WEBVTT - Questions Abound, and Trouble Awaits.  Lanhee Chen Talks to A&G.

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<v Speaker 1>The Armstrong and getting show very sure. I'm sorry as

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<v Speaker 1>we await for the records from the National Archives. Are

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<v Speaker 1>you absolutely certain? Are you absolutely positive there is no

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<v Speaker 1>record of any complaint by terror read against you. I

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<v Speaker 1>am absolutely positive that no one that I'm aware of

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<v Speaker 1>ever has been made aware of any complaint, a formal

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<v Speaker 1>complaint made by or a complaint by terror read against

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<v Speaker 1>me at the time this allegedly happened twenty seven years ago,

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<v Speaker 1>or until the I announced for Prett well, I was

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<v Speaker 1>a guess it was in April or May this year.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's from Joe Biden this morning. Now he did it.

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<v Speaker 1>At some point he opened with the unequivocally stated that

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<v Speaker 1>that's never happened. He never u raped or whatever you

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<v Speaker 1>want to call it, this woman terror read. I said

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<v Speaker 1>to Sean, though, we might as well play the embarrassing

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<v Speaker 1>Biden clip, and Sean said, Sean said, You're gonna have

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<v Speaker 1>to be more specific, but um, I picked out the

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<v Speaker 1>one where he sounded the worst, but mostly it was fine.

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<v Speaker 1>It was Joe Biden saying, no, I never did this. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't do anything like this. I've never done anything

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<v Speaker 1>like this. There's no complaint blah, blah blah, and we're

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<v Speaker 1>thinking it's over. Lany j h N is the David

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<v Speaker 1>and Diane Stiffy Research Fellow to over Institution Director of

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<v Speaker 1>Domestic Policy Studies at Stanford University, and Jones is now

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<v Speaker 1>long here. How are you, sir? I am fine. How

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<v Speaker 1>are you? Gentlemen? We're We're great, you know, all things considered.

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<v Speaker 1>So do you think the Joe Biden sexual assault thing

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<v Speaker 1>is more or less over? Um? You know? I I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know, And I say I don't know because the

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<v Speaker 1>Democratic Party and where it is now, uh, it's very

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<v Speaker 1>different than where the Democratic Party was when Joe Biden

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<v Speaker 1>spent most of his time in politics. And what I

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<v Speaker 1>mean by that is the elements of the far left

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<v Speaker 1>that have essentially occupied the party. And we saw this

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<v Speaker 1>during during the presidential primary. I think we're going to

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<v Speaker 1>continue to push Biden. They're going to continue to push

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<v Speaker 1>him on this, and while uther ordinary circumstances, an interview

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<v Speaker 1>like that would have would have kind of lanced the boil.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm just not so sure that folks are going to

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<v Speaker 1>be willing to let go of this at this point.

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<v Speaker 1>And this is just one of those issues. It's really hard.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, how do you square what he said with

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<v Speaker 1>the way that he treated, for example, Brett Kavanaugh during

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<v Speaker 1>during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. I think, I think these

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<v Speaker 1>are questions that are going to continue, and I'm just

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<v Speaker 1>not sure that that interview today did it well. I

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<v Speaker 1>get those a questions from the right because I do

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<v Speaker 1>still have those questions. The way you wanted to change

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<v Speaker 1>college campuses, the way you went after Kavanaugh, I need

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<v Speaker 1>more explanation for how that squares with this. But in

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<v Speaker 1>terms of the left, what would the left push him

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<v Speaker 1>to do? I mean, what else can he do well?

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<v Speaker 1>I I think you know, you saw this with the

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<v Speaker 1>Washington Post editorial board saying he ought to release his

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<v Speaker 1>pay ferms, make make them completely open. The ones that

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<v Speaker 1>are that are that are held at the University of Delaware. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>I think more questions will arise. There's some dispute, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>over whether, in fact the National Archives is the place

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<v Speaker 1>where a complaint from his Senate time would be would

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<v Speaker 1>be held. I think that's that's a question. Yeah, he

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<v Speaker 1>said no personnel stuff would be in those archives that

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<v Speaker 1>people are demanding opening, so there's just no point. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>But but you know, I think that's not going to

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<v Speaker 1>be satisfactory to some, you know, particularly and hit who

