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Speaker 1: Ah from me historic Lemonard Park in Los Angeles, California.

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I'm Tavist Smiley and I'm so glad to see you

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and me back in stride again. Before we get started

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with today's show, let me invite you to follow me

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on Facebook and Instagram at the real Tavis Smiley and

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get updates on x that's formerly Twitter at Tavis Smiley.

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By the way, should you miss any product today's program

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or want to catch up on previous shows, you can

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always visit the Tavismileyshow dot com. That's the Tavismightyshow dot

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com or wherever you get your podcast and listen to

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the Tavismoley podcast version of this live program at your leisure.

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Another great show on tap for you today. It's Monday,

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so we'll check in with dot Cornel West on the

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top side of our two as per usual, on the

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B side of our two, Karen Audiam is a bad girl.

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She was on this program when she was summarily dismissed

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by The Washington Post last year for what you ask

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doing her job. Today, an arbitrator ordered the Washington Post

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to reinstate Karen after she posted about white men who

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espouse hatred and violence following Charlie Kirk's killing of victory

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today for the right kind of Karen, we'll talk about

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it with my colleague and White House correspondent in the

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quarterlot quote on the b side of our two, plus

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Hakeem Jeffries is hanging out with Jared Kushner. What's that about?

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Lots to cover on the backside of our two in

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our third hour, two more conversations. First, we'll take the

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political prediction market to task with Galen Druke of the

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gd Politics podcast, and then on the b side of

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our three year conversation with the Emmy nominated veteran actor

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Ernest Harden Junior. Ernest is nominated for his outstanding guest

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appearance on the HBO Max hit medical drama The Pit.

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So Ernest comes live and stud do today in our

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third and final hour on the backside at least, but

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in this first hour, let's talk politics and more with

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former White House speech writer and Emmy winner himself Eli

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Addie Eli, How are you, sir?

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Speaker 2: Great? How are you to man?

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Speaker 1: If I can play man's good to have you, I

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can plain that being ingrade, you know me, let me

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let me. I mentioned South Carolina, and I want to

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go there right quick.

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Speaker 3: Here.

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Speaker 1: Pete booda judge, was in South Carolina over the weekend.

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He's thinking about another run and so he was there

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this weekend. Made made some natural news, of course, and uh,

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we may talk about that a little bit later in

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today's program. But I want to go to South Carolina

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because Donald Trump was just in South Carolina, uh, and

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had this to say about what he expects of Democrats

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if and when they take back the House this fall

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years ago.

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Speaker 3: They're gonna flee our country. I'm going to be impeach.

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They're gonna do a peach me. They have no idea.

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Why I saw it today A congressman said on one

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of the shows, We're going to a peach person or Trump,

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We're going to a peach Oh really? Why the person

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was saying a neutral commentator for a change.

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Speaker 1: I like neutral commentator. Oh, I see, you're gonnapeach him? Why?

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Speaker 3: Uh, well, I don't know, I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier that we'll talk to new Cord lack

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Quarte about Jared Kushner and Hakim Jeffries and the meeting

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they had in the context or that is the backdrop

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here comes Donald Trump saying they are going to impeach me.

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I am not so sure about that. Uh, let me

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just let me just well, let me do this. I

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got thirty second shit, I wouldn't be fair. I want

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to hear what Eli has to say about that when

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we come forward. I do not believe that haw King

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Jeffries has the stomach to do that. I don't think

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the Democrats went back to the House, Hakim Jeffrey is

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gonna be jumping up and down to impeach Donald Trump.

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So Trump feels that way. Clearly there are those in

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the House who want to see Donald Trump impeached. I

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just don't know if impeachment sits anywhere near the top

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of the Democratic agenda, if they can pull this off

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coming November. But the president, he's bracing him himself for

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effects if the Dems take back the House. We'll talk

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about it with Eli Addi when we come forward on

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Tavis Smile. So Donald Trump is is concerned or feigning concern,

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that Democrats are going to impeach him if they get

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to the gavel back come November. What say you?

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Speaker 2: You know, it's a complicated question because I'm a parent

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of young kids and as a lot of people with

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young kids will will tell you there have to be consequences. Right,

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we do have a justice system. I think there's been

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unbelievable corruption, self dealing, flouting of laws left and right

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in this administration on a scale we've never seen. But

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at the same time, I think if Leader Jefferies is

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reluctant to make the next two years about impeachment or

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even frankly about investigating you know, Trump in his cabinet,

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his highly corrupt cabinet, I would say, you know, up

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and down, it's for good reason, which is that I

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think this country right now is exhausted by inflation, you know, war,

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a government that seems to only want align its own

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pockets and to not you know, to be kicking people

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off of you know, Medicaid and not expanding health care,

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and in fact, you know, Obama Care premiums have been

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tripling in some cases. I think they want I think

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I think people in this country want a government that

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addresses their problems. And if we spend, if Democrats take

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back the House, which I think will almost certainly happen,

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I mean, we have a good chance at the Senate.

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It's hard to say whether that's going to happen, a

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lot of things have to line up correctly. But I

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think what we should do is use those two years

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to try, in the Congress at least to focus on

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making life more affordable for you know, working families in

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this country, and expanding health care instead of cutting it back,

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and expanding paths to come to this country legally instead

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of restricting them, and make this a place of opportunity again.

