WEBVTT - Rick Davis on Biden's Speech (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>President Joe Biden, speaking from Philadelphia's Independence and National Historical Park.

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<v Speaker 1>The speech was titled Battle for the Soul of the Nation.

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<v Speaker 1>He went about twenty five minutes. He started with the

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<v Speaker 1>notion that equality and democracy are under assault, and he

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<v Speaker 1>mentioned Donald Trump by name, and I guess there were

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<v Speaker 1>many of watchers who thought that may not happen, so

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<v Speaker 1>somewhat unexpected. He went on to say that Trump and

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<v Speaker 1>Magna Republicans are threatening the foundation of the republic. We

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<v Speaker 1>are not by standards in the ongoing attack on democracy.

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<v Speaker 1>And he went on to say we are at an

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<v Speaker 1>inflection point and in it is in our power to

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<v Speaker 1>stop the assault on American democracy. This is a special

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<v Speaker 1>edition of Bloomberg Daybreak Asia. I'm Doug Prisoner in New York.

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<v Speaker 1>My colleague Brian Curtis in Hong Kong. Brian, Yeah, this

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<v Speaker 1>was very interesting, and let's bring in Rick Davis, Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Politics contributor and partner at Stone Court Capital, to dissected.

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<v Speaker 1>Rick only a modest attempt to laud his own achievements

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<v Speaker 1>and and really didn't use this as an attempt to

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<v Speaker 1>target Republican ideals at all. This was really an attempt

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<v Speaker 1>to ring fence, the MAGA movement and Trump himself. Do

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<v Speaker 1>you think he pulled it off? Yeah? I think it

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<v Speaker 1>was two speeches here, right, one Brian that you describe,

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<v Speaker 1>which is, you know, hey, these are the Maga Republicans.

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<v Speaker 1>They are, you know, against democracy. You know, they've been

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<v Speaker 1>fooled by Donald Trump. You know, they're not the gop

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<v Speaker 1>of your father is like he's like to say in

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<v Speaker 1>the past. But then he contrasts that with his own achievements, right,

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<v Speaker 1>and the country's moving forward, and I got lower drug prices,

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<v Speaker 1>I was able to get you know, all these things passed,

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<v Speaker 1>and we got a fight on abortion and and and

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<v Speaker 1>and he's kind of pivoted so that there was this

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<v Speaker 1>part of the speech that was dedicated to his legislative achievements,

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<v Speaker 1>and then the other part and that was the light,

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<v Speaker 1>positive part, and then the other part was very dark

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<v Speaker 1>and and fore voting about you know, the threat to

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<v Speaker 1>democracy that Maga Republicans pose. Rick, where is the line

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<v Speaker 1>between what we call mainstream Republicans and the extremist Well,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, I think that that that he was trying

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<v Speaker 1>to draw one right early in the speech he said,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, not everybody, not all the Republicans are Maga Republicans, um.

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<v Speaker 1>But he didn't really go into much detail on who

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<v Speaker 1>they were or or how he was talking. To my

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<v Speaker 1>own point of view, just from a political lens, um

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<v Speaker 1>there there probably are a few, uh, you know, Republicans

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<v Speaker 1>that are are considered mainstream Republicans and and sort of

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<v Speaker 1>tolerant of the current party as it stands. But I

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<v Speaker 1>do think he was really looking at independence and and

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<v Speaker 1>this kind of you know, sort of setting up the wedge.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, Independence, don't be drawn into that Republican party.

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<v Speaker 1>These are run by MAGA, you know, and they're really

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<v Speaker 1>outside the mainstream and their extremists and and and what

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<v Speaker 1>he's trying to do is probably go that fifty percent

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<v Speaker 1>he got in the general election two years ago, and

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<v Speaker 1>he needs that to show up on the midterms. He

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<v Speaker 1>he did make it a point to say quite early

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<v Speaker 1>that he's not really lead targeting all Republicans, he said,

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<v Speaker 1>many of whom he had worked with in his long

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<v Speaker 1>career in the Senate. He really did try to isolate

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<v Speaker 1>the MAGA group. We don't know exactly how big it is,

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<v Speaker 1>I suppose, but I found it a kind of interesting.

