WEBVTT - Steve Schmidt Explains How Donald Trump Is Getting Closer To Power

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<v Speaker 1>The very same people who are saying that Donald Trump

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<v Speaker 1>can't win are the very same people who said he

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't win in twenty and sixteen. This is the warning.

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to another Ask Me Anything session. This is our

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<v Speaker 1>second one, and if you continue to enjoy them, we'll

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<v Speaker 1>keep them going. We've gotten hundreds of questions and I'm

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<v Speaker 1>going to answer some of them right now. The question

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<v Speaker 1>is what needs to be done to get Biden elected? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>the simplest answer to that question is President Biden must

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<v Speaker 1>secure two hundred and seventy electoral votes in order to

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<v Speaker 1>be re elected president of the United States. The last

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<v Speaker 1>election he won by forty four thousand votes across three states.

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<v Speaker 1>This election will likely feature more than two candidates that

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<v Speaker 1>are capable of getting over thirty percent of the vote,

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<v Speaker 1>so functionally, this will be a three way race. And

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<v Speaker 1>that's why it's so important for the Biden team to

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<v Speaker 1>understand the situation that was faced by Harry Truman in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen forty eight. Harry Truman was faced with the position

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<v Speaker 1>where there were in effect three Democrats running for president

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<v Speaker 1>against one Republican, Thomas Dewey. And so there's a famous

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<v Speaker 1>newspaper headline that says, Dewey defeats Truman, and later there's

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<v Speaker 1>a picture of Harry Truman holding that Chicago newspaper from

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<v Speaker 1>the back of the Ferdinand Magellan railcarps number one loading

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<v Speaker 1>happy having been re elected. Harry Truman had a candidate,

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<v Speaker 1>Henry Wallace, a former vice president under FDR, running to

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<v Speaker 1>his left, and he had strom Thurmond, the South Carolina segregationist,

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<v Speaker 1>running to his right. This was all part of the

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<v Speaker 1>most issac of the Democratic Party, and in the end

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<v Speaker 1>Harry Truman won the game, playing with the deck as

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<v Speaker 1>it was dealt. Now, specifically, what Joe Biden has to

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<v Speaker 1>do is he has to bring the fight to Donald Trump.

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<v Speaker 1>He has to push the MAGA movement outside the mainstream

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<v Speaker 1>of Americanism. Corporate media in America has covered the MAGA

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<v Speaker 1>movement and has covered the rise of Donald Trump for

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<v Speaker 1>the last seven years through a couple of different prisms.

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<v Speaker 1>The first was a profit opportunity. The chairman of CBS

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<v Speaker 1>News once made it clear Trump may be terrible for America,

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<v Speaker 1>but he's great for CBS, and he was great for Fox,

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<v Speaker 1>and he was great for CNN, and he was great

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<v Speaker 1>for MSNBC. All the while these networks normalized behavior and

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<v Speaker 1>refuse to call his dogma, his ideology what it actually is,

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<v Speaker 1>which is fascism. So Joe Biden will have to take

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<v Speaker 1>the fight to Donald Trump by explaining eight years on

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<v Speaker 1>what this is and the madness that is exploding around

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<v Speaker 1>the country. Just look at the Republican Maga party in Congress.

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<v Speaker 1>In the last forty eight hours. They have strangled aid

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<v Speaker 1>to Ukraine, they have strangled AID to Israel, they have

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<v Speaker 1>attempted to impeach the Homeland Security Secretary. There is an

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<v Speaker 1>uprising against Mitch McConnell. Everywhere you look in the Republican

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<v Speaker 1>Maga cabal, there is chaos and it is a harbinger

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<v Speaker 1>of the chaos that will come to the country preceding

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<v Speaker 1>the catastrophe that is inevitable should Trump win. And that's

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<v Speaker 1>what the race must be about. Joe Biden must convince

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<v Speaker 1>the American people at eighty two years old, that he

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<v Speaker 1>is ready for four more years and that Donald Trump

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<v Speaker 1>is simply an unacceptable alternative. And the Biden campaign has

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<v Speaker 1>to acknowledge something. There are a lot of people, me included,

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<v Speaker 1>who are deeply and I mean deeply unhappy about voting

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<v Speaker 1>to reelect an eighty two year old president. Yet that

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<v Speaker 1>is the only choice we have as good Americans. So

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<v Speaker 1>Joe Biden, more than most, is going to have to

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<v Speaker 1>court openly and honestly an unhappy electorate that will be

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<v Speaker 1>with him, but also deserves some acknowledgment from him. Here's

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<v Speaker 1>a question, and I think it's a really important one.