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Speaker 1: You do realize, eli, with all due respect, that if

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we were talking about Barack Obama having done what Donald

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Trump is doing, no Republican guest on this program would

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be saying anything near what you're saying right now. You

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do realize it.

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Speaker 2: Well, you know, look, I mean Obama, who I you know,

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love and got to meet, didn't really know personally, but

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you know, he he His big scandal was that he

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wore tan suit in the Oval office one day. I

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don't know if you remember the weeks of Republican outrage

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about the tan suit. It's just another level of hypocrisy, frankly,

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And you know, there have been plenty of Democratic presidents

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who have had their you know, versions of corruption and

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self dealing. I think you know, Barack Obama was a

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particularly morally upright person in that regard.

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Speaker 1: But still, but see that, I'm coming back to your word.

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I let you have to eli not that easy, brother,

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not that I'm gonna put that hypocrisy word on you.

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And I say it respectfully and lovingly, of course, because

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because because this is the point. If Barack Obama with

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his black self in his tan suit, we're in the

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White House right now and it done what Donald Trump

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has done, There's no way that any Republican guest on

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this program would be saying to me, we shouldn't focus

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on the president. We ought to focus on the people's issues.

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They'd be going after Barack Obama every day, all day

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for the tan suit and everything else he's guilty of.

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And here you come now suggesting, well, other people want

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the Congress to focus on their issues, and so we're

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gonna let Donald Trump get away with literally no.

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Speaker 2: Look, I'm not I'm not for letting him get away

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with anything. Yeah, You're making a very good point here,

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Bern Tavison, and I'm not for that. But I think

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at a certain point you have to be coolly strategic

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and realize that you know, I think Trump likes everything

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to always be about Trump, and if we are attacking

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Trump and tearing down Trump and impeaching Trump and investigating Trump,

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that will be satisfying to some portion of the electorate.

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And as I you know, began my answer by saying,

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it may be what is morally and legally required, but

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at the same time, I think this whole country is

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exhausted by Trump and everything to do with Trump, and

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a little disgusted. Look, his approval rating is now. I

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think thirty three percent of the country in a Rutter's

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poll that I saw this morning approve of his performance

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as president. Sixty four percent disapproved. I mean, those are

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you know, Richard Nixon may have had numbers that bad

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days before he resigned from office. That's, you know, the

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blinking red alarm. He doesn't care at all because he's

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a lame duck, despite the fact that he wears these

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you know, twenty twenty eight hats all the time, and

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he doesn't really care about his own party. He doesn't

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care about anybody, even hisself really, and he's out the

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door and all he wants to do is build monuments

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and put more you know, gold, you know, paint on

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the walls of the Oval Office. Which apparently he's been

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doing some gilding of the Oval office himself. That's what

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he thinks is the good use of his time as president.

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You know, talk about a metaphor. It's Marie Antoinette. You know,

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he just doesn't have any connection to what people are

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going through in this country and does not care, and

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is making everything worse and is lining his own pockets.

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So I think, and all of that, I suppose is

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making the case for impeaching him or trying to investigate

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him and you know, stir up all kinds of civil

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and criminal cases against him again. But I think what

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the country needs, after a decade of this madness, you know,

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other than the Biden years, is somebody who will put

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their problems first. So I mean, the danger of an

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impeachment proceeding or all these investigations, and maybe they need

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to happen, but the danger of them is that it

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just drags us into another Donald Trump rabbit hole where

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it's Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump Trump until people.

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Speaker 1: I guess, no, I hear you, and I don't want to.

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I don't want to make light of the argument that

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you're making. I understand that the point you're making is

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a strategic point or is George W. Bush would say strategery.

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I get it. I get that, And yet I don't

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think it has to be either or it can be both.

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And we can have some new elected leadership in Washington

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that plays by the rules, that doesn't violate the law

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every day, it doesn't a lot of the American people

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every day. We can do that and at the same

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time both and not either or hold Donald Trump accountable.

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And yet I'm sensitive to your point about the strategy

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that the Democrats need to figure out how they're going

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to employ. Here's what I'm bothered by. I hear your

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point that people are exhausted by Donald Trump, no question

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about it. But are we not exhausted by a chief

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executive who breaks every law on the books? Are we

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not exhausted by a president who's engaged in a grift,

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a big grift? Are we not exhausted by et cetera,

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et cetera, et cetera. And here's the thing, at the

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end of the day, if we don't make some effort,

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some attempt to investigate and to hold him accountable, then

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what you have is another white male getting away with

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high crimes and misdemeanors. That's what you have, another white

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male and in the most multicultural, multiracial, multi ethic America ever,

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that absolutely sends the wrong signal. Number one, let me

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still go back to your babies, your precious babies you

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referenced earlier. That's the wrong message to your kids. You

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can get away, becames man.

