Former congressman Will Hurd calls Trump a ‘loser’ who’ll give Biden four more years. He tells me why he’s the best candidate to restore sanity to the GOP.
Bari - Hurd seems reasonable enough, but perhaps he seems “normal” to you because he shares your left of center sensibilities and feels non-threatening, to you. To me, he sounds like a beltway insider that is fashioning a message, “can’t we all just get along?” I’m looking for a candidate, from any side of the isle, that will address the growing behemoth of government/Pharma/military/corporate media and the weaponization of our judiciary. That is the threat to our Republic.
As a “dumb” Trump supporter who reads The Free Press to mitigate my stupidity I feel there may be some subtlety worth noting. The question posed regarding how Mr Hurd feels about being in the Republican Party as a black man perpetuates the lie that the Republican Party is racist. It was phrased to allow the interviewer the delusion that she didn’t call me a racist, but she did, and felt comfortable doing so. If Mr Hurd wants my vote he needs to point out the incredible hubris of The Free Press in feeling so confident in its assessment of half the voting public as racists. The question allows for the alternative option that I merely vote for racists. I challenge that assumption. Anyone who wants my vote cannot seek to win the favor of those who spew this vile lie. I will never “reasonably” respond to being called a racist and neither should the man seeking my vote.
I don't think the Bud Light & Disney thing is something Republicans should ignore. A lot of voters are concerned the Fortune 100 has been captured by out of touch city-dwelling progressives who are using the vast power of corporations to push social values antithetical to rural and suburban family life. A lot of voters might argue Bud Light & Disney need to stand still and be normal.
It's a golden opportunity for Republicans to tap into the concerns of the common voter and lean into the political realignment of Democrats being the party of the big corporations and Republicans being the party of the working folk.
Hurd is ex-CIA and thus dug in like a tick to the DC Uniparty monolith. After the weaponization of the intelligence community against its domestic enemy, Trump, there is no chance this guy can go anywhere.
Wow. Fellow Republicans, read between the lines on this one. If you’re interested in perpetual and proxy wars, many more tens of billions handed to the military-industrial complex in unaccountable fashion, more rein to the intelligence agencies to surveil, censor, and otherwise meddle in domestic affairs, U.S. taxpayer-funded foreign bioweapons labs (he mentioned synthetic biology TWICE), and a cheery perspective of the War on Terror, THIS is your man.
At one point I thought ‘wait, has the CIA realized it might be easier to simply run their own candidate for President, instead of expending all the effort to conspire against them?’ but honestly, I think the CIA would be a tad more subtle.
Thanks Bari. This was illuminating, to say the least.
You refer to him as a black congressman but isn’t he just as much white as black if his mother was white. Why label him that way and I’m curious to what percentage a person has to be black to call them black. Too many labels for the convenience of your story.
He's right on Trump. He got lucky once. Has lost three in a row.
I was in trading/finance. I followed Trump for decades. His MO was to bet on unlikely outcomes (with other peoples' money mostly) with him getting the lion's share if it hit. That was his 2016 Presidential run in a nutshell. He made some good policy and SC choices almost despite himself, but for the most part it was all about DJT. (And, yes, he was treated horribly. But, he also acted horribly when he didn't have to).
It’s almost 100% likely to be Trump. The dummies in the Republican party like him too much. It’s a shame because Democrats have been so unhinged the opening is there for a sane moderate Republican to win. It would do the country a lot of good.
I’m more curious if the moderate Democrats of the Free Press would vote for Vivek or some other moderate Republican over Biden. The would spell real danger in the election. But again, the dummies love Trump too much.
It makes me sad to hear Marjorie Taylor Greene lumped in with the "racist and bigoted fringe". I've heard her in interviews and discussions, for example on TimCast IRL, and she comes across as intelligent, thoughtful, and quite well informed, Democrat smears like "Jewish space lasers" notwithstanding.
By the way, I believe there is a "racist and bigoted fringe" and it is not the conservatives. We all know who are the racists and bigots in our country today and that group strongly features the people constantly accusing everyone else of racism simply for disagreeing with their ideas.
