Tom Nichols

believe in the founding principles of America, at least in some core gut way of constitutional, not the legal sense, but that constitutional guarantee of freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of religion. So before I descend too far into the darkness, I'll just say that.

But with that said, yeah, there's something, there is a, when Jimmy Carter loses to Ronald Reagan, I mean, that was my first election, right? You know, you had gripey college kids and I was living in Boston at the time, you know, liberals walking around Boston, oh, this is terrible and America's screwed. But, you know, you didn't have this sense of like existential doom, even among the far left.

But with that said, yeah, there's something, there is a, when Jimmy Carter loses to Ronald Reagan, I mean, that was my first election, right? You know, you had gripey college kids and I was living in Boston at the time, you know, liberals walking around Boston, oh, this is terrible and America's screwed. But, you know, you didn't have this sense of like existential doom, even among the far left.

But with that said, yeah, there's something, there is a, when Jimmy Carter loses to Ronald Reagan, I mean, that was my first election, right? You know, you had gripey college kids and I was living in Boston at the time, you know, liberals walking around Boston, oh, this is terrible and America's screwed. But, you know, you didn't have this sense of like existential doom, even among the far left.

I mean, Nixon wins a landslide in 72, right? and you don't get this existential doom, and in fact, he's gone two years later. This time, I think the problem is, and you can tell that we both spent some time talking to Jonathan Last, who is the king of this kind of gloom.

I mean, Nixon wins a landslide in 72, right? and you don't get this existential doom, and in fact, he's gone two years later. This time, I think the problem is, and you can tell that we both spent some time talking to Jonathan Last, who is the king of this kind of gloom.

I mean, Nixon wins a landslide in 72, right? and you don't get this existential doom, and in fact, he's gone two years later. This time, I think the problem is, and you can tell that we both spent some time talking to Jonathan Last, who is the king of this kind of gloom.

JBL, he's the prince of darkness when it comes to this, to say that if Donald Trump were impeached or removed from office three days after he gets in, you still have to live with the fact that that in any, you know, many settings, you can look around the room and say, at least, you know, if you live in a blue state, at least three or four people.

JBL, he's the prince of darkness when it comes to this, to say that if Donald Trump were impeached or removed from office three days after he gets in, you still have to live with the fact that that in any, you know, many settings, you can look around the room and say, at least, you know, if you live in a blue state, at least three or four people.

JBL, he's the prince of darkness when it comes to this, to say that if Donald Trump were impeached or removed from office three days after he gets in, you still have to live with the fact that that in any, you know, many settings, you can look around the room and say, at least, you know, if you live in a blue state, at least three or four people.

And if you live in a red state, seven or eight people think that everything Donald Trump said was basically okay. And that's hard. That's a hard thing to grasp. I was with some friends here where I live. And one of them said, well, you're not, you don't judge people based on how they voted, do you? And I said, I I said, I don't want to, but it's hard. And I know you and I have brought this here.

And if you live in a red state, seven or eight people think that everything Donald Trump said was basically okay. And that's hard. That's a hard thing to grasp. I was with some friends here where I live. And one of them said, well, you're not, you don't judge people based on how they voted, do you? And I said, I I said, I don't want to, but it's hard. And I know you and I have brought this here.

And if you live in a red state, seven or eight people think that everything Donald Trump said was basically okay. And that's hard. That's a hard thing to grasp. I was with some friends here where I live. And one of them said, well, you're not, you don't judge people based on how they voted, do you? And I said, I I said, I don't want to, but it's hard. And I know you and I have brought this here.

I use the David Duke analogy. I said, replace Donald Trump with David Duke. Say, I'm a good family man and I love my country, but I voted for David Duke. I'm sorry, but you reach moral conclusions about people when they do stuff like that.

I use the David Duke analogy. I said, replace Donald Trump with David Duke. Say, I'm a good family man and I love my country, but I voted for David Duke. I'm sorry, but you reach moral conclusions about people when they do stuff like that.

I use the David Duke analogy. I said, replace Donald Trump with David Duke. Say, I'm a good family man and I love my country, but I voted for David Duke. I'm sorry, but you reach moral conclusions about people when they do stuff like that.

That they just really didn't tune in or pay attention to any of this stuff. Or they tuned out years ago. But yeah, I share that kind of existential dread that can the country. When I was a kid, and now I'm going to do the old man thing. When I was a kid, every classroom in the 60s, you know, we had a calendar. And the calendar always had a picture of all the presidents.

That they just really didn't tune in or pay attention to any of this stuff. Or they tuned out years ago. But yeah, I share that kind of existential dread that can the country. When I was a kid, and now I'm going to do the old man thing. When I was a kid, every classroom in the 60s, you know, we had a calendar. And the calendar always had a picture of all the presidents.

That they just really didn't tune in or pay attention to any of this stuff. Or they tuned out years ago. But yeah, I share that kind of existential dread that can the country. When I was a kid, and now I'm going to do the old man thing. When I was a kid, every classroom in the 60s, you know, we had a calendar. And the calendar always had a picture of all the presidents.

And you just felt like that was like this. I mean, at the time, you didn't know that Warren Harding was a womanizing doofus. You didn't know Andrew Jackson was a genocidal maniac. Now Trump's on that picture twice. Oh, my God.