Freddy Gray

Freddy Gray

Freddy Gray is deputy editor of The Spectator

There’s still everything to play for in America’s election

The first presidential debate of 2024 changed history by killing off Joe Biden’s career. The second presidential debate was nowhere near as dramatic, for the simple reason that it did not feature the President. Instead, Kamala Harris, Biden’s Vice President and now the Democratic party’s nominee, stood on stage at the National Constitution Center in

What did we learn from the Harris Trump debate?

24 min listen

Millions of viewers tuned in to watch the first debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump last night. Was there really any big winner from the evening? Freddy Gray is joined by Sarah Elliott, spokeswoman for Republicans Overseas UK, to assess the highlights and discuss where the race might go following their first interaction.

No, Joe Biden is not a latter-day George Washington

George Clooney this week praised Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 election as ‘the most selfless thing that anybody has done since George Washington’. We heard this idea echoing throughout Democratic circles even before Biden stood down in late July – that he was nobly standing aside, in the manner of America’s first

Has everyone got election fatigue?

37 min listen

Freddy Gray is joined by Bridget Phetasy, comedian and Spectator World columnist. They discuss whether everyone is suffering a bit of election, and Trump fatigue – including Trump himself. They also cover Putin trolling America, and Bridget gives her predictions for the upcoming presidential debate.

Kamala Harris and the audacity of desperation

Barack Obama wrote The Audacity of Hope. The Kamala Harris story of 2024 could be called The Audacity of Desperation. Her brief candidacy has been an awesome display of chutzpah. With just weeks to go before the election, a panicked Democratic party pushed aside their failing Commander-in-Chief and replaced him with Harris, the distinctly unpopular vice-president. She

Harris-Walz interview: what did we learn?

27 min listen

Kamala Harris and Vice President nominee Tim Walz have done their first interview together for CNN. They covered Kamala’s first day in office if elected, Israel-Gaza, Walz’s army credentials and the economy. Harris has been under scrutiny having avoided all media interviews since Biden’s decision to step down. Did she do it justice? Jon Levine

John Mearsheimer on Ukraine, Israel-Gaza and the US election

44 min listen

Professor John Mearsheimer joins Freddy Gray to discuss the wars in Ukraine and in Gaza, and the influence of both on the US election. The Israel-Gaza conflict has led to internal divisions within the democratic party, how will Kamala Harris deal with this? And as the Russia-Ukraine conflict shows no signs of ebbing, what does

Has RFK just started the NeverHarris movement?

As recently as July, Robert F. Kennedy Jr was still winning up to 15 per cent support as an independent candidate in the US presidential polls. Today, however, he just suspended his struggling campaign — and, while trashing the Democratic Party he once belonged to, he endorsed Donald J. Trump for the presidency. ‘In an

Freddy Gray

What do the Democrats believe in?

29 min listen

Freddy Gray speaks to Aidan McLaughlin, the editor in chief of Mediaite, and Andrew Cockburn, the Washington editor of Harper’s Magazine, as the Democratic National Convention draws to a close. Kamala Harris has had a dramatic rise to the top of the democratic ticket, but what does she really believe in? And is opposition to

Freddy Gray

Kamala Harris’s DNC speech was surprisingly good

Chicago The Democratic National Convention this week has been all razzle, dazzle and repetition. Endless platitudes about freedom, values, love, America, patriotism, hope, unity – ‘turning the page on Trump’ and ‘turning hate into hope’. The implicit message: don’t go thinking too hard about whether Kamala Harris could be a good president. Away from the hype, though,

All hail Harris! Can Kamala bluff her way to the top?

36 min listen

This week: All hail Harris! As the Democratic National Convention approaches its climax, The Spectator’s deputy editor Freddy Gray explores vice president Kamala Harris’s remarkable rise to the top of the democratic ticket in his cover article this week. Freddy joins the podcast from Chicago (1:30). Next: live from the DNC. Freddy and Natasha Feroze, The Spectator’s deputy

Freddy Gray

What’s happened to RFK Jr?

Third-party candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr is widely expected to drop out of the US presidential race soon, and possibly endorse Donald Trump. Live from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Freddy Gray speaks to Ben Domenech, the Editor at Large of The Spectator World, about how this could affect the election.  As the DNC approaches

Freddy Gray

Can Kamala Harris bluff her way to the White House?

Chicago ‘There are no disasters,’ said Boris Johnson, who was born in America. ‘Only opportunities. And, indeed, opportunities for fresh disasters.’ That quote speaks nicely to the story of the Democratic party’s 2024 election campaign. The first televised presidential debate, in Atlanta, Georgia on 27 June, seemed to have been an absolute disaster. President Joe

Biden’s farewell & the power of Pelosi

23 min listen

President Joe Biden wrapped up the DNC’s first night by beginning his long political farewell. Due scheduling issues, the speech was bumped from prime-time TV, sparking outrage with his team. Biden has spoken at every convention since 1976 – how memorable was the send off? Freddy Gray speaks to Christopher Hale a Democratic operative and

Freddy Gray

Joe Biden’s underwhelming convention farewell speech

Chicago Joe Biden has given a speech at every single Democratic National Convention since 1976. Tonight was his last and he didn’t start speaking until 10.28 p.m., local time. Far past his bed time.  Why so late? Poor planning? Or a cynical attempt to push the President’s appearance past ‘prime time’ – in case he

Freddy Gray

Democrats, Labour & ‘working people’

15 min listen

It is day one of the DNC. Freddy Gray meets two Labour MPs, Lucy Rigby (North Northampton) and Mike Tapp (Dover and Deal) who have been invited to the convention to inform the Democrats on how to appeal to ‘working people’.

What would a second Trump presidency bring for China?

30 min listen

Trump is tough on China, but what really motivates his hawkishness? Does he care at all about China’s human rights abuses? Or is he fundamentally a foreign policy disentangler, hoping to rein back America’s overseas commitments? How much does the China policy of a second Trump presidency depend on which advisors the president surrounds himself