Friday on the RealClearPolitics podcast, Carl Cannon, Tom Bevan, and Andrew Walworth break down the legacy of the 9/11 attacks, considering recent comments from President Bush and the fact that 25% of Americans have been born since 2001. They also compare Vice President Vance’s feud with Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to George W. Bush’s post-9/11 emphasis on Islam as a “religion of peace.” Carolina Lumetta joins the program to discuss more about the GOP’s convention this week in Dallas, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s argument that the Democratic Party has abandoned its principles, and whether Republicans are uniting behind Vice President Vance for 2028. Plus, our regular “You Cannot Be Serious” segment, highlighting some of the most outrageous headlines of the week. Listen live weekdays at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly Channel 111, or on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or other platforms.

00:00 – Opening: Bush Speaks on 9/11 Walworth, Cannon, and Bevan reflect on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, how the attacks transformed George W. Bush’s presidency and U.S. foreign policy. They touch on how Bush moved from advocating a humble foreign policy to an expansive interventionist doctrine, while the backlash to that interventionism helped create an opening for Donald Trump in 2016. Watch: George W. Bush: “Who Cares What Happens Overseas?” Is An Isolationist Attitude That Ignores “The Lesson Of 9/11” Watch: 9/11 Widow Blames Saudi Kingdom, Decries U.S. Government Coverup “Twenty-five percent of current Americans weren’t even born then, and we’ve been taking in a million immigrants per year — so something like a third of the country didn’t live through it the way the rest of us did,” Cannon points out. “There was no great outpouring of crimes against Muslims. This country reacted admirably. And so now we find out that our teachers have been teaching kids the opposite.” *** 13:04 – Republican Target Islamism The panel turns to Republican convention rhetoric about Islam, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s pledge to ban Sharia law in Texas, and Vice President Vance’s recent culture-war dust-up with Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Cannon contrasts George W. Bush’s post-9/11 emphasis on Islam as a religion of peace with what he sees as a different contemporary understanding of the period. Watch: Vance: “We Are Tired Of Being Called Racist For Noticing Our Country Is Becoming Dirtier And Poorer” *** 24:02 – RFK Jr. Says Dems Unrecognizable Carolina Lumetta and the hosts discuss Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s RNC convention speech, where he framed becoming a Republican around claims the Democratic Party has abandoned its principles. Watch: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: After Meeting Trump, I Realized “Everything I Believed About Him From The Media Was A Lie” “I was really struck that he didn’t really focus that much on MAHA,” Lumetta said. “He spent a lot of time actually recapping 2024 and reminding people how hard it was for his candidacy, how the party tried to sue to keep him off the ballot.” *** 34:40 – Is Vance the Heir? The group considers whether the GOP convention strengthened JD Vance’s position as Trump’s potential successor. Lumetta describes strong pro-Vance enthusiasm in the hall but stresses that the crowd remained even more clearly loyal to Trump, while Bevan says Vance has the “pole position if he chooses to do it.” *** 36:43 – You Can Not Be Serious?! The episode ends with their weekly You Cannot Be Serious segment, highlighting some of the most outrageous headlines of the week. They criticize claims about alleged modern-day lynchings, the Lindsay Clancy case, a George Mason University message offering support after students witnessed emergency responders, and Hunter Biden’s meme coin crashing.

Listen to RealClearPolitics weekdays at 11 a.m. Eastern on SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly Channel 111, or on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or other platforms. Subscribe for more RealClearPolitics analysis, interviews, and political commentary.
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