Rick Wilson, “Everything Trump Touches Dies”

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there is actually a table in the Truman
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White House where he played poker every
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night and before he went to bed they
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would actually put a cover on the poker
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table to disguise the fact that Truman
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was playing poker because it was bad or
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seeing you know unfortunately I’m I’m
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wondering in in light of this and in
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light of this president um I used to
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sort of respect the office of the
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presidency and in in you know even the
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ones that I disagreed with and that you
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know several um now that we have seen
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this guy you know go crazy on Twitter
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and the potential for having colluded
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with the foreign power which ruins me at
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my core was in potential ruins me
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I Corps do you ever see the sanctity of
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office ever returning in the future yeah
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I’m gonna actually shock you with
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something because either the most
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effective theme that was tested during
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George Bush’s W Bush his run for the
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White House the most successful themed
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after compassionate conservatism which
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actually really people believed it
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bought it was restoring honor and
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dignity to the White House because Bill
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Clinton ran it like a frat house now I
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think it’s gonna take a long time for
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people to get back to a point where
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probity and dignity look George
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Washington he thought the most important
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characteristic of a president was first
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not to become a king but the second was
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dignity and you got a guy upstairs rage
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tweeting in the Oval Office are in the
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executive bedroom every night you know
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surrounded by a bed full of filet-o-fish
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rappers and rage tweeting all night and
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it’s hard to think of him as as you know
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a dignified person you got a guy with a
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gigantic chin waddle who thinks he’s
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like babe meat and and he just the whole
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effect of Trump is clownish and so that
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makes it harder to believe in the in
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that stature of the presidency so but
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look it’ll come back there will be the
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next person who’s president one hopes
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will recognize that there’s a value to
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be had by a president who shows dignity
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and strength and quiet rectitude
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sometimes as opposed to being a giant
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rectum all the time so thank you hi
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there hi I know that you have said that
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you have friends in the administration
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and that they call you to moan from time
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to time from time to time yesterday was
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a bad day I bet it was do they do they
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seriously think because at some point a
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credible conservative administration
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will come back to this government is
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anyone in the Trump administration short
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of maybe Jim mattis should probably seek
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employment at say a gas station
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somewhere in the Midwest after this
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because this is going to scar them and
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mark them forever right I mean it it is
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one of the predicates of the book and
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it’s proving itself out time and time
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they don’t even get credit for being
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competent no and here’s the thing when
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they call you what I tell them every
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time for advice
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quit walk out the door now and tell the
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truth walk out the door now and say
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what’s going on but moon do you shred it
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we make him take you to court make him
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make him go to discovery and and they
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they a lot of these people that Trump
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brought in let’s put it this way when
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Trump sends us people to work in the
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administration he’s not sending his best
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thank you thank you
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question out yes I wrote it down because
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I can’t remember what I did 20 seconds
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ago so I say this is someone a young
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recently recent college graduate who’s
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unemployed who probably makes Bernie
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Sanders look like a centrist I actually
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asked Noah Rothman this last year at an
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event at my college and I was looking at
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a University of Chicago poll that said
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that a majority I think it’s 60% of
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people aged 18 to 35 don’t see
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capitalism the sort of core of
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conservative conservativism as the thing
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that can solve the most pressing issues
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of our time and what I asked no last
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year and I’d love to hear it from a you
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know rock-ribbed conservative like
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yourself what can you do to steer maybe
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not people like me but maybe people
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flirting with the idea or the left back
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to the ideas one of the things is that
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my party has to get its head out of its
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own backside on crony capitalism because
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what we’ve done for a long time and what
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this tax bill did was take care of a
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specific industry in the legislation now
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I was told when Barack Obama was
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president that picking winners and
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losers was a bad thing the tax bill
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picked 150 some winners on in the hedge
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fund and wall street world and about 60
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guys out there in the economy and they
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got 85% of the benefits of a tax bill
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that is that requires five percent
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economic growth
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4.1% economic growth to sustain itself
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it’s ridiculous we’re picking winners
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and losers by protecting the coal
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industry which but should be dead by now
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so Republicans have not been a good
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example of free-market capitalism in
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Congress for a long time this goes back
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before Trump I’ve been a critic of this
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of my own party of this before Trump
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where we have decided that free-market
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capitalism is capitalism is great except
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if a guy gave us a big enough donation
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to the super PAC then we’re gonna make
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sure that his industry including it
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could be you know like a dead industry
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industrial sector completely that
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Congress says ok we’re gonna keep buying
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buggy whips from the sky because you
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know the buggy whip industry is the
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heart of American commerce capitalism
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works when it’s tried and you know
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socialism often leads to people starving
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and freezing in the dark so you know and
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I know everyone’s you say oh then
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Norwegian Nations ended our and and and
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the scanty nations yes they’re lovely
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but there be few examples of this that
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don’t scale necessarily to macro
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economies like ours but anyway it’s a
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hard road and it’s gonna have to be
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something that requires some some reform
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and self correction side the GOP to get
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back to a free market and free trade
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capitalism system so thanks thank you I
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right yeah BRIC big fan a great look
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plus one all those lot yes
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does the Trump administration have any
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policy successes for the remainder of
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the Trump administration except by
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tearing down Obama you’re a regulation
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well Donald Trump proved in the very
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first weeks of his administration that
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he can’t pass the legislation I mean the
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the house and the Senate had Obamacare
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repeal cocked and locked it was going to
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be smooth they were going to jam it
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through they were gonna day we’re gonna
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as a leadership member said to me pull
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up Pelosi and smash Obamacare repeal
