WEBVTT - Steve Schmidt reacts to Vivek Ramaswamy's embarrassing interview on MSNBC | The Warning

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<v Speaker 1>The defining issue of our time.

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<v Speaker 2>The great problem that allowed a demagogue like Donald Trump

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<v Speaker 2>to rise is the complete and total collapse of trust

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<v Speaker 2>between the American people and institutions of government, of civil society,

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<v Speaker 2>of nonprofits, religious institutions, corporations. Everywhere you look, powerful interests,

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<v Speaker 2>powerful people have broken trust. When trust collapses, when it

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<v Speaker 2>is incineric, it gives rise to demagogues, people who believe

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<v Speaker 2>that they can say anything, that if they speak fast enough,

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<v Speaker 2>if they speak loudly enough, if they talk over someone

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<v Speaker 2>persistently enough, that they will be able to lie with precision.

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<v Speaker 2>You can think about it at an individual level, beloved

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<v Speaker 2>entertainers like Bill Cosby disgraced. You can think about it

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<v Speaker 2>at a presidential level. Donald Trump, who lied to the

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<v Speaker 2>American people thirty five thousand times. The Catholic Church, the

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<v Speaker 2>Boy Scouts, en Ron, the mortgage crisis, the list goes

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<v Speaker 2>on and on and on. Everywhere the American people look,

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<v Speaker 2>they see malfeasans. What they see is a rig system,

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<v Speaker 2>one set of rules for people at the top, and

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<v Speaker 2>a different set of rules for everybody else. And remember

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<v Speaker 2>always the everybody else includes forty percent of the American

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<v Speaker 2>population that does not have four hundred dollars cash available

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<v Speaker 2>for an emergency, and sixty percent of the population that

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<v Speaker 2>lives paycheck to paycheck. When trust collapses completely, what it

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<v Speaker 2>produces is a field where demagogues can rise. And of

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<v Speaker 2>course that's what Donald Trump is and was, always has been,

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<v Speaker 2>and always will be. What Trump has spawned is a

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<v Speaker 2>new generation of demagogues, demagogues like vvak Ramaswami. The interview

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<v Speaker 2>that Mehdi Hassan did on MSNBC Peacock with vvk Ramaswami

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<v Speaker 2>is a masterclass in how journalists should interview their subjects.

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<v Speaker 2>Mehdi Hassan is in a league of his own among

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<v Speaker 2>American journalists. There's no reason that there can't be twenty

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<v Speaker 2>five people on American television doing what Mehdi Hassan did.

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<v Speaker 2>Watch vvk Ramaswami's reaction to being held to account, to

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<v Speaker 2>being confronted by reality. What he does is a bad

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<v Speaker 2>Trump imitation. He blusters, he lies, he bullshits, but he's

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<v Speaker 2>not feeling very good at it and he's not very convincing.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's watch him talk over medi Hassan. Let's watch him interrupt,

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<v Speaker 2>Let's watch him try to evade his reality and hit

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<v Speaker 2>his record.

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<v Speaker 1>It is remarkable.

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<v Speaker 3>You say he behaved in downright abhorrent behavior that makes

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<v Speaker 3>him a danger to democ.

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<v Speaker 4>Let's tell me what let's actually be Let's actually be

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<v Speaker 4>really fair to your audience. So on January tenth, twenty

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<v Speaker 4>twenty one thereabouts, days after that incident, I wrote an

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<v Speaker 4>outbed on the Wall Street Journal arguing that censorship was

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<v Speaker 4>the real cause of what happened. On January sixth, when

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<v Speaker 4>asked in response, somebody asked me the question, are you

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<v Speaker 4>that that's that's well, that's what I wrote. I'm giving

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<v Speaker 4>you the facts of.

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<v Speaker 1>What I said.

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<v Speaker 4>That's a harsh fact that was published in the Wall

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<v Speaker 4>Street Journal. When pressed on was that condoning what Trump did?

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<v Speaker 4>My answer was no, there's a difference between a bad judgment.

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<v Speaker 3>And understood, and we were able to tell the difference

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<v Speaker 3>that Trump do your view, that was downright abhorrent. Second time, I.

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<v Speaker 4>Think that the thing that I would have done differently

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<v Speaker 4>if I were in his shoes, declared reelection on January seven,

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<v Speaker 4>that's exactly the thing I would Trump do.

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<v Speaker 3>That was egregious, quote, downright abhorrent and a danger to democracy.

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<v Speaker 3>Can you just explain to our view is your words.

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<v Speaker 4>So so you're you're mixing two differentquoess. But what did

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<v Speaker 4>I think was reprehensible about what happened that day?

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<v Speaker 1>Look?

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<v Speaker 4>I think that the way a true leader should have

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<v Speaker 4>handled that situation should have been to actually say, this

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<v Speaker 4>is me running for re election, not actually litigating what

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<v Speaker 4>is already passed in behind us. And I would have

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<v Speaker 4>done things differently. That is not a crime, though, understand.

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<v Speaker 4>And the reason I have been so vehmic you would

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<v Speaker 4>have done because this is from your mouth.

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<v Speaker 3>No, No, I would feel scared of him. Why wouldn't

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<v Speaker 3>you say I'm horrible.

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<v Speaker 4>I'm not going to let you stitch ditching together three

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<v Speaker 4>things with different places.

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<v Speaker 3>Do you want that Trump didn't want to have a conversation. Yes,

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<v Speaker 3>I want you to answer my question. Trump, it was

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<v Speaker 3>downright abhorrent. It's a simple question. It's your words, it's

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<v Speaker 3>on screen. I think what did he do that was

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<v Speaker 3>downright horrent?

