Trending Now
We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.
{{ subpage.title }}
Ian Bremmer on the 2024 US election ahead
Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: A Quick Take to kick off your US election week. I'd say happy Election Day, but it seems more a matter of stress and anxiety for most Americans I know. And frankly for most non-Americans I know that are watching it. And in many ways this is really not the election that we want to be having. Not because there's a problem with the electoral process itself, though you wouldn't know that from watching people online. There have been a lot of studies and audits on non-citizens voting, for example, which has gotten a huge amount of attention in Congress recently and on Twitter recently. And virtually no non-citizens are ever on rolls or vote. There was recently a Georgia audit, did a full audit of 8 million people registered and 20 of them, 20, were non-citizens.
You've never had an election remotely swing ... Of illegal voters going to the polls. There are no cyber issues because you're not allowed to vote online. That would be one of the most vulnerable parts of a US election if that wasn't the case. You can track your mail, your vote if you are voting by mail, as I did for example. In almost every state, just in a few non-swing states is it not possible to track exactly the state of your vote. I mean, in many, many ways, this is the kind of an election that you want to have, but people don't believe in it. And by people, I mean Americans and I mean Americans across the political spectrum. And I think there are lots of reasons for that. Why not?
Well one is because $10 billion has been spent on it, $3.5 billion on the presidential election itself. Over 1 billion in Pennsylvania and only a few states matter because this isn't about every vote counting equally. It's an electoral college where only votes in states that could actually swing one way or the other will determine the outcome. And so a lot of people feel like their vote doesn't matter, feel like it's an enormous money suck in spend, and that people that have that influence are the ones that are going to end up mattering and getting the policies that they want and capturing the system so they don't really believe in their democracy.
Then secondly, one of the candidates shouldn't be running. I feel strongly about this. It's only because impeachment no longer functions as a check on executive power that Trump is able to run right now. And he certainly doesn't believe in a free and fair outcome unless he wins. And I think that should be table stakes for an election that both people that are running have to be prepared to accept the outcome no matter what happens. Certainly, I would accept the outcome. I did in 2016 when Trump won and I considered him my president. And I did in 2020 when Biden won and I considered him my president too. And it doesn't really matter if I like the outcome or not. The point is that's what an election is all about. But increasingly, not in the United States and certainly not this time around. And that is a very big concern.
I am worried about the state of America's political institutions, not about the state of democracy everywhere around the world. I don't think this is a problem, a structural problem in most democracies. I think Canada is just fine. The UK and Germany and Japan and South Korea and Australia and New Zealand, plenty of democracies around the world that function well. The United States, we are watching these institutions erode real time. The legitimacy that American citizens hold for their elections, for their executive, for Congress, even for their court system, the Supreme Court, certainly for the media. Basically for anyone and any institution that is in a position of a authority and power, increasingly the belief that American citizens have in those institutions is eroding.
And that has led to a long, particularly divisive electoral cycle where Americans might as well exist in two different planets in terms of what they do and don't believe about the candidates and about the vote. And I think it's a real problem. I think that's been true for the coverage that we've seen over the past week. Some of you may have seen me go after so many of the media institutions for saying that Trump had announced that he wanted Liz Cheney killed or executed at a firing squad, which he didn't say and which was complete crap. It was garbage. And this was a major headline for two days across the mainstream media. And if you think mainstream media is bad, social media is even worse. The amount of active disinformation, lying, fake news that's being algorithmically promoted, including particularly by Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, X, which is where a lot of people get their political information. And don't even get me started on citizen journalism, which is even more biased than actual journalism, just without any of the expertise.
And as a consequence of that, almost everyone I know today believes some things about politics that are clearly not true. Now, I am not going to tell you who to vote for. I'm not going to make an endorsement. I think that, you, the voters get to make up your mind for yourself. I will tell you who I voted for. I voted for Kamala Harris. This probably does not surprise people. I am not a Democrat. I have never been a member of any political party and certainly pre-Trump, I have voted for Democrats and Republicans and I continue to vote for people on the basis of who I think they are as candidates. But I am unprepared to accept someone that is unwilling to accept a democratic process, the outcome of a free and fair election. I am convinced, completely convinced that whether Harris wins or loses, she will accept the outcome. I'm completely convinced of that. And I am also convinced that if Trump loses, he will not accept the outcome.
And that for me is foundational, irrespective of what I think about their policies on other things. In part because I think the presidency is constrained, and in part because I think at this point American institutions are increasingly vulnerable. So in other words, I think those things matter. Look, I clearly would make a lot more money under Trump. First time around, Trump reduced corporate taxes, he reduced taxes on the wealthy, he reduced regulatory restrictions in lots of ways. I mean, private equity firms did really well and real estate companies. And as someone who started my own company and has built it up globally, Trump is great from a financial perspective. I don't care. Also, he's great for political risk. I mean, there's more international uncertainty and volatility. And so my firm, Eurasia Group that is focused on that would do better in that environment. I don't care. That is not the point.