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<v Speaker 1>If we want Biden to win the general election, wouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>it be better for Trump to be the GOP candidate

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<v Speaker 1>rather than Nicky Haley. This is important to be honest about,

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<v Speaker 1>and it represents one of the Biden team's greatest derelictions

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<v Speaker 1>during the entire course of his presidency. And what I'm

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<v Speaker 1>about to say is beyond any dispute. There are literally

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred quotes from Biden administration officials saying three things,

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<v Speaker 1>all of them anonymous, of course, One that Donald Trump

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<v Speaker 1>is the candidate that Biden is best matched against. Two

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<v Speaker 1>that Donald Trump is the candidate that Democrats want because

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<v Speaker 1>he's the easiest for Biden to be And number three,

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<v Speaker 1>Biden beat him once, so he can beat him again.

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<v Speaker 1>All of this ignoring, of course, residented threat that Donald

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<v Speaker 1>Trump poses to the American way of life. The most

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<v Speaker 1>irresponsible conceivable position to have an American politics is to

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<v Speaker 1>root for Donald Trump to advance closer to power so

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<v Speaker 1>he can be defeated. There Trump is a menace and

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<v Speaker 1>a danger, and it should be the focus of all

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<v Speaker 1>who stand in opposition to him to oppose him at

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<v Speaker 1>the furthest point from political power as possible. The fact

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<v Speaker 1>that Donald Trump would be the Republican nominee again for

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<v Speaker 1>the third election cycle in a row, and again after

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<v Speaker 1>inciting insurrection and paralyze the country's politics, citing insanity across America,

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<v Speaker 1>weakening our standing abroad, dividing us at home, the idea

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<v Speaker 1>that anybody would cheer him on so their candidate, their guy,

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<v Speaker 1>their preferred person, could beat him because he's the easiest

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<v Speaker 1>guy to beat, and Trump could never get elected again.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's the most irresponsible position there is an

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<v Speaker 1>American politics. And let me be clear about this. The

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<v Speaker 1>very same people who are saying that Donald Trump can't

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<v Speaker 1>win are the very same people who said he couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>win in twenty sixteen. And I was never one of

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<v Speaker 1>those people. In fact, I was the first person when

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<v Speaker 1>he came down the escalator and the whole corporate media

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<v Speaker 1>said he was a clown and a joke who said, no,

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<v Speaker 1>he could win, he could be the Republican nominee. And later,

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<v Speaker 1>when he was racking up victory after victory, I was

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<v Speaker 1>among the first to say he is winning, he's going

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<v Speaker 1>to win, and he could be president. And he did

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<v Speaker 1>become president, and the catastrophe that followed is a historic one.

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<v Speaker 1>There is a dogma in American politics that is formed

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<v Speaker 1>by repetition, and the repetition is that the American political

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<v Speaker 1>system is immune from disruption, that the two political parties

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<v Speaker 1>a duopoly will permanently enjoy that duopoly in perpetuity, that

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<v Speaker 1>somehow the political parties are constitutional, which they're not. The

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<v Speaker 1>political parties in the country have been failing for a

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<v Speaker 1>long time. Both are held in low esteem by the

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<v Speaker 1>American people. And the fastest growing party in America is

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<v Speaker 1>declined to state or independent. So could an American patriot

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<v Speaker 1>run as an independent and win the presidency? Absolutely are

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<v Speaker 1>there impediments to that one hundred percent. Will it happen

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<v Speaker 1>in twenty twenty four? It will not. But could it

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<v Speaker 1>happen in twenty twenty eight? Could it happen in twenty

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<v Speaker 1>thirty two? It could? And let me tell you this

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<v Speaker 1>scenario by which it is most likely to happen. Nobody

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<v Speaker 1>talks about what happens to the Democratic Party if it's

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<v Speaker 1>defeated by Trump. My view is, if the Democratic Party

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<v Speaker 1>loses a presidential election to Donald Trump in twenty twenty four,

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<v Speaker 1>the party will be destroyed. Who amongst the Democratic leadership

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<v Speaker 1>will be the first to say say that an independent

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<v Speaker 1>candidacy is a spoiler, a spoiler of what at that point,

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<v Speaker 1>because there will be nothing left to spoil. There will

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<v Speaker 1>only be a country to rescue, and the Democratic Party

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<v Speaker 1>would have demonstrated its incapacity to compete on that field. So, therefore,

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<v Speaker 1>people who want to see a restoration of American democracy,

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<v Speaker 1>American pluralism, American decency will have to look outside, or

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<v Speaker 1>will be open to looking outside that system to find

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<v Speaker 1>a candidate who can lead an American restoration. The question

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<v Speaker 1>is what can we do about all of the false

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<v Speaker 1>media information? Nothing. There's nothing that you can do. There

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<v Speaker 1>are thousands of stories that have been written where I

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<v Speaker 1>have been featured and quoted in the story. There have

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<v Speaker 1>been a lot of profiles written about me over the years.