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Speaker 2: I'm of two minds about this, right because I do

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think there have to be consequences, and I do think

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we have to become a nation of laws again in

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a way that we aren't right now, you know, for

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you know, in too many ways because of this trend

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and because of this president. But let's say we take

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back just the House, which seems like the most likely outcome,

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though I think we have an increasing shot of taking

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back the Senate. You know, there's a limit to what

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a speaker Jeffreys will be able to do. He's not

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going to be able to enact a legislative agenda almost

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at all. Despite this meeting with Jared Kushner, which we

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could talk about, you know, he's he's gonna it's mostly

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going to be trying to show some voters at the

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margins what the difference is between the parties after two years,

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where there's basically been no Congress, and Congress has just

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you know, laid down and abdicated their job and let

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Donald Trump do whatever he's wanted to do because Republican

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members of the House and Senator are scared of him.

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They're scared of what he can do to them in

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Republican primaries. So I think if if the danger is

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that if a speaker Jeffries is seen as focusing primarily

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on impeachment investigations, and even if he does thirty percent

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that and seventy percent the other stuff, you know that

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right and left, the press will largely focus on the

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source of conflict, which is the impeachment in the investigations,

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I think it'll just seem like Park's on both their houses.

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It's just they're all just you know, in a sandbox,

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you know, fighting with each other, even though we're trying

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to you know, meet out some kind of justice. I

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would love for the contrast to be We're actually focused

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on the problems of the American people, and he's trying

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to you know, line in his own pockets and do

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these horrible things. You know, there's an old theory of

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presidential politics that my old friend David Axelrod likes to

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talk about that the country for presidents doesn't elect replicas,

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they elect remedies. And I don't. I don't think the

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path forward for Democrats is a pugilistic, extremist democrat. I

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think it's somebody who is a more successful version of

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a Joe Biden, somebody who can be seen as someone

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wants to govern, someone wants to solve problems, someone who's

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a little bit of a conciliator. Can heal the country

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after all of this horrible toxic damage that's been done.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, a couple of minutes on this, and I'll push

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for you, but let me just let me let me

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lean on it one way time here. So Democrats have

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been promising that if in fact they take back the House,

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they're going to investigate Donald Trump for X, Y, and Z.

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They've been saying that on the record for months now,

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and that's part of the appeal, as you well know,

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to get to vote for them, that if we get in,

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we're going to investigate this fool. So what is the

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point of investigating Donald Trump if you're not prepared to

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take it the full length, which is to say, if

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it calls for impeachment then you ought to be impeached.

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I don't understand why we'd be investigating him if that's

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not what if that's not the end and aim once

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he's found guilty, which we all know he is, of

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these crimes. And mister Meanors, as I said a moment ago,

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the other point I'm raising is to use your back

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to your word pugilistic. I think there's gonna be some

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pugilism inside the Democratic Party. We see every day the

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intra party fighting, as it is at the Democratic National

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Committee level. Even inside the House we see Democrats not

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always on the same page. What happens when a fight

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breaks out openly, because as you well know, there will

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be Democrats who will demand that Donald Trump is investigated.

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They will demand that Donald trum impeached. And whether Hakim

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Jeffies goes along with it or not, he's got a

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fight on his hands inside of his own party the

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minute he becomes the historic black Speaker of the House.

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Speaker 2: Eli ADDI, you know, look, I get that there's going

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to be a lot of energy, a lot of juice

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in the fall elections about taking Trump to task, investigating

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him and peaching him. And on the merits, I agree

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with you, he completely deserves that. It's going to depend

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on what happens in the Senate, because let's say we

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don't take back the Senate. Let's say we do and

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we have a one seat margin, which I think is

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the realistic option. You know, if we take back you know,

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take back the Senate at all, we're never going to

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convict them Trump in the Senate. We're just never going

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to be able to do that. That's not going to happen.

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So then it's you're a prosecutor deciding do I prosecute

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this case that I actually can't win a conviction on.

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Do we want to How much time do we want

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to take up doing that when we could instead take

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up time trying to, you know, get Obamacare subsidies back

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in place, so people whose health insurance costs have tripled

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and who now you know, have to use emergency rooms

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as crisis care because they don't have doctors. You know,

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how much time do we want to spend you know,

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actually trying to have an infrastructure policy in this country

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that creates jobs, trying to you know, get inflation under control,

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trying to expand affordable housing. You know, I would rather

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do that then, and again, I'm no fan of Donald

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Trump's and I think he deserves, you know, whatever the

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worst punishment is. But we're not going to convict him.

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We're not going to convict him. So do we want

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to spend all that time? It's it's satisfying emotionally, but

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is it really going to achieve anything?

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Speaker 1: True Responses Two Responses will move on to Jared Kushner

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and Harakeen Jeffrey speaking of Vakueen Jefferson as being the

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ad I've said more times I can count, and with

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the course on my career that if you really want

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to know whether or not there's any real justice at

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the epicenter of whatever issue you're discussing, if you wonder

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if there's any if there's any real justice embody therein,

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all you have to do is to flip the frame.

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Flip flip the frame. By that, I mean just switch

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out the colors. I repeat what I said earlier. If

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Donald Trump were black and doing this, we know exactly

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where this conversation would be leading us, Just as if

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those insurrectionists on January sixth were black, we know how

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the outcome would be very different. All you got to

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do is to flip the frame. Just switch out the color,

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and that tells you whether or not it's a legitimate conversation.

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That tells you whether or not there's any real modicum

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even of justice at play when you flip out the colors.

