US Politics Election Extra: Harris - Trump Showdown Update

"He is just a big child. Worse than that, actually. My children, uh, behave better than that...and one of them's a real challenge".

Hello Team

🎦 00:00-00:25⏩

Jonathan welcomes viewers to the channel and mentions that he will be away for two weeks so daily US election updates are on hold until his return (though he might post if there are any big updates - like the announcement of Biden's VP pick! He is taking his laptop on holiday so will try!).

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Trump's contentious interview at the National Association of Black Journalists Conference

🎦 00:25-01:40⏩

Jonathan discusses Trump's recent interview at the National Association of Black Journalists Conference and the controversy surrounding his comments. ABC journalist Rachel Scott asked a challenging question - why should black people vote for him given previous dubious comments he has made about black people? Jonathan points out that Scott has since received death threats from Trump's supporters which is 'not cool' especially as she was only using Trump's own words and the question was not a difficult one.

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Allegations surface that a group linked to Egyptian Intelligence funnelled $10m to the Trump campaign

🎦 01:40-02:48⏩

Jonathan highlights a breaking news story alleging that a group linked to Egyptian Intelligence Services withdrew $10m in cash five days before Trump became president in 2017 and that special counsel Robert Mueller investigated whether this had made its way to Trump. This investigation was shut down by Attorney General Bill Barr in a 'jaw-dropping' decision and this information is now coming out which is 'not looking good' for Trump. Jonathan comments that it is illegal for non-US citizens to donate to US political campaigns and recalls a time when he donated to Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign and was refunded.

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Trump backs out of ABC debate with Harris and challenges her to a debate on Fox News

🎦 02:48-05:25⏩

Jonathan talks about Trump's refusal to debate Harris on ABC and his subsequent challenge to her to a debate on Fox News. Jonathan argues that this is a weak move from Trump as he is backing out of pre-arranged debates at neutral venues such as CNN (which didn't even fact check him!) and ABC. Jonathan believes that Trump is afraid to debate unless he has a partisan audience and interviewers. He also points out that some mainstream media outlets have incorrectly reported that Trump has agreed to a debate with Harris on Fox as if she had agreed, when in fact she hasn't. Brian Tyler Cohen pointed this out by saying "I can agree to get paid a million dollars by Chase Bank...but that means nothing unless Chase Bank agrees to pay me a million dollars!". Jonathan feels that Trump is scared of difficult questions. Trump has also made personal attacks on Harris, saying she has a 'low IQ' and lacks the 'mental capacity' to debate him. Jonathan rubbishes this and lists her achievements - District Attorney, Senator of California (5th biggest economy in the world), Vice-President. Trump only ever insults anyone outside of his 'circle of acolytes' and Jonathan believes he is 'just a big child'.

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Ohio removes 155,000 voters from its rolls ahead of the Presidential election

🎦 07:18-07:53⏩

Jonathan moves on to a news story about Ohio removing 155,000 people from its voter rolls and hopes that this is not a 'dodgy' attempt to purge bona fide voters. He looks at the reasons given for the removals which include four consecutive years of voter inactivity and registrations not matching details provided to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

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Trump caught waving to a non-existent crowd in staged video footage

🎦 07:53-08:59⏩

Jonathan shares footage from Ron Filipkowski that shows Trump waving to what appears to be an adoring crowd after disembarking from a plane. However, when the camera pans around it is clear that there is nobody there. Jonathan explains that this is not the first time this has happened - similar footage exists of Trump waving to nobody outside Trump Tower. The implication is that Trump stages these fake crowd greetings regularly, often with nobody present.

