Amber Athey: The Spectator Editor on the Presidential debate

U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump went head to head in Atlanta last week in the first Presidential debate of this campaign cycle. 

The debate was not a good look for the Democrat side, with calls for Biden to stand down as their nominee. 

The Spectator's Washington Editor Amber Athey told Mike Hosking it was a result many were expecting.

 

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And will, where political debates are often criticized as being
inconsequential to the wider rice Joe Biden managed to tip
that theory on It's hid four days later, he's hunk
it down at camp. I've been working out what to do,
Nick Spectators. Washington editor Amber ethnes Beck will us am
the Good.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Morning, Good Morning.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Could you believe what you were watching?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
It was difficult to believe, but I think not surprising
for those of us who have been paying attention. It
was a huge campaign talking point for Trump back in
twenty twenty that Biden was not mentally or physically fit
to be president. People who brought this up at the
time were called conspiracy theorists. They were told that they
were crazy, And now four years later, members of the

(00:43):
Democratic Party and Biden's own campaign are starting to admit
what people have been saying for four years. I think
there was a lot of sadness for many people watching
what happened on Thursday night, and probably a lot of
as well from voters who feel like they've been gas
lit and disrespected by people on the left who have

(01:06):
been trying to cover up for the obvious issues with
Biden's health.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
I got to say, as a New Zealander halfway around
the world. I'm not voting, obviously, but I look at
a country of three hundred and something million Americans, I'm
thinking of those two the base you've got. I mean,
you gotta be kidding me. I mean, a lot of
people must have been looking at that going this is calamitous.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
That's right, And there is a significant portion of the
voter base in the United States that says that they
want an alternative to the two major party candidates. But
of course, with the way the US electoral system is
set up, it's very difficult for a third party or
independent candidate to garner a significant portion of the vote.
In fact, it's even difficult just to have ballot access.

(01:47):
One of the reasons why Robert F. Kennedy Junior, who's
consistently pulling at about ten to fifteen percent nationwide, was
apparently kept out of that CNN debate was because his
signature that he collected to get on the ballot in
a number of states had not been verified yet. But
a lot of those states are not even at the

(02:09):
point in the electoral process where they would verify, so
he was basically set up for failure with the rules
and regulations that they had in place for who was
allowed to participate. And then of course we have a
Green Party candidate, you'll sign a Libertarian Party candidate Chase
Oliver Cornell West is running. But those individuals all pull

(02:30):
at about three percent, if not lower. So right now
people are feeling like they have to pick between the
best between too bad option.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Here's what account work out. You don't go to Camp
David with your family unless you're deeply worried. But then
out over the weekend they raise millions of dollars. He
comes back looks more feisty Jewels. I don't know whether
the Jill's doing him damage or not. Obomba's out, Clinton's
out saying you had one bed not who cares? What's
your sense of this way does this go? Does he
stay or not?

Speaker 2 (03:00):
I think right now they're trying to figure out a
way to just weather the storm and see if they
can bounce back from this, because the reality of it is,
if they want to replace Joe Biden, not only does
he have to willingly step aside in order for them
to avoid a very chaotic broker convention, but they also
have to have someone worth replacing him with and one

(03:23):
of the things that they have been giving to donors
in the past couple of days is actually a set
of polling that shows all of the potential alternatives to
Joe Biden are when put in a head to head
matchup against former President Donald Trump, are polling at or
below Joe Biden and Kamala Harris consistently has a very

(03:46):
dismal approval rating and if the Democrats try to pass
her over, that's going to be another scandal for them
to try to overcome. So right now, it's sort of
the devil you know, might be better than the devil
you don't great pleasure mbago.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Well we'll talk again soon, Amber. And that's their problem,
isn't it. I mean, Kamala Harris, do you pass on
the president even if he pulls out? And that's historic
of in nature all by itself. You then naturally go
to the vice president or whoops, no you don't because
she can't win. Who do you go to? And so
they are between a rock and a major hard place.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
For more from News Talk sed B, listen live on
air or online and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio,