WEBVTT - Why Do We Want To Fight Each Other?

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<v Speaker 1>It is the fifteenth of July, the day after Bestile Day,

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred and twelve days to go until the election,

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<v Speaker 1>thirty five until the Democratic National Convention. The Republican National

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<v Speaker 1>Convention is convening today in Milwaukee, the weekend after the

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<v Speaker 1>assassination attempt on former President Trump. This is the warning.

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<v Speaker 1>President Biden has called for a lowering of the temperature,

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<v Speaker 1>a cooling of the rhetoric, and Donald Trump has called

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<v Speaker 1>for unity. President Biden said, violence has no place in

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<v Speaker 1>American politics. Let's stop there, and let's stay there for

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<v Speaker 1>a minute. Certainly, that is the world that we should

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<v Speaker 1>live in, but that is never the country that we

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<v Speaker 1>have lived in. Violence has always been a part of

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<v Speaker 1>America's life. Violence has stained, as my friend David from said,

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<v Speaker 1>every page of American history with blood. Violence is something

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<v Speaker 1>to be overcome, and there is something that is essential

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<v Speaker 1>to understand. Violence begets violence, begets more violence, begets more violence.

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<v Speaker 1>There is one thing that I have said over and

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<v Speaker 1>over and over again for two years at the warning,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's this. The path to defeating Donald Trump is

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<v Speaker 1>deeply connected to being able to articulate and offer something

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<v Speaker 1>that is better evil against violence is never better. Violence

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<v Speaker 1>that begets more violence. Insanity that begets more insanity must

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<v Speaker 1>be condemned. But this is an age of incitement, and

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<v Speaker 1>the inciter in chief is the man who was shot.

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<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump is a man of violence and menace and cruelty.

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<v Speaker 1>He has incited violence over and over again. When he

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<v Speaker 1>called on his crowds to punch protesters in the face.

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<v Speaker 1>When he told the Proud Boys to stand back and

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<v Speaker 1>be ready, the Proud Boys, by that time had already

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<v Speaker 1>marauded through America's streets, beating people. Donald Trump laughed and

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<v Speaker 1>joked about Paul Pelosi, an eighty year old man beaten

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<v Speaker 1>in his home, the husband of the Speaker of the House.

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<v Speaker 1>Over and over again, the Maga fascist cause has incited violence.

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<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump, in the immediate aftermath of surviving an assassin's

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<v Speaker 1>bullet by an inch, rose to his feet, not reborn,

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<v Speaker 1>not chastened, not ready to preach a message of love

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<v Speaker 1>and reconciliation, but rather, with a clinched fist, he said, fight, Fight, Fight.

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<v Speaker 1>It is an iconic moment, perhaps among the most in

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<v Speaker 1>the nation's history. But who is it that this man

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<v Speaker 1>calling for unity is exhorting to fight. Who is supposed

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<v Speaker 1>to fight whom? And how do we know when the

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<v Speaker 1>fight is over? How do we know when the fight

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<v Speaker 1>is started? Why do we want to fight each other?

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<v Speaker 1>We must not. Shortly before the United States was to

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<v Speaker 1>suffer an apocalypse of death six to eight hundred thousand

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<v Speaker 1>killed in a nation of thirty four million in Civil War.

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<v Speaker 1>Shortly before it began, Abraham Lincoln said to the country,

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<v Speaker 1>we must be friends, and we must What happened in

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<v Speaker 1>Pennsylvania was an unconscionable criminal act, and heads must roll

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<v Speaker 1>at the Secret Service. This is one of the greatest

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<v Speaker 1>security failings in American history by a federal law enforcement agency.

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<v Speaker 1>How did a twenty year old gunman wind up with

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<v Speaker 1>a rifle pointed at the head of the Republican nominee

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<v Speaker 1>and a former president of the United States from a

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<v Speaker 1>rooftop one hundred and fifty yards away. And let's be clear,

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<v Speaker 1>people died a fire chief an American citizen, I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know why so many of my fellow Americans are enamored

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<v Speaker 1>by a despotic bully with authoritarian tendencies like Donald Trump,

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<v Speaker 1>who long ago crossed the line into fascism. I don't know.

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<v Speaker 1>As somebody who grew up in New Jersey. How they

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<v Speaker 1>couldn conceivably be hoodwinked by this con man. But many are.

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<v Speaker 1>The American people alone have the right to decide who

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<v Speaker 1>leads this nation, and it must never be cheated or

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<v Speaker 1>taken from them, not by a bullet, not by a

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<v Speaker 1>foreign power, not by anybody, because to be an American

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<v Speaker 1>is to be part of something. We are citizens of

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<v Speaker 1>the greatest republic in all of world history. I'm going

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<v Speaker 1>to leave this message with a final warning. It's the

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<v Speaker 1>true face of MAGA. It's the words of JD. Vance.

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<v Speaker 1>Read them, appreciate them. The retribution that Donald Trump is

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<v Speaker 1>talking about that he is promised he will now feel

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<v Speaker 1>justified in delivering unless he is ready and prepared to

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<v Speaker 1>repent openly and publicly of all of his malice and

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<v Speaker 1>all of his intimations of violence. But he won't. There

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<v Speaker 1>is something, though, that deserves serious consideration. If Donald Trump

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<v Speaker 1>were the president and this happened, If Donald Trump had

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<v Speaker 1>a Republican Congress and this happened, what would have happened

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<v Speaker 1>in the country, Judging by the rhetoric of a Marjorie

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<v Speaker 1>Taylor Green, would there have been mass arrests, retaliatory violence?

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<v Speaker 1>The military deployed to the streets. Donald Trump's given us

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of clues. None of this is speculation. These

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<v Speaker 1>are dramatic moments and events, but it plays out on

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<v Speaker 1>a stage that we have watched unchanged for nine years.

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<v Speaker 1>And now the bill is coming due, and now we

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<v Speaker 1>must make a choice. The crisis in the Biden campaign

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<v Speaker 1>is fundamentally because President Biden can't speak and articulate a

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<v Speaker 1>vision that is better. And now the politics of the

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<v Speaker 1>race have cemented even harder. Donald Trump's candidacy has been

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<v Speaker 1>built upon two rocks. The first is that he's a victim.

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<v Speaker 1>His persecution complex is unreal, but he has made grievance

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<v Speaker 1>and victimization or virtue. And now he's been bloodied in

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<v Speaker 1>a sense, almost martyred, but having survived, he will claim

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<v Speaker 1>as he has, like Marco Rubio, has God's protection and dominion.

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<v Speaker 1>And the second thing that Trump talks about, his second

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<v Speaker 1>rock a foundation, is strength, strong leader. And he's run

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<v Speaker 1>relentlessly against Joe Biden as a feeble old man, a

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<v Speaker 1>caricature of a declining elderly man, a man who can't

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<v Speaker 1>walk up the steps on Air Force one all the way,

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<v Speaker 1>so he has to use the short ladder. But Donald Trump,

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<v Speaker 1>when he shot within seconds, rises to his feet, pumps

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<v Speaker 1>his fists in the air and says fight, fight, fight,

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<v Speaker 1>And there you have it. That contrast is not politically

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<v Speaker 1>survivable for Joe Biden and for the Democratic Party with

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<v Speaker 1>much at stake. Jd Vance said that Joe Biden was

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<v Speaker 1>at fault for the assassin's bullet because he has said

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<v Speaker 1>that this election is existential. It is existential. Jd Vance

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<v Speaker 1>said that Joe Biden was to blame because he has

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<v Speaker 1>said that Donald Trump is a fascist. The president called

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<v Speaker 1>him a fascist because Donald Trump is a fascist. Jd

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<v Speaker 1>Vance said this happened because democracy is on the line.

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<v Speaker 1>But jd Vance has said democracy is something that it's

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<v Speaker 1>time to move past. Jd Vance like, Donald Trump is

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<v Speaker 1>a fascist and now this attack will be used as

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<v Speaker 1>a smoke screen in the name of unity to further

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<v Speaker 1>quash dissent, and that scam never be bought into by

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<v Speaker 1>any good American because the stakes of this election have

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<v Speaker 1>not changed an iota. What has changed is the leading

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<v Speaker 1>purveyor of division and violence was attacked by violence. And

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<v Speaker 1>that reality one hundred and twelve days from the election

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<v Speaker 1>is very volatile and let's be clear. The Republican Convention

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<v Speaker 1>is not a gathering of good hearted Americans yearning for reconciliation.

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<v Speaker 1>It is a convocation of fascists yearning for political power,

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<v Speaker 1>that want to strip rights away from Black Americans, gay Americans,

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<v Speaker 1>female Americans. And we must say no. And nobody should

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<v Speaker 1>be lectured that this moment demands submission in the face

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<v Speaker 1>of the worst cause since Jim Crow in the Confederacy.

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<v Speaker 1>What this moment requires is defiance against Hape, defiance against

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<v Speaker 1>trump Ism. And it's time to start talking about this

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<v Speaker 1>country aspirationally again, to start looking to the future boldly,

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<v Speaker 1>because that is where we move beyond this wretched, rancid,

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<v Speaker 1>vile time. This is the warning. I'm Steve Schmidt. This

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<v Speaker 1>is the warning, and I invite you to join. Subscribe

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<v Speaker 1>on our substack, on our YouTube channel, follow us. Welcome

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<v Speaker 1>to the community.