How refreshing! Will Hurd is one tiny green shoot in an otherwise parched and barren desert of anger, insanity and division. Thank you Bari for introducing me to a politician who is, yes, actually NORMAL 🙏
I mediated for marital disillusion cases for a couple of years until I could not take it. What I learned about human nature during that sorry time of my career was how profound blinding rage against another derives from rejection. The most hostile of cases - those where the couple in conflict were determined to destroy the other without concern about the harm caused to their kids, their finances, their sanity... seem to often be people that struggle with anger over other life episodes of rejection.
My sense is that it is a childish emotion but one that makes sense from a biological and evolutionary perspective given the long dependency of human children. If we use the societal marker of 18 years until adulthood, and a life expectancy of 78 years, that is 23% of a life dependent on others... and much greater than any other animal on the planet. What happens when adults reject a child?... it is highly likely that the child dies at a much younger age. So the cry for attention and the demand for confirmation of acceptance is a survival instinct. We are supposed to get over that stuff at some point.
But we have seen the dependency bar pushed back. Children are coddled well into their 20s. We have many more government services for the "poor" which locks them too into dependency. Therapy services for people with unresolved childhood issues have exploded.
We are supposed to start accepting feelings over rational thought. That is the woke thing to do.
This all shapes my thinking for why our politics have degraded into such a war of anger. And why there is no hope for any "moderate" candidate to prevail in a presidential election. Historically, during and after the two great wars, we had a much greater population of independent voters having developed thicker skin having been raised in an environment of more challenges and tough love, and expected to make their own way in life at a younger age. We had fewer immigrants and fewer government services. We got over feeling rejected by adults, we didn't expect to be taken care of for life, and found our own path to self-sufficiency.
But the anger over feeling rejected dominates our politics now... more so on the left of politics as that is the side with a higher proportion of validation-needy voters. Although it might look like the right is also pissed about being rejected, it is more pissed about having the policies of the ruling class shoved down its throat. It does not matter whom the Republican candidate is, the ruling class... the people needing that constant status and care validation... will oppose him or her just the same because he/her cannot validate their need to feel accepted... because their rage has caused them to clutch ideological garbage.
So this dream of a moderate Republican riding in on that white horse to attract left of center voters is a dead idea. If Reagan were alive and running today, the left would screech and scream at him just the same as they do any other Republican front-runner. They would use every dirty trick they can find to destroy his reputation or more. He would be that spouse in the divorce that the other party wants to destroy without regard to the collateral damage it causes.
The insanity that rages on the left is our only real existential threat. The only way to heal it is for Republicans to win and take back power so the left can start doing some soul-searching... to get the therapy they need to grow up and stop their emotional turmoil about the lack of respect they feel from others that don't share their mindset maladies. Hey lefties... some people don't like you and that should be fine.
This is why I stopped mediating. Because in most cases I could clearly see that one side had their act together and the other was out of emotional control and wasn't rational. However, as a mediator I had to help both sides come to a middle agreement. The problem was that any agreement that satisfied the raging side was not going to be centered... and frankly would not have calmed the rage. The best remedy would have been that the raging side always lose to cause needed reflection on why that happened.
So elect a Republican that can win as many Republican votes as possible and stop fretting that the candidate is centered enough to attract left of center voters. There are not material numbers left of center voters that will vote from that rational perspective.
I'm a Canadian who follows American election political figures (outside of the people who tend to get the media coverage) lightly. I didn't know anything about Mr. Hurd, and almost didn't read the transcript parts of the interview. This man sounds interesting. And caring. And worth continuing to follow news about. Thank you for introducing him to the public, Bari.
I’m not going to waste my time listening to a Republican that takes advice from a leftist journalist because Bari that’s really what you are. I think you’re better able to give advice to the nuts in the dem party about how not to be so bat sh1t crazy all the time about everything. Funny hiw that never happens.
Hurd should have stayed in office as a representative. He could have had an impact. As a Republican wannabe nominee for president, not at all.
Bari is to the left of center but not wrong that the democrats can be defeated if the republicans were less crazy. Trump will lose again. Eyes on the prize which is to defeat Biden. Hurd may not be the answer, but we know Trump isn’t either.
Weekend Listening: Can a Moderate Republican Win Over America?
