1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. For earlier access to these episodes, access 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 1: to Ask Me Anything sessions, and extended breakdowns of historical 3 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: and current events, Please consider joining our Warning Premium community 4 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: by clicking the link in the description to this episode. 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: There are many people in America who stand in opposition 6 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:26,759 Speaker 1: to Donald Trump, but still don't understand him. They don't 7 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: understand the appeal. They don't understand the people in their 8 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: own families who vote for Donald Trump despite being against 9 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: everything that he stands for in the conduct of their 10 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:43,839 Speaker 1: own personal lives. They don't understand why decent people are 11 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: attached to the malice, to the insanity, to the complete 12 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: and total imbecility and idiocy that flows from his mouth 13 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: every day. They don't comprehend why these people that they 14 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 1: know that they were work with, that their neighbors, with 15 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:05,320 Speaker 1: good people, some of them who voted for Barack Obama, 16 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: will not walk away from a man who faces ninety 17 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: one felony accusations. Why is that during this election cycle, 18 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: tens and tens of millions of dollars will be spent 19 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 1: on polling. The airwaves and the Internet will be filled 20 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: with data scientists. Everybody will have their models and their predictions, 21 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: and once again, as we head into twenty twenty four, 22 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 1: they will likely be wrong. They don't have their fingers 23 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: on the pulse of the American people, and they don't 24 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: understand the Trump phenomenon. The defining issue of our time 25 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: is the total and complete collapse of trust between the 26 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: American people and almost every institution you can think to name. 27 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: The United States military, for a very long time, was 28 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: immune from this trend, but recently it has become susceptible. 29 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: This is the fruit of Donald Trump's incessant attacks on 30 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 1: the American Armed Forces, and Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley 31 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: is the result of all their smears, all their lives, 32 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 1: all their silly accusations of wokeness. The impact is most 33 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:34,519 Speaker 1: seen amongst Republican voters. So now the military joins other 34 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: institutions in a freefall of trust. The crisis facing American 35 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 1: democracy at its core is a crisis of faith and belief. 36 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:54,120 Speaker 1: At the beginning, our founding fathers talked often about faith 37 00:02:54,560 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 1: and belief, but also happiness. They believe that happiness was 38 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 1: deeply linked to the concept of freedom, and that within 39 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: a happy society, the people must be free to pick 40 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:15,519 Speaker 1: their leaders. This is elemental to the American way of life. 41 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: Most Americans understand this. Most Americans wouldn't abide a dictator, 42 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: a tyrant, somebody who proclaimed themselves emperor or king. They'd 43 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:31,639 Speaker 1: be laughed at, scoffed, mobbed. So why is it tolerated 44 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: by so many tens of millions of Americans who stand 45 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 1: will place their hand over their hearts and save the 46 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: pledge of allegiance or sing the star spangled banner with 47 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: fervor and conviction. How can they support a man who 48 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: denied an election result in stage the coup. It's very 49 00:03:54,320 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 1: simple when you look at the polling. It explains why 50 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: there are no expectations for millions of Americans that government 51 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: will deliver anything for them. Who are these people? Well, 52 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: among them are the sixty percent of the population that 53 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: lives paycheck to paycheck. Remember, forty percent of the country 54 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: does not have four hundred dollars cash available for a 55 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: state of emergency. They hear the promises, but nothing in 56 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: their life ever changes when gasoline near six dollars a gallon. 57 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: Middle class people in America don't believe the economy is 58 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: good for them. We're at a hinge in American life. 59 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: The labor movement's ascendancy and resurgence is proof of that 60 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:58,600 Speaker 1: the strikes that are taking place are meaningful and import 61 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: it because the they speak to the very nature of 62 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 1: work and thus the dignity of the citizen in the 63 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: twenty first century. But what happens when people no longer 64 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:18,160 Speaker 1: have an expectation that anything will happen that improves anything 65 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:23,919 Speaker 1: for them? Once expectations are bottomed out and fall to zero, 66 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: someone like Trump can rise because what Trump is, at 67 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: the end of the day is a philosopher. He's a 68 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: philosopher of fuck youism. And the philosophy of fuck Youism 69 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 1: is very simple to understand. Tens and tens of millions 70 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: of Americans who have lost faith, who believe that the 71 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 