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Jeff Duncan, former Georgia Republican Lieutenant Governor, attends his first Democratic rally

🎦 08:59-10:29⏩

Jonathan talks about how former Georgia Republican Lieutenant Governor Jeff Duncan attended his first Democratic rally. He plays a clip of Duncan talking about his experience, describing a 'release valve of tension', an 'energy in the room', a 'movement' that was reminiscent of the 'Obama run'. Duncan noticed a lot of former Obama campaigners at the rally and felt that 'the same sheet music' was showing up. Jonathan agrees with Duncan that this enthusiasm translates into voter registration, increased turnout and a shift in the polls.

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Harris campaign launches "Republicans for Harris" initiative to attract GOP voters disillusioned with Trump

🎦 10:29-11:34⏩

Jonathan discusses how the Harris campaign is launching a "Republicans for Harris" movement to capitalise on the Republican voters who are disillusioned with Trump. This will be a 'campaign within a campaign' that utilises well-known Republicans to activate their networks and there will be a particular emphasis on voters who backed Nikki Haley in the Primaries. Jonathan reminds viewers about the "Haley for Harris" movement which was taken to court by Haley but was deemed to be legal. He then highlights a quote from Olivia Troye, former chief of staff to Adam Kinzinger, who said "As a proud conservative, I never thought I'd be endorsing a Democrat for president, but I know Vice President Harris will defend our democracy and ensure Donald Trump never returns to the White House".

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Trump's incoherent rambling about Mark Zuckerburg

🎦 11:34-14:41⏩

Jonathan plays a clip of Trump attempting to talk about Mark Zuckerberg. The clip features an incoherent 90 second rambling sentence. Jonathan points out that if Biden had spoken like this he would have been labelled senile, yet Trump is given leeway. Trump can't handle difficult questions and this is evident in his interview at the National Association of Black Journalists conference. He doesn't have any substance and resorts to vacuous nonsense, repeatedly telling a joke about Hannibal Lecter at his rallies, seemingly for no reason, other than the fact people will react to it. Jonathan argues that the people who attend Trump's rallies don't want to hear about policy, they just want to hear him ranting about immigrants, sections of society and his usual vitriol. Jonathan mentions that Trump talked about the Algerian boxer at his Atlanta rally and spread disinformation about the boxer being trans. Fox News have also done this. Jonathan states that the boxer is female and was born with XY chromosomes, meaning she is genetically predisposed to producing more testosterone, just as Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimmer, was predisposed to processing lactic acid quicker than other humans. Jonathan feels this is a fascinating philosophical debate about what defines male and female, essentialism, categories, demarcation and shades of grey. Jonathan feels that Trump misses the point and prefers to talk about culture wars and spread disinformation about the boxer transitioning, because it is more effective than talking about the complexities of reality.

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Comparison of the Harris and Trump rallies in Atlanta, Georgia - contrasting energy levels

🎦 14:41-28:18⏩

Jonathan compares the Trump and Harris rallies that were held in Atlanta, Georgia. The Harris rally was packed with no empty seats, there were performers and people were clearly enthused. In contrast, there were many empty seats at the Trump rally and he spent his time complaining about the school that hosted the rally not letting enough people in, despite the fact people were standing outside. Trump just complains and whinges - 'he's such a sore loser' Jonathan says. Jonathan highlights that these differences in energy are significant and that Doug Emhoff (Harris' husband) is the 'perfect first gentleman', going around enthused and being really up for it, whereas Melania Trump hates her husband which tells you something. Melania was only seen with Trump briefly at the RNC convention but she refused to kiss him or make a speech. Leah Greenberg, from Indivisible Guide, summed this up by saying "Not kidding at all when I say that [the] model that Doug Emhoff is setting for men to be powerfully, joyfully supportive of their spouses will have lasting cultural implications". Jonathan also plays another clip of Trump at his rally, where he suffers a brain glitch and repeats the phrase "together we will" multiple times.

