1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:04,160 Speaker 1: Before we get into it, be advised that this series 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: contains bad language and references to violence. It's twelve thirty 3 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: pm on January six. On the east side of the 4 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: Capitol Building. A crowd of Trump supporters is growing in number. 5 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:37,240 Speaker 1: They're chanting familiar slogans, shouting through bullhorns impossible broth, waving 6 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: banners and Confederate flags. But they are for now peaceful 7 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: as we know. Of course, this piece won't last long. 8 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 1: This crowd outside the east wing of the Capital will 9 00:00:54,120 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: soon overwhelm the police barrier, knocking officers to the ground, 10 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: shouting in their faces, advancing on the Capitol Building itself, 11 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: But not quite yet. For now, these protesters are simply 12 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: waving their banners and trying to keep warm. On a 13 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: January morning, It's freezing bro It is so cold. Until suddenly, 14 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: out of the blue, their posture changes. They spot something 15 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: behind the barricades on the police side of the line, 16 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: a boyish looking man in a navy suit emerging from 17 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: a black dad as u V. He's energetic and sprightly, 18 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:11,679 Speaker 1: booie by the crowd's reaction to his arrival. The young 19 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: man looks out at the protesters. He can't know what 20 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: some of them are about to do, but they know 21 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: full well what he intends to do today. He's been 22 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: telling them for weeks, speaking on Fox News, on the 23 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: Senate floor, posting on social media. His plan has cost 24 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,240 Speaker 1: him many friends, even lifelong mentors, have turned against him, 25 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: but that won't stop him, and that's why the crowd 26 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:40,800 Speaker 1: cheers him on. In response to their appreciation, the junior 27 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: Senator for Missouri, fourty year old Josh Holly, raises his 28 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: fist and salute. This moment, one of solidarity between a U. 29 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: S senator and a small crowd of protesters, is captured 30 00:02:55,120 --> 00:03:08,239 Speaker 1: by a nearby photojournalist. Before the day's end, the image 31 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:12,360 Speaker 1: will be plastered on news websites around the world. It 32 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: will become one of the many iconic moments of January six. 33 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: A sitting senator showing solidarity with the very people who 34 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: are about to invade his place of work. Unaware of 35 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 1: what lies ahead and focused on his day's work, Senator 36 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: Hally gives the protesters a thumbs up and disappears into 37 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: the Capitol. He's heading for the Senate Chamber, where he 38 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: plans to mount a challenge against American democracy from the 39 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: team's at Clues, Own Media, I Heart Radio, and novel. 40 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: This is The Assault on America Episode five, The Inside 41 00:03:51,360 --> 00:04:16,159 Speaker 1: Man MHM. So far in this series, we've dissected the 42 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: vast Stop the Steel disinformation campaign headed by Alley Alexander, 43 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:25,359 Speaker 1: who came up with the idea of January six and 44 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:30,720 Speaker 1: spread by the likes of Baked Alaska. We've also met 45 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,279 Speaker 1: a rioter from Rule, Ohio who swallowed Alexander's poison and 46 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 1: is now facing decades in prison along with his commanding officer, 47 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: the Mercurial Grifters, Stewart Rhodes, who runs the extremest Oothkeeper's 48 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: Militia the necessity of the regular militia. This time in 49 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: The Assault on America, we're moving up the chain. Today 50 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: the virus enters the main frame. This is the tale 51 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: of how the youngest sitting you s Senator, welcome the 52 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: big lie into the political machinery of the United States. 53 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: It's Senator Josh Holly who on December triggers a vote 54 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: on whether or not the election result should be upheld. 55 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: That vote is scheduled for the afternoon of January six. 56 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:21,840 Speaker 1: That's why organizers like Ali latched on to this day 57 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: as their big chance. By objecting to the certification of 58 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: the election, Josh Holly gave the far rights something to 59 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 1: focus on. He gave them an event without Josh Holly. 60 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: January six is just another day in Washington. If you'd 61 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,239 Speaker 1: heard of Senator Josh Holly before the election, you most 62 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: likely heard him discussing a culture war issue, perhaps railing 63 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 1: against the mainstream media. The New York Times won a 64 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: Pulitzer Prize for the six nineteen Project, a propaganda campaign 65 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:02,160 Speaker 1: designed to recast America's founding as an evil event or 66 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: speaking about wokeness or antiva, or some dastardly scheme dreamed 67 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: up by the radical left to destroy America. We've seen 68 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 1: a literal insurrection in the streets of Seattle, a breakaway 69 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: Antifa enclave ruled by a self described warlord. You cannot 70 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 1: make this stuff up. You can make it up. I 71 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: was there, and while the chap was a very messy 72 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: and ultimately deadly place, it was not ruled by a warlord. 