Tuesday on the RealClearPolitics podcast, Tom Bevan, Carl Cannon, and Andrew Walworth discussed why many news organizations, including RealClearPolitics, are not agreeing to the new rules for reporters covering the Pentagon proposed by War Secretary Pete Hegseth. After that, they discuss the many layers of nuance expressed by former President Obama in an interview this week, how different factions of the Democratic Party are responding to President Trump’s role in the Gaza peace plan, and the new strategy driving protests against the administration. You can listen to the show weeknights at 6:00 p.m. on SiriusXM’s POTUS Channel 124 and then on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and here on our website. *** The show opened with why RealClearPolitics is not agreeing to the new rules for press organizations covering the Pentagon. War Secretary Pete Hegseth wants reporters to publish only information from official press releases and statements. “RealClearPolitics has decided not to sign the agreement,” RCP Washington editor Carl Cannon explained. “They don’t want reporters going around the halls of the Pentagon. They say it is for national security. They clearly don’t want you calling sources on your own time. They want only official press releases-this is every flack’s dream. But no reporter’s ever agreed to do it like that, and we’re not going to agree to it.” “They don’t even hold briefings over there anymore. Where do they expect the information to come from? How do you expect journalists to cover an agency that is essential to not just American national security, but global security?” Cannon said. “I think they’re going to have to make some concessions overall, because it’s not a tenable situation to have no press covering the Pentagon or only one news organization. I’ll be shocked if they don’t make some sort of concessions or revisions,” RCP president Tom Bevan said. “Unless they’re going to kick everyone out of the Pentagon.” “Isn’t it odd to you that this is Pete Hegseth-a guy coming from a news organization-now trying to restrict what can be reported? It seems strange that he’d be the messenger for this,” Andrew Walworth commented. *** After that, starting at minute 12:30, they look at President Obama’s recent podcast interview, where he decried Trump deploying the National Guard to cities across America and prosecuting political rivals as a “threat to democracy” and discussed his marriage and the future of the Democratic Party. “Obviously, he can’t stand Trump… There’s a sense Obama feels like Trump has undone his legacy. Obama was going to be transformational-heal the planet and lower sea levels-he got a Nobel Peace Prize for just showing up. There’s this sense-maybe jealousy-that Trump has turned out to be more consequential than he was, or that Trump undid his legacy,” Bevan said. “I don’t hold it against Obama that he lashes out at Trump. Trump does the same to him,” Cannon said. “Obama doesn’t like Trump because they’re similar in ways. Obama was a prodigious, electrifying speaker and obvious talent, but he wasn’t ready to be president by traditional standards. Then along comes Trump, with even less government experience. By traditional standards, neither had the chops, yet they won four terms between them-five if you believe Trump. They’re a new kind of politician from opposite ends of the spectrum; ‘frenemies’ is about the best they could have hoped for.” *** And then, around minute 25, the Clintons, Chuck Schumer, and even President Biden have given President Trump credit for getting a deal between Israel and Hamas over the finish line, but the younger, democratic-socialist group seems unusually silent. How will this split shape the future of the Democratic Party? “As of our taping, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and AOC haven’t said anything at all about this peace deal, which is curious,” Bevan said. “There’s also been a push; it’s almost as if the memo went out, saying this was Biden’s peace deal.” “You’ve got gradations: some on the left are mad there’s a deal at all; others can’t give Trump any credit for anything; others say Biden and Trump deserve equal credit. I don’t blame Biden for saying that,” Cannon explained. “But the Democrat who knows the most about dealing with Palestinians is Bill Clinton. He put out an extraordinarily gracious statement… Clinton knows how hard it is to deal with that part of the world, and he gave credit to Jared Kushner, the Abraham Accords, and to Trump. That’s how you do it. And Hillary followed suit.” *** Finally, at minute 35, protesters are using everything from Halloween costumes to naked bike rides to bring attention to their opposition to President Trump’s mass deportation program, in what The Nation describes as “countering Trump’s nasty clowning with giddy clowning.” They’re going nationwide on Saturday with another “No Kings” protest. Is that strategy likely to get to Trump? “To the point of using humor or sarcasm to counter ICE-it’s all over social media. I think they’re trying to say Portland is not a hellhole; it’s a place where we dance and have fun, and you’re spoiling the party,” Andrew Walworth said. “And that’s a message well-received,” Cannon said. “The problem is you have these dueling videos of black-clad Antifa thugs threatening people, throwing Molotov cocktails into police cars, and trying to burn down government buildings.” “And instead of saying Antifa is a fringe group that doesn’t represent the majority, Democrats just lie. They say it doesn’t exist. And that’s absurd,” Bevan said. *** Don’t miss a single episode of the RealClearPolitics weeknight radio show – subscribe at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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