Why Trump “can't be ripped away” from his followers: Heather Cox Richardson | Salon Talks 

If I taught history I would have my students watch this posting. The two side are not equal. The media needs to call out the BS and call liars liars. The Republicans who enabled choose a cult of personality over their oath to Constitution. Vote them out in 2024.

This woman needs to be on cnn, msnbc, abc, and cbs 24/7

Professor Richardson is a national treasure. She is what this country needs. Love her. 💙✌🏼

Outstanding discussion! The media by playing "fair" actually is creating a bias in this situation which enables falsehoods.

We can make this MAGA problem go away in 2024, if good people who are concerned citizens just vote.

This woman is brilliantly intelligent. These are the kinda people it's important to surround yourself with. They inspire critical thinking, and they always leave you feeling smarter than you were ❤ Fantastic conversation. Thank you

When someone doesn't think they will actually come for Social Security point to Roe v Wade

She's right!! When she says, "I think there are more people paying attention now". I'm certainly paying way more attention than I was before I saw conflicting stories in the 2020 election.

9:53 "...once you have started to poison your own soul by buying into someone who is abusing others, you can't turn away from that without admitting you're the one who is the problem."

Excellent interview!! Thank you both so much! DEMOCRACY AWAKENING is a must read for every voter in USA.

This week I learned about the Bible Study classes being offered in public schools during school hours. Before I could get over the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, I saw the announcement that the classes are now available in our local school system. Of all the things that frighten me these days, this is near the top.

As an 80 year old with a lifelong interest in both politics and history, i thank you from the bottom of my heart. It sometimes feels like i am alone in trying to keep the pieces of history alive in front of the youthful folks who did not live through this and do not even try to see how this all came together and made the Greed/Confederacy a reality, evolving, as un modified Republics are destined to evolve, into dictatorships. The whole of what the Founders sold us is Democracy using a modified Republic framework. It was a balance of democratic republic , but with modifications far too fragile to protect that human equality necessary for this nation to live up to its greatest potential. We began with wonderful realities, perfect ethics, but with a compromise with the wealthy and white supremacy that must end if we are to survive as a nation. This nation has the right way, we simply have to live up to what we said were our goals: all human beings have certain inalienable rights and the right to make private decisions for our own lives, and the government has to go back to its stated purpose, Government that promotes the General Welfare of the People, and a nation that behaves ethically in the world.

Heather is a prominent historian and fascinating to hear

To hate is to feel superior while before you felt inferior. Is the thing motivating MAGA folks, motivating Trump. It’s delusional of course.

It’s tragic to see countless people in America trying to validate themselves through a psychopath in diapers and Tammy Faye makeup.

Yes! When Gen. Milley came out with that, he was truly serious. I am optimistic…thank you Heather! You are brilliant and truly a” Great thinker.” I so appreciate you. AALeslie, Florida (the State with a moat around it) 🤦‍♀️

Thank you Heather Cox Richardson.

Dr. Heather Cox Richardson is a national treasure. We are fortunate to have a Smarty McSmartypants who uses their power for education of the U.S.

The media is looking at this from a purely financial perspective. Trump is good for ratings which equals financial benefits for their bottom line. Thank you, Mrs. Richardson. My family and I discuss this dire situation daily.

Great interview…she is a national treasure!

Truly excellent conversation. Great job Salon. She is absolutely right about asking what people around, need to feel secure and protected. People need affordable food, clean water, living wages, lower fuel prices to get to where they need to go, fair pricing in the marketplace, affordable housing, safe police forces, equal treatment under the law.

_“Let not anyone pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.”_ -John Stuart Mill (1867) Voting in America is like driving a car: if you want to go _forward,_ select “D”; if you want to go _backward,_ select “R”. You won't get to any destination, staying in neutral.

The proper role of government in a democracy is to step in to protect the public whenever any sector, political or economic becomes too strong and seeks to dominate or exploit the people.

Thank you for giving me hope, Ms. Richardson. I've learned a LOT & plan to read your book. After listening to this interview, I'd like to recommend Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel "It Can't Happen Here", an account of how fascism could suddenly arise in America. Very chilling to read alongside the daily news!

The labor movement did not "come out of nowhere". That movement is a lasting tribute to the efforts of Bernie Sanders Presidential campaigns. From 2015 until 2021, he barnstormed America waking Americans up to how their wages were being stolen and their political power was in banding together to effect change. We will miss him when he is gone.

Projection Chumpy says he's fighting for you He's only running as a try to stay out of prison And if he gets his authoritarian job he'll turn on you when he needs a scapegoat

We need to scare the shite out of those people who are asleep at the wheel about all they will lose under fascism and the traitor

Great show! Mrs. Richardson does a fantastic job as usual!

