Quote · The Megyn Kelly Show
NPR's Embarrassing Excuse, Another Socialist Victory, and Smug Serena Williams, with Matt Taibbi and Rob Finnerty | Ep. 1351
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Matt Taibbi on DSA Ideology, Israel Litmus Test, and Class Divide
At 10:28 · chapter starts 9:03
Taibbi opens by agreeing with Kelly that Israel is now the single most powerful litmus test in Democratic primaries — and that supporting Israel is effectively disqualifying in the party's base. He traces the DSA's success to that issue, noting that after the New York victories, crowds chanted 'You are next' at Hakeem Jeffries on television. [1] — Matt Taibbi "Taibbi draws a sharp line between Bernie Sanders's FDR-style populism and the new DSA wave. Having actually studied scientific communism at…" 09:25 Kelly then draws Taibbi into a deeper discussion of who actually votes for these candidates, observing that in New York it was wealthy white voters who backed the radicals while Black and Hispanic voters largely did not. Taibbi validates this with his own research: while writing a book on Eric Garner's death, he spent roughly two years in the Staten Island neighborhood where Garner was killed, finding the community roughly 60-40 in favor of police presence because of the concrete benefits — fewer fights, fewer robberies. [2] — Matt Taibbi "Poor neighborhoods are roughly split 60-40 in favor of having police — because they live with the consequences of crime. It's elite, wealth…" 12:50 He then delivers his sharpest distinction: the new DSA candidates are a fundamentally different breed from Bernie Sanders, whom Taibbi knew well as a reporter and covered during his presidential runs. Having studied scientific communism at a Soviet university, Taibbi recognizes the real ideological type — and says this new crop, who talk freely of seizing the means of production, represents it far more closely than FDR-style populism.
Taibbi draws a sharp line between Bernie Sanders's FDR-style populism and the new DSA wave. Having actually studied scientific communism at a Soviet university, he recognizes the ideological type — and says these candidates are a different and far more radical breed.
Taibbi's Soviet university experience informs his view that the new DSA wave is ideologically distinct and more radical than Bernie Sanders's FDR-style democratic socialism.
Poor neighborhoods are roughly split 60-40 in favor of having police — because they live with the consequences of crime. It's elite, wealthy white people insulated from those realities who vote for police and prison abolition. Taibbi has the receipts from two years of street-level research.
CNN's chief legal analyst Laura Coates described the Supreme Court's trans-sports ruling as involving someone 'assigned the male gender at birth.' Craig Melvin delivered a trigger warning before reading language from the opinion. Taibbi traces this to activists learning they could police media language — starting with 'undocumented' replacing 'illegal.'