73 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,599 Speaker 1: But Holly's rhetoric here and everywhere else prior to the 74 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 1: election sounded like any other Republican senator. He was just 75 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:37,840 Speaker 1: fresher faced, more eloquent, and judging by his TV appearances, 76 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:41,599 Speaker 1: angrier than the rest of them. The bitter resentment of 77 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 1: a professional political class cannot accept the verdict of the people. 78 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:50,320 Speaker 1: Probuses and distortions, secret meetings, outright lies at time to 79 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:54,799 Speaker 1: bring this fiasco to a close. But Senator Holly didn't 80 00:06:54,800 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: always sound so angry. Twenty two years ago, long before 81 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: he got into politics, Josh Holly was a very different person. 82 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: His journey to high office begins at exactly the kind 83 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: of liberal elite institution he now derives from the floor 84 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: of the U. S. Senate, Stanford University. If you're a 85 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 1: fellow student and made Josh's acquaintance when he was a 86 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: Stanford undergraduate, you would probably have your as the saying 87 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: goes your socks charmed off, meet Professor David Kennedy. If 88 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 1: there was a video game about coastal liberal elites, he'd 89 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: be the final boss. He's an urbane academic who writes 90 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:36,679 Speaker 1: books with titles like Freedom from Fear, the American People 91 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: in Depression and War. He won a Pulitzer for that one. 92 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: By the way, When Josh Holly arrived at Stanford in 93 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety eight, David Kennedy was exactly the sort of 94 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: prestigious advisor Holly set out to cultivate. Well. I first 95 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: heard Josh Holly's name when he walked into my office 96 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen night as a freshman student and declared that 97 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: he had a very big interest in the American presidency 98 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 1: as an institution, and he would like me to put 99 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 1: together some reading a reading list for him so that 100 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: he could learn more about that. Professor Kennedy was kind 101 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: of amused that an eighteen year old would bounce into 102 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: his office in the first week and demand extra reading, 103 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: but he humored the young Holly. He put together a 104 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 1: list of classic works about the presidency, by the Talkville, 105 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: by James Bryce, by the other people whose books I'm 106 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: never going to read, and he sent Holly on his way. 107 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: That Kennedy thought was the last he'd ever see of 108 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: the over ambitious freshman, But about two three, no more 109 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:39,800 Speaker 1: than four weeks later, he reappeared in the office and 110 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 1: he said, well, Professor Kennedy, I've done the reading you 111 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: assigned me, and now I'd like some more. I thought, 112 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:50,559 Speaker 1: there's no way that this young fellow could have completed 113 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: that pretty heavy duty reading list, and there's certainly no 114 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: way he could have taken it on board in a 115 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: way that he comprehends or really got anything out of it. 116 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: So I sat him down started asking him some questions 117 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 1: about some of these texts, some of which are a 118 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:07,200 Speaker 1: bit arcane, and it is really demanding kind of reading. 119 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: And he nailed every question I put to him. It 120 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: was clear that in the brief span of time that 121 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: had elapsed, not only had he done all the reading 122 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:18,199 Speaker 1: I had asked him to do, but he thought about 123 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:23,719 Speaker 1: it analytically, critically, synthetically. And I thought to myself, this 124 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 1: is an unusual student. David wasn't the only person who 125 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: thought Holly was different. Friends and teachers alike had him 126 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: pegged one day to become at least a U S senator. 127 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,200 Speaker 1: It's a crazy thing to say about any student, but 128 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:41,479 Speaker 1: Holly really was that gifted. I became his academic advisor. 129 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 1: He majored in history, and then I eventually ended up 130 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: as the supervisor of what we here call a senior 131 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:53,360 Speaker 1: honors thesis that he wrote about the intellectual formation of 132 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 1: Theodor Roosevelt. And that thesis, I'll say, without qualification, was 133 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: one of the two best senior honors thesis, and I 134 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: supervised an half a century here a Stanford. In two 135 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 1: thousand eight, Holly turned his thesis into a book. He 136 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,520 Speaker 1: seemed to be on track to become a renowned academic 137 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:17,080 Speaker 1: like his friend and mentor David Kennedy. Holly even gave 138 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: his book the kind of title that Kennedy might use 139 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:23,880 Speaker 1: for one of his Theodore Roosevelt Preacher of Righteousness. He 140 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:27,119 Speaker 1: had what was clear to me, a deep scholarly temperament. 