What the Hell Is Going On AEI Podcasts

President Biden's sudden withdrawal from the 2024 election may have come as a surprise, but his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party's coalescing around the VP to be at the top of their ticket is not. The party of identity politics is now taking a huge gamble with an untested and unpopular likely nominee for president. Not only has Harris been less popular than Biden throughout his presidency, but she's entering the general election with a dismal electoral track record and will be forced to defend the current administration's unpopular policies. How will candidate Harris perform against Trump on the national stage? And how might a President Harris continue or change Biden's policy agenda?
Ruy Teixeira is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on the transformation of party coalitions and the future of American electoral politics. Before joining AEI, he was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Teixeira is co-author of the books The Emerging Democratic Majority (Scribner, 2002) and Where Have All the Democrats Gone? The Soul of the Party in the Age of Extremes (Henry Holt & Company, 2023).
Read the transcript here.

Following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life in Pennsylvania, the former president is moving full steam ahead with his campaign as the Republican National Convention kicks off in Milwaukee. Trump started the convention Monday off with a bang, announcing his VP choice, Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) – a controversial decision that promises handwringing around the globe. Meanwhile, the Biden campaign continues to flounder, struggling to reset post-debate disaster, with Democrats still speaking privately about a forced exit strategy for the ailing incumbent. How might Vance help or hurt Trump’s chances in November? And how are both parties shifting their tones following the tragic events of the weekend?
Brit Hume currently serves as a chief political analyst for FOX News Channel (FNC). He acts as a regular panelist on FOX's weekly public affairs program, FOX News Sunday, and contributes to all major political coverage. Before joining FOX News, Hume was with ABC News for 23 years and served as ABC’s chief White House correspondent.
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In today’s WTH Extra! episode, Dany and Marc discuss Marc’s latest Washington Post column, How Trump Can Make NATO Great Again. While in office, President Trump pushed allies to meet their NATO commitments, leaving the alliance militarily stronger than it had been since the Cold War. But with a myriad of new threats facing the West, NATO is in an urgent need of a MAGA makeover that builds on the accomplishments of Trump’s first term.
Read Marc’s column in the Washington Post here.
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On June 4, Wall Street Journal reporters Annie Linskey and Siobhan Hughes broke the groundbreaking story Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Slipping. In response, Democrats and the media alike called it a “hit piece” against Biden designed to get Trump re-elected. But when Biden appeared on stage against Trump in their first presidential debate, America saw a frail and elderly president who before had only existed behind closed doors. Will Biden be the Democratic nominee for president? And how did the media help cover up Biden’s now obvious cognitive decline?
Annie Linskey is a White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Before joining the Journal, she worked for the Washington Post as a White House reporter and was the lead reporter on Democrats for the Boston Globe's Washington bureau during the 2016 campaign. She also reported on the Obama White House for Bloomberg News and BusinessWeek.
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In a spate of end-of-term decisions, the Supreme Court released its decision on the question of presidential immunity, ruling that the president has broad protections from criminal prosecution for “official acts,” a presumption of immunity for likely official acts, and zero immunity for private acts. Does this now mean that the U.S. now has a “king” as head of state, someone above the law, as many have implied? Can the president really release Seal Team 6 to kill political rivals without consequence? The answer is simple: No. Rather, the Court continued the job of rebalancing our Republic in favor of three branches, with Congress as the clear venue for trying any president for high crimes and misdemeanors. What does the ruling mean for Trump’s pending trials? And how is criticism of the Court eroding it as an American institution?
Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and the author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency. Previously, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
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In today’s WTH Extra! episode, Dany and Marc discuss Dany’s recent substack, Joe Won’t Go. Will President Biden take the advice of panicked liberal pundits, politicians, and advisors and drop off the top of the Democratic ticket? Long story short: No. And notwithstanding the flurry of unwanted advice the White House is receiving, it really is up to the President. You see, Joe likes being President, and so do the rest of the Bidens.
Read Dany’s substack here.