rich lowry discusses his new book and the news of the day. they discussed the political landscape heading into 2020. ♪ good morning, it is sunday december 29. florida -- then move comes in the wake of an editorial published in a prominent evangelical magazine christianity today that colbert president trump's removal from office. we begin by hearing from evangelical voters. do you support president trump and how has your faith influenced your politics? voters in the central and eastern time zones can call in on (202) 748-8000. in the mountain or pacific signs

zones call in at (202) 748-8001. you can also send as a text at (202) 748-8003. please include your name and where you are wrong. cspanwjal media we are @ on twitter. , evangelicalorning voters can start calling in as we show you the stories from earlier this weekend in the washington times about the evangelicals for trump event on friday at the king jesus international ministry in miami. to as manyministers as 15,000 congregants per week. officials had said last month they were planning to launch the coalition but the date was not set until a magazine christianity called for president trump to be removed from office.

that magazine called christianity today, founded by ally graham. this is what was written. and our founding documents billy graham explains that christianity today will help evangelical christians interpret the news in a manner that likes their faith. the impeachment of donald trump is a significant event and it requires comment. unambiguous, the president of the u.s. attempted to use his political power to co-or save foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president's political opponents. that is not only a violation of the constitution it is profoundly immoral. that he should be removed is not a matter of partisan loyalty but loyalty to the creator of the 10 commandments." he goes on to say "for the many evangelicals who wetinue to support mr. trump might say this, remember who you are and who you serve.

consider how your justification of mr. trump influences your witness to your lord and savior -- brush off his amoral words and behavior in the cost of political expediency. if we do not reverse course now will anyone take anything we say about justice or righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? -- decades to come?" we are talking about it and evangelicals for trump, the campaign event happening later this week and we want to hear your comments. we are talking to evangelical voters only. you are in theif eastern or central time zone. (202) 748-8001 if you are an evangelical in the mountain or pacific time zone. in onent trump did weigh december the 22nd on the christianity today editorial. these are the tweets he put out.

starting with this. "the far-left magazine was very progressive has been doing poorly and not involved with the billy graham family for many years. christianity's today knows nothing about reading a perfect transcript or a routine phone haveand they would rather a radical left nonbeliever who wants to take your religion and your guns and donald trump as your president. no president has done more for the evangelical community. you will not get anything from the democrats, i will not be reading christianity today." ie more tweet in response " guess the magazine is looking for a elizabeth warren or those of the communist bed to guard their religion. how about sleepy joe? no president has done what i have done for evangelicals."

the president is having that rally in florida this week. we want to hear from evangelical voters. mary is up first out of louisiana. go ahead. caller: are you asking for mary? this is john? host: yes ma'am. caller: john, let me explain something to you. i read and study the bible every day. when we voted for trump and elected trump we did not vote for him to be our pastor or our sunday school teacher. us --did not help a lot of people did not believe

that god existed -- all the people that are hating and say that they are christians, they are not. the bible tells us all have sinned trump is [indiscernible] to church and calls themselves christian. host: this is sue out of hickory corners, michigan. caller: hello. am -- i have been totally against trump. i remember when he was immoral

on tv with various people in the past. everything that he does is contrary to christianity and it has prevented me from going to the evangelical churches any longer. i cannot relate to them. i think they have mistaken money for god. they put money before god. sore were 10 commandments many that this president has broken. every time i listen to him i can list them in my mind. he is divisive. host: you went to evangelical churches before trump was president? >> 50 years ago when i was 17 i became a born-again christian. we recall the jesus people when it wasn't recognized evangelical movement. host: what does it mean to be an evangelical? caller: it means you spread the

gospel. you do not spread trump's message, it is divisive. he has torn our country apart. he is a devil in sheep's clothing and i have wanted him impeached. oxnard, california this is ann. evangelical and i do not support donald trump. if he is working at being a good christian god has a lot of work because his behavior, his speech, the way he treats people , it is all not in a christian manner. that is how i feel about donald trump. he needs to be impeached, he is an embarrassment to the country. i hope god does do a lot of work on him because he has a long way

to go. you think the christianity today editorial has made a difference in the past 10 days? caller: whoever wrote that hit the nail on the head. upe christians need to speak on who donald trump really is. ost: it was the outgoing editor at christianity today, mark who wrote that. mark was on face the nation. this is what he had to say when he was asked about the editorial and the president's response. mark: what i am most concerned with is the unwillingness of my brothers and sisters in christ. animus against them but it strikes me as strange for a people who take the teachings of jesus christ seriously, the teaching of the 10 commandments

seriously that we cannot say publicly and out loud, in front of god and everybody, that this man's character is deeply concerning to us and in my judgment has crossed a line and i think he is no longer fit to lead the united states of america. i don't say this politically. our job as christians is to love our neighbor. states, left,ited right, black, white, every sexuality, we want them to prosper. public moral character of our president that is not going to happen, it is likely to degenerate very rapidly, it has already degenerated and it is time for us to say no more. host: that was mark on face the nation. franklin graham, the son of billy graham, put out his response to the editorial by

mark. this is what he said the day after the editorial appeared. franklin graham on facebook saying "my father founded christianity today but he would not agree with their opinion piece, he would be very disappointed. the list of accomplishments is long but for me as a christian the fact that the president is the most pro-life president in modern history is extremely important, christianity today wants to ignore that. the president has been a staunch defender of religious freedom at home and around the world and christian today wants to ignore that. the president has appointed conservative judges in record numbers, christianity today believes he should be removed from office because of false accusations the president .nd badly denies christianity today says it's time to call a spade a spade. christianity today has become a tool of the left's agenda."

on president trump as evangelical voters. this is rick. caller: i am a former evangelical. we all change and adapt. after 15 yearsat involved in the church i was in i began to realize the hypocrisy, it was very divisive. i see that a lot in the evangelical movement, especially with those who support trump. host: give me an example. caller: they are supportive of him no matter what. it doesn't make any sense to me. go down the 10 commandments and he has broken at least nine of them. [laughter]

i can't support someone ethically, morally, spiritually who acts and is -- accept not responsibility to the point where he admits false or mistakes and i think that is one of the things that we are obligated to do as human beings, as christians. of why we the basis believe is to realize that we and weners and we have a are absolved so long as we admit our faults. leavingu talked about the church, do you still have your faith, do you still believe? caller: yes i do but not same way that i once did. there is a book that came out in "toward theled one."

the seven major religions and examined what all of them had in common. all of them say don't steal and don't cheat on your wives. philosophyok of where it is how to treat your fellow man and how to reveal your -- revere your god and live your life. says this is what i have in common with my muslim or hindu neighbor. that is the context in which i believe now. do we look to our leaders whether it is donald trump or another president too much for moral leadership? to be reflections of something we believe in our faith? is that something we should be doing? caller: some people do, i do not. that is not his job. he is not a spiritual leader. he does have a responsibility to have a certain moral compass that we can all appreciate and

get behind. host: thank you for the call. from clarion, pennsylvania good morning. caller: good morning. is that wed to say do not elect saints for presidents. there has never been a saint that was a president. donald trump has as much morals as anyone else does. sainty are looking for a in the democrats they are going to be disappointed. ast: when you say he has much morals as anyone else, other colors he is lacking morals. what do you point to? caller: we are all sinners. even if he is not perfect tea is no different than anyone else. from pennsylvania, we are

talking to evangelical voters. , iny on this sunday morning response to that christianity .oday editorial there is an event in friday on miami to launch his evangelicals for trump coalition. if past voting practices are any indication the president should do very well with evangelicals in 2020, especially white evangelicals. here is the exit polling from previous elections. going back to 2016, president trump winning with white evangelical voters. comparing to the 2012 election where mitt romney led evangelical voters, 78% to 21% for president. winning john mccain

white evangelical voters 74%. from 2004 president bush winning white evangelical voters 78% to 21% for john kerry. we want to hear about how you as evangelical voters, we were just talking about white evangelical voters in that category, but we want to hear from all evangelical voters this morning. we want to hear about your thoughts on president trump and that editorial rum christianity today. caller: thanks for taking my call. i think democrats are deceived. they are misled. there was a guy called king david, he had a soldier murdered -- and took the man's

wife. guess where he said? best sat -- sat. at the right hand of god. donald trump is not king david -- he is doing good things for christianity. they would rather see homosexual murdering, go ahead and vote for a democrat. that is what you people are voting for when you vote democrat. host: what are the good things president trump is doing for christianity? caller: for one he moved to the embassy. for number two he is allowing look atch to speak and all the people that is praying for him. he may not be where he needs to be right now with god but i judge nobody.

the bible says just not that ye might be judged yourself, that's what this program is doing, is judging donald trump. god has his hands on him. like jesus told pilate, you have no power if it wasn't given to you. host: we are not judging anyone, we are opening the phone lines to hear from evangelical voters. this is about your support for president trump. conversation this in the wake of that christianity today editorial. here is more from that editorial. reserved judgment for years and done our best to get evangelical trump voters there prudential nadir of so many political decisions they have made regarding mr.

trump. it is time to call a spade a spade, no matter how many hands we win, this political poker game we are playing with a stacked deck of immorality and ethical incompetence. the we push our chips to center of the table the game will come crashing down on the reputation of evangelical religion and the understanding of the gospel." , theresponse from fox news freedom coalition chairman was on fox news after that editorial came out offering his thoughts on what was in it. they may want to change the name of the magazine to christianity yesterday, you cannot imagine a publication more out of that with the faith community that it once represented. received 81% of the votes of evangelicals four years ago, the highest ever

recorded. his job approval according to a recent told by my organization among u.s. evangelicals stands and 99%a historic high of conservative evangelicals according to the public religion research institute oppose impeachment. this editor has one foot out the door, he is leaving on january 3 so this is a parting shot by him , i don't know what impeachment hearings he has been watching. the one fact witness, the only fact witness, ambassador gordon oneland admitted that no told them that the aid was being withheld in exchange for investigations. he mentioned some of the polling when it came to evangelicals. polls,e a few of the

onm an npr pbs newshour poll white evangelicals. 75% of white evangelical christians approve of president trump, 62% believe that house democrats did not run impeachment proceedings fairly, that was from a fox news poll from before the editorial came out. we want to hear from you this morning, evangelical voters only. this is lynn from silver spring. caller: good morning, thank you so much. i am so proud of mark for his editorial. i am a christian, i am a bible believing christian and i do not hate donald trump but i am not a donald trump supporter. i would not be a friend of donald trump. do i pray for the president? of course. i do not care for michael pence either.