1: game is rid. There is one set of rules for 72 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:55,719 Speaker 1: the people at the top, and one set of rules 73 00:05:55,880 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: for everyone else. Among them, the millions of millions of 74 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: Americans who lost homes after the financial collapse of two 75 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: thousand and eight. While not a single Wall Street executive 76 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:15,600 Speaker 1: went to prison, their only hope is that somebody from 77 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: somewhere will deliver the only thing that they think they 78 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: can count on. They just want someone to say fuck 79 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: you to the people they hold responsible for wrecking their 80 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: American dream and they feel utterly powerless against Thank you 81 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: for listening to my political commentary. If you like what 82 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:44,039 Speaker 1: you heard today, please also consider subscribing to The Warning 83 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: daily newsletter on Substack. Our democracy hangs in the balance. 84 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: The twenty twenty four presidential election is the most consequential 85 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:58,919 Speaker 1: in America's history. It's not hyperbole, it's a fact. That 86 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: is why the mission of The Warning with Steve Schmidt 87 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,280 Speaker 1: is to help readers orient to the currents that are 88 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:10,480 Speaker 1: shaping our times and the unseen forces driving politics that 89 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: are very rarely discussed on cable news. Please sign up 90 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: at Steve Schmidt st e ve E, S, C, H, M, I, 91 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: d T dot substack dot com again Steve Schmidt dot 92 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: substack dot com, or at the link in the show 93 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: notes section below. Thank you to each and every one 94 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: of you for listening and watching. How does Trump deliver 95 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: for that? Again, they're not looking for policy results. They 96 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: don't believe them, even when something as grand as Biden's 97 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:55,640 Speaker 1: Infrastructure Act is passed. They're so poisoned by the billion 98 00:07:55,720 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: dollar propaganda machine that surrounds the Empire of Magamalice that 99 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 1: They don't believe a word of it. The only thing 100 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: they see is the reaction by the people that they hate, 101 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: by the people that they think condescend to them, disrespect them, 102 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 1: and ignore them. Yes, I'm talking about you, American media. 103 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 1: What they want to see is those people antagonized. What 104 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: they hope to see and what they laugh about is 105 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: how they react to Trump. Every day, Trump delivers his 106 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:44,560 Speaker 1: fuck you and the people cheer. Why it's not in 107 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: their interests, It's not in their country's interests. This is 108 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 1: the cost of cynicism, the cost of disillusionment, when the 109 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,800 Speaker 1: only thing that millions and millions of people look for 110 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: can count on from their political leadership in their country 111 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 1: is to deliver a fuck you. When you reach that point, 112 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:18,560 Speaker 1: and we have, we're in a crisis. Trump is part 113 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:22,760 Speaker 1: of the crisis. Trump is a threat and the greatest 114 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 1: danger to American democracy. But politics in America is downstream 115 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:36,480 Speaker 1: from American culture. A healthy society does not produce a 116 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: president Trump, a sick, decaying and rotten one does. These 117 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 1: things happen in democracies. Mistakes are made, as it is said, 118 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: but in the end, the next election is the one 119 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 1: that matters, because there's nothing new to learn about Trump. 120 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,720 Speaker 1: We know what he is, we know what he stands for, 121 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:07,920 Speaker 1: and we know that he means it when he talks 122 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: about a platform of retribution and revenge. He does not 123 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 1: have enough people in this country to support him to 124 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: be elected unless there are enough people who are apathetic 125 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:32,680 Speaker 1: enough to weigh in with their indifference, and then maybe, 126 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:38,199 Speaker 1: just maybe, he can achieve the small majority he needs 127 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:43,679 Speaker 1: to take power for the very last time, and then 128 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 1: there will be chaos and there will be mayhem in 129 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:54,360 Speaker 1: American society. The job of American politicians, whether they be 130 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:59,040 Speaker 1: at a local, county, state, or federal level, is to 131 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:03,839 Speaker 1: serve public interest and to do it in a way 132 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:09,520 Speaker 1: that is consistent with American law and the Constitution of 133 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:17,679 Speaker 1: the United States. Donald Trump's betrayal of that document betrayed 134 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:26,320 Speaker 1: also our history, our story, and sacrifices that beggar the 135 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:34,320 Speaker 1: imagination over two hundred and fifty years. What he did 136 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 1: was immoral, it was appalling, But nothing he did could 137 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: have been done without the appalling a more utterly despicable 138 00:11:51,480 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 1: cowardice of nearly every single elected Republican at a federal, state, county, 139 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 1: and local level everywhere across America through fifty states of 140 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: the Union,