Links to today’s show transcripts:
In “Dangerous” Move, Republicans Push to Strip Healthcare from Millions Without Holding Any Hearings
As protesters shouted “Kill the bill! Kill the bill!” Senate Republicans voted Tuesday, by the narrowest of margins, to open debate on repealing Obamacare. Vice President Mike Pence broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate. Two Republican senators—Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska—joined Democrats in voting against the motion to proceed. Republican Senator John McCain cast a decisive vote to open debate, after flying in from Arizona, where he is being treated for brain cancer. But hours later, the effort to repeal or replace Obamacare faced another setback, when nine Republicans joined Democrats in rejecting the first healthcare proposal.
Is Trump’s Base Turning on the President over His Humiliation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions?
Trump is continuing to publicly humiliate his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, who was the first senator to endorse Trump during the 2016 race. On Twitter, Trump described Sessions as “beleaguered” and “very weak.” At a press conference on Tuesday, Trump said he was “disappointed” Sessions had recused himself from the probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Meanwhile, Breitbart News and other right-wing outlets are openly criticizing Trump’s treatment of Sessions.
Joshua Green on the “Devil’s Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump & the Storming of the Presidency”
Steve Bannon, the former head of Breitbart News, is the man many credit with helping Donald Trump become president. During the early days of the Trump presidency, many suggested Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, was pulling many of the strings in the Oval Office. Journalist Joshua Green talks about how Bannon took his hard-right nationalist politics from the fringes of the Republican Party all the way to the White House. Green has been closely following Bannon’s career for years. In October 2015—before Bannon joined Trump’s campaign—Green dubbed Bannon the “Most Dangerous Political Operative in America.” His new book is “Devil’s Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency.”
A Look at How a Racial Theorist Tied to Mussolini & Hitler Influenced Steve Bannon
Journalist Joshua Green talks about two men who influenced Steve Bannon’s philosophy: the Italian philosopher Julius Evola, whose ideas became the basis of fascist racial theory, and René Guénon, who developed an anti-modernism philosophy called “Traditionalism.”
Joshua Green on How Bannon’s Experience with Video Gamers Gave Rise to the Alt-Right
Journalist Joshua Green talks about how Steve Bannon used his experience in the video game industry to use Breitbart News to mobilize young, largely white men. “The reality is, Fox News’ audience was geriatric and no one was connecting with this younger group,” Bannon told Green. Bannon’s hires at Breitbart include Milo Yiannopoulos, who has been widely accused of being a white nationalist.