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That's the first point. If Donald Trump were black, we'd

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be having a very different conversation. Number One, I don't

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mean eli, I mean the country.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. No, and there's no question. And we know with

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you there is no question.

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Speaker 1: The second point is I said earlier, it sends the

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wrong message in so many ways. I'm thinking of all

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these black and brown people in this country right now

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who have been caught up, who are in fact caught

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up right now, many of them innocent, but caught up

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right now in our system of injustice, our system of jurisprudence.

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Who would love to hear somebody saying, you know what,

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we ain't gonna We're not gonna charge you, we're not

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gonna prosecute you, We're not even gonna investigate you, because,

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you know what, the American people have real problems that

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we need to be addressing. And Jamal and Letitia, we

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you know, and and and and and Jose and Maria

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we not We're not gonna spend time. We're not gonna

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waste time hemming you up for the crimes that you

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allegedly committed, because we have other problems we need to

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focus on. I know black and brown folk who would

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love to hear that kind of commentary, that kind of analysis,

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and they never will. But because he's Donald Trump, because

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he's a rich, powerful white male, because of strategory, we're

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gonna let him off the hook because we got better

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things to do. And again I digress, but I think

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you take my point last word to you, ELI on

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this issue, will move forward.

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Speaker 2: Look, there's nobody who would be happier if Donald Trump

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were impeached and remove from office. I think he's unworthy

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of the job. I think he's highly corrupt. I think

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we're going to be spending decades finding out the full

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scale of the way he's looted our government. I think

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they're going to find half the China missing when that

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guy finally leaves the building, and his fingernails, you know,

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in the doorway as they pull him away. But I

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try to, as I said, be coolly strategic. I try

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to step back and think what am I actually hoping

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we achieve in this country? And I want to make

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you know, I want a government that makes people's lives

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better in measurable ways. And you know he's he's just

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one of these people who tends to slip through your

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hands just when you think you've got him, and maybe

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you know, we should just let him go off into

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the sunset. And if you look at the guy walking around,

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that may not be long.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you point, that's why he's Anemy winning TV writer.

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Fingernails in the in the in the doorways, they're pulling

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him out half the china missing. That's why Eli Aaddi

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is an Emmy winner himself. Let me close on this note.

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I think we started this half hour playing this Donald

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Trump clip and mister President, you ain't got none to

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worry about. Democrats ain't gonna do nothing. They're gonna they're

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not gonna come anywhere near trying to impeach you. I

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don't believe, and I believe that's why Donald Trump is

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making a mockery of Democrats in saying what he said

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in South Carolina. He knows they ain't coming for him.

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He knows that, and so he's leaning into this making

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fun of Democrats because he knows that they're not gonna

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impeach you. They ain't got the temerity to do so.

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I digress from now. You're listening to Eliaddi on Tavisli Addy,

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Emmy Award winning TV writer from a speechwriter in the

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White House, specifically for Vice President Al Gore as delight

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to have Eli on the program in case you just

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and then we had a spirited, uh, spirited debate, not

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really a debate, but we would it were spirited them

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in the first thirty minutes.

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Speaker 2: We mostly agree, yeah.

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Speaker 1: We mostly agree, Yeah, but it was spirited. We've been

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talking about Donald Trump, who was in South Carolina a

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couple of days ago, and I think made a mockery

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of Democrats in South Carolina when he suggested they're going

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to impeach me. There, Miles, you got you got to

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think you do up again if I can't mind my down.

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Trump imprestonation is not really that good. It's only twenty

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eight seconds. Listen to it. Listen to it yourself.

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Speaker 3: Years ago, They're gonna flee our country. I'm going to

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be impeached. They're gonna impeach me. They have no idea

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Why I saw it today, A congressman said on one

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of the shows, we're going to a peach person or Trump,

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We're going to a peach Oh?

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Speaker 1: Really?

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Speaker 3: Why the person was asking a neutral commentator for a change?

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Speaker 1: I like neutral commentator. Oh, I see, you're gonna peach him? Why?

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Speaker 3: Uh, well, I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I don't know. Eli. I think you may be slightly

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younger than I am. But do you do you remember

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Gary Hart?

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Speaker 2: Sure?

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Speaker 1: Absolutely so you're recalling Gary Heart challenge reporters to catch him.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and that was a different time.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, But my point of being, I'm being some

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of a tongue in cheek. Gary Hart challenged reporters to

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to to catch him, and they did as I recalled.

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They were hiding out in trees trying to catch Gary

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Hart because he sort of challenged them. You never want

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to do that to the press. Donald Trump is doing

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the same thing to Democrats. They're gonna impeach me. He's

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begging them to impeach him, but he knows they won't.

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And that's what I meant by reving this in their face,

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making a mockery. You don't think I'm right about that?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think the difference. I mean, look, I think

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Donald Trump is kind of pathological. He may think he's

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innocent of everything. I think there's something just off in

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his brain. He certainly has no shame, no remorse about anything,

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and I think he sees his own behavior differently. I

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think he thinks he's a dictator or a king and

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kind of above the law, you know, just by his

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mere existence. Really, it's really on a level we've never seen.