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Trump attacks Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger during his Atlanta rally

🎦 28:18-39:43⏩

Jonathan talks about Trump's extraordinary behaviour at the Atlanta rally, where he criticised Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger (a fellow Republican), calling him 'disloyal' for not 'finding him 11,780 votes'. Jonathan mentions Ben Marcellus from Midas Touch Network who summed up Trump's behaviour at the rally in a tweet: "Trump spoke in Atlanta today and did the following: 1) Congratulated Putin on a prisoner swap; 2) Discussed his friend, his late great Hannibal Lecter, for no reason; 3) Attacked Bruce Springsteen; 4) Attacked the GOP governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp; 5) Made repeated overtly racist comments about VP Harris [refuses to pronounce her name, for example]; 6) Attacked the school that hosted this event because the crowd was not as big as a VP Harris event; 7) Said, "I don't have a guitar, I don't have a guitar, I don't have a guitar"; 8) Attacked Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan; 9) Intentionally mispronounced VP Harris's name and said there are 19 different ways to say it; 10) Said he now supports electric vehicles which he didn't do two weeks ago because Elon [Musk] has endorsed him; and 11) Had numerous cognitive glitches". Jonathan is struck by the fact that Trump attacked other Republicans - Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan - as well as Kemp and Raffensperger, and makes the observation that the Republicans are currently eating themselves and are very divided, in contrast to the unity within the Democratic party. Jonathan plays a clip of Josiah (from Pondering Politics) who says Kemp 'bent the knee' to Trump after Trump gave him so much grief over the 2020 election and that he is still 'too weak to budge', even after Trump publicly insults him, his family and his endorsement. Kemp responded to Trump's attack by tweeting that he was focused on winning the election in November and saving the country from Harris and the Democrats, rather than engaging in 'petty personal insults, attacking fellow Republicans or dwelling on the past'. He told Trump, "You should do the same, Mr. President, and leave my family out of it". Jonathan plays a clip of Tim Miller from The Bulwark podcast who comments that a normal politician would have at least had the intelligence not to mention Kemp, or even better, invite him to the rally. However, Trump is a 'malignant narcissist' and 'psycho' so clearly not intelligent enough to employ these tactics. Before the rally Trump had sent out a message on Truth Social attacking Kemp. He said Kemp should be focusing his efforts on fighting crime, not 'fighting unity in the Republican party'. He then went on to say how the crime rate in Atlanta is high. Jonathan points out the irony of Trump demanding unity, whilst at the same time attacking other Republicans. Trump also took swipes at Kemp's wife, saying she and Kemp thought he couldn't win the election and claimed that she thanked him and said "Sir, we'll never be able to make it up to you". Trump said he didn't want Kemp's endorsement or his wife's endorsement. Jonathan criticises this and says that attacking a fellow Republican's wife is poor strategy and reminds viewers that Ted Cruz did not fare well after Trump targeted his wife in a similar way in 2016. During the Atlanta rally Trump made four separate attacks on Kemp. He told him to 'get off his ass and do something about' the crime in Atlanta, called him a 'bad guy', 'disloyal' and a 'very average governor'. He called him 'little Brian' and told the crowd a story about how Kemp's wife had said to him "Sir, we'll never, ever be able to repay you for what you did. You got my husband the nomination, and then we beat somebody who was unbeatable...She was the hottest politician in the country at the time. Democrat politician, I would say I was hotter because I was president. So I was hotter than her. I'm only kidding Marjorie, I'm only kidding". Jonathan states that Kemp's numbers in Georgia are actually better than Trump's, and that Brian Kemp actually won on the same ballot that saw Herschel Walker lose (to Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock) in 2022. This suggests that there are voters in Georgia who would vote for a Democrat over a Republican if they felt that the Republican was too extreme. This demographic should have been prime targets for Trump but instead he has pushed them away by attacking Kemp. Jonathan draws a comparison with Kari Lake who told McCain voters to 'get the hell out' before losing her election and then went on to express regrets that she didn't invite them in. The 'most depressing part' for Jonathan is that Kemp responded to Trump's attacks by toeing the party line and calling Harris a 'radical left lunatic', rather than standing up to Trump. Jonathan reiterates that Trump has done this to many other politicians up and down the country, attacking them and their family members and that they have all rolled over and sanctioned his behaviour, like Ted Cruz.