i want to share a book you had , a few weeks ago. i want to say, especially for other christians and anybody, to warn people there are thousands of christian prayer calls that are pro-trump that are saying absolute untruths about donald trump and how wonderful he is. they just are not true. the national strategic prayer caller, 78 days before the 2016 the council has a call on our prayer every day at 11:30 in the morning. there was a great program you did with the author of the book "shadow network: the council for

national policy." these are the people who are behind donald trump, mike pence and mitch mcconnell. i and not against anybody, i am for these people. i care about our congress but i believe donald trump should be him preach. those were impeachable offenses. you have william barr walking out and saying nothing to see here folks. let me ask you, you said you are a bible believing christian. would you describe yourself as evangelical? i would bealler: embarrassed to say evangelical. host: why? caller: as christians we share the good news with others. truth is what matters. the gospel of jesus christ is what matters. not that we do not judge people.

we do not judge hypocritically. we do not say what we do is ok but when you do it it is wrong. it is the three fingers pointing back with donald trump. that is how you can know what he is doing. host: this is eric out of compton, california. good morning, america, thanks for giving me this opportunity to speak. gotchristian i believe is the judge here. god's judgment is a blessing for the believer and is impeachment for the unbeliever. god's blessing is good, and it is good all the time. there is no angle here. what people are doing to keep --ple divided, donald trump a house divided will not stand. as long as he has us divided and

preaches division that is how he wins. christians, god's plan sings and judgment is a blessing to the believers and impeachment to the unbelievers. host: you say you are an evangelical. how often does donald trump come up at the pulpit at your church? caller: in our conversation he is number 45. we address him as number 45. preaching unity, when i started my event alyssum i started crying jubilee and then the pope said we were in the jubilee economy. who is making the economy good? god. donald trump is administering division. god is good all the time. we are united in the churches and crying jubilee. stay united in jesus christ. is how you pray.

pray to a living god, a living spirit. host: this is steve in charleston, south carolina. steve, how often does donald trump, but your church? caller: -- come up at your church? caller: never. i don't think it should be discussed in any church. this is a complex issue. i don't see why people keep trying to make a connection between church and state. , i was ateason sunday school this morning, we never discussed politics. it fractures the congregation. the point of the church is to worship and to win souls to christ. he kind of got me off track. we do not discuss politics in church. host: what do you make of

christianity today calling for the president's removal from office? is that something that i magazine that said it aims to be the voice of year-end should be doing? -- the voice of evangelicals should be doing? it shoulddon't think be discussed in evangelical publications at all. -- i can't cite the verse but he institutes every government in his sovereignty and plan for this earth, i don't know why. if you think i or most other evangelicals put trump on this and think he is a picture of humanity, we know he is a frail human and a sinner. if we don't sin we make out jesus to be a liar. there are key issues that are discussed in the church without getting into politics. same-sex marriage, abortion.

let me tell you something,. i know your religious affiliation but several months ago a baby was killed in california that was eight ounces. is not a case against abortion i don't know what is. -- i am a trump 2016 ier now but in voted for darrell castle. i voted for the constitution party before that, i mean to support america and support the right to life. we are trapped in a two-party system. democrats, media, and money controlling the politics in this country. fightingse has a chance, they cannot get on the national stage. for the guy that

is against killing unborn babies , life begins at conception -- host: we got your point there, a lots of other colors this morning. charles is waiting in dallas, texas. charles, go ahead. well, it took me a christian, believer, evangelical to realize the blessing of the trump election. now i am starting to get it. administration, i'm going to call him the exposer in chief. he is exposing things that have been hidden in plain sight for a long time. he is exposing the rift within the christian right, lynn from maryland talked about the truth.

america has had a very sordid relationship with the truth, we have had instances where black people have been lynched and you go on trial and they have all the evidence and the all-white jury still sets a person free. there has been a willful rejection of truth. trump is exposing that. he is exposing a lot of things that we thought we got over in america that we obviously have not. i am thankful we have a trump administration that is exposing things in plain sight. host: where does this all lead? deny that these things we have said we have accomplished and gotten over in terms of race in america, no one can deny that they are still here and we have lots of work to do. host: where does it all lead? , to reconciling the relationship with truth, let's call a spade a spade.

let's start there. let's recognize what is right in front of us. we have an opportunity to fix the racial divide in america, we can do that. it takes christian people and people of faith to be willing to truth,n in the midst of not my truth or your truth, democrat, or republican, but real truth that is only given to us by the lord. there is a bible verse that says "when people lived in -- we are living through that verse right now. host: that is charles from dallas, texas. that article and editorial from the december 19 issue of christianity today. this is from the washington post the next day about the massive amount of attention that editorial received. they note that christianity today is based in the suburbs of voice ofit is the

evangelicals providing voice and commentary -- news and commentary. evangelical leaders and high-profile pastors are among and80,000 print subscribers its advertisements regularly feature major evangelical .nstitutions subscriptionse have gone up, after the editorial was released. we lost some subscribers but had three times as many people start a editorialon since the came out. victoria is next. caller: i am in support of president trump. i will vote again for him. i am a born-again believer in jesus christ.

the person i am following, i follow jesus christ. i do not read christianity today. i have never even looked at the magazine. i choose my bible to follow. i will support him and boat for him. because of what he stands for with abortion and marriage between a man and a woman. things in the past i might have thought differently, this is what he stands for now. that is how i vote. what does it mean to be an evangelical? caller: i am not sure. i don't know what that means. my relationship is with jesus christ. i follow him, i try to follow and live for him and live for someday everyone will

acknowledge jesus christ as the son of god. while i live in this world i will do my best for -- do my best to follow him. when i'm democrat or republican i pray either way. belief as aith my follower of jesus. that is how i vote and that is how i get my support. i don't look at their hearts, i am not the judge. do i see republicans and -- how canoth being i say it? i would question their beliefs and what they say and do. do i catch several people in lies? it is the democrats and things like that. i do not judge them by their hearts. the true judge is god. host: that was victoria from

pennsylvania. we have asked the question a couple of times, what makes you an evangelical? an article about believes that set evangelicals apart from other christians. a specific personal conversion experience in which the person was born again or saved. they believe in the bible and god's inspired word to humankind and truth and the original text. they believe the work of jesus on the cross through his death and resurrection are the only source of elevation and forgiveness of sin. evangelical christians are strongly motivated to share the gospel one-on-one or through they notemissions, that most if not all evangelicals believe there will be a rapture in the end times where the church will be caught up with christ before the great tribulation leaving nonbelievers behind.

five believes that set evangelicals apart from other christians. fresno, california good morning. go ahead. trump, this isrt the first time in a long time where i will say merry christmas when i walk into a store and they say it back. i have a special needs child. she went to a day care, a special needs daycare, ok? my child had problems. are you there? host: yes i'm listening to your story. caller: my child has severe special needs. my or three months into daughter getting taken care of while i am at work, the

insurance company who is robbing everyone. worker happened so no people who work at this daycare and i don't know what is going on. this day care provider is the head of a church. what is she doing to my child? she is taking my child. , had problems up every meal because she is special needs. int lady would put my child a bouncy chair, take her close off and throw her in a cold shower to punish her. my child was less than a year old. i totallyn i realized believe in everything, god, christians, everything. i realized she was the head of a church.

is what she was doing because i had people calling me saying this is what is going on. host: how has that influence religion and politics? let me finish. then i realized she is probably part of christianity today. they don't see. i am still friends with -- she is friends of friends on facebook. she posts craft all the time about trump. to talkht up asked her about it and she said "this is not the place." these people don't want you to know what is happening behind the scenes. they profess to be christians, but this is part of christianity today. that is what they are doing. host: in california this is charles. you are next. sir, thank youou

for the opportunity to say a few words. number oneay that christianity is the most segregated institution in the always hases, and it been from the conception of christianity in america it has been based solely on the superiority of one race of people and the subjugation of another race of people including native americans and african-americans. let's look at christianity for what it is. let's look at these white christians who claim to be so against abortion. the only time we hear these people talk about abortion is election time. if it is not election time they don't care. how can you be a christian and say you care about lives that are not here yet but these same christians will watch a black man or person of color be murdered in the street by police officers?

i am not condemning all police officers. they will watch a black man be murdered, shot down like a dog in the street, then handcuffed to bleed out in the street with the same chains we were brought over with. you won't hear white christians .ay anything in defense there is this religious sanctity against abortion. host: would you describe yourself as evangelical? caller: i am a christian, i believe in the lord jesus christ. his teaching is a teaching of love. how can you support a man whose policies are based on white , breitbart, what is that fellow's name he had in the white house who was a white nationalist? bannon, then we have miller.

dictatedeign-policy is by white nationalists. these people call themselves christians. how can you be a christian if be put inrefugees to concentration camps and you have no sympathy whatsoever. read the bible. jesus said there are three , the orphan,ple the widow, and the refugee, the stranger among you. if you're a christian and read the bible the lord will judge, how can you support someone who would take a child and separate them from their mother and put them in a cage. my name is charles robin yorker andhe new reader's digest has printed my story. if you google robin woods new

yorker you will see how i spent 23 years in prison. host: out of cumberland, maryland. about 15 minutes left in the segment. hearing from evangelical voters, asking about your support for president trump. having this conversation in the wake of the christianity today editorial. we have talked about this several times over the past 10 days since it came out, including on tuesday of last week. jim wallis who served in president obama's white house advisory council on faith-based and neighborhood partnerships. he joined us as part of our authors week series. this is what he had to say about the editorial. caller: it is a crack in the wall -- guest: it is a crack in the wall of white evangelical support for president trump. when the media says evangelical they normally mean white

black,ical, because hispanic, and asian american evangelicals have not been supportive of donald trump. white evangelicals have in a great majority. that is changing. the crack was already there. colleges, churches, and make a churches. have evangelical women been moving away from donald trump. because of climate, those issues have moved away. , it is ahis crack watershed moment crack in the wall. ,hite evangelical support people are asking the deeper questions. not just political ones but moral ones, jesus questions. we talked about jesus everywhere. even the evangelical schools, i have said what and that be amazing if white evangelicals came back to jesus? host: the reverend jim wallis

last week on this program. sharing some reaction from members of the media and congress. michigan democrat from , the day after the editorial gaming out saying the editorial blew me away and it was powerful because it involves evangelical speaking to each other from a place of a and humility about the need to put morality above politics and remove president trump. "people mystified by evangelical christian support for trump do not seem to understand the reason why, it is not that they approve of his personal conduct they think he is their enemy's enemy and he is willing to fight." this is from congressman matt one publication does not a religion or movement make.

