 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:05.880 votes from anyone. Now, she might still win the presidency 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:09.320 because half the nation likes Trump and half the nation 0:16:09.440 --> 0:16:12.040 hates him, and that half the nation who hates him 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:16.200 will certainly vote for her, and the pro Democrat media, 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:18.240 you know, CNN and the New York Times and so on, 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:23.000 will paint her as a magnificent, genius, fabulous blah blah 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:23.520 blah blah. 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:25.320 She failed her first bar exit. 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:28.280 You know, she won her first election in California by 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.440 less than one percent, when every other Democrat running for 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:33.920 statewide office run by more than ten percent. There is 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:36.320 no evidence at all that she is either a vote 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:39.760 winner or a competent person. And then as Vice president, 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:42.840 everything she's touched has turned to misery. She had the 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:46.400 assignment of fixing the southern border and that was an 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:49.479 absolute disaster, and then she ran away from that assignment, 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:52.640 and then Biden never gave her really a serious job 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:55.720 to do as vice president. So Kamala Harris, even though 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:59.360 I think she is extraordinarily mediocre and poor as a 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:03.680 presidential candidate, nonetheless could win. We had two old men 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:07.120 who both of them the whole of the United States detested. 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:10.439 The polls were overwhelming that Americans wished neither of them 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.800 was running. So Biden has been replaced. But because he's 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.240 so selfishly clung to office for so long, the Democrats 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:18.640 haven't been able to have a primary. 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:19.280 Now. 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:22.760 It's hard to imagine Kamala Harris would have beaten Gretchen 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:27.240 Whitmer or Shapiro or any of these powerful governors in 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:31.479 all our primary and she's been handed the job, just 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:34.560 as she was handed the jobs in California. Now, of course, 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:38.679 the campaign will bear a bingdong battle between Kamala Harris, 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:41.879 who is a California Liberal, and Trump, who is a 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:47.840 kind of wild rhetorically wild nationalist. So it's intensely unpredictable. 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.320 It's a better choice than Biden versus Trump, I guess, 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:52.920 because Kamala Harris has not ended the sort of mental 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:54.160 decline that Biden. 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:56.400 Has entered, but is still a pretty poor choice. 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:58.760 For a country as big and magnificent as the United 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:02.320 States to produce Kamala Harrison Donald Trump as their two 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.720 presidential alternatives. I mean, frankly, I'd like to buy both 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:08.280 of them at my estimate, sell them both at their estimate. 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:10.000 I think i'd be Quin's ahead. 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:22.240 Greg Sheridan is the Australians Foreign Editor. Thanks for joining 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.560 us on the front this week. Our team is Stephanie Coombs, 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:29.600 Joshua Burton, Jasper leak Leat, Sam mcglue, Christian Amiot, Tiffany 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:36.399 Demac and me Claire Harvey.