Adrian Goldberg discusses the extent to which Donald Trump represents a threat to democracy with Jay Rosen, Professor of Journalism at New York University.
This episode was recorded at the Byline Festival last summer at Dartington Hall, more than three months before the presidential election.
It bears repeating now because while many commentators in the mainstream media on both sides of the Atlantic - as well as some Republicans - have expressed surprise at how radical and disruptive Trump has been, Professor Rosen saw it all coming.
Trump’s backers were pushing Project 2025, a programme dreamt up by the right wing Heritage Foundation which called for radical intervention in the federal government – a task since adopted with gusto by Elon Musk – as well the deportation of illegal immigrants and the end of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programmes.
Project 2025 – officially known as Mandate For Leadership: The Conservative Promise – also promotes a Christian nationalist agenda.
It seeks to downgrade US involvement in NATO, remove protections for LGBTQ plus people and looks to erode the separation of the judiciary from the executive - paving the way, say its critics, for an authoritarian government, possibly even a third Trump term.
So we may fear what’s up next from the White House – but we can’t say we didn’t know it was coming.
Listen to more episodes of the Byline Podcast here.
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