president trump is strong with evangelicals and has put a number of judges on the court that will reinforce that values the country was founded on." a republican from georgia saying "it is sad to see christianity today spewing erroneous liberal propaganda. the president did not abuse his power despite the president having zero opportunity to defend himself. democrats cannot name a single actual crime." reaction from folks in the media and on capitol hill. they are gone but they will be coming back next week. this is keith out of lauren, massachusetts. good morning. i am a christian. i wouldn't consider myself an i am weak at points.

i have a big problem with people talking about morals and lying, something nobody brings up republicans used to go to the restaurants with their kids and the democrats would attack them in the lies they tell. i am blown away at how anybody sits there and never says anything about the democrats and their morals. [indiscernible] just democrats calling in again running their mouth. i am just disappointed with it. out of billings, montana. good morning. caller: good morning. am -- host: you are what? i think we lost him.

we will go to rich in ohio. good morning. caller: a good discussion. we have to realize there are a lot of ways to do civilization. we can go back to the dark ages or move have in history forward out of the fog of life. christianity and christ has helped us get out of the fog with his roles in seeing the work and being very prosperous for people. on the abortion problem we have a problem of free choice which gets to be a question. if you have someone that is and they ask you to pay for the guns because they want to kill more people and to make it mandatory that you pay for their guns that is what is going on with abortion. who are asking people against abortion to pay for the equipment to do that. the abortions are going up exponentially over the years, we

would sure like to move that number down. i know it is a hard problem. i will hang up and listen to your answer. host: we are listening to you this morning. out of douglas, wyoming good morning. caller: good morning. , am a white independent, conservative, born-again evangelical christian from wyoming. the state that gave the largest percentage of their vote to donald trump, 68.2%. i am a multiple gun owner. i love my country. i still carry my selective service card from 1969. i am a patriot and i love my country very much. trump'sesent at inauguration. i didnot vote for donald, not vote for hillary.

, inve traveled the world over 31 foreign countries. in a corrupt like ukraine and romania. i have been in islamic countries. by botharrassed political parties, their vindictiveness and divisiveness. i am embarrassed by a president that the rates, -- berates, denigrates, and mocks his rivals. we may be advancing some economic prosperity under his leadership, and yet moral bankruptcy exists in our political system. i think it was very courageous of christianity today to write i would sayand

it is about time. host: you said you did not vote in 2016, will you vote in 2020? 2016r: i could not vote in and i voted in every election prior than that. i will look at the candidates. i judge them based on their and i look at both political parties platforms. i cannot tell you whether i will vote in 2020 right now. as you understand their character who you think has the strongest character or from the field of candidates for those vying for the 2020 democratic nomination? right now i think there are some good candidates on the democratic side. i understand there are several that i could give a vote, i am not going to say where i

stand. we mentioned earlier going back to 2016 white evangelical christians boating for donald in the2016 election, 81% of 16% that voted for hillary clinton. a few other religious affiliations and how they voted, catholics voted for president trump 52% to 45%, jewish americans voted for president trump by just 24%, hillary clinton was 71% in the jewish community. 51% voted for president trump and 25% voted for hillary the stats from the pew research service but this one on presidential vote by the religious attendance. among those who attended church at least once a week president trump 156 to 40% in 2016.

among those who attended church monthly president trump 149%. attended church a few times a year hillary clinton one or the 8% to 47%. from the p research service, you want to see all these numbers, just about five minutes left in this segment of the washington journal. caller: good morning. do i support trump? i support most if not all of his policies. is the wayot support he acts. previous callers, i agree with what previous callers said because of his actions and the way he talked.

couldn't he have done all of these things in a nice way? i think he could have which would have made him popular. voted at 16 and i will continue to vote. i support some of his policies. actions andort his the way he belittles people. host: can you give me an example of the way -- caller: exposing china, that is a big one. he has called china out and that will be huge someday. i'm in full support of trump. being, as a human

evangelicals an christian i am an orthodox christian, greek orthodox. kind,supposed to be not demeaning like he is. that is very bothersome and troublesome. host: is it the tweets or the campaign rallies? what most concerns you? caller: it is a combination. ralliests, the campaign , he just cannot help himself for some reason to be mean and ugly towards others. when you don't have to. this is an out of powder springs, georgia. as an evangelical i have never supported donald trump for several reasons.

i want to be clear about this. in the first place jesus did not teach us to be a person who belittles other people, who with himself up and put others down. he does that constantly. president trump is a christian because i don't believe that he acts like a christian should. that is not really relevant because i don't think the president has to be a christian, i think he has to protect us and protect our rights. to worship as we please in the united states. his policies are so bad for our country that more than approximately 25% of the american people are still living in poverty. in my estimation this is not a great economy. not for everybody. when not a great economy

many young people cannot afford to pay rent with the week's income, that they don't have enough money to do this. my son has three teenagers living with him because they cannot afford to go out and pay rent even though they are working 30 hours a week. it is all a great live. trump is the great author of confusion and that is anti-religion. when you divide a country that is supposed to be united, and who were united under certain principles that he doesn't need to be our president. host: what are those principles? caller: unity and love for each other. oure supposed to love neighbors as ourselves and take care of each other. we are supposed to stand for the values who hire spoken out in the constitution that we shall have the right of the freedom to

worship as we please and the -- we should have a freedom to have great health care, to have food, the freedom .o have housing and clothing we should all work together to support each other. host: one last call in atlanta, georgia. caller: i'm going to let the world in on the best-kept secret. trump ran for president and has been in office , 17 to 20 people have been indicted over the president. under barack obama not one .erson was indicted, to our topic, evangelical voters and support

for president trump. do you consider yourself an evangelical? caller: absolutely. i would rather be around 50 drug addicts and drunks to be around trump these hypocrite supporting cretins. christian means christlike. i see nothing christlike in donald trump, i see the devil. --ee nothing christlike and his supporters. you know what though? i served in the united states marine corps. because i love this country, if you are going to tell me, like the guy earlier said donald trump is just exposing how these hypocrites work. "thank you for

your service." that but they only mean it if i am a supporter of donald trump. like we are the only military who don't support donald trump. ,ike you said about john mccain they don't like people who have been captured. like i said, donald trump is exposing host: to the hypocrites that they were. i would caller. is the final day of our authors week series. they were joined by national review's rich lowry to talk about his book, "the case for nationalism." on, the credit consultant thornell andug

republican consultant philip st utts. at full interview will air 10:00 a.m. eastern today after this program ends but here is a part of the interview. >> just how bad of a problem is it and how widespread are the cartels along the border? nothing crosses the border illegally. isdoes not matter if it individuals to claim asylum, it does not matter if it is narcotics, counterfeit goods. nothing crosses the southwest border illegally without the say-so of criminal cartels. they control every facet of a legal crime on the border. they operate in every small town on the southwest border. they are very violent and dangerous. you have to look at the murder and you'llico

understand just how bad it is. the united states intelligence community has estimated that criminal cartels control somewhere around 80% of the country in mexico right now. there are lower estimates. you go lower, the fact that criminal cartels are controlling any part of mexico and itbe concerning makes everything dangerous. that is a reason border patrol agent get frustrated with politicians that say it is ok to cross the border illegally. they are encouraging, politicians are encouraging a very vulnerable segment of the in south america to themselves in the hands of criminal cartels. some of these individuals are , and evenlaved murdered by the criminal cartels. it is because we do not enforce

we glamorize illegal activity and vilify our border patrol agent's rather than popping up border patrol agent and going after cartels. >> "washington journal" continues. host: it is the final day of our authors week series where we interview authors from across the loop -- the political spectrum and joining us today rich lowry is, author of the ,ook -- today is rich lowry author of the book "the case for nationalism." you write that almost everyone has an opinion of nationalism without knowing what it is. a lot of people think patriotism is the appropriate word for everything good about national feeling or national loyalty and nationalism is the word for everything bad about it.

that is not the correct way to look at it or the correct definition if you want to get technical. comes from a latin word, same as patriarchy. loyalty to your own. nationally is a more specific doctrine that the same people united by common history and a ammon language should govern distinct territory. in a nutshell, that is nationalism. that we should be independent and self-governing. of the that the root american revolution, the insight that we have our own rights and claims and should be a part of our own british empire. runs throughout exam -- al is in a hamilton, fdr, and reagan as well. a couple key projects. one is that we should have a

strong capable national government. hamilton in washington believe the national government will collapse and discredit the whole american project at the outset unless it is stronger and more capable. limited is a well -- as well. we should have a strong military, especially a navy, during important hamiltonian projects. we should extend territorial assimilate should immigrants into our culture and in the 20th century, a major nationalist project that was a threat to poor and policy, republicans and democrats, that we should support the creation of the international system that respects the sovereignty of other hopefully democratic nations abroad. host: who gets to decide what is in that definition?

you named several specific projects. guest: this is the hamiltonian tradition. you can have an argument about what should and should not be in and out. are very important and we should protect them. policy istest for any that, does it serve the interests of our nation and our people that they mean more to us than nations around the world. host: you make a distinction between american and civic nationalism, ethnic nationalism. what do those terms mean? is usedivic nationalism for another word for patriotism, quality of citizenship and things of that nature. ethnic natural -- nationalism is the belief that a certain race over andshould govern

.bove any other ethnicities american nationalism ministry just civicper than nationalism. though that is a key part of the american project. higher and above ethnic nationalism. white nationalism is a contradiction in terms. the beauty of the nation is it represents a loyalty up and or sect or religion or partisanship. rich lowry, author of the book "the case for nationalism." it is our topic of conversation in our final installment of "washington journal." .epublicans (202) 748-8001 democrats (202) 748-8000.

