RCP Podcast: Harvard Warns Trump, New Youth Poll, Tariff Whiplash, Newsmax CEO on the Future of Cable, Phones in School
Thursday on the RealClearPolitics radio show -- weeknights at 6:00 p.m. on SiriusXM's POTUS Channel 124 and then on Apple, Spotify, and here on our website -- Andrew Walworth, Tom Bevan, and National Review columnist Heather Wilhelm start the show with the battle between Harvard University and President Trump. Can Harvard do enough to appease President Trump and keep federal funding without following Columbia's path and "capitulating"? Are Trump's demands more than an "Art of the Deal" style outrageous first offer?
Today, Trump called Harvard a "threat to democracy" and signed a new executive order targeting the college accreditation process in general. Meanwhile, the university hit back with a lawsuit while leaving the door open for a deal, pledging "no compromise" on "certain issues."
At minute 7, a rundown of the results of the newest Harvard Youth Poll, which tracks political and social attitudes of Americans between 18 and 29.
"One of the things that jumped off the page for me is the favorability rating for Democrats in Congress has been cut in half among young Americans," Tom Bevan said. "It's down from 48% to 23% just in five years."
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In the next segment, starting at minute 12, a dozen states have come together to sue the Trump administration for exceeding presidential authority on tariffs. Will Trump blink? Could this chaos, shaking up the system, be helpful in the long run?
"A friend of mine who works on Wall Street said today, 'Well, I think the fake trade war is canceled.' It's so fascinating to watch. They're going to tariff the Chinese by 240%, and now they're saying they're going to be 'very nice' to them," Heather Wilhelm commented. "I feel really bad for people who work on Wall Street and have to watch the market make these wild swings just based on conjecture."
***
After that, Andrew Walworth talks to Chris Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax, about the strategy behind what is now America’s fourth most-watched cable news network and how digital media is reshaping the television business.
"It's even more impressive than that, we're the fifth-most watched network on all of cable, out of hundreds of channels," Ruddy said. "We're actually bigger than CNBC, Fox Business, and NewsNation combined."
"I don't see Fox as a competitor. I see Newsmax as doing its own thing. Just watch Newsmax and you'll see the difference. We're less agenda-oriented and more informational. We're more open to discussions and points of view," he said. "The country has 300+ million people, we can have more than one conservative-leaning national media outlet. I think it's dangerous that so much power has accumulated in Fox."
"I think cable is still going to be robust for a long time," he said. "For two reasons: live news and live sports."
***
Finally, Carl Cannon talks to RCP editors Cathi Warren and Anne Welty about the "Bell to Bell, No Cell" Act, which bans smartphones in Arkansas' public schools, and the nationwide push to restrict cellphone usage in classrooms.
"Parents have some concerns, but overall I think it has been good," Cathi Warren said. "This has been a dizzying few months with the amount of legislation that has passed and been signed by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on education. She has three kids in public school in Arkansas, so I'm sure this fuels some of her drive to get some of these things passed in her first couple of years. In the fall, we will have a bell-to-bell, all-day cell phone ban in public schools, K-12."
"Some of the teachers are really glad it has become mandatory, because it was pretty much decided classroom to classroom, which meant the onus was on the teacher and the teacher had to bear the anger of the kids who didn't want to give up their phones. So now it's off their shoulders," Warren added.
"This is focused on during the school day. Yes, cyberbullying will still happen after hours," Anne Welty added. "We've seen the downfall of grades because of the phones, I think we will see improvement."
***
Today, Trump called Harvard a "threat to democracy" and signed a new executive order targeting the college accreditation process in general. Meanwhile, the university hit back with a lawsuit while leaving the door open for a deal, pledging "no compromise" on "certain issues."
At minute 7, a rundown of the results of the newest Harvard Youth Poll, which tracks political and social attitudes of Americans between 18 and 29.
"One of the things that jumped off the page for me is the favorability rating for Democrats in Congress has been cut in half among young Americans," Tom Bevan said. "It's down from 48% to 23% just in five years."
***
In the next segment, starting at minute 12, a dozen states have come together to sue the Trump administration for exceeding presidential authority on tariffs. Will Trump blink? Could this chaos, shaking up the system, be helpful in the long run?
"A friend of mine who works on Wall Street said today, 'Well, I think the fake trade war is canceled.' It's so fascinating to watch. They're going to tariff the Chinese by 240%, and now they're saying they're going to be 'very nice' to them," Heather Wilhelm commented. "I feel really bad for people who work on Wall Street and have to watch the market make these wild swings just based on conjecture."
***
After that, Andrew Walworth talks to Chris Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax, about the strategy behind what is now America’s fourth most-watched cable news network and how digital media is reshaping the television business.
"It's even more impressive than that, we're the fifth-most watched network on all of cable, out of hundreds of channels," Ruddy said. "We're actually bigger than CNBC, Fox Business, and NewsNation combined."
"I don't see Fox as a competitor. I see Newsmax as doing its own thing. Just watch Newsmax and you'll see the difference. We're less agenda-oriented and more informational. We're more open to discussions and points of view," he said. "The country has 300+ million people, we can have more than one conservative-leaning national media outlet. I think it's dangerous that so much power has accumulated in Fox."
"I think cable is still going to be robust for a long time," he said. "For two reasons: live news and live sports."
***
Finally, Carl Cannon talks to RCP editors Cathi Warren and Anne Welty about the "Bell to Bell, No Cell" Act, which bans smartphones in Arkansas' public schools, and the nationwide push to restrict cellphone usage in classrooms.
"Parents have some concerns, but overall I think it has been good," Cathi Warren said. "This has been a dizzying few months with the amount of legislation that has passed and been signed by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on education. She has three kids in public school in Arkansas, so I'm sure this fuels some of her drive to get some of these things passed in her first couple of years. In the fall, we will have a bell-to-bell, all-day cell phone ban in public schools, K-12."
"Some of the teachers are really glad it has become mandatory, because it was pretty much decided classroom to classroom, which meant the onus was on the teacher and the teacher had to bear the anger of the kids who didn't want to give up their phones. So now it's off their shoulders," Warren added.
"This is focused on during the school day. Yes, cyberbullying will still happen after hours," Anne Welty added. "We've seen the downfall of grades because of the phones, I think we will see improvement."
***
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