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through and then the giant man-baby came
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in and started and started interrupting
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and started saying things on Twitter and
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then describing the billa’s meme and so
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there’s a reason they’re sending Trump
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bills to sign that are like
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naming bridges and the post office
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Reform Act you know it’s small ball
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stuff because they don’t trust him with
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the big important stuff so they’re gonna
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keep doing policy changes they’re gonna
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keep doing the pen and the phone that
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they hated Obama for and they’re gonna
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keep doing executive orders even though
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conservatives used to scream their heads
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off Barack Obama is acting like a
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dictator because he’s passing you know
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he’s signing these executive orders and
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he’s got a limited portfolio of things
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he can do I predict he’s gonna keep
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trying to keep the coal industry thing
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moving and the steel tariffs moving
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because he believes those are the key to
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the two West Virginia Pennsylvania Ohio
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you know the whole pencil tucky region
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there and all that so thanks excellent
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great book thanks a lot thank you so
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much a question I haven’t heard from
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anybody is one about the Russians the
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Russian money and the oligarchs what do
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you have to say about that and where are
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the Republicans on this there’s a sort
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of let me give this sort of technical
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description of that there’s a lot of it
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he’s been taking it for a long time
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well well beyond 2016 he is deeply
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embedded with a whole bunch of Russian
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mobsters and has been since the 80s when
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they peel this back and there I’ll tell
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you the reason Donald Trump lives in
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absolute mortal terror where it’s like
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strap on the extra diaper when he
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mentions when they mentioned getting his
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taxes because this is a man who knows
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once they start peeling apart the
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relationships with the banks and with
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the Russian lending and the glown
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guarantees from Russians from like the
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Bank of Cyprus to Deutsche Bank and all
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these other things and they’re by the
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way they’re people who are experts on
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this bike well beyond my knowledge Craig
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ungar’s book is great about this but
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we’re gonna learn that this whole I have
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no business with the oceans I don’t know
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any Russians we’re gonna discover that
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that is a complete fabrication and and
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and the behavior of their campaign yeah
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look Paul Manafort is not a guy you hire
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because you’re like I need someone who’s
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really dedicated to clean government
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he’s a guy you hired because he brings
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in a bunch of money from his friends in
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Moscow and the oligarchs have gotten
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used to buying elections in a lot of
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countries and they played a big role in
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this one and I think you’re gonna see
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that come out not only in the
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investigations that peel back Trump’s
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business and financial and tax records
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but also in the mobile investigation
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itself thank you
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who are the Democrats strongest in
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weakest candidates in 2020 that is a
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great question and I’m not gonna answer
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it I’m gonna tell you what they need not
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who it is the Democrats in 2020 I’m
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gonna give you a scale like a
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thermometer scale right up here right up
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here I’m gonna stand up low higher right
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up here be great on TV kick ass on TV be
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engaging smart witty funny take it to
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Trump let’s just kick his ass on TV all
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the time now so that disqualifies about
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40% of all Democratic candidates we’re
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thinking about it and of course Hillary
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Clinton with the broken robot Act could
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never be that charismatic person okay
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second part raise a butt ton of money
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cuz you’re gonna need it because Trump
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is gonna get the same media vacuum he
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got last time so you’re gonna have to
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buy that exposure you’re gonna have to
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get in that fight and buy it it sucks
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it’s horrible but there’s a lot of money
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out there opposed to Trump and that’s
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the next part now let me give you the
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important part about policy the policy
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part voters didn’t vote for a policy
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with Trump they voted for an emotion
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that emotion was rage they loved it they
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loved that whole act so the Democrats
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need somebody that can activate their
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people and who has great I fight on the
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battlefield we’re gonna actually fight
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on so I look at an Elizabeth Warren that
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schoolmarm technocrat yeah you may love
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her but make her secretary of the
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Treasury or something you know
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and I know people like Oh what about
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avenatti maybe the guys got smack the
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guys got he can shit talk like nobody’s
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business and he’s under Trump’s skin so
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far and you may find somebody else that
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can do that there may be some otherwise
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you start lookin beta or work wins in
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Texas is a long shot that guy wins in
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Texas he’s gonna be a rocket in the
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Democratic Party he will be a guy who
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can
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he’s a giant killer and he’s good on his
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feet and he’s smart and his answer the
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other day on the on the anthem question
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was as good I mean I sat there watching
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that going I wish I’d written that damn
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so thank you we have time for this one
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last question all right
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hook it up thank you
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so I work in polling and I’m very
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curious tell me who so I’m just curious
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what you think where we’re going with
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political polling for the next
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presidential election and really how you
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know I think from my work I’ve seen that
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the general public’s trust in polling
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has just been demolished based yeah yeah
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I think you and I can both acknowledge
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that that 600 sample national polls are
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no longer effective as a tool you know I
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I have a couple of researchers and firms
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that I’ve used and helped put together
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over the years and everything counts in
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large amounts so we’re doing thousands
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and thousands more interviews than we
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ever have and we’re doing robo’s but you
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know we’re overcoming the the inaccuracy
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of it with just sheer volume sheer
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tonnage I think we’re gonna have to
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continue to merge polling with other
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data a consumer data and behavioral data
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and stuff we’re seeing online we were
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able to get much quicker than we have in
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the past but I think as a tracking
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mechanism its god-awful
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as a quantitative exercise it’s it’s a
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train wreck but fortunately as a media
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prompt there’s almost nothing that that
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drives media faster during a campaign
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season than a poll showing somebody up
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down good bad so it’s a longer
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discussion that we could have here and a
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fairly technical one but I’m a big fan
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of way more interviews and and I don’t
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even care about the the the you know the
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trivialities of the inside campaign
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stuff it’s mostly junk these days so
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thank you all right
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[Applause]
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you