It’s been a week. In just seven days, former President Trump miraculously survived an assassination attempt, picked J.D. Vance as vice presidential candidate, and delivered the longest acceptance speech in history at the GOP convention in Milwaukee (he also holds the record for the second and third longest acceptance speeches). Oh, and through it all, the Democratic party continued its tailspin into crisis as internal clamor grew for President Biden to step aside. Amazing when the afterthought for the week is whether the sitting president will remain on the ticket for an election just months away. But that's where we are.
On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer reflects on this pivotal week in US politics and welcomes back media journalist and former CNN show host Brian Stelter on the show alongside Vanderbilt political historian Nicole Hemmer. “We're living in a period of escalating political violence and social and political instability,” Hemmer tells Bremmer. “That was true in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and I think that it's true today."
In a wide-ranging conversation that touches on all the major news of the week, Hemmer and Stelter dig into the political divisions that led to this moment of horrific political violence. “The real divides are not between Democrats and Republicans, although those are real,” Stelter adds. “But the biggest divide that we're seeing is between extremists and those who are moderates, the great silent majority."
Both guests also comment on the media's role in this fraught environment, with Hemmer critiquing prediction-focused coverage and Stelter advocating for better representation of casual news consumers and politically fatigued voters. The three also discuss the likelihood of Biden stepping down, an eventuality that Stelter argues is inevitable. “It is clear the Democratic Party elites are not with Biden. And I don't see that tide turning. I don't see how it changes.”
Season 7 of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, launches nationwide on public television stations (check local listings).
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