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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
A listener production. Hi, Natasha Belling with you and welcome to the afternoon edition of The Briefing. Coming up in our deep dive, President Trump has offended millions of Christians around the world with a controversial social media post that likened him to Jesus Christ. It comes as President Trump lashed out at Pope Leo.
As a growing number of conservative commentators now turn on the US leader, is Donald Trump losing the support of his MAGA power base? All those details in just a moment. But first, let's check the afternoon headlines this Tuesday, the 14th of April. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance has accused Iran of engaging in economic terrorism by blocking the Strait of Hormuz. Mr. Vance warning the U.S.
Chapter 2: What controversial social media post did Trump make that offended Christians?
won't stand down, telling Fox News two can play that game.
What they have done is engaged in this act of economic terrorism against the entire world. They basically threatened any ship that's moving through the Straits of Hormuz. Well, as the President of the United States showed, two can play at that game.
And if the Iranians are going to try to engage in economic terrorism, we're going to abide by a simple principle that no Iranian ships are getting out either.
Despite the latest escalation, there are reports negotiations to end the war between Iran, Israel and the U.S. look set to continue. with officials in the US saying that a second round of face-to-face talks are now being discussed. Iran's ambitions to make enriched uranium were reportedly at the centre of negotiations breaking down in Pakistan over the weekend.
Officials claiming Iran offered to suspend its enrichment for five years, which the US rejected. Meantime, a spokesperson for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a ceasefire with Hezbollah. And the death toll continues to increase in the Middle East, with latest reports claiming more than 1,700 civilians have been killed in Iran and more than 2,000 in Lebanon.
Staying in the Middle East and Australia is set to join a summit of more than 40 nations later this week to discuss a post-war plan to safeguard shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. France and the UK will be hosting the summit with the UK's Prime Minister saying that reopening the waterway is, quote, vital to ease cost of living pressures.
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Chapter 3: How is Trump losing support from his conservative base?
Labor MPs in Australia have today described the plan as strictly defensive, with Defence Minister Richard Miles saying a permanent ceasefire would be necessary before Australia contributed to safeguarding the Strait. Meantime, the fallout continues over the fuel crisis, with Qantas announcing it will cut a number of services and increase fares because of higher fuel and diesel prices.
Qantas' decision follows an announcement by Uber yesterday that trips in petrol and diesel cars would face a new surcharge to try and cover increasing costs. Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration is warning about the dangers of unapproved peptides.
Peptides are often promoted to help improve metabolism and muscle growth but the TGA is concerned about the increase in the supply and advertising of unapproved peptide products which may pose serious safety risks. Music And Prince Harry and Meghan have arrived in Australia for a week-long visit.
It's not part of any official royal trip, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visiting Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney for a number of private engagements. The couple today visiting the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne meeting a number of patients and their parents.
I got a hug. I gave Harry some flowers and Meghan wished me a big baby and I'm just grateful for the opportunity to meet them.
It's eight years since the couple last visited Australia. Now it's time to get into our deep dive with US political expert Corey Alpert on the power of religion in US politics and how it seems President Trump has crossed a dangerous line with a powerful support base. Corey, thank you for joining us. There is so much to unpack with this ever-changing story.
Can we start with this very bizarre social media post that the US president made a couple of days ago where it depicts him to look like Jesus Christ? What are your thoughts on this?
Well, first of all, Donald Trump, I think, does see himself in a similar sort of social position. Certainly amongst his followers, he sees himself as this savior figure. You saw very similar visuals and rhetoric coming out, especially after the assassination attempt in 2024.
And you've seen the Trump team use these AI generated images over the last couple of years, not so much to convince people that this image is necessarily true, but to give them this feeling, this sense of something that might be true. And for a long time, it's galvanized.
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Chapter 4: What does the US-Iran negotiation landscape look like?
something you seem to be increasingly fond of doing.
What are your thoughts on that, Corey? How substantial is this for President Trump to lose this important support base?
It's quite substantial. The evangelical vote in the United States constitutes a huge percentage of the Republican Party. And these are people who hold their religious beliefs quite seriously, and to mock them on the basis of their religion is something that is going to matter with them.
Of course, the irony is that they have used their own religious beliefs, and through Trump, they think that that's what makes it okay for him to mock other people's religion. You know, we saw just last week him mocking the Iranian regime on the basis of their religion, and they were perfectly happy with that.
But now that that's turned inward, this is something that is going to bother many of the evangelical voters who have put Trump in office. It is a... substantial part of the Republican Party that really is coalesced around Trump.
You see comment after comment from these evangelical leaders saying, we know that Donald Trump isn't a religious man himself, but they've come to build this almost theology around him as they admit that he's a flawed man, but he's delivering on many of the promises
that they have built up through their political project that really goes back to the 1970s and has now found this culmination in Donald Trump. And if this really ends up damaging his standing with those voters, that really could put a massive dent in his political base in the power that he has to sway those voters. And these are folks who aren't necessarily very supportive of Catholics.
You even hear many of these pastors having very anti-Catholic views, saying that Catholics shouldn't hold public office, things like that. But they are now starting to pay attention to the fact that Donald Trump is willing to turn against his own supporters to say that their own religious views can now be held against them and can now be things that he can use to go after them.
And that is making them very uncomfortable right now.
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Chapter 5: How are fuel price hikes affecting Qantas and Uber?
We'd love you to subscribe or follow us on Instagram at The Briefing Podcast. I'm Natasha Belling. Thanks for your company.