independents (202) 748-8002. thent to talk about what criteria for citizenship in this country has to say about how we see ourselves. the criterion for citizenship in the united states is not an ,ttachment to a set of ideas this standard enlightened by some standards but also speaks to a deep belief, such that it confers extraordinary privileges to those born here. implies the nation does not choose us and we do not choose it. guest: this is a key insight of nationalism, that we all have a sense of belonging that most of us do not choose. a lot of people choose to come here but most of us do not and we are born here. we are loyal to the country as a deep and abiding

connection that goes above and beyond choice. it goes to me how important buture is in this country goes back to the bible, where we get the idea we are a chosen people or almost chosen people, as lincoln put it more modestly. and that the first covenant in american history, every town and church founded on this continent thereafter is the product of a covenant. is the u.s.ortant constitution. host: what are other covenants we should look back to? guest: the basic idea comes from the old testament. it is interesting because it limit on god, of

that if you fulfill your obligations to him, he has obligations to you. in the this reflected constitution which does not just create national power, but also limits national power. host: joe is up first out of connecticut, a republican. the book is "the case for nationalism." rich lowry is here. caller: i just want to say i 'stally support rich lowry idea in his book and of course the biblical foundations and so on. , see so much in this country especially under the obama administration, and wanted to go contrary to that. wanting to bring in a not -- other countries and their laws and so on.

whole concept of people, for example, islamic people who would like to bring let's say sharia law into the country. we have a history and it is sad about the american people in and especially students. i taught at a community college and found so many students were andtitutionally ignorant biblically ignorant. i will give you one case and then i will let it go. been on trial in this impeachment thing. that he took at and exposed them, talking about joe biden.

the truth is when you look at the constitution and you look at the second article which governs and when you look at that third section of article two, you find out there is a take care clause and the forident is responsible making sure the laws of the land are upheld. this is nationalism. you brought up a lot of topics. guest: the basic premise of the is thatcon -- comments our laws should govern us and no laws should. this gets to the reason why empires have never been democratic. national --the most natural form of organization to

that we sense of unity all can live together under the same set of rules and laws. you have various peoples and nations and part of a larger correct -- collection. the culture will be dominant in the language will be dominant. empire willin the like this. they will bristle against it. as long as there is enough course of power, it will hold of the -- together. soviet empire in the 20 century fell apart, colonial empires reasonart all for this people want to govern themselves and they should govern themselves.

lower in the hierarchy of organization, you go to tribe or sect, but one with postcolonial states in the middle east and africa is that there was not a sense of national feeling, a sense of social trust, a sense of lee -- we. that is when democracy is able to work. organization is a nation. caller: this is a great segue for this question. you said american nationalism rises or somehow rises above ethnic nationalism. he knowledge tell the underlying

structure of the country was changing. is becoming a lot more brown and part of what our job was was to imbue people who came into the is this consistent with your view of nationalism and how you maintain a national democracy as opposed to changing an empire. it has been important throughout history that we assimilate immigrants. i think people look at the cliche that we are a nation of immigrants and believe we always had a high level of immigration. that is not true. immigration levels have gone up and down. andbargain is you come here embrace our ideals and

assimilate into the broader culture. that has been true throughout our history. this country can assimilate a lot of immigrants. i would like to sue the u.s. adopted system that is more dressed to do more of it of his us on skills rather than legal immigrants we are taking. i also want to see a robust culture of the simulation. one thing is we had an enormous wave of immigration. you had every elite institution concerned about a simulating immigrants. whether it was philanthropic organizations or schools. historically high levels of immigration without that

machinery or culture of the simulation, which worries me. do you think american nationalism is what president trump means when he says america first. ? guest: i do. i think it is an instinctual expression of the belief that we put our interests first. i think trump, when he is on the teleprompter, it is unassailable. some of the nationalistic statements he made the u.n. and the speech he gave, the best speech of his presidency, very nationalistic speech. all that is terrific. what should be the unifying potential an appeal of nationalism. inre is a sense we are all -- in this together. host: a review of your book in the washington post. it seems part of a

larger effort on the right to create an after-the-fact framework for trumpism to contort the president's impulses into a coherent worldview that can outlast him. a sort of rescue mission for the conservative movement. has ideals. does president trump give a damn? guest: on the right there has been a lot of backfilling since president trump got elected. usually when you have a major disruption in a political party, you see a movement building over time. when the new left took over the democrats in the 70's, this was a movement you could see on the streets and various dissident leaders.

trump comes out of nowhere. there has been an effort to andk through what he means what i attempted to do in the book, it is not a book about trump. it is a book occasioned by trump, where he has hit on an important factor in our politics and history that have been relatively neglected and often misunderstood. what i would like people to take away from my book is there's something to this nationalism that is deeper than trump and one trump is gone one way or the other, as the republican party should not turn its back on nationalism and it should be thoughtfully integrated into the program going forward. chris, a republican, good morning. caller: thank you, you are one of our best defenders of the

constitution. the birthrate thing being born means you are taught our history. are still in the fight. we came in here fighting and are still fighting for our freedom. it is being taken from us now from the inside. i am amazed at it. the birthrate is, i am a citizen and i have the history of the country and my soul and heart and i went to vietnam and fought in vietnam. in 1971. i am a proud veteran and a patriot and it is killing me to see this thing going away from me by our own people. i would never turn on them but they are turning on us. i want my country back. that is with this is all about. thank you for your

service. cosmopolitan, beginning in the 1960's and 1970's, this has seeped into the american elite. a d nationalizing elite, which the late great social scientist samuel hunton said is probably unprecedented in world because usually conservatives are building of the nation and we have an elite .hat in some respects when it is taught, the idea that it is a tale of unrelieved repression and well -- woe. since --rave national

host: what is an example? focus it is important to on the history of slavery and jim crow in this country and i think conservatives have fallen down over the decades and wanted to look past and sugarcoat it. the lead essay in that series said the american revolution was slavery andting that is completely untrue. it suggests the constitution protected property in man when actually, between the offices of james madison, the phrase was explicitly left out of the constitution which represented a but the idea was the constitution should not

affirmatively defend slavery toward long-term goals. to ideals and eliminating slavery. you had a turning away of slavery in the north at the time of the revolution. every state in the north of theg a loosening slave system in the south. we would not have had antislavery to them the civil -- if the revolution it is up securing that and you us purporting to teach truthful history. that it is not just telling the truth about our country.

host: -- define american culture? guest: american culture is organic and has changed over time and it should. at the core of it is the english language. language is very primordial. it is very important. with some exceptions like switzerland, when you have large parts of the population that speaks some of the line which, you will have a problem. apartars ago nearly torn by a drive for quebec independence because they speak french and have their own culture on that basis. see spain now. it is at the core of american culture.

then it is all these informal mores, our cuisine and the way we dress, predilections and and immigrants can adopt this culture and have over our history adopting this culture. when i was a kid, there was one mexican restaurant within driving distance. it was a treat to go there. i remember lobbying my mom to go . and now there is a chipotle i every 10 blocks. the american coup zine has changed. but there is a core of it that has to stay the same if you want to preserve the nation. host: what does one have to do to simulate? guest: the most support and

things learn the language, learn andhistory, when the ideals feel a part of us. this is another important aspect of nationalism. i spent a lot of time in the book discussing teddy roosevelt on this theme. something he wrote and spoke about powerfully. host: "the case for nationalism ." norman out of new jersey. independent. caller: good morning. about the core of the united states and we have different laws in every state. like 50 different nations.

different gun laws. states -- state, we have blue laws. that is ridiculous. i thought we did away with blue laws. in new jersey, shops have to be closed on sunday. they try to say they want to make it a family day. stadiumhave giants tore about 90% of men go watch a ballgame and get drunk. this the you call united states? i'm not sure what nationalism is was such a different country in every state. a great point. we have a federal system that appropriately has a lot of leeway for decentralization.

we're not like france. but the hypothetical i used to illustrate the point about america and its culture is, if on the steps of the paris opera house tonight, and african-american meets a white american and they instantly have more in common than anyone else around them because they speak the same language and can communicate, they probably dress largely the same and like the same cuisine and have an enormous stock of common cultural knowledge, and that is true whether they are from new jersey or whether they are from california. are asly in that sense we united nation although we appropriately under the constitution give states and localities a lot of leeway for self-rule. host: you mentioned france a

moment ago. i want to take viewers to the moment you opened your book. this is french president emmanuel macron from november 12 of 2018. this vision of france, a generous nation with a vision to carry universal values have in a dark times exactly the opposite of the selfishness of a people, which only looks at its own interests because patriotism is the exact offset of nationalists. -- nationalism. nationalism is a betrayal. by pursuing our own interests first with no regard to others, we erase the very thing the nation holds most precious, that which gives it life and makes it great, it's moral values. guest: i think it is completely

wrong. he botches the definition of patriotism and nationalism, as we talked about at the top. the idea that france does not pursued its -- pursue its national interests is completely absurd. there is not inherently an opposition between ideals and nationalism. the best nationalisms are infused with ideals. they both have an attachment to the particular and a belief in the universal. you just look at french nationalism, which a couple of centuries ago was based on the idea that france had the most christian king, and subsequent to the french revolution was acquired by a zealous idealism and universalism. i spend a section of my book discussing joan of arc, who i

think is a figure that represents the power. it is not exactly nationalism. you could argue if the term applies it certainly national loyalty and feeling, she has a vision that she should free the french land from the english and that the french should be governed by the french. teenage girlas a undertake this extraordinary enterprise to chase the english from france. the english, to erase all memory of her, to scatter her ashes in the river, they cannot eliminate the memory of her because she has become a symbol of the nation and has an incredible power throughout french history in particular and throughout rose history.

