Podcast: Breitbart Views

TRANSCRIPT: Breitbart Views

Ian Bremmer:

Tough times require angry Jesus, fire-and-brimstone Jesus, not be-kind-to-your-neighbor Jesus.

Charlie Spearing:

Well, the president isn't Jesus, right?

Ian Bremmer:

Hi, I'm Ian Bremmer, and welcome to the GZERO World Podcast. I'm host of the weekly show, GZERO World, on Facebook Watch. In this podcast, we share extended versions of the big interviews from that show. This week, I sit down with Charlie Spearing. He's Senior White House Correspondent for Breitbart News, their go-to guy for all things Trump-related, as well as a self-described Blue Collar Patriot. Today, I'll ask him about the state of Trump's base, the elusive border wall, and what exactly Blue Collar Patriotism means. Let's get to it.

Announcer:

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Ian Bremmer:

We're here on top of a roof in Washington, DC. Protests going on in the background. It feels kind of an exciting nation's capital evening. And I'm here with Charlie Spearing, who is the Senior White House correspondent at Breitbart News. We're going to talk about draining the swamp and all sorts of other things, Charlie.

Ian Bremmer:

So I'm going to ask you just a couple quick questions, White House Correspondent. So I am interested. As a young, fresh-faced guy from Breitbart in the White House press scrum, and the mainstream media is getting beaten the crap out of on a daily basis by Trump, who clearly can't stand them but finds them enabling, how do those guys treat you? What's your relationship like with the press?

Charlie Spearing:

So I started covering The White House for Breitbart during the Obama years.

Ian Bremmer:

And you were roundly ignored.

Charlie Spearing:

No, actually, I got some good questions from Josh Ernest, to his credit. He rewarded me for showing up and sitting in the seats and raising my hand.

Ian Bremmer:

You seemed surprised the first time they asked you a question, though.

Charlie Spearing:

Yeah, no, I was baffled. I turned, and I looked behind me, and I was like, "Who are you pointing at?" Because he didn't know my name. He was just like, "You sitting there," and I was like, "Obviously not me." But it was, so yeah.

Charlie Spearing:

I had a great relationship with my colleagues. I was a little surprised at how they changed a little bit with the dawn of the Trump administration.

Ian Bremmer:

In what way?

Charlie Spearing:

A little more combative. It's personal to them, and it seemed like they take it a little too seriously. Maybe they realize it, but they're very frustrated with his daily banter on fake news and stuff.

Ian Bremmer:

Of the things that were really controversial in the mainstream media on these issues for Trump, and it's the NFL, and it's Puerto Rico, and it's Charlottesville, and it's Roy Moore and others, which of those do you think actually mainstream media got completely wrong? "He was absolutely right to do this, because they don't get it. He's beating up on those guys, and that's going to work." Where did you feel that?

Charlie Spearing:

Me, personally, I think that you go through politics for a certain amount of time, and that certainly didn't understand the Trump campaign, the Trump movement, quite as well, because a lot of the things were shocking to hear, some of the things he said about McCain and others. And this is what Bannon described as the WWE mentality.

Ian Bremmer:

The World Wrestling.

Charlie Spearing:

Mainstream media is this fake combat.

Ian Bremmer:

And the most popular tweet that Trump has had was depicting CNN as fake news, when he piled-drived. All year, absolutely was number one.

Charlie Spearing:

I did not know that.

Ian Bremmer:

Didn't hit Obama numbers, but still, it was pretty good for Trump.

Charlie Spearing:

Yeah, so for him to just engage in this combat, I think, really not only entertains, but it makes these supporters of his understand that he's fighting for them. They feel the same way. They were frustrated with a lot of the existing norms in politics and media, and they're just happy to see someone come crashing through it.

Ian Bremmer:

Now, you grew up on a farm in Wyoming. What's Blue Collar Patriotism to you?

Charlie Spearing:

It's the idea that America's the greatest country in the world. We have these Western values.

Ian Bremmer:

Western values: What are they?

Charlie Spearing:

So you look at the Judeo-Christian tradition, and you look at belief in God and the moral life, and how the American character is what makes this country great.

