Bernie’s Weekly Q&A (8/16)

Nancy Pelosi, and Jan. 6, presidential assassination attempts, David French's presidential endorsement, and more!

Welcome to this week’s Premium Q&A session for paying subscribers. I appreciate you all signing up and joining me.

A quick reminder first

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Let’s get started:

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Bernie: I can totally agree with your prediction that if Harris loses, the left and it’s allies in the media will definitely pull the race card. I agree that there are racists out there that won’t vote for her because she’s black. Why isn’t it termed racist when blacks vote for her only because of that and/or Trump is white? — Vic D.

I understand the implication of your question. But consider this: When you’re a minority in America — and one that historically has been treated very badly — there’s a natural tendency to support someone who, broadly speaking, looks like you. So if blacks vote for her because she’s black, I’m not going to call them racist — because I understand the reasoning behind such a decision. I think if they reject Trump it’s because of a number of things that transcend his race. Democrats overwhelmingly vote Democratic. Some blacks believe Trump is a racist. Those are also reasons for some black people to reject him. But let’s remember that blacks vote for white candidates all the time — except when there’s a black alternative in the race. And even then, I think a lot of blacks would support a white liberal over a black conservative. It’s complicated — everything tied to race is complicated.

Bernie and John: It seems like Kamala Harris is employing a combined campaign strategy of Obama and Biden. In 2008, Obama falsely presented himself as a blank slate, allowing a compliant media and public to project onto him whatever they wanted him to be. As for the Biden model, Kamala is redeploying her version of Joe’s basement strategy sans the Covid virus. She is hunkering down in plain site, but hunkering down nonetheless with a similarly compliant media giving cover and asking no real questions. Do you agree, and if so, what would your counter-strategy be? — Steve R.

From John: I think you make a lot of sense, Steve. Bernie and I talked a little about this on this week’s No BS Zone. Harris has been ducking press conferences and interviews for the same reason Trump refused to participate in the GOP primary debates: she’s winning, and she doesn’t want to subject herself to tough scrutiny. Like I said about Trump and the debates at the time, this is not good for the country, but it’s good for the campaign.

From Bernie: I completely agree with your analysis, Steve. My counter-strategy would HAVE BEEN for the GOP to nominate somebody other than Trump — because the Harris strategy — with the help of that compliant media you mention — is working. But since that ship has sailed, I’d tell Trump to change his ways or be prepared to lose — again. I’d tell him to stick to the issues, to draw comparisons between himself and her progressive past, and point out that she’s flip-flopping now because she doesn’t want voters to know who she really is. Do I think Donald Trump is capable of doing that? No.

Bernie: One one hand, I think it’s weird how little we’re talking at this point about the Trump assassination attempt. On the other, I recently learned of two assassination attempts on President Ford that happened just within a couple weeks of each other, that I really have no memory of. Reagan’s on the other hand still evokes clear memories. Is it the difference in the severity of these attempts that portray these things differently in people’s minds (though one man did die in the Trump attempt), or do you think the popularity of each president has something to do with it? — Alex D.