The Washington Post’s Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann gather for a weekly conversation about former president Donald Trump’s ongoing legal troubles. As trials loom in New York, Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C., the team will break down the most important – and historic – twists and turns, all as Trump seeks a second term as president. The crew will sit down each Thursday (with the occasional breaking news episode) to discuss what has happened that week, and what’s coming up the next week – often with guest appearances from Washington Post reporters. Listen in to see how you can submit your own questions for the team to answer.
Hacks, chaos and doubt: Lessons from the 2016 election revisited
In 2016, as the Democratic Party officially selected its nominee, then-candidate Donald Trump saw an opportunity to deepen the schisms that had emerged among Democrats.
Four years later, President Trump seems to be embracing a similar opportunity.
In tweets, at rallies and in interactions with the press, Trump has suggested that this year’s Democratic primary is rigged against Bernie Sanders.
Trump’s assertions about a flawed Democratic primary are just a piece of the story. He’s stoking divisions based in part on information Russia weaponized to highlight those divisions in the first place. And as we confront another election year, recent reports show Russia hopes to interfere again.
So, how is Trump strategizing for 2020 in light of recent news? And how are things different this time around, when a president with sizable power over intelligence and election security is seeking to win reelection himself?
In this episode of the “Can He Do That?” podcast, Washington Post campaign reporter Sean Sullivan and Laura Rosenberger, who leads the Alliance for Securing Democracy, reexamine what election interference looked like in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, and how the ghosts of that experience are reappearing today.
Related episodes:
- How far can a president go to get the intelligence chief he wants?
- ‘Problematic is an understatement’: Robert Mueller testifies before Congress
- Does a president ever stop campaigning?