i think macron would do well to reconsider this. what do you say to those who say nationalism was the cause of two world wars? this is congresswoman val 10.ings on november she said, showing a picture of a jewishness synagogue -- jewish synagogue burning, this is where nationalism and anti-semitism leads. always. nationalism is an old and and can be of use, which is true of basically everything in this life. abuse.cy is we do not say therefore we should be democrats. i'm not an expert in the time of the nazis, but they clearly had nationalistic appeal and used

nationalistic symbols, but just awas not nationalist. what made him one of the most evil figures in all of world aspectswas the unique of moxie ali -- ideology, a bloodsoaked vision of so-called biological racism where their hands should rule germany and conquest.ope by this was not truly a nationalist project. by the end, he was happy to see the german nation destroyed as well. live up to his lunatic vision. caller: good morning. i'm also a veteran.

generator -- gentleman talks about migration and we talked about birthright and chain migration and that. don't we need to first look at the first family? and the chain migration happening there with melania and her parents? language andabout every other country speaks a language. it is a fact. languages before white man showed up. many hundreds and hundreds. my question of this man is what about chain migration? guest: i'm not sure that the

first family tells us much about what the broad -- rotter conversation should be. as with everyon other policy is, does it serve our interests, is it in our national interests? the attachment to the cliche that we are a nation of immigrants of skewers all rational thinking about immigration. one of the beauties of the country's many people from all around the world want to come here. my point is we should be whosier and get immigrants are prepared to thrive in this country as soon as they arrive. emphasis on english speaking. it does not mean there would not be a humanitarian element. i think they're always should be in there should be a robust

refugee program. i think we should have much more of an emphasis on skills just because it is a different a different economy than it was in the early 20th century, where you can have immigrants coming in by the boatload and you could basically plug them into the factory line and trust that everything will be ok. economy were education and skills are more important than ever, i think that should be reflected in our immigration policy. host: alabama, brenda, good morning. about trump.ee the world is on fire and he is a terrible person. miller is a white .upremacist everyone in the rape that --

everyone knows kavanaugh raped that girl. host: what is your question on the topic of nationalism? caller: i do not understand why everybody is [indiscernible] ok.t: the idea that stephen miller is a white supremacist is completely ridiculous. the charges against brett kavanaugh do not stand up. i believe they were manufactured , very strongly. not everyone is for trump, obviously. we have a starkly divided country on trump. basically everyone is exactly what it out on trump more or less.

there was a pulley month ago on impeachment and said 48% favor removal and 46% oppose it. the numbers should sound familiar. they are the popular vote in 2016. host: for gandhi nationalists? they seem to be in the principles, not in the doctrine itself. guest: governed by another people as a livingsocial health. that is a nationalistic sentiment. of truether core belief

nationalism is it is a nation that belongs to the people, not one sect sacked -- any . the government exists to serve the nation and not the other way around. host: the book is "the case for nationalism." it is the last installment of our weekly author series on "the washington journal." this is patrick, a republican. caller: good morning. ,y question for you, rich lowry with the nationalism and -- in sanctuary cities. elected officials of the sanctuary holdings are telling the federal government, leave my people alone.

and yet they are talking about giving all of these illegals drivers license. that is a free ticket at almost every voting registration booth in america. a photo id, basically based on a drivers license. i would like you to think on that. i think sanctuary cities are a disgrace and the idea lookout would not cooperate with the federal government when they have immigrants in jail who committed crimes, that they won't cooperate with the federal government finding out what else they are guilty of or hand them over to federal authorities if deportation or anything else is called for, is terrible. we have seen the downsides of the crimes committed by the people sprung when they should have been handed over to federal authorities.

i think you are right and that this is wrong and a practice that should stop. some localities have doubled down on this as a way to thumb their nose at president trump. a story from the washington examiner in the past few days. leaders urge resistance to gun was an compared to the revolution. guest: i do not think we are at -- in a revolutionary period in this country and that is a gross rhetorical overreach. i do not support as a general matter gun control. part of the debate in this country over mass shootings, really all of the gun-control measures offered as a means to combat or discourage or even eliminate mass killings have zero interaction with mass killing's. if you look at background

checks, the most basic of these ideas, universal background checks, so-called, the problem is almost all of these shooters haven't been guilty of a crime prior to these heinous acts. they pass background checks. i do not think this agenda makes any sense. host: virginia. caller: i see it from more of a biblical perspective. the prophecy of the one world government under the one world ruler. guest: i cannot say i'm highly familiar with that. ok, according to the prophecy, there will be a one world ruler and a one world religion and a one world government. you can see we are on the verge of that with all of the

corruption and hatred in the world. that: i will segue off of to say i discuss in the book the biblical origins of nationalism. when people started reading the bible in the vernacular, they all kind of imagine themselves, and,ding england subsequently, us, as a successor a ancient israel, which was nation, not a modern nation. the borders of ancient israel has its own laws, has a very strong sense of togetherness and .ission this notion really put an imprint on the modern western world and the nations that make it up. we spent our program today talking about evangelical voters

only. on president trump. isn't the evangelical right acting like a controlling elite in contemporary america? guest: i don't see that at all. part of the support for president trump, you read the tweet that i heard earlier. that he will protect them from a controlling elite. evangelical support for trump is more a populist in that sense. evangelicals i talked to support trump but are fully aware of his flaws in the downsides of how he conducts himself and what he says. it is just that they don't see any alternative and what they ,re offered from the other side a party that supports abortion circumstance,very

that has very little regard for conscience rights, thinks the constitution is a living document that should be changed in keeping with political agendas. the are really thrown into arms of trump. some evangelicals are very strong trump tests. trumpists. people who go on tv and defend every word and everything he says are disgracing themselves and they should not do it. and they should be an awareness and knowledge men of the downsides. making the case in this world of grays, he is better than the alternative. britt hume saying people

evangelical support for trump do not see the reason why. it is not that evangelical's approval of his personal conduct. they think he is the enemy's enemy and he is willing to fight. it should be available on the website in the meantime. south bend, indiana, a democrat, good morning. caller: ok. i will be quick. a couple things i want to see. and phrases like nationalism and affirmative action, we should just bury. they take on a life of their own. another thing -- thing i want to say, i think the reason he wrote partyook is because your or trump supporters, that trump has really gone against climate

change. be anys know there will influx -- influx of refugees possibly coming into the country the now policy -- climate change. guest: --nts on that on that. guest: any u.s. policy would inically make no difference the global temperature. even the green new deal would make no difference because it is not just the united states that is feeding global emissions. a bunch of other countries, .ncluding china

the host -- the hope of climate that you can make every country on the world turn its back on its own national and economic interests, you will not do it. it is a fantasy. chinese -- china is operating gulags now. do you think this regime, that you can trust to follow through on climate commitments? it seems completely absurd to me. to take approach is this issue seriously, study it, research it. we don't know as much about it, i think, as some of the more inflamed activists on the side -- on the other side believe we do. technologically advanced and dynamic as possible to deal with this problem 80 years from now when and if it emerges in the manner that the activists say it will.

host: billy from boston takes issue with empire. thousands of troops -- troops in europe and more than 100,000 troops in asia. guest: we are obviously a globe spanning power. what makes us different from they are by choice welcomed by countries that want us there. countries on the periphery of china want a u.s. presence. europe,s threatened by i'm sorry, by russia, whether it and ukraine want.

i do not think by traditional definitions, this is an empire. certainly not the kind of empire oras referring to earlier the russian empire where you are going and ruling other peoples. host: less than 10 minutes left with rich lowry. author of the book "the case for nationalism." your phone calls in these last 10 minutes. this is giant -- john in virginia, a republican. we were taught nationalism in elementary school years ago. also a term called centralism. was when centralism you would root for your local sports team or state, as opposed , to your country.

in the lipids, you would root for the united states to win the gold even if you were an immigrant. once a simulated, you would not root for the country you came from, but for the united states. whereas centralism, you are proud of your state. every --avorite state, his favorite state is the state he is in. guest: the term is centralism? caller: this is what they taught us 60 years ago. centralism versus nationalism. guest: i have not heard the use of that term in that sense. rooting for your state, that is kind of a local or state pay judaism. and they basic expression would

host: saying is very important to distinguish between nationalism and white nationalism and how oppression and discrimination prevent assimilation the guest has described. guest: no doubt about it. this nation has often fallen down by that standard. you look at charlottesville, their dna goes back to the kkk and domestic terrorist groups. mainstream ofe american nationalist tradition. another irony is, if you think about it, the average

african-american in this country probably has a lineage going back much further than any white european-american marchers in charlottesville. 1619goes again to the project. one thing is it does emphasize how american african-americans are. -- guest: this is a phrase that comes from fascist ends not to movements in europe. anathema to the american tradition.

it is true -- it is true that founders were blinkered on the issue of race and the issue of slavery. that they were not neo-nazis. new york, tony, and independent. when my father's father came from italy in 1906, he ended up fighting in world war i. he had three sons who all fought in world war ii. they did not just fight because they were italians. they went to fight for america. they did not fight for italy. they fought for america and became americans. even though my father's father was sent back twice, back to italy, once because he could not speak english and the second because he had pink eye. he kept coming because he believed in america. the new immigrants of today, let's start a draft and see just how many of them will fight for america. or will they go back to their

country until the war is over? patriotism comes from being american, from being here in fighting and protecting neighbors. 100%, buthasn't been it has worked as best as any country in the world. a massive force for assimilation in this country. no doubt about it. another thing i think is very important to note in the discussion is a lot of people andthere is a huge influx that turned out ok. in massive influx going forward and that is ok and another factor is the 19.4 immigration law, which a lot of people have maligned intent in supporting that restriction, legislation.

but it did drastically reduce the number of immigrants in this country, which presented the creation of an dohring ethnic enclaves, one thing you want to avoid. the italian-americans, to take an example from the caller's theyround and experience, couldn't just associate with comingtalians, sulli over because the flow stopped. they were absorbed into the broader society and i think that is a process we always wanted to see happen. i think there are parts of america where you could get by just speaking spanish. i think that is a very bad thing. independent, good morning. independent and i lean liberal.