Bari - Hurd seems reasonable enough, but perhaps he seems “normal” to you because he shares your left of center sensibilities and feels non-threatening, to you. To me, he sounds like a beltway insider that is fashioning a message, “can’t we all just get along?” I’m looking for a candidate, from any side of the isle, that will address the growing behemoth of government/Pharma/military/corporate media and the weaponization of our judiciary. That is the threat to our Republic.
As a “dumb” Trump supporter who reads The Free Press to mitigate my stupidity I feel there may be some subtlety worth noting. The question posed regarding how Mr Hurd feels about being in the Republican Party as a black man perpetuates the lie that the Republican Party is racist. It was phrased to allow the interviewer the delusion that she didn’t call me a racist, but she did, and felt comfortable doing so. If Mr Hurd wants my vote he needs to point out the incredible hubris of The Free Press in feeling so confident in its assessment of half the voting public as racists. The question allows for the alternative option that I merely vote for racists. I challenge that assumption. Anyone who wants my vote cannot seek to win the favor of those who spew this vile lie. I will never “reasonably” respond to being called a racist and neither should the man seeking my vote.
I don't think the Bud Light & Disney thing is something Republicans should ignore. A lot of voters are concerned the Fortune 100 has been captured by out of touch city-dwelling progressives who are using the vast power of corporations to push social values antithetical to rural and suburban family life. A lot of voters might argue Bud Light & Disney need to stand still and be normal.
It's a golden opportunity for Republicans to tap into the concerns of the common voter and lean into the political realignment of Democrats being the party of the big corporations and Republicans being the party of the working folk.
Hurd is ex-CIA and thus dug in like a tick to the DC Uniparty monolith. After the weaponization of the intelligence community against its domestic enemy, Trump, there is no chance this guy can go anywhere.
He declared just to attack the Orange Man.
Wow. Fellow Republicans, read between the lines on this one. If you’re interested in perpetual and proxy wars, many more tens of billions handed to the military-industrial complex in unaccountable fashion, more rein to the intelligence agencies to surveil, censor, and otherwise meddle in domestic affairs, U.S. taxpayer-funded foreign bioweapons labs (he mentioned synthetic biology TWICE), and a cheery perspective of the War on Terror, THIS is your man.
At one point I thought ‘wait, has the CIA realized it might be easier to simply run their own candidate for President, instead of expending all the effort to conspire against them?’ but honestly, I think the CIA would be a tad more subtle.
Thanks Bari. This was illuminating, to say the least.
You refer to him as a black congressman but isn’t he just as much white as black if his mother was white. Why label him that way and I’m curious to what percentage a person has to be black to call them black. Too many labels for the convenience of your story.
Trump is a moderate Republican. Remember, he was a Democrat for most of his life.
To the Left, anything right of Mao is now considered "Far Right"
He's right on Trump. He got lucky once. Has lost three in a row.
I was in trading/finance. I followed Trump for decades. His MO was to bet on unlikely outcomes (with other peoples' money mostly) with him getting the lion's share if it hit. That was his 2016 Presidential run in a nutshell. He made some good policy and SC choices almost despite himself, but for the most part it was all about DJT. (And, yes, he was treated horribly. But, he also acted horribly when he didn't have to).
It’s almost 100% likely to be Trump. The dummies in the Republican party like him too much. It’s a shame because Democrats have been so unhinged the opening is there for a sane moderate Republican to win. It would do the country a lot of good.
I’m more curious if the moderate Democrats of the Free Press would vote for Vivek or some other moderate Republican over Biden. The would spell real danger in the election. But again, the dummies love Trump too much.
It makes me sad to hear Marjorie Taylor Greene lumped in with the "racist and bigoted fringe". I've heard her in interviews and discussions, for example on TimCast IRL, and she comes across as intelligent, thoughtful, and quite well informed, Democrat smears like "Jewish space lasers" notwithstanding.
By the way, I believe there is a "racist and bigoted fringe" and it is not the conservatives. We all know who are the racists and bigots in our country today and that group strongly features the people constantly accusing everyone else of racism simply for disagreeing with their ideas.
