MSNBC’s Joy Reid and Deep State Radio podcast host David Rothkopf spent Tuesday’s edition of The ReidOut trying to tie Donald Trump, the Republican Party, and the Supreme Court to not just the end of democracy in the United States, but in Africa where Russia and China are increasing their influence.
After claiming that Ghanaians sound like MSNBC hosts on January 6 and the state of American democracy, Reid claimed, “and to the point about China and Russia, China and Russia are filling the vacuum right now on the continent where U.S. is absent without official leave is really not there, it's the Chinese and the Russians that are in there doing development and taking the side of people there when they say we don't want European colonialism anymore.”
Of course, The ReidOut is not really the place for an honest foreign policy discussion. If it was, it would have been observed that the U.S.’s lack of a strategy for Africa is something predates January 6 and is also something that the previous administration tried to rectify. It would also be noted that liberals are trying to force social liberalism on a continent that doesn’t want it.
Nevertheless, Reid continued, “We want them out, we want Europe to stop stealing from us and so do we have a challenge in terms of, like, the continent, we have 1.6 billion mainly young people, and it’s-- and they do question whether we're the beacon of democracy because we haven't been historically, nor has the west been for them.”
Rothkopf, who in his previous life was the editor-at-large of Foreign Policy, would ideally have been more nuanced, but somehow managed to be even less nuanced, “the world's heart is in its throat because they realize that literally within a matter of months, just 14 months from now, Donald Trump could win re-election, and democracy as the world has known it in the United States would be over.”
Naturally, the guy who has a podcast called Deep State Radio, opposed any effort to rein in the bureaucracy, “He would fire people from the government who opposed him.”
It is not just Trump that Rothkopf says would end democracy, “he would work with red state governors to ensure that only Republicans ever won again. He would work with the Supreme Court to strip away fundamental rights of people, including the right to vote. And we would not be able to recover from that and they know it.”
The Supreme Court simply is not going to take away the right to vote. As for Africa, “And they see China out there, but they also see the forces of ethno-nationalism, Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orban, the right in Europe, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Bibi Netanyahu in Israel, Modi in India, all of these as forces that do not value democracy.”
That doesn’t make any sense. What does Orban have to do with anything other than being someone Rothkopf doesn’t like? Bolsonaro isn’t in power anymore and his successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is undermining the United States by being in bed with Russia and China. Israel’s relationship with Africa has never been better, and working with Modi and India undermines China as those two countries are rivals.
Rothkopf wrapped up by warning, “And if we step back, they and the Chinese and the Russians as you describe it, will step in. And democracy will begin to recede everywhere we look.”
Returning home, Rothkopf also urged people to “be one issue voters. We’ve got to set the other stuff aside. Because if we're not one-issue voters now, we're not going to get another chance. We're not going to get the opportunity to debate other issues.”
This segment was sponsored by Liberty Mutual.
Here is a transcript for the September 19 show:
MSNBC The ReidOut
9/19/2003
7:11 PM ET
JOY REID: But one of the things that people would say to us in Ghana, my husband and I, is “you all talk a lot about democracy, but you couldn't defend your own Capitol against a bunch of, you know, yahoos who decided to ransack it. You know, half your people don't believe your elections are legit. Your democracy is no stronger than ours” and to the point about China and Russia, China and Russia are filling the vacuum right now on the continent where U.S. is absent without official leave is really not there, it's the Chinese and the Russians that are in there doing development and taking the side of people there when they say we don't want European colonialism anymore. We want them out, we want Europe to stop stealing from us and so do we have a challenge in terms of, like, the continent, we have 1.6 billion mainly young people, and it’s-- and they do question whether we're the beacon of democracy because we haven't been historically, nor has the west been for them.
DAVID ROTHKOPF: Well, in the past when we have thought of ourselves as the beacon of democracy, surely we’ve been an imperfect beacon. But nonetheless, the world sees us shining more brightly than any other such beacon, and right now, the world's heart is in its throat because they realize that literally within a matter of months, just 14 months from now, Donald Trump could win re-election, and democracy as the world has known it in the United States would be over. He would fire people from the government who opposed him, he would work with red state governors to ensure that only Republicans ever won again. He would work with the Supreme Court to strip away fundamental rights of people, including the right to vote. And we would not be able to recover from that and they know it. And they see China out there, but they also see the forces of ethno-nationalism, Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orban, the right in Europe, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Bibi Netanyahu in Israel, Modi in India, all of these as forces that do not value democracy.
And if we step back, they and the Chinese and the Russians as you describe it, will step in. And democracy will begin to recede everywhere we look. So I think in the United States, as Tom suggests, as Tara suggests, as you suggest, we have all got to be one issue voters. We’ve got to set the other stuff aside. Because if we're not one-issue voters now, we're not going to get another chance. We're not going to get the opportunity to debate other issues. They're going to be imposed upon us by MAGA folks like Donald Trump and the people who are funding him, the real people behind the MAGA movement. And I think that's got to be chilling to every American regardless of their political party.