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Jeff Duncan releases a statement condemning Trump's "deranged" Atlanta rally speech

🎦 39:43-42:20⏩

Jonathan shares the statement that Jeff Duncan released following Trump's speech which described it as a 'deranged' and 'unhinged angry' version of the Trump that Georgia rejected in 2020. Duncan said Trump 'does not care about uniting this country' and that 'millions of Americans have had enough with this grievance-filled campaign'. Jonathan points out that Georgia is a state that the Republicans really need and that at the moment it is borderline for them. He believes Trump is shooting himself in the foot with his negative campaigning style, in contrast to Harris' positive and substantive campaign. Jonathan encourages any Republicans watching the video to listen to the Harris rally speech and compare it to Trump's Atlanta rally to see who is doing a better job. He feels that he is being critical of Trump because Trump is handing him all the ammunition to do so, and that if he was a Republican strategist he would be saying the same thing. Trump is scoring 'own goal after own goal' and 'something needs to change'.

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Aaron Rupar compares Trump to Stalin

🎦 42:20-43:40⏩

Jonathan highlights a tweet from Aaron Rupar, a CNN journalist, who compared Trump to Stalin. He said "Did Stalin write this? Trump is all about loyalty and purges". Jonathan contrasts this with the Democrats who disagreed over whether Biden should step aside, before a 'people powered', 'organic' and 'bottom up movement' led to Biden's decision to step aside. Lawmakers reflected the views of the people. Trump, on the other hand, wants to purge the party of people who do not endorse his candidates. Jonathan shares another tweet from Trump which says: "We have to purge the party of people that go against our candidates...make it harder for a popular Republican president to beat the radical left lunatics. Jeff Duncan is a loser who is disintegrating on his own. Congratulations to Josh McCoon for purging our party of misfits and people that don't want to see us succeed". Jonathan describes Trump's language as 'incredible'.

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Republicans believe that abortion is possible 4 weeks after a baby is born

🎦 43:40-45:10⏩

Jonathan highlights the fact that some Republicans believe it is possible to have an abortion four weeks after a baby is born and plays a clip that features the following dialogue: Question: "After they're born you can kill them?" Answer: "I'm sorry, I've got to take a moment here. You're saying that in California you can kill a newborn baby up to four weeks until after it's born?" Question: "Absolutely. That's not true, that is true". Answer: "That's not true, I passed a law in the last year or two". Question: "That is not true you need to go and do your research, that's 100% not true". Answer: "You need to do your research, 100% not true, you need to do your, where did you, where did you read that be honest?" Question: "National news media, post-birth abortion, can you tell me where you read it?" Answer: "It's been a while, I've read it in so many places I can't name them all". Question: "No it's hard to name them all right now". Answer: "Yeah it is, okay". Jonathan despairs at the fact that people believe this disinformation and it shows there is 'something going wrong with the information spaces' and that fact-checking needs to be improved.

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Biden's VP pick will be announced soon - Josh Shapiro is favourite