i can't believe i agree with you on anything. guest: it happens occasionally. believe an ideological consistency. the reason i support nationalism is because i am a populist economically, and i go back to the labor movement of the early 20th century and most of the people involved in the because anti-immigrant they were taking jobs. i think it is ideologically consistent to say, no new workers coming into the country until all americans who want a job can get a job. what i want to say is i really wish the democratic party would to people like

me. a lot of african-americans who call c-span who are trump supporters and voted for trump, i am not a trump. i'm not that stupid. i could never vote for somebody that erratic to have his finger on the nuclear buttons. but i want to say i wish the would not be as liberal as it is on immigration. you mentioned the 1924 immigration act. evenne that bothers me, though it proceeds my birth, is the 1965 immigration act. i believe it does not have to do with ethnicity. it has to do with immigrants in who country who are elites, are doctors, who are people who have needs and that is why they come to the country. they make more money and take it back to their country. therefore, african-americans and indigenous people in the country and poor whites get overlooked. a slight distinction.

you said, i believe, accidentally, anti-immigrant. i don't think anybody should be anti-immigrant. i do think democrats are better -- cast a more skeptical eye toward immigration. going back to the labor movement in the 20 century, bernie sanders represents that as well. a famous interview he had in 2016 that i discussed in the interview he had in 20 that i discussed in the book where the editor of the policy website vox said "sender supportyou improving the lives of poor people, what is the best thing you can do for poor people around the world?" let them come here. it would certainly better the lives of immigrants from around the world. sanders had a negative reaction

"we cannot do that that is a libertarian idea, we need to be concerned with the interest of our workers and our people first." sanders was roundly attacked for this, you don't hear him expressing that sentiment anymore. i think democrats would be well served substantively and politically to think more in those kinds of terms. the last thought i will leave you with, the trump phenomenon does mean there is more running room for the democrats to go left on economics, to go populist on economics. what they should learn from trump and they are not is that ony need to go to center some cultural issues, whether it is guns or abortion or immigration, to give voters in the middle of the country a sense that they get it and they

are not hostile to cultural attitudes and are not radical culturally. the reaction to trump largely. andink the left is offended the democratic party is pushing that way as a matter of principle. trump favors a wall, we have to be in favor of tearing down a wall. they want to go to the opposite end extreme of trump. i think that is a threat to the democrats elect oral prospects and this year coming up -- >> this is a great transition to our next segment. the book is "the case for nationalism.". the author is rich lowry. up next we will talk about

campaign 2020. we will be joined by a , sticktic strategist around for that discussion. ♪ >> c-span live 2020 coverage continues. joe bidene president in peterborough, new hampshire. entrepreneur andrew yang in nashua, new hampshire. tuesday at 11:00 senator elizabeth warren in boston.

watch the presidential candidates live on c-span or listen live on the free c-span radio app. university of washington history professor margaret discusses her book about silicon valley and the remaking of america. of bighave the biggest government programs, the space race, the military-industrial complex, that becomes the foundation for this entrepreneurial for lie wheel of incredible creation and innovation and private wealth creation. an industry that considers itself -- a city that built itself on its own, that government has become almost invisible to many of the people who are in silicon valley who are the creators of these companies and technologies. magic. part of the >> tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern

on cue and day. -- q&a. >> book tv is on c-span two this week every day with primetime features easter night -- each night. starting off with charles schwab and his book "invested." on tuesday louisiana congressman steve scalise with his book "back in the game." emily, carolyn, and danny talk about their respective memoirs. thursday at 8:30 p.m. eastern sarah and her book "the cigarette." jr. andy donald trump, his book "triggered." watch every week on c-span two. >> washington journal continues. host: a sunday roundtable

discussion on campaign 20. ,e are joined by philip stutts a republican strategist and that for now, democratic consultant. atg starts by looking back 2019, what surprised you the most about where we ended up in the democratic presidential primary? >> the first thing that surprised he was kamala harris's exit. i felt like she had one of the clearer pathways to the nomination and i was surprised about her early exit. the other thing that may not be the surprising is remarkable stability of joe biden and bernie sanders throughout this process. biden has remained consistent in national polling. different in iowa and new

hampshire. bernie has been relatively consistent. then you have to look at mayor viablemerging as a very candidate coming out of basically nowhere. the mayor of south bend and now he is leading the polls in iowa and new hampshire. he has a real good chance to win both of those states. those are some things that surprised me the most. host: who do you think has the easiest path right now? >> if you look at the nomination i think it is biden. i think biden has demonstrated the ability to have the broadest older african-american voters, african-american working-class white voters, blue-collar white voters. i think if you look at his strength nationally he is still the front runner nationally. it may not be the case in

iowa or new hampshire but i think that may not prevent him from winning the nomination. into south carolina and those super tuesday states where a significant number of african americans will vote, that favors biden. host: i want to come back to that. philip, from a republican perspective. of the skeptical democratic field, what surprised you the most? about all ofink our open primaries from 2008 and the rise and fall of candidates, the rise of warren and kamala harris early in the summer. bernie that biden and are standing in the same position nationally they were a year ago today which is crazy after all the money that has been spent. the only other wild card michael bloomberg's entry into the race. we saw this on the republican side with giuliani with less money.

he never made it really. bloomberg has more money and confidence because he has done this before. that will be an interesting play. host: on bloomberg and how he is impacting this race. doug: right now he is spending and concentrating his spending on the super tuesday things, he is bypassing the four early caucus states. there is a bit of an uptick nationally for bloomberg. buysuys our national cable so that is helping his national polling. he is around 4% or 5% which is pretty good. it remains to be seen who he is hurting if he is hurting anyone. everyone thought it would be biden when he came in but that is not clear from me -- clear to me.

the voters for biden would be different than the voters for bloomberg. i am not sure if those of the type of people michael bloomberg will be able to put together. i am not sure who he is hurting. ist: what is a coalition that democratic candidate puts together that you are most worried about? the working-class white voters in the midwest. i think the general election comes down to working white class americans. -- phillip: i just simply do. in wisconsin, pennsylvania, michigan, maine, new hampshire, minnesota, they are all over 50%. you have to have a candidate that can appeal to a lot of different segments. that is really the fundamental

place of where this race will come down to. states, itg those was in wisconsin or michigan or pennsylvania, 28% of two-time obama voters voted for trump in 2016. who will come in on the democratic side and take that vote? >> what issue appeals to them and how does looking ahead to the impeachment trial in the senate, do those voters -- are they watching the impeachment trial? does that help or hurt? phillip: i think it is those voters. if you look in those states you have the hard right and the hard left and they are not moving anybody. there are is a very small percentage that will move one way or another. the leftflirting with oral map, hillary got 232 electoral votes. right now the democrats are still sitting at 232, how can they get whatever combination it is?

congressional districts in maine, michigan, wisconsin, what do they need to do to get those votes? that's where all the money will be spent. there will be secondary states that come into play that that is where it sits right now. when it comes down to impeachment, we are looking at the internal numbers in the states right now. independents is what we are paying attention to. for the most part the national polls are saying independents are 44% for in the impeachment. i'm looking at the likely voters that are independent that could be swung. -- we saw thisrt 22 years ago with the 1998 midterm elections during the impeachment. the more democrats play their hand the more trump will be looked at like the victim to the

swing voters in the states. phillip: on that point people --doug: people like to reference 98, we had al gore running with a very strong economy that bill clinton gave him and he lost. a lot of that had to do with the fact that he had to run separate from bill clinton and his accomplishment on the economy because of the stain of impeachment and some of his personal issues. if you look at when nixon resigned, gerald ford ran and lost to jimmy carter. the evidence here can be spun both ways. you can look at what happened in 98 with the midterms but you can also look at what happened in 2000. i am not seeing a lot of evidence that impeachment is moving either way. we don't even know if there will be a trial in the senate and what that looks like.

you are looking at a lot of the vulnerable house democrats, their standings remain relatively stable in their districts. there has not been much of an impact. they are facing a ton of advertising against them from a trump super pac, from trump, from aan, from super republican organizations. it has not hurt them. i hope to see more of a defense from other organizations, but it remains to be see what the impeachment will do to this a reduction. -- to this election. host: as we move forward into 2020 we are looking ahead to the landscape of campaign 2020. if you want to join the conversation republicans (202) 748-8001. democrats (202) 748-8000. independents (202) 748-8002.

doug and philip joining us this morning. this is a segment we like to do at the end of the year. , good morning.ia john, love c-span been calling for 30 years. host: i know you have. caller: i think donald trump is the best leader in history. i am a stock market man and my stock portfolio is up. i have never been so fired up and energized. best -- i is in the think he is the best in history. we have good candidates for congress so i think we will take over our house and increase our majority to the senate and i think donald trump will win the biggest landslide in history. we have never had an economy like this. my stock market had -- my stocks have hit an all-time high. i will run to the polls and vote

for donald trump. you do a great job on c-span, you and steve, you have a great network. didn't you have a birthday recently? caller: yes i was 80 years old. i walk and work out every day, i have to be in good shape to help donald trump. host: happy birthday to you. have a great day. he thinks republicans will take the house. phillip: i love the excitement and that people are getting involved in calling in, i don't think it will take back the house. they need to win 20 seats, there are four that are not occupied by anyone right now. i think it is going to be hard for republicans. i think the democratic congressional campaign committee, i spent -- doug: they have done a good job

in terms of raising money. if you look at their fundraising in september they outraised the republicans when the republicans were trumpeting how great the impeachment was for their fundraising. the front liners are the candidates in the most difficult district. there are about 43 of them. amost all of them have about million dollars cash on hand so they are very good financially. they have been able to carve out some independent profiles in their district. if you look at the last two weeks the irony with impeachment is that the president was impeached in the house but they also passed a trade deal. they passed a prescription drug deal and an end of the yield -- and of the year government funding bill. they passed a defense authorization bill. they have been able to prove to voters that we will hold the -- we will hold the president accountable but work with him when it works for our district. the five most undersold stories of 2019 and one of them

for bipartisanship, bringing up the deals you just brought up. some 29 of the 31 house democrats who sit in districts that donald trump won in 2016 voted for impeachment, are they not worried about impeachment in 2020? phillip: i think the and rcc will target 55 different races, where they were trump districts in 2018 and democrats took over. it is all in the enthusiasm. we can talk about economic issues, health care issues. --alk about internal foals the reason i trust these more than political news media polls is that if we get it wrong our candidates lose so we have to be really like -- really right. if you ask any democrat why they are voting and what their top ,ssue is it is not the economy

health care, environment, it is beating trump. that is the only thing you care of -- only thing they care about. get enough done to to gets record enough the enthusiasm up like the republicans did in 2016? whether it is a net three seek the republicans need in the senate, everything comes down to that enthusiasm gap. host: you say we when you talk about the election work. do you want to let folks know about the media company and what you do? digital we are a traditional marketing company for political campaigns. host: doug, what about your work? doug: we are a longtime political advertising firm. we are working on a make of house and senate and gubernatorial races. affairs workblic

for foundations and nonprofits and businesses. host: you also host a podcast. doug: i also host a podcast. electable." it is a dive into the 2020 race with my partner. we try to bring a perspective to what is going on and introduce to a bunch of people who are in the game advising these candidates or who have been -- this is charles out of charlotte, north carolina. republican, charles, go ahead. i love the c-span channel and i watch a lot, i appreciate the insight. i have a question than a couple of comments. when i see these polls on the ther networks and in

newspapers they say a certain percentage of the people are isinst trump, impeachment affecting them, they won't impeach they want to run trump out of office. it seems that there are certain states that are highly populated where every single person in that state, whether california, could vote against trump and trump still wins. gon you say that you need to micro and try to say what do people in these other states -- how do they feel? "isn'ter comments are the economy stupid -- later on in 2020 if you are better off in 2020 isn't that a compelling case? i want to know where is hunter biden? host: philip, why don't you start? phillip: he makes a valid point.

