Could Taylor Swift swing the election?
Freddy Gray sits down with host and producer of the 538 Politics podcast Galen Druke to discuss whether a Taylor Swift endorsement could sway the general election.
Freddy Gray
Freddy Gray is deputy editor of The Spectator
Wednesday
Tuesday
Is Taylor Swift ‘profoundly powerful’ when it comes to politics?
It’s not yet February, and already we have a clear idea of what Joe Biden’s re-election will be all about: Donald Trump, abortion and, er, Taylor Swift. The New York Times reported yesterday that Team Biden-Harris 2024 has made recruiting Taylor Swift as one of its endorsers a top priority. This, inevitably, has triggered a
Monday
Trump is right – the world is less stable under Biden
Donald Trump said yesterday that we’re ‘on the brink of world war three’ after a suicide drone killed three US soldiers and injured a further 34 in Jordan. ‘This attack would never have happened if I was president, not even a chance – just like the Iranian-backed Hamas attack on Israel would never have happened,
Saturday
Will Jon Stewart still be funny?
35 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to Jonathan Askonas, assistant professor of politics at the Catholic University of America about Jon Stewart’s return to TV, and what role, albeit inadvertent, he played in Tucker Carlson’s success.
Would Trump and Starmer get on?
12 min listen
Donald Trump seems to have the Republican primaries wrapped up. He’ll almost certainly be up against Joe Biden on 5 November in the general election. If Trump wins, and in Britain’s own elections in the second half of 2024, Starmer wins, the two will make an odd pair. Will they get on? Max Jeffery speaks
Thursday
Could Dean Phillips be President?
New Hampshire Joe Biden likes to say that ‘democracy is on the ballot’ in 2024. Yet Joe Biden was not on the ballot on Tuesday in New Hampshire. In his absence, a 55-year-old former congressman called Dean Phillips, who started his campaign just ten weeks ago, won 20 per cent of the vote. Biden still
Wednesday
Donald Trump swallows New Hampshire
Donald Trump has, like a boa constrictor, squeezed the life out of the Republican primary cycle. Last night, he swallowed New Hampshire and possibly Nikki Haley too. Haley did better than many of the late polls suggested. But that’s not saying much. She won 44 per cent of the vote, finishing 12 points behind Trump. She now has the
Tuesday
What went wrong with Ron?
40 min listen
Freddy Gray is joined in New Hampshire by Ben Domenech, editor at large of Spectator World. On the podcast they discuss the pro-Trump establishment of the Republican party; how the Republican cohort have changed since the Obama election and what issues Trump can identify that appeal to voters.
Monday
Will Nikki Haley pull out on Wednesday?
New Hampshire votes tomorrow and today Nikki Haley has just two planned events. She has a morning meet-and-greet in the city of Franklin and a ‘get out the vote rally’ in Salem this evening. Nobody could accuse Haley of not working hard. She’s famously an industrious woman. But given the make-or-break nature of tomorrow’s vote,
Sunday
DeSantis backs down
The Florida governor has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race
Ron DeSantis’s cursed campaign
Ron DeSantis’ political action committee is called ‘Never Back Down.’ Well, he just did. A week ago, he said of Trump: ‘You can be the most worthless Republican in America, but if you kiss the ring he’ll say you’re wonderful.’ Well, he just endorsed Trump for the presidency in 2024. This morning, DeSantis campaign staff
Saturday
Is New Hampshire a Potemkin primary?
18 min listen
For this special Americano podcast, Freddy Gray is in New Hampshire with the Spectator US team, Matt McDonald and Zach Christenson covering the chilly primaries. Are both Ron De Santis and Nikki Haley’s defeat a foregone conclusion?
Friday
Nikki Haley says being Trump’s vice president is ‘off the table’
The theory that Donald Trump will pick Nikki Haley as his vice president refuses to die – in spite of the growing evidence that he won’t. Haley, for one, is adamant that it will not happen. Today, at a meet-and-greet with voters in Mary Ann’s diner in Amherst, New Hampshire, a voter floated the idea.
Thursday
How the Democrats went from hope to fear
‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself,’ said Franklin D. Roosevelt, famously. The Democrats of 2024 have a rather different message for the world: Be Very Afraid! ‘I’m scared as heck,’ said vice president, Kamala Harris, yesterday, as she discussed the ‘crazies’ who might put Donald Trump back in the Oval Office. Not for
Tuesday
Is the Republican race over?
32 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to Republican strategist Luke Thompson about Trump’s landslide Iowa win; how much Trump’s legal proceedings will interfere with his campaign and who could be his deputy. The Spectator is hiring! We are looking for a new producer to join our broadcast team working across our suite of podcasts – including this one
Everything is falling into place for Donald Trump
Vivek Ramaswamy, the impressive podcast guest who has spent the last few months pretending to be a serious Republican presidential candidate, has just suspended his campaign after winning eight per cent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses. ‘This entire campaign is about speaking the TRUTH,’ he said. ‘We did not achieve our goal tonight.’
Monday
Trump looks unstoppable in Iowa
The bitterly cold conditions in Iowa today have at least given journalists something to talk about. There’s a distinct lack of political drama, given everyone expects today’s Republican caucuses to be a blowout win for Donald Trump. The main questions of interest are: will Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis finish second? And will Trump break
Thursday
Why Trump can’t be stopped
36 min listen
This week: can anyone stop Trump? The Spectator’s deputy editor Freddy Gray takes a look at Trump’s ‘second coming’ in his cover story. He says that despite Trump’s legal troubles, he is almost certain to receive the Republican nomination. Freddy joins the podcast alongside Amber Duke, who also writes in the magazine this week about the
Is 2024 the ‘regime referendum’?
36 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to Daniel McCarthy, editor of the conservative review Modern Age, about all things Donald Trump. Do his ongoing trials help or hinder his campaign? Do the Democrats want him to be the Republican candidate or not? And is there a bureaucratic ‘permanent power’ that Trump would overthrow if he succeeds? The Spectator
Why Trump can’t be stopped
Donald Trump has dominated Republican politics for so long that it can be hard to remember the time when he did not. It’s easy to forget that at the beginning of 2016 he started the Republican primary process by losing the Iowa caucuses to Ted Cruz, his more conservative rival. ‘He stole it,’ Trump tweeted