🎦 45:10-51:22⏩

Jonathan says that the announcement about Biden's VP pick is imminent, and feels that Josh Shapiro, the Governor of Pennsylvania, is most likely to get the nomination. He points out that the Republicans are already launching attacks against Shapiro, digging up his views on Israel and Gaza from his student days. He plays a clip of Shapiro responding to an attack from JD Vance, the Ohio Senator, where Vance claimed he was like 'a really bad impression of Barack Obama'. Shapiro responds saying that Obama is 'probably our most gifted orator' of his time, which draws applause at the press conference he is speaking at. Shapiro then goes on to say that JD Vance is a 'phony baloney' and the 'most inorganic candidate' he has ever seen on the national stage. Jonathan picks up on this and says it is not going well for Vance when the response to the question is met with a round of applause. The most important part of Shapiro's response, for Jonathan, is when he says Vance is 'inorganic' - he doesn't come across as genuine and is trying to force it. Jonathan shares his own thoughts on the matter and states that he has an intuition that Senator Mark Kelly would be more 'vice-presidential', whereas Shapiro is 'brilliant', but a bit too young for the role. He thinks Shapiro would be great for taking on the other side, using rhetoric in the same way Pete Buttigieg does. Jonathan asks his viewers for their opinions. He then mentions Andy Beshear, the Kentucky governor, as a possible contender but points out that, like Shapiro, Beshear has had his schedule cleared for the next few days which is not unusual when the VP announcement is imminent. He then mentions Tim Walz who appears to be in the same position. Jonathan then talks about how Netanyahu is trying to undermine Shapiro because he is not good for Israel. Shapiro is Jewish but has nuanced views on Israel and dislikes Netanyahu. He is not an anti-Semite, will not be bullied by the AIPAC and thinks Netanyahu is one of the 'worst leaders of all time'. Jonathan points out that Netanyahu is 'exceptionally right-wing' and is unpopular amongst many Jewish people, who have been protesting against him and feels he will likely go to prison if he is not ruling. Jonathan goes on to say that Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman has concerns about Shapiro's stance on Israel which has made people within the party reconsider their views on Fetterman, given his previous strong pro-Israel stance. However, the fact that Netanyahu is so opposed to Shapiro suggests that the Democrats on the left of the party are wrong to believe he is too pro-Israel.

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CBS poll reveals increase in black voter turnout since Harris became Biden's running mate

🎦 51:22-52:45⏩

Jonathan highlights a CBS poll which reveals an increase in black voter turnout. The poll shows that 74% of black registered voters say they will definitely vote. This is in contrast to July 18th (before Harris became Biden's running mate) when this figure was 58%. This indicates that Harris' candidacy has mobilised black voters. Jonathan explains that Harris would need to mobilise the entire Democratic base to win, as well as those who have become disillusioned with politics. The poll also revealed that 80% of black registered voters feel that Harris's policies will help black people more, compared to only 20% who feel the same about Trump's policies. The national vote for Harris is up 1% on Trump in the CBS poll. The previous poll had Trump up 3% so this is a significant 4% swing. Jonathan was going to show viewers polls from battleground states, however he believes that the CBS battleground state data is unreliable as it has been modelled from the national poll which makes it less accurate.

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Former Trump voter lists the reasons why he is now voting for Harris

🎦 53:40-56:00⏩

Jonathan shares a tweet from a former Trump voter who is now voting for Harris, and lists his reasons for switching allegiance. He understands that: injecting disinfectant and using UV light inside the body is not a valid treatment for Covid; water regulations do not cause low water pressure; wind turbine noise does not cause cancer; the British did not control American airports during the Revolutionary War; 'covfefe' is not a word; nuking hurricanes is not an effective way of stopping them; being able to memorise five words is not proof of mental acuity; the president's nuclear button does not need to be bigger than Kim Jong Un's; microwaves cannot be used to spy on people; fathers should not talk publicly about how they would like to date their daughters; Harris did not send Jeffrey Epstein voicemails at 3am. He sums it up by saying: "I am voting for Vice President Harris because she is not old and decrepit, racist, misogynistic, or weird. And I want a president who is not a convicted felon, not been found liable for committing fraud or for defaming the woman that he raped". Jonathan comments "ouch" and "good enough for you" and thinks that the fact Trump is a convicted felon will be exploited by the Democrats.

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Wrap up

🎦 56:00-56:41⏩

Jonathan concludes by summarising the points he has made in the video - the contrast between the Harris and Trump Atlanta rallies and how Trump has 'lost the plot'. He signs off by saying he will speak to his viewers again soon...maybe!

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