oftrump runs on his record 7.2 million new jobs, 500,000 , this isring jobs appealing to the midwestern , the lowest unemployment rate with african-americans, asian americans, women, veterans , the economy across the board is completely insanely good. they have to tell that story. --n you look at these polls they factor in other states. -- the national polling average has joe biden at 28 .3%, bernie sanders 18.9%.

mayor pete 8.3 and so on. it is mayor pete at 22% and sanders at 20. warren at 16. you go to new hampshire, sanders at 19 mayor pete at 17 and biden at 14. how do we read all of this? >> pay attention to the early states. the media will pick up on wednesday in the early states and they will be the front runners. this is the hard part for bloomberg, whoever wins iowa they will be the progressive candidate and new hampshire will be the white working class will be theevada union candidate, south carolina will be the one that won the african-american vote. all the storylines will be drummed up by the media. , the states at this rather than the national average. you have often talk

about what is the right and wrong polls. believer, i big love 538, i go there and they aggregate a whole bunch of holes . i direct people there, it is nonpartisan, a very respected site. they have great polls based off of their effectiveness and methodology. point, the caller's point i think signals are important. the national poll on impeachment is different than one from wisconsin. a national poll showed 47 people -- 47% of impeachment people supporting impeachment. the president's approval number in 2016 versus the key states he is running in for reelection, he is doing

worse now versus what he got in 2016, so that will be a problem for him. yes the economy is strong. the economy was strong under president obama. one of the things i have a problem with when we have these partisan back-and-forth, i will admit the economy is strong under trump. republicans have to admit that it was strong under obama as gainshis first four your if you look at the dow jones were greater than what donald trump has experienced. have you had any success getting republicans to admit that? doug: no but it is part of having a conversation in politics. can trump be disciplined enough to talk about it. when you look at his twitter feed and advertising and the stuff he is doing on social it

is all about anything but the economy. to make theng economy the focus of his campaign he has to be talking about it more regularly and consistently. right now there is no evidence that he can maintain that message. host: you talked about wisconsin, let's go to wisconsin. this is tim, good morning. thank you for putting me on. the one caller made a good point , we are from california and there are 65 million voters in that state. if the democrats had focused more on 65 million voters in the heartland in the south where the they canof living -- get 24 senators 65 million votes i donk -- they are not -- not support the impeachment because it is going nowhere because republicans control the senate. to targetoing

wisconsin because of the dairy farmers that are hurting. wall street and main street are severely disconnected. i guess that is my point. phillip: it goes back to what i said. i think wisconsin something like 56 to 60% working-class white voters. i think this is what he is talking about. this is the rural voter that feels like they have been left out. over 30% in wisconsin voted for obama twice then voted for trump, why? i don't disagree, doug, that trump's numbers aren't as good as they were in 16. people are afraid in the polling to say that they support donald trump. we often know that in some states we are looking at, some of these key states, we are not going to get a large number of hispanic or african-americans. it is a larger percentage than we had under romney right now

for trump. if you can get enough of those votes and carry working-class white voters among the states that are in play right now that is the coalition trump has to win. host: the caller talked about what democrats are focusing on. focusing on this coming out amid the impeachment vote in the house. this is joe biden releasing this ad during the impeachment vote week. >> american history is not a fairytale. thomas jefferson wrote what many believed to be the most important document in human history. he was a slave owner. he never lived up to our american ideals, jefferson himself did, but what he wrote -- it's a battle that is never fully finished. if donald trump is reelected he will forever and fundamentally

alter the character of this nation. if we give donald trump four the years this will not be country envisioned by washington, this will not be the nation bound together by lincoln , this is not the nation lifted up by roosevelt inspired by kennedy, it will not be the nation that barack obama bent toward justice. we can't let this man be elect d reelected -- host: joe biden's presidential campaign ad. here is one more from bernie sanders from the past week. senator sanders: my opponents would tell me that campaign contributions from the wealthy and powerful don't have an impact. why do you think the ceos are making the contributions? because they are first in line to get their concerns taken care of. i believe in democracy. our campaign is funded by the working people of the country.

we need to take on the corporate he leads. -- corporate elites. i am bernie sanders and i approve this message. host: one last ad from mayor pete. i think all of us want the same thing at the end of the day , we know what a gift it would be to the future and the country for literally anybody appeared to become president of the .nited states [applause] i don't know how many now, we are up to 25 something have run for president in the democratic party. the moment we have a nominee, 24 who are not that nominee are going to have to rally around the one who does. sure there is not too much to ask for forgiveness for by that time. some of thee of

democratic campaign ads on the air right now. right now we are looking at the messages and what plays the best. joe biden is presenting himself as a healer, someone who can come in and clean up the mess that trump has created. he can return us to a sense of normalcy and he is trusted. a lot of his ads use visuals of him as vice president. attack,is using that that was an implicit attack on mayor pete and biden. there has been an ongoing aboutsation in this race millionaires and billionaires which is what bernie sanders likes to talk about. there is the fight between elizabeth warren and mayor pete on contributors and things like that. gets into this question of influence in politics and bernie saying i'm going to get all of

these bad actors out of here. mayor pete presents himself as a uniter. someone who is affable and laughable -- likable. he is not just a technocrat, he is trying to show that he is a likable person that can also bring this country together. host: that brings us to the critical iowa vote. >> it is interesting. holing toden's ad is democrat voters especially the for me i am looking at that and thinking you are targeting african-americans right now. i see that as shoring up his firewall. mayor pete reminds me of john kerry in 2004. i was in iowa running around

watching all the democrats speak and i saw john edwards. , john kerry dean was boring everyone to death. for me i am the boring guy that everybody else can yell and if you want solid and boring i am the guy. for bernie, he is going after the populist wing. he is going full populist. thate said for a while bernie's ceiling is also his floor, that there is a number he cannot get below or above. p is trending now that war and has fallen, her voters have swung over to bernie. solidifying his base with the populace. host: less than a half hour left in this program, the sunday political roundtable, looking ahead to 2020.

if you like what doug is saying give him a follow on twitter. philip is also on twitter. this is isaac out of bellingham, washington. caller: good morning, thank you for c-span. i just wanted to push back on a couple of things, one being the economy is insanely good right now. it's insanelyhom good for, may people at the top who have massive portfolios of stocks. a lot of us are struggling with student debt and medical bills. i don't think it is going incredibly great. almost years old and four out of 10 eligible voters will be younger than i am in 2020 so i think we need to start .1% isg more on them, 39 the percentage of white voters that democratic presidential candidates have gotten since lbj

, there is no point in going after these mythical white swing voters, they do not exist. if you read "brown is the new white" he points out that there is already a progressive majority, 23% of people of color who are progressives and 28% .rogressive whites, that is 51% the voter suppression in michigan, wisconsin, and pennsylvania was the reason those states flipped, it had nothing to do with white voters flipping. you have massive suppression of african-american and latino voters with restrictive voter id laws. the electoral college is broken and stupid that we are stuck with it. host: you bring up a lot of points. the bottom 25% of all wage

earners in this country had the largest increase in wage gain, i was the was 4.5% largest gain they had in the last 20 years. i understand that there are pockets of people and exceptions for everything. the national statistics are what they are. thereot at liberty to sit and talk about voter suppression, i have no idea what that is. in florida in 2016 for trump on a super pac, these were states that large parts of swung a certain way because of the populist message of the president. you're not going to get up 100% of those voters. there is a coalition you have to win, it is what happened in every key target state.

was this pocket of states and that was all that mattered. of play for out trump and now it is back in play. working class white voters have started moving in his direction. it may be impeachment, a economy, the economy is the number one issue in michigan. we are looking through that data right now. caller: -- doug: the economy for a lot of people is marginally improved, when people are sitting around their kitchen table and they are getting prescription drug bills and health care bills and energy bills, they are paying a lot more now. the cost of living having kept up with the strength of the economy. i'm seeing this in the race is that i am doing. focus groups where people are saying that the bills are to dam

high. that is causing an impact on long-term anxiety that people still have about the economy and how they are going to pay for their retirement and put their kids through college. i think that is an area where democrats are going to be able to prosecute a campaign on the economy. they did this in 2018 18, it was a kitchen table issue. they talk about republican efforts to get rid of the affordable care prescription drug prices. i think that will be a place where democrats have to make this argument that they are better stewards of the economy than republicans. the evidence backs that up. seen as the time where democrats ran and one on health care. the impeachment suck up all oxygen in the room or is it because we are about to go into the senate trial phase and november is far away? right now national coverage

of impeachment will be overwhelmingly focused on the what and the coverage of is going on in iowa and new hampshire will not be what it typically would be. for short-term, yes. there will be more tension on impeachment. the question is long-term health, what impact will that race for president in the race for congress and i think it remains to be seen. have tom from harrisburg, pennsylvania, independent. caller: good morning. i think the problem with the democratic party which i used to , i'm seeing these other brainless -- hijacked party. donald trump's platform was the democratic platform in the 80's and 90's america first.

