The future's bright, the future's not orange. Perhaps.
Trump may think he's the ultimate New Yorker but the Big Apple turned rotten on him, as Zohran Mamdani became the first mayor to attract a million votes since the 1960s, on an uplifting night for Democrats across the US. We take a deep dive.
And, talking of rotten, we look at Rachel Reeves' attempts to prepare us all for a bruising Budget. Uh-oh.
Plus - what to do about the far right radicalising the country online.
Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell are joined by two top-tier guests: former special advisor Salma Shah; and geopolitical mega-brain and newest member of the Quiet Riot family, Arthur Snell.
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“Trump has made Democratic voters feel extremely threatened and disempowered, so I think the big takeaway is that, if you do that, the moment voters have the power to punish you, they will take the opportunity to do so and in large numbers.”
“The number of votes Cuomo got, would have won any NYC mayoral election since the mid-90s. And yet, against Mamdani, he was nearly 10% short. Turnout was extraordinary.”
“There is more space for radical policies now, than there has been for the last several decades - whether you believe in left or right radicalism.”
“What Mamdani shares with people like Polanski, but also Trump or Farage, is that he acknowledges a decline and seeks to reverse it. Whatever one thinks of their proposed solutions, tonally, that is very different from centrist politicians who, on the whole, seek to manage and tweak.”
“There is a tension inside the Trump regime between the desires of an aging billionaire with pretty toxic behavioural traits and no impulse control, and the calculated Stephen Miller approach of trying to turn America into a corporate oligarchy.”
“In all administrations, you have big figures. In this one, you have only Trump. This creates practical questions of comms management and how to run a news grid. Because he cannot do it all, all the time.”
“Trump has moved from outright hostility to Ukraine to a sort of grumpy neutrality, where, as long as someone else is paying, he is happy for weapons to keep flowing.”
“The original sin of this Labour manifesto was how the gov’t boxed itself in on taxes. But the time to rip the plaster off, rather than peel it off slowly, was when they took over.”
“There are strategic missteps by the Tory leadership. Apparent weaknesses are being allowed to be exploited by people like Jenrick - or any backbencher looking for a bit of profile.”
“We do have quite an inexperienced House of Commons, on all sides. And that is bad for scrutiny, it is bad for legislation, it is bad for debates.”
“That gap, between an attack and proper information coming out, is their golden hour to sow discord. And it feels strategic and deliberate. Because after information is out, it might suit them or not. The confusion of the aftermath is all theirs.”
“It’s up to all of us to close the gap between the Prevent programme theory and its practical delivery and to be a lot more open in discussing the signs of someone about to fall into the radicalisation pit, so we can catch them before it’s too late.”
“We tend to obsess about the ideology of radicalisation, when more often the issue is the psychology of individuals feeling a profound lack of status.”
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With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell.
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