Permission to Vote? Lanhee Chen Talks to Armstrong & Getty

For an exceptional bathroom clean, there's Viva Paper Towels. Visit Viva Towels dot com to learn more the Armstrong and Getty show. In that email, there's no question that Age stands for a Hunter, big Guy for his father Joe Biden, and Jim for Jim Biden. In fact, Hunter often referred to his father as the big guy or my chairman.

So that's Tony Bobo Lensky. He came forward yesterday and put his name in face on this scandal, this fakes handle, according to most of the mainstream media about Joe Biden, absolutely knew about the business dealings that Hunter had trading on the Biden name. And this Tony Bubblinski has got the cell phones and emails and the text to prove it. He says, and he's turned him over to the Senate and the FBI. He's a former Navy officer. I think it's high time the Washington Post, the New York Times,

sixty minutes and everybody gets into this story. Well, let's discuss the story, it's significance, the debate, and much more with lan Hea Chen David and Diane Stephy, fellow in American Public Policy Studies at the Hoover Institution, also the host of the most excellent podcast, Crossing Lines with ln he Chen Loti. How are you, sir? I'm glad we

had a real debate last night that was absolutely refreshing. Yeah, we've been saying all morning long, what what would be different if if Trump had been that Trump first debate? We might we might be in a different situation right now, and then gone ahead and done it again in the second debate and followed up with last night. What do you think? I think you're right, we very well could

be in a different place. I think that first debate, you know, as much as we talked about this race and the dynamics of the race having been set, I think the first debate for Trump reinforced the things people didn't like about him, and if if he had come out, you know, last night I thought was a very controlled performance. I thought he was able to back bide it into a corner, particularly guys on this energy stuff. This is gonna be huge in Pennsylvania, Ohio, all the energy extraction states.

You go out there and basically say you're sympathetic to the Green New Deal, that you want to get rid of oil. You know, the whole Trump riff about windows. Yeah, it was funny, but you know that's the kind of crazy stuff that's in the Green New Deal, like it's actually in there. So I thought, I thought Trump did a good job of that last night. And you're right, if that Trump had showed up three weeks ago, you know, maybe the dynamics of the race would be a little different.

Who knows. But but last night I think for Trump, you got to consider it a good performance form And as we were discussing off the air just moments ago, I thought, last night Trump reminded a lot of people why they fell in love with them, saying, listen all the talk the guy who's in office forever, he's a typical politician that that message still resonates, and it was completely hidden in the first debate, but I don't know.

We are where we are and it is what it is. Yeah, that for me, by the way, is the most effective line, the most effective line of attack against Joe Biden. And it goes to all of the suspicions people have about politicians. It goes to all the suspicions people have about the

usual political talk. You know, when when Biden started talking about growing up kitchen table middle class and Trump came back and said, that's just politician talked, I think a lot of people sort of nodding their heads and saying, yeah, you know, actually, as politician talk, why don't you tell us what it is you really want to do? And and that line of attack. You've had forty seven years to get stuff done. I've been in office for forty seven months, and compare my record to yours. I think

that is exactly the sort of thing he needed to do. Uh, you know. And of course the challenge here is did he give enough people who maybe turned off by the Trump, maybe turned off by by Trump's personality by the way he does things. Did he give the those people permission

to vote for him last night? I think that will be a big open question so we played the clip coming in of this guy who has come out and put his face in his name and his life's reputation on a story about Hunter Biden and emails and tying Joe Biden to business dealings and the you know, the big foot media um has been more than willing over the last several years to run front page stories, lead stories with either anonymous sources or you know, or whatever.

They're perfectly happy to do that. Now you've got a guy out there. Does this turn into something? Do you think? I don't. I don't think it turns into something. I think it doesn't turn into something, in part because of what you suggested that there's really very little interest amongst those who would usually amplify a story like this. In fact, more than that, actually, you know, we've seen active efforts

to suppress it. If you turn on uh, you know, any of the will not any CNN and MSNBC and and the major you know over the network stations, you turn them on, they're not int did in talking about this story. It doesn't exist, right, It's it's almost like it never happened. And and by the way, to me, I don't know. I question elements of this story. I don't know what's real and would help if Rudy Giuliani wasn't involved. Rudy Hunting being involved does not help any

story you're ever in. But well, i'll tell you. I feel like if we end up with a president whose family profits from them being in office, a whole home. We've had plenty of politicians where that happens. But if we've crossed some sort of line with journalism where uh, you know, a person coming out and actually putting their name and face on it. Hey, here are my cell phones, here are my emails, and we don't at least look

into it. I don't know if it's going to turn out to be true or not, but I feel like we've crossed some sort of line. It disturbs me well, for instance, and then we'll let you comment. Lonnie. The headline the headline in a news story in the Washington Post is Trump campaign trots out former business associate of Hunter Biden ahead of debate. Good lord, I remember when the Washington Post engaged in journalism. Well, and I think that's part of that that We've talked about this before.