I consider Trump to be the most unfit person for office I have ever encountered with political ambitions. I felt that way when he was a Democrat. I feel that way now that he is a Republican. I don't think the party affiliation matters. He certainly isn't ideological. It's just about him. And for me, that is a serious, serious problem. But whatever you do, you can agree with me, you can disagree with me. As you would know, I don't mind if you disagree with me. It's not a problem. It's not fundamental. Doesn't mean you can't be my friend, certainly doesn't mean you can't follow me. But whatever you do, if you're in the United States and you're a citizen, do not opt out of the process. Our ancestors, my grandmother, grandfathers, did everything they could to get to this country. Heck, historically, some of them, many of them committed unspeakable atrocities to clear the land of the folks that were actually living here before.
Do not dishonor all of that by thinking that you don't need to put in any work, that it doesn't matter. There's a lot of things that are broken about the US political system, but none that are so broken that we can give up ... And none that you can wash your hands of it and say, "There's nothing I can do. My voice doesn't matter. I'm giving up. I'm not putting in any work."
And the most limited amount of work that you can possibly put in is voting. And I think that voting with your heart and with your head is the absolute minimum obligation that we all have as citizens. I am proud and patriotic to exercise mine as I always do. And you should be yours too. And again, you heard who I'm voting for. You can tell me who you're voting for if you want or you cannot. Again, it's a secret ballot and this is a free country. And the important thing is that you speak your mind and when you agree or disagree, you tell people that too. So happy Election Day, for what it's worth, I'm sure this too shall pass and I'll talk to you all on the other side. Take care.
Hunter Biden's convictions won't derail his father's re-election bid
Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60, live from the Toronto US-Canada Summit.
What are the implications of Hunter Biden's convictions for his father's presidential campaign?
You know, it's a little bit of tit for tat. You're going to see a lot of Republicans saying, “See the Biden crime family! Look at this guy. I mean, he's a convict.” It's ugly. It's embarrassing for the Biden family, of course. But at the same time, it's not very significant charges and it certainly doesn't link directly to President Biden. Five months away, are people going to be talking about this or Trump's 34 convictions, the weakest of the cases that he's actually facing? I suspect neither of them are going to matter very much, even though, on balance, Trump's is the one that should matter more.
Will recent EU elections bring a dramatic shift to Europe or more of the same?
Well, overall, the European Parliament looks a lot like the old European Parliament. A few more seats for the right wing, but the far-right is not very aligned, doesn't work cohesively. I still think Ursula von der Leyen is going to be, yet again, European Commission president. And in many countries the populist, the anti-establishment did a lot worse. In Sweden, for example, in Portugal and others. On balance, there's not much change here. Two things that matter one a little bit is that Schulz and his Social Democrats really underperformed. The German economy not doing well, he's not seen as much of a leader. A three-party coalition, Germany, largely centrist and pretty stable no matter what. Much bigger: France. Macron's party, historically, got pasted. That's why he's called for parliamentary elections in just a few weeks. And when they happen, if Le Pen's party, the National Rally, wins and they're able to put forward a prime minister, there's is a major, major problem for governance in France and for the need of anything that the EU has to have parliamentary approval in France to get done, and that includes the Ukraine problem going forward.
How Canadians viewing the impending Biden Trump rematch?
You know, in some ways a little more comfortably than they did the last time around because the US-Mexico-Canada agreement's already in place and Trump got it done with this Canadian government. So, I think that they feel a little like, “Hey, we dealt with them once, we can deal with them again.” There's much more strategy and strategic alignment in the importance of the US-Canada relationship today than there was five, 10 years ago, in part because on China they're much more aligned, on things like, major wars outside of this part of the world, they're much more aligned, on Haiti, they're much more aligned. But also keep in mind that Canada's also facing an election in a year. And right now, it looks like the Tories, the conservatives in Canada, would win big, ahead by over 20 points. In which case you'd have a Canadian government and a US government, if Trump were to win, that would be very aligned. Just on a very different part of the political spectrum. Either way, very friendly and very stable relationship, which is more than we can say for most of them around the world.
Hunter Biden's trial shows the US criminal justice system is working
Republican lawmakers are attacking the US criminal justice system as “rigged” and “shameful” after former president Donald Trump’s criminal convictions, calling the case a blatant example of political persecution. But in a twist of legal happenstance, Hunter Biden’s criminal trial began in Delaware just days after the Trump verdict was announced.
Bharara pointed out how unlikely it would be, if Trump won the presidency and somehow Don Jr. was indicted and put on trial, that the former president would stand idly by and not comment on it or try to get involved somehow, which Bremmer agreed was “inconceivable.” Not only that, but the timing of Hunter’s trial isn’t good for Biden, who wants the messaging right now to be squarely on Trump’s legal woes.
“You couldn’t even make this up,” Glasser argues, “That literally, while the Democrats finally get a couple days where they’re focusing the lens squarely on Donald Trump and his fitness for office, then boom, two days later, Hunter Biden is on trial. The timing is a reminder that Biden can’t seem to catch a break.”
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
Do Donald Trump’s criminal convictions put American democracy at risk?
“Having crossed the Rubicon [of January 6],” Glasser says, “I think that the idea that we’re just treating this as a normal election between two warring tribes with different ideologies is really what history is going to remember about this moment, unfortunately.”