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<v Speaker 1>are the thing on the left comes to play because

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<v Speaker 1>I think on the left, you know, there there are

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<v Speaker 1>some who are agitating and saying, look, you know, is

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<v Speaker 1>there more there? We cannot have a nominee of our

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<v Speaker 1>party who the nominally Democratic party, that is, who who

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<v Speaker 1>is tainted by this kind of thing, and they want

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<v Speaker 1>to know more. Now that may just be a way

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<v Speaker 1>of them trying to get Biden out, which is highly

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<v Speaker 1>highly probable now. But my point is simply that I

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<v Speaker 1>just think that that the agitation among some core that

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<v Speaker 1>the left is going to continue to dog his campaign.

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<v Speaker 1>So yeah, I'm reminded of the quote from Orwell that

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<v Speaker 1>we more or less started the show with this morning,

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<v Speaker 1>in which he's talking about the the reason you acquire

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<v Speaker 1>powers for power. Power is the goal, and if the

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<v Speaker 1>AOC crowd can get rid of the last vestige of

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<v Speaker 1>the old moderate Democrat crowd, they don't care if they

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<v Speaker 1>lose to Trump in the doing of that, in the

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<v Speaker 1>same way that like your dispatch anti Trump Republicans, they're

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<v Speaker 1>more than willing to lose to Biden to get rid

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<v Speaker 1>of Trump. So anyway, oh a. Speaking of the election

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<v Speaker 1>and parties and the rest of it. As a libertarian

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<v Speaker 1>leaning fellow, I was fairly excited to see Justin Amash,

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<v Speaker 1>a non crackpot mostly get into the race. What do

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<v Speaker 1>we know about him? What do you think of the

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<v Speaker 1>dynamics of that if if indeed he doesn't, I think

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<v Speaker 1>he will. Yeah, you know, this is a tough one.

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<v Speaker 1>I've kind of heard it argued both ways that his

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<v Speaker 1>presence hurts Biden and his presence hurts Trump. I've kind

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<v Speaker 1>of heard it both ways. I mean, look, I think

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<v Speaker 1>our political them is better off when we have people

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<v Speaker 1>who fill parts of of lanes or parts of people's

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<v Speaker 1>political interests that wouldn't be filled otherwise. And I do

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<v Speaker 1>think that there are a number of people who are

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<v Speaker 1>concerned on the right about how the Republican Party seems

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<v Speaker 1>increasingly comfortable embracing big government, how it's increasingly comfortable embracing

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<v Speaker 1>lots of spending, how it's increasingly comfortable embracing the role

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<v Speaker 1>of the nanny state in in policing people's lives. And

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<v Speaker 1>I think that Amash presents an alternative to them now

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<v Speaker 1>for the left. Yeah, so you you just explained the

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<v Speaker 1>part to me, that makes the most sense. So that

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<v Speaker 1>damages a Republican candidate because he's small government. But I

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<v Speaker 1>I have heard also the arguments that it hurts Biden more.

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<v Speaker 1>Please explain that to me. I don't get it at all. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I think I think that the notion there is that

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<v Speaker 1>you've got this this uh, this this sort of group

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<v Speaker 1>of voters who are they're just uncomfortable with Biden for

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<v Speaker 1>whatever reason, but they can't vote for Trump because they

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<v Speaker 1>really don't like Trump, so they need to put their

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<v Speaker 1>votes somewhere else, So they're gonna put it with Justin

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<v Speaker 1>Amash that basically he's a placeholder for whatever it is

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<v Speaker 1>they don't like about about about Joe Biden and they

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<v Speaker 1>don't like about Donald Trump. I don't think that's a

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<v Speaker 1>very big percentage of people to to sort of betray

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<v Speaker 1>my my my true feeling on this. I don't think

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<v Speaker 1>there's a ton of people who would vote that way.

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<v Speaker 1>But the idea again is just do you have an

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<v Speaker 1>alternative to vote for who's not you know, you just

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<v Speaker 1>you really don't like Joe Biden for whatever reason, and

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<v Speaker 1>you can't bring yourself to vote for Trump, and then

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<v Speaker 1>you vote for someone like Amash, who has been you know,

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<v Speaker 1>principled on on a number of different things. Uh. And

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<v Speaker 1>so you know that's where you that's where you put

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<v Speaker 1>your vote. Hey, Jack, do you mind if we do

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<v Speaker 1>a minute. I know we've been talking about this a lot,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's always great to talk to Lani Chan of

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<v Speaker 1>the Hoover Institution, Stanford University and get your point of view.

