Aaron Retica

If the model is Viktor Orban in Hungary, right, in his early stages, he was able to make that economy work and get a kind of popularity from that that has been able to sustain him over time. Erdogan in Turkey, like there's all kinds of examples of... authoritarian or semi-authoritarian rulers using that to deepen their rule.

If the model is Viktor Orban in Hungary, right, in his early stages, he was able to make that economy work and get a kind of popularity from that that has been able to sustain him over time. Erdogan in Turkey, like there's all kinds of examples of... authoritarian or semi-authoritarian rulers using that to deepen their rule.

But I do want to talk about, you mentioned the attacks on Democrats again, like wokeness and the role it played.

But I do want to talk about, you mentioned the attacks on Democrats again, like wokeness and the role it played.

Many Democrats have spent a lot of time, including on this show, talking about the excesses of all kinds of left stuff among the Democrats. Here's the problem. That's not really what they see. They see a black general, and they're like, DEI, you're gone. They see a woman admiral, they're like, DEI, you're gone. So what is the attack on wokeness and how it fits into the speech?

Many Democrats have spent a lot of time, including on this show, talking about the excesses of all kinds of left stuff among the Democrats. Here's the problem. That's not really what they see. They see a black general, and they're like, DEI, you're gone. They see a woman admiral, they're like, DEI, you're gone. So what is the attack on wokeness and how it fits into the speech?

And why is he even talking about it? Well, he's talking about it.

And why is he even talking about it? Well, he's talking about it.

I want to push back on that a little bit because to me, the Trump obsession with hierarchy and gold and class is That way of looking at the world, right? What they want is a world where people know their place and don't step out of it.

I want to push back on that a little bit because to me, the Trump obsession with hierarchy and gold and class is That way of looking at the world, right? What they want is a world where people know their place and don't step out of it.

But the obsession with purity, right, which we even know he has at the level of germs, when you have a person talking about immigrants poisoning the blood of the country, as he famously did during the campaign. When you have this hierarchy mixed with the purity, very bad things can come from that. So let me put it this way, right? You have... Going back to this idea of the split screen, right?

But the obsession with purity, right, which we even know he has at the level of germs, when you have a person talking about immigrants poisoning the blood of the country, as he famously did during the campaign. When you have this hierarchy mixed with the purity, very bad things can come from that. So let me put it this way, right? You have... Going back to this idea of the split screen, right?

You have real America, fake America, real Americans, fake Americans, real men, fake men, real women, fake women, real news, fake news, all those things, right? So you're circling on a much smaller world. And that was evident in the speech at the end, the peroration at the end, right? They go on about, you know, American energy, right?

You have real America, fake America, real Americans, fake Americans, real men, fake men, real women, fake women, real news, fake news, all those things, right? So you're circling on a much smaller world. And that was evident in the speech at the end, the peroration at the end, right? They go on about, you know, American energy, right?

And the only mention of Native Americans, the people who were here, was his jibe about Elizabeth Warren and Pocahontas.

And the only mention of Native Americans, the people who were here, was his jibe about Elizabeth Warren and Pocahontas.

So I do think that there's a certain idea of America that is retrograde in its deepest sense that they're trying to restore that's not accepting of the expansion of rights that began in the 60s and the 70s.

So I do think that there's a certain idea of America that is retrograde in its deepest sense that they're trying to restore that's not accepting of the expansion of rights that began in the 60s and the 70s.

Dominance was a central theme of the speech. It's been a central theme since they came back into power in January. Can we talk a little bit about that part of it, right? So there's dominance over the people within your clan, but we're also now talking about, as he said in the inaugural speech, expanding the territory of the United States. And he brought it up again last night.

Dominance was a central theme of the speech. It's been a central theme since they came back into power in January. Can we talk a little bit about that part of it, right? So there's dominance over the people within your clan, but we're also now talking about, as he said in the inaugural speech, expanding the territory of the United States. And he brought it up again last night.