Ian Bremmer:

We're going to talk about morality, and we talk about Christian ethics. Obviously, when you start looking at how Trump tweets, how he treats people, the bullying, the name-calling, that sort of thing. Clearly, I was raised a Catholic. My mouth would have been washed out with soap for that sort of thing. You come from a Christian family. You would have gotten a backhand for that. Even for those of us that don't do corporal punishment, it's problematic. How does that work? How much is that, "Well, it's okay. He's a broken vessel, but he's our vessel?" And how much of that is really actually damaging that Blue Collar Patriotism that wants someone that can lead by moral example?

Charlie Spearing:

You see it in a community of people who are more angry than before, and they see the president as a fighter, and this is who the president was when he was running for office. He was just gloves-off, bare knuckles, just a fighter. Fighter for everyone who hated ... Or not maybe hated. Or really frustrated with the establishment media, the establishment of Hollywood, the rise of political correctness?

Charlie Spearing:

When I traveled in Iowa and talked to Trump supporters, even early in the campaign, "Why do you like Trump?" "Because he tells it like it is, because he's not politically correct." And it just struck me. Universally, across the board, maybe that's what they were telling media, but it just seemed like that was the main reason.

Ian Bremmer:

Tough times require angry Jesus, fire-and-brimstone Jesus, not be-kind-to-your-neighbor Jesus.

Charlie Spearing:

Well, the president isn't Jesus, right?

Ian Bremmer:

No, no, no, clearly.

Charlie Spearing:

Some sort of secular leader that can fight for you. That's the phrase that politicians use, and I think Trump was the first one that really embodied that. And certainly, we had Hillary Clinton on the trail vowing to fight for us, but it just didn't feel like she was ever going to.

Ian Bremmer:

And was Obama unpatriotic, in terms of Western values, in your view?

Charlie Spearing:

Obama was funny, because he would go overseas and he seemed more interested, and he seemed to be a very intellectual professor-type. Every time he went overseas, he seemed more interested in where he was, rather than talking about America overseas, and I was struck by the difference.

Charlie Spearing:

Every time Trump went somewhere, it was so funny, because he would sit there and talk about how great the American economy was, how great America was to do business in, and it seemed like he was always trying to sell America everywhere he went.

Ian Bremmer:

So when Trump goes to Japan and a golf course and he eats a hamburger, he is reflecting Blue Collar Patriotism?

Charlie Spearing:

Right, American values.

Ian Bremmer:

And Obama goes and has sushi, and maybe he makes the Japanese happy, but he's not doing anything for the American people when he does that, in your view?

Charlie Spearing:

I don't think it's that simple. I think a lot of Trump supporters were frustrated with Obama criticizing our country overseas, and he did a lot of that when he was traveling. And he would suggest that we were to blame for some of the conflicts overseas, and this is where you get the whole, "Obama was apologizing for America every time he went overseas." I think a lot of that tone that he took is what created that frustration.

Ian Bremmer:

We've talked a lot about Trump supporters and what they want do. To what extent do you think that Trump has responsibility/obligation to those that don't support him?

Charlie Spearing:

Right, and this sort of goes down to Trumpism. What is Trumpism? And if you talk to Steve Bannon, he'll say the movement is bigger than Trump. It's this economic model. It's this economic nationalism, America-first-type movement. And we can look at the larger country and see that people of both parties are interested in this. It's not just your typical conservative; it's your average American that has been raised with these values and wants to see them restored in the country.

Charlie Spearing:

So as far as Breitbart's mission, we want to see the people who don't have a voice any more in corporate mainstream media. We want to be their voice and give voice to the voiceless, and I think we did a lot of that in the campaign, and we certainly did a lot of that going forward in this administration.

Ian Bremmer:

If you compare yourselves and how you think about Trump and world view to Fox, what's different?

Charlie Spearing:

They're still very much issue-of-the-day-type people, and I think a lot of correspondents are that. "This is the issue of the day. We're going to ask the necessary questions about the issues of the day." We'll certainly do a little of that but try to look at it from our readers' eyes, and it's going to be a little bit different than the typical mainstream media.

Ian Bremmer:

Charlie Spearing, great to have you here. Look forward to seeing you again.

Charlie Spearing:

You bet. Thanks for having me.

Announcer:

The GZERO World is brought to you by our founding sponsor, First Republic. First Republic, a private bank and wealth management company, understands the value of surface, safety, and stability in today's uncertain world. Visit firstrepublic.com to learn more.