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<v Speaker 1>And you thought that he made a bigger attempt to

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<v Speaker 1>laud his achievements. I thought that was only sort of

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<v Speaker 1>a modest attempt. But he did refer to this being

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<v Speaker 1>the United States, uh, and that the two parties should

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<v Speaker 1>work together. And yet I think I heard you say

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<v Speaker 1>earlier this morning on our air that he really didn't

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<v Speaker 1>reach out to the Republicans with cabinet positions or high positions,

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<v Speaker 1>key positions in government. Yeah. I think there was an expectation,

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<v Speaker 1>considering how much he devoted in the general election his

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<v Speaker 1>rhetoric to talking about unifying the country and bringing in,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, a coalition of Americans who would you know,

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<v Speaker 1>be loyal to the government and to the country and

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<v Speaker 1>not focused on ideology and and and that never really materialized.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I actually think there were more Democrats and

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<v Speaker 1>in the Trump cabinet than there are Republicans in the

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<v Speaker 1>Biden cabinet. And that being said, his major accomplishments, short

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<v Speaker 1>of just a couple that he's done just recently through reconciliation,

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<v Speaker 1>have really been bipartisan accomplishments. This massive bill for infrastructure

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<v Speaker 1>was done with Republicans, Democrats and lockstep H and many

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<v Speaker 1>other legislative achievements he's been able to get through. So

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<v Speaker 1>he he avoids wedge politics. That's who he is. But

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's been disappointing to many Democrats who actually

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<v Speaker 1>want to impose accountability on these Maga Republicans, right They

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<v Speaker 1>want to prosecute these guys. They don't want to put

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<v Speaker 1>a you know, handout for them. And and so I

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<v Speaker 1>do think he's running a little bit counter to his

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<v Speaker 1>own party's interests, who sort of got a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>of taste of victory with his election. And I would

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<v Speaker 1>like to put the Maga Republicans on the trash heap

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<v Speaker 1>of history. I had an ear open to see whether

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<v Speaker 1>or not he would say anything along the lines of

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<v Speaker 1>conservative Supreme Court that didn't happen. Talk to me Rick

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<v Speaker 1>about the timing. Is he setting the stage for another term?

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<v Speaker 1>Is it too early for that to happen? Is this

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<v Speaker 1>more about the mid terms? He's got to win at

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<v Speaker 1>his back right now. Yeah, he's got to win in

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<v Speaker 1>his back. I think Democrats have convinced themselves that they've

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<v Speaker 1>got a shot at maybe even leveling the playing field

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<v Speaker 1>in the House and winning the Senate. Uh and and

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<v Speaker 1>and and and there's good reason for that right there,

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<v Speaker 1>pulling data looks good. They've had these great legislative achievements,

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<v Speaker 1>and so this is I think purely focused on trying

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<v Speaker 1>to get a ticket through the mid term elections and

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<v Speaker 1>and hold onto power because they know if that House

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<v Speaker 1>flips to the Republicans and it doesn't matter by one

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<v Speaker 1>vote or a hundred votes, then their legislative agenda is gone. Right,

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<v Speaker 1>They'll be not able to implement anything. It will turn

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<v Speaker 1>into all kinds of investigations by Republicans and it'll be chaos,

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<v Speaker 1>and that will not be good for Biden to think

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<v Speaker 1>through a second term, right, And so this buys him

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<v Speaker 1>an option if he's able to to to find success

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<v Speaker 1>in the mid term elections. And this was all about

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<v Speaker 1>what are the stakes of the mid terms. The stakes

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<v Speaker 1>are you can you can descend into darkness through the

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<v Speaker 1>magarepublican agenda, or you can stick with me and see

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<v Speaker 1>these great things I've achieved and we can continue to

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<v Speaker 1>do it together. Just briefly in twenty seconds. So it

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<v Speaker 1>sounded like a few moments ago that you were suggesting

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<v Speaker 1>that the insurrectionists should not be hauled into court. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean you've noticed, um, he didn't say much about uh,

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<v Speaker 1>any of the legal activity, right. I mean, he clearly

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<v Speaker 1>put the MAGA Republicans on the extreme list. Um, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>he didn't take the language on fascism that we heard

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<v Speaker 1>from him earlier. I don't think there's any doubt that

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<v Speaker 1>the party and in his administration would like to see

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<v Speaker 1>people who have violated the law, whether it's the President

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<v Speaker 1>United States or people broke into the Capitol to be prosecuted.

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<v Speaker 1>But he's done a good job I think as president

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<v Speaker 1>of staying out of the legal fray and and and

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<v Speaker 1>preserving his options for the future. Yeah, that's respecting the

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<v Speaker 1>Constitution and the rule of laws both anyway, Rick, thanks

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<v Speaker 1>very much. Rick Davis Bloomberry politics contributor and partner at

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<v Speaker 1>Stone Court Capital