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Speaker 1: I think you get out front and you say they're

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going to impeach me, and you dare them to do. So,

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that's what I think is at work here. I digress

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right now, All right, Hakim Jeffries and Jared Kushner, this

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is all over the news. They got together for a meeting,

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and I don't know that they expected it to get out,

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but he got out, and everybody's trying to figure out

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what it means. So what does it mean, Eliadi?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's hard to say that it means anything. Really.

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I guess they had worked together on some legislation criminal

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justice reform in the first Trump term and had a

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bit of a relationship, and at least what they're telling

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the press as well, they keep in touch anyway, which

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I have hard time believing in any serious way. But

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you know, there's a very good chance. I think there's

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an almost one hundred percent chance the Democrats take back

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the House. The White House knows that they're thinking to themselves,

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is there some way we can keep a channel open

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to Jeffries so that, you know, if he's the speaker,

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we can work together on things that we agree on. Uh,

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you know, and Kushner is the person that they sort

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of dispatch for these tricky missions. But if you look

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at Jared Kushner's record on you know, piece in the

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Middle East, on ending the Iran War, pretty much everything

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on on ending the war, you know, between Russia and Ukraine,

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anything he is dispatched to do ends up a gigantic failure.

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And they tend to be impossible tasks. It's like the

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old Steve Martin joke about you know he's gonna now

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he's gonna inhale a grand piano through straw. Well, basically

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Krishnan has been asked to inhale a grand piano through

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restraw and you know, establish some kind of common ground

472
00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:44,079
with a guy Trump has insulted a hundred different ways,

473
00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:48,759
and whose agenda He's tried to sabotage her every conceivable way.

474
00:24:48,799 --> 00:24:51,960
I don't really see them working together. Yep, if and when.

475
00:24:51,839 --> 00:24:55,559
Speaker 1: Jeffy speak, let me let me just set Jared Kushner's

476
00:24:55,559 --> 00:24:58,640
side for the second, for a second, He's less important

477
00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:01,839
to meet hockeym Jeffrey's for all the obvious reasons more important.

478
00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:04,960
And I want to just ask you a point blank, direct,

479
00:25:05,039 --> 00:25:09,039
forthright question about Hakim Jeffreys and whether or not he

480
00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:13,480
is the right man for this moment. And historically we

481
00:25:13,519 --> 00:25:15,359
could ask this question of any number of people. I mean,

482
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,240
clearly bb Net and Yahoo is the wrong person at

483
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:20,720
this moment. Some could argue that y'all Sair air Fat

484
00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:22,880
back in the day was the wrong person at that moment.

485
00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:25,200
We could do this all day long. If if we're

486
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:27,200
friends of history, as you and I are, we could

487
00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:29,759
ask these questions historically whether or not these persons were

488
00:25:29,759 --> 00:25:33,119
the wrong people at the wrong time. So this Hakim

489
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:36,119
Jeffreys question, I wrestled with it all the time. I mean,

490
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:38,839
I like Haiking personally, never done anything, never done anything

491
00:25:38,839 --> 00:25:40,599
to me. Happens to be one of my fraternity brothers.

492
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,079
He's been a guest on this program. Oh cool, Yeah, yes,

493
00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:45,000
he's been a guest on the program. So I mean

494
00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:47,640
I get along with Hakim Jeffries. And yet, and yet,

495
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:51,559
and yet, I see all the ways, I see all

496
00:25:51,599 --> 00:25:56,079
the issues on which Haiqim Jeffries seems not necessarily to

497
00:25:56,119 --> 00:26:00,279
be in step with the base of the Democratic Party. Yeah,

498
00:26:00,319 --> 00:26:02,599
when you talk to members of the House, they swear

499
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:04,640
about Haikim, They love Lakimen Jeffy. I never talked to

500
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,279
anybody or in the House who doesn't like Hakim Jeffries

501
00:26:07,279 --> 00:26:09,640
a likable god, and many of them think he's a

502
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,519
good leader, and they understand what he's up against. And

503
00:26:12,559 --> 00:26:15,720
so you know, there's no dislike per se of Hakim.

504
00:26:15,759 --> 00:26:17,720
And at the moment, I don't see anybody or know

505
00:26:17,759 --> 00:26:22,640
anybody who's gonna put their name out front volunteer themselves

506
00:26:22,839 --> 00:26:25,440
to run against top King Jeffries. That could change between

507
00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:27,039
now November, if they went back to the House, we

508
00:26:27,079 --> 00:26:30,319
shall see. I'm saying all that to ask whether or not,

509
00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,559
for a variety of reasons, you believe history making he

510
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,440
will be if they pull this off, whether or not

511
00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:39,359
that makes Hi Kim Jeffries the right person at this

512
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:43,400
moment to lead Democrats. Many raids the same question about Schumer.

513
00:26:43,519 --> 00:26:44,039
You take my.

514
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,400
Speaker 2: Point, Here's what I would say to that. I like

515
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,200
him a lot, I respect him a lot. I started

516
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,680
my career in Washington actually working for a House minority

517
00:26:51,759 --> 00:26:54,359
leader to get parts, so I understand that job a

518
00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:57,000
little bit from the inside. And what you really are

519
00:26:57,279 --> 00:27:00,839
in his job, Hakiem Jeffrey's job, you're a class president.

