Freddy Gray

Freddy Gray

Freddy Gray is deputy editor of The Spectator

Trumpism hasn’t been defeated

It’s all over, bar the litigation. Without some mind-blowing legal reversal in the coming days, Joe Biden will be the 46th president of the United States of America. Donald Trump must be extracted from the White House in the coming weeks, though if he is unwilling to leave nobody is quite sure how he’ll be

What do the final polls say?

20 min listen

With Americans heading to the polls on Tuesday, the final polls continue to give Joe Biden a clear lead. What do they say, and what are the early signs on the night that his support might not be as strong as expected? Freddy Gray speaks to YouGov’s Marcus Roberts.

Freddy Gray

What if Covid hadn’t infected the US election?

Imagine there’s no Covid. It’s not that easy even if you try, since the pandemic fogs up everything now. But what would the presidential election look like if the novel coronavirus had never escaped Wuhan? Who would be winning? It‘s easy to think that President Trump would be cruising towards re-election. He would be swanning

The long winter – why Covid restrictions could last until April

39 min listen

Why does the government think the second wave will be worse than the first? (00:49) Will a Biden presidency restore America’s fortunes? (18:45) And finally, does Covid mark the end for the silver screen? (30:10) Spectator editor Fraser Nelson talks to Carl Heneghan, professor of evidence-based medicine at the University of Oxford; editor of The

Why are Trump voters more enthusiastic?

21 min listen

Freddy Gray is in America for the final week of the election campaign. The polls show Joe Biden is set to win the race by a clear margin, but his supporters are nowhere to be seen. Freddy asks Roger Kimball, editor and publisher of the New Criterion, why Trump voters are more enthusiastic.

How reliable are the polls?

18 min listen

The latest polls continue to show Democratic nominee Joe Biden ahead of Donald Trump in crucial swing states. But why could Georgia, which Trump won by more than 5 per cent in 2016, be the most important? Freddy Gray speaks to Marcus Roberts.

Freddy Gray

The Hunter Biden story isn’t going away

It’s the election equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and shouting ‘LA-LA-LA-LA’. Joe Biden keeps ignoring questions about his possible role in the business dealings of his shady son. He keeps losing his temper with reporters who dare to insist that he has an obligation to answer legitimate public concerns. Most of the

The next president: what would a Joe Biden premiership look like?

38 min listen

Americans look like they’re going to put Joe Biden in the White House – so what would his premiership look like? (00:45) Plus, Boris Johnson’s impossible bind on coronavirus (13:55) and how should you sign off an email? (28:35) With editor of the Spectator’s American edition Freddy Gray; Biden biographer Evan Osnos; political editor James

Freddy Gray

If Biden wins, who will govern?

Joe Biden started spouting nonsense about his background again this week. Trying to sound all man of the people, he told a rally in Ohio that he would be the first president ‘in 80 or 90 years’ who did not attend one of those fancy Ivy League schools. Well no, Joe — Reagan didn’t go

Has Donald Trump already lost the election?

17 min listen

Joe Biden is well ahead of Donald Trump in the polls, but few are willing to say that the three-time presidential hopeful will win November’s election. Are commentators underplaying the Democrat’s chances? Freddy Gray speaks to Tim Stanley, historian and leader writer at The Telegraph.

Who won the VP debate?

15 min listen

Democratic Senator Kamala Harris and vice-president Mike Pence yesterday battled it out in the VP debate. Ms Harris accused the Trump administration of ‘ineptitude’ and ‘incompetence’ in its response to coronavirus, while Mr Pence said Biden’s plans to tackle climate change would ‘crush American jobs’. But who came out on top? Freddy Gray speaks to

Freddy Gray

Veeps shall inherit the earth

‘Who am I? Why am I here?’ That was how Vice Admiral James Stockdale began the 1992 televised vice-presidential debate. It’s now regarded as a famous gaffe, yet Stockdale’s questions reflect the way most viewers feel about ‘veep’ debates. Who are these people? Why am I watching? Four years ago, 37 million Americans tuned in

Are Biden’s poll numbers really soaring?

10 min listen

The latest national poll from CNN puts Joe Biden 16 points ahead of Donald Trump. Has the President’s short stint in hospital dented his re-election chances, or is an unsettled news cycle and an unrepresentative sample skewing the numbers? Freddy Gray speaks to Marcus Roberts, director of international projects at YouGov.

Is Trump really ‘feeling great’?

14 min listen

A Covid-positive Donald Trump returned to the White House yesterday evening after spending 72 hours at the Walter Reed hospital. After landing on the south lawn in a helicopter, the President removed his mask and waved to the media below, flanked by American flags. He later tweeted: ‘FEELING GREAT!’ But has Trump really recovered? Freddy

Freddy Gray

Donald Trump’s greatest gift

What is Donald Trump’s greatest gift? Some say his finely honed instincts; others, his tabloid genius for publicity. But we all know, really, that it is his ludicrous ability to drive the media into ever greater spasms of apoplexy. Just when you think he can’t make journalists go madder, he outdoes himself. It’s like watching

When a president gets sick

President William Henry Harrison died, famously, after giving the longest inauguration speech in history. On a bitterly cold winter day in 1841, Harrison spoke for an hour and 45 minutes — to prove what a man he was. Then he fell ill with pneumonia and died after just 32 days in office. He tried not

Was that the worst debate of all time?

19 min listen

Donald Trump and Joe Biden met in the first head-to-head debate of the campaign yesterday evening. The result was a frenzied 90 minutes of outbursts and interruptions from which neither candidate emerged well. Biden lambasted the President as a ‘clown’, while Trump ruthlessly attacked the Democratic challenger’s family, ignoring the tragic death of his son,

The Trump vs Biden debates are bound to be boring

Ladies and gentlemen — tonight we are going to witness the most hotly anticipated TV debate in history. In the red corner, aged 74 and weighing in at 250 pounds, the reigning champ, the tangerine typhoon, Donald J Truuuuump. In the blue corner, a challenger all the way from planet amnesia, the 77-year-old stuttering cyclone,