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<v Speaker 1>There are factual errors, simple ones, but ones that drive

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<v Speaker 1>me crazy. In every story, the fact is, it doesn't matter.

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<v Speaker 1>The New York Times, the Washington Post, Vanity Fair, the

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<v Speaker 1>overwhelming majority of stories that you read from the most

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<v Speaker 1>respected news outlets are riddled with error all the time.

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<v Speaker 1>Though misinformation is different just outright lies. And we see that.

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<v Speaker 1>We see it on Fox News, we see it on Newsmax,

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<v Speaker 1>we see it onan The President of the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump, lied to the American people a documented thirty

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<v Speaker 1>five thousand times. Until the American people are ready to

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<v Speaker 1>sort fact from fiction, are ready to put in the

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<v Speaker 1>effort to know what is real what is not, to

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<v Speaker 1>do the homework, the country's going to be plagued by

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<v Speaker 1>an inability to tell what is true, what is false,

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<v Speaker 1>what is up, what is down? What is red, what

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<v Speaker 1>is blue? And there's a simple issue connected to this,

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<v Speaker 1>and it says, can democracy survive in a country where

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<v Speaker 1>nobody can distinguish fact from delusion, nobody can tell the

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<v Speaker 1>truth from the lie. And the answer is no. So

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<v Speaker 1>this isn't a political issue. This is a whole society problem.

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<v Speaker 1>When the truth collapses, dictatorships rise. And that is one

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<v Speaker 1>of the central lessons of the twentieth century and of

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<v Speaker 1>modern history. The truth is essential in a democracy, and

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<v Speaker 1>there is no healthy democracy that countenances tolerates the level

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<v Speaker 1>of lying that has become routine in American politics and

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<v Speaker 1>reported across the American media. The question is what impact

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<v Speaker 1>do you see for a US Canada relationship. The United

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<v Speaker 1>States and Canada maintained the longest peaceful, undefended border in

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<v Speaker 1>world history, across which one trillion dollars in annual trade flows.

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<v Speaker 1>The Canadian American relationship is sustained by family relationships, by marriage,

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<v Speaker 1>by military partnership, by great sacrifices in the name of freedom,

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<v Speaker 1>and also by common values. Donald Trump does not share

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<v Speaker 1>Canada's values, and he does not share America's values. If

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<v Speaker 1>he comes to power, he will come to power in

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<v Speaker 1>America with an autocrat's heart, and that will be incompatible

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<v Speaker 1>with Canadian values. So there will be inherent in tensions

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<v Speaker 1>between a Trump led America in Canada. And also, Trump

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<v Speaker 1>is a protectionist and he will do everything in every

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<v Speaker 1>transaction to try to gain advantage against Canadian interests for

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<v Speaker 1>the sake of America's interests. Trump is a zero sum believer.

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<v Speaker 1>He doesn't believe that two sides can both win. He

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<v Speaker 1>believes that there is a winner, and that there is

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<v Speaker 1>a loser in every deal, in every transaction, and because

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<v Speaker 1>of that, he doesn't understand the value of alliances and

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<v Speaker 1>relationships forged by common history, shared values, and shared sacrifice.

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<v Speaker 1>And so the Canadian US relationship and a Trump presidency

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<v Speaker 1>will deteriorate. It will be strained, and Canada will have

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<v Speaker 1>a hard time at times dealing with the President Trump,

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<v Speaker 1>who will more likely than not be looking south across

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<v Speaker 1>the border towards Mexico, which will have an enormous problem

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<v Speaker 1>should Trump be re elected, but will be good for

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<v Speaker 1>Canada in that Trump isn't known for being able to

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<v Speaker 1>cast his attention on several issues at once. Thank you

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<v Speaker 1>for listening to my political commentary. If you like what

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<v Speaker 1>you heard today, please also consider subscribing to The Warning

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<v Speaker 1>daily newsletter on substack. Our democracy hangs in the balance.

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<v Speaker 1>The twenty twenty four presidential election is the most consequential

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<v Speaker 1>in America's history. It's not hyperbole, it's a fact. That

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<v Speaker 1>is why the mission of The Warning with Steve Schmidt

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<v Speaker 1>is to help readers orient to the currents that are

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<v Speaker 1>shaping our times and the unseen forces drive having politics

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<v Speaker 1>that are very rarely discussed on cable news. Please sign

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<v Speaker 1>up at Steve Schmidt S T, E V E, S C, H,

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<v Speaker 1>M I d T dot substack dot com again Steve

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<v Speaker 1>Schmidt dot substack dot com, or at the link in

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<v Speaker 1>the show notes section below. Thank you to each and

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<v Speaker 1>every one of you for listening and watching