Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. –  host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Clint Brewer to the studio.
During the third hour, Brewer explained how he thought President Trump may have to consider what his plans will be if he does not end up winning on December 13 once electors have met. He indicated that there still was the possibility of a Republican Senate and gains in the House with a Joe Biden victory which would help keep the newly elected administration in check.
Leahy: We are joined in the studio today by our good friend, reformed and recovering journalist Clint Brewer. Clint, you had an intriguing statement about Donald Trump’s future. I want to just frame this for you. Let us say we’ve reached December 13 and the electors have met legally and Joe Biden has received 270 more Electoral College votes. He would then be called the president-elect. Caveat. I’m not giving up the fight. But that’s the framing of this.
Brewer: Yeah, I think the president and you know, not so much to a lesser extent but also his family need to consider how this period of time is going to impact the Trump brand. A couple of things. You know, the president has been fond of saying, you know, it’s kind of like what he said about the late Senator McCain. I like people who don’t get captured. Well, most people like folks who win elections.
And so if he is, in fact, the loser and it appears by all early indicators that he is very much the loser in this race, he needs to consider what role he wants to play in public life moving forward. I thought Senator Graham had a very insightful statement, which is you know, he needs to keep the movement alive. You know President Trump for all his faults and there are many, (Leahy chuckles) he created a genuine movement of people on the conservative side of the political aisle. Not necessarily Republicans. And not necessarily people that would ever be engaged before.
Leahy: Kind of populist.
Brewer: A very populist broad, you know set of folks. And that doesn’t happen very often in American politics. So you have to credit the president with his ability to create something new. Now, some would say it wasn’t particularly an attractive brand of populism.
Leahy: It was a fun brand.
Brewer: It was effective while it lasted. And you know, he needs to think about you know, beyond screeds on Twitter how he wants to play in the national scene moving forward. I mean, it’s going to be hard for any Republican to get the nomination in 2024 without some kind of nod of approval from the president.
Leahy: Well speaking of nods. How old’s the president he said was 73?
Brewer: Yeah.
Leahy: How old is Joe Biden? 77?
Brewer: 78.
Leahy: Yeah, you know in four years Donald Trump will be younger than Joe Biden is right now.
Brewer: Yeah, exactly. And I mean there’s the possibility for that. I mean, I think he needs to conduct himself in a way we’re all possibilities remain open.
Leahy: I got two words for him. If it turns out that he on December 13 the electoral college has as determined that Joe Biden is the president-elect if it turns out and as I said, it’s I think it’s a 25 percent shot that Trump can upset that. Here my two words for Donald Trump. Are you ready? Grover Cleveland.
Brewer: (Laughter) Yeah.
Leahy: I mean the reason I say that Grover Cleveland was elected president in it and 1884 and served four years. A term. Lost to Benjamin Harrison you maybe recall that election?
Brewer: Mike was in high school back everyone.
Leahy: But then after that loss in 1892, he was re-elected president and served a second term. And non-continuous. And by the way, Grover Cleveland is one of my favorite Democratic presidents.
Brewer: Well, let’s look at what’s happening in Georgia. The presidential race for the Republican nomination in 2024 has officially started.
Leahy: It started. Who’s going to be down there?
Brewer: Well, I’ve just have been reading news reports. Senator Cotton is going to be there. Senator Rubio’s going to be there. Nikki Haley, the former ambassador. Haley’s going to be there. Senator Cruz is going to be there.
Leahy: I’ve interviewed all those guys.
Brewer: So I mean they’re already stepping out.
Leahy: And they’re all impressive in their own ways.
Brewer: Yes.
Leahy: Tom Cotton is a very solid guy. He was sitting in your seat here.
Brewer: Nikki Haley is very impressive.
Leahy: Very impressive. Very impressive in terms of how she presents herself and how she nails interviews.
Brewer: What we are doing right now and that’s what everyone else is doing. I mean people are already mentally moving on from the Donald Trump era. And whether they want to admit it or not, and I know our listeners and you know the diehards on Twitter who are fight, fight, fight. And you know, I mean if you’ve got this much investment in a presidential election, you should exhaust all legal remedies. But at the same time, your public positioning and posturing need to be, I’ll say this. And this will be incredibly inflammatory for your listeners.
Leahy: Our listeners love to hear your inflammatory statements.
Brewer: I never cast a vote for Al Gore. Not once. But I will say this. At the end of his political career, Al Gore with a single act proved himself to be a great American. Because when it was obvious that he had lost…
Leahy: Heads are exploding in our listening audience right now.
Brewer: He stepped out and conceded and made sure that the country knew who the new president was and that was a very brave act and for a person who has literally spent their whole life on a track to run for the president of the United States. To do that whether you liked him or whether you loved him or whether you hated his policies, and I wasn’t particularly fond of his policies, that was a very selfless act. And at some point, the cult of personality has to go away and the country has to come first. And you know what? We’ve got a lot to live for here with the Senate and with the gains in the House. There’s plenty to do.
Leahy: It’s not really the cult of personality because the terrible things that are about to happen in the event Joe Biden becomes president it is going to threaten the very existence of our constitutional republic.
Brewer: And we need a majority in the Senate to keep it in check.
Leahy: That’s a very good point.
Brewer: Because without it there’s no bargaining power about cabinet appointments and judicial appointments. There’s no firewall.
Leahy: So this is actually the product the best focus I think of what’s next from hard-nosed politics right now for the country. If you look at it again saying, it’s more likely than not that will have a President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris. Oh my goodness. And they’re going to want to destroy the country as we know it. They’re going to want to do court-packing.
Brewer: If the Senate is Republican, they’re not going to be able to do any of that.
Leahy: Well, let me just hold on here. I saw a little glimmer of hope asterisk. The reason that we’re taught by these two races in Georgia are so important it looks like right now that Thom Tillis will hold North Carolina. It looks like. Asterisk. Votes might show up in the middle of the night still in North Carolina.
But let’s assume that. So right now we’ve got 50 Republican Senators and 48 Democrats. If these two run-off elections go to the Democrats it’ll be 50/50 and any major vote Kamala Harris Vice President under the Constitution is the tiebreaker. So they could jam through court-packing and end the filibuster with this exception if you believe him, Joe Manchin. Democrat, West Virginia yesterday said I will never vote to end the filibuster. I will never vote for court-packing. Asterisk Democrat, West Virginia.
Brewer: Right right. Well and that’s the thing that you know, you do have to remember the Senate is an institution with a lot of long-standing traditions in a fair amount of courtesy between members that don’t exist in the House.
Leahy: The House is a food fight.
Brewer: And you’re gonna have a hard time getting even some of these Senators to agree to these things. And that’s what I’m saying at some point. The zero-sum game of national politics has to end and governing in the country has to come first.
Leahy: Most likely though it’s going to come down to be certain that there’s no court-packing and other awful Democrats socialist stuff. We’ve got to win at least one of those two run-off elections.
Brewer: Well, let me tell you the midterms are right around the corner. You’ve always got I think that way. The midterms right around the corner. (Leahy laughs) The things that matter now are Georgia and the midterms.
Leahy: Everybody’s exhausted with politics and here’s coming again.
Brewer: That’s right.
Listen to the full third hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.Â
