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 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: by clicking the link in the description to this episode. 5 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:22,960 Speaker 1: The situation we find ourselves in as a country didn't 6 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:28,640 Speaker 1: happen overnight. It is the accumulation of events over decades. 7 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:34,559 Speaker 1: The American people have looked, They've seen, They've seen the 8 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: greed of the elites in American society. They've come to 9 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: the conclusion that there's one set of rules for people 10 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:46,480 Speaker 1: at the top and a different set for everybody else. 11 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: Citicism replaced faith in belief in the majesty of the 12 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:57,240 Speaker 1: American system of government. We have lost sight in this 13 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: country as a general proposition around the meaning of patriotism 14 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 1: what it is. We have adopted instead a type of 15 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:13,399 Speaker 1: performative jingoism, the type that we see at NFL games. 16 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: A few minutes of loud, cheering, giant flags, expensive military 17 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: hardware flying overhead, people screaming, chanting USA, USA, USA, mindlessly 18 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: over and over again. That's not patriotism. Patriotism is a 19 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: deep faith in the idea that animated the United States 20 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: of America and brought it to life. The right to vote, 21 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: to choose is elemental to being an American and towards 22 00:01:55,560 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: the foundation of the United States. This country rejected the 23 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: idea of a king. It eradicated the notion that there 24 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: are some people born above others, in a higher station 25 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:21,959 Speaker 1: of life, who have titles and land in perpetuity. They 26 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: are above. They are the dukes and the earls, and 27 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: the king in America said no. George Washington was a 28 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: man who could have been king, could have been emperor, 29 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:45,359 Speaker 1: could have been a military dictator. And each time when 30 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: he stood at the edge of maximum power, he walked 31 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: away from it, and by doing so, he set in 32 00:02:54,960 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: motion the most important tradition in American life. That tradition 33 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: is the peaceful transfer of power between chief executives between presidents, 34 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: and it had gone on uninterrupted in America since George 35 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: Washington turned over the presidency to his successor, John Adams. 36 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: All that had to happen for that to occur was 37 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: for John Adams to raise his hand and swear a 38 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: thirty five word oath, and in that instant he became 39 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: the second President of the United States, and every president 40 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: since has sworn the identical oath. But there is only 41 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: one president who has breached that oath, who desecrated it, 42 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: who tried to burn it to the ground. Not through misconduct, 43 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: though he engaged in more misconduct than any president in 44 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: American history. Not through corruption, though he engaged in more 45 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 1: corruption than any president in American history, but through a 46 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: declaration of repudiation against the American Revolution. That declaration of 47 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: repudiation were the speeches that Donald Trump gave between his 48 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: loss of the election and January sixth. They are the 49 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:45,479 Speaker 1: speeches that antagonized and incited a mob to march on 50 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:48,480 Speaker 1: the capital of the United States of America in twenty 51 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,280 Speaker 1: twenty one, on a mission to hang the vice president 52 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: and stop the certification of a presidential election, where Joe Biden, 53 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,839 Speaker 1: who had been duly elected, would take the final steps 54 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: in preparation to his inaugural as the forty sixth President 55 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 1: of the United States, the forty fifth man, to raise 56 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: his hand and swear Washington's Oh, that is what Donald 57 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: Trump desecrated, ruined, and bloodied every person in this country. 58 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 2: All of us are part of a great inheritance passed 59 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 2: on to us our ancestors. Whether they'd be black, women, white, Latino, gay, 60 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 2: It doesn't matter. All played a part, all struggled for freedom, 61 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 2: all endured, and they handed to us a better, freer 62 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,920 Speaker 2: country than the one they were born into. 63 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:08,039 Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to my political commentary. If you 64 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: like what you've heard today, please also consider subscribing to 65 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:17,359 Speaker 1: The Warning daily newsletter on Substack. Our democracy hangs in 66 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: the balance. The twenty twenty four presidential election is the 67 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 1: most consequential in America's