520
00:27:01,799 --> 00:27:04,160
So the fact that you can't get a single Congressman

521
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:06,000
to say a bad thing about him, that's why he's

522
00:27:06,039 --> 00:27:07,880
the leader of the Democrats, because those are the people

523
00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:13,200
who elected him. He's not a national you know, elected official.

524
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:16,599
He's not a president. He won't have that megaphone. He's

525
00:27:16,599 --> 00:27:19,720
not somebody we pick to go toe to toe with

526
00:27:19,759 --> 00:27:22,039
the president. He's picked to serve the needs of his

527
00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:25,319
members by his members. The fact that he may be

528
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:29,519
out of step with the base of his party, and

529
00:27:29,759 --> 00:27:33,319
I suppose you're talking about the more sort of activist

530
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:37,279
progressive left that's been powering a lot of recent primary victories,

531
00:27:37,319 --> 00:27:39,160
and it is the source of a lot of energy

532
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,519
in the party right now. But I think, you know,

533
00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:45,720
Jefferies represents the mainstream of the party. He represents the

534
00:27:45,759 --> 00:27:49,599
party broadly speaking, and he represents I think the kind

535
00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:52,400
of leadership you need to bridge all these different factions.

536
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:52,559
Speaker 3: You know.

537
00:27:52,599 --> 00:27:56,279
Speaker 2: Tip O'Neil, Democratic Speaker of the House in the eighties,

538
00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:59,720
always used to say, if this were Europe, the Democratic

539
00:27:59,759 --> 00:28:03,359
Party would be five parties, and I think that's still true.

540
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,599
It's an almost impossible job. So I think expecting him

541
00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:13,920
as Speaker to suddenly be this charismatic national leader who

542
00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,000
goes toe to toe with Donald Trump, he won't really

543
00:28:16,039 --> 00:28:19,720
be doing that. He'll be letting his members do press

544
00:28:19,759 --> 00:28:23,599
conferences instead of him. Many times, that's part of that job.

545
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,599
Members of Congress all have egos. They don't want somebody

546
00:28:26,839 --> 00:28:29,240
to be their leader who's going to boss them around

547
00:28:29,279 --> 00:28:31,119
and tell them what to do and overshadow them. It's

548
00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:33,839
why our expectations of a democratic House have to be

549
00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,640
pretty limited. There's nobody in that job, even somebody like

550
00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:41,359
Nancy Pelosi, who I think is unbelievable and an incredible leader,

551
00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:46,480
who can, you know, day after day after day, really

552
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:48,640
go toe to toe with the President and potentially take

553
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,599
them down. It's the legislative leader's role is different, and

554
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:54,200
I think will be limited. And he can set an agenda,

555
00:28:54,359 --> 00:28:56,319
and he can build a consensus, and it's going to

556
00:28:56,319 --> 00:28:58,640
be a broad consensus that includes every part of the party,

557
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:04,000
and it won't satisfy the sort of fire and brimstone left.

558
00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:06,640
It's driving a lot of energy right now in the party.

559
00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:09,440
Speaker 1: Speaking of fire and brimstone left. As I said earlier

560
00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:13,079
in this program, there's always an intra party squabble up

561
00:29:13,119 --> 00:29:16,759
inside the Democratic Party about one thing or another, multiple things,

562
00:29:16,839 --> 00:29:19,240
usually all at once. It's always in fighting inside the

563
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:23,279
Democratic Party. So here's the latest. Democrats have now narrowed

564
00:29:23,759 --> 00:29:26,240
their twenty twenty eight convention. Speaking of the twenty twenty

565
00:29:26,279 --> 00:29:34,160
eight race, they've narrowed their convention finalist cities to three Boston, Denver,

566
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:39,680
and Philly. Boston, Denver, and Philadelphia. I've been at conventions

567
00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:42,319
in all three of those places during my career covering

568
00:29:42,319 --> 00:29:46,359
the Democratic Party. So those are three finalists, Boston, Denver,

569
00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:49,119
and Philadelphia, which did not make the black mayor of

570
00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:54,039
Atlanta happy. He has said that the DNC has snubbed

571
00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:59,359
black voters by not choosing the atl And now there's

572
00:29:59,359 --> 00:30:01,200
a fight inside the party about where they're gonna have

573
00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:05,400
their convention. There's some Democratic Party insiders who have slapped

574
00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:07,839
the mayor back and spanked Tire for even suggesting such

575
00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:10,480
a thing. That just because we didn't choose Atlanta, that

576
00:30:10,519 --> 00:30:13,440
does not mean that we're disrespecting black voters. So here's

577
00:30:13,519 --> 00:30:16,519
yet another squabble up inside the Democratic Party. I used

578
00:30:16,559 --> 00:30:19,079
to think years ago that these cities actually made a difference.

579
00:30:19,559 --> 00:30:21,920
I don't think they matter one hour older right now.

580
00:30:22,039 --> 00:30:24,200
I don't think it matters what city you could be

581
00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:26,960
in Compton, you could be in Alaska. I don't think

582
00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:29,440
it matter in Anchorage. I don't think it matters what

583
00:30:29,559 --> 00:30:31,920
city Democrats go to in twenty twenty eight. I'll tell

584
00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:34,160
you why we come for and see if Eli Addid

585
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,920
deagrees or disagrees you're listening to Tavismart. You aren't even

586
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:39,880
Eli Addy. So here's my read of this, and I

587
00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:41,559
could be wrong. If I am, you feel free to

588
00:30:41,599 --> 00:30:43,400
disabuse me of this notion. I used to think these

589
00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:47,200
cities mattered because there was some strategicy. There's that word again,

590
00:30:47,839 --> 00:30:50,400
Thanks George W. Bush. There was some strategy that went

591
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:52,480
into how these decisions were made, and there still is.

