Freddy Gray is deputy editor of The Spectator
‘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
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.
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
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
What’s the most important part of this developing Trump-has-Covid story? Is it ‘how sick is the President?’ Or is it ‘look at journalists trying to find out how sick the President is?’ It can be hard to tell. Yesterday was the day of the ‘mixed messages’. At a press briefing, the physicians delivered what was
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
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,
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,
Is anyone really surprised that Donald Trump’s tax affairs are opaque? Or that he is not as rich as he claims? Is it really all that horrifying that he has for years claimed business losses in order to offset his significant income tax liability? Does it appal us that the Trump family used a Delaware-based
15 min listen
Historian Jeff Fynn-Paul joins Freddy on this episode to discuss whether or not America was really ‘stolen’ from the Native Americans. Fynn-Paul writes about the issue in this week’s Spectator.
39 min listen
Another Conservative civil war threatens to bubble over, so will the government start taking its backbenchers seriously? (00:55) Plus, the contentious fight over the next Supreme Court nominee (15:25) and what is it like to be in Madagascar during the pandemic? (29:05) With Political Editor James Forsyth; Chair of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers
26 min listen
A new poll from Harvard suggests that Joe Biden could win the votes of 60 per cent of under-30s in November’s election. But does the Democratic candidate really energise young people, or are they simply repelled by Donald Trump? Freddy Gray speaks to Marcus Roberts, director of international projects at YouGov, about the numbers dictating
24 min listen
Mike Pompeo has guided Donald Trump’s foreign policy, and has been hailed with bringing the president’s ideology to life. In the latest US edition of the Spectator, Dominic Green interviews the secretary of state. Freddy Gray speaks to Dominic about Pompeo’s Middle East strategy, and the philosophy that guides his decisions.
17 min listen
President Trump is continuing to rail again mail-in voting, alleging that millions of unsolicited ballots could be heading into American postboxes. Is there anything corrupt about the postal voting system, and does it hurt or help the democratic process? Freddy Gray speaks to Marcus Roberts, director of international projects at polling company YouGov.
9 min listen
While Congress Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week gave an ultimatum to the British government over the latter’s plans to breach international law, it’s clear that London frequently finds Trump a difficult partner. So at the end of the day – is Biden better for negotiating a trade deal? Freddy Gray talks to the Spectator’s Economics
You can tell something about a campaign by the desperation-levels of its fundraising emails. In recent weeks, Team Trump’s digital team has started to resemble a company on the verge of bankruptcy. My inbox is full of emails purporting to be from various members of the Trump family, telling ME in CAPITAL LETTERS how important
44 min listen
Joe Biden yesterday issued his strongest condemnation of the riots and looting that are raging across American cities. ‘None of this is protesting’, he said. Regardless, Bridget Phetasy, a Spectator US contributor and host of Dumpster Fire on YouTube, says she won’t vote in November’s election because America will continue to burn under either candidate.
14 min listen
Seventeen-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse has been charged with five felonies after allegedly shooting three people in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last Tuesday. Freddy Gray speaks to Shelby Talcott, a media reporter from the Daily Caller who saw the immediate aftermath of the incident, about what happened and how it might impact November’s election.
28 min listen
The Republican National Convention came to an end on Thursday with President Trump’s White House lawn speech. Has the three-day event shown a route to victory for the incumbent in November’s election? Freddy Gray, editor of the Spectator’s US edition, speaks to Charles Lipson, Spectator US contributor and professor emeritus of political science at the
23 min listen
On this week’s podcast, Freddy Gray explains how Trump could still pull his greatest trick yet (00:45) Emma Byrne considers whether she will be bankrupted by the next housing scandal (12:30) Lara Prendergast argues that wearing floral masks isn’t worth the hassle. (19:11)