Is it Time for a Lickspittle Hall of Fame?

DSR's Words Matter

The episode examines the recent visit of Xi Jinping to Washington and Donald Trump's perceived alignment with authoritarian leadership style

Key takeaways

• Trump's welcome of Xi Jinping at Andrews Air Force Base is compared to JFK's historic treatment of the Pope.
• The White House has faced legal challenges regarding the blocking of media outlets like CNN, Politco, and MSNBC from press access.

Main topics

• Xi Jinping's visit to the US
• White House press freedom

Notable quotes

Lickspittles on parade, everybody.

Conclusion

The episode serves as a warning against the systemic erosion of democr

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:04) 9, 12, 10, 28, 2, 3. Speaker 3 (0:17) This is Deep State Radio, coming to you direct from our super-secret studio in the third sub-basement of the Ministry of SNARK in Washington, D.C., and from other undisclosed Speaker 2 (0:30) locations across America and around the world. Speaker 3 (0:34) Hello, and welcome to DSR's Words Matter. I'm David Rothkopf, and this week, as every week, I'm joined by the man who understands not just Washington. Not just the rest of the United States, but the world. Better than anybody I know. And if you're watching on video, you can see he's also a sartorial psych to behold. Norm Ornstein. Norm, you're a sartorial psych to behold. Speaker 2 (1:01) That's a wonderful descriptor. Thank you, David. I appreciate it. Speaker 3 (1:07) Why? Because usually you look like a schlemiel. Speaker 2 (1:09) I know. A schlub. I think schlub is the better word. Actually, I was in Boston where at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences last night, we did a screening of the documentary we've done on debate, Immutable. go to pbs.org or immutablefilm.com to screen it. And it was on Urban Debate. And we did a panel afterwards, moderated by the wonderful former, a wonderful former judge, Nancy Gertner, now teaching at Harvard Law School. and including one of our star former debaters, now a senior at Harvard, Liev Bernstadt, Will Baker, who runs the debate program at NYU, and Charlie Sadoff, who is one of the producers of this film that our foundation spearheaded. And then I just got back recently from Boston, dressed as I had been for the panel. Speaker 3 (2:24) Because it's Speaker 2 (2:25) easier than packing this stuff away. Speaker 3 (2:27) Well, no, I understand. I thought you were dressed this way because you probably were on the list from the White House for the state dinner tonight where you would be surrounded by other moguls like yourself, Jeff Bezos, Jensen Wong, the glitterati of the tech community, and the president. and his wife, and I don't know if Natalie Hark will be there, but a lot of very fancy people, and you look like you're ready to go. Speaker 2 (3:03) You know, you have to realize, David, there are certain criteria for events like this or for the G20 Summit. To be invited to an event like the one tonight, first of all, you have to put a million Uyghurs in concentration camps. and put down your opposition viciously, which is what one of Donald Trump's very best friends, Prime Minister Xi, has done. Or you have to give obscene sums of money to the Trump team or people, or create social media that encourages foreign interference in elections. Speaker 2 (3:49) Other than that, if you want to be invited to the G20, you need to deliberately target civilians in Ukraine, rape four-year-old girls, kidnap children and remove them to Russia, and most importantly, commandeer a hit squad in the United States to murder Americans at the direction of Vladimir Putin. Do all of those things. And you can go to the Trump resort in Florida for the G20. You know, I don't think either of us are capable of any of those things. So we're going to have to be on our own eating, you know, at McDonald's. Speaker 3 (4:33) Norm, you're a cynical man. I look at this somewhat differently. In fact, I was thinking of writing a column about the Xi visit to the United States. And I may just do that if I have enough energy after this podcast. And I was thinking of calling the column Brokeback White House. Because I feel that the Trump-Xi relationship is just a fantastic example of man love. I mean, Trump, unlike most other presidents, traveled all the way to Andrews Air Force Base to welcome Xi to this country. The last president to do that for another political figure other than the Pope was John F. Kennedy. He treated him to a huge welcome, much greater, I might add, than anything that Xi has ever shown Trump on any of his visits. He then comes to the White House today. He shows him around all of his construction sites. These are very private things to Donald Trump. And he exposed himself to Xi in ways to say, this is what I am. And you know what he said about Xi, the highest kind of compliment? He said, you know, I've shown Xi the construction sites, and Xi is kind of an expert in granite. He really knows granite. And that, again, it's kind of a bond between the two of them. They met for three hours. Was there any hint of discussion of... problems between the two countries? Oh, no. Oh, no. That was just we agree on this, we agree on that. Now, admittedly, most of the things they agreed to do were kind of like, we won't impose tariffs for another two months. It's kind of like double negatives in terms of the policy thing. But it was all very positive. And Trump said she looked great and she's wife was beautiful. and so forth. And to me, you just don't see that this often. You know, often international affairs involves differences, particularly between two countries like the United States and China, which are viewed by many people as rivals. But we're not anymore because Donald Trump has said the fundamental building block of the relationship is the relationship between the leaders. And that he and Gee are like, you know, two peas in a pod, snug as bugs in a rug. And that's why I thought, you know, this is man love. And, you know, I'm for that. I'm not a Republican. If two men can fall in love in this way, I think it's a beautiful thing in a difficult world. And I don't know why you're so cynical about it. Speaker 2 (7:26) You have some very good points there, David. I do think, you know, if we were able to get inside and deconstruct the discussion, my guess is that Xi said to Trump, Donald, you are brilliant. There is nobody better than you. Every one of these projects is spectacular. If I would give you one suggestion, it would be more gold. Oh, and by the way, as I'm leaving, is it okay with you if we go into Taiwan? And Trump said, you're such a good guy. Sure. Now, we have to add one other thing, that there was, of course, a press conference. Yes. Sort of. Yes. Sort of. Yes. Where Trump praised the Chinese press because he said they asked permission. of Xi before they ask a question. And of course, if they ever asked a question or wrote something that was crosswise with Xi, they would be disappeared and would not ever appear again, and probably their families as well. So that's what's going on here. And of course, we had the Chinese press. But despite a court order, The Trump White House is still blocking Politico, MSNOW, CNN from occupying their rightful positions in the White House. And all I want to say about that, David, a couple of things I want to say about that. The first is, if ever we had an I am Spartacus moment for the press corps, for the White House Correspondents Association. and the White House correspondents, where all of them should say, if they really cared about anything involving journalistic integrity and a free press, they would say, you block CNN, Politico, and MSNOW from the White House, and we're not coming either, and we will not cover you, Donald Trump, which would be like saying to Donald Trump, I am