WEBVTT - Where Has All The Opposition Gone?!?

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<v Speaker 1>This is the warning week two of the Trump presidency.

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<v Speaker 1>Chuck Schumer has enunciated a strategy to The New York Times.

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<v Speaker 1>It is the lay down on the railroad tracks strategy

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<v Speaker 1>in front of the Trump locomotive. Let's go to the

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<v Speaker 1>videotape of winning.

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<v Speaker 2>We will win, we will win. We will win, we

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<v Speaker 2>will win.

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<v Speaker 3>We won't we won't rest, we won't rest, we won't rest,

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<v Speaker 3>we won't rest.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, winning, I like the cane on the left. It's

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<v Speaker 1>very nice. It's a good effect. Now, what Democrats need

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<v Speaker 1>to do in this moment is fight back. And so

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<v Speaker 1>John Stewart posed a fundamental question, and it goes to

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<v Speaker 1>the decision making process. Let me show you.

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<v Speaker 3>What is the decision making process here? Hey, who should

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<v Speaker 3>we get out there to effectively battle one of the

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<v Speaker 3>most savvy presidential media manipulators in history.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know how about Schumer.

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<v Speaker 2>He's uninteresting, but at least he's monotone.

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<v Speaker 1>So two weeks in, with almost two years to go

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<v Speaker 1>until the next midterm election, what can be done? Many

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<v Speaker 1>people ask what should the strategy be? Now Politico, which

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<v Speaker 1>has some explaining to do, regardless of how insane it

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<v Speaker 1>is that Elon Musk and six teenagers have taken control

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<v Speaker 1>of USAID. That doesn't change the fact that Politico is

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<v Speaker 1>getting eight million dollars plus from government. It's unacceptable, it's corruption,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's part of the reason that there's such a

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<v Speaker 1>collapse of trust in the media. Let's listen to Jim VandeHei,

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<v Speaker 1>who is the founder of Politico left many years ago,

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<v Speaker 1>talk about journalism.

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<v Speaker 2>Be the reporters hard, really hard. You have to care,

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<v Speaker 2>you have to do the hard work. You have to

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<v Speaker 2>skit up every single day and say I want to

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<v Speaker 2>get to the closest approximation of the truth without any fear,

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<v Speaker 2>without any favoritism. You don't do that by popping off

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<v Speaker 2>on Twitter. You don't do that by having an opinion.

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<v Speaker 2>You'd do it by doing the hard work.

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<v Speaker 1>What Politico under John Harris has become there's an information

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<v Speaker 1>pipeline between the Politico and lobbying community that has turned

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<v Speaker 1>the average congressional staffer into a quasi celebrity with their

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<v Speaker 1>look at Me feature at the bottom of the morning playbook,

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<v Speaker 1>which is like catnap at our age of political narcissism.

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<v Speaker 1>And this transactional politics and transactional journalism combine to make

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<v Speaker 1>trivia the news, to make celebrities out of politicians, and

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<v Speaker 1>turn Washington at some level into a reality show landscape.

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<v Speaker 1>And it's a business model. Politico debased journalism, didn't elevate,

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<v Speaker 1>it didn't make anything better. All it did was make

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<v Speaker 1>journalism worse. Now, how to fight back against Elon Musk

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<v Speaker 1>is not a concern of journalism. It's not a concern

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<v Speaker 1>for a fair media. The story right now politically in America,

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<v Speaker 1>when it comes to Democrats through the access media, is

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<v Speaker 1>fundamentally about what might Kamala Harris do next, or who

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<v Speaker 1>might have power next, as opposed to what the obvious

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<v Speaker 1>is staring everybody in the face, which is why is

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<v Speaker 1>there no ability for Democrats in Washington to effectively fight back?

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<v Speaker 1>Why is there no ability to stop any of the

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<v Speaker 1>worst Trump nominees despite the thinness of the majorities. Why

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<v Speaker 1>is there a total inability to use procedure, to use process,

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<v Speaker 1>to use Senate rules, to use House rules. Why wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>the House Democrats even in Washington to oppose Donald Trump?

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<v Speaker 1>Why isn't there a plan? Why isn't there an opposition vision?

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<v Speaker 1>Why has there been no major speech coherent at least

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<v Speaker 1>from the floor of the House, from the floor of

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<v Speaker 1>the Senate. Why has there not been a single Democratic

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<v Speaker 1>governor who has risen to the occasion. JB. Pritzker is

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<v Speaker 1>the governor of Illinois, and he is a billionaire. He

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<v Speaker 1>wants to run for president. JB. Pritsker needs to open

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<v Speaker 1>up a political account and JB. Pritzker, who The Nation

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<v Speaker 1>magazine has rightfully declared maybe the best governor in the country,

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<v Speaker 1>needs to say stand with me right here on this

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<v Speaker 1>spot and fight. There should be an effort for advertising

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<v Speaker 1>in Washington, DC that is aimed at the Trump White

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<v Speaker 1>House and at Trump directly to destabilize him, to cause

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<v Speaker 1>infighting and friction amongst those that compete full time for

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<v Speaker 1>his affection and his attention. Winning means putting Donald Trump

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<v Speaker 1>on his heels, which means attacking him where he lives,

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<v Speaker 1>which is the conversation inside his head. This is a

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<v Speaker 1>big deal here when Donald Trump makes up a story

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<v Speaker 1>about a conversation around Patrick Mahomes with Tommy Tuberville and

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<v Speaker 1>then articulates it out loud. Because Tuberville never coached.