141 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 1: He had all the attributes of somebody who could develop 142 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: into an absolutely first rate scholar. But Holly always had 143 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: bigger plans than academia. He'd never hidden his political ambitions, 144 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,320 Speaker 1: and he understood that in American politics there is one 145 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 1: tried and tested fast track to the top. Over one 146 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: third of US politicians started their career this way, including 147 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 1: half of all U S presidents. So you've guessed it. 148 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 1: After Stanford, Josh Holly joined a biker gang. Just kidding, 149 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 1: he studied law at Lee. Yes. After graduating from Stanford, 150 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:09,839 Speaker 1: the future scourge of US elites headed to Yale University 151 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,680 Speaker 1: to pay fifty thou dollars a year to become an attorney. 152 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:16,599 Speaker 1: From there, he moved to d C and snagged a 153 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:20,559 Speaker 1: slew of prestigious clerkships, including with the Supreme Court Justice 154 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 1: John Roberts. Ten short years later, Josh Holly decides he's ready. 155 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 1: In two thousand sixteen, he steps into the political arena. 156 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:34,320 Speaker 1: My background as a lawyer, as a practicing lawyer is 157 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 1: fighting for businesses and individuals and nonprofit groups farm groups 158 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 1: against government regulation. Holly leverages his legal background and makes 159 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 1: a run for Attorney General of Missouri. I'm Josh Holly, 160 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: and I'll fight for Missouri's values as attorneys General. He 161 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,480 Speaker 1: breathes through the primaries and eventually beats his Democratic rival, 162 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:56,680 Speaker 1: becoming the first Republican to hold the office in almost 163 00:11:56,679 --> 00:12:00,800 Speaker 1: ten years. His former mentor from Stanford, Professor David Kennedy, 164 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 1: had stayed in touch with Josh. Of course, I was 165 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: proud of Josh having notched those kinds of achievements at 166 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 1: a very young age, and when he ran for attorney general, 167 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 1: I actually joked with him. I said, I'd be happy 168 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: to send you a contribution, Josh, but maybe it would 169 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:19,679 Speaker 1: prejudice the case there for you in Missouri if it 170 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:24,080 Speaker 1: got out that a California Democrat professor was contributed to 171 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: your campaign. But I wished him well, and I attended 172 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: his inauguration as Attorney General of Missouri in two thousand seventeen. Clearly, then, 173 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:36,839 Speaker 1: at this point in his life, Josh Holly is still 174 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: the charming young man from his Stanford days. He's willing 175 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:43,440 Speaker 1: to joke with liberal friends like David and clearly doesn't 176 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: think they're colluding to destroy the United States. Holly was 177 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 1: a partisan, but not an a rational one. There were, however, 178 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,599 Speaker 1: early signs that he'd started to change. He'd won the 179 00:12:57,679 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: race for attorney General with the help of a TV 180 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: that blasted career politicians who use state office as a 181 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:06,840 Speaker 1: stepping stone for their national ambitions. Jefferson City is full 182 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:10,680 Speaker 1: of career politicians just climbing the ladder, using one office 183 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 1: to get another. As Holly addresses the camera, men in 184 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:17,839 Speaker 1: suits are literally climbing ladders all around him. It's a 185 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 1: real work of art. Conservative outsider Attorney General. I'm Josh Holly. 186 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: I think you deserve better. Seven months after becoming Attorney 187 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,360 Speaker 1: General in Missouri, Josh Holly thought that he deserved better too. 188 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:35,679 Speaker 1: In August two thousand seventeen, he formed an exploratory campaign 189 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 1: committee for a U. S. Senate run now he was 190 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 1: the one climbing ladders. He wins again, this time by 191 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: leaning on his Missouri roots and setting up a theme 192 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 1: he'll return to again and again in the future, the 193 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:51,600 Speaker 1: demonizing of elites. Here's a schmulti campaign ad he put out. 194 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: You'll see what I mean. The elites you run our nation. 195 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:58,559 Speaker 1: Call this flyover country, big squares. They only see out 196 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:01,600 Speaker 1: the windows of jet airport they pull. The lovers of 197 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 1: power in Washington at Hollywood call the shots on wall streets. 