How refreshing! Will Hurd is one tiny green shoot in an otherwise parched and barren desert of anger, insanity and division. Thank you Bari for introducing me to a politician who is, yes, actually NORMAL 🙏
I mediated for marital disillusion cases for a couple of years until I could not take it. What I learned about human nature during that sorry time of my career was how profound blinding rage against another derives from rejection. The most hostile of cases - those where the couple in conflict were determined to destroy the other without concern about the harm caused to their kids, their finances, their sanity... seem to often be people that struggle with anger over other life episodes of rejection.
My sense is that it is a childish emotion but one that makes sense from a biological and evolutionary perspective given the long dependency of human children. If we use the societal marker of 18 years until adulthood, and a life expectancy of 78 years, that is 23% of a life dependent on others... and much greater than any other animal on the planet. What happens when adults reject a child?... it is highly likely that the child dies at a much younger age. So the cry for attention and the demand for confirmation of acceptance is a survival instinct. We are supposed to get over that stuff at some point.
But we have seen the dependency bar pushed back. Children are coddled well into their 20s. We have many more government services for the "poor" which locks them too into dependency. Therapy services for people with unresolved childhood issues have exploded.
We are supposed to start accepting feelings over rational thought. That is the woke thing to do.
This all shapes my thinking for why our politics have degraded into such a war of anger. And why there is no hope for any "moderate" candidate to prevail in a presidential election. Historically, during and after the two great wars, we had a much greater population of independent voters having developed thicker skin having been raised in an environment of more challenges and tough love, and expected to make their own way in life at a younger age. We had fewer immigrants and fewer government services. We got over feeling rejected by adults, we didn't expect to be taken care of for life, and found our own path to self-sufficiency.
But the anger over feeling rejected dominates our politics now... more so on the left of politics as that is the side with a higher proportion of validation-needy voters. Although it might look like the right is also pissed about being rejected, it is more pissed about having the policies of the ruling class shoved down its throat. It does not matter whom the Republican candidate is, the ruling class... the people needing that constant status and care validation... will oppose him or her just the same because he/her cannot validate their need to feel accepted... because their rage has caused them to clutch ideological garbage.
So this dream of a moderate Republican riding in on that white horse to attract left of center voters is a dead idea. If Reagan were alive and running today, the left would screech and scream at him just the same as they do any other Republican front-runner. They would use every dirty trick they can find to destroy his reputation or more. He would be that spouse in the divorce that the other party wants to destroy without regard to the collateral damage it causes.
The insanity that rages on the left is our only real existential threat. The only way to heal it is for Republicans to win and take back power so the left can start doing some soul-searching... to get the therapy they need to grow up and stop their emotional turmoil about the lack of respect they feel from others that don't share their mindset maladies. Hey lefties... some people don't like you and that should be fine.
This is why I stopped mediating. Because in most cases I could clearly see that one side had their act together and the other was out of emotional control and wasn't rational. However, as a mediator I had to help both sides come to a middle agreement. The problem was that any agreement that satisfied the raging side was not going to be centered... and frankly would not have calmed the rage. The best remedy would have been that the raging side always lose to cause needed reflection on why that happened.
So elect a Republican that can win as many Republican votes as possible and stop fretting that the candidate is centered enough to attract left of center voters. There are not material numbers left of center voters that will vote from that rational perspective.
“So. . . why is Hurd polling in last place?”
I’d be willing to bet it’s because a lot of people said “Who the hell is Will Hurd?” before they read this.
I'm a Canadian who follows American election political figures (outside of the people who tend to get the media coverage) lightly. I didn't know anything about Mr. Hurd, and almost didn't read the transcript parts of the interview. This man sounds interesting. And caring. And worth continuing to follow news about. Thank you for introducing him to the public, Bari.
I’m not going to waste my time listening to a Republican that takes advice from a leftist journalist because Bari that’s really what you are. I think you’re better able to give advice to the nuts in the dem party about how not to be so bat sh1t crazy all the time about everything. Funny hiw that never happens.
Hurd should have stayed in office as a representative. He could have had an impact. As a Republican wannabe nominee for president, not at all.
Bari is to the left of center but not wrong that the democrats can be defeated if the republicans were less crazy. Trump will lose again. Eyes on the prize which is to defeat Biden. Hurd may not be the answer, but we know Trump isn’t either.