PBS’s weekly political roundtable show Washington Week has a new “editorial partner” and a new name but the same liberal philosophy. Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic monthly, is now moderator of the awkwardly rebranded Washington Week with The Atlantic.
This week he claimed to be “fascinated” by the fact that President Biden, while presiding over “a pretty good economy, low unemployment, inflation seems to be under control,” and yet his approval numbers were mired in the low 40s.
Under Goldberg’s tenure, The Atlantic has turned into a Democratic hive, and he’s become a popular subject at NewsBusters.
Then this veteran journalist found something else “fascinating,” shocking, unprecedented, etc.: The “extreme” rhetoric from Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.
Goldberg: I actually want to ask you something about Ron DeSantis or directly both of you, because you both study extremism and you both study the rhetoric of extreme politics. Ron DeSantis the other day, last week, was talking about the, quote/unquote Deep State, which of course, has been normalized in our discourse. And I want you to listen to this because he said something really, really fascinating.
DeSantis clip: We’re going to have all these Deep State people, we’re going to start slitting throats on day one.
In response, Adam Harris of The Atlantic argued DeSantis was out-Trumping Trump with his rhetoric. Then Goldberg turned to PBS’s own White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez. Her own extreme anti-DeSantis rhetoric surely didn’t disappoint PBS's liberal viewership.
Goldberg: ….Laura, let me turn to you, because you’ve covered extremism. Talk about the relationship between rhetoric like that and the threat of violence in our society.
Laura Barron-Lopez, PBS: Well, there’s direct lines. I mean, you talk about when the former president was attacking the FBI and the DOJ, and then a shooter went to an FBI office in Ohio, the fact that a number of election officials I’ve talked to across the country have faced death threats, have started to put camera systems on their home that they’d never put on their home before, all because of the rhetoric of the former president and his allies around him, and Ron DeSantis is continuing that rhetoric. And when you talk to historians, especially those who study authoritarianism, they will tell you that that is a classic tactic used by authoritarian figures, autocratic figures, to try to rally their base around them and they know exactly who they’re speaking to.
This extreme response to DeSantis’s blunt, metaphorical rhetoric, which wasn’t directed at anyone in particular, is a bit much given the way Democrats have traditionally felt free to talk about and even attack Republicans.
Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul has been physically attacked twice in recent years, to liberal amusement and little condemnation from the mainstream press. Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called Trump supporters “a basket of deplorables.”
In 2018, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters encouraged liberal mob rule by boasting about harassing Trump officials: "They’re not going to be able to go to a restaurant, they’re not going to be able to stop at a gas station, they’re not going to be able to shop at a department store.”
A Bernie Sanders supporter shot up a ball field of Republican congressmen in 2017. Obnoxious protests have been held outside the homes of Republicans including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Lindsay Graham, not to mention conservative justices of the Supreme Court. Would Goldberg like to discuss the man arrested on his way to assassinating Justice Kavanaugh?
Here's an oldie: In 1995, a New Hampshire AFL-CIO convention newsletter concluded: “Drive home safely, and remember: If you must drink and drive, try to do it when [former Texas Republican Sen.] Phil Gramm is crossing the street.” None of the networks cared.
This bias was sponsored by Consumer Cellular, and taxpayers like you.
A transcript is available, click “Expand” to read:
Washington Week with The Atlantic
August 11, 2023
8:21:04 p.m. (ET)
JEFFREY GOLDBERG: I actually want to ask you something about Ron DeSantis or directly both of you, because you both study extremism and you both study the rhetoric of extreme politics. Ron DeSantis the other day, last week, was talking about the, quote/unquote, deep state, which, of course, has been normalized in our discourse. And I want you to listen to this because he said something really, really fascinating.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We`re going to have all these deep state people, we`re going to start slitting throats on day one.
JEFFREY GOLDBERG: Slitting throats, slitting throat. If someone said this ten years ago in mainstream politics, I don`t know, the reaction would be a lot different. Now, people are like, oh my goodness, how violent and then we move on to the next thing. You`ve been writing a lot about the culture war that Ron DeSantis is leading. Talk about that in relationship to the rhetoric that you`re hearing. And I suppose the largest question is, can Trumpism exist without Trump? Have these guys become organically, more like Trump as this process has moved forward?
ADAM HARRIS: Yes. Well, I mean, a couple of things. On the policy front, Ron DeSantis is effectively in Florida executing on that Trumpist policy vision, right? Whether that is in terms of how they are changing curriculums for LGBTQ students, the Don`t Say Gay Bill, right, so several things about his policy apparatus have been effectively the spirit of Trumpism.
But I think on the campaign trail, he`s trying to embody what he believes voters want, and that is that sort of strong man that Trump has been. But his rhetoric just exceeds, right? Trump will sort of go up to that line oftentimes and then take a step back, whereas DeSantis is just --
JEFFREY GOLDBERG: Is right to the slitting the throats. Laura, let me turn to you, because you`ve covered extremism. Talk about the relationship between rhetoric like that and the threat of violence in our society.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, there`s direct lines. I mean, you talk about when the former president was attacking the FBI and the DOJ, and then a shooter went to an FBI office in Ohio, the fact that a number of election officials I`ve talked to across the country have faced death threats, have started to put camera systems on their home that they`d never put on their home before, all because of the rhetoric of the former president and his allies around him, and Ron DeSantis is continuing that rhetoric.
And when you talk to historians, especially those who study authoritarianism, they will tell you that that is a classic tactic used by authoritarian figures, autocratic figures, to try to rally their base around them and they know exactly who they`re speaking to.
JEFFREY GOLDBERG: Right. Peter, a few seconds. Do you think the rhetoric goes away?
PETER BAKER: Outlasts Trump? It outlasts Trump if it is successful, right? The problem for a lot of Republicans is they try to be Trump and they`re not Trump, and some of them have not been able to make it work, Marco Rubio, famously, in 2016, right?
JEFFREY GOLDBERG: We saw that with Ted Cruz, yes.
PETER BAKER: They tried to beat Trump. It didn`t work for them. So, the question is whether they can make it work for them. And if they do, then, yes, they`re going to continue.