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<v Speaker 3>Mahomes and Tommy Tupperville a great coach. You know, his

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<v Speaker 3>quarterback was named Mahomes. He was a great college coach,

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<v Speaker 3>and I said, how good was He said, you don't

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<v Speaker 3>want to know how good he made me into a

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<v Speaker 3>great coach. It's pretty good quarterback. Right.

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<v Speaker 1>Ultimately, the political target, of course is Donald Trump. But

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<v Speaker 1>right now, the way to get at Donald Trump is

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<v Speaker 1>by lassoing the rock of Elon Musk to his leg

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<v Speaker 1>and drowning him politically, proverbially, Elon Musk is a target

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<v Speaker 1>rich environment. The Democratic Party should use his Hitler salute

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<v Speaker 1>and his South African accent and every weird thing he

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<v Speaker 1>ever said, and put it on television and make sure

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<v Speaker 1>Trump sees it, and make sure Trump sees every day

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<v Speaker 1>the impact of Trump's polling and what Elon is doing

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<v Speaker 1>to it, how unpopular he is. This is how you

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<v Speaker 1>fight back. It's not about the data or the polling.

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<v Speaker 1>It's about the instinct to be in the moment, to

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<v Speaker 1>be present, to understand what's happening. You don't need to

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<v Speaker 1>give people dial tests to appreciate the assault. The words

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<v Speaker 1>that you need to fight back or there there are history,

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<v Speaker 1>there are American Canyon, there are story, and so what

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<v Speaker 1>there must be is aggressiveness. What democratic governor is going

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<v Speaker 1>to be the first to stand up and remind the

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<v Speaker 1>American people what the country's about. Right now, Donald Trump

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<v Speaker 1>is past apogey. These two weeks have been shambalacked. Laughing

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<v Speaker 1>at Trump is how he will be undone. Donald Trump's

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<v Speaker 1>narcissism is how they will be undone. There is only

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<v Speaker 1>one thing that matters to Donald Trump. That's Donald Trump.

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<v Speaker 1>Watch his cabinet secretaries compete for his attention and affection.

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<v Speaker 2>Transportation Secretary Presidence leadership has been remarkable during this crisis.

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<v Speaker 1>Defense Secretary.

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<v Speaker 3>This is an outside the box thinker who understands Laura

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<v Speaker 3>the definition of insanity, which is trying to do the

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<v Speaker 3>same thing and hoping for a different result.

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<v Speaker 1>The advertising should be built around how they are failing him,

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<v Speaker 1>spotlighting their mistakes, how unpopular they are, because when that

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<v Speaker 1>happens inside, their enemies will seek to take advantage by

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<v Speaker 1>tearing them down, and by tearing them down, they in

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<v Speaker 1>the end tear Trump down because it's a vicious hyena

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<v Speaker 1>pack feeding on each other. That is how you fight Trump.

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<v Speaker 1>By putting a stake in the heart of his relationship

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<v Speaker 1>with his number one sugar daddy, Elon Musk, who's going

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<v Speaker 1>for broke and going for the gold. What Trump loves

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<v Speaker 1>is having the richest man in the world work for him.

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<v Speaker 1>What Trump cannot abide is the notion that he serves

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<v Speaker 1>the richest man in the world as his presidential puppet.

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<v Speaker 1>And there's nobody making the argument that can make it

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<v Speaker 1>hit home. And by the time we reach the end

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<v Speaker 1>of the Trump four years will be an urgent national crisis.

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<v Speaker 1>That's the strategy. That's how you fight back. That's what

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<v Speaker 1>you do. You make every hour of every day difficult.

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<v Speaker 1>You appoint a shadow cabinet, and every day there's content

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<v Speaker 1>created by it that highlights the idiocies of these people,

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<v Speaker 1>the smallness of these people, the corruption of these people,

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<v Speaker 1>and delivers a message to the right places, through the

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<v Speaker 1>right portals, to the right people that will get to

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<v Speaker 1>the right places on its own because Democrats, for for

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<v Speaker 1>some reason, don't understand that politics lies below culture in

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<v Speaker 1>the great River of America that defines our times and

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<v Speaker 1>lives as it flows like the Mississippi, from the headwaters

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<v Speaker 1>into the Gulf of Mexico. Yes, Donald, it's the Gulf

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<v Speaker 1>of Mexico. And with that, this is the warning. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>Steve Schmidt, this is the warning, and I invite you

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<v Speaker 1>to join. Subscribe on our substack, on our YouTube channel,

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<v Speaker 1>follow us, Welcome to the community.