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<v Speaker 4>I believe that failing to unite this country falls short

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<v Speaker 4>of what a true leader ought to do. That is

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<v Speaker 4>why I'm in this race, is to do things differently

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<v Speaker 4>than any prior president has done them. That's the hard truth, Okay,

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<v Speaker 4>And that's what the media and well, the reality is

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<v Speaker 4>none of that is a crime. And the reason I

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<v Speaker 4>have been so vocal, the reason I have been so vocal,

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<v Speaker 4>is because when somebody actually prosecutes somebody for a bad judgment,

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<v Speaker 4>and I've been cleared, I understand the judgment. They get

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<v Speaker 4>their judgments.

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<v Speaker 2>It's easy to look at Vivek Ramaswami and dismiss him

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<v Speaker 2>as a very rich googball. But he's dangerous. Why is

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<v Speaker 2>he dangerous? He's dangerous because of the message, his message,

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<v Speaker 2>his placards. And I'm in the state of New Hampshire

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<v Speaker 2>as we speak. They're all over the place, and what

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<v Speaker 2>they say on them is truth. When someone comes to

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<v Speaker 2>you running for president of the United States with a

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<v Speaker 2>banner that says truth above them, and they lie, and

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<v Speaker 2>they lie, and they lie some more, and when they

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<v Speaker 2>get caught in the lie, they double down and they

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<v Speaker 2>lie again, and then they lie and lie some more,

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<v Speaker 2>and double down and lie some more. That person, at

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<v Speaker 2>a moral level is unfit for public trust. And the

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<v Speaker 2>unfitness of an accumulation of enough people has brought America

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<v Speaker 2>to the edge of the greatest crisis it has faced

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<v Speaker 2>since the American Civil War, when the Union was merely

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<v Speaker 2>divided and the country nearly ended. The American system, American society,

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<v Speaker 2>and the American way of life is built around elections,

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<v Speaker 2>a radical concept that we get to choose, and when

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<v Speaker 2>we pick our leaders, we give them power, limited power,

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<v Speaker 2>constrained by the Constitution, and they have no right whatsoever

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<v Speaker 2>to interfere in our rights. These rights are threatened by

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<v Speaker 2>dishonest demagogues who disregard the outcomes of elections. The lying

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<v Speaker 2>is a feature of every authoritarian movement there has ever been,

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<v Speaker 2>and everywhere in the world where people live burdened by

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<v Speaker 2>a government that can impose its will on them, they

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<v Speaker 2>live in.

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<v Speaker 1>A culture of lies.

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<v Speaker 2>And that culture of lies is dangerous because it is

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<v Speaker 2>a cancer on a democracy. At the moment it becomes

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<v Speaker 2>impossible to distinguish what is real and what is not,

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<v Speaker 2>what is bullshit and what is not. Democracy is imperiled

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<v Speaker 2>when you cannot distinguish between the lie and the truth.

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<v Speaker 2>Because they stand equally in the town square, society stands

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<v Speaker 2>on the edge of the abyss. This is important and

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<v Speaker 2>fundamental to understand. This is the role the journalists should

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<v Speaker 2>play in a society, and it is the role that

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<v Speaker 2>journalists largely have abandoned during the Trump era. They've abandoned

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<v Speaker 2>it to go into business with Donald Trump in a

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<v Speaker 2>vast Trump industrial complex. We're outraged, and clicks and anger

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<v Speaker 2>sell and get more cliques and more anger and more rage,

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<v Speaker 2>and on and on it goes. What's the antidote to it?

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<v Speaker 2>The antidote is.

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<v Speaker 1>The transparency that comes from.

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<v Speaker 2>Reality, being able to confront the lie in real time,

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<v Speaker 2>in playview, masterfully done and constructed the way that Mehdi

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<v Speaker 2>Hassan did it. That is how democracy is protected by journalism,

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<v Speaker 2>not by batal slogans like on the masthead of the

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<v Speaker 2>Washington Post that declare democracy dies in darkness, when in

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<v Speaker 2>fact it's dying in the plane light of day. Over

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<v Speaker 2>seven years in this country and in the full view

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<v Speaker 2>of every editor and every politician in the United States,

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<v Speaker 2>Mehdi Hassan is in a league of his own because

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<v Speaker 2>no one else seems to play out the interviews, setting

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<v Speaker 2>up one question after another, leading their subjects into a

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<v Speaker 2>box canyon where they get to expose for all of

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<v Speaker 2>us to see their character. That's what Mehdi Hassan did

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<v Speaker 2>with VVK Ramaswami, and he did a great service to

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<v Speaker 2>the country because he exposed the young demagogue who wants

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<v Speaker 2>to strip the right to vote for millions of Americans

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<v Speaker 2>between eighteen and twenty five years old. Vvek Ramaswami is

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<v Speaker 2>a professional bullshitter and obviously he's done very well for

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<v Speaker 2>himself with that. But let's be clear about something. Vvk

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<v Speaker 2>Ramaswami is a liar. He can't be trusted, certainly not

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<v Speaker 2>with your family's future. He doesn't care.

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<v Speaker 1>About it at all. What he cares about his attention,

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<v Speaker 1>fame and more money. You know how you know that?

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<v Speaker 1>Watch Mehdi Hassan's interview.

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<v Speaker 2>Fevak Ramaswami told you all you ever need to know

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<v Speaker 2>about him. Another Republican magic candidate, completely unfit to ever

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<v Speaker 2>serve the American people in any public capacity that requires trust.