if president obama ran in the democratic primary he could not win the democratic primary. that is how far left the democrats of gone. agree.: i it is a wear of world where republicans act like democrats and democrats -- doug: what issues? trump does. phillip: the republican party is behind him. the president has nominated five openly gay ambassadors, would that have happened in a 2004 administration? probably not. he signed the first step act which is mandatory minimums which affects a large proportion of african-americans. that was something i don't believe a republican would have signed in the past. it is a sort of bizarro world in a good way.

these are good steps the republican party needs to take. >> one thing is averting a touchdown with -- shutdown -- >> the democrats should get some credit for that, that was a bipartisan look at how democrats and republicans came together. that the democratic party is being hijacked and moved further to the left is a myth. if you look at 2016 and the candidates that ran and won they were all pretty moderate and centrist. the party has not become more liberal or more leftist, it has become more centered because of the number of new centrist democrats that have entered the party. host: 60 freshmen democrats joined the house, i think 58 is the number on january 3 of 2019. the caller brings up alexandria

ocasio-cortez, there is also ilhan omar. rose, you have lauren underwood in illinois, katie porter in california. is a whole bunch of democrats all over the country. seats in oklahoma and georgia. >> does it frustrate you how much attention the squad got? was ai think it deliberate strategy by republicans to focus on them for political reasons. goingis essentially using after four women of color in a way to create this perception of the party they could use to motivate the voters they need to motivate which is primarily white working-class voters and

create this sense that this is what the democratic party is and they are out of touch. and the squad are an important part of the democratic party, and on a lot of issues there is support for what aoc is pushing on environmental issues and health care. if you look at the party as a whole, there is no way around the fact that it has moved in a more centered position than house republicans. the house republicans are run by the freedom caucus. phillip: doug is 100% right right now. 2020, wewere to win in have seen the tea party and trying to throw out mitt romney for a more moderate candidate. after 2020 you may see that the squad that they

become the leaders of the party because people are so fed up with losing that the progressives have a larger take of the party. donald trump's most disruptive movement in politics, that happened because of the frustration republicans had that started under the administration. it culminated in the tea party and then grew after losing it was a takeover of our party. i will say let's see how it looks after 2020. watchingyou were just fox news you would think the squad is running the democratic party. a broader looking at source of information and news media i think you would have a clearer sense of what the party looks like. it is a diverse party. we have always been a diverse party. i am proud of the diversity within our party and the presidential candidates.

when you look at the form of the presidential race there is a clear centrist, middle lane the voters that believe the party should be pragmatic, their most -- they don'tern necessarily believe in radical revolutionary change. we played some democratic presidential campaign ads. i wanted to play one of donald trump's recent campaign ads. the trump campaign trying to define what the presidential primary field is and what they are about. >> it was more like a student council debate. >> you would turn 82 at the end of your turn. you'd be the oldest president in american history. i would love to give each of you a copy of my book. >> i should probably send my book around. noah's showtrevor

once. >> i meet families every day. could you do 100,000 selfies with people? those selfies cost of nobody anything. >> do the math on that. >> a wine cave full of crystals. $900 a bottle wine. >> go shake the money tree in the wine cave. >> i think she is a good size for the president. >> i can't help but feel that was directed at me. andt is an honor disappointment to be the lone candidate of color on the stage tonight. >> did you call my name? is >> there is someone who is loving this conversation and his name is donald trump. >> love him or hate him but nobody brands like donald trump.

four years ago low energy joe, little marco, he knows how to brand. ads, what is great is you laugh no matter what for the most part. you have endorphins going, you are laughing, the brand is inserting itself into your head and it is very effective. if they are branding them as characters they are not to be taken seriously. let me take a step back. people love to criticize the romney campaign from 2012. obama spent five years running , then romney did not get the nomination until nine months before the election day. the amount of money that obama was able to raise, the amount of accomplishments you are able to

put out, romney has nine months to make a case to the american people. this is what trump is doing. trump has had three years where he is making the case. he has all the money, his super pac has the money. the dnc does not have a ton of money right now, i think they are in debt. there are advantages to incumbency. the advertisement right here is to raise money more than anything else and get people excited. i do not think it will sway a will get the, it people supporting him to get money that they can use to run ads elsewhere. i am not sure this is up on tv anywhere. targeting base republicans. this is not a persuasion added that he is running.

moneys intended to raise and all campaigns aimed at the base try to create these debate moment videos. pete has one as well. i don't know how effective this will be for actual available voters. thing, theyer funny can have as much fun if not more clipping together the crazy things trump says at his press conferences. caller: good morning, thank you c-span. because i want to hear any comments from your guests about governor wells challenge to president trump. i know that c-span has had them on a bunch of times but other than you guys and maybe a little bit on some of the new stations,

governor wells is not getting a lot of publicity. some states that will not have republican primaries. fortunately i live in a state where there is a republican primary and i will be voting for governor wells in that primary. anything about him as a or about not having republican primaries in any state. the c-span video archives, bill wells with 102 videos including his sit-down conversation about running for president on october 25 that viewers can watch. donald trump has 90% of the republican conservatives or art core. that is a very large number.

i believe he will end up getting that number higher before election day. wells is a good man and has good policy ideas. there is no oxygen for him. host: doug, do you want to weigh in? doug: i agree. i think the biggest threat the trump campaign has to worry republican runs as a third party. half a pointe off in michigan and wisconsin and pennsylvania. democratsphillip: were worried about bloomberg for a while. you take jill stein out of 2016quation and 2018 -- are talking about hillary clinton's reelection campaign. host: from massachusetts, go ahead. morning.ood

a quick editorial question. i love when you come up with the tax line but lots of times i don't get confirmation on it. i don't know if there is a reason or not. ist: on the text line as understand it usually there is a confirmation text that comes back to say that we received it. if not i can certainly look into that. (202) 748-8003 is our texting service that we have just begun in the past couple of months. go ahead. caller: i appreciate that. texted,ion as i contrary to postelection rhetoric the supreme court was not a major issue on the last election and i really don't hear a ton about it this election either. two questions to either gentleman, why not? do you thinks might come up before 2024?

i don't imagine ginsburg will be serving at the end of the next election and i am hoping that thomas, if trump gets elected, might take one for the team and nominate someone. traditionally the supreme court has been a stronger device that republicans have used to motivate their voters. particularly in senate races. but also the president came out that he list of people will nominate to the court back in 2016. that will help bring in some conservatives who are on the fence. aey have traditionally done better job of using the court as a political tool, now that may

be changing. you are seeing a lot of anti-choice laws eating brought about. moving towards the supreme court. that is going to be an issue in certain places. who isas speculating going to retire i really don't know. that may have to do with who wins in 2020. i cannot really speak to that. phillip: it is a huge issue for republicans. trump has nominated and confirmed over 150 or maybe 180 judges, this is a big issue internally within the republican party. this is a great branding tool. we do talk about this within the republican party, it is taken very seriously. -- itmp putting on his

was a very transparent move, here is who i'm going to nominate and it had a big effect. if i was a democratic strategist i would say, it's a good question. democrats have gained traction by saying "here is my list of judges." that would benefit the candidate over time. host: there is still a lot of campaign you can watch and 2019 and you can watch it on the c-span network including today. a town hall inng petersburg, north carolina. tomorrow on monday democratic presidential candidate andrew yang holds a town hall at the public library in nashville, new

hampshire at 2:00 p.m. eastern. on tuesday of elizabeth warren delivering a new year's eve at 11:00 p.m.on eastern on c-span. listening to all of this on the free c-span radio app. back to your phone calls. this is from emerson, new jersey. independent, good morning. caller: good morning, gentlemen. thank you. it is unfair and unjust that the democrat party trashed tulsi gabbard who is a good woman, although i do not agree with her politically. my point is the victory for president trump and for boris johnson in england was a victory for low taxes, lower taxes, more sense which is

important, support for law enforcement, support for legal defeat for, and a the corrupt fake news media here and in england who favored the version of the democratic party which lost historic losses and a defeat for the democrats extreme abortion, allowing babies to be killed while they are in the process of being born. and the democrats, a defeat for early release of criminals like california has been doing and the crime rate has been , like nancy pelosi's san francisco district with their homelessness drug infestation crime and diseases. up a lot ofing

topics, just about two minutes left in our programs that we will split them. phillip: the boris johnson victory over the labour party was a lot to do with his consistent messaging around brexit. i don't think that things related to sanctuary cities or a lot of things that were mentioned in that call had anything to do with boris johnson possibly victory. if you look at recent elections here in the united states democrats won the governor's mansion in kentucky. maintain the governor's mansion in louisiana. we won total control in virginia. these are three southern states. caution people making big judgments about specific collections, specifically elections in another country. -- doug: i feel good about where

the party is headed and where we are on infrastructure. it remains to be seen who the nominee will be. host: philip i will give you the final minute. phillip: how republicans and donald trump's campaign messages to those key states and getting the enthusiasm, closing the enthusiasm gap is the key to the whole ring. host: philip is the author of ."e book "fire them now doug is a principal at s katie knickerbocker and remind viewers of the podcast. doug: be electable, it is on any podcast platform. apple podcast, spotify. we have to have you both. this thatill be back, will do it for our program for today. we'll be back tomorrow morning, in the meantime have a great

sunday. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] >> c-span's live campaign 2020 continues today at 2:00 p.m. eastern. former vice president joe biden in peterborough, new hampshire. monday at 2:00 p.m. eastern, entrepreneur andrew yang in nashua, new hampshire. and tuesday, at 11:00 a.m. eastern, senator elizabeth warren in boston. watch the presidential c-span,es live on c-span.org, or listen on the free c-span radio app. of washington history professor margaret

o'mara discusses her book "the code: silicon valley and the remaking of america." eisenhower what famously labels the military-industrial complex. that becomes the foundation for this entrepreneurial flywheel of incredible innovation and private wealth accumulation. an industry that kind of considers itself, an industry that build itself on its own. where government has become almost invisible to many of the people who are in silicon valley , who are the creators of these companies, these technologies. that is part of the magic, actually, that it is our government out of sight. >> tonight, at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. >> joining