Monday’s episode of Amanpour & Co., airing on tax-funded PBS, capitalized on Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the re-election campaign to highlight Biden’s accomplishments. Bob Bauer, Biden’s personal lawyer, and Sarah Longwell, the “Republican” Never-Trumper, were guests on the show, praising Biden and criticizing Trump.
Walter Isaacson’s interview with Bauer was a glowing tribute to the retiring Democratic president, focusing on Biden’s commitment to constitutional values.
Walter Isaacson: You are very close over the years to President Biden. You’ve been his personal lawyer. Your wife, Anita Dunn, has been a senior adviser. You know how he makes decisions. You know what he stands for and what he’s pushing for. Tell me how his sense — your sense of his legacy, his political drive, how that all played into the decision he made this weekend.
Bob Bauer: I certainly recognize that Joe Biden, that I think many people have seen over the years, who is an institutionalist deeply committed to constitutional values….
Isaacson prompted Bauer to discuss Biden’s dedication to democracy and bipartisanship, presenting him as a unifier in polarized times.
Isaacson: You know, you’ve just written a book called “The Unraveling,” and you talk a bit about the authoritarian movements that have happened around the world, people clinging to power, and how this is a moment where we have to assert democracy. Do you think that that has been a theme, too, of Biden’s decision?
Bauer: Joe Biden, throughout his entire administration, frankly, the very rationale of his candidacy in 2019, 2020 was to recapture the democratic soul of the nation or to protect it against what he thought the threat was from the politics of Donald Trump….
Isaacson also touched on the topic of Biden’s bipartisan efforts and his role in reducing political divisiveness, seeking Bauer’s perspective.
Isaacson: The book you wrote, “The Unraveling,” talks about how polarized we’ve become. Joe Biden seemed like he could have been an antidote to that. He was somebody always worked across the aisle, and to some extent, during his presidency, he got bipartisan bills, especially the infrastructure one. Do you think that part of his legacy will be that he tried to tamp down the partisanship or was that impossible?
The conversation also touched on the unexpected nature of the disastrous debate, with Bauer expressing surprise at the outcome. Isaacson highlighted Republican challenges to Kamala Harris’s eligibility on ballots, prompting Bauer to defend her legitimacy.
Isaacson: The Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, has said that they’re going to use, the Republicans, a lot of legal methods to challenge the ballots in various states where the ballots of now would have Kamala Harris and a running mate. To what extent are there some legal issues involved with that? And do you think that it’s — the Republicans should be testing that in court rather than just contesting it at the voting booths?
In the latter part of the show, Sarah Longwell, a Republican Never-Trumper, joined to criticize Trump and praise Kamala Harris, eagerly anticipating a change in the narrative of the election.
Sarah Longwell, Executive Editor of Republican Voters Against Trump: ….she has the chance to reset that narrative now. And I think by being energetic, by going on offense against Trump, by prosecuting a case against Trump, something Joe Biden had become incapable of doing, she can really turn this race around….
Longwell and Golodryga discussed the potential impact of the candidate switch on Trump’s campaign, with Longwell predicting that Trump’s negative tactics would backfire. They also speculated on the possibility of a Trump-Harris debate, with Longwell taking a final jab at Trump’s reluctance to participate on certain networks.
Golodryga: He’s already saying ABC won’t be fair. It should be done on Fox News. We’ll see where that falls.
Longwell: Less embarrassing for him.
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Conclusion:
Monday’s episode of Amanpour & Co. featured discussions praising Joe Biden’s legacy while criticizing Donald Trump’s tactics. The guests highlighted Biden’s commitment to democracy and bipartisanship, portraying him as a unifier in polarized times. Sarah Longwell, a Republican Never-Trumper, expressed enthusiasm for Kamala Harris’s candidacy and criticized Trump’s campaign strategies. The show provided an insightful analysis of the current political landscape, offering viewers a unique perspective on the upcoming election.