198 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:08,679 Speaker 1: They're not just distant from our lives, they're distant from 199 00:14:08,679 --> 00:14:12,000 Speaker 1: our values, making decisions to enrich themselves. I'm not sure 200 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:14,679 Speaker 1: what Hollywood has to do with Missouri, but the message 201 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: from privately educated Josh Holly, son of a bank manager 202 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 1: and a high flying graduate of Stanford in Yale, was 203 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: that the elites have dominated Missouri for too long. On 204 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:30,240 Speaker 1: the campaign trail, Holly ties his campaign as closely as 205 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: possible to Donald Trump, who had taken Missouri by eighteen 206 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: and a half points only the year before. When I 207 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,000 Speaker 1: think about President Trump, there's one word that comes to mind. 208 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:43,600 Speaker 1: That word is courage. Do you agree? And well? It works? 209 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 1: Smash cut to the two thousand eighteen midterm election, and 210 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:52,920 Speaker 1: I had a very nice call with the President of 211 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 1: the United States. Josh Holly has just become the youngest 212 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: sitting United States Senator. Thank you, MS President for your leadership, 213 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:04,320 Speaker 1: Thank you for believing in Missouri. Tonight the people of 214 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: Missouri have delivered, but things were about to take a 215 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:18,600 Speaker 1: darker turn. Any teacher is proud of students being successful, 216 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 1: and I was. I was very proud of his success. 217 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 1: I mean it killed me that he was a Republican. 218 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: That's another one of Josh's former teachers, Professor Elizabeth Bernhardt. 219 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: Like David Kennedy, Professor Bernhardt remained friends with Josh beyond 220 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: his years as a student, even attending his wedding in 221 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 1: two thousand ten. But as Josh Holly became more involved 222 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:42,600 Speaker 1: in politics, Professor Bernhardt found herself worrying about the trajectory 223 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:46,040 Speaker 1: of his career. There was one event, in particular that 224 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,360 Speaker 1: she could not reconcile with the traditional conservative she'd known 225 00:15:49,360 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 1: at Stanford Charlotte Sville no question. On August eleventh, two 226 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 1: thousand seventeen, a white supremacist rally was held in Charlottesville, Virginia. 227 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 1: Far right activists and supporters of all stripes marched through 228 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:20,800 Speaker 1: the city, carrying tiki torches and fighting with counter protesters. 229 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 1: Back a fuck up like com back a buck up. 230 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 1: One of their number would eventually drive his car into 231 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 1: a crowded street, not throw into people, killing a thirty 232 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 1: one year old woman named Heather Higher. Oh my god, 233 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 1: Oh my god, Oh my god. The event led to 234 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: one of the most infamous comments of Donald Trump's presidency. 235 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: You also had people, very fine people on both sides Charlottesville. 236 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: That is a moment for me when I thought all 237 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:03,880 Speaker 1: persons need to abandon ship. That is just no. And 238 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: you can't have taken my course and say yes or 239 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: maybe at that moment. The course that Elizabeth Bernhardt is 240 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 1: referring to is the one that she taught Josh Holly 241 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:16,879 Speaker 1: back when he was at Stanford. It was called Letters 242 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 1: and Diaries of Resistance in Nazi Germany. The course was 243 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: about where do you get the strength to essentially sacrifice 244 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:31,840 Speaker 1: your life for doing the right thing in a situation 245 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:34,360 Speaker 1: where you know you probably are not going to win. 246 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:38,400 Speaker 1: Elizabeth's course looked at the writings of Germans who knew 247 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 1: that resistance to Hitler would get them killed and decided 248 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 1: to resist anyway, the class was focused on the emotion 249 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 1: I guess of courage. Now this wasn't just any old 250 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,160 Speaker 1: class that Josh Holly happened to take as an undergraduate. 251 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 1: This was a class that he specifically sought out, deploying 252 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:01,640 Speaker 1: the same charm and industrious nous that had pressed David Kennedy. 253 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 1: He wrote in his application, I've already read all of 254 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 1: this stuff that you're offering in this class. And I said, 255 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:15,240 Speaker 1: I don't understand. You've applied for this class, but you've 256 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 1: read everything. Why do you want to be in this class? 257 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:24,399 Speaker 1: He said, very nicely, I'm really interested in knowing what 258 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:29,760 Speaker 1: other people think about this material. And I eventually hired 259 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:33,440 Speaker 1: him to work in the class as he became a senior, 260 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: and I took more sophomores in. So he was wonderful 261 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:41,439 Speaker 1: to work with, wonderful to know. Holly was so taken 262 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:43,680 Speaker 1: with this class that he mentioned it in a speech 263 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:46,480 Speaker 1: in two thousand two, saying that what he learned from 264 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 1: it became a quote so much a part of me 265 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 1: that I could not help but share it with others. 