Show notes
President Donald Trump spent his first term undermining the credibility of the media. His tweets, campaign events, and press conferences were tools he used to cast doubt on the legitimacy of reputable news organizations while promoting unfounded lies and conspiracy theories that served his personal agenda. As President Trump prepares to leave office, members of the White House press pool have turned their gaze to President-elect Joe Biden.
Due to the virtual nature of campaigning in 2020, Biden was able to avoid much of the traditional back and forth with members of the media. There are some who argue that members of the press didn’t push hard enough to get Biden in front of reporters. But because Biden has spent a considerable amount of time in Washington, he has a track record that he can be measured against.
A core part of Biden’s campaign promise was a return to normalcy that would include a more traditional communications team and relationship with the press. Rick Klein, political director at ABC News, Caitlin Conant, political director at CBS News, and Ben Smith, media columnist at The New York Times discuss what the Biden administration’s relationship with the press could look like.
Congressman-elect Ritchie Torres (D-NY) is a freshman member of the 117th Congress representing New York's 15th Congressional District. With the balance of the senate up for grabs come January, Congressman-elect Torres describes his expectations for his first months on the job. You can hear extended conversations with the newest members of Congress here.
In January, Georgia will hold two runoff elections that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. To secure the majority, Democrats will need to win both seats. Gradual demographic change, particularly in metro areas like Savannah and Atlanta, have pushed this former Republican stronghold into the swing-state territory. At the same time, grassroots organizations, many of them led by Black women, have spent years organizing and registering voters - especially Black voters. Among those organizers is Deborah Scott, executive director of Georgia Stand-Up. Her organization is working overtime to register voters ahead of the December 7th registration deadline in addition to making sure voters that participated in the presidential race vote in the runoff.
In assessing how this once Republican stronghold has become a swing state, most of the attention has been on the influence of the state’s Black voters and white suburban voters. This makes sense given their share of the population. However, the fastest-growing group of voters in the state are Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. While they make up a significantly smaller share of the vote, their political influence can be seen at the congressional and statewide levels. An early analysis of the November elections by a Democratic firm found that voter participation by Asian American and Pacific Islanders in Georgia was up by 91 percent from 2016.
Amy B Wang, a national politics reporter for The Washington Post, described the role Asian American and Pacific Islander voters played in 2020 and the role they might play during January’s special election.
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