“We’ve grown accustomed to the luxury of repeated, peaceful transfers of power,” Bharara adds, “There’s nothing that guarantees that just because the US has been a great democracy, it will persist in being democratic.”
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
Will Trump's criminal conviction cost him votes?
Just days after former President Donald Trump’s historic felony conviction, Ian Bremmer sits down with the New Yorker’s Susan Glasser and former US Attorney Preet Bharara to discuss the impact of the verdict conviction on the 2024 election and democracy itself.
What does Donald Trump’s historic criminal conviction mean for the 2024 election and for democracy itself? As the first US president to be convicted of a crime, Trump’s 34 felony counts have stirred significant political and legal turmoil, with many in his party faithful choosing the former president over the justice system. "The GOP's revisionist history on the trial has already begun," Glasser tells Bremmer. Bharara also underscores the trial’s legitimacy, stating, "It was an open and fair proceeding. There was a judge who ruled often for the prosecution, but often as well for Donald Trump's side."Bharara addresses the allegations of political motivation behind the trial, telling Ian, "The accusations that some folks on the Trump side are making about how this was a politicized witch hunt, it was preordained, all of that" is a dangerous game. Bharara also highlights the gravity of the situation, saying, "There are people on the progressive side, on the Biden side who think that democracy is in danger. I'm one of those people." Glasser echoes this concern, reflecting on Trump's impact on elections, "What Trump tried to do in 2020 as well as 2016 was to nullify the votes of an election and therefore of the people, the masses' votes, not the individuals."
Both guests underscore the critical crossroads at which American democracy stands and the profound consequences of Trump's conviction for the upcoming election. Whether or not Trump wins in November is an open question. So, too, is the fate of our democratic institutions.
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
GOP's response to Trump verdict: An "ominous sign" for the future?
It’s far too early to say how former President Trump’s 34 felony convictions in the New York hush money case will affect the 2024 US presidential election, but make no mistake, the verdict has far-reaching implications for the future of the Republican party.
On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer was joined by New Yorker columnist Susan Glasser and former US attorney Preet Bharara for a frank look at what Trump’s conviction means for the GOP moving forward. As historic as Trump’s conviction is, the political response may be even more unprecedented and could have dangerous implications not just for Republicans or capital “D” Democrats but for our already fragile, lower-case “d” democracy.
“This is a marker of the escalation that we’re seeing in 2024,” Glasser says, pointing to the GOP attacks on the US justice system, “I think it’s a sign of where the Republican party is at, that they’ve essentially mortgaged the party so completely to the fate of one individual, that they’re willing to tear down what remains of faith in our institutions.”
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
Will Trump's criminal conviction ruin his campaign - or American democracy? Insights from Susan Glasser and Preet Bharara
Listen: On this episode of the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer discusses the political and legal implications of Donald Trump’s felony conviction for the 2024 election and for democracy itself with the New Yorker’s Susan Glasser and former US Attorney Preet Bharara.
He’s the first US president to be convicted of a crime. Donald Trump’s 34 felony counts have upended the 2024 Presidential election (for now) and exposed the vulnerability of core democratic institutions like the justice system.
"The GOP's revisionist history on the trial has already begun," The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser tells Bremmer. Former US Attorney Preet Bharara also underscores the trial’s legitimacy, stating, "It was an open and fair proceeding. There was a judge who ruled often for the prosecution, but often as well for Donald Trump's side."
"The [Republican] party” Glasser adds, “has essentially mortgaged itself to the fate of one individual."
Both guests underscore the critical crossroads at which American democracy stands and the profound consequences of Trump's conviction for the upcoming election. Whether or not Trump wins in November is an open question. So, too, is the fate of our democratic institutions.
Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.
- Biden vs Trump foreign policy: Political scientist Stephen Walt weighs in ›
- Preet Bharara on the legal troubles of former President Trump ›
- Trump has been found guilty. Will voters care? ›
- What the Trump trial circus is missing ›
- Donald Trump is a convicted felon ›
- Ian Bremmer on Trump's guilty verdict ›
- Will foreign policy decide the 2024 US election? ›
NEW TRUMP SINGLE JUST DROPPED: Gilty & Guilty
The former president discovers that his 34 felony convictions have a melodic silver lining. Meanwhile, his opponent, Joe Biden, can't seem to make the most of the moment.
Watch more PUPPET REGIME!
Subscribe to GZERO Media's YouTube channel to get notifications when new videos are published.
- Trump & COVID sing The Damage Song ›
- Modi & Trump in Bollywood (as Delhi burns) ›
- Trump’s Gag Order EXPLAINED ›
- The new Santa Claus ›
- Totally eclipsed by Trump ›
- America's Minimally Viable Candidates - GZERO Media ›
- Biden in Training: Has Joe still got it? - GZERO Media ›
- Trump reveals historic Putin chat in Musk interview - GZERO Media ›
- Trump's moonshot to end the Ukraine war - GZERO Media ›
- Trump, Putin, and Xi want to have more babies - GZERO Media ›