592
00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,519
But at the end of the day, we know the

593
00:30:56,559 --> 00:30:59,960
South Carolina is the first date in the Democratic primary process,

594
00:31:02,039 --> 00:31:07,079
and more importantly, we know that these elections come down

595
00:31:07,599 --> 00:31:10,680
to a handful of swing states, and as you well

596
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:12,920
know as well as I do, not just a handful

597
00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:15,519
of swing states, but a handful of districts inside of

598
00:31:15,559 --> 00:31:19,480
those swing states. That's how tight these races have become.

599
00:31:19,559 --> 00:31:22,599
For president, You're looking at a few swing states and

600
00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:27,559
frankly a handful of districts inside of those swing states.

601
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:30,839
I don't know that Philadelphia is the answer to the prayer,

602
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,799
because it is one of the swingiest of swing states,

603
00:31:34,559 --> 00:31:36,359
and so that thing can still go the other direction

604
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:40,720
even if you meet there for your convention. Denver ain't

605
00:31:40,799 --> 00:31:43,720
no part of the Democratic base in Denver. I ain't

606
00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:45,400
hating on Denver, but it ain't no part of your

607
00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:49,720
base in Denver. And in Boston, Eh, don't get me started.

608
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:52,359
So I'm not so sure the mayor of Atlanta, the

609
00:31:52,359 --> 00:31:54,359
black mayor, is right when he says it's a snub

610
00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:57,599
to black voters. But you could make the argument about

611
00:31:57,680 --> 00:31:59,599
black voters. You can make the argument about the South,

612
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:02,160
make the argument about rafaol Warknock and John Also, if

613
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:04,240
putting off the impossible, you can make the argument about

614
00:32:04,279 --> 00:32:06,640
Kisha Land's bottoms, a black woman from a mayor of

615
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:08,640
Atlanta running for governor. You can make a lot of

616
00:32:08,759 --> 00:32:12,319
arguments for why Atlanta would be a decent place, perhaps

617
00:32:12,359 --> 00:32:13,920
the best place to have the convention. But here's why

618
00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:17,440
it doesn't matter, because it's all about those swing states

619
00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:20,960
and those handful of districts. Who cares where the convention is?

620
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:22,759
I digress Elid de Micah's yours.

621
00:32:23,079 --> 00:32:25,359
Speaker 2: No, I completely agree with you, and thank you for

622
00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:27,839
saying that it's meaningless where the convention is held. I

623
00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:31,759
think if the convention were held on zoom from you know,

624
00:32:31,799 --> 00:32:35,119
a fishing vote in Thailand, I don't think it would

625
00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:37,759
make a difference. There's no voter who cares where it is.

626
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:42,400
By and large, you know the sorts of low information

627
00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:46,119
swing voters who really decide elections, These harder to reach

628
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:48,759
voters who have swung back and forth in the last

629
00:32:48,759 --> 00:32:53,799
couple of elections, you know, younger voters, certain non college educated,

630
00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,920
you know voters, Latino voters. They're not even watching the

631
00:32:56,960 --> 00:32:59,680
convention at all. It's a TV commercial. It's like saying

632
00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:01,960
a boy member of General Motors is upset because they're

633
00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:05,079
filming their next TV commercial in Philly instead of you know, Atlanta.

634
00:33:05,119 --> 00:33:07,119
It doesn't really make a difference. Now, all due respect

635
00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:09,240
to the Mayor of Atlanta. What it does bring is

636
00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:13,519
economic activity, tourism. All your hotels will be booked for

637
00:33:13,559 --> 00:33:17,400
a bunch of days. But honestly, conventions need to be

638
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:20,839
significantly rethought. They used to be the place where nominees

639
00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:23,920
were chosen and you'd have, you know, eight, ten, twelve

640
00:33:24,039 --> 00:33:27,119
rounds of balloting before you know, Andrew Jackson would emerge

641
00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:29,640
as the nominee or whoever. But it doesn't work that

642
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:33,640
way anymore. And it's a kind of a traditional exercise

643
00:33:33,799 --> 00:33:36,680
in a country that has lost its patients with traditionalism.

644
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:38,440
And I think we need to give it up, and

645
00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:41,079
I think we need to stop caring. And maybe the

646
00:33:41,119 --> 00:33:45,240
next convention should just have different speeches and events from

647
00:33:45,319 --> 00:33:47,799
nineteen cities and give everybody a piece of the pie,

648
00:33:47,839 --> 00:33:49,480
and you know, stop the squabbling.

649
00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:52,160
Speaker 1: In our remaining moments, Eli Addie, I will ask you

650
00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:55,599
whether or not this Republican mid term convention, which has

651
00:33:55,599 --> 00:34:00,000
never happened before, is going to make a difference in November.

