Bill Kristol: Trump Is All-In on Authoritarianism
6/1/202655 min
Another weekend passed without a promised Iran deal. Despite reporting to the contrary, Iran’s negotiators don’t live in caves, and they’re not interested in dealing with the U.S. anymore, at least according to state media. Meanwhile, the president continues to release unhinged midnight bleats on his social media platform, including one targeting not just a judge who ruled against him in the Kennedy Center case but also that judge’s spouse. That’s just one reminder that the authoritarian threat remains, and we should prepare for election meddling if the midterms don’t go Trump’s way. Plus, the White House seems to have soured on JD Vance, the Epstein cover-up continues, there’s more Graham Platner drama, Susan Collins has enabled the worst of Trump 2.0, and Bill outflanks Tim on Pride Month?
Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.
Show notes
- Bill’s Bulwark on Sunday with Nathaniel Zelinsky
- Bill’s Morning Shots from Friday on Trump’s plans for America250
- Text BULWARK to 64000 to get 20% off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
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Tim Miller· Host0:10
[upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to the Bulwark Podcast. I'm your host, Tim Miller. It is Monday. Delighted to welcome back to the show, it's the editor at large of this here Bulwark, Bill Kristol. Hey, Bill.
Bill Kristol· Guest0:33
Hey, Tim. How are you?
Tim Miller· Host0:34
I'm doing pretty good. It's Pride Month. Can I tell you a, probably a wrong thought, a wrong opinion that I'm allowed to have, but you're probably not?
Bill Kristol· Guest0:42
Sure.
Tim Miller· Host0:43
Can we just do that? It's June 1. It's Pride Month.
Bill Kristol· Guest0:44
Is it okay if I listen to it and just don't, I mean- Yeah, sure ... I, I won't be- I think it's a little overkill ... I won't be canceled just for listening to a wrong opinion. I just- Yeah, no.
Tim Miller· Host0:51
[chuckles] I don't think you'll be canceled for listening. I do think it's a little overkill at this point. I, you know, and I think the gays, like we had this big transitional moment. I think that like the, the spirit, I, I love going to a pride parade. The spirit of pride is, is, is still important and, you know, you've got to safeguard the rights that we've secured, of course, and it's good to celebrate. Forcing the straights to like have to [chuckles] deal with a, a rainbow explosion every time they go into the store for a whole month, you know, at this point, I, I feel like we could just dial it back a little bit. Like just the parade itself I do think is sufficient. That's just one man's opinion. So you can just, you can just,