Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: Trump undermines his own party and the crisis of Canadian conservatism
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What political strategy was Trump pursuing in his Oval Office address?
And so if you're a Republican seeking election or reelection in this thing, you're once again, you have to be furious with the president. If you're not completely drinking the Kool-Aid, you've got to be furious with him. He may not express it publicly, but this is not going to help your chances.
If you're wondering what the president was saying last night and his address to the nation, well, join the club. In fact, join Andrew Coyne and myself, Roger Griffiths, chair of the Munk Debates, for today's Munk Dialogue. Andrew, great to be in conversation with you.
Good to be with you.
So what are we to make of the politics of this speech that the president gave last night? If we set aside, and we'll get into it, some of the allegations that were made and the extent to which many of those dogs don't hunt in terms of the case that the president was trying to prosecute against election interference, what do you think politically he was trying to do in the setup to the midterms, Andrew?
He's trying to delegitimize them, which is an old, old tactic he's pursued in any number of different campaigns and elections. Sometimes even does it about campaigns that he won, which is bizarre, but he's clearly can see where the midterm elections are headed and they are not headed to good places for the Republicans at all. And rather than actually change course and try to make him and his party more electable, He's setting about to make the elections delegitimized in the eyes of Americans. And a broader agenda than that, it's quite clear, is to justify measures to either attempt to alter the results of the elections or to ignore the result of the election. So there is a great sense of alarm across America today at where this is going.
It was predictable as the tides, but nevertheless, this is further confirmation of that Trump is not going to allow a free and fair election in 2026 or 2028, at least to the extent that it actually results in any consequences for him or his party. And we can get into what kinds of measures he might be prepared to do as a result of this. But this is the first step where you lay down the pretext for it, that these elections were rigged or fixed in some way by malevolent forces that we can't see or identify, but maybe it was China. And therefore, I, Donald Trump, am empowered to call in the military or what have you. So that's the general perspective.
How could claims of election interference depress Republican turnout?
reasoning so far as it goes. Now, it has a fascinating potential side effect, which is, as our friend David Frum has pointed out, if you're a Republican voter and you believe in Donald Trump and Donald Trump is telling you that the elections are rigged, why do you go to the polls then? If you're a Democrat or a non-aligned voter and you're furious at Trump, and this is one of the reasons you're furious, it's going to give you one more reason to crawl over broken glass to get to the polls. But it's just going to demoralize and depress Republican turnout. as it's done in the past when he's made these claims. And so if you're a Republican seeking election or reelection in this thing, you're once again, you have to be furious with the president.
If you're not completely drinking the Kool-Aid, you've got to be furious with him. He may not express it publicly, but this is not going to help your chances.
Andrew, I'm curious that... At the opening moments of his address, the president announced that he was declassifying evidence of election interference and tampering. God knows we've talked about the consequences of that in Canada. It is a real problem here. In contrast, though, as US media and other experts have poured through this document dump, some 18 hours, since the Oval Office address, it seems as if there is really very little, if anything, of any particular note. There is very few fact-proof points that would support the president's assertion that he made once again that the election of Joe Biden was rigged, that his defeat was engineered.
What evidence did Trump release and does it substantiate his claims?
In fact, one of the intelligence assessments went so far as to say the Chinese did not act, did not implement actual plans to interfere.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What political strategy was Trump pursuing in his Oval Office address?
0:00–2:45
2
How could claims of election interference depress Republican turnout?
2:45–4:33
3
What evidence did Trump release and does it substantiate his claims?
4:33–6:38
4
Why do experts say the document dump fails to prove systemic foreign tampering?
6:38–8:50
5
Who around Trump enabled or amplified the election-rigging narrative?
8:50–10:43
6
How dysfunctional is the current U.S. administration’s leadership, according to Andrew Coyne?
10:43–13:51
7
What are the plausible actions Trump might take around the midterms to shape results?
13:51–15:45
8
How worried should voters be about November and what should listeners do next?
15:45–17:02
Speakers
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