history. It's not hyperbole, it's a fact. 68 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,359 Speaker 1: That is why the mission of the Warning with Steve 69 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,919 Speaker 1: Schmidt is to help readers orient to the currents that 70 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:38,600 Speaker 1: are shaping our times and the unseen forces driving politics 71 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: that are very rarely discussed on cable news. Please sign 72 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: up at Steve Schmidt st e ve E, S, C, H, M, I, 73 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: d T dot substack dot com again Steve Schmidt dot 74 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:01,280 Speaker 1: substack dot com, or at link in the show notes 75 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: section below. Thank you to each and every one of 76 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: you for listening and watching. We stand at an hour 77 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: where we are poised to be the first generation of 78 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: Americans to betray that trust, to hand our country to 79 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: a next generation, more divided, weaker, catering, decay, rotting from within, 80 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: And what is the evidence of that, the broad national 81 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: indifference towards the ambitions of a man who tried to 82 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: burn it all down, who wants power again. In this moment, 83 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: indicted on charges that could bring him six hundred years 84 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: in prison, the former president of the United States remains 85 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: in a competitive race against Joe Biden. What Donald Trump 86 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: did is unpardonable, It is unforgivable. The issue is that 87 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: Donald Trump wants political power outside an election process. It 88 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: says something remarkable in the indictment, something declarative, simple. He 89 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:32,280 Speaker 1: lost the election. In our corrupt media at Fox News, 90 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: at Newsmax, at an across the board let donald Trump's 91 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: poisoned fantasy run wild. Fox News for stoking the conspiracies, 92 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 1: was forced to pay a settlement of almost one billion dollars, 93 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:55,480 Speaker 1: yet they are undeterred. On the night of his indictment, 94 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:00,679 Speaker 1: Donald Trump was having dinner with the chairman and the 95 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: president of Fox News, Suzanne Scott. Donald Trump didn't try 96 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:12,560 Speaker 1: to tear down American democracy alone. He did it with 97 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: a phalanx of propagandas in front of him collaborators, people 98 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:25,200 Speaker 1: like Suzanne Scott, who have contempt for their country, who 99 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: have no affection, save for money, save for power, save 100 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: for the perception of their own influence. Think about the 101 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: sacrifices that have guaranteed American freedom. Think about Gettysburg. Think 102 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 1: about the crossing of the Delaware, the Normandy Landings, think 103 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: about the Edmund Pettis Bridge, Think about the blows coming 104 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 1: down on John Lewis's head, the blood, the murder, the sacrifice. 105 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 1: And we are prepared as a nation, as a society, 106 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 1: to lay it all down, to end it all, to say, 107 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:26,560 Speaker 1: the insatiable narcissism and appetite of Donald Trump. How is 108 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 1: it that our society, our country could have become so sick? 109 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:40,680 Speaker 1: What is it about freedom and liberty that the American 110 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: people and mass have become so detached from. Here's the deal. 111 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:52,600 Speaker 1: We must say no to this. There are more of 112 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:58,079 Speaker 1: us than there are of them. And by them, what 113 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:03,000 Speaker 1: I mean is this the people who want power without 114 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:08,160 Speaker 1: us giving it to them. It's unacceptable, It's un American. 115 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: But that is exactly what Donald Trump stands for. Make 116 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:16,200 Speaker 1: no mistake about it. It's what this election is about. 117 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 1: He's running on a platform of revenge and retribution and 118 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: he means it. He is hostile to this country's creed, 119 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:34,520 Speaker 1: it's traditions, its ideas, its ideals, and most importantly, it's people. Yes, 120 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:41,560 Speaker 1: the American people. We are more than a name, more 121 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 1: than a tribe. We are a great civilization, a society, 122 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:53,920 Speaker 1: a nation. Trump tried to rip it up. Are we 123 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:59,680 Speaker 1: really going to let him. It's time as a civilization, 124 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: as a society, as a people to bring this madness 125 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 1: to its end. It is time to repudiate this insanity. 126 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:19,560 Speaker 1: It is time to remind the queen's hustler, the developer, 127 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: the reality show host who improbably was given the greatest 128 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:29,440 Speaker 1: honor that any American can be, that he is not 129 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: bigger than the country, that he is not above the law, 130 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:38,680 Speaker 1: and that this country chooses its leaders, not the other 131 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:39,360 Speaker 1: way around.