652
00:34:00,319 --> 00:34:02,960
You're listening to Savage Smiley and the Eliaddy with three

653
00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:04,559
minutes to go when this first hour and we'll talk

654
00:34:04,599 --> 00:34:06,079
to out to corn O West top of the second

655
00:34:06,079 --> 00:34:08,119
ey as we do every Monday and Thursday. So stand

656
00:34:08,119 --> 00:34:10,920
back for that just a few moments. So Donald Trump

657
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:12,880
announced some time ago Elis you know, that they were

658
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:14,880
gonna do something they've never done before Republicans. That is,

659
00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:18,679
I have a midterm convention to rally the troops. They

660
00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:21,280
chose Dallas as the site of their convention. Speaking of

661
00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:25,559
convention sites, it will be September ninth and tenth. Will

662
00:34:25,599 --> 00:34:27,559
it have an impact? Will it rally the troops? Will

663
00:34:27,599 --> 00:34:32,000
it would it energize the base? Might Donald Trump pull

664
00:34:32,039 --> 00:34:33,760
off an upset here? We thought there's gonna be a

665
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,840
big red wave in the mid terms for Joe Biden.

666
00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:40,119
That red wave never materialize. Might Donald Trump's convention in

667
00:34:40,159 --> 00:34:45,239
Dallas slow down this predictable or predicted blue wave in November.

668
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:47,800
Speaker 2: No, I don't think so. And the reason it won't,

669
00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:49,599
I mean, for that to happen, I think Donald Trump

670
00:34:49,599 --> 00:34:54,000
would need a brain transplant because he's incapable of doing

671
00:34:54,039 --> 00:34:57,440
anything that drives an actual message that voters care about.

672
00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:00,960
I mean, Republicans in Congress and around the country have

673
00:35:01,119 --> 00:35:05,239
been you know, sounding, you know, the alarm for months

674
00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:09,239
now that that you know, inflation, the wars, the rising

675
00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:13,719
cost of healthcare, that voters, including many Trump voters, have

676
00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:16,920
real concerns about their pocketbooks and their lives, and none

677
00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:19,159
of that is being addressed because it's all how can

678
00:35:19,159 --> 00:35:22,000
he build his ballroom? What new monument can he build

679
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:24,840
over here? Can you name ten things after himself? Because

680
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:26,079
he knows no one else is going to do it

681
00:35:26,119 --> 00:35:28,960
after he's gone, and that and whatever they write for him,

682
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:31,400
whatever they stick on a teleprompter, is not what he's

683
00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:33,559
going to say at that midterm convention. And I think

684
00:35:33,599 --> 00:35:35,559
it's going to be a great big bust. You heard

685
00:35:35,559 --> 00:35:36,079
it here first.

686
00:35:36,079 --> 00:35:38,000
Speaker 1: There you go. Let me close on this note that

687
00:35:38,039 --> 00:35:39,239
you raised a moment ago. And I think you're right

688
00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:40,960
about this. I never heard anybody say it so clearly

689
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,840
and so plainly. That's why again, he's an Emmy Award

690
00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:48,440
winning TV writer. This, this pinchion that Donald Trump has

691
00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:50,280
for naming stuff after him, he's not just born of

692
00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:52,599
his ego. I think you're right, though, it is born

693
00:35:52,599 --> 00:35:54,360
of the fact that he knows it. Once he's gone,

694
00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:55,519
ain't nobody gonna do it?

695
00:35:56,599 --> 00:35:59,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. I mean this, you know somewhere, you know,

696
00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:04,519
deep inside himself, he must have some awareness that he

697
00:36:04,679 --> 00:36:07,920
is in Ireland in many ways. And I think we're

698
00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,920
going to be reckoning with this presidency for many decades

699
00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:14,079
to come. How we let it happen? How all the

700
00:36:14,159 --> 00:36:18,079
china's missing, all the door knobs are gone in that building,

701
00:36:18,119 --> 00:36:21,320
and all the gold gilded things he's putting there he's

702
00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:23,119
going to try to stuff into a suitcase. I mean,

703
00:36:23,599 --> 00:36:26,320
you know, it's it's this is this is who we chose.

704
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:28,440
Speaker 1: No, And just just because I'm petty like this, We're

705
00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:30,280
also gonna be wrestling Eli with how we let him

706
00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:31,960
get away with it? See what I did there? See

707
00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:32,280
what I did?

708
00:36:32,519 --> 00:36:35,599
Speaker 2: For sure? I agree with you. You did it well

709
00:36:36,239 --> 00:36:36,960
as you always do.

710
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:39,800
Speaker 1: Go wrest with that too. How we let him get

711
00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:42,840
away with it because Democrats chose not to go after him

712
00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:46,039
for all his crimes. But I doctor right, all right,

713
00:36:46,639 --> 00:36:48,519
Eli Addie, you're the best man. Good to have you on.

714
00:36:48,559 --> 00:36:49,559
Well do it against you?

715
00:36:49,639 --> 00:36:51,199
Speaker 2: Goodtime, my friend. I love being on here.

716
00:36:51,559 --> 00:36:53,199
Speaker 1: I love having you on. Thanks for your time. When

717
00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:55,119
we come forward to Cornell West, who I also love

718
00:36:55,159 --> 00:36:57,559
having on this program. You're listening to Tavishment