266 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: But the fact that Holly stuck so closely to Trump 267 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,960 Speaker 1: during his Senate campaign, even after Trump described neo Nazis 268 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:02,359 Speaker 1: at Charlottesville as very fine people, caused Elizabeth Bernhard to 269 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: ask herself a question, what lessons could Josh Holly possibly 270 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:10,199 Speaker 1: have taken away from her? Course, there's probably no question 271 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: about him that troubles me more I I would have 272 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:21,880 Speaker 1: to say none. I'm just stupefied by any support for 273 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:27,959 Speaker 1: any group of people who would either carry a swastika, 274 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 1: would wear a sweatshirt with Auschwitz on the front, who 275 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: would yell Jews will not replace us. This is one 276 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:45,879 Speaker 1: thousand percent at athetical to anything that we discussed or 277 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:51,600 Speaker 1: read after Charlotte'sville. Josh Holly went about his business as 278 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 1: a senator. Maybe his friends and mentors thought maybe his 279 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 1: transgressions up till now were the compromises one has to 280 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:04,440 Speaker 1: make in politics. But if further proof was needed that 281 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:08,120 Speaker 1: Josh Holly was willing to move beyond the usual compromises 282 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 1: required up a politician, it came in November. The really 283 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:17,639 Speaker 1: bad part then came about the big lie. The process 284 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: is rigged, This whole election is being grigged. After the 285 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:26,960 Speaker 1: presidential election, Josh Holly was one of the first high 286 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:30,679 Speaker 1: profile politicians to fall in line with Drump's falsehood that 287 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:39,399 Speaker 1: the election had been fraudulent times election, But Holly didn't 288 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,240 Speaker 1: approach the lie in the same crass, lazy way that 289 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:48,399 Speaker 1: Trump did. Not a conspiracy theory post. No, Josh Holly 290 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 1: has the guile and eloquence to make it sound like 291 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:54,800 Speaker 1: he's simply doing the job of a responsible elected official. 292 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:57,879 Speaker 1: I have heard from people like I've never heard before 293 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:01,160 Speaker 1: over the last month about this election, and they have major, 294 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 1: major concerns about the integrity the fairness of this election. 295 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:07,080 Speaker 1: And somebody has got to take their concerns seriously and 296 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:10,600 Speaker 1: speak up. And that's what I'm gonna do. Holly presents 297 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:13,439 Speaker 1: himself as someone who's merely trying to start a debate 298 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:18,200 Speaker 1: about electoral integrity. Meanwhile, he starts publicly questioning whether Joe 299 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,959 Speaker 1: Biden will even become president at all. If Joe Biden 300 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 1: ends up being sworn as president, if he if Joe Biden, 301 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:27,879 Speaker 1: if he is the president, if Joe Biden ends up 302 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:33,720 Speaker 1: his president, any worry Joe Biden, if if? If? If? 303 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: But Holly's next step takes the matter beyond mere rhetoric. 304 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: On December he announces that he's going to challenge the 305 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:49,399 Speaker 1: electoral College results in the Senate, the Republican leader of 306 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:53,200 Speaker 1: the Senate, Mitch McConnell, has been dreading this move, understanding 307 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 1: that it would put other Senators in a tight spot. 308 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:59,040 Speaker 1: Do they vote with Trump and against democracy, or do 309 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 1: they go on record accepting Joe Biden's victory. McConnell feared 310 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:05,840 Speaker 1: that if Holly triggered such a vote, it would breach 311 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 1: the damn He was exactly right. As soon as Holly 312 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,040 Speaker 1: announced his intentions, a host of Senators and congress people 313 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:17,199 Speaker 1: followed suit, vowing to challenge the electoral college results on 314 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:24,159 Speaker 1: January six. At this point, more than ninety federal and 315 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,639 Speaker 1: state judges had rejected Trump's lawsuits seeking to overturn the 316 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: outcome of the election. Trump's own Attorney General, Bill Barr, 317 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:35,120 Speaker 1: had dismissed allegations that there was widespread voter fraud. There's 318 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:38,359 Speaker 1: been no discrepancy reported anywhere that's looked at that, and 319 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: I'm still not aware of any discrepidanst That didn't stop Holly. 320 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 1: His mentor David Kennedy, was alarmed. That was a shock 321 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,520 Speaker 1: to me across the board. Frankly, I thought it was 322 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:55,960 Speaker 1: a really, really dangerous to be honest, and I was shocked, 323 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,199 Speaker 1: and I dare say appalled that the President stuck with 324 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:03,439 Speaker 1: that line of our ument, and compoundedly appalled when others, 325 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,880 Speaker 1: including someone for whom I in answers respect that's Josh, 326 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:09,960 Speaker 1: I got on board with that. David wasn't the only 327 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:14,120 Speaker 1: person shocked at Holly's decision. His former political mentor in Missouri, 328 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 1: former Republican Senator Jack Danforth, was also astounded. He publicly 329 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:21,879 Speaker 1: declared that supporting Josh Holly had been the greatest mistake 330 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:26,400 Speaker 1: he'd ever made. Holly's biggest donor, a businessman named David Humphries, 331 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,880 Speaker 1: who had donated over six million dollars to Holly's campaigns, 332 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:33,880 Speaker 1: wrote that Holly had revealed himself as a political opportunist, 333 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,160 Speaker 1: willing to subvert the constitution and the ideals of the nation. 