New York Times journalist Ezra Klein insists his podcast will not be a “show of resistance” during the incoming Trump administration and has questioned liberal orthodoxy that believes… President-elect Donald Trump His movement is “unnatural.”
In Tuesday's episodeEzra Klein Show“,” Klein answered questions submitted by listeners. One focused on Klein's previous invitation to Trump allies to appear on his show, something the listener thought was “very helpful” but “portrays the current political landscape as 'normal' in a way that it's not.”
“Normalizing MAGA, normalizing Trump by having certain people on the show: Do you have any thoughts on this charge and that?” Claire Gordon, Klein's podcast editor, summed up the question.
“I don't know what is considered normal and what is not considered normal,” Klein replied. “On the one hand, do I think Donald Trump is an ordinary genius or even very stable? I don't think so. On the other hand, he has been elected or has been nearly elected president three times now.”
Ezra Klein of The New York Times insisted that his podcast would not be a “show of resistance” during a second Trump administration. (Lloyd Bishop/NBCU Image Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
“So who's more normal, the bespectacled Brooklyn podcaster you're listening to right now… or Donald Trump? I think the effort to treat him as constantly abnormal is a way of trying not to see other people, including him, as normal.” “He continued. “That doesn't mean you don't oppose the things he does or what his world of people does… There are lines that seem very clear to me. Especially arming the government. And I want to be very alert to that.”
“But I want to be absolutely clear: Don't expect this show to be a show of resistance. I'm not doing this or doing these interviews because I'm open-minded. I'm a reporter. I'm curious. I'm trying to understand things so I can make up my mind,” he added. .
The Times journalist stressed the importance of trying to “understand” the actions of Trump and his administration even when he strongly opposes them, thus achieving a “balance” that he may see as a challenge over the next four years.
Klein said liberals can “understand” the decisions of President-elect Donald Trump and his administration and still oppose them. (AFP/Evan Vucci)
“I think there will be things within the Trump administration that are going squarely on the authoritarian path. And he's actually trying to do what's academically called an authoritarian breakthrough. And there will be other things — maybe the State Department's governmental inefficiency or things that have happened.” Marco Rubio“The tenure of the secretary of state or the tariffs — which are not that and simply need to be reported as normal policies,” Klein said. “And so that's another dimension that I think the effort to make it a normal binary — things or not normal — makes it difficult. It's an administration. He's going to govern the country for the next four years. Parts of it will just be policy and policy. Parts of it may be something else entirely. Trying to change Or corrupt the system itself.”
“And my intention is to try to take everything at its level, and the fact that one thing happens doesn't mean you have to cover the other thing — either way. I think it's going to be really difficult to balance. I did less of that in the first Trump administration, to be honest.” “.
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Klein dismissed concerns about “normalizing” President-elect Donald Trump, suggesting that doing so “is a way of trying not to be seen by others, including him.” (AP Photo/Rick Scottri)
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Klein went on to summarize how liberals treated Trump's first presidency as “illegitimate” between Trump's loss of the popular vote in 2016, Investigation in Russia As well as the constant “leaks” from his administration about “how crazy he was.”
“It was much easier, even for people writing about it, to treat him as an anomaly. Because in some ways his administration treated him as an anomaly. It seemed possible that this was just a one-time fluke in American politics: the butterfly had fluttered,” Klein said. With its wings, we got this, and it's not like that anymore.” “And my first job on this show is to be a good reporter. “I understand that the show is a type of ongoing reporting, and I wouldn't be a good reporter or do a good job if I wasn't actively reporting on this.”Management.”
“So we'll see what form that takes. A lot of them don't want to talk to me, but it won't be a closed-door policy because Trump crosses a line in one area — and then there won't be any more talking about tariffs or something like that,” Klain added. “This is not the way I would do my job.”