I became more watchful of ex-president Donnie as his campaign progressed. Towards that November, especially with Comey's interference and Clinton's gaffes, I got more and more concerned. And now, ex-president Donnie tells us exactly what he plans to do, and a large population of conservatives seem to get off on it. Yecch.

"Things fall apart/the center cannot hold Mere anarchy is loosed on the world/ the blood-dimmed tide is loosed and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned/ the best lack all conviction, while the worst/ are full of passionate intensity" - Yeats One of the risks of the moment we are in is how exhausting all of this is. For those of us who are plugged in, it hammers us every day and we risk burning out when the fight is not half-done. Meanwhile the other side remains utterly ignited. The things that we find taxing, like the slow march of justice in the Trump trials, serve to embolden those who would deconstruct what we have. We MUST hang on and see this through, or we WILL wake up one fine morning to the death of the great American experiment and the rise of Gilead.

‘They don’t mean it’….so why are they wasting effort writing ‘policy papers’ about removing social security?

She says at one point that she no longer found Trump interesting. I don't recall him ever being interesting, only heinous, ridiculous, and traitorous.

It's revealing that we call them "followers". Which is a term for people in a cult.

I love hearing this. It's good to hear optimism for a change 😅

Before it was a Reagan phrase, "Make America Great Again" was from Henry Ford's 1924 Presidential run.

Outstanding discussion. Thank you.

Vote before a vote doesn't count anymore and real trouble begins.

Great interview! Thanks Dean! Thanks Heather! Question: What can we DO? Answer: Take up oxygen. Tell stories about what you want, and what you demand, and what you don't want to see happen anymore. This is the role and function of artists and creative types. It's important to realize we are ALL artistic in some way, some medium. We are ALL creative. Put together old ideas with new ideas. Both incrementally as well as radically NEW ways to do things.

The finest discussion on the subject I have heard to date. Heather Cox Richardson's assessment of the situation we now find purselves in, on all fronts, is spot-on. I urge all who have seen this video to share it widely.

Heather is always so positive. Thank you for your important work

Context matters. Love Heather.

When people are educated and learn how we got here, then maybe there is hope that citizens can reverse the trend that is frightening.

I worked from the 80's through the 90's into the early aughts, until 2019. I can no longer work now. Do Not Take AWAY my Social Security. How do we keep our Social Security. How can I live without Social Security?

NO NO NO, not a salesman, but rather a con man! Its really, really difficult to use the word man in any sentence describing Trump.

Trump did not start talking about doing things for regular Americans until Bernie Sanders started gaining popularity. Trump preempted Bernie's points and lied to say that Trump would support policies that would improve the lives of Americans who were not in the top 90%.

Excellent discussion, thanks 👍

Heather is even cooler now that she quoted Harry Potter! Go Heather!

I agree with Heather that, while we aren't out of the woods yet, things are moving in the right direction, and the people are aware of the danger, and activated to oppose the minority rule which is being threatened.

To equate Trump with a car salesman is to insult car salesmen and saleswomen.

The so-called Primaries are State elections. Please vote in both elections.

Heather Cox Richardson is a great speaker, very intelligent writer. Really good podcast. Thank you!

people must be made aware of the choice we face in 2024, Democracy or Dictatorship. VOTE BLUE

We've been an oligarchy for quite awhile now.

Why would you internalize any politician, its nuts and creepy

I CANT LIKE OR LOVE THIS ENOUGH!!! WE have the power to STOP and CHANGE the undemocratic and illiberal horror presented to us as an "inevitability". Nothing is written. Acceptance and flourishing can be realized, or EXCLUSION and kleptocracy can become the norm. Its our choice. Choose well.

They already came for social security. I got my social security survivor death benefits, which were only available to me because 1) my father had died and 2) I was a full time college student under the age of 24. - I had that taken away by Reagan, I believe in a “grand bargain” on the budget with Tip O’Neil. That has never come back. And now there’s all this talk now about forgiving student debt. What about the money they stole from all the college kids whose parents had died?

That was surprisingly good!! Not a lady I've heard of before, but very insightful.. I look forward to hearing more of her work.

Heather Cox Richardson is excellent. Showing respect for other people, whether or not you agree with them, is something societies have built over centuries as part of the democratic ideal. It is the mark of a civilized person. Trump shows nothing of this quality.

Such a good interview! Heather can speak about these issues in layman terms that we can understand. Thanks for keeping us informed..