334 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:40,760 Speaker 1: He swore to uphold. We always allow for a little 335 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:45,760 Speaker 1: hyperbolean politics, but that strong stuff. And the reason is simple, 336 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:48,919 Speaker 1: Josh Holly was pushing the big lie harder and harder. 337 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,959 Speaker 1: On January four, he went on Fox News for an 338 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:57,000 Speaker 1: interview with anchor Brett Bear. I just want to pinion 339 00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:00,119 Speaker 1: down on on what you're trying to do. Are you 340 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:04,960 Speaker 1: trying to say that as of January that President Trump 341 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 1: will be president. Well, that that it depends on what 342 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:14,199 Speaker 1: happens on Wednesday. Wednesday is, of course, January six. Holly 343 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,399 Speaker 1: is implying to Fox News viewers that their actions in 344 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: d C and his actions on the Senate floor might 345 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,120 Speaker 1: still swing the election for Donald Trump. As it turns out, 346 00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 1: Holly pushed things too far, even for Fox News quite 347 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:31,280 Speaker 1: an achievement. What happens on Wednesday in the States, by 348 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:35,800 Speaker 1: the constitution, say they certify the election. They did certify it. 349 00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:39,440 Speaker 1: By the constitution, Congress doesn't have the right to overturn 350 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:44,199 Speaker 1: the certification for this interview and for many others. The 351 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 1: Senate would later open an ethics inquiry into Holly's actions, 352 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 1: claiming that he quote lint legitimacy to the mob's cause 353 00:24:51,320 --> 00:25:01,640 Speaker 1: and made future violence more likely. And when the violence starts, 354 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:07,359 Speaker 1: Josh Holly is in the Senate chamber preparing to mount 355 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,200 Speaker 1: his challenge against the election. He doesn't get the chance. 356 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,119 Speaker 1: At two thirty three p m. Secret Service agents abruptly 357 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:19,600 Speaker 1: rush into the chamber and remove Vice President Mike Pence. 358 00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:26,000 Speaker 1: Somewhat unsettled, the senators continue debating, ignoring the lingering questions, 359 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,960 Speaker 1: we need to do something. At two pm, with the 360 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: senators still in the chamber, shots are heard from the 361 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:36,240 Speaker 1: other side of the building, and I will stand in 362 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:40,920 Speaker 1: recess until the call of the chair. At this point, 363 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 1: rioters are less than two minutes away from preaching the chamber. 364 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:53,320 Speaker 1: Protestors are in the Michael Cranish, an investigative reporter for 365 00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: the Washington Post, has the inside scoop on Holly's movements 366 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:59,399 Speaker 1: at this time. As the storming of the capital occurs 367 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,240 Speaker 1: in the Holly's in the Senate with the other senators. 368 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:07,720 Speaker 1: Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, confronts Holly and he says, quote, 369 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,639 Speaker 1: you have caused this, So there's a lot of tension 370 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,040 Speaker 1: going on. I can't help, but wonder did Holly have 371 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:16,919 Speaker 1: second thoughts as he stood in the Senate chamber with 372 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:19,919 Speaker 1: a mob seconds away and a party elder pinning the 373 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:23,439 Speaker 1: blame directly on him. The senators are then taken away 374 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 1: to a secure room in an office building near the 375 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:31,480 Speaker 1: Capitol building, the Senate Office Building, and one senator looked 376 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 1: over in this room, and every time he looked over, 377 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:39,280 Speaker 1: he saw Holly standing alone, basically in a corner. The 378 00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: question for Holly was simple, should he go through with 379 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:47,000 Speaker 1: his plan to challenge the election, even in the face 380 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:50,919 Speaker 1: of a historic ransacking of the Capitol building. There were 381 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: efforts trying to talk him out of going through with 382 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 1: his challenging of the results, but Holly refused and he 383 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,000 Speaker 1: went forward in fact with the challenging of the results. 384 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 1: In the end, he was only one of seven Senators 385 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,240 Speaker 1: to vote to challenge those results, so his effort failed. 386 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:08,760 Speaker 1: But the people who are critical of them would say 387 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:29,120 Speaker 1: the damage was done. Following the carnage on January six, 388 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:33,320 Speaker 1: Josh Holly became one of the most toxic politicians in Washington. 