In Retrospect - Episode 7: US Midterms & Trump's Grand Old Party (Interview with Dr. G.H.J. Baarssen)

Radi8 Radio

This episode of In Retrospect will be an early episode on the US midterm elections at the end of this year. We especially want to focus on the developments in the Republican Party and the rise of Trumpism in the party. Ever since Donald Trump won the Republican primary elections in the runup to the 2016 presidential elections, he has slowly taken grip on every aspect of the Republican Party. It is getting harder and harder to voice opposing opinions in the party, forcing most Republicans to continue defending the ‘Big Lie’ that the 2020 presidential election was lost unfairly due to fraud at the voting process. During this episode we will discuss the impacts of Trumpism on the Republican Party, and on American democracy and its institutions as a whole. We relate this to the Midterm elections, and discuss the chances of Republican success during these elections.

We have interviewed Dr. G.H.J. Baarssen to discuss these topics with us. Dr. Baarssen is a lecturer at Leiden Univerisity, and teaches among other courses Politics of North America & History of North America. As an expert on American politics, he has also won the Obama Dissertation Prize in 2017.

Please let us know your thoughts on the issues discussed in this episode! You can email us at [e-mail] or communicate through our Instagram (@radi8radio).