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<v Speaker 1>Alan he let's talk a little bit about civil liberties

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<v Speaker 1>in the COVID response. What's your take on what's happening

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<v Speaker 1>these days? Well, people are understandably uncomfortable with the idea,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, of tech companies like you know, Apple and

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<v Speaker 1>Facebook having more control over personal data that could be

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<v Speaker 1>used at some point down the road for for for

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<v Speaker 1>the gain of those companies. It'll be one thing if

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<v Speaker 1>you said, look, we're going to use the data to

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<v Speaker 1>gelocate people to ensure we're not spreading coronavirus. That's one thing.

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<v Speaker 1>But I think people are are nervous because the tech

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<v Speaker 1>companies in particular have been shown to not be trustworthy. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>what about the in the limited time we have and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry to interrupt, but what about the mass closures

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<v Speaker 1>of so many businesses and the rationale going from flattening

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<v Speaker 1>the curve to just eliminating cases if we can. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>just last night you had Southern California say no, we

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<v Speaker 1>make our own decisions in our county, not the governor. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean to be clear that the goal post keeps

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<v Speaker 1>shifting on this. The reason why we were sheltering in

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<v Speaker 1>place to flatten the curve was precisely because we didn't

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<v Speaker 1>want to overburden our health care system. It's clear our

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<v Speaker 1>healthcare system is not going to be overbur so now

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<v Speaker 1>that we've achieved that goal, we do need to responsibly

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<v Speaker 1>reopen the economy. We we cannot be out there. I've

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<v Speaker 1>heard people argue, but what we need to do is

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<v Speaker 1>we need to save every life possible. That that is

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<v Speaker 1>not the goal of public policy in this case. It

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<v Speaker 1>should not be the goal because it's unachievable fundamentally, we

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<v Speaker 1>we we have to realize that. By the way, there's

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<v Speaker 1>a ton of other problems with closing the economy and

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<v Speaker 1>keeping it closed. People's livelihood, of people's health that's affected too. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that's the point we've been trying to make. And it

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<v Speaker 1>was funny, strange I read this allegedly great peace in Politico,

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<v Speaker 1>in which the guide did not even acknowledge that a

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<v Speaker 1>crushed economy will cost lives maybe half as many lives

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<v Speaker 1>as the COVID, maybe as many, maybe three times as many.

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<v Speaker 1>So we're not trading lives for money. We're trading lives

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<v Speaker 1>for money and lives. Yeah, and and and that's one thing,

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<v Speaker 1>by the way, these epidemiological models they never account for

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<v Speaker 1>They don't account for the fact that people are sheltering

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<v Speaker 1>in place, which means rates of obesity and rates of

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<v Speaker 1>other diseases are going to rise. That elective procedures have

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<v Speaker 1>been canceled, which means cancer diagnoses have been missed. There's

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<v Speaker 1>all sorts of things. And I'm not saying that that

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<v Speaker 1>the number of those people overwhelmed the number of people

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<v Speaker 1>who would have died from coronavirus. But you've gotta you

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<v Speaker 1>gotta consider all of that, and public policy has to

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<v Speaker 1>be balanced. It can't be out of balance. And I

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<v Speaker 1>fear that right now there's a little bit about a

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<v Speaker 1>balance in some states, California especially. Well, we appreciate you

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<v Speaker 1>taking the time to talk to us today. I hope

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<v Speaker 1>you're you and yours are healthy. We are, thank you.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks lon um I heard another explanation of why they

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<v Speaker 1>Some people think that Amash getting into the races libertarian

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<v Speaker 1>hurts Biden more than Trump. I could get into that

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<v Speaker 1>if you get next hour. If you don't grab it

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<v Speaker 1>at Armstrong and Guinea dot com via podcast. If you're like, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm kind of mystified by that theory too, so I'd

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<v Speaker 1>like to hear it. There's another hour of this show.

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<v Speaker 1>Some people get it very exciting. Armstrong and