The main news channels are turning a blind eye to this. Wake up America while there is still time.

This Lady is absolutely Correct and l like the way she connects present events with history. Omg It’s sad when Stupidity and Actual Blindness is a Choice.

Heather Cox Richardson is an extraordinarily brilliant historian. Thank you.

I spoke up on social media and face to face with my friends from high school and had my life destroyed by Republicans.

What a great interview and explanation by this Historian to important issues facing us now. She covers the following important issues of today such as what is going on in America with Trump, the Republican Party, Authoritarianism, The rise of American Christian Nationalism, and the future of America. Thank you, thank you to Salon for the interview and to Professor Richardson for her book “Democracy Awakening”.

What an excellent erudite discussion. Thank you HCR. (And Go Boston College!)

What she is saying sounds good, but social media seems to be far more powerful than actual conversations between individuals.

“Senate Republicans could have stooped djt from 2015 and forward, but selected to not.”- She is 💯 percent correct

I have been subscribed to Heather for about a year now. She is brilliant and we need her especially now. I have been pretty downbeat about the future of our country until I started to hear Heather say here she has hope. Now I have hope for our country.

HCR has this in common with Spiro Agnew-there IS a “Silent Majority,” and Heather Cox Richardson is its spokeswoman. Americans rendered mute by this hyperbolically hysterical moment of history take solace and courage from her rock solid belief in our country, her unassailable knowledge of its tumultuous history and her stone-cold sanity.

T**** was NOTHING without his enablers.

Dr. Richardson’s book is great! If you haven’t read, please do.

I don’t watch television either. I don’t have an operating TV. I have become aware that there is a universe/American that I have no knowledge or understanding of. The most recent shock I got was the writers strike. I am wondering how anyone can know or understand America or Americans if you don’t have some familiarity with TV/programming. Looking into this matter some years ago in the Anenburg school of communications library at the U of Pa. I was impressed by the amount and quality of their collection. There is a lot to know.

This is so excellent! My favorite historian.

There was a clip that was interviewing trumpers. One man actually said He could stand on the steps of the White House and shoot someone and I would still vote for him. This statement horrifies me!

Education helps but people don’t even need that. The stories of the Wizard of Oz and the emperors new clothes.

Thank you!

19:57 I would love to hear an explanation for this. It’s a take I haven’t heard before.

I'm definitely bored with trump.

Great discussion thank you

With social security, ending it isn't being promoted, but ending the requirement of giving Bill Gates $3,000 a month in benefits. The fact that nobody mentions that shocks me.

I don't think the average person knows what a Democracy. It is simple a Democracy is the Majority.

one more thing it is great that people like you tell us what is happening but i hear little about what to do .

I'm 67 and I'm scared shitless that if the repubs take power next year, I will lose my social security, and sadly that's all I have to live on. I won't survive it.

Did anyone notice that Cox’s optimism for our current situation was based on the change from the anti-democratic “universal slavery” movement of 1953 to Lincoln’s “universal equality” speeches of 1863, WITHOUT MENTIONING THAT IT TOOK A CIVIL WAR THAT KILLED 620,000+ MEN???!!!

Thank you for bringing up these points!

Heather Cox Richardson is clearly a very wise woman. Listen carefully to her viewpoints.

Historians use the gift of 20/20 hindsight.

Very interesting conversation. Thank you!

Excellent show! 👏👏👏👏👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

I really wish Heather’s book and what she is seeing in our politics today to the general population. It’s frightening to hear. What can we do. I almost feel like we are living thru another creation of another Hitler and party.

Great program!!

Change brings both progress and disruption to routine. An age old battle that only catastrophes can put pause on.

Mine was they would never overturn Roe vs Wade. The blood in my face drained and I’m past child bearing age.

Can she be president pretty please

As someone from NZ looking in, especially at American political history, I think a little perspective is needed. There always has been a small segment of the American political scene that was and is, authoritarian and dictatorial in nature, and would like to see democracy overturned. From the loyalist tories during the revolution, to the anti-federalists, to the KKK and the American Bund, to the McCarthyists, they've all been defeated at the ballot box.

Must outnumber them.

He is a good interviewer…👍🏻

The legitimizing of trump by the GOP started long before 2020/2021. Thru had MANY opportunities to speak out for years leading up to that and they weee complicit with their silence. Love HCR btw

It appears to me that trump appeals to many different fears. Fears that their jobs are being taken by "foreigners", that they are being "replaced" by people of different religions, races, beliefs, etc. In their minds - trump will somehow make things better - even though all he is really doing is catering to their fears.

She is so amazing. Have followed her for years.