But you know, people have expected the media in the past to play the role of watchdog right to help to help us uncover stories, and they've done a good job of it in the past. The problem we're seeing now I do think that missing this is absolutely true that you know, everybody in the media, all of these reporters, they all have their own biases. It's natural the human beings.

The question is how much does that bias seep into what they're trying to do day to day and and for them to still call it objective journalism in many cases I think is a big problem, and we just have to recognize that there is this bias, there is this point of view, and that's what we're getting and that's what's being reflected. But look, I think there are a lot of great journalists out there. I think there

are a lot of people doing their jobs. But if you look at the industry as a whole, uh, you know, I'd say probably of them voting for Biden, not five percent of their boding right, And so I think that that makes its way into what is supposedly objective, and that disconnect between what it's supposed to be and what it actually is. That's where people lose trust, and that people have lost trust. I have a rent to go off on, but I won't do it until you've headed

back to your real life. Lone. He but what we've lost is not a minor point. It's incredibly important principle of journalism. But having said that, I want to circle back to the debate for a second. What how do you assess A Biden's performance? Um, I thought he was. Actually the first hour I thought was very good for him. Overall. I thought that he came across. Actually it's pretty cogent, more cogent than I than I thought. He saw he looked in the first debate. The last half hour was

it was a hot mess. I think, you know, when he started to talk about energy and the oil, get rid of oil, the Green New Deal stuff. Uh, some of the conversation around North Korea was a little incoherent too. So I thought the first hour pretty good. Hold in his own last half hour hot mess. Yeah, I wonder how many people stuck around for the last half hour. Exactly If you go in fifteen minute increments, you know, the effect of the first of fifteen minutes is ten

times the effect of the last fifteen minutes. I think, just because of yourship has just because I know you you've been involved in campaigns and you've you know, studied this sort of thing, you being lan he Chen most of the Crossing Lines with Lana Chen podcast. Has there ever been a presidential candidate of one of the two major parties two weeks out from an election that just

stayed in the basement all week long? Has that ever happened? Well, I mean, you know that there was so called Rose Guarden strategy that's been run a few times by incub in presidents. But usually this is like the stretch run, right. I mean, you've got to be out there. You've got to be making your point to the to the voters in a pretty aggressive way. And I think there's an expectation of that. The fact that Joe Biden doesn't have

a more active schedule, that he's not out there more. Uh, you know, their campaign obviously thinks that is the best way for him to be successful, right. They obviously think that if he gets out there, if he's out there speaking and and and letting people see him, that that's going to produce a moment that's going to be a problem. And the only reason you keep a guy, that's the only reason you keep a guy locked up like that, right.

It reminds me of a guy hit into three oh one who takes himself out of the last game of the year in baseball. It's chicken Bleepum. What's the rostar strategy? I'm intrigued. Well, I mean, it's it's it's just this concept that basically, you know, you you do everything you can basically running from the This was more applicable to

income and president. The idea of being that you use the majesty and the pageantry of the White House and you basically just stay there and you do events and think at the White House, but you don't actually get that out there in campaign. The goal of the strategy, of course, is to remain in people that you are

the president, to remind people of things you've done. So it's a little bit different than in this situation, right, because in this situation it's a guy who's trying to become the president, who's the challenger, and it's it's just different if you've got him in his basement versus if it were Trump, let's say at the White House, and then you could say, okay, he's got a road guards, right right, Okay, I know, no Harvard Law School graduate who bleeds more Dodger Blue than you do. How are

you feeling? Uh? You know? I mean, look, the ghosts of night always still still still are there, and the fact that this team has has been in good situations before, so I don't like them going out and losing Game two, breaking ball coming. It's actually one one signal on the trash candle. It not too you see he is hardcore. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah. No. So look I'm hopeful. I think they've got the more talented team, so I have more expensive team the championship. Yeah, they've got a bigger payroll,

that's for sure. See. My problem is I'm always getting the Houston Astros mixed up with Paul Revere, one if by Land, etcetera. Lanh Chen, who is the David Diane Staffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies Whoever institution, hosted the podcast Crossing Lines with lanha Chen. Lanie, we could talk to you all day about this stuff and have better things to do than indulge a couple of half wits, so we'll let you go. Thanks a million, It's fine. We'll talk to you against it all right. Thanks man

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