{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/9a03fe9e-1ff0-4dcc-b3f6-50bd1f016ea4/042071ed-ba5f-4ddd-919c-2db52b7e8436?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Impeach This!","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/6195701f2eacc3a36070252a/619570bccb3c660012e3d111.jpg?height=200","description":"<p>We catch up with Gary Gerstle and Helen Thompson about the state of the Trump presidency, from impeachment and cover-ups to Syria and Ukraine.&nbsp;We ask what it would take for Republican senators to desert him and what the collateral damage is likely to be for the Democratic presidential candidates. Plus is Hillary really - really?! - back in the game?</p><p><br></p><p>Talking Points:</p><p><br></p><p>What are the grounds for impeaching Trump?</p><ul><li>There’s a legal argument: Trump breached campaign finance laws.</li><li>There’s also a constitutional argument: that Trump is trading American interests for personal gain.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>More specific charges are less open to counter-attack. Politically, it may be advantageous for the Democrats to focus on Ukraine.&nbsp;</p><ul><li>But a too narrow charge might not resonate. The Democrats need to make the case that this matters morally and link it to a broader American narrative.</li><li>Elections are a sacred event in American democracy.&nbsp;</li><li>But the U.S. electoral system also depends on a certain amount of corruption to work.</li><li>Is fear of foreign interference really just displacement?</li></ul><p><br></p><p>The chances of a successful conviction that passes the Senate are next to nothing, but they’re not nothing.</p><ul><li>The latest polls show a modest rise in Republican support for impeachment.</li><li>Republicans might see Pence as the best way to secure the interests of the party.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>A foriegn policy crisis may be what dooms Trump.</p><ul><li>Republican Senators are furious about what Trump just did in Syria.</li><li>The Republican establishment can’t pull Erdogan back.</li><li>But during foreign policy crises, people usually rally around the president.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Biden’s campaign may be collateral damage in all of this. Elizabeth Warren now appears to be the front runner.</p><ul><li>There doesn’t seem to be a centrist candidate capable of picking up Biden’s banner.</li><li>Warren poses an existential threat to the Silicon Valley titans.&nbsp;</li><li>But she fits into a long American tradition of anti-monopoly dissent.&nbsp;</li><li>If Warren runs, and wins, as a candidate from the Democratic left, she would make history.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Mentioned in this Episode:</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/08/will-hunter-biden-jeopardize-his-fathers-campaign\" target=\"_blank\">The New Yorker piece on Hunter Biden</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/where-power-stops-an-evening-with-david-runciman-tickets-63331044860\" target=\"_blank\">Tickets to David’s upcoming event at the Cambridge Union</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p>Further Learning:</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/do-americans-support-impeaching-president-trump/?cid=referral_taboola_feed\" target=\"_blank\">Our friends at 538 on American support for impeachment</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: </strong><a href=\"http://lrb.co.uk/talking\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>lrb.co.uk/talking</strong></a></p>","author_name":"David Runciman and Catherine Carr"}