389 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:38,760 Speaker 1: Even some Republicans were calling for his resignation. But the 390 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:42,399 Speaker 1: truth is his political prospects have only risen since the riot. 391 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,360 Speaker 1: Any donors he lost after the riot were more than 392 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:48,600 Speaker 1: made up for by the flood of cash that poured 393 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:51,840 Speaker 1: from Americans who bought the big lie to them. Josh 394 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:54,679 Speaker 1: Holly is a patriot, one of the few suits in 395 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,720 Speaker 1: Washington brave enough to take a stand against the biggest 396 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:03,120 Speaker 1: fraud in American history, the of a presidential election. Now 397 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:05,840 Speaker 1: our man. Josh Holly has said that if Donald Trump 398 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 1: runs again in he'll fight for the former president with 399 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:13,600 Speaker 1: everything he has. But if Trump doesn't run, then perhaps 400 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:17,160 Speaker 1: Josh Holly will. I mean, his clean cut, youthful looks, 401 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 1: his ivy league eloquence, it all kind of makes him 402 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:22,720 Speaker 1: just a much better version of Donald Trump. Has his 403 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,520 Speaker 1: dedication to the big lie made him Trump's heir apparent. 404 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:29,640 Speaker 1: There's another question that those who know him well are 405 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:34,320 Speaker 1: asking themselves. Is there any chance he believes what he's saying. 406 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:43,960 Speaker 1: His former professor Elizabeth Bernhardt doesn't think so. This is 407 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:49,320 Speaker 1: a person who has every talent and skill to find 408 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:56,320 Speaker 1: the information, the data if that election were stolen and 409 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,520 Speaker 1: we've never seen it. There are a bunch of his 410 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 1: call as that I suspect aren't smart enough to be 411 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: able to look for a lot of that kind of information. 412 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 1: That's not true of Josh Holly. Ultimately, his mentors are stumped. 413 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:16,200 Speaker 1: That was not the person I knew, and knew pretty 414 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,680 Speaker 1: well as a young man, when anger just wasn't part 415 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: of his makeup. I don't understand what you're thinking. Tell 416 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: me what I really would like to know. Tell me 417 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:31,480 Speaker 1: what you're thinking, I asked Michael Cranish for a more 418 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 1: dispassionate view. He's a journalist, after all, we're very impartial people. 419 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,000 Speaker 1: There's some people look at Josh holly'd say, gee, what 420 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: happened to him? But I look back at his history, 421 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 1: his writings and so forth, I saw that it was 422 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:44,880 Speaker 1: pretty consistent from the time he's fifteen years old and 423 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 1: even earlier, actually up until today. Michael spoke to some 424 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: of Josh Holly's friends and mentors in the wake of 425 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:54,360 Speaker 1: the Capital riot. He also noticed that many of the 426 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:57,080 Speaker 1: people in Ally's life had only encountered the smooth talking 427 00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:01,200 Speaker 1: moderate and not the ruthlessly ambitious hard miner until he 428 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 1: reached the Senate. They've only seen him on his best behavior. 429 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:06,520 Speaker 1: They had a view of him, and they helped him along, 430 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:10,160 Speaker 1: and now they feel deceived, betrayed. They uw some pretty 431 00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:14,720 Speaker 1: strong language to describe Holly. Michael argues that the real 432 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: Josh Holly has always been hiding in plain sight. You 433 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:20,880 Speaker 1: just have to look back into the past. Before his 434 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 1: days as a charming Stanford grad and pro bono Washington attorney, 435 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 1: Josh Holly grew up in a small city called Lexington 436 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:32,760 Speaker 1: in northwest Missouri. Lexington's about an hour from Kansas city. 437 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:34,720 Speaker 1: It's right on the Missouri River, and if you go 438 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:38,000 Speaker 1: there today, it looks pretty down on its heels. The 439 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 1: area is known even today as a little Dixie. Dixie 440 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 1: is basically synonymous with the Deep South during the Confederacy era, 441 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:50,600 Speaker 1: and as it happens, Lexington, Missouri, before and during the 442 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:54,520 Speaker 1: Civil War, was the center of slavery in Missouri. There 443 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:57,440 Speaker 1: was a lot of slavery in Missouri, and the greatest 444 00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:01,200 Speaker 1: concentration of enslaved people happens to have been in Lexington. 445 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,280 Speaker 1: This is interesting because if you visit Lexington, Missouri now, 446 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:08,880 Speaker 1: you will find no trace of this history whatsoever. It's 447 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:12,960 Speaker 1: just not something that people talk about. This historical blindness 448 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: of the town seems to have imprinted itself on Holly's 449 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:19,000 Speaker 1: own worldview. Josh Holly, when he was fifteen years old 450 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:21,560 Speaker 1: and it started going to private school in Kansas City, 451 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,440 Speaker 1: wrote a series of columns for the local Lexington newspaper 452 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,160 Speaker 1: called State of the Union. And I was fifteen, I 453 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:29,680 Speaker 1: was playing dungeons and dragons to each his own I 454 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:33,760 Speaker 1: guess anyway, Josh Holly had some heavy hitting opinions for 455 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 1: a fifteen year old son of a bank manager. He 456 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:40,040 Speaker 1: said that affirmative action programs which helped blacks, for example, 457 00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:43,360 Speaker 1: who have been subject to discrimination and other people who 458 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:47,080 Speaker 1: have just suffered the overall effects of general discrimination, even 459 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: if not directly. He said that affirmative action was a 460 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 1: quote perverted racial spoils system, and he said that Martin 461 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:55,720 Speaker 1: Luther King Jr. The great civil rights leader, would have 462 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:58,840 Speaker 1: been turning over his grave over affirmative action, would have 463 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:02,400 Speaker 1: been repulsed by it. Punchy stuff. But is it in 464 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,800 Speaker 1: any way accurate. It's just not true at all. King 465 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: clearly favorite of front of action programs, and in fact, 466 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,560 Speaker 1: he was specifically asked about these and said, you know, 467 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:15,520 Speaker 1: this was needed to give people some equality, to make 468 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:19,240 Speaker 1: up for all the centuries of racism and for what 469 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:21,480 Speaker 1: happened during the era of slavery and so forth. So 470 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:25,800 Speaker 1: Holly just did not have a proper understanding of that history. Now, 471 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:28,600 Speaker 1: why are we critiquing a newspaper written by a fifteen 472 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:30,959 Speaker 1: year old, even if he is a future U. S. Senator. 473 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:33,840 Speaker 1: The reason is that there's a version of Josh Holly 474 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:41,320 Speaker 1: that has been remarkably consistent throughout his life. This is 475 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:44,120 Speaker 1: a Josh Holly who wrote in defense of the Oklahoma 476 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:48,680 Speaker 1: City bomber Timothy McVeigh he Lambastad the media for stereotyping 477 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:52,400 Speaker 1: militia members like McVeigh as radical right wing pro assault 478 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:55,959 Speaker 1: weapon freaks. This is after McVeigh murdered a hundred and 479 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:00,880 Speaker 1: sixty nine people. This is also the Josh Holly who 480 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: made popcorn in anticipation of the bombing of Baghdad during 481 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:07,120 Speaker 1: the Allied invasion of a rat in two thousand three. 482 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 1: And it's a Josh Holly who pushed a lie to 483 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,440 Speaker 1: ingratiate himself with millions of Trump voters who might be 484 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:15,840 Speaker 1: looking for a new candidate to send the White House 485 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:20,479 Speaker 1: in four the moderate Republican and all around good fellow 486 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:24,280 Speaker 1: that he inhabited at Stanford, That was only half the story. 487 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:31,840 Speaker 1: Since the election, it's clear which version of himself Josh 488 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:35,560 Speaker 1: Holly has settled into. When Josh Holly cast his vote 489 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:39,440 Speaker 1: to challenge the election results at eight pm on January six, 490 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,640 Speaker 1: the blood on the marble floors of the US capital 491 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 1: was practically still wet. Hundreds of police officers and rioters 492 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:52,840 Speaker 1: were seeking medical attention. Four people were already dead. Three 493 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:56,160 Speaker 1: more all police officers would perish in the next forty 494 00:33:56,160 --> 00:34:01,080 Speaker 1: eight hours, and things aren't looking any better. For the future, 495 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:04,440 Speaker 1: we can only guess at what further harm is being 496 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:07,280 Speaker 1: stored up by the continued falsehood spread by Holly and 497 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:10,439 Speaker 1: his allies. What is the future in a nation where 498 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:13,520 Speaker 1: almost a third of the population believe that their democracy 499 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:16,560 Speaker 1: is functionally dead. Your guess is as good as mine 500 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:18,960 Speaker 1: on that one. But I can tell you this that 501 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:23,480 Speaker 1: mass illusion serves Josh Holly very well. Hell, it might 502 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:27,040 Speaker 1: even take him to the White House. For the rest 503 00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:29,440 Speaker 1: of us, well, for the rest of us, it screws 504 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:33,120 Speaker 1: things up beyond comprehension. I don't know whether it's more 505 00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:35,840 Speaker 1: accurate to frame Holly as a symptom or a cause 506 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:38,560 Speaker 1: of our current social ills and the rise of political 507 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:42,440 Speaker 1: violence in the United States. He has certainly played a 508 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:46,320 Speaker 1: role in making those problems worse. But he's also someone 509 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 1: who grew up in a society that the fifteen year 510 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:52,600 Speaker 1: old kids published political rants aimed at pushing fringe agendas. 511 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:56,520 Speaker 1: He's someone who grew up surrounded by people who convinced 512 00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:58,960 Speaker 1: him to have sympathy for a man who detonated a 513 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:04,359 Speaker 1: truck bomb next with daycare, and so at the end 514 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,040 Speaker 1: of this episode, I'm left thinking that, in some ways, 515 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,000 Speaker 1: the story of Josh Holly is the story of the 516 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:22,840 Speaker 1: inevitability of the Capitol riot. In the next episode, we 517 00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:25,280 Speaker 1: go to the front line of the mayhem as police 518 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:28,960 Speaker 1: battle rioters, bear spray and bomb threats the guard. He 519 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:31,080 Speaker 1: leans over and he takes a look at the device, 520 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:35,080 Speaker 1: and he recoils immediately and says, holy shit, it's a bomb. 521 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:38,800 Speaker 1: Join me in episode six, Hugs and Kisses