'The Interview': 3 Senators Who Quit on Why Congress Won’t Stand Up to Trump
This episode appears to contain dynamically inserted ads. Transcript timestamps may be approximate.
The current and former lawmakers get candid about bipartisan politics, party leadership and the state of the Senate.
- Thoughts? Email us at [email protected]
- Watch our show on YouTube: youtube.com/@TheInterviewPodcast
- For transcripts and more, visit: nytimes.com/theinterview
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
This podcast is supported by TikTok. Sometimes the most interesting discoveries are the ones you weren't looking for. That happens every day on TikTok. A science experiment can spark a whole new interest. A recipe you stumble upon can become a meal you make for the people you love. And a restaurant you've never heard of might become your new favorite spot. That's the thing about TikTok. Follow your curiosity and see where it leads. Your next discovery is waiting on TikTok. (upbeat music) - From the New York Times, this is the interview. I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro. Since the founding of our democracy, there's been a separation of powers. The Senate in particular was created to act as a stabilizing force with its own important responsibilities. But after almost a year of the second Trump presidency, during which time he's pursued an aggressive agenda, the Senate is arguably weaker than ever, with some critics and senators saying it is abandoning its role in checking presidential power. So today, I'm having a different kind of conversation than we usually do on the show, a roundtable about the state of the Senate with three lawmakers who all decided to leave it. Jeff Flake, a Republican, represented Arizona and left office in 2019 warning that the influence of Trumpism on the GOP would be corrosive to his party. - We must never regard as normal the regular and casual undermining of our democratic norms and ideals. - Joe Manchin represented West Virginia, first as a Democrat who frequently voted with Republicans and later as a registered independent. He left the Senate at the start of this year. - I was not elected to take a side. I was elected to represent all sides. - And Tina Smith is a Democrat who currently represents Minnesota and earlier this year announced that she won't be seeking reelection in 2026. - After 20 years of hard and rewarding work in the public sector, I'm ready to spend more time with my family. - I wanted to gather these three to get their read on the state of the Senate and our politics and democracy more broadly.
Transcription truncated.
The current and former lawmakers